Happy Wednesday!

Can you believe it is the last day of September? And can you believe it is the end of the first six weeks of school? Wow! The time sure goes quickly. I will spend a large part of this weekend posting grades on the computerized grading system.

I turned my paper for Ethics in today and I am glad it is out of my hands. I am trying to hang in there with this class and this professor. She is new at the job and most of the material is over my head and she speaks in complex, big words. So I have been praying for God to lead me to the rock that is higher than I. I am praying for knowledge greater than I have and hope to just survive this class.

Bruce leaves very early in the morning for Wichita Falls and the Kairos Weekend. Thanks to all who baked cookies and thanks to all who are praying for this ministry, the weekend, the team and participants and especially Bruce.

Ephesians 2:10 “In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.”

I am glad this scripture came to me tonight. As I was in my Ethics class today the professor spoke on the reading passage of which I wrote my paper. What she said in her expert interpretation of the text was pretty opposite of how I interpreted the text. I immediately thought I have really blown this paper.

Time will tell, but when I applied to seminary I had some expectations. First, the end result to be that I will have earned a Master’s of Divinity Degree and will have the authority to do the job to which I believe I have been called. Second, I do not expect that my seminary studies will change my belief system, but I do expect my knowledge base to greatly increase. And last, I pray that I am able to be a witness to Christ in all I do while in seminary and to serve Him as I am learning. So each paper I write will have some of my own personal witness to Christ. If I don’t profess Christ in the school that has been charged to teach me then I am being a poor witness.

As Christians we are called to lead exemplary lives. A non-believer can do good works and be a good person and receive power and personal accolades for their works. But Christians will do good works in the name of God and give God the glory. God will teach us how to do good works with His authority. The desire for excellence is a gift from God. God’s excellence lasts forever because it keeps renewing itself in us because of God’s love for us. A non-believer’s striving for excellence usually manifests itself in earthly power. Power is temporal. But God’s love and His teachings are forever.

So strive for excellence in the name of the Lord and if the world does not agree then let God sort it out!!

Take joy in the journey and hug your babies. Love you all dear friends, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.