One of Winston Churchill’s most legendary speeches came after series of devastating defeats in Europe.  His country was in the heat of the Battle of Brittan and he said, “Never give in, never give in.  Never, never, never, never – in nothing great, small or petty – never give in.”  His words inspired a nation standing on the brink of destruction.  Alone in Europe against overwhelming odds Churchill stared down Hitler as he threatened invasion time and time again.  Churchill never, never, never, never gave in!  His courage inspired the English to victory!

Too many times in my life I have seen people give in or give up too quickly.  How many times have I heard people say, “God said” only later to hear that God changed his mind?  How many marriages have ended in divorce because one of both parties gave in too quickly?  How many people have given in to the pain of sickness or disease and died hours before a turn around?  How many great ideas have failed because they were never acted upon or given up before proving themselves?  How many people have entered eternity without their reward because they gave in to the circumstance, peer pressure and the status quo never achieving what the Lord had for them?

Paul gives us the Word of God in Hebrews 12:1-4 on how to finish our race never giving in to the negative circumstances or demonic attacks:

• Analyze and investigate others that have gone where you want to go.
• Stop everything that would distract you, slow you down or take you off course.
• Know that the devil knows exactly what would cause you to quit.
• Understand that time is a necessary ingredient to success.

• Jesus wrote your life plan and he has empowered you to fulfill it.
• Look past the reasons to quit to the thrill of victory waiting on the other side.
• Draw energy and strength from the forces arrayed against you.
• Hate the resistance but love the challenge
• Use Jesus as your ultimate example; He overcame the world in his quest for the throne even though it caused his own blood to flow.

As a missionary I have had wonderful opportunities to quit!  Living in another country, speaking another language and dealing with different customs have brought me to my knees in frustration many times.

I have come to understand that worry is one of the devil’s greatest weapons.  It creates anxiety and gives birth to doubt and unbelief.  It destroys self confidence and opens the door to discouragement!  Worry is nothing more than belief in an undetermined future event.  I believe more people have given up because of worry, the mere anticipation of failure, than failure itself.

To stay in the fight and finish strong one must understand that worry is nothing but torment from the devil; it is never an alert from God. God does not communicate that way.

If the devil was going to do anything to you he would never warn you; he would just do it.  Remember Goliath screamed and threatened but he never killed anyone.  The temptation to worry then actually brings relief because it reveals that the devil is incapable of defeating you.

Faith never quits it out lives the problem!

Rocky J. Malloy

The famous first sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s great novel, Anna Karenina, offers a wealth of insight and understanding. “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Tolstoy built an entire novel on this one sentence.  He demonstrated that in order to be happy, a marriage must succeed in many different respects: sexual attraction, agreement about money, child discipline, religion, in-laws, and other vital issues.  Failure in any one essential element can doom a marriage even if all the other ingredients needed for success and happiness are present.  All it takes to drive a relationship to destruction is one missing element!  However when all the pieces are present the whole is greater than the sum of the parts creating a relationship that radiates love and harmony.  This same principle can be extended to understand much more about life than just marriage.

The path to success actually requires avoiding many separate possible causes of failure.  Navigation is the most complex of all thought processes because it does not just involve arriving at a predetermined location it also means not choosing millions of other possibilities.  Because avoiding many separate possibilities of failure is much more mentally fatiguing than concentrating on a single factor we have a tendency to assume that “success” is somewhere we arrive instead of the many places we don’t go.  Maybe that is why so few people actually experience the kind of success they think they are capable of achieving.  They have never learned that success is saying “no” a thousand times for every “yes”.

Unfortunately we tend to seek easy, single–factor explanations for success in any area of life.  Millions have bought into “get rich quick” schemes because they are so much more appealing than the real work of discipline and discernment!  The same philosophy has been used to sell weight loss programs, body building supplements, medications and drugs in general.  Even spirituality has many times been approached with the same concept of one size fits all!

Some are so convinced that success was due to a magic bullet because that was the critical factor they were missing.  They generally think that what brought them success is the solution for everybody else.  A powerful personal testimony combined with the evidence of success makes it tempting to buy into “their solution” instead of asking God what you need.

One of the greatest obstacles to success, achieving our dreams or accomplishing our goals is blindness to our own weak link(s): our imperfections or character flaws.  Stress increases and the internal pressures build as we keep working harder and harder only to fall prey to the law of diminishing returns all the while blinded to the answer.

The solution brings us back to the family both terrestrial and celestial.  Marriage came before the fall, survived sin and is waiting for us in heaven because it identifies our weaknesses and gives us an opportunity to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  According to extensive research the happiest and most successful people in life have been in a long term relationship.  A man and woman submitted to each other are more humble, open-minded and capable of being educated and changed than either one alone.

Friends are closer than family when they risk telling us the truth in love.  We need the perspective of someone we trust to help us see the gap in our lives that is creating failure.

Rocky J. Malloy

You’ve probably heard something of the mild firestorm over comments that Brit Hume made this past weekend on the “Fox News Sunday”. Brit has been in a small group Bible study for quite a while, led by Jerry Leachman Chaplain for the Washington Redskins. Coming from such a high profile player with a national following and recognition for his integrity and insight for so many years, what he unabashedly laid out for the nation to consider as Tiger’s best course of action to be will carry weight regardless of the controversy.

This is certainly unprecedented, as we have never heard anything like it before. It is quite a different matter from Hume being asked about how a personal friend, Tony Snow faced cancer so courageously, as tragic times and emotional bonds provide an understandable context for a top-tier newscaster to speak in terms of personal beliefs.

One thing at least seems clear, Hume is caring less and less about what the media establishment considers being protocol, and appears to be looking for opportunities to mention Jesus. Hat’s off to Brit, as he brings a unique credibility to his message in an environment completely devoid of the Gospel.

I would truly appreciate it if you read this article with compassion, understanding that what I am about to say has been something on my heart for quite a while.

I was recently in the US for a time of ministry and vacation with the family.  Our last ministry stop was in Pigeon Forge, TN.  While pulling out of the pastor’s drive way I heard a scream coming from the backseat.  It was our youngest, Jerome.  I jumped up to see half of my son’s leg gone, meaning I couldn’t see it.  His older sister had folded the seat down on top of his leg and it was pinched between the two backseats.

Suffice to say that it looked a whole lot worse than it was.  After I flipped out I saw that we were talking ‘pinch’ not ‘amputation’.  After the seat was lifted off his leg he was fine.  As in almost every other incident involving our children I way over reacted.  I am in fact, in fear that something terrible is going to happen to one of my children.

I had fooled myself into thinking that my fear was normal because of where we live until a man in Pigeon Forge asked me why I was so over protective of our children?  When he innocently asked this question both Joske and I jumped forward to here what he had to say.  I was convicted! My irrational emotional exposition seeing son’s leg pinched in the seats only confirmed that fear.

Over the years I have had to fight huge anxiety concerning my children’s safety.  Every time the phone rings after hours and I am not with my children I automatically assume that it is bad news concerning one of them.  I am ashamed to tell you that it has almost become a phobia.  I believe it started when I lived in the jungles of eastern Honduras.  Every time I would get a radio call I would run across the village to the radio operators house almost in tears just knowing that it was my mom calling to tell me my father was dead.  My dad suffered for years before his death with numerous diseases.

When my father’s death did come it was almost a relief.  Now I have similar anxiety about my children.  It has gotten better but it is still a demonic stronghold in my life.  My fear has been compounded by living in the highest crime area in our city, having had two kidnapping attempts on my children and the fact that there are extremely poor medical facilities in Bolivia.  If anything were to happen care would be way below par.

All of these things are beside the point.  My confidence must come from God not from my neighborhood or a hospital.  I am writing this letter to you as an appeal for prayer. Not so much for the safety of my children but to lose the fear that something bad is going to happen to them.  I understand that fear draws the devil toward us to exploit our doubt and unbelief.

So I ask you to please pray against the fear I have in this area.  Would you confess that my children are supernaturally protected by the blood of Jesus and that they will never be involved in any kind accident or calamity according to Psalms 91 and that I, Rocky Malloy, would lose all fear concerning my children.

Thank you for your prayers and concern for my family.

Rocky J. Malloy