Now that is a lot more encouraging than the one about the pastor who
struggles with depression.
Sharon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vicki and The Rors" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 3:35 AM
Subject: Fw: May 11, 2005 - "God, Please Don't Send Me to Africa" - Daily
Devotional
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> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: PurposeDrivenLife.com=20
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 2:46 AM
> Subject: May 11, 2005 - "God, Please Don't Send Me to Africa" - Daily =
> Devotional
>
>
> =20
> =20
> May 11, 2005 =20
>
>
> "God, Please Don't Send Me to Africa"
> by John Fischer
>
>
>
> What do you love to do? Chances are that love can be tapped =
> into as service for the Lord. This kind of thinking may seem obvious, =
> but it is radical at least to my Christian upbringing.
>
>
> I grew up with a kind of warped Christianity that taught =
> that if I was passionate about something, it was probably wrong. God was =
> the great killjoy in the sky. Virtue was painful. The good usually felt =
> bad. The bad (we were told) felt good. Denying yourself meant never =
> doing anything you really wanted to do. Conversely, if you hated doing =
> something, that was most likely what God was calling you to do. "God, =
> please don't send me to Africa" was a prayer you'd better not pray, =
> because that was the first place He would probably send you if you =
> prayed that prayer. As you might imagine, this kind of thinking turned =
> out a generation of very dull, boring Christians who were always =
> suspicious of having fun. Where do you think the Church Lady on Saturday =
> Night Live came from, anyway?
>
>
> Actually, God is one who delights in giving us our heart's =
> desire. In fact, He's the one who gave us our desires in the first =
> place, and He gave them to us, not to frustrate us but to help us be =
> useful and fulfilled in our service for Him.
>
>
> Think of what you know about King David in the Old =
> Testament. Now here's a guy who obviously loved music, poetry, women and =
> war. So he became a warrior/king and all his passions, in their proper =
> places and under the Spirit's control, drove him to be not only a great =
> king, but a man after God's own heart. God didn't give him all these =
> passions and then tell him to spend his life being a scribe in a cave =
> somewhere. (He saved that for me!)
>
>
> As a child, I had a passion for music. I would spend hours =
> doodling on the piano, and when I got my first guitar, it became the =
> goal of my life to make the same sounds I heard in my favorite songs. =
> When, as a young adult, God put the idea in my head to use all these =
> passions and skills to write and perform music about His gospel and His =
> truth, I thought I wasn't hearing correctly at first. That couldn't be =
> serving God; that would be too much fun! It took an adjustment of my =
> understanding of God and His ways to really believe God was in this. Now =
> I know that this is the way He works. If He wants us to do something, =
> He'll put a desire in our heart to do it.
>
>
> God is not in the frustrating business; He is in the =
> fulfilling, joy-filled business. So if you are desirous of serving God, =
> think first about what you can do and what you love to do. Serving God =
> will be along those lines.
>
>
> =20
> John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven =
> Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, =
> Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher =
> and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.
>
> =20
> Click HERE to sign up for The Better Life, an =
> e-newsletter brought to you by PurposeDrivenLife.com, with articles by =
> Rick Warren and other insightful writers.
> To see a sample of The Better Life, click HERE.
>
>
> =20
>
>
>
> =20
> =A9 2005 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.=20
> =20
> =20
> Miss out on one of the Daily Devotionals? View the online archives =
> at:
> http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devarchive.aspx
>
> Have questions regarding the Daily Devotionals? Browse our =
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> http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/absolutefm/afmtopics.asp
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> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----=20
> <DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A=20
> [log in to unmask]
> href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">PurposeDrivenLife.=
> com</A>=20
> </DIV>
> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A [log in to unmask]
> href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A> </DIV>
> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, May 11, 2005 2:46 AM</DIV>
> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> May 11, 2005 - =93God, Please Don=92t Send Me to =
> Africa=94 -=20
> Daily Devotional</DIV></DIV>
> <DIV><BR></DIV>
> <CENTER>
> <TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D600 border=3D0>
> <TBODY>
> <TR>
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> =
> src=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devonew/images/spacer.gif"=20
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> <TD vAlign=3Dtop width=3D535><BR>
> <TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D552 =
> border=3D0>
> <TBODY>
> <TR>
> <TD class=3DorangeText width=3D203>May 11, 2005</TD>
> <TD class=3DorangeText width=3D349>
> <DIV align=3Dright><A=20
> =
> href=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/sendtoafrienddevo.aspx?articleid=
> =3D1051"><IMG=20
> =
> src=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devonew/images/btForward.gif"=20
> border=3D0></A></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
> <CENTER></CENTER>
> <P><BR><!-- Daily Devotional Copy Start --><SPAN=20
> class=3DlgHeader>=93God, Please Don=92t Send Me to =
> Africa=94</SPAN><BR>by=20
> John Fischer<BR><BR><FONT size=3D2>
> <P>What do you love to do? Chances are that love can be =
> tapped into=20
> as service for the Lord. This kind of thinking may seem =
> obvious, but=20
> it is radical at least to my Christian upbringing.</P>
> <P></P>
> <P>I grew up with a kind of warped Christianity that taught =
> that if=20
> I was passionate about something, it was probably wrong. God =
> was the=20
> great killjoy in the sky. Virtue was painful. The good =
> usually felt=20
> bad. The bad (we were told) felt good. Denying yourself =
> meant never=20
> doing anything you really wanted to do. Conversely, if you =
> hated=20
> doing something, that was most likely what God was calling =
> you to=20
> do. =93God, please don=92t send me to Africa=94 was a prayer =
> you=92d better=20
> not pray, because that was the first place He would probably =
> send=20
> you if you prayed that prayer. As you might imagine, this =
> kind of=20
> thinking turned out a generation of very dull, boring =
> Christians who=20
> were always suspicious of having fun. Where do you think the =
> Church=20
> Lady on Saturday Night Live came from, anyway?</P>
> <P></P>
> <P>Actually, God is one who delights in giving us our =
> heart=92s=20
> desire. In fact, He=92s the one who gave us our desires in =
> the first=20
> place, and He gave them to us, not to frustrate us but to =
> help us be=20
> useful and fulfilled in our service for Him.</P>
> <P></P>
> <P>Think of what you know about King David in the Old =
> Testament. Now=20
> here=92s a guy who obviously loved music, poetry, women and =
> war. So he=20
> became a warrior/king and all his passions, in their proper =
> places=20
> and under the Spirit=92s control, drove him to be not only a =
> great=20
> king, but a man after God=92s own heart. God didn=92t give =
> him all these=20
> passions and then tell him to spend his life being a scribe =
> in a=20
> cave somewhere. (He saved that for me!)</P>
> <P></P>
> <P>As a child, I had a passion for music. I would spend =
> hours=20
> doodling on the piano, and when I got my first guitar, it =
> became the=20
> goal of my life to make the same sounds I heard in my =
> favorite=20
> songs. When, as a young adult, God put the idea in my head =
> to use=20
> all these passions and skills to write and perform music =
> about His=20
> gospel and His truth, I thought I wasn=92t hearing correctly =
> at first.=20
> That couldn=92t be serving God; that would be too much fun! =
> It took an=20
> adjustment of my understanding of God and His ways to really =
> believe=20
> God was in this. Now I know that this is the way He works. =
> If He=20
> wants us to do something, He=92ll put a desire in our heart =
> to do=20
> it.</P>
> <P></P>
> <P>God is not in the frustrating business; He is in the =
> fulfilling,=20
> joy-filled business. So if you are desirous of serving God, =
> think=20
> first about what you can do and what you love to do. Serving =
> God=20
> will be along those lines.</P></FONT><!-- Daily Devotional =
> Copy End -->
> <P></P>
> <TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D556 =
> border=3D0>
> <TBODY>
> <TR>
> <TD width=3D16 bgColor=3D#eadcd3><IMG height=3D8=20
> src=3D"images/spacer.gif" width=3D16></TD>
> <TD vAlign=3Dtop width=3D525 bgColor=3D#eadcd3><BR>John =
> Fischer is=20
> the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily =
> Devotionals.=20
> He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti =
> and=20
> son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, =
> Christopher=20
> and Anne. John is a published author and popular=20
> speaker.<BR><BR></TD>
> <TD width=3D16 bgColor=3D#eadcd3><IMG height=3D1=20
> src=3D"images/spacer.gif" width=3D16></TD></TR>
> <TR>
> <TD bgColor=3D#eadcd3> </TD>
> <TD vAlign=3Dtop bgColor=3D#eadcd3>
> <P>Click <A=20
> =
> href=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/tblnlredirect.aspx">HERE</A>=20
> to sign up for <STRONG>The Better Life</STRONG>, an=20
> e-newsletter brought to you by PurposeDrivenLife.com, =
> with=20
> articles by Rick Warren and other insightful =
> writers.<BR>To=20
> see a sample of <STRONG>The Better Life</STRONG>, =
> click <A=20
> =
> href=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/betterlife/index.aspx">HERE</A>.=
> <BR><BR></P></TD>
> <TD bgColor=3D#eadcd3> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
> <P><BR></P></TD>
> <TD vAlign=3Dtop width=3D21><IMG height=3D1=20
> =
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> width=3D20></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
> <TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D8 width=3D598 border=3D0>
> <TBODY>
> <TR>
> <TD class=3Dfooter bgColor=3D#954f22>=A9 2005 Purpose Driven =
> Life. All=20
> rights reserved.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD>
> <TD bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1=20
> src=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devonew/images/spacer.gif" =
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> <TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D8 width=3D598 border=3D0>
> <TBODY>
> <TR>
> <TD vAlign=3Dtop>Miss out on one of the Daily Devotionals? View the =
> online=20
> archives at:<BR><A=20
> =
> href=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devarchive.aspx">http://www.purp=
> osedrivenlife.com/devarchive.aspx</A><BR><BR>Have=20
> questions regarding the Daily Devotionals? Browse our Frequently =
> Asked=20
> Questions at:<BR><A=20
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> href=3D"http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/absolutefm/afmtopics.asp">http:/=
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