My dear son,

Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without fear. Do not grow weary or tired of the gospel. Do not relent in keeping Jesus at the center of your life and ministry. Preach the gospel’s power to rescue a soul from hell and preach the gospel’s power to transform a person’s life into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Do not give into the temptation to remove the gospel from your teaching in order to preach what the culture wants to hear or to carry the banner of moral goodness. For moral goodness devoid of the gospel is empty rhetoric and the culture around you will seldom reflect the truth of God’s Word.

I urge you as a father urges his son to protect your heart and mind from the evil in your culture. Do whatever it takes to keep your heart and mind pure. Love others generously and be overflowing with grace but evaluate everything through the standards and principles of God’s Word. Be eagerly committed to the truth. Even as your methods of communicating truth must change to engage the culture – do not allow the culture to taint or poison the truth of God’s Word.

And finally my son, be a man that reflects the heart of God. Live a life of Biblical integrity. In every area if your life submit fully to God. Love your wife and children to the measure God loves you. They are a treasured gift from God. Lead your family and set before them an example of what it looks like to follow Jesus. Be very careful to seek balance in life and ministry that leans toward your family in time, love, priorities, and energy. Lead your family so that they too will know the transforming power of the Gospel you preach is true, attractive and authentic.

May God bless you in great and mighty ways as you seek his will in life and ministry. May He fill you courage, love and grace and may your life overflow into the generations that come behind you.

Mark E Lingenfelter

A fellow servant of God