Jude was yet another exhorter. He wrote, "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Even from these few examples we can see the important place exhortation holds in the New Testament. Exhortation Today One of the most beautiful gifts of exhortation I have ever had the privilege of observing belonged to a little old lady in her nineties. Mother Berg used to travel across the United States in a big, old Cadillac, stopping at churches across the country to exhort the people. Although she lived in Huntington Beach, she had a radio ministry based in Florida, which was beamed throughout the Caribbean. She was a real sweetheart. Whenever I would get discouraged or anxious about my ministry, I would go over and knock on Mother Berg's door and let her exercise her gift of exhortation. I'd always come away encouraged, strengthened, helped, and with a new perspective. When she attended our church, I always asked her to say a few words to the people. Her favorite theme was, "God is still on the throne." She would say, "You're acting as though He abdicated His throne. You're acting as though God is not in control. The way you're acting, you'd think that God wasn't in charge any more, that He no longer rules. But God is on the throne."
Jude was yet another exhorter. He wrote, "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Even from these few examples we can see the important place exhortation holds in the New Testament. Exhortation Today One of the most beautiful gifts of exhortation I have ever had the privilege of observing belonged to a little old lady in her nineties. Mother Berg used to travel across the United States in a big, old Cadillac, stopping at churches across the country to exhort the people. Although she lived in Huntington Beach, she had a radio ministry based in Florida, which was beamed throughout the Caribbean. She was a real sweetheart. Whenever I would get discouraged or anxious about my ministry, I would go over and knock on Mother Berg's door and let her exercise her gift of exhortation. I'd always come away encouraged, strengthened, helped, and with a new perspective. When she attended our church, I always asked her to say a few words to the people. Her favorite theme was, "God is still on the throne." She would say, "You're acting as though He abdicated His throne. You're acting as though God is not in control. The way you're acting, you'd think that God wasn't in charge any more, that He no longer rules. But God is on the throne."