Wednesday night we continued our study of Christology, the doctrine of Jesus Christ. I have continued to be overwhelmed the past couple of days over the Son of God. Born of a virgin, 100% God, yet 100% man. He came to reveal eternal life (1 John 1:2), He came to take away sin (1 John 3:5), He came to defeat the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), He came to reveal the love of the Father (1 John 4:9). He did all this by manifesting Himself for the purpose of dying on the cross. Here is the thing, He did all this for sinners. He did it for me! It is the simple gospel story and it still brings tears to my eyes. Here is a song that is so theologically deep, that it is difficult to get our hands around it:

Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak, but He is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so

I have been asking prayer for Elijah McLamb who is the son of two of my dearest friends serving our Lord as international missionaries. I am thankful to report that his surgery went perfectly and the little man is healthy. The next time you go to the Lord in prayer, please pray for John, Jenny, Caleb, Luke, and Elijah Mclamb. Pray for their safety, pray for their ministry, pray for Bolivia.

Yesterday I went to watch my son, Josh play in the Regional golf tournament along with our team from Lavaca High School. This is the first team the school has had in many years, so expectations were not real high. They finished second in the district tournament which qualified them for the region tourney. The top 3 teams from the region qualify for the state tournament. The course was difficult, but our boys fought hard, played well ended up taking second place. So, the team will represent our school in the state championship tournament in a couple of weeks. I was proud of our entire team, but as a dad, especially proud of my son. The thing I was most proud about, was actually Josh's biggest mistake of the day. On the fifth hole he hit the wrong ball. In golf this is a two shot penalty. The only person who really knew he had done it was Josh. Even though no one else knew, he called the penalty against himself went back to the original spot and hit a shot to the green. Honestly, I was upset because he was playing well and didn't need the penalty. Then I got to thinking. He showed integrity. He did the right thing when no one else was looking. This morning during my quiet time I read Proverbs 19. Verse 1 says: Better is the poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool. (NASB) I wanted Josh to post the best score that he possibly could post. Nobody wants to add two strokes to their score for an honest mistake. However, my greatest desire for my son, myself, the rest of my family, and the members of our church is to live a life of integrity. We should live lives that please God all the time, even when (especially when) nobody else is watching.