Faithful Then. Faithful Now.

January 11, 2026

Dr. Paul Cannings

Someone said to me recently, “WOW! I saw a picture of you when the church started—and your hair was all black.” The Holy Spirit immediately convicted me of the thought I was about to say: “You see what you did to me.” As you can see, I am still a work in progress.

One of the most beautiful traits of walking with the Lord is that He never grows tired of nurturing us, disciplining us, and refining us toward spiritual maturity. There is an aspect of this process that truly warms my heart, found in these verses—I’ll underline the words that impacted me most:

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.”(Hebrews 12:6; NASU — don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the scourging part of this verse).

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2–3; NASU)

And because it continues by saying, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples,” I feel deeply blessed—even when I am stressed.

Paul told Timothy:

“Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.” (1 Timothy 4:15–16; NASU)

I pray that my progress is not merely gray hair and body fat—lol. I pray that my progress has been a blessing to your lives and to your families, because I am “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6; NASU)

We have experienced many hills and valleys in the Lord’s church—and I praise God that there have been more hills than valleys. Through it all, the One who is our Shepherd has sustained us and deepened our thirst to love Him more (Psalm 23). My prayer is that everyone who has served in this ministry has been stirred to fall more deeply in love with Christ, so that each time we ‘live the Word, lives are changed’—for His glory and your blessing.

I was surprised recently when I turned on the television and saw a forty-four-year-old playing quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. I leaned forward just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. He was still incredibly accurate with his throws. His love for

the game kept him sharp. In the same way, no matter how long we have walked with the Lord, we must love Him sincerely (John 14:15) so that our love (His love in us) sharpens our relationship with Him as He continues to nurture, discipline, and refine us for His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is not merely the length of the journey that matters, but the depth to which it has guided us in experiencing the inner power of God (Ephesians 3:14–21; John 4:34).

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!