The Thursday Update

JUNE 19, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

One of my favorite sayings (and as a public speaker and teacher, I have many) is the one related to what distinguishes successful people from everyone else. It goes like this:

The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people can’t do, won’t do, or just talk about doing.

More than almost any other attribute, being someone who persists in doing a task is the best indicator of success in life, assuming what you’re persisting in is worth doing. Being a person who doesn’t quit very easily, someone who has grit, determination, tenacity, resolve, staying power, and a ceaselessness to their efforts is the best predictor of a person’s success when all other factors are the same between people. People with the exact opposite approach rarely find success. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.

Political figure Newt Gingrich once said, “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”

Of course, it’s important to remember that there are limits to our efforts. We must always allow room for God’s grace to be truly and eternally successful. But all things being equal, pressing on is the sign of success for people who trust in God’s grace as the primary virtue in their life. I know because of what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14. I’ll cover this on Suany as we continue our series in Philippians, “How To Find Joy In Life”.

If you want to find more joy in your life, you need to develop a persistent spirit. God will use it to do great things in your life, including becoming more filled with the joy of Jesus in all you do. And that’s what true success is all about.

Wamrly,
Vince

JUNE 12, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

This Sunday is Father’s Day. For many, this is a chance to celebrate our fathers, whether they are still with us or have passed on, for all the positive contributions they made in our lives (even when they weren’t perfect). For some, this is a challenging time because it may be hard to celebrate our fathers because of their absence or potentially even their abuse.

For all of us, we should do our best to honor our fathers (and mothers, Exodus 20:12) as God commanded. We should also honor fatherhood. After all, it is a role created by God to bring direction and leadership to the family. Fathers are God’s good and gracious provision for the family. We know this is true because God said it’s true (see Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 6:1-4). We also know it is true based on research which affirms God’s Word.

Did you know that children with a father’s presence are healthier, are more secure in their identity and mental health, do better in school, are more likely to succeed as well-adjusted adults, and are much more likely to find faith in Jesus. Listen to this amazing statistic: when a father becomes a Christian, there’s a 93% chance that his children become Christians. That percentage is far, far lower for any other person in the family unit who becomes a Christian. Stunning!

But when a father is absent, children are sicker more frequently (both physically and mentally), are 43% less likely to earn A’s and 33% less likely to earn B’s in school, are more likely to struggle with becoming adults, and are more likely to be imprisoned. Listen to this sad statistic: 85% of all imprisoned youth have an absent father. Staggering!

This is why God created fathers and why we are to honor them. They play such a critical role in God’s plan for the family, for societies, and for the world.

At Lakeshore we will take some time in both services on Sunday to honor fathers and celebrate them. We hope that no matter what your role as a father has been or is, and no matter what your relationship was like with your earthly father, that you’ll be at church on Sunday to thank God the Father for the institution of fatherhood and for fathers. We’ll also continue our series in Philippians, How to Find Joy in Life, by looking at out most important pursuit in life.

Hope to see you Sunday for Father’s Day,
Vince

JUNE 5, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

Culture constantly sends us the message that joy comes from receiving. Corporate commercials tell us that if we just buy their product, we’ll be happier. The lottery tells us that if we win and get more money, we’ll be happier. Society says that if more people do what we ask of them to help our career, we’ll be happier. For the majority, it’s all about what we get. The more we get, the happier we’ll be. On the surface, it seems to make a lot of sense.

But with God, there’s another way to find something bigger and better than the happiness of receiving— it’s the joy of giving your life away through serving.

I’ve found that people who serve— whether it’s serving God’s cause or serving God through serving others— are regularly the most happy and always the most joyful. I don’t always see that in people who do lots of receiving in life. In fact, it seems to build a saddening sense of entitlement. And that never brings joy.

Serving is so important to God that Jesus said in Mark 10:45 that even He came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Do you have a spirit of serving? Do you serve God and people as a regular way of life? Do you find joy through it? We will explore the two primary ways people serve God and find joy in it on Sunday, as we continue our well-received series, “How To Find Joy In Life”.

Thanks for being a church filled with such a great spirit of serving!

Warmly,
Vince