Sharing Your Faith in Jesus Christ

March 25, 2026

Leadership Notes

     I am not a huge college wrestling fan. I only follow college basketball during March Madness. But more than anything else, I love it when young Christian athletes take every opportunity to share their faith.

     Here are two examples:

> Josh Barr, Penn State wrestler, after winning his first NCAA Championship, said:

“I’m grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and that He’s

blessed me to be in this position…All of this will come and go, but

Jesus Christ doesn’t.”

> Chase Johnson, High Point University guard, after their second-round loss in the

NCAA Tournament:

“I trusted in Him not just in the good, but in the bad {this

season}. I understand that suffering is good for us, as followers of

Jesus. I’m taking that into my next route in {pastoral} ministry –

Just leading people by example, as a servant, like Jesus was.”

Foot Note – at the press conference after the loss, Johnston was wearing a “Jesus

Wins” shirt.

     What fine young men these are. And they aren’t the only ones. More and more, we’re seeing young men provide solid Christian leadership wherever God’s sovereign purpose leads them. And that’s always a good thing.

     At the other end of life, there are lots of older men who are outspoken followers of Jesus Christ. Former football coach Tony Dungy comes to mind. As well as the late, great actor Chuck Norris. Throw in musician/ performer Alice Cooper and entrepreneur {Hobby Lobby} David Green, and you’ve got a formidable lineup of men who were/are having an impact for Christ in their little corner of the world where God has placed them. And, that, too, is always a good thing.

     All this leads us to where we are right here at 5290 Milwaukee Road. We are blessed with solid leadership from the men of our church. Men who love the Lord. Men who are confident in their faith in Jesus Christ. I know this might sound weird, but during worship on Sunday morning, when I stop and listen, I can hear the men’s voices. That is a beautiful thing. Men who are devoted followers of Jesus Christ are a blessing to our church and to our culture. Changed lives for Christ is always a good thing.

     And now, your {lengthy} Moment of Spurgeon:

When I say that a man in Christ is a man, I mean that, if he is

truly in Christ, he is therefore manly. There has got abroad

a notion, somehow, that if you become a Christian, you must sink your manliness and turn milksop. It is supposed that you allow

your liberty to be curtailed by a set of negations which you have

not the courage to break through, though you would if you dared.

You must not do this, and you must not do the other: you are to

take out your backbone and become molluscous; you are to be

sweet as honey towards everybody, and every atom of spirit is to

be evaporated from you. You are to ask permission of ministers

and church authorities to breathe, and to become a sort of living

martyr, who lives a wretched life in the hope of dying in the odor

of sanctity. I do not believe in such Christianity at all. The

Christian man, it seems to me, is the noblest style of man; the

freest, bravest, most heroic, and most fearless of men. If he is

what he should be, he is, in the best sense of the word, a man all

over, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot.

He is such a man because he has realized his own personal

responsibility to God. He knows that to his own Master he stands

or falls - that he shall have to give an account in the day of

judgment for his thoughts, his words, his acts - and therefore he

does not pin himself to any man's sleeve, be he priest, or minister,

or whatever he may be called. He thinks for himself, takes the

Bible and reads for himself, and comes to God in Christ Jesus

personally, and on his own account. He is not content to do

business with underlings, but goes to the Head of the great

firm….

Young men, to you I would honestly say that I would be ashamed

to speak of a religion that would make you soft, cowardly,

effeminate, spiritless, so that you would be mere simpletons in

business, having no souls of your own, the prey of every designing

knave. Young men, I have tried the faith of Jesus Christ, and I

have found it give me "pluck" - that is an old Saxon word, but it is

exactly what I mean. It puts soul into a man, 

firmness, resolution, courage.

With Much Love and Affection,

             Richard