Finishing Well to God’s Glory #142

The best distance runners in the world know that you save your very best for the end of a race.  They call it “a strong kick.”  In other words, you run the last lap faster than your previous ones.  That is the idea behind the title of our podcast: Finish Strong.

In this episode, we examine six ways to ensure that you finish your life in the same way a distance runner finishes the race.  From recognizing your God-given value to laughing a lot to avoiding the things that rob quality from your older years, this advice will help you live your final years to their fullest.

These six principles are gleaned from a book titled Finishing Well to the Glory of God by John Dunlop, MD.  It is filled with great advice on how to make your final years you’re very best!

Transcript

Terry Steen: 0:02

How many of you are getting older? Raise your hand. That's what I thought. You know, as we get older, it's easier to start stepping back not being quite as active and productive in life. Think we all fight that and go through that, but our message here on Finish strong is to not let that happen. My motto is, don't let the old man in. Every time I see something come up that I feel like that's starting to happen, I'll fight it. And we have more to do for God and for His kingdom. So we have a legacy to keep building. So welcome to finish strong podcast. In this episode, we're going to give you some very practical things that you can do to finish. Well, for the glory of God, I'm joined by my friend. He's a elder friend. He's a more mature ministry partner. Dan Wheeler, come on in and join me. You know, it's true.

Dan Wheeler: 1:01

99 100 I'm sorry. I was just doing some curls,

Terry Steen: 1:06

elderly, 70 and I admitted. But you're like, I'm 70 for about a week. Maybe okay, but still, since

Dan Wheeler: 1:17

you're talking about vibrant, I thought I'd rip off a few curls with 50 pound dumbbells. Good job. All right. There were three.

Terry Steen: 1:25

I can't do the one handed push ups anymore either.

Dan Wheeler: 1:30

Well, I'll tell you this idea of finishing well, to the glory of God, finishing strong. It's important, and it's important for people our age, God still got something for each and every one of us to do.

Terry Steen: 1:41

He does. He does, and we have such a fun time. You know, our fearless faith ministry is helping us in that process. And of course, of course, we're missing Brian tonight, right? He's on vacation

Dan Wheeler: 1:56

out there, tanning somewhere across the ocean. I don't know. We do miss them. Brian, get back here soon. Yep.

Terry Steen: 2:04

So we're going to talk about six prescriptions or six things that you can do. It's very practical to finish well for the glory of God, and the first one is, recognize your God given value. You know, everybody wants to live a long time, but nobody wants to grow old. You know, it's as we grow old, we come less like what society esteems. You know, as we go, our culture seems, seems to shift, sometimes looks a little down on older people, and so it makes us feel like, you know, I guess we don't want to go there. We don't want to be thought of that way.

Dan Wheeler: 2:45

Yeah, you know, that's why I don't work out at a gym anymore. I get tired of seeing these guys that are ripped, you know, doing curls with 50 pounds when I'm doing them with five. But no, I it is important to stay young. And you know, we were the Bible teaches respect for elderly people and to use their wisdom. And that's one thing that's so important to know we have the wisdom of 70 years now, well lived and and we can really help the younger generation. So for us, for me, that gives me a lot of energy and enthusiasm to be around younger people. I mentioned you I've spoken to the football team here at St Joe a couple times, and I just what a great privilege. Yeah, I love talking to them, and I love to see what their dreams are. And, you know, we can provide a lot of guidance, yeah, and

Terry Steen: 3:39

there's nowhere in the Bible that it talks with aging as being a problem. It always recognizes it more as a benefit. Proverbs, 1631, gray hair is a crown of glory. It's gained in a righteous life, right? What about no hair? No. Now I don't know that it mentions that. Well, yeah, there's a few bald people. There are a few balls. Yeah, all might have been bald. Your hair look could be biblical. Mine's gonna head biblical.

Dan Wheeler: 4:09

You're losing hair at a biblical rate.

Terry Steen: 4:12

Exactly, no job 1212. Says wisdom is with the aged and understanding and length of day. So really, the Bible gives us and kind of pats us on the back. There's value to be older. It's important to keep that in the forefront of our mind so we can stay aggressive, so we can stay productive and relevant and excited about what we're doing in life.

Dan Wheeler: 4:38

Yeah, and fearless faith has been so great for us and for Brian, because we all had different careers and were able to use our expertise in everything we do. You know you have an accounting major, and you take care of the books and balance sheets that I could never do. And you know Brian, with his technical skills with the radio station. Conversation, and I'm still trying to figure out what my place is in this ministry. Well, we'll figure it out. But yeah, wisdom, it's, it's so different from knowledge. You know, there's a commercial in the song. In the background is something like, I wish that I knew what I know now, you know, yeah, yeah. Would have known what I know now. It would have a difference so many mistakes that we make growing up. It's a part of living but, but now we can look back and say, Oh, wow, I was young and foolish.

Terry Steen: 5:35

That's right, all these years have added value. God has added value to our lives what we have to offer, and we need to recognize it and acknowledge it, and kind of ride that wave.

Dan Wheeler: 5:49

Yeah, I think what so many people do is they just don't think they have anything to offer anymore. But we have people in our community on our fearless faith Facebook page that are saying, you know, I help with my grandkids. I help with people at the church. I take meals to people who are in need. And it's fun to watch and see that we try to encourage people recognize your value and don't just, you know, kind of waste away and don't sleep all day. Do things

Terry Steen: 6:18

exactly, exactly.

Dan Wheeler: 6:22

So it's so important to keep that, you know, and I, you know, Pam and I, we try to stay sharp and find a purpose for each day. You know. We try to memorize Scripture. We're working on some of that. It doesn't come as easy as it did when we were younger, but now we have some of the time to do those things, but people can always, you know, call people or visit people in the hospital. And I just think we need to keep our eyes open, don't you

Terry Steen: 6:48

Exactly, yeah. And as you know, there's more time to accomplish things. There's more opportunities for to accomplish things. You know, Psalms 5213 tells us they shall bear fruit in old age. So, and that's one thing that we hear constantly, is to live a longer life, you have to find your purpose, right? If you don't find your purpose, then you start losing the reason for getting up in the morning and why you even want to exist, and then that has an effect on your physical body. So it all works together.

Dan Wheeler: 7:27

Yeah, I don't know about you, Terry, but I lately, every morning I pray, I say, God, if there's somebody that I can help today. And you know, we we do our work and our videos and our podcasts, and we want to spread the word, but also, there's nothing like one on one, you know, having a cup of coffee with a friend you haven't seen in years, or making that phone call. And it's hard, and we're going to talk about that later, staying in touch with people and friendships. But you know, I think the Lord, you know, Paul gives us hope. And Philippians 413 where he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And when you feel like you're weak, maybe you feel like at this age, you your body's not what it used to be. God can work through your weakness. He says, My strength is made perfect in your weakness. And I think of that verse often when I'm tired or feeling weak.

Terry Steen: 8:23

Yeah, that's good. That's good. Another one that comes to my mind is First Corinthians, 1558, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. That does not just speak to young people, right? That speaks to us today? Yeah, we always abounding steadfast.

Dan Wheeler: 8:51

And the Lord says he needs workers for the harvest. And he didn't give any age specifications. Did he exactly know? And you see people in the Bible, you think of Moses at 80, when he took the children of Israel and he helped them deliver them from Pharaoh in Egypt. And Abraham and Sarah. What? Sarah was 90? Abraham 100 when they had a child. Yeah, Elizabeth and Zacharias were old when they had John. But we could go on and on. I think the Bible gives us all hope.

Terry Steen: 9:24

It does. And I have to say, Caleb is my favorite of all favorites. So he was 40 when he came back as a spy with the good report. And then he got stuck 40 years in the wilderness. And then when they do go over, the man's 80, and he is just as strong and spry and ready to take on the battle at 80 as he was at 40. Yeah, that's sometimes the way God works, isn't it?

Dan Wheeler: 9:55

Yeah. Well, your dad was a spot or he worked for the, oh, he was a post office. He went for the government inside joke, folks, but so many great things. I love the verse you quoted from First Corinthians, 1558, when you really analyze that, be steadfast, be immovable. You know when you put your hand to the plow, don't look back. We started fearless faith 10 it's almost been 10 years now, Terry, and there's been times when we think, Man, I'd like to have more time to go out and play golf and do some more things. But It's so fulfilling and rewarding, and especially when we hear from people that we've helped them, and you'll get those rewards as you get involved with your church or with a feeding program. There's so many things you can do and just having that phone call with someone and maybe helping them when they're having a bad day. You know, we love it. On our Facebook page, we see there's been some friendships formed and people saying, Oh, it's so good to see you, my dear friend. I've been praying for your your mother. I hope it's going well, and that's what we really love seeing.

Terry Steen: 11:08

Yeah, yeah. It's really neat. And I just feel like we we both have other involvements besides fearless faith. But when you look at all our morning cups, our podcasts, our Bible study, our radio station, some of the writing we're doing, it is all encompassing, but yet for me, I feel like and I've been in ministry almost all of my adult life, but I just feel like what I'm doing now in my life, and the time I'm spending is the most spiritually fulfilling, and I'm feeling like I'm impacting more people. I'm being more effective in what I'm doing. And so there's no turning back when you have that sense of purpose. I mean, even my involvement with the church as a trustee, and I'm on the prayer team and and just last week, I coordinated a golf tournament for the young guys, and it just when you keep moving forward, God honors it, and it gives us that purpose to keep that excitement and the adrenaline pumping.

Dan Wheeler: 12:13

Yeah, I remember when I was younger, I used to think, Boy, I want to be great when I retire. I can play golf, I can play my guitar, I can do all those things. But, you know, those are more self centered things, and it's okay to make time to do that. I mean, we don't work all the time, but I don't want to sit back in these final years and say I didn't go hard for the finish line. Paul talks about runners, and he says, you know, when he when he was near the end of his life, he said, I have run the race. I have fought the good fight. I have finished and and there's a crown awaiting for me, and that's what matters in life. It's, it's about what we do for the Lord. That's all that's going to matter. We can't take any things with us, yeah, our reputation, not that important. But what we do for the Lord, He said, If I be lifted up. I will draw them into myself, and that's what we need to do. But another verse is Philippians 314 where he says, Well, he says, I want to run hard for the prize. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ, Jesus. And it is a high calling when you're called by God, there's no higher calling, nothing better you could do with your time exactly.

Terry Steen: 13:29

And then once we find that purpose and begin to fulfill that purpose, it's so important to cultivate and maintain deep friendships that can be so impacting a lot of time. As we age, we tend to value activities less and our relationships more. And I'm finding that to be a true statement. How about you?

Dan Wheeler: 13:53

Absolutely well, you i And Brian, the three of us go way back, and we decided to do ministry together, and to do it with your best friends is so great. But then, yeah, we all have our other friends at church or in our hometowns, people we've grown up with and and it's just, it's great to reconnect. You know, I was so busy for many years on QVC that I lost touch with a lot of friends. You and I, we didn't lose touch, but we, we didn't very frequent. That's true. Yeah, it wasn't that frequent. And here we were best friends in college. And now to be able to do this together, it helps us, I think, appreciate each other more, respect each other more, and plus, we have fun, we goof around, we tease each other. It's just, yeah, God has given us that opportunity. But for you that are watching, there are things you can do. You can make phone calls. You can reach out to those friends. You can try to mend a fence, maybe that's been broken in your family, all of. Those things are important. And Terry, you said it, it's not about things. You know who you don't ever see a U haul behind a hearse,

Terry Steen: 15:09

exactly. It's about people, and you just have to look for it. I mean, if you're involved with a church at all, there's small groups to be a part of. There's Bible studies to be a part of I, Karen and I, we made a decision that there wasn't enough connection with some of the older people. So we just went out and contacted five different couples that we were friends with and didn't know some of them that well, and we just formed a group and said, Let's just get together every month. We call ourselves still kicking I like that, and so we get together once a month, and we set up a text group. And it's amazing how we're growing together. Someone has a need, they throw it up there. People are praying for them, and it's just one example of how we can deepen relationships.

Dan Wheeler: 16:06

Yeah, you and I are part of a group text of guys. We all played baseball together back in college. We have fun talking about the World Series and talking about football games and basketball games and and plus encouraging each other. You know, our friend Lonnie has a birthday tomorrow. Mine's in a week, and we're wishing each other happy birthday. But I like that you and Karen have kind of prioritized your time to reach out to that many people

Terry Steen: 16:33

we have hard and the same with family, and I know you've done the same. But another thing is to bridge the generational lines. You know, we don't want to just focus on ourselves, and that'd be perfect time to bring our

Dan Wheeler: 16:48

I see what you did there. I knew where you were going. Here's our young friend.

Terry Steen: 16:53

We can't just be up there with all the old people and not allow the younger people to be a part of our friendships and part of our life. So John, come on in and join us.

Dan Wheeler: 17:03

There he is. Yes, now you can tell John's a little bit younger. I mean, he's got a dark beard, he's got hair. John, how old are you? I'm 40.

Terry Steen: 17:14

You're 40. He made the 40 Mark. Yeah, all right. But you know, it's been neat because we've developed friendship with John since we've been doing fearless faith, and we consider John a great friend. Haven't probably been able to actually shake hands and hug about three, three or four times, but yeah, great to develop relationship with you.

John Matarazzo: 17:37

Yes, because we do everything virtual. I know whenever we started this podcast, Dan was in Michigan, you were in Florida, I was in Pittsburgh, and Brian was in California, yeah, different time zones to deal with. And then everybody moved to Florida for a little bit right now, everybody Dan moved right, right

Dan Wheeler: 17:57

to Michigan, yeah, yeah. So

John Matarazzo: 17:58

we've been able to do some things actually together, which has been really cool. And I know you guys have made me feel like I'm part of the group and where you are. Appreciate your friendship, and I love seeing your friendship with with the two of you, and Brian as well. And yeah, it's been, it's been wonderful.

Terry Steen: 18:18

Friendships are so important. Yeah, they are, and Karen and I are very strategic about it. We'll look at our calendar, we'll see what dates are open. We'll proactively call other couples and stay in touch and get together and go have dinner and realize our brothers and sisters we have some here in the area. We'll make sure once a month we connect with them. What about you, John, what at this stage in life? How do you make all that happen?

John Matarazzo: 18:47

Oh, goodness, well, keeping in touch with friends. Being that I left all of my friends back in Pittsburgh, I've had a man friends here in Orlando, I have a decent commute every day. So I keep in touch with people, via via, via the phone while I'm driving. Yeah, but I've been married now in December, will be three years. So, all right, my focus is really establishing my relationship with my wife recently. So sure we're gonna we're starting to do more things with other couples again, and which is really, really a lot of fun. So we're looking for those opportunities. But yeah, it does take work, because life, right?

Dan Wheeler: 19:30

Yeah, and one of the great things about technology is it doesn't take much to send someone a text and say, I'm thinking about you, or I prayed for you. I do that with my grandson, and I'll send the Bible verses. And, you know, it's that is a nice benefit of it. But it's even better when you can talk on the phone. Even better yet, when you can, you know, share in person. And I like to I like nothing better than having a cup of coffee with someone and talking about life and what they believe if they're not a Christian. And trying to be a light to them, but good conversation with, you know, Terry and I are at a point in life where we can do that a little more often, but we remember those early days and, you know, working, working and trying to climb up the ladder. So, but it does take time, and you can do

Terry Steen: 20:17

it, yeah, and that's just one more thing that we need to do to finish well, as we're growing older, and for the kingdom's sake, is that the French, if we don't have them, our world begins to shrink. Our world begins to get smaller, and it has an impact on us mentally, on us spiritually. And we're not going to finish as well as God wants us to.

Dan Wheeler: 20:42

You know, I see so many older people around here who just don't have anybody, and their world has shrunk. And we see this one lady walking all the time, and Pam, I always say hi to her and always talk to her, but then the next time we see her, she never remembers who we are, and we can tell, but we still just try to, you know, care for her, and, yeah, but you're right. If you don't stay in touch, if you don't work hard at friendships, you won't have friends. To be a good friend, you have to have a good friend. You have to be a good friend.

Terry Steen: 21:14

That's right. That's right. And friendships can bring some fun, can't they? Oh, they can. That's where the laughter comes in. John,

Dan Wheeler: 21:24

I don't know how you reacted when you first saw Brian and Terry and I together. We like to laugh and we like to pick on each other. Oh, I

John Matarazzo: 21:33

immediately loved it, because I was like, man, these guys have been friends for so long, and they still have remained strong friends, and now they're serving the Lord together in this stage of life. It's really given me something that I'm like, that's what I that's it's given me life goals, I guess. Oh, neat. Yeah, you know this? That's a life goals thing, and I see that the way that you guys treat each other and operate together. So I immediately had a lot of respect for you guys working that way.

Dan Wheeler: 22:04

Yeah, you know, we just did our last podcast was with Lee Strobel, and we enjoyed goofing around and having that camaraderie with him, and I think he enjoyed it too. You know, when you laugh you and especially when you can laugh at yourself, you know that's that's endearing to people, but also it's important not to take yourself too seriously, right?

Terry Steen: 22:26

Yep, yep. It's important to laugh. Well, you know who I enjoy being around, and I mentioned it to Karen, is somebody that has a quick laugh. You can be out there having a fun time, and someone's not afraid to just put their head back and have a good laugh. Those are fun people to be around.

Dan Wheeler: 22:48

Well, you can make someone's day. You can lighten their load. Life is heavy, and especially as you get older, with the concerns we have to to make someone laugh makes you feel good. And the Bible says it's like good medicine, you know. And we also read throughout the Bible that the joy of the Lord is our strength, their strength in being joyful and expressing that and laughing.

Terry Steen: 23:12

Karen and I find that when we go traveling, traveling becomes more stressful. You get in a stressful situation, it's hard to, you know, get out of it, but if you're with somebody and you can laugh and find the humor in the stress, that can kind of just turn the whole atmosphere around. So if we're traveling with someone else, and we see the idiocy of what we just did, or we missed this, miss this connection, or whatever we did, we laugh about it and have fun. And it just kind of takes all that away and allows us to just kind of relax and accept it.

Dan Wheeler: 23:51

And let's face it, you know, as we get older, our memories now what it used to be, and Pam and I are always trying to think of names, and together we'll remember, well, someone will maybe have the first name, then, well, last name. And we, you know, I think it's because you have more stuff in your head with all the years, and it takes longer to access it. But, you know, we laugh at ourselves, or, you know, if we trip or fall and, well, I don't laugh at her, but she laughs.

Terry Steen: 24:19

Well, a couple weeks ago, I put a Facebook post on my personal page, and I said I had a genetic disorder and that I needed prayer. I said my body was not producing ice cream like it, yeah, I had to supplement for the time being. And everybody's reading it, going, Oh no, what? She's got a genetic disorder. And then they got to that part as Terry,

Dan Wheeler: 24:49

well, I actually believed it, and I was praying for you. I know how hard that can be if

Terry Steen: 24:57

you're not produced, if your body doesn't produce that, i. Scream it's supposed to, yeah,

Dan Wheeler: 25:02

but John, I'm sure you've noticed that, like, even at work, when someone can tell a joke or make you laugh a little bit, you know, it's stressful. What you're doing is very stressful with charisma, media and, yeah, you got a lot of responsibilities, but, boy, it helps to just have a good belly laugh once in a while.

John Matarazzo: 25:20

Oh, yeah. And it's, it's great whenever friends come into my office and just tell me something funny that happened. And, you know, there's, there's lots of opportunities to tell funny stories. Yeah, it's just, it's always great. And it brightens the mood whenever you know, somebody goes out of their way to tell you something, and it makes you feel great too, because it's like they stopped what they were doing and the business that they had to tell me something. And so it's like, oh, I'm valuable enough that you that they wanted to share this funny moment or this joy, yeah, with me. And so not only does it make you feel good because you're laughing at something, but it's like, oh, I'm valuable enough for them to actually do this too.

Terry Steen: 26:05

Included, yeah right. I want to be included. Yeah

Dan Wheeler: 26:08

right, yeah. And, you know, Terry, I think your ice cream thing kind of leads us into the next point about taking care of ourselves. Yeah, that's a good investing in your health, yeah?

Terry Steen: 26:21

So just reviewing. The first one is, recognize your God given value. The next one was, find purpose for every day. The third was, the one was, cultivate, maintain deep friendships. Next one's laugh a lot. Now we're down to the serious stuff, which is no fun, stay healthy, invest in your health. It's a necessary evil that we all should do, you know, and it's really less about your genes and more about the choices you make. We can make a lot of excuses, but we just have to commit, be disciplined and make those decisions. And

Dan Wheeler: 27:02

if you eat too much ice cream, though, your jeans aren't going to fit as well you mentioned, but it's important, you know, Pam and I try to do it together. She encourages me to eat healthier. I think she's a healthier eater than I am. She eats a lot of fruits and vegetables, which I need. But we walk together, we ride bikes together. We exercise together, and we take our vitamins, take our meds, which, yeah, I have a pill box now, but gotta take them. And you too do,

John Matarazzo: 27:31

yeah, you do not like, not pills, but supplements.

Dan Wheeler: 27:34

And supplements, yeah, but, and then we try to get a good night's sleep. I mean, this is way past my bedtime, right? Well,

Terry Steen: 27:43

sleep's important too. Sometimes we don't think about how important that is to the body. But Well, John, your wife has been a trainer, right? So,

John Matarazzo: 27:52

yeah, she has her certificate to be a personal trainer. And so most mornings before I go to work, I get up but six ish, six ish, and we go to the gym, and she's helping me, you know, with my form, and actually pushing me, yeah, to do better and to develop certain areas. And so it's been, it's been great, because before having my wife helped me with this, I had no idea what I was doing at the gym. I was trying to follow those pictures on the machines don't make any sense, from this position to this position, and what weight is supposed to do. How many times am I now? At least I now, at least I have somebody that knows what they're doing. Yeah. So I'm kind of getting it. But she is. I know a lot of times people say, when you get married, you're like, gonna gain like, 15 pounds in your first year. I think I lost 15 pounds. Oh, good for you. That's really good. Just very purposeful

Terry Steen: 28:51

with that. Yeah, and you know, the buddy system makes a big difference. You know, Karen, we've gone to the gym a lot together, and Karen wasn't too much at it. But as we've gotten older, I'm so proud of her. She goes with regularity to go to a class. We have a gym here on our property, so I have that. I play pickleball regularly, and we take bike rides. And she's better at making me eat healthy. I do pretty good, except for my sweet stash that I have to him, but overall, we're happy. Yeah, be consistent, and you got to take the little wins. Don't think you've got to work out an hour if you can only do 15. Do 15, but do something.

Dan Wheeler: 29:34

Yeah? Well, John's kind of wins that category. He wants to invest his health so much he married a personal trainer. That's dedication. That's good, yeah. But you know, our final point is we need to avoid things that Rob quality from us in our older years. And the first one that I'd like to talk about is spiritual doubt. You know, circa. Circumstances that people go through and later in life can cause a lot of doubt. And you know, I've even seen people who I know love the Lord most of their life, and near the end of it, they're starting to doubt. They're wondering, Am I going to heaven? They're a little afraid of dying. And you know, I hope I'm one of those guys. I remember when Beth was dying, she just faced it so fearlessly. I was so in awe of that she knew where she was going, and she was looking forward to it, and she was seeing people that had passed on. And so we need to keep our spiritual confidence alive and remember those verses that tell us, you know, For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. And even when we are sinners, Christ died for us, and He removes our sin. As far as the east is from the west, it's important to hang on to those biblical truths

Terry Steen: 30:59

so true. And another one is discontentment. You know, as we get older, if we allow discontentment come into our life, that just takes us down, we begin looking at everything negatively. We begin to develop a depressive type state, and that usually comes from comparing ourselves to other people. And when we're older, we're not having the same we're on a fixed income. Generally, there's not as large an income stream. Sometimes that can come into play, and we may have to adjust our expectations to life, but if we'll do that and know that he's providing everything we need, we can do it without the discontentment and be satisfied with what he's given us for our life.

Dan Wheeler: 31:47

Yeah, I believe that contentment is more a condition of your soul and not of your circumstances. I mean, you look at Paul, he said, I've learned to abound, and I've learned to be abased and whatever situation I'm in, I'm okay. I'm content with that. Sometimes I think people, you know, their life doesn't turn out quite the way they thought it would. I have some friends who, you know just struggle financially at this age, are trying to take little part time jobs and supplement it. But contentment is a gift. You know, I remember my mom. She had this little plaque I used to read. It says just it said, Just be content with who you are. Make happiness your aim much better, tis than worldly wealth and easier far to gain. Never forgot that, yeah, yeah.

Terry Steen: 32:45

You know another thing. Another thing is doubting ourself. If we don't have the confidence that we need, and we let that doubt seep in, then that's going to make us sit back, not think we're capable of too much, and as we talked earlier, about having a purpose, I mean, that's all part of finishing well, and if we begin to worry and be uncomfortable and have no confidence, then we're not going to be able to do what he wants us to.

Dan Wheeler: 33:17

Yeah, and the Bible talks a lot about worry. You know, Jesus said, Look, you know, his eyes on the sparrow. You know, if one sparrow falls, God knows it, and he cares. And when I go through that feeling where I was doubting myself and saying, oh, man, I just I blew it and I sinned so much, then I remind myself I'm a child of the King. You know, it's not about how much faith we have, it's who our faith is in. And yeah, he cared enough about us to die on the cross for us. That's got to give people some confidence when they think about that and not worry so much.

Terry Steen: 33:56

Yeah, John, anything come to mind for you on robbing quality of life.

John Matarazzo: 34:03

Oh, goodness. I think one of the biggest distractions is this guy right here. And so, Boy, that's a great point. Yeah, if we're for focused more on what's happening on that little screen instead of what's happening out in real life in front of us, then there's, there's a problem, and not saying that you just throw away your phone or, you know, all social media and everything, but if it's you know, if it's sucking you in and you're not having quality time with the people around you, or if you're worried about taking pictures of a sunset rather than just enjoying the sunset, and you might want to Just take a step back and say, You know what? It's okay to not take a picture and post everything. Yeah, look at other people's stuff. Don't get sucked into the downward spiral of the social media world where you're just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Yeah, we're we can all find ourselves doing that, but are we? Going to be adding to the noise, or are we going to be just listening to the noise? And let's be purposeful with that as well.

Dan Wheeler: 35:08

And no matter what age we're at, we have to find the time to be alone with God and listen, as you just said, and we have to set these aside, you know, Pam and I, in the morning, we'll come down, we'll talk a little bit, maybe check the news, and it's like, Okay, time to put the phone away. Let's get out the Bible. Let's have our devotions. And wouldn't it be something if we could replace worry and doubt with just a deep passion for Christ? Yeah, think about that. I mean, a great goal. Yeah, you'd have no more worry, no more doubt. And then another thing that can rob us of quality of life is the loss of the will to keep living. I mean, I Pam, and I got together with an uncle of hers who's in his 90s, and he's like, Man, I'm just kind of waiting to die, and I don't know why I'm still here and why, you know, I lost my wife and my friends and boy, I don't think that's the way we should look at it, right? I'm still here. I still have a purpose. God has given me a purpose. God still has a plan. So as we age, it's important that we don't lose our will to live.

Terry Steen: 36:16

Yeah, yeah. It was one of my last thoughts, and it piggybacks off what you just said, Dan was the lack of health or immobility, because some people, as they get older, they are immobile, they have been injured. They can't do everything, but boy, do Karen and I have huge respect. We could go on a cruise with all these people. And here's these, this old couple in their motorized wheelchair, and they're just tooling through the ship, and they're doing everything and going off the ship, and they were not going to let the immobility stop them from living life. And I think that's so important that we if the day comes that we don't let it stop us from living the quality of life, doing all you can within your limitations.

Dan Wheeler: 37:08

Yeah, my my son, law, has a friend who was a really good athlete in high school, really good quarterback, and he was surfing, and a wave took him and and the surfboard crashed into his back and hit a couple vertebrae, and he's paralyzed. Now he's he's in a wheelchair. He can still use his upper body. But do you know he and his wife opened a gym, and they run this successful gym downing town area, and he's such a positive guy so upbeat. I'm just amazed. And he would when my grandsons were little, you know, he whenever we'd see him, they'd light up because he was such a positive guy, and he'd encourage them to go on with their sports. And I think, wow, here's a guy that could easily feel sorry for himself and just kind of give up on life, if he can keep going, right? He can too, right?

Terry Steen: 38:04

Good stuff, good stuff. Well, as we wrap up, you got something else? Well,

Dan Wheeler: 38:09

I was gonna say depression. You know, sometimes when you get older, you think about the old days, and you can get tearful, and you know, you can lose your appetite, your sleep patterns can get messed up, and that's where you you really have to pray, and we talk about the joy of the Lord. You know it's hard because you miss your loved ones. You know you miss those have gone on before, but I think you just have to realize you've got to keep going and laziness. I mean, I'm sure guys, you know, people that they retired and like, you know, two months later, they're dead because they didn't do anything. They didn't have a purpose. Having a purpose to get up in the morning. That's what fearless faith has done for us. John, in our age, to have this, you know, to feel like you're still making a difference, boy that does so much. It really your attitude in your later years. It really has. It really has, yeah, and I think a lot of this, Terry, a lot of what we've talked about, all of these points, it's about choices. It's about making the right choice. We can choose to serve others. We can choose to pursue and cultivate friendships. We can choose to enjoy life, choose to laugh, choose to be good stewards of our physical and mental health.

Terry Steen: 39:28

So I'm hoping that, as people have listened to this, that you know it's so easy for things to slip, so easy to have the blind spots in our life that we don't realize some of the slippage in areas that we kind of fall short, or have let things go by the wayside, or become lazy, or have refused to find our purpose. So hopefully tonight, as we finish and close this thing up, that there'll be some people here, in fact. Let me just pray right now, Father, if there's anyone listening to this podcast right now, Lord and you have pricked their heart or their conscience or their mind in areas where they are not living the life you want them to live, where they are not finishing well. For your glory, we pray that you'd convict them of that or that you would bring some thought to mind or areas that they could find greater purpose, that they could be active, that you could change their attitude. Is the importance of that all that you've given them to do, give them the ability to laugh, give them the opportunity to find more friends. Father, Lord, help them, Father, to find their weak spots when that quality of life is not what it should be in there, in itself, inflicted. Lord, we pray that you'd minister to everyone listening, that you do the same for us. God, Lord, give us that power of your Holy Spirit. Give us those things we need to finish well for your glory, and we'll thank you for it in your name. Amen.

Dan Wheeler: 41:06

Amen. You know the name of this podcast is finished strong, and your life is like a race, like a distance runner. And I remember watching Jim Ryan running the mile. He was one of the first to break the four minute mile, and he always talked about his kick. He'd been hanging back, hanging with, you know, the middle of the pack, and that last lap, he went hard and blew everybody away. And that's what I want to do. And and I wrote at the end of my notes here that when it comes to choices, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.

Terry Steen: 41:41

That's good. That's good. Hey, John, thanks for joining us and pop, yeah, John, it's always great to have you in here. We'll let you head on back so you can close us out. But we always appreciate your thought and input.

Dan Wheeler: 41:55

Thanks for having me. Thank you, John, it's good, man,

Terry Steen: 41:59

yeah, yeah, this been great. Obviously, we've missed Brian and his input.

Dan Wheeler: 42:04

Speaking of friendships, Brian, we miss you. We can't wait till you're back, and we sure do. But yeah, any last thoughts? Well, just that, you know, Second Timothy, four, seven and eight, that's where Paul says, I've fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Isn't that what we all want to do? And then we want to hear Jesus say, Well done. Well done. Yeah,

Terry Steen: 42:29

good and faithful servant. And that's our message for tonight. We pray that you'll join us again for our next finish strong podcast. God bless.

John Matarazzo: 42:41

Thank you for listening to finish strong. For more information about finish strong and fearless faith, check out their website, F faith.org make sure that you rate and review this podcast to help more people accomplish their God given purpose so that together we can finish strong. You.