We kicked off our Influence series with Shaun Alexander, 2005 NFL MVP. Love his spirit. Man, he preached a straight-up salvation message straight out of the gate. Loved it. He's a preacher in a football player's body! Also love the way Shaun prayed with people. So touchable!
We hit Fago de Chao afterwards. Great food. Great fellowship.
Thought I'd share one cool story. When Shawn signs books I noticed he writes Psalm 37:4. I wanted to know the genesis story so I asked him about it over dinner. Shawn wore #37 at the University of Alabama so a friend told him he should read chapter 37 from all the books in the Bible. Psalm 37:4 was his favorite verse: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." At the time, he was a third string back but two guys in front of him got injured in the same game. His first carry was a 17 yard TD. I think he said his third and fourth carries were 70+ yard TDs. He gained 291 yards on 19 carries.
My big take away this weekend is simple: put Christ first. So many of us want influence, but influence is a byproduct of our relationship with Christ. And if we genuinely delight ourselves in the Lord then everything else will take care of itself.
We hit Fago de Chao afterwards. Great food. Great fellowship.
Thought I'd share one cool story. When Shawn signs books I noticed he writes Psalm 37:4. I wanted to know the genesis story so I asked him about it over dinner. Shawn wore #37 at the University of Alabama so a friend told him he should read chapter 37 from all the books in the Bible. Psalm 37:4 was his favorite verse: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." At the time, he was a third string back but two guys in front of him got injured in the same game. His first carry was a 17 yard TD. I think he said his third and fourth carries were 70+ yard TDs. He gained 291 yards on 19 carries.
My big take away this weekend is simple: put Christ first. So many of us want influence, but influence is a byproduct of our relationship with Christ. And if we genuinely delight ourselves in the Lord then everything else will take care of itself.
6 Comments:
Psalm 37:4 is one of my favorites too. I used to read it and think that when I spend time with God and hang out with Him and delight myself in Him, then He would give me the desires of *MY* heart. The things I wanted, things I was trying to do, etc. However, I've come to change my thinking on that. Now I think that when I delight myself in Him that He will plant new desires in my heart. He will plant His desires for me. It's a shift in how I view that verse.
Mark, as an aside, funny story: I was at an event this weekend and they were selling your book "In a pit...". A lady picked up the book and was getting ready to buy it and said to her friend: "this book is about a guy that jumps into a pit with a lion. I'm not sure what it's about, but I think it will be good!"
As an Alabama fan I have always been proud of the way Shaun carried himself during school and later in the pros. I miss the way he smiled during games. And the way he would wait for a hole to open and look like he was jogging as he made LSU look really slow. Roll Tide.
Mark,
Love the quote, "So many of us want influence, but influence is a byproduct of our relationship with Christ." I see so many Christians focusing on influence-building opportunities. Relationship with Jesus is the only thing that leads to real influence.
Thanks for sharing this story, but particularly this verse. I really needed it today.
Thanks for the podcasts!! Been really nice to hear some services back in the states.
Why do you bold every other word?
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