Fearlessly Courageous
From the Desk of Dennis Piller
10 28 2026

Audio Version

I Don’t Want to Retire into Disappearing
Part 1 — I Want Those Hundred Men

What if the greatest tragedy of growing older isn’t losing our strength, but losing our sense of purpose? What if God has spent a lifetime preparing us for people we haven’t even met yet? And what if the greatest contribution we could still make to His Kingdom begins with someone who has quietly disappeared?

I’m not afraid of growing old. But I am afraid of disappearing into some man-made illusion of what the winter of our lives is supposed to look like. You know what I’m talking about. We’ve worked hard, most of us are still working, raised families, fought our battles, made our mistakes, and hopefully learned a few things along the way. And now planning for retirement, we’re supposed to slow down a bit, travel a little, enjoy our grandchildren, maybe buy a small boat and cruise along the shoreline collecting seashells. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. I hope we all have opportunities to enjoy the beautiful things God has given us. But is that all there is? Is that what the final chapters of a life surrendered to Jesus Christ are supposed to look like? Because I have a hard time believing that the God who called us to take up our cross and follow Him suddenly reaches a certain birthday and says, “You’ve done enough. Go sit down. I’ll find someone younger.”

Can I share something personal with you? Our Courageous men’s group meets every Monday evening at seven. This semester we started with 284 men. Over time, our attendance leveled out at just under 200. Now, I’ve been around long enough to understand that attendance fluctuates. People have jobs, families, responsibilities, and schedules that change. Every ministry experiences some attrition, and there are probably perfectly reasonable explanations for many of those absences. And I know some people would look at those numbers and say we’re doing wonderfully. Nearly 200 men gathering to grow in Christ! And I agree.
I’m grateful for every one of them. But I’m not satisfied with percentages.
I want those hundred men!

I want to know where they went. What happened? What discouraged them? What burden were they carrying when they stopped coming? I know someone reached out. But, did someone notice after week two or three? Because I can’t look at those empty chairs and see a statistic. I see a man who may be struggling in his marriage. A father who doesn’t know how to reach his children. A husband who has lost his job and is afraid to tell his wife. A man who came through our doors carrying just a glimmer of hope that perhaps God had something more for his life. And somewhere along the way, he stopped coming. Maybe he didn’t immediately connect. Maybe he was uncomfortable opening up. Maybe he was waiting for someone to notice that behind his smile was a man who was hurting. And maybe nobody did. I don’t know. But I want to know.

And here’s where this becomes bigger than our Courageous men’s group or a women’s group or bible study.
How many people are quietly disappearing from our churches, our friendships, and even our families while
we’re busy celebrating the people who stayed? How many hurting men and women have convinced themselves
that nobody would notice if they never came back? Jesus told a story about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep
and discovered one was missing.
In Luke 15:4, He asked whether the shepherd would not leave the ninety-nine and go after the one that was lost, “until he finds them.” Those words have been working on my heart. Until he finds it. Jesus was revealing God’s heart for the lost. And shouldn’t those of us who have experienced that love reflect something of that same heart toward people
who are drifting away or were just too weak or hurting to stay ?

Maybe I’m just a little different, but I don’t want to stand before Jesus someday and discover that I spent the last twenty years of my life protecting my comfort when I could have been pouring His love into someone else’s life. Psalm 92:14 says the righteous “shall still bring forth fruit in old age.” I love that promise. It tells me that growing older doesn’t mean becoming spiritually unfruitful. Think about everything God has brought us through. The disappointments, the victories, the mistakes, the lessons in forgiveness, patience, mercy, and grace. Was all that preparation simply to make our retirement more comfortable? Or has God been preparing us to become a source of hope and encouragement to people who desperately need what He has taught us?

I’m not speaking only to older Christians. I’m speaking to every believer who has experienced the love of Jesus and knows that love was never intended to stop with us. I don’t know how many more years God has given me. But I’m not finished loving people. I’m not finished encouraging someone who’s ready to give up. And I’m certainly not finished telling people about the Savior who changed my life. And I want those hundred men. Not because I need a better attendance report, but because every single one of them matters to God. And they matter to me.

Tomorrow, Part II of III  I want to talk about what might have happened to them, why people sometimes walk away from the very relationships they desperately need, and what we can do about it. Because I wonder how many people God has placed in our lives who are waiting for someone to come looking. And I wonder whether that someone might be you.

Two Questions to Carry With You

1. Have you allowed your age, responsibilities, disappointments, or desire for comfort to convince you that your most meaningful opportunities to serve God are behind you, when He may still be preparing you for someone who needs what you’ve learned?

2. Who has quietly disappeared from your church, your friendships, or your life, and what might change if you began seeing that person not as someone who stopped showing up, but as someone worth going after?

My prayer is that these devotionals do more than give you something to think about… that they draw you closer to Jesus Christ, deepen your love for Him,
 and encourage you to live out your faith.
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Waymaker