Click on the links to navigate through this page. Top Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Hi Ladies. I am excited to be reading this book as a group and sharing thoughts together. We will be in three groups of five, and once a week will read one chapter and "report in" to the others in our group. You can set up a group address in your computer. We will start the first week of September. Here's a challenge to each of you: the book talks about our passion in life. What's your passion? I must confess I had to think about it a while to decide for myself. Perhaps you will all want to share that your first week, perhaps you will write it in the front of your book and see if your thoughts change as you read the book. May God bless us and challenge us to walk closer to Him. Chapter One Top Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Hi everyone: Here are my thoughts! This chapter was a good reminder to me of our purpose on earth--To glorify Christ in ALL we do. That is one of my goals (and passions) in life-- the "passion principle."(pg 5, Col.3:23-24) Whatever we do needs to be done with the Lord as our focus. I often find myself wishing I was a talented person, but I realize that God has given me gifts and I need to use them for His glory. What really jumped out at me is on pg.3; David Jeremiah says, "Passion is all about a basic mind-set and a heart attitude for embracing life--positively, energetically, full bore, pedal to the metal, wide open." If my heart attitude is one of "What I am doing is boring, not important, or doesn't matter" than I won't be doing it whole heartedly--to the Lord. "A fulfilling, passionate life comes from the inside out." (pg 5) As a child of God, shining His love to the lost, my passion is to truly shine with the joy I find in Christ, so that others will desire to have a relationship with Him as well. Journeying together, I have read "A Bend in the Road", and "My Heart's Desire", both by David Jeremiah. I'm looking forward to "Life Wide Open" via this email bible study. As for something I'm passionate about, I must confess, it's tennis. How un-spiritual, I know. But I love the game. I started playing when I was about 15. I play it as often as I can--singles, ladies doubles, mixed doubles--watch the Grand Slams when they're on TV, and even go to New York to the US Open almost every year. (I was there Sept. 1st and will be there on Sat. the 9th for the semi-finals). So, I do identify with Erid Liddell in the book, as he was passionate about running, and God. The two were inseperable to him since he said that both passions came from the same source. I play tennis for the wonderful exercise it is, the enjoyment of the game, and the many great friends I have made thru the years. However, if God wanted me to lay down my tennis racket tomorrow, I would do it for Him. But I'm not sure Christianity is about giving up our passions as much as it is living passionately with Jesus. Taking Him wherever we go, doing whatever we do with Him. At least that's what I want. What is my passion in life? I still haven't figured it out! Renee, I knew you would come up with something super-spiritual to make me feel unspiritual! (You know I'm kidding, right?) I'm trying to get excited about homeschooling again (after having a year off - long story) and I know this is what God wants me to be doing since there have been several confirmations, but I am just not to the passion part yet. I'm having trouble doing the "mom" thing and setting aside any thoughts of doing anything for myself. You'd think after 11 years that I'd have that part down pat! The book grabbed my attention right away in the introduction when he talked about the Spirit's goal for us to have passionate lives was for NOW, not for after this or that or at some distant time in the future. That's my thing, I always think I have to do something else first. Another thing that caught my attention was that it takes a leap of faith to live a passionate life. Jeremiah wrote, "There's no such thing as a half-way leap." Well, duh, but it helped to read it anyway! What is my passion?? I thought about this weeks ago, and so I have written the following, along with the date, in the front cover of the book and I will be interested to see if it changes with time. My passion is, I want to be "busy about my Father's business." I want to spend the remainder of my life here doing the business of my Heavenly Father, until I meet Him face to face! Some comments on the chapter... Pg. 4: I thought it was interesting how Dr. Jeremiah pointed out that Eric Liddell had a passion for running, BUT he also had ANOTHER DEEP PASSION...he took every advantage God gave him (which often times came through his running) to PLEASE AND HONOR GOD, speaking of Him. How can that affect me, almost 100 years later?? I want to also, use every opportunity that God gives me, to glorify God. Which follows up in to pg. 5.... I want to use every opportunity He gives me to honor and glorify Him. This points me to the question...what has God given me that I need to utilitze in a way that will please and honor my Heavenly Father?? quoting Dr. Jeremiah..."We want a faith in God that is vibrant and alive" I want to be busy about my Fathers business, vibrantly and alive. I am not by nature a very exciting person, but my God is THE author of excitement! He speaks and it comes in to being! He takes what was not and makes it be...He takes the dead and brings in life to it...and everything in between! I was talking to someone about people who may have heard about biblical principles and living for Christ, since they were little kids and I wondered if that becomes boring, but then I realized, NO! If the Holy Spirit is working and alive in us, ....the Holy Spirit of the Living God is NEVER, NEVER BORING!!! If we ever find ourselves bored with the things of God....we have failed to be in close fellowship with Him! OK, those are my thoughts...looking forward to hearing from the rest of you! Hi ladies. Well, what did you think of the first chapter? Dr. Jeremiah is an excellent writer, isn't he? So, do I live a life of passion? What is my passion? I hinted at this earlier, so now I will share with you. Using the name of the book we studied last year, and resulting from God's work in my life, my passion is not to waste my life. So that thought permeates every decision I make (well, nearly every). It helps me say yes or no when something comes up. And things that I might have done out of obligation in the past, I now do because I really feel that God wants me to do them, and that to do otherwise would be wasting my life. Examples are three trips to Russia (which I never would have dreamed of doing 5 years ago), several trips with the teens as chaperone (still can't imagine I did that), having total strangers live with us for short periods. Those are big ones. How about day by day? I have a new excitement with my daily devotions. I really want to meet with God every day, to see what new thing He has to show me. When I go to work, I ask Him for opportunities to show His love through my actions. When the Lord (or my husband) suggests that we should spend time with our Turkish/Russian friends when I would much rather spend a day or evening at home, I remember that I don't want to waste my life. I want God to use me. By nature I am not a passionate person; I am more of a plodder, slow but steady type. But I do believe with Dr. Jeremiah that "when we live with passion we honour God powerfully". "We want a faith in God that is vibrant and alive". At least I do. So I'm ready to take the "leap of faith" to living a LIFE WIDE OPEN. Did you finish the Introduction and Chapter One of “Don’t Waste Your Life”? Are you enjoying the book so far? David Jeremiah talks about passion like this: “Passion is all about a basic mind-set and a heart attitude for embracing life – positively, energetically, full to the bore, pedal to the medal, wide open.” (page 3). Heather asked me a couple of weeks ago what my passion was. For me, the answer is easy…Music! Music has been my passion since I was a little girl. I love to sing and God has given me the gift of being able to sing in front of groups of people. I grew up in a church where there was more (and better) theology in the hymns than in the sermons, so music has a definite spiritual dimension for me. I love leading the songs during the church service, because music is an important part of worship for me, and I want to serve God by sharing that with the congregation. What I’m looking forward to, through the course of this book, is how to have that kind of passion throughout all aspects of my life, at work and at home as well as at church. Do you have a passion in life? Is there something that energizes you each day and that lifts your spirit? Does it point you to God? Does it help you point others to God? And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24 I hope and pray as we travel through this book, that we discover our passions and that learn how to live life “heartily, as to the Lord”. I finished reading the introduction and Chapter 1 of Life Wide Open. Actually this is at least the third time I have started this book. This time I intend to read the whole thing! I gave the "What is your passion?" question some thought, and I would say that my passion is my family. As far back as I remember, I wanted to be a wife and mother. As I grew up, I tried out some other ideas, but nothing really held lasting appeal. By the time I graduated from high school, I think I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I became a Christian when I was 17, so it wasn't until that point that I gave any real thought to what God had in mind. I guess I look at it this way: I am not an influential person (if I had to support myself by sales, I'd starve). However, I do have some influence on my family. So, if I am passionate about my family (for them to love the Lord and serve Him with all they have), they may have influence on others for the kingdom. Well, I guess that's it in a nutshell. I am so excited to be doing this online study with you. I got saved 9 years ago and one of the things I like to do is read + study Gods word either thru the bible, or with books written by other people, or in a group study. I learn so very much from other people and I like to see how they let God work in their life. There is a whole world out there that you never see unless you look thru someone elses eyes. I have read many of David Jeremiah's books and I think he is an excellent writer and has a simple way of explaining Gods word to anyone who reads his books. As for my passion - Where do I start. I think my biggest passion is my love of animals, which is why I probably have 6 cats, 3 of whom were strays and would have died if I had not given them a home. The strays to say the least were quite a challenge, but God can teach you alot when you are trying to get them to trust you. PATIENCE is what you learn. My second passion is my sewing, crocheting and needlework. I love to make things, especially dolls and always have wanted to sell them. But I keep giving away everything I make, so the business never got started. I would really like to make dolls and teddy bears for sick children and I hope I will be able to do that someday. It takes alot of time for me to make 1 doll, so I am hoping I can do it more when I get to retire. My job keeps me very busy, so my time is limited. My other passions are flowers and plants, the house and yard are full of them. I also like remodeling my old house and decorating it. God has made me very creative. And last but not least I enjoy getting together with my very good friends for lunch, dinner or an outing of some kind. It is always good to be able to spend some time talking and laughing and crying and sharing with them. So Heather I agree with you on not wasting your life. I have 100's of ideas in my head of things I would like to make or do and with Gods help I will get as much done as he allows me to do. I used to look at other peoples lives and think I should do more of the things that they are doing, but I now realize God gave me my gifts so I could do the things he needed me to do. And I am living the best part of my life for the last 9 years and I thank God for all of it. God has given me a new passion to work on - I want to start a ministry to help families in need. Not just at Easter and Thanksgiving and Christmas when everyone remembers them, but on a daily basis, because most families who have needs have them on a daily basis, not just at holidays. I am hoping to do this thru the church, because it will take more than just me to accomplish this. They have birthdays they cannot afford and kids who need school supplies. And then there are all the things you need to run a house that have nothing to do with food, but you still need them. I am working on an idea that I want to present to Pastor in the hopes that the church will be willing to support and make work to make someones life or lives better. That is what God wants us to do is give to others. I know God is in charge of this, so I know he will work it all out, but I know he wants me to help get it going. So there it is, my passions, my life. First I would like to introduce myself. I am a sophomore at Geneva college. My major is currently listed as Human Resources but I am planning on switching to Human Services, which is like social work with a Christian perspective. My major actually reflects on my passion. More than anything else I want to minister to pregnant teens, and help them understand and care for themselves and their babies. I also want to help girls recover from past abortions and the emotional and physical trauma that they can cause. Mostly I want to encourage abstinence and purity among girls and women. I guess I could say that my passion is life, and that everyone would have an equal chance at having and experiencing life. I look forward to hearing from all of you throughout this study! Hi Ladies, I have enjoyed reading your responses to the first chapter of Life Wide Open. I just finished reading it for myself. Challenging. I like the idea of sharing who we are because, that would help us all understand where we are coming from. So here goes: I am a 32 year old mother of two girls, Grace (5) and Faith (2). I have been married for 6 1/2 years to a godly man who loves me and his girls and has a passion to serve the Lord full-time. We are currently raising financial and prayer support to serve as full time missionaries in Senegal, West Africa. I was brought up in a Catholic home and got saved at 18. Earned a degree in Occupational Therapy. At 21 I felt the call to full-time missions work, entered Bible College and that is where I met my hubby. So, back to my passion. My passion is to be a godly Wife, Mother and Missionary. I do live for this, because I believe God created me for nothing less. Yet, in my daily walk fatigue and selfishness stop me from being "passionate". The book reminded me of the fact that Jesus is the source of passion. It makes sense then to spend time with Him to learn and grow. This has been my focus lately. I do have a quiet time, but I am trying to make it more consistent (6:30AM) before the girls wake, and more meaningful. I request prayer in this area as it is a battle I do not want to give up on but often get discouraged about. Also, we are tired a lot because we do a lot of traveling to raise support, although God gives us the strength, it leaves little energy to be a godly wife and Mom. Where is the balance? This could use prayer too! Needless to say this is a great book for me to be reading now. Thank you for the joy and fellowship you provide during this time! My prayers are with you all! I find that I'm developing a greater passion for the lost. The desire to see friends and family come to know the Lord has been there but they seemed to be doing ok in there lives {as far as that goes apart from the Lord}. In getting to know my sons friends and their lifestyles I see how completely lost and without hope they are. I think that is what God has used to give me a greater passion for them. Chapter Two Top Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Hi Everyone...well here we are, on to chapter two! Somethings I really liked, somethings I gotta say I didn't agree with. Pg. 14...I got to say, I can't quite agree with him on #3 totally...that we should do things heartily in the things that God has gifted us with - well, I don't mean, the things that God has enabled us to do....we shouldn't do them heartily. So maybe I do agree! I guess the question..."In what area has God made you 'fast'?" that is what I have a hard time with. It just seems to me - - in my life, that it sure seems that things God calls me to do are NOT things that He has GIFTED me with. On the contrary! I feel often what He calls me to do, I am very poor at doing! But I feel He does this so that I MUST rely on Him. So, I would say...whatever God calls you to do, whether I am gifted or not, whether or not it is possible or not...DO IT HEARTILY. I guess that is #5, isn't it? Pg. 15 = What would your life look like if you were doing what you wanted to do? To have your cake and eat it to! ?? I would like to have cake, eat it and NOT wear it around my waist!!! But that isn't going to happen, so I will get back to the theology question at hand. The life I desire - what I would want it to look like....is to be about my days, speaking freely to people I come in contact with, about the Lord. Not hindered by fear. My selfish part says I want God to be using me in people's lives to bring them to Christ, but maybe that is just being selfish. Whether or not He uses me, is secondary, I just want to see people coming to Christ! If He uses me, undeserving as I am, that is even better. But I long to be faithful in word and deed to Him, particularly with the people I come in contact with daily. I long to be faithful to Him. But often times, my tongue seems to get stuck on the roof of my mouth. I really liked what he said on pg. 15: "We are very wise to become passionate about those things that spark God's passion". Oh that this would be with me. The story of the monk was interesting, the first time I read it. But even so the second time...as I read Dr. Jeremiahs comment "We must remember that anything God wants us to do begins within us." Yes, its true, but I'd back up a bit and first say..."Anything God wants us to do FIRST begins with God and then with me." The monk realized that if long ago he had changed himself, he could have made an impact....AND THIS WAS THE VERY PURPOSE OF GOD...this was the mission of God...to change the monk! See how the monk was changed? Through the course of time, the monk came to realize that it was HE that needed changing...could this have been God's point, all along? May God open my eyes to HIS doings! His mission! Not my dream...but His goal, His purpose! I asked the people in my group to think...what do we desire most, of a change in ourselves?? What would like to see most changed in me? I would say that my life would show forth more of Him, more freely, more consistently, and driven more and more by His strength! I also asked the group, of the 5 purposes, according to Rick Warren, which is most appealing to me? I would say #5....doing the things that you are called to do by God...I guess I like that because it excites me to think how God has formed each of us individually, and so He calls us to individual, detailed ways to glorify Him. We are not cookie cutters but are individuals, fashioned individually by Him for His pleasure and purpose. That is exciting! I pray that I will be faithful to the unique things that God has called me to do. I just love a comment in Blackaby's book, Experiencing God...God only made ONE burning bush! He only did it once. Only Moses experienced a burning bush...because He only made ONE Moses. God will do individual, hand tailored by the master Creator works with each of us, we are all different and because He is a personal God, treats us individually. That is exciting! Even though He knows we are but dust...He knows WHAT KIND OF DUST! Praise His name! I love lists. I make lists of everything, then I make lists of my lists. I also have legalistic tendencies, so I really, really liked this chapter. Dr. Jeremiah gives us a list of all the areas where we should be passionate: all the things we must do, all we choose to do, are gifted to do, commanded to do, called to do, and to fulfill our purpose in life. Another list reminds us of our purpose: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. Having said all that, however, I am so thankful that God has led me outside the box of all my lists to learning to be flexible! (the key word here is learning). I haven't arrived by any means, but I am beginning to be more open to new and different things that God has for me. It is not always easy, certainly goes against my nature, but it is so rewarding to feel God's "well done" during and after something I have done that I wouldn't even have considered 5 or 10 years ago. Something else I appreciated in this chapter (page 14) is knowing that I don't need to be "paralyzed with guilt over having a good time". God wants us to live passionately for Him, but He also wants us to have leisure activities where we can get re-charged to serve Him. I needed too the reminder that we can't change others, p. 15. How often have I wished that Susie would be more friendly or Sally would be less lazy or..........whatever. I can make sure that I am more friendly or less lazy, and hopefully others around us will change. If not, it is still up to them to change, I can't do it for them. It was so neat to read everyone's responses on the church website. What an encouragement to have us all in this together! I liked the way David Jeremiah described “whatever” on pages 13-16. That certainly covers everything! Has anyone else read Rick Warren’s A Purpose Driven Life? I have, although I could probably stand to read it again. I also liked the quote from Frederick Buechner found on page 17: “Purpose is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s need.” Gayle once said that the advantage to leading a Bible study is that you get to ask questions, and have someone else answer them. The problem with this study is that you ask the questions, and still have to answer them! How would you describe your purpose? How can your passion serve the purposes of God? I thought about this for a while. My life is basically divided into three parts: family, church and work. At home, I see my purpose as a helper. Helping my husband with his business, and with raising our daughters (Genesis 2:18). Helping my daughters grow up to be beautiful, responsible, Christian adults (Deuteronomy 6:7). I pray for my family, and I pray for wisdom in dealing with them. God has allowed my love for my family to fill His purpose for me at home. At church, I see my purpose as a servant. When we first came to Grace, we told Pastor that we were not people who just sit in the pews. I firmly believe that believers are to be involved in the activities of the church. I figure if the need is there, and I can fill it, then that’s what God wants me to do. I’m grateful that God has allowed my passion of music to fill His purpose for me at church, and I’m also glad that I can serve in other ways as well. At work, I try to live a Christian witness. I don’t do a whole lot of verbal witnessing, but I try to “give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15). I love what I do at work – I’ve wanted to program computers since I was 16 years old. God has allowed me to do what I love and to support my family while doing it. I’m also able to volunteer my skills in web development for church and for other groups. The first thing I noticed was on page 10, "get a grip." That's what I really need in life first! What would I be doing if I could have my cake and eat it, too? Homeschooling my kids still (without the 7th grade math!!! and with a support group like we had in PA) and be involved in music somehow (without politics). Right now, I have no reason to play the piano or do anything musical, so I'm not. I haven't touched my piano since the beginning of July when I played at Dad's church. If I had my chocolate cake :-), I'd have a fulfilling reason to sit down at the piano and/or sing. In my dreamiest high school moments, I could just picture myself in the spotlight in a long black dress playing Beethoven to thundering applause. Of course, I knew that wasn't going to be a reality, but I never pictured my life without music in it. The first year we were here & this coming year are going to be firsts. Of the 5 purposes of life according to Rick Warren, the 2 that struck me the most were nos. 2 & 4, both dealing with our relationship within the body of Christ - the church. Right now I'm having trouble finding my niche in this church, honestly. I'm not a grits (girl raised in the south) and that makes it hard to fit in down here. Plus, there are like 700 people here & they don't seem to need what I can do. I did the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren in spring with another church group and it is a very good study book. You read a chapter a day for 40 days and meet once a week for a video and discussion. That is where God gave me the idea for the Families in Need Ministry that I want to start. But since I am not ready to do that I am going to help with the Christmas Shoe box collection for the children overseas. I am very excited to help because it fits into my In Need Ministry. Maybe it will help me to learn something that I need to know. Otherwise this chapter focuses on having passion in everything you do. Well If God gives me work ( as I am in business for myself ) and I need to work 12 hours a day to get it done, I will, no matter how many days it takes. If I am working on a doll I can forget to eat. BUT when it comes to chores like cleaning the house, the bathroom, doing the dishes etc. I find that passion leaves me and I just consider it to be a chore. In fact I can find ways not to get started. Once I am started I am OK and I will get it done, but the only joy I get is when it is finished and I see how nice it looks. So that is what I need help with. I need to find a way to have passion for my chores, so they are not a burden to do them, but a joy. SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED Otherwise I hope this book will give me the answers I need to change my attitude. I enjoyed reading all your passions last week and I went on the website so I could read them all. I really enjoyed Chapter Two, I felt like a lot of what he said really resonated with me. However, there was some stuff that I think will be hard for me to sort through. The part about how we all have a passion that's bubbling under the surface is hard for me to deal with, especially while I'm at college. I know what my overriding passion is, but it's hard to look at three (at least) more years of school before I can get out there and devote my life to what I feel God has called me to. It's hard to feel passionate about an 8:00 am algebra class, or a four hour science lab. Its easy to feel passion about my classes that are directly related to the things I want to be doing someday. It's especially hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that everything I am trying to learn here will serve the purpose God has someday. More than anything else I want a sense of purpose, and I have to keep reminding myself that there is an end to school and that's good, but I also have to find joy and passion while I am here. Its been great reading all of your responses! Have a good week! As I read through chapter 2, I was reminded to do everything wholeheartedly. Lance Armstrong's testimony was incredible. To do "Whatever" heartily is a moment by moment challenge which can only be accomplished through His spirit, not my effort. To be encouraged to jump into my leisure activities wholeheartedly was such and encouragement. I LOVE to scrapbook, but have not do it in months because I feel guilty not accomplishing something on my list of things to. Yet time away is a good thing. My goals in life do match up with my spiritual gifts and His commandment "to love God and people and to teach others to do the same", the question is how effectively and wholeheartedly will I do it? Choices, it's all about choices:) I have thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next! After reading the chapter and giving it some thought, I was reminded of some things that hit me when I initially came to know the Lord. My first thought was, "Wow, Jesus loved me so much that He died for me (personally)." The thought that followed went something like this, "If He did all that for me, how can I do anything but live for Him?" It was sort of like the Spirit of God impressing Romans 12:1 on my heart before I probably even heard of the verse. That thought has stayed with me, so I would have to use it to describe my purpose in life although I certainly am aware that I do not always follow thought with it as I ought. I think that having a purpose in life is a great "fringe benefit" of salvation - one of the wonderful gifts God gives His children in addition to forgiveness of sins. I was also giving last week's chapter and question some more thought. Sometimes I think God gives us particular passions in life that ebb and flow or may only last for a time to meet His purposes. For instance, God seems to give me a passion each year for Family Week (for Lisa L. and Melody - Family Week is our church's form of Vacation Bible School) that seems to increase as the time of that event draws near. After Christmas I start giving it some thought, by Easter it's very present in my thoughts, etc., and that "passion" continues to increase until I feel like I eat, sleep, and breathe Family Week until it's past. After things are packed away, I give it very little thought till after Christmas. Does anyone else find this to be so with certain things in your lives? Hi all! I trust you have enjoyed your week. I have to say that this past week was a pretty rough week. I kept hearing the words on pg 13, "Genuine passion swells in all of life." This includes parenting and dealing with tired children -- even when I, myself am tired. Of course, at the time I wanted to ignore all that I have read about passion, but as stated on pg. 15, it is a command to LOVE God and people and in turn TEACH others -- especially my children. If I change MY heart attitude, then it will help the whole household to be more at peace (as the monk realized too late!) What would I desire most of a change in myself? Well, I desire to not allow things to get to me so easily and to become a "Mary" rather than a "Martha" -- enjoying the Lord and being a light to those He has placed in my life. Of the 5 purposes in Rick Warren's book, listed on pgs 16,17, the one most appealing to me is # 4, being "shaped for serving God." To me, it is so neat how God has gifted each one individually and it is hard to function without the other. It is so important to edify (1 Thess. 5) and encourage others within the body, which will lead to showing the love of Christ to the unbelievers around you. I consider # 3 ("created to become like God") a challenge to me at times. The reason being, I am so "unworthy" to even be His child, never mind to become like Him. Jerry Bridges book, Pursuit of Holiness, was one that I found challenging, but encouraging on this topic. I really desire to become like Christ in my life and am thankful that He loves me even as He knows my weakness; He is willing to use me -- "His love, forgiveness, and grace are wide open." Purpose-This is a difficult chapter because I have been struggling lately with that. I know that my purpose is to be a witness to the Lord but I don't know in what way to do that best. I like the example of his son changing jobs because he knew what God wanted. I suppose it is the uncertainty of making the wrong choice. It is not easy being open. I wrote a whole email last week on my thoughts and then deleted it. It sounded so negative, but I must admit I have a difficult time relating passion to sports icons. I guess I feel our society puts too much emphasis on their accomplishments and I see it as a wasted life. Just my opinion. I do get the idea of doing what ever we do to the best of our abilities and unto the Lord. I wouldn't make it through one day on my job (right now) if I didn't constantly remind myself that I am doing this job for Him. Sorry I can't be more enthusiastic about this study. Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen