Failure Need Not Be Fatal

By Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

Failure. For many, it is a four letter word placing the final nail in the coffin which holds a body once alive with hopes, dreams, and destiny. Nothing seeks to rob the church or the believer of God's purposes more than an all consuming sense of failure, yet failure is not a surprise to God! It is not a to be a headstone but a stepping stone if we will pick up and move forward!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD
• Release date: Feb 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370546268

Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

Dr. Martin Tharp has been an avid student of the Bible for many years and holds a Bachelor, Master and eight Doctorates, one honorary and seven earned, including a Doctor. of Literature and two PhDs. He has been in full time ministry for over fifty-seven years and has authored forty-nine books to date, many of which are being used as curriculum in Bible colleges around the United States and abroad. He has also penned a number of gospel songs and recorded thirty-three albums as well as being actively involved in a school ministry to Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom for the past thirty-eight years, and Dr. Tharp has been honored twice by members of parliament in Ireland for their work in the Protestant and Catholic schools. He and his wife, Sharon, along with Maranda Howells, travel extensively across the USA and the whole of the British Isles holding evangelistic crusades in the churches of both countries.

Book preview

Failure

Need Not Be

Fatal!

By Martin G. Tharp, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2017

Smashwords Edition, License Notes; This ebook is licensed for your own personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, King James Version. Copyright 1984, 1991 by AMG International, INC and the Living Bible Copyright 1971,1986 by Tyndale House Publishers INC

Available from:

The Tharp Family Ministries

3982 Green Forest Parkway

Smyrna, Georgia 30082

INTERNET;

www.tharpministries.com

EMAIL;

[e-mail]

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Failure Could Lead to Success

2. Never Be Afraid To Fail

3. Paralyzed By Fear Of Failure

4. Epic Proportion Failures

5. 21 Famous Failures

6. Fundamental Principles of Failure

7. Adult Attitudes About Failure

8. The # 1Failure Of Many Pastors

9. Mark The Failure

10. Failures who Proved Failure need not be Fatal

11. Dealing With Failure

12. A Short Lesson on Failure

13. Failure Does Not Mean Collapse

14. The Biblical Concept Of Failure

15. Five Successful Failures

Introduction

This year will be my fifty-seventh year in the Ministry and I never cease to be amazed at the changes that are taking place in the Church world! Bible schools across America are closing their doors, or just hanging on by a thread, simply because there are fewer and fewer who are entering the ministry.

One of the root causes of this malignancy is because of the multitude of Ministers who are giving up the Ministry for a variety of reasons. Discouragement seems far easier to come by these days, since there are seemingly multitudes of thin skinned prima donnas who have entered the ministry!

The problem is that because there are so many who entered the Ministry expecting a free ride, when they are faced with the natural hardships which are the building blocks to almost every single successful Minister, they are susceptible to every temptation that comes along.

What seems to come as a surprise to that caliber of minister, is the fact that they have the same temptations as anyone else on this earth, and when they succumb to temptation they feel obligated to turn in their credentials and quit!

The average Church member faces much the same problems which seem to plague the Ministry, temptation knows no certain race, creed or color.

My reason for writing this book is simple, I have see far too many good men quit the Ministry over some failure which convinced them that they were not cut out for the Ministry anyway.

The same goes for Church members, who fail in some way which brings them under condemnation and their response is to quit the Church, believing that they are no longer a good enough example for others.

Perhaps I am being too harsh on some, but I am fed up with spiritual babies! Failure need not be Fatal, is not just a saying, it is a fact! If anyone thinks a failure of some magnitude excludes you from the Kingdom of God, then Hosea 4:6 is talking about you!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

This Scripture is a direct rebuke of those who never seem to learn who they are, because they do not know who God is! The Bible is filled with stories of great men who accomplished miraculous things, but the biggest sinner of them all was David! Yet the 13th chapter of the book of Acts informs us that David was the ONLY man ever mentioned by God that was after His own heart!

David is proof positive that; Failure, need not be Fatal!

Chapter One

Failure;

Could Lead To Success?

Everyone you will ever meet, has an intrinsic desire to be a success in whatever field they are involved in. Think about it; have you ever met anyone who purposely set out to be a failure?

There is little doubt that this is why there has been such an enormous mountain of material which has been written on the topic of How to be a Success; and why these books are so popular?

There is a quote which was uttered by Teddy Roosevelt, who was indisputably a very successful politician; The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.

In other words, He who never tries, shall surely never fail! (See Authors Book; The book of Hezekiah.")

The simple reality is that failure is one of those ugly realities of life and an all too common experience which all of us will probably face to some degree in our lives.

The ability to handle failure in its various forms and degrees is a vital part of the spiritual life of practically every believer and serve as either an obvious sign of maturity, or an appalling lack thereof.

A careful study of the Scriptures reveals that most of the great figures which are recorded in the pages of the Bible, experienced some modicum of failure at one time or another, yet those failures did not keep them from being an effective servant of God.

Just as a partial list, this was true of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jepthah, Sampson, Gideon, Elijah, David, Simon Peter, Mark and the Apostle Paul. Although they all failed at some point in their lives and often in very significant ways, we must not forget that they not only recovered from their failures, but they actually used those failures as a tool of growth!

They clearly learned from their failure, confessed it to God and were often able to be used in even mightier ways.

The manner in which a leader meets with his own failure will have a significant effect on his future ministry. One would have been justified in concluding that the failure of Peter in the judgment hall had forever slammed the door on his leadership in the kingdom of God.

Instead, the depth of his repentance and the reality of his love for Christ reopened the door of opportunity to a yet wider sphere of service.

Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

In the past few years there has been an unusual number of Churches who have either closed their doors, or merged with someone else for a wide variety of reasons. The number one reason is the appalling fact that America is without a doubt, in a spiraling, Spiritual decline!

Unfortunately, I am convinced that the Spiritual decline can be laid directly at the door of Christian Television. Although there are innumerable programs which are offered to us on a daily basis which are helpful and wholesome, there are also those who have used Christian television for the sole purpose of enhancing their bank accounts!

I would suggest that when you want to watch a Christian television show, watch someone who serves as the Pastor of a Church or someone whose motives are not connected to raising money to fatten their bank account, but whose solitary motive is attempting to build the Kingdom of God.

Although there are innumerable reasons for a Church being forced to close their doors, it is still a very traumatic experience regardless of the reason!

If by chance, dear reader, you have ever found yourself in that situation and you were forced to be the one who made the decision and your Church was forced to close its doors after several seemingly endless, cruel and difficult years and you feel like you gave it your all, but it consistently dwindled? Your outreach events reaped no fruit and you may have thought;

I am the percentage they talk about at Church growth conferences and