GOD AND COUNTRY New Yorker - New York,NY,USA In the last days before the 2004 Presidential election, Patrick Henry College, in Purcellville, Virginia, excused all its students from classes, because so ...

The longest and most in-depth article on Patrick Henry College has just been published. Highlighting the lives of Elisa Muench and Matthew and Christy du Mée (wow, it's cool to say that now), the piece is interesting, mostly accurate, and pretty positive. There was one thing though: I had no idea that Lake Bob is now called "the fishbowl." :)

Two different people on two seperate nights this week have pointed me to two sections of James 4 for instruction. I'm thinking I need to meditate on that chapter for a while. The first was James 4:13-15.

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"

This tells me that it's ok to make plans, as long as I'm trusting God and not the plans. It also means that plans are to be held somewhat loosely. The second was James 4:1-2.

"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel."

This gives me insight on a struggle I've had with my attitude. When I expect certain things and then they don't happen, I can get frustrated. It really is like a war within me. I hope that God will continue to use His Word to convict and change my heart.

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What is my singular passion?

What has the power to affect my mood? In what do I seek the fulfillment of my needs? Where do I go for intimacy, acceptance, love, joy, peace, hope, and the feeling of satisfaction? What do I place my trust in? Is it a thought, an idea, a plan, or a dream? Is it myself? Is it someone else?

What should be my singular passion?

There is only one that ought to have power over my mood. One person that fulfills my needs. One obsession. One hope. One aim. It's not me. It's not any plans, dreams, or ideas. It's not any mere mortal. It is the one person who is worthy of my trust. The one whose steadfast love can sustain my joy. The one who is greater and higher than anything else and with me personally whenever I need him. When do I need him? Always. Now. What else do I need? Nothing. Who else can fulfill my needs? No one.

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