FLOODS UPON DRY GROUND, CHAPTER 13: TRANSMITTING THE FAITH

(Note: I started this post with a portion of a video of a 4 x 100-meter relay race. You’ll see why later in the post.)

     We're in the final section of the book "Floods upon Dry Ground", written by Pastors Bobby Duncan and James Jones. The section is entitled, "Final Challenge", and Chapter 13 is entitled. “Transmitting the Faith”.  In my opinion, the chapter could also have been aptly named one of the following two titles:

1. “Revival or Irrelevance”. 
2. "Passing the Baton of True Faith to the Next Generation.”

     Pastor Jones is the author of this chapter. He opened with the following fairly long, but I think very important statement:

“If we are to pass the treasure of truth to the next generation, there must be a reviving of spiritual life today, for there is no acceptable alternative. Mass meetings will not suffice; more highly organized programs can only do so much. Applying all the updated leadership principles, although helpful, is not enough; and as beneficial as higher formal religious education is, it cannot address the deep spiritual needs of the church. Only the work of the Holy Spirit will accomplish what the church so desperately needs today, and that is a renewed awareness of God, an awakening to the need for the confession of sin, the need for improved intimacy with Christ, and the need to worship and serve with fervency of spirit. This is revival, and unless the church experiences it, much will be lost. It is either revival or irrelevance.”

     He then wrote emphatically, “The ground is dry and desperately thirsty for refreshing rain.” He said there is a dire need for the transmission of the true faith of the Bible to the next generation and not a watered-down version.
     Jones went on to give the example of a relay race in which his granddaughter ran. The three major keys to any successful relay race team are the following:

1. Having four fast runners.
2. Having three smooth passages of the baton.
3. The anchor leg runner has to have the baton in hand when crossing the finish line.

     Jones said that his granddaughter was the starting runner, and her team was well in the lead throughout the race. The anchor leg runner, however, was so distracted by the runners behind her that she kept looking back. She eventually stumbled and dropped the baton before crossing the finish line. Remember that it's the baton that has to cross the finish line with the anchor leg runner holding it.
     I included in this post a short video by Anne Graham Lotz about the importance of passing the baton of faith to the next generation, and not bobbling or dropping it before we cross the finish line.

     Finally, we as Christians need to do as Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14:

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead. I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”