EMPOWER EVANGELISM CONFERENCE: Texas evangelists challenged to be fearless, persevering

EULESS?Those attending the Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists (COTBE) at First Baptist Church of Euless Feb. 6 were exhorted to walk by faith, finish well the task God gives them, and to maintain undivided hearts toward God.

The COTBE session preceded the Empower Evangelism Conference.

Preaching from 1 Chronicles 28, evangelist Alan Buchanek of Longview explained how David commanded his son, Solomon, to “Be strong and do it” as he explained God’s plan for Solomon to oversee the temple’s construction.

David promised God’s blessing and care over Solomon until he had faithfully finished the work.

“He said ‘Be strong and do it’?twice,” Buchanek noted.

“God’s not impressed with the quitters, whiners. God is looking for good finishers. It’s not how well we start; it’s how we finish that matters most to God.”

Buchanek said most entrants into the rigorous Iron Man Triathlon don’t compete to win the race but rather to finish well. He told of a distance runner at the 1968 Olympics who was injured during a fall and yet refused to quit, limping across the finish line several hours after the other runners.

“My country didn’t send me here to start this race,” Buchanek said, relaying the runner’s comments to reporters. “My country sent me here to finish it.”

Buchanek added, “That’s God’s word to us.”

Dennis Erwin of Edgewood, Texas closed out the COTBE session, preaching from Hosea 10 and urging his listeners to seek revival by bearing the fruit of God’s presence, and worshiping God authentically with undivided hearts.

Erwin said ancient Israel at Hosea’s time was full of religious activity, “but it was all wrong” and included idol worship and a people with divided hearts.

“When we quit being faithful to the house of God, we’ll find other gods to worship,” he said.