Eighteen year old contestant Jonathan Burkin takes baton twirling to a whole new level on America's Got Talent. He doesn't just play with fire. He twirls it, tosses it, throws it. It flickers from the tips of his batons as he swirls around the stage like a zealous young man wholehearted about what he is doing.

Jonathon grew up having his peers make fun of him, say mean things and bully him for what he chose to do…twirl a baton. He grew up being made to feel ashamed of what he was passionate about. He was harassed by other kids, especially in eighth grade, but he kept at it anyway. He'd get prank phone calls. Someone taped his locker shut. A bench in front of the school had to be repainted - twice - after someone scrawled nasty comments about him on it.

"People hated me," Mr. Burkin said. It was a minority, he added, but "people that did make fun of me made it hell." In spite of all that Jonathon continued to pursue his passion with hard work and dedication. As a result he is moving up to the top twenty of America’s Got Talent…no small feat. David Hasselhoff says Jonathan is probably the best baton twirler in the world. We should be impressed; most children prefer to be liked and accepted by other children, they don’t take the hard road. Jonathan has what the bible calls hupomonè, better known as fortitude. The word is couched between "pressure and affliction" and "maturity of character" in the Amplified Bible translation. The Apostle Paul tells us pressure and affliction develops within us the all important characteristic of "fortitude" (hupomonè) which in turn produces the even more important attribute "maturity of character." That’s what this is all about. After travelling this human experience road that’s where God wants us to be… and when combined with His Spirit it adds up to godly character.

"Fortitude" I don’t like the sound of that word… any more than the words endurance, or patience. It sounds like it is difficult to do, a difficult place to be and I don’t like the idea that it takes affliction to produce it in my character.

The Greek word hupomonè comes out in different flavors:

William Barklay, lecturer in New Testament Language and Literature and in Hellenistic Greek in the University of Glasgow, in The Letter to the Roman s (1955 p.72) says, "It was hard to be a Christian in Rome Paul says. "Trouble," he said, "produces fortitude." The word he uses for trouble is thlipsis, and thlipsis literally means pressure. All kinds of things may press in upon the Christian—the pressure of want and need, and straitened circumstances, the pressure of sorrow, the pressure of persecution, the pressure of unpopularity and loneliness. All that pressure, says Paul, produces fortitude. The word he uses for fortitude is hupomonè. Hupomonè means more than endurance; it means the spirit which can overcome the world; it means the spirit which does not passively endure but which actively overcomes and conquers the trials and tribulations of life." (Romans 5:1-5) We see that in the baton twirler, Jonathan Burkin.

I see it in brethren who are suffering different afflictions. Just to mention a few… (Paul) in our congregation has an embolism on his aorta. A rupture may be fatal. The doctors measure it every six months, but imagine living with the knowledge that you have a living time bomb residing within. Nomi had cancer of the thyroid at the tender age of 27, yet she also possesses that wow factor called hupomonè and actively fights through her health challenges. Joe has diabetes and has suffered many eye surgeries. Jerry endured two major back surgeries. CarolAnne, having her own health problems, tended her dying brother for months. Doug, Carl, Eric has serious health problems and on and on. I could name just about everyone in the congregation. Yet, they all are wonderful examples of hupomonè in action, an inspiration to all who know them. They exude warmth and bubbly exuberance for life that is infectious, always smiling and we love them dearly. Many seniors that I know and spend time with possess this wow factor. Most brethren don’t take their affliction lying down but fight back like in the poem by Dylan Thomas, they don’t go gently into that good night.

I am sure many biblical characters developed hupomonè through their trials and tribulation. Let’s look at one. Jeremiah is called at the tender age of seventeen. Jeremiah was reluctant "behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." Yet, he put his concerns aside and obeyed God.

Just imagine how it would feel to be standing against so many prophets who carried a lot of weight within the nation, and to be the only one preaching darkness and destruction! This was certainly a trial of endurance (fortitude, patience, constancy, toughness) for Jeremiah. The princes and priests of Judah repeatedly attempted to quiet him. They wanted to kill him, but, amazingly enough, they were afraid to, because he had spoken to them as a prophet from the Lord their God.

In his very darkest hour we can feel his pain from the pressure he is under "I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; …He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation" (Lamentations 3:1, 4, 5 ESV). Jeremiah’s strength is in his hupomonè.

Jeremiah discovered a glorious truth that brought new hope and assurance to his mind. It was something he already knew about God, but it didn't touch his soul until he came to the end of himself. He discovered that at the very bottom - there was God! The further down he went, the more God was to be discovered. Down was not into some dark, hidden, fearful abyss - but down is going deeper into God. God was not to be discovered "up there" in some blissful soaring into untroubled skies, but in the shadows of grief and despair. When Jeremiah hit bottom, he bumped into God! He fell hard against the faithfulness of a compassionate God. Listen to his discovery:

"God is a God of compassion... His compassions for me cannot fail... they are new every morning... great is his faithfulness..."(Lamentations 3:22,23 K JV).

Little by little, Jeremiah began to realize some great truths that can only be discovered by those who are down. He went from pressure and affliction to hupomonè to maturity of character. You can read what he learned in Lamentations 3.

God never promised us the life of a disciple would be easy. In fact, just the opposite is true. Jesus said, "All men will hate you because of me" (Matthew 10:22). Jesus also said, "You do not belong to the world . . . that is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:19-20).

Jesus doesn’t promise us deliverance from difficulty and persecution. In fact, He promises us that we will be persecuted if we follow Him. However, He also promises us, "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13.5). The Apostle Paul certainly endured more persecution than most of us could ever dream of enduring. Yet, he wrote, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance" (hupomonè) (Romans 5:3).

Hupomonè is known as endurance, patience, steadfastness, unwavering constancy, fortitude or just plain toughness; still, the words are intimidating… they don’t seem to convey mind-blowing action, yet when developed we’ve got the wow factor with God. Jonathan Berkin learned fortitude as a child. Jeremiah, along with countless people of the Bible and brethren in the church today learn fortitude actively overcoming obstacles and patiently enduring suffering to develop that most essential of traits, godly character.