Staying on Track By Dr. Bill Lewis
	Written for the June 2005 Georgia State Association of FWB Promotional Bulletin
For awhile as a boy I became enamored with slot cars (those small cars that run on a track along an electric slot). Someone built a track in downtown Moultrie. Many of the boys and a few girls built cars and went each Saturday to race against each other at the track. The secret to winning a slot car race was getting the car to run as fast as it could while keeping the car on the track through the entire race. Somehow most of us young racers could build fast cars; however, our eagerness to win often caused us to jump off the track during the race. One frustration I experienced early on in life was the one that came each time I lost to a slower car that was able to stay on the track. Staying on track is an important part of serving God also. This is especially true when starting a church like Open Door Fellowship (although it does seem that many older churches also have problems staying on track). No matter how well I plan my week; somehow, someway I often find myself jumping off track. My time is consumed by tasks other than those that fit into the purpose to which I dedicated myself to work. As is the case with you, my desire is to stay on the track and finish the race. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” I really want that to be my testimony one day. When I jump off track, I have to stop, determine how I jumped track, and remind myself of what I should be doing. This process often has to occur several times during a day and certainly it occurs many times through a week. However, it should be noted that to be able to get back on track, I must have some knowledge of where the track is. To help me maintain sight of the track so that I might get on with the race, I’ve developed a simple statement derived from God’s word that for me defines what I am to be doing for the Lord in Valdosta. My purpose and that of Open Door Fellowship is to recruit people to Jesus, to repair their hearts through encouragement, to refocus them on that which is important in life by teaching them, to return them trained to the world to serve the Lord , and to do all this to the glory of God. To expedite my getting back on track, the statement can be shortened to recruit, repair, refocus, and return people to the glory of God. I’ve not been able to avoid jumping off track. It continues to happen because I am human; however, when I think I have jumped off track, I simply ask myself if what I’m doing fits the purpose derived from God’s word. Can what I’m doing be classified as recruiting, repairing, refocusing, or returning people to the world to serve God? Can what I’m doing bring glory to the name of God? If the answer is no, then I quickly get myself back on track. As you pray, please remember us at Open Door Fellowship. Pray that Open Door Fellowship will stay on track. Pray that God will be glorified in Valdosta.