The Maranatha Church in Tallahassee, Fla., held their Senior Federation Program on April 11, 2026, during the divine worship service. The guest speaker was Debleaire K. Snell, senior pastor of Oakwood University Church and Breath of Life speaker/director, and a native of Tallahassee.
Snell’s message was “Old Man Strength,” taken from Deuteronomy 34:5-9. He told the congregation that Moses showed that the end of life can be a quality of life. People exalt being youthful, but one cannot fight getting old; instead, fight getting irrelevant. The goal is to get old, and, instead of trying to relive what was, to be thankful to God for whatever season of life one finds themself in.
Snell stated that the Bible gives a certain stature to age. In Proverbs 16:31, gray hair is a crown of splendor to be obtained by a righteous life. He told the church that in Psalm 92:14, God said He is going to bless the age so that they bear fruit in old age, and that they remain green and have freshness.
In Job 12:12, “Wisdom is found amongst the age and understanding amongst those that have lived a long life.” He said that one of the greatest blessings of living a long time is you can serve God, developing a history with God as you follow Him all the days of your life, and you can say like David, “I am young and now, I am old. And I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging after bread,” Psalm 37:25.
Snell said that one of the things about walking with God for a long time is that you do not get upset when things are not going your way, because you have been walking with God so long, that you’ve seen Him do so much, that you know He is in control of everything. He said that the Bible gives a detailed description of Moses’ physical statute before he died. Moses was 120 years old when he died (Deuteronomy 34:7). The Bible says when Moses died, his eyes were not dim and his strength was not abated.
Snell believes that this detail was given to teach the Church a lesson: that age is a number, not a limitation. Moses had no mental or physical decline because he was still living in his “old man strength.” He had long lasting emotional maturity, and an important thing that Moses did was to give God’s people hope.
Snell told the congregation that their final years do not have to be filled with inflammation of the joints, nerve damage, and hospital visits. A life of good diets, activities, a good disposition, and trust in God will make your youth last longer. He said Moses never stopped living, and what kept Moses strong was his purpose. “Never lose your purpose, and your purpose will outlive your work life. Your purpose is what gives you the zeal to keep going in life. God assigned purpose to your life. Do not sit around and wait on your death day to come. You must live!” said Snell.
Southeastern | July 2026
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