Nothing makes God more supreme and more central than when a people are utterly persuaded that nothing - not money or prestige or leisure or family or job or health or sports or toys or friends - nothing is going to bring satisfaction to their aching hearts besides God.
John Piper
I headed out this afternoon for Mt. Juliet, TN. I am speaking at the Middle School Fall Retreat for Mt. Juliet Christian Academy Thursday and Friday. I am excited about an opportunity to get away and hang with some new folks and share with them some things that God has laid on my heart.
I am speaking in three sessions. Here are the sessions:
1. Smell Me (2 Corinthians 2.15)
2. Temptation Island (2 Samuel/Genesis 37-50)
3. Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?
I’d appreciate your prayers if God brings me to your mind. I think we are going to have a GREAT time!
I just finished reading “Joseph” by Chuck Swindoll. I was very impressed with the way he taught the life of Joseph. I love learning more about particular Bible characters as I seek to develop their characteristics in my own life. Last year I read “Elijah”. The tag line about Elijah was a man who lived courageously among his peers and walked humbly with his God. I loved learning about Elijah and being challenged by those stories.
The tagline on Swindoll’s book about Joseph talked about him being a man of integrity and forgiveness. Are those characteristics that others see in my life?
I am speaking at a retreat next week and my theme is “Counting the Cost”. I am going to be talking about Joseph and Daniel and some of the situations they found themselves in. There are three main talks that I am putting together: How to Deal with Temptation, How to Approach a Relationship with God, and If God Loves Us, Why do Bad Things Still Happen?.
I am excited about this opportunity to go and share with these students. Next Wednesday at this time I’ll be heading over to Tennessee. The retreat is Thursday and Friday and I’ll spend Saturday and Sunday in Memphis hanging out with my family before I head back to Georgia.
I love the story of Joseph because he could have spent so much time wallowing and complaining, but instead he chose to follow God and to serve with a glad heart. He could have been the most negative person around, but he was noted for being one of the hardest workers and one of the most trustworth people in Egypt.
God rewarded his faithfulness and gave Him an opportunity to lead a great nation. I wonder what God thinks when He looks at my life and how I choose to follow Him and serve others? I hope God expects a lot out of me.
Tomorrow night we have a home football game at 5pm. After the game, Clint and I are headed on a roadtrip. We’ll spend the night somewhere around Charlotte, NC. Early Friday morning we are going to head up to Lynchburg, VA to spend the weekend at Liberty University. Friday evening we are taking Nathan, Kendra, and Andrew to dinner to catch up and hang out. Saturday we are going to Andrew’s soccer game. Liberty is playing Marshall at 1pm. Sunday we’ll all go to church and then Clint and I will hit the road headed back this way.
We are looking forward to a great weekend up at LU!
