Faithfulness – The Lowedown

October 22, 2026

David’s Commencement Speech

1 Kings 2

¹As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: ²“I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. ³Observe the requirements of the LORD your God and follow all his ways. Keep each of the laws, commands, regulations, and stipulations written in the law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. ⁴If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me: ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ (1 Kings 2:1-4, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Back in May, my wife graduated from Talbot Seminary with her Masters degree. It was the culmination of 4 years of hard work and diligent study.

The commencement speaker was none other than Crawford Lorritts, a familiar face for us as he was a long-time staff member with Cru before becoming the Senior Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Georgia.

The commencement speech often serves to not only celebrate the milestone accomplishments of the graduates but to impart valuable wisdom as they embark on a new professional journey. Speakers often use their platform to encourage the graduates to live and work in such a way that they make a positive impact on the world over the course of their lifetime.

David was nearing the end of 40 years of rule as the king of Israel. He had experienced much in his lifetime and had finished well. He had the benefit of a lifetime of service and sacrifice to pass on to his son who was just beginning his tenure as king and was wet behind the ears politically, militarily and as a leader in general.

Dr. Lorritts used the words of David from this passage to encourage and challenge the Biola and Talbot graduates in the audience.

Dr. Lorritts opened with this statement:

“When you are born, you look like your parents…when you die, you look like your decisions.”

The choices we make in life are ultimately what define us, not our heritage, our pedigree, the degrees we’ve earned or the credentials we’ve accumulated. The decisions we make will shape our legacy. Dr. Lorritts highlighted three challenges that David gave to his son Solomon before he passed.

The first thing David said to Solomon is that everyone will die someday. “There will be a day, Solomon, when you will be at the end of your life, just as I am now.” David’s charge to his son was to live courageously.

Paul, in his final words in his first letter to the Corinthians, shares the same idea when he says:

Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13)

Life is full of choices and sometimes our choices will be hard. David’s challenge to Solomon, and God’s challenge to us, is to be courageous and make the right decisions, even when they’re hard.

Click here to see a A Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference

The second charge Dr. Lorritts made to the prospective graduates was to decide to live obediently (vs 3). Dr. Lorritts said that “disobedience is far more expensive than obedience.”

We will be faced with opportunities to take the easy way out – to compromise. But disobedience often leads to consequences that have far-reaching effects. People often choose disobedience because they’re either unaware of the consequences or they don’t properly evaluate the scope of the consequences. Many people foolishly think that there will be no negative consequences to bad decisions. This is naive and short-sighted.

The consequences of our actions always catch up to us.

The third charge that Dr. Lorritts gave to his audience was to decide (choose) to live faithfully (vs 4).

Dr. Lorritts said that faithfulness has to do with making the right small choices on a daily basis. It’s not perfection but it is persistent pursuit that says you can be trusted.

Being consistently faithful in small decisions is what the Bible calls “training in righteousness”. It’s conditioning your mind, your body and your heart to respond the right way. When you do that consistently in little things, it’s easier to make the right decision in the harder, bigger things. I wrote about this in my blog posts, “Can Golf Nourish Your Soul?” and also “Training in Righteousness (Part 2).”

Ironically, Solomon, though he was said to be the wisest person to ever live, did not ultimately heed the words of his father. Though he started off well, he foolishly discarded his father’s advice later in his life and the results were disastrous. Solomon’s legacy was tainted and the consequences of his disobedience and unfaithfulness negatively impacted the nation of Israel for generations.

Solomon did much that was good during the course of his reign, but in the end, he was led astray by his many foreign wives to forsake the Lord in pursuit of foreign gods. His inability to follow the Lord with his whole heart, as his father David had, led to a split within the kingdom. Sadly, Solomon’s example of unfaithfulness would be repeated countless times by subsequent kings, culminating in Israel’s punishment and conquest at the hands of the Assyrians and then later, the Babylonians.

The nation of Israel learned first-hand that “disobedience is far more expensive than obedience.”

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

Reflection

What is the best commencement speech you have heard? What made it the best?

What advice did the commencement speaker at your high school and college graduations give?

Solomon was the wisest person to ever live and he wrote much of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, highlighting is extensive wisdom. Why do you think that Solomon was not able to live out the wisdom that he heard from his father and that he himself had penned?

How would you evaluate your ability to follow these 3 charges from David: to live courageously, live obediently, and live faithfully? How would you rate yourself? Where do you need to improve?

What steps might a person take to help live out these three challenges more consistently? How can you ensure that you won’t forsake the Lord later in life in pursuit of false gods or idols?

Photo by Adedire Abiodun: https://www.pexels.com/photo/professor-yemi-osinbajo-making-a-speech-at-obafemi-awolowo-university-in-ile-ife-osun-state-nigeria-10550102/

May 6, 2026

What Does it Mean to Bear Fruit that Lasts?

John 15

¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit]—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:16-17, NIV)

The Daily DAVEotional

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what makes a ministry effective – what it means to bear fruit.

Within our own ministry with Cru and certainly within the church where we’re involved, there’s a lot of ministry activity. Meetings, events, campaigns and lots of talk of growth and numbers. Statistics. Charts.

It’s all good stuff. I’m not complaining. I know that for every number, there’s a person whose life has been impacted. It’s good and appropriate to celebrate success and all that the Lord has done.

However, I sometimes wonder if Jesus’ own ministry might be considered an abject failure when evaluated by modern church growth strategies and metrics.

After all, though Jesus preached to the masses, he had a relatively small following of just over 100 men (and some women too), with only 12 men in his inner circle.

One of those 12 men betrayed Jesus, leading to His arrest and crucifixion, while the rest of His disciples ALL deserted Him when He was in His darkest hour.

I’m not sure Jesus’ ministry looked “fruitful” to the modern evangelical church.

However, in John 15:16, Jesus said to his disciples,

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”

It seems that “fruit” is evaluated not by its immediate result, but its lasting impact.

A few months back, I took a trip to Northern California to visit friends and ministry partners, many of whom are former students from our many years of campus ministry.

One of my first meet-ups was with Eric and Lane, two friends and former students from our early years at San Jose State.

Lane (left) and Eric (center) were a part of small groups I led way back in my early years with Cru at San Jose State University.

Eric was one of the first students I ever met when I arrived at San Jose State University as a new Campus Crusdae for Christ staff member. He wasn’t a believer but soon placed his faith in Christ and, like Lane, has been on a trajectory of growth for the last 37 years. Both of these men are exhibiting enduring faith, walking with Christ even in the midst of unbelievably challenging life circumstances.

Mike got involved with Cru at UC Davis when we were just starting out and maybe had 5 students.He was a gifted leader and an amazing guitar player who had a heart for worship.

Mike was one of the first few students to get involved with Cru when we started the ministry at UC Davis nearly 30 years ago

Mike had a crazy vision to put a worship band together when we had only 15 students. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, but we went with it and that act of faith was highly “instrumental” (do you see what I did there?) in our ability to attract students and expose them to our vision.

That launched us on a growth trajectory that helped us grow our ministry from those original 5 students to over 300 in a decade. The fruit from those years is still having an impact today.

Now, almost 30 years later, Mike is still walking with Christ and leading worship at his church while exhibiting enduring faith.

At the close of my trip, I met with Sean, another one of those early students at UC Davis when we were just starting out.

Sean was one of our first students involved with Cru at UC Davis when we started the ministry there. After graduating, he spent 20+ years as a missionary in the Middle East before returning recently to the states with his family.

Sean was one of the first students from our ministry to heed the call to missionary service, spending 20+ years as a missionary to the Middle East before recently being called to return home with his family.

Sean, like these other men, is an example of the lasting fruit that Jesus referenced in John 15:16.

In a culture where so many are deconstructing their faith, leaving the church, or inventing a “new and enlightened” path wrapped in a thin Christian veneer, enduring faith is a faith that keeps going year after year, trial after trial, faithfully serving, trusting, staying true to the gospel and impacting others in small and often unnoticed ways.

This is fruit that lasts!

Reflection

The post takes the position that “fruit that lasts” is enduring faith. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not? If you disagree, how would you define or describe “fruit that lasts”?

What are some examples in your own life of “fruit that lasts”?

If Jesus has appointed us to bear fruit that lasts, which is likened to faith that endures trials, struggles and the demands of life over time, what practical implications does that have for the way we do ministry and the way we evaluate fruitfulness?

What do you think the church (people) should do or could do in order to ensure that we are bearing fruit that lasts? In other words, if we’re called to bear fruit that lasts, how do you think we (the church) do that?

Photo by jose alfonso sierra on Unsplash

February 10, 2023October 28, 2025

Three Reasons to Be Courageous

Joshua 1

¹After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, ²“Now that my servant Moses is dead, you must lead my people across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. ³I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Everywhere you go, you will be on land I have given you—⁴from the Negev Desert in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River on the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and all the land of the Hittites.’ ⁵No one will be able to stand their ground against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

⁶“Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people to possess all the land I swore to give their ancestors. ⁷Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed. ⁹I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:1-9, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

In December, our family attended a Christmas Eve Service at Saddleback Church in Southern California. The church was as full as I’ve seen it since before the pandemic.

After 40+ years, this was the first Christmas Eve service without Rick Warren as the Senior Pastor.

After a great session of worship through singing, the new pastor, Andy Wood, came out on stage and greeted the crowd. Knowing that many of the people in the audience may not have attended a Saddleback service since last Christmas, he shared, “Some of you may be wondering, ‘who’s this guy?’ Well, after 42 years at the helm of Saddleback church, Pastor Rick stepped down as the senior pastor at the end of August. I remember last spring when I heard that Pastor Rick was going to be stepping down. I wondered ‘who is the moron who is going to follow the legendary Rick Warren in leading Saddleback church?’ Well, it turns out I’m the moron and I’d like to welcome you to Saddleback’s Christmas Eve Service!”

In Joshua 1, there is a similar exchange of leadership that occurs. Moses, who has led the Israelite people for 40 years, has just died and Joshua, his loyal understudy, is now assuming the mantle of leadership.

Try to put yourself in Joshua’s shoes (or sandals as it were) for a moment if you can. What do you think was going through his mind? He’s probably asking questions like:

Do I have what it takes?

What if I fail?

How can I effectively lead all these people?

I’m not Moses. What if these people won’t follow me?

What emotions do you think you would be feeling if you were asked to take over for a legendary leader? Keep in mind too that Joshua was tasked with finishing the job of bringing the entire Israelite nation (probably over 1 million people) into the promised land, which would require countless military conquests to displace the many different inhabitants of the land.

It’s quite possible, maybe even likely, that Joshua was experiencing fear, insecurity, anxiety, doubt, hesitation, loneliness and even grief at the loss of his friend and mentor.

God’s message to Joshua is simple: be strong and courageous.

God gives Joshua three reasons to be strong and courageous.

First, he says Joshua should be strong and courageous because he (Joshua) will lead the people into the land that God swore to give them. God had made a promise that He would bring His people into the land and God is faithful to fulfill His promises. The first reason to be strong and courageous is because God is faithful and completely trustworthy to do what He has said He would do.

The second reason to be strong and courageous is because God has given guidelines for success. Twice in this passage, God says that if Joshua obeys His word and follows His commands, he (Joshua) will be successful (verses 7 and 8).

In God’s economy, success is not measured by the amount of money you have, the kind of car you drive or the zip code where you live. Success is measured in obedience to God’s word. By following God’s commands, Joshua would be ensured of success.

The third reason to be strong and courageous is because of God’s presence. God tells Joshua that he doesn’t have to be afraid because He (God) will be with him.

You may not be in a position where you’re replacing a legendary leader, but you may be experiencing doubt, anxiety or fear just the same because of the situation you’re in. God’s message is the same to us as it was to Joshua – we can be strong and courageous because God is faithful, God has given us guidelines that, if followed, will yield success, and God is with us.

Reflection

What kinds of situations make it more difficult for you to be strong and courageous?

What difference would it make in your outlook if you truly believed that God is faithful to fulfill His promises, following His word ensures success, and we’ve been assured of His presence with us?

Which of the three reasons given to be strong and courageous (recognizing God’s faithfulness, obeying His word and experiencing HIs presence) are most difficult for you and why?

What systems or habits do you have in place to help you recognize God’s faithfulness, integrate God’s word into your life and experience His presence?

Photo by Dave Lowe – Saddleback Christmas Eve service, December 2022