Dr. Richard started the day with a devotional message, related to the topic of men who finished well. Quoting the words of Jesus “It is finished”, Dr. Richard said Jesus is the primary example of men who accomplished his mission and finished well. By His statements on the cross, he accomplished all the necessary requirements to pluck us out of the evil one. Of the apostle Paul, another example of men who finished well, Dr. Richard quoted Paul’s declarations, “I have fought a good fight . . . I have finished the race.”
After showing the examples of the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul, he shared some suggestions in order to finish well. “If we want to finish well,” Dr. Richard said, “we should aim to follow Christ (be a “little Christ”). “Also, aim a becoming smaller and smaller in our own sight,” he continued. Going back to the Scriptures, he again pointed the example of Paul who said he was the chief of the apostle, then later on he said he was lesser than the least of all saints, and when he was at the peak of his intimacy with the Lord and nearing the end of his life he declared “I am the chiefest of sinners.”
Dr. Richard concluded his devotional message by saying “My will is to do the will of the One who sent me. So that what I want written on my epitaph will be HE ENDED WELL.”
Pastor Stevenson wrote the book “Men Who Finished Well” a study of different people in the Bible who were godly in their walk with God. He said that when Mr. Doug Nichols read the book, he challenged him to speak and share in a conference the contents of his book.
His four sessions center on Hebrews 12: 1-3, emphasizing firstly, men who finish well learn by the experience of others, secondly, men who finish well know they are called to be racers, thirdly, men who finish well center their attention on Jesus and lastly, men who finish well endure to the end. He also urged the delegates to be reliable, available, faithful and teachable. He said positions do not matter in the eyes of God. He stressed the importance of humility (servant attitude) and integrity, not being boastful, willing to experience agony and living to please God, not people. He concluded his messages by saying “All of what we have talked about finishing well, it is impossible to achieve without our dependence on God. When we all have finished well, it will be all for the glory of God.”
Later, when the delegates learned of the ages of Pastor Stevenson and Dr. Richard, they were impressed by their faithful service to the Lord inspite of their age. One elder said “ I saw in them the truth in what they shared, they are Godly men and inspite of their age, I can see their humility. I wish all leaders and workers are like that.” A worker commented “It was a very good and fruitful seminar. I hope we have more of this in the coming days.” A worker who was hesitant to attend at first because the speakers are not of the Brethren background said, “I appreciated the speakers’ focus on their topic. They stick to Biblical principles and did not delve on denominationalism.”
After the conference, project CLAIM Special set, Light on Finances by David Venable and A Sure Foundation by Tim Strickland were given to each delegates. Also, the book Men Who Finished Well by Pastor Stevenson (locally printed) was also given to each delegate.
In the evening, it rained hard all night. So the following day, the second day of the conference scheduled for the Baptist group, different parts of Metro Manila were flooded. Even in the morning, it was still raining hard so that school classes were suspended. At past 9 a.m., there only less than 10 delegates that came. When the seminar started at around 10 a.m., more delegates arrived. Later, it was learned that some delegates were stranded due to the floods while some did not make it because their cars stalled.
Even with little attendance, Dr. Richard and Pastor Stevenson shared their messages with such enthusiasm and passion, as if they were addressing a large audience. And the few delegates did not fail to notice this and extended their appreciation by having their book autographed by both speakers.
It also became a time of close fellowship as delegates found time to speak to Pastor Stevenson and Dr. Richard.