ILLUSTRATION
“SAVE ONE MORE FOR JESUS”
Rick Warren shares in his book “The Purpose Driven Life” about his dad who was a pastor for over fifty years serving mostly small rural churches. His dad was not simply a preacher but was a man with a mission. He loved taking teams of volunteers overseas to build church buildings for small congregations. In his lifetime he built over 150 churches around the world.
In 1999 his dad died of Cancer. In the final week of his life the disease kept him awake in a semi-conscious state nearly twenty-four hours a day. As he dreamed, he’d talk out loud about what he was dreaming. Sitting by his bedside, Rick Warren shares that he learned a lot about his dad just listening to his dreams. He relived one building project after another.
One night near the end while Rick and his wife and niece were by his side, his dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of the bed. Of course he was too weak and Rick’s wife insisted he lay back down. But he persisted in trying to get out of the bed so Rick’s wife asked, “Jimmy what are you trying to do?” He replied “Got to save one more for Jesus”, Got to save one more for Jesus, Got to save one more for Jesus. He repeated that
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