Memorial for 9/11

This is a photo of a memorial for the relatives of Jay's wife that were killed during 9/11.

The Call Part 3

A long time ago, in a land far away, there was a man who was (by all accounts) short and fairly ugly.  God, who is no respecter of persons, saved this man’s soul in 1785.  The man, out of gratitude, thought that he should give up what had been his calling and follow God in “full time ministry.”  He had been very active and effective in politics prior to his conversion.  Fortunately, a minister named John Newton (the author of the song Amazing Grace) convinced him that he should consider the possibility that he had been raised up for the good of the nation of England.  After much prayer and thought, he decided that Newton was correct and sought God for what He would have him do.  The man’s name is William Wilberforce and after much prayer he stated that “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners.”  Manners in modern language would translate to habits, attitudes, and morals.  Wilberforce is not well known but he sought God and he changed the world.  He was the driving force that eliminated slavery in England.  He had enough success in the reformation of habits, attitudes, and morals that some historians credit him with saving England from the violent ends found in the French revolution.  He was called by some the “Washington of humanity.”  The odds against him were staggering.  He was not a member of a mainstream church.  He was a member of the evangelicalism movement.  The slave trade was accepted almost without question as an acceptable and essential part of the economy of his nation.  He was opposed by the royal family, those in political power, those with money, and national heroes such as Lord Nelson both at home and in the colonies.  He was physically assaulted and one of his friends said, “I shall expect to read of you carbonadoed (sliced and roasted) by West Indian planters, barbecued by African merchants and eaten by Guinea captains, but do not be daunted, for – I will write your epitaph!”  Wilberforce worked 50 years before he accomplished his goals.  

Guinness says that “Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything thing we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service”

Wilberforce clearly heard the call, knew his life purpose, and lived it.

Guinness outlines 4 points;

1. Calling has a simple meaning.  Someone is calling and someone is called.  There is a speaker and a hearer.


2. Calling by God is a creative force.  He calls and enables so we can become what He calls us to be.


3. We are called out of the world to be followers of His


4. The call is no casual suggestion but to a living sacrifice for each of us in all our lives.

Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by Him, to Him, and for Him.
Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live, and act entirely for Him.  

Our work, whatever it is, becomes a secondary calling and is sanctified (set apart by God for His purposes) as we pursue our primary calling to God.  Remember to hold the two callings together and in the proper order.

Sunday Morning

Chuck prepares to make a phone call to locate his donuts. Thanks for the great discussion in class this week.

Berry Benefit Ride

Pat and I just returned from participating in the benefit motorcycle ride for the Berrys. We had a good time. The weather was warm and the ride was an arc around the North of Athens ending at Rass n' Ruby's for the door prizes. Mike Berry was there and participated in the ride. Maryann is home but in therapy. He would like to join us on Sundays but can't right now. Please keep praying for Maryann to recover. There were about 35 bikes of all types.

The Call Part 2

I recently read a book on managing the generations. The book was the result of studying the various generations (WW2, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Nexters). The author suggested tailoring your management style to match the generation of each employee. Some of these guidelines are more or less true and can be helpful but they don’t address ultimate questions of identity and personality. They force a one size fits all approach to individuals that have plenty of individuality. The individual baby boomer gets lost in the shuffle of all baby boomers when we look at people this way or try to understand ourselves in this way. Os Guinness (in his book “The Call”) noticed that many people use these categories rather than dealing with individuality and seeking to understand why they are the way they are. In the end, you are a prisoner of your “category.” It can be race, gender, class, generation, or ancestry. In fact we invent new categories everyday and men even categorize each other by their jobs.

Guinness also points out another angle of attack on the problem of “who am I” and “why am I alive”. Some folks say you “just do it” and you can be anything you have the courage to be. A philosopher named Nietzche decided that the concept of God (and God too of course) was dead. You had to muster up the courage to be a superman. Either obey yourself or be commanded. Use self mastery and will power to pull yourself up to the heights and then you can claim you did it because you willed it to be. In our society we do plenty of self construction. We can develop the identity we want by our selection in our consumer society. Who you are is just one more thing you can purchase off the shelf. You craft who you are. We have no clue why. Our purpose is gone but we can craft ourselves as long as the money holds out. Einstein said that a perfection of means and a confusion of goals seems to characterize our age. We find ourselves at a moment in history with great means to act but we have some how lost the script and don’t know what the goal is.

Reality has a nasty way of showing us that it can take more than a strong will to achieve a goal. Being constrained by categories is tough but being told I can be anything I want to be is tougher. Then when I fail it is bigger than plain vanilla failure because it is a failure of my will and spirit. This dead end has resulted in some folks taking a third position that can be thought of as a belief that we are “constituted to be”. We are told by this philosophy that we bear the seeds of what we will be from birth. But these folks end up bowing at the altar of fate and determinism. They live in a crushing place that is forcing them into a form both from within and without to be something. They may be little more than spectators in the process.

All three positions have grains of truth. I am certainly influenced by all the categories that I fit into. I can certainly achieve a great deal when I decide to do it. I am clearly constituted to be something by my nature and not be other things by my nature (Michael Vick will not face me in the NFL). I know that I am unique in God’s eyes. I am not constrained to be … I am called to be.

Guinness points out that:

The Caller sees and addresses us as individuals – as unique, exceptional, precious, significant, and free to respond. He who calls us is personal as well as infinite and personal in himself, not just to us. So we who are called are addressed as individuals and invited into a relationship (“I have called you by name,” God said). We are known with an intimacy that is a source of gratitude and soul-shivering wonder (“Such knowledge,” the psalmist wrote, “is too wonderful for me”). The notion of life as karma, or the belief that your future is unchangeably “written,” is as far from the truth of calling as you can get.

God is calling right now. He has a plan right now. You may have ignored Him for years. He still has a plan to move you from where you are to where you need to be. God’s discipline is a precious thing that brings life. God’s discipline corrects us and leads to His blessing.

Joel 2:25-27 (ESV)
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
“ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

The Call Part 1

Some copies of the book, “Captivating” will be available for 13 dollars in class on Sunday. This is the companion volume to Wild at Heart. Some of you may want to purchase this book for your wife to read and discuss with you.

I was thinking about the importance that we (especially men) place on having at purpose and adventure in living. It reminded me of a book I read a few years ago. The title of the book is The Call by Os Guinness. The author works to develop a biblical view of calling. Guinness says “calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”

There are a number of unsatisfactory philosophies in vogue in regard to spiritual searching and calling. One is to view the search as its own reward. You can just relax and chant “better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” Open minds can be empty heads. How can you travel hopefully if there is no destination? Secondly, you can define desire as bad. Guinness points out that this South Asian view leads to the conclusion that desire is not a good thing that can go wrong but is essentially bad. Thirdly, you can seek a human love on this earth as the most and highest good (Think Chick Flick, think the movie Titanic).

Fourth, in Guinness’ list, you can seek God’s love (agape). He says that:

The way of agape insists that, because true satisfaction and real rest can only be found in the highest and most lasting good, all seeking short of the pursuit of God brings only restlessness. This is what Augustine meant in his famous saying in Book One of Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.

Agape differs radically from the other methods of searching. We can search for an earthly love and, as we see in Wild at Heart, that can be an important part of many men’s lives. But Agape is bigger and God driven. We need Him to bridge the gap between us and Him. Guinness points out that:

If we are to desire the highest good, the highest good must come down and draw us so that it may become a reality we desire. All is grace. The secret of seeking is not in our human ascent to God, but in God’s decent to use. We start out searching, but we end up being discovered. We think we are looking for something; we realize we are found by Someone. As in Francis Thompson’s famous picture, “the hound of heaven” has tracked us down.

Listen to C.S. Lewis’ description of what happened to him in the summer of 1929 when he moved from being an atheist to a believer.

As the dry bones shook and came together in the dreadful Valley of Ezekiel’s, so now a philosophical theorem, cerebrally entertained, began to stir and heave and throw off its graveclothes, and stood upright and became a living presence. I was to be allowed to play at philosophy no longer. It might, as I say, still be true that my “Spirit” differed in some way from the God of popular religion. My Adversary waived the point. It sank into utter unimportance. He would not argue about it. He only said, “I am the Lord”; “I am that I am”; “I am.”

People who are naturally religious find difficulty in understanding the horror of such a revelation. Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about “man’s search for God.” To me, as I then was, they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat.

We so often underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit in calling. I doubt the Apostle Paul doubted His power. Jesus knocked him down, blinded him, and rebuked him. I wonder what Paul thinks of the words of the hymn, “softly and tenderly Jesus is calling?"

Guinness says, “The notion of calling, or vocation, is vital to each of us because it touches on the modern search for a basis for individual identity and an understanding of humanness itself.”

I’ll try to summarize more of Guinness comments on calling while we are studying “Wild at Heart.”

Class News

Here are the current prayer requests:

1) Minnie (new church member) - May need back surgery, pray for healing and financial blessing

2) Bud & the senior's trip to Gatlinburg

3) Tim's family

4) The displaced family that we (BHBC) are ministering to as the family decides on their future

5) Phil lost two cousins last week; pray for his family's spiritual health and especially for the Gospel to prosper in his family

6) Pray for Dave T's children

Next week Robert leads us in our continuing study of Wild at Heart.

The Silver Chair

I was thinking about the bored condition of many Christian men described by Eldredge. It reminded me of a story written by C.S. Lewis. Lewis wrote a series called “The Chronicles of Narnia” and it is headed for the movie theaters this fall. If you have children, then turn off the TV and read these books to them. My children loved the books and listened to me read the entire series twice. It is a fantasy series with many Christian parallels and teachng many biblical concepts.

The fourth book of the seven book series is The Silver Chair. The heart of the story is the rescue of a man who is bewitched. In reality, he is royalty and it is time for him to take the throne. However, he is trapped in a dark kingdom below ground and he only remembers who he is once a day for an hour. He can’t get free because each night, just before he remembers who he is and what he is supposed to be doing, his captors strap him into a silver chair. When he can think clearly he can’t get out of the silver chair. Most of the time, he can’t remember who he is or how he has been separated from his birthright. Eventually, he is freed by a group serving Aslan (who represents Christ in the book series).

For me, the story drove home the scripture in

James 1:19-25
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (English Standard Version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society).

Do you remember who you serve, what your birthright is, and what you are called to be doing? If we stay away from the Word then we forget it all. We may have a comfortable chair made of silver but if it costs our birthright and keeps us from service then we need to get up out of the chair. Jesus says that apart from Him you can do nothing and remember that nothing is not a little something. Men like action and God already has a plan for you. You can do all things through Him.

Sunday Sept 18, 2005

Today’s discussion in class was great.  I’ve been thinking about the concepts of “fierceness” in the heart of man that Bud brought up.  I was reminded of a message that I delivered to a congregation in Raleigh about 10 years ago.  I think that the portion near the end of the message that discusses the life and racing of Eric Liddle explains “fierceness” in a Christian (at least from my point of view).  I called it reckless abandonment to the will of God.  I also found that the third definition for fierce in Webster’s Unabridged to be: very eager, ardent, intense; as, a man fierce for his party.  That could work if we assume that is what Eldredge was getting at.  I think Liddle was beyond intense.  He was described as running like a wild animal by one of his chief competitors.  They said the actor that played him had difficulty learning to run with his head thrown back because he couldn’t see where he was going.  Liddle apparently didn’t have any trouble running while looking up at the sky.  I think maybe he had a different finish line in mind.  He died while working as a missionary in China.

Reckless Abandonment (approximately 1995) – I’ve edited the following to shorten it.

A number of years ago I was thinking about the phrase, “reckless abandonment” as it applies to our lives as Christians.  What the phrase means is a careless or heedless yielding of oneself completely to a cause or feeling.  

As a scripture text I was drawn to 2 Samuel chapter 6 and the challenge to King David’s heart as a result of his interaction with the Ark of the Covenant.  David had just won a great victory over the Philistines and God had demonstrated His blessing of Israel in the fight.  David really wanted to go get the Ark and put it back where it belonged.  It doesn’t appear that he sought God about the task of moving the Ark that had been gone about 100 years.  He simply assumed that returning it to the right city would be something God would bless.  David took 30,000 men and went to get the Ark.  They built a new cart and the procession with the Ark followed behind a great celebration of worship.  During the return trip the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and a man named Uzzah reached to steady the Ark.  When he touched the Ark, God struck him dead.  You simply didn’t touch the Ark of God.

David had decided to do something for God and it didn’t go well.  David was angry with God for Uzzah’s death.  It scared David that God could be so demanding and so he left the Ark with a man called Obed-Edom.  The Amplified Bible adds that David was “grieved and offended” even though David really had been slack in following God.  In our pursuit of God, we should be recklessly abandoned to Christ.  This attitude of fervent devotion has sharp focus on the God of the Universe.  David simply decided that God must bless this thing that he would do for Him.  Uzzah knew better than to touch the Ark.  He knew that if you touched the Ark then you would die and David knew it too.  They also knew that the Ark was not to be moved on an oxcart.  God had given detailed instructions on how to move the Ark and no carts were used.  David’s lack of abandonment to the commands of a Holy God was made evident.  He balked at bringing the cart home so he left it with a man named Obed-Edom.  However, when he left the cart with Obed-Edom he left the blessing with him too.

Eventually David’s desire for God overcame his fear and resulted in a reckless abandonment to God’s will.  He was ready to seek God no matter what the cost.  He went to get the Ark the way he was supposed to get the Ark.  The priests carried the Ark and every six steps (the number of man) he would sacrifice a bull and a calf.  David danced with all his might before the Lord.  No risk was too great to keep David from following God with all his heart.  His fear of God’s Holiness and demands were overcome by his desire for God’s Presence and Blessing.  He didn’t care anymore about what happened to him personally because he was completely and recklessly abandoned to the God’s leading.

David’s resolve was tested immediately.  When he returned to bless his household, David’s wife Michal the daughter of Saul told her husband that he was an embarrassment in the way he danced before the Ark and even said he was vulgar.  David didn’t compromise the higher call of God on his life and told Michal that he was going to celebrate before God and be even more undignified in the future.  Apparently Michal never repented of her sin.

David’s reckless abandonment to God cost him a wife who abandoned him to seek her own honor.  God sees our hearts and knows where we are flawed and where we draw back and where the doors are shut to the rooms we want to keep private from even Him.  Only God can search hearts.  There are people on the mission field whose hearts are far from God.  I’ve even heard of missionaries getting saved on the mission field.  That is certainly a frightening situation in my eyes.  The quiet elderly saint may have a heart on fire and move mountains in prayer.

The movie “Chariots of Fire” tells the story of a runner named Eric Liddel.  As much as I can tell from what is said about him, he was recklessly abandoned to the will of God.  In everything he did he seems to have sought God.  His sister was afraid that he would get so interested in running that he wouldn’t go on the mission field.  Eric knew that God had made him fast and that God loved it when he ran.  He and God rejoiced in the run.  Once, during a quarter mile race, a competitor elbowed Liddel so hard he fell and landed in the infield.  The reasonable thing to do would be stay down and lodge a protest.  But Liddel was abandoned to God’s will, God had him in that race, and the race wasn’t over yet.  He got up, ran like there was nothing else on earth to ever do, and won.  He fell gasping for air and completely spent in the race.  Another competitor was watching from the stands and waiting for his chance to race him on another day.   The competitor’s comment was that he was afraid of Liddle because he ran like a wild animal.  The world can’t understand what happens when a heart is wholly given to God.  It is, as it should be, simply frightening.

Whatever you do, no matter if it is something you say or something you do, make sure you are doing it in Jesus name and in dependence on His enabling as you praise God the Father (Colossians 3:17).  Don’t let your life have any part outside fellowship with God.  Abandon each part to the will of God and trust Him.

Move into fellowship with God and don’t question His motives in your life.  You can’t know everything He has in store for you and you are not wise enough to be His counselor.  You will learn to yield to God completely without care or worry.  He will teach you that but it won’t always be easy.  Learn to surrender and cast your cares on Him if you believe He cares for you.  If you are offended by what He does with your life then you are not fully surrendered.  He will continue to work faithfully in your life whether you are aware of it or not.  Life lived on earth outside His presence is a great loss.

WAH - Chapter 3

On more than one occasion, Eldredge uses hyperbole to make a point.  For example, he makes the following statement …

Page 42 “The guys who meet for coffee every Thursday morning down at the local coffee shop and share a few Bible verses with each other – where is their great battle?  And the guys who hang out down at the bowling alley, smoking and having a few too many – they’re in the exact same place.”

Well that isn’t very likely to be true.  It is true that our relationship with God can get dry.  We can have hearts without passion for our Lord.  We can be lukewarm (neither hot nor cold) and the object of his displeasure like those in the church at Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). However, the guys who meet for coffee every Thursday and share Bible verses are  (presumably) learning to use the sword that God gives us for the battle we are called to live.  They aren’t even close to being in the “exact same place” with the guys at the bowling alley.

Eldredge’s most significant weakness is his use (or lack of it) of Scripture.  We study the Bible because we know that we are told to:

… be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10 – 20, ESV)

You’ll notice in multiple chapters that Eldredge has a fairly limited view of original sin and the fallen nature of mankind.  Remember that just because you find an inclination or urge in your heart doesn’t mean that it is something that pleases God or that God will bless.  God warns us about our hearts.  He says that are desperately wicked and says that we can’t know them but He can and will heal our hearts.  After being informed by Scripture of our problem with sin, we should have a natural distrust of ourselves and cleave to God as the one called along side us to lead and instruct us.  Ephesians makes it clear that we are at war and gives us instruction on armor and weapons.  In a battle, you had better know where your sword is and keep your armor on.  You had better become familiar with your weapon and learn how to use it.  If it takes a Thursday morning bible study, then go for it.  We take golf lessons, tennis lessons, and study hunting and fishing.  Some people even take bowling lessons.  Those things bring some limited benefits in our lives but the Word benefits in all areas of our life both now and for evermore.  I remember listening to an expert hunter speak on the use of various turkey calls.  He had actually learned to suppress his gag reflex so that he could use a call that fits in the back of his throat.  His ability to imitate a Turkey call was amazing and, when using that call, he had both hands available for his weapon.  There are often time when we will find our sinful nature something that we must fiercely refuse to submit to and must eliminate from our lives.  Jesus said that if some body part offends then cut it off.  Jesus could also use hyperbole to make a point.

Sunday Night Class Coming Up

I’ll be teaching a class on Sunday nights in October.  Over three Sunday nights (9th, 16th, and 23rd) we’ll discuss the impact of philosophy as it has filtered through popular culture.  I think it will help you understand the origins and consequences of some of the ideas you now find in your neighbors.

You’ll see announcement in various places:
"Understanding Today’s Culture" - Examine the theological origins of postmodern culture, probe its current expressions, and learn how to respond biblically.

WAH - Chapter 2

Our author confuses himself pretty badly on pages 30 to 32. Risk is can be defined as the possibility of suffering harm or loss. It can mean a factor, thing, or course involving uncertain danger. God knows all the things that can possibly happen but He also knows for certain what will happen. Of course, God knowing for certain what will happen means that He doesn’t risk anything in the sense that we in our limited knowledge do. In an effort to explain the way God is present with us in the moment, Eldredge finds himself confused and argues against God’s omniscience. God is without a doubt sovereign in the full, complete, and perfect sense of the Word. Scripture is clear on this point. You may have surprised your earthly father from time to time (mine always seemed a few steps ahead of me) but you will never surprise your Heavenly Father. Eldredge sees that he has a problem and states “I am not advocating open theism”. Open theism teaches that God doesn't know for sure what will happen. However, if Eldredge isn't arguing for open theism then he would need to disagree with most of what he just taught in the bulk of these pages. You will find some links at the end of this post that discuss the sovereignty of God in more detail (Thanks to Lewis for pulling those up). Ideas have consequences and words have meanings. God’s sovereignty and man’s free will haven’t really “stumped” the church as Eldredge states. You simply can’t overstate the sovereignty of God (as Eldredge accuses theologians of doing). God’s knowledge has no limit. He is perfect in wisdom knowing the end from the beginning. His knowledge is awesome, inspires fear, and brings me to my knees. He doesn’t just know what is going to happen to me tomorrow, He knows all that could happen to me tomorrow and all the consequences of all the things that could happen. He knows perfectly and completely all my decisions that will be made through the exercise of my free will. He doesn’t know my actions because he predicts them from current events or because they are forced or deterministic. He knows my future actions because He is God, glorious in knowledge and transcendent.

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/sovereignty/sovereignty_index.html

http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/sovereignty.html

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0077.htm

WAH - Chapter 1

As you think about the issues raised in this chapter please think about the courage God calls us to have as we live our lives before Him.

Study some biblical characters who have demonstrated courage (for example, Joshua). I think that the “fierce” aspect that is raised by Eldredge is often another way of saying that we need to exercise courage.

Class News

Prayer Requests:

1) Hurricane Katrina Relief - In addition to prayer there are many opportunities to minister. Look for the yellow trifold brochures at church. I have some additional details if you need them so email me if you want addresses.

2) Pray for the church administration and especially for the stewardship and personnel committee as they prepare the budget for next year.

3) The Guest family

4) Our government - pray for harmony, pray for right judgment, First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:1&2)

5) Pray for Lewis Noles who has been diagnosed with sleep apnea and is now working through a treatment plan.

6) Pray for us each as class members as we minister to our families.

Upcoming Events: Sept 24th motorcycle benefit ride for the Berrys and October 3 Football Night outreach for men.

Thanks to Don Pickering for great food last Sunday
Food this Sunday will be by Steve Skelton

The Men's Revival Supper was a blessing and the message was very much aligned with the book we are beginning to study "Wild at Heart". I think all the books are gone now from the classroom but you can purchase the book at local bookstores. I've also ordered some of the women's companion book "Captivating" for those of you who think that having your wife understand you would be of more benefit than harm. In fact the speaker at the revival dinner, in addition to providing a foundation for the study over the next few weeks, mentioned our next study material by Piper, "Don't Waste Your Life".

We will discuss the first 3 chapters of Wild at Heart by Eldredge this Sunday.

When I was in High School I had an English teacher who had a real attitude. He actually made us memorize and recite things. At the time we all hated it but one of those things he made me memorize is the first quote in the book we are about to study. I want to repeat it here and give thanks for teachers who don't listen to students when they whine. The quote has meant a lot to me down through the years and, although I wouldn't admit it at the time, I loved it the first time I read it.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, a least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known either victory or defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

Hooah!