Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:8

There really is nothing left to say for the Christian. Christ is everything and nothing else matters. I love the pictures we are given from Scripture of every creature constantly praising Him, everything in nature praising Him, and one day everyone of His redeemed praising Him. How I long for that day. There is nothing I want more. There is nothing keeping me here except for Him. And I will accomplish what He wants and I will go home to Him.

God has been so gracious to me. He has given me so much. He has provided. He continues to bless and provide. And He continues to surprise me with new blessings. I wonder about the blessings He has for me this week. Maybe I will be persecuted for His glory. Maybe He will be gracious and bless me in some other way. All I know is that whatever circumstances He brings to me, it is His gift to me and I receive it gladly hoping that it will cause me to long for Him more.

I had an incredible opportunity this past Saturday as I went and met with a lady, Barbara, her daughter, Candace (who is a professing Christian), and Candace's boyfriend, Joe (who is Catholic). It is interesting how this meeting was set up. You may remember that I witnessed to Barbara a while back at the courthouse. She approached me because she did not like my sign declaring God's hatred for wickedness. She has been coming off and on to my church on Wednesday nights. She is a professing Christian, but living in an immoral relationship. She is not ready to repent, but I can tell that God is working in her heart. It is interesting that she is in this sinful lifestyle yet she is concerned about her daughter dating a Catholic. She wanted me to meet with them and talk about the heresy I have seen in Catholicism. She picked me up on Saturday and we drove up to Athens. We met with them for probably over three hours. I got to share a lot of Truth with all three of them.

Unfortunately, Joe is trusting more in the church to tell him what is Biblical rather than trusting the Word of God and His Holy Spirit. He was even so bold as to say that if the Catholic church came out with a heretical teaching like denying Christ's deity, he would no longer believe in God. He said he is trusting that God protects the integrity of the church and this belief is so strong that if the church were to fall then so would his faith. I could not believe what he was saying. Especially considering all of the heresies that the Catholic church is teaching like Mary's sinlessness, and faith mixed with works. It just shows how blind men really are. The Word of God is so clear and yet men supress the Truth in unrighteousness. He wanted to conclude the meeting by saying that we basically believed the same things. He wanted to send me some links to some Catholic apologetics. I told him no thanks. He asked how I expected him to read what I gave him if I would not look at what he has. I told him that I was not there to learn anymore about the Catholic teaching. I had looked at it enough to see it as wrong and I assured him that we believed different things and what he was believing had severe implications. He was a little surprised at my boldness, but the meeting still ended well. It is amazing how bold you can be when you found evangelistic relationships on the gospel. The gospel is the center and if people reject you because of the gospel then let them reject you. We are not to be friends with the world except that we are constantly seeking to win them to Christ.

I also had another great encounter with an eight-year old. I was teaching at a school and got to talk to one of my students. He said he goes to church. I asked him if he believed in God. He said yes that he got baptized. I asked him what that meant. He began to talk to me about conversations he has with his mom and other people at the church about the Trinity. He said he could not understand how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could all be one, and this was from an eight-year old.

I shared with him from John 1 explaining to him that Jesus is God's Word made flesh. I think too many times we use illustrations to make our points, but why didn't God use the perfect illustration to explain the Trinity? I would rather stick with Scripture and explain the Trinity the way the Bible does. I wrote the verses out for him on a note and he was excited to put it in his book bag. He then seemed very interested in what church I went to. Praise the Lord. I hope this young man looks at the Word of God is changed forever just like I was in college.

I am so fortunate to have Christ with me at all times. May He be with us as we reach out to thousands at the SuperBowl next week. We need your prayers.

Christ, take me home, but until then send me many souls to bring with me.