Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Solomon's wisdom

I was reading in 1 Kings 8 this morning. I was stirred by part of Solomon's prayer. In verses 57-58, Solomon prays, "The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers."

I thought it interesting that he prayed as one sentence, "May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him..." It is out of consistent closeness with God (from God) that our hearts are inclined to God. This does not happen as we check in and out of church or in and out of our "relationship" with him.

O, God, please incline my heart... incline our hearts... to you. Turn us away from lesser things. And in so doing, help us to resist the temptation to redefine what it means to "walk in all your ways" and to "keep your commandments, your statutes, and your rules."

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

A hero...


I was blessed to be able to attend John Piper's Pastors Conference this week. What a blessing. How rich we are to have such godly men to learn from. I was challenged, convicted, encouraged and blessed. I have learned how to be a better son, a better dad and a better pastor. Please pray for me if you read this that the "how" will be engaged to "being".

Here's me with my hero, John Piper. I doubt he'll ever read this, but if he does (and just so you know why...), "Thank you John. I do not know what kind of a pastor I would be if it weren't for your faithfulness to the Word of God. You have poured into me from a distance. You have shaped my view of God. For that I am most grateful. I continue to pray that God will use me to give the people he has entrusted to me a view of God that you're people have."