BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

1 0 : B V O V to preach that I preached as hard as I could— everything from Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts and T.L. Osborn all rolled together. As I ran back and forth across that platform, fi red up, I stepped too close to the edge and fell o the stage—right into the bass drum. Can you imagine? There I was, the preacher, my bottom in the bass drum and my arms and legs sticking out! Everyone in the audience stood wide-eyed, looking to see where I had gone. "Lord, what do I do?" Get up quick, He said. Do a Micah 7:8: When I fall, I shall arise. Don't even mention the fall. Just get up, take up right where you left o , and act like this is the way you preach all the time. I did just as He said. I didn't quit. I got up, stepped back on the platform and kept preaching. It turned out to be a great service. Afterward, a lady approached me. "Brother Jerry, why did you fall o the platform?" "It was an accident," I admitted, "but did you see the getting up? That was quite a recovery!" "Do you fall often?" she asked. "No. Did you see the getting up?" I repeated. "Is there something wrong with you?" she pressed. "Do you need prayer?" "I don't want to talk about the fall," I said. "Did you see the getting up?" Many people are like that woman. They spend their entire lives talking about the fall. They think God's teaching them something down there, but God doesn't want us to focus on the fall. He wants us to get back up and talk about the recovery. The Art of Continuing I understand the urge to quit. Quitting used to be a way of life for me. I'd get under pressure, and I'd look for the path of least resistance. It started when I was young. After high school, I planned to go into the automotive business like my dad, but my dad had other plans. He wanted me to go to college, so that's what I did. Then two weeks before the fi rst semester ended, I quit. "Son, what are you doing home in the middle of the week?" my dad asked when I pulled up in my '57 Chevrolet. "I quit," I said. "I want to work on cars. Can you give me a job?" Two weeks later, in the fall of 1964, I received a draft letter for the war. Since I didn't want to go to Vietnam, I returned to college. During the day, I worked on cars. At night, I took classes. After Carolyn and I married, I decided that balancing everything was too much, so I quit college again. I started doing paint and body work for my dad, who was now the body shop foreman at a Buick dealership. About six weeks later, I quit and started working for the Lincoln Mercury dealership. Two months later, I quit and changed jobs again. Quitting became my lifestyle. If some- one made me mad, I'd quit. If I believed I'd been wronged, I'd quit. Thankfully, all that changed when I fi rst heard Brother Copeland, dedicated my life to the Lord and got into the Word of God. The fi rst scripture I read was John 8:31-32: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (emphasis mine). That little word "continue" jumped out of my Bible and into my heart. The Lord said, This is the missing ingredient in your life. You have always been a great starter, but you've never been a great fi nisher. And if you don't develop the art of continuing you will never be the minister I want you to be, the husband I want you to be and the father I want you to be. You have to settle it once and for all that from this day forward quitting is no longer an option in your life. God turned a quitter into someone whose life's theme has become "Don't Quit." Forty-nine years later, quitting is still no longer an option. Why People Quit Proverbs 24:16 says, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again." If the devil knocks you down seven times, then get up eight. That's how you beat him. Sadly, many in the Body of Christ give up too quickly. I believe they do so for one of three reasons. The fi rst reason is that they are not convinced that God will keep His Word. One day after reading Hebrews 11:1, which says, "Now faith is Jerry Savelle is president and founder of Jerry Savelle Ministries International and founder of Heritage of Faith Christian Center, Crowley, Texas. For information or ministry materials, visit jerrysavelle.org. Watch Jerry Savelle on C H A N N E L Jerry Savelle on C H A N N E L Sun. 4:30 a.m. | 5:30 p.m. Tues. 2 p.m. | Fri. 6 a.m. | Midnight ET visit jerrysavelle.org. Watch i

• Cover