"Unashamed Relentlessness" Where there is no vision the people perish. Proverbs 29:18 Recently I had the opportunity to see the movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness”. It is the true life story of Chris Gardner portrayed by Will Smith. I went away encouraged by this man’s un-ashamed tenacity. I was inspired regarding his success in spite of odds against him. I was motivated by his relentlessness. My Spirit man was bolstered by his refusal to give up. Vision is a basic human need. Where there is no vision the people perish. Jesus lived and died for what is undeniably the most profound and powerful vision in all of history. Because He is, we also must be people of vision, who are determined and who set goals. I remember when I fully surrenddered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ at Canaan Land Ministries. God began to place within me goals and a vision. It took years for the vision to actually manifest, but I kept myself aware of it and constrained myself to certain disciplines in my everyday life in order to eventually take hold of it. I must admit sometimes I became weary, and I became frustrated. But in those times of loneliness, and being exhausted in my wait, I would journal my communications to God and allow Him to minister back to me. I still have my journals, and when I go back to them and review, I am amazed at the encouragement that I received from the Lord. God wanted me to succeed far more than I could have wanted it for myself. I ponder what would have become of me had I given up before the vision became a reality. Perhaps I would be involved in some type of work for the Lord, but more probably I would have become far less than what God had intended for me. Yet it is not just about me. In my lesser state, I would have been limited in position to touch as many people for God. I also think I could have quite possibly returned to my former life style of bondage to drugs. I heard a saying before we ever opened Shiloh and I hold it to be truth. It goes like this, “A man without a vision is a man without a future and a man without a future will always return to his past.” When I think about this New Year, I am challenged into thinking about goals to be aiming for in the next 365 days. I am talking about goals that will make a difference in my life as well as others for the Glory of God. Things that matter eternally for the Glory of God will not be achieved without inquiring of Him, and allowing Him to fill us with His desire. Successful people tend to be passionate people. These are people who have intense desire. If you can focus passion for a divine purpose, you will be successful for His Glory. I heard an Evangelist say, “that if we do not have the passion to be relentless then we should leave it alone”. The term relentless means you will not take no for an answer. You refuse to quit. A terrible thing happens to people who give up too easily. It is called regret. It takes faith to pursue your vision day in and day out in the midst of opposition. Some people appear on the outside to have everything going for them; it is like success is dancing all around them, ready to spring upon them. But one thing is for sure, Faith is an equal opportunity business. It is by faith that we take hold of the promises of God. How badly do you want something? You can have what you will pursue and you are determined to obtain. Diligence is a man’s prized possession. I want to add here that God cares about every aspect of our lives. He cares about how we handle and what we pursue on a personal level as well as what we do that will affect others. My wife set her goals short term and long term for last year. One of her goals was to replace every door inside the parsonage where we live. The parsonage has quite a bit of age on it and the doors were no exception. She set her heart on having new doors to all the rooms. Every special occasion that would be coming up, I would ask her, “What do you want?” Her answer was already fixed and you could not persuade her otherwise. “I want a door.” As I write this newsletter, I know she got those doors, and all of them I might add, one by one, because she was determined to have those doors. If you are wondering if this is a Godly desire, let me help you, It is. God cares about our stewardship. It is my hopes with this newsletter to inspire you to get you some goals and to not give up! Be relentless unashamedly. We were able by the grace of God to achieve Godly goals for 2006 at Shiloh. Many things were possessed because of goals. The water well was purchased which was a costly endeavor. The renovations of the offices were completed giving us extra office space that was greatly needed. We are nearly halfway complete with the Chapel renovations. Wood that had encased the windows had become decayed, and the windows were acrylic and quite antiquated. The walls inside were dark and cold. A major undertaking! All because why? God placed within us some goals to aim for. We believe we developed and nurtured in some personal virtues as well. We were challenged early on in 2006 with LOVE. We continue to hold this as our gauge for everything we say, think, and do. We maintained the vision of taking men in from all over the United States. We watched God deliver them from the bondage of substance abuse, and we got to witness first hand these men getting to know God as a Father. I urge you to get with God and ask Him to inspire you with some goals for 2007. Be determined to make it a monumental year of success. “The plans of the diligent lead to profit.” Proverbs 21:5 Rocky Fondren