Never, Never, Never, Ever Give Up

This afternoon I was watching the Houston Texans play football against the Tennessee Titans. The Texans were down by 29 points in the fourth quarter, but they did not give up. By a series of well-played passes and an onside kick they moved ahead by one point. But there were still 57 seconds left in the game and the Titans did not give up either. They went on to win the game with a field goal with two seconds left on the game clock.

This was an exciting game and a real demonstration of determination. As I watched I remembered what a fellow writer told me about a famous author. He was rejected by publishers 110 times, she said. But he never gave up and now he is a best selling novelist. Never, ever give up.

Both instances are interesting and challenging to say the least. It reminds me of that famous quote by Winston Churchill. "Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."



I put this together with a movie some friends watched with my wife and me. The movie was Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett. It's the story of England's first great Queen and her navy's defeat of the invincible Spanish Armada. In 1588 Philip of Spain sent over 100 ships against her and her nation. Joined by the Duke of Parma of the Netherlands, with their superior forces the Catholic Spaniards were determined to sail all the way to London to capture the country with its heretical Protestant Queen. But it never happened.


Elizabeth did not give up. She remained confident in God and encouraged her people as well. The weather in the English channel was dreadful. Storm winds and rain were against the Spanish. They were unable to maneuver the treacherous coastline waters. The English sent burning ships to ram the Spanish gunships and set them afire. Others fearfully pulled anchor and were driven by the winds to wreck on the rocks. What was left of the Armada fled in terror. However, the only way back to Spain was the perilous journey around the coast of Scotland. Thousands of Spanish men sank with their ships. The English won a decisive battle. The Spanish suffered their worst defeat in the history of their Armada.

So I'm watching the Texans/Titans football game, thinking about Churchill and getting my review of British history via Hollywood all in one weekend and I'm wondering, What can I learn from all this? And does it match in any way with what the Bible says? Or is this merely the stuff of coaches, queens and motivational speakers?

Then I remembered Hebrews 12 and what the Bible says about Christians being trained to follow Jesus. It's all about this never, ever give up attitude.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus," says the writer. He is "the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

He focused upon his goal with flint-like determination (Isaiah 50:4-9). Nothing could deter him, neither false accusations nor lies, hatred nor beatings, unimagined suffering nor death. He endured it all and won God's eternal mercy and forgiveness for all of us sinners.

Now we're called to follow in his footsteps, writes the Hebrews author. And through it all he is working in us and through us. I'm no football player. I've never been a soldier or a sailer. I'll never be a king or politician. But I am a husband, father, grandfather, pastor, author, writer, friend and neighbor. In all these callings I find myself challenged and at times discouraged. I get so weary with people's failings, greed, selfishness and pettiness, to say nothing of my own many weaknesses. Often I've wanted to give up, give in and run to hide in some remote mountain.

Then I turn back to Hebrews 12 and I hear my Master tell me that even at this advanced stage in life I'm being trained, disciplined and prepared for whatever today and tomorrow will bring. Could it be that I still have something to contribute to the lives of those around me, to my family, friends and fellow believers? Certainly, says the Hebrew writer. Hang in there. Discipline always "produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Okay. I'll take your Word for it, Lord. And you, if you're reading this, what about you? Never, never, never, ever give up!

Our Daughter Has Red Hair

Three days ago Sylvia and I called our daughter Cheryl Lee in Lyford, Texas. It was her birthday and together we recalled that momentous day when she was born. I say momentous, because we already had two sons and in those days did not know ahead of time what sex this next baby would be. When the nurse came out to announce to me that my wife had given birth to a daughter I was, to say the least, ecstatic.

And then she said something else that made it even more special. She said our baby daughter had a full head of RED hair. Neither of our boys had red hair, but Cheryl Lee did. I simply could not believe it.

By the way, please know that I was not permitted to be present for the birth. In 1960 that was considered woman's work and dads were relegated to the waiting rooms.

Cheryl Lee said something about her red hair in our conversation this week. "Did you know," she asked, "that both parents have to carry the red hair gene before the baby can be born with that color?" We both admitted that we were not aware of that fact. We now know that less than 4% of the human population has red hair. National Geographic also says that red hair can be traced back to prehistoric Britain. Scotland, Wales and Australia have more redheads than any other places on earth.

Our daughter's comments led, of course, into a discussion about the fact that Sylvia's mother had red hair and I had a red beard when I was younger. So we concluded that it was only natural that our daughter should have this beautiful red/auburn hair. I can trace my heritage back to Great Britain on my mother's side. My wife's background goes to Germany and Switzerland. Who knows what mysteries led to our daughter's red hair?

And who knows what mysteries lurk in the gene pool of any of us? All this is a fascinating topic that is surfacing in our day. Ultimately, I believe we're all traceable back to a common ancestral family. Cheryl Lee's red hair certainly got us to thinking about all those thousands of people in our backgrounds who passed on that tiny gene. And then came that wondrous day when that little girl with red hair became a member of our family.