Robert Wolgemuth - Gun Lap: Staying in the Race with Purpose

Ive known Robert Wolgemuth for almost four decades. During that time, Ive watched him walk with purpose and integrity. This is why hes qualified to write Gun Lap , one of the best books Ive ever read on running my own last lap. Whatever your life stage, let Robert coach you on living with intention, grace, and courage. This lap can be your best one yet.

Michael Hyatt , New York Times bestselling author

The final lap in our lifelong race can be our best. We dont have to cave to resignation; we can run with joyful determination. If youll read Gun Lap: Staying in the Race with Purpose by Robert Wolgemuth, youll have a faithful friend alongside you, helping you run magnificently, all the way.

Ray Ortlund , Renewal Ministries, Nashville, Tennessee

Whether he knew it or not, Im the guy Robert had in mind as he was writing Gun Lap . I needed this bookthe encouragement, the coaching, the challenge. And Im guessing Im not the only one. Im grateful for the wisdom and authenticity that pour from these pages. Ill see you on the home stretch.

Bob Lepine , cohost, FamilyLife Today

Whether your race is short or long, the key is to run that last lap well. Its called the gun lap. Written by my friend Robert Wolgemuth, here is a must read for anyone over fifty... men, running their gun lap. Its an honest, down-to-earth, and biblical look at the meaning of our lives in this season. It will show you how to make every day count, drawing you closer to God and helping you get a fresh perspective on your life. I highly recommend this book.

Greg Laurie , pastor/evangelist, Harvest Ministries

Inspiring, challenging, invigorating, and very motivating. Gun Lap is a must read, not only for men approaching their sixth or seventh decade, but all men! Why? It is a guide that guarantees a lasting legacy of success, peace, and victorious achievements for yourself and those you will have mentored. Read this book and you will start every year as a gun lap!

Dr. Raleigh Washington , president/CEO, The Road to Jerusalem and president emeritus of Promise Keepers

If you want to make the rest of your life the best of your life, read my good friend, Robert Wolgemuths book. This book. Be inspired by words of a man who is leading the way around the track to the home stretch and beyond with faith, courage, and joy. A remarkable book by a remarkable man.

Jack Graham , pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church

As a fitness nut, Im aware of the challenges of running competitively so Im familiar with that final trip round the track... the gun lap. Heres a wonderful book that is exactly what I needed to be encouraged to run well in my later years. My favorite part is that as I was reading, it seemed more like I was having a conversation with my friend, Robert, rather than turning the pages of a book. Try this yourself. The experience will be the same. Wonderful. Trust me.

Ken Davis , author, speaker, CEO of The Art in Business of Public Speaking

The Scriptures exhort us to lay aside every encumbrance so that we may run with patience and endurance the race that is set before us. Easier said than done, right? Well, in this timely, practical, and encouraging book, Robert Wolgemuth shows us how it is actually possible to so live our livesfrom our first burst out of the blocks to our final lap. I love this book. I need this book.

George Grant , pastor, Parish Presbyterian Church, Franklin, Tennessee

Copyright 2021 by Robert Wolgemuth

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-0877-4047-8

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 248.842

Subject Heading: CHRISTIAN LIFE / SPIRITUAL LIFE / MEN

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scriptures marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked tlb are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked esv are taken from English Standard Version. ESV Text Edition: 2016. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Scripture marked niv are taken from New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scriptures marked nlt are taken from New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015, by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Published in association with Wolgemuth & Associates.

Cover design by Jeff Miller, FaceOut Studio. Cover image Yuliyan Velchev/shutterstock. Author photo by Katie Bollinger.

Image used on page 91: Copyright 1982 by Katherine Brown. Used by permission of Heaven Bound, www.jesusandthelamb.com.

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Dedication

Nick Challies

(March 5, 2000 November 3, 2020)

How strange, you might think, for a bookwritten for men in their forties and fifties, getting ready for their sixties and seventiesto be dedicated to a man who stepped into heaven at age twenty. In fact, Nick is a man I never met... but I do know his parents, Tim and Aileen. These folks got the phone call parents dread with everything in their being. In an instant, with no warning at all, their twenty-year-old son was gone.

At his sons memorial service, Tim spoke these words:

Each one of us is given a race to run. Some are called to run a long race; some are called to run just a short race. What matters is not how long the race is, but how well well run it. Its Gods business to determine how long that race will be; its our business to determine how well well run it. Let me tell you, it is so much better to run a short race well than a long race poorly.

God called Nick to run just a short race. Some people get eighty years, some get ninety; Nick got only twenty, but he ran well.

J. I. Packer was a man who ran a very long race indeed, and he once said this: My contention is that... we should aim to be found running the last lap of the race of our Christian life, as we would say, flat out. The final sprint, so I urge, should be a sprint indeed.

That was my boy. He sprinted strong to the end.

Nicks storyand the way his precious parents have faced this tragedy with singular courage and gracehas been such an inspiration and encouragement for me since, as for now, Im still running. And since youre reading this, apparently so are you. Like his dad said about him, may you and I sprint to the end.

Introduction

Many years ago, I was in a conversation with Dr. Tim LaHaye in his Washington, D.C., office. Standing next to his conference table at the close of a meeting, he and I were talking about life and family, book writing, and publishing. Tim was a man with intense eyes, steely resolve, small of stature but a giant in the world of Christian leadership and thought. Almost as an aside, he dropped a piece of wisdom on me I will never forget.

As you may know, in addition to writing many books on his own, Tim was Jerry Jenkins coauthor in the Left Behind series of sixteen books. And how did those books do? Well, the best number I can come up with is over sixty-two million copies sold. So if Dr. LaHaye was giving me writing counsel... I was going to take it.