straight from the Bible and STINT briefing

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so

- that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but the righteousness which is through faith in Christ, indeed the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

- that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

Not that I have already attained it or already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. "

--Philippians 3:7-12

Though this selection could certainly be extended to include more of the surrounding passage, as I come away from our STINT briefing in Copper Mountain, Colorado, I find thoughts of this section swirling in my mind. One of the primary ways God has used this STINT briefing in my life is to confirm for me the transformative power of the gospel. Simply put (and in the language of Steve Douglass, the current president of Campus Crusade for Christ), the good news about Jesus Christ's rescuing changes lives.

That is what I see from this passage from Philippians. Paul says these things because his life has been utterly transformed by the good news about Jesus. Paul's statements are bold and deeply charged-- "Compared to knowing Jesus, everything else is loss-- everything, even the things that really are good, like family, friends, community, health, peace-- Jesus is just worth so much infinitely more that they look like trash compared to Him." I find that my feathers ruffle at this, and I look for some way to qualify it-- but there is none. Jesus is simply the best-- there is no other even close to worthy enough to receive the glory for His sufferings and His resurrection.

Thus, it is with tumultuous excitement and newly-stoked conviction that I look forward to pressing on to laying hold of THAT for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. "What's the capitalized THAT, dayton?" you ask. THAT, as I understand it, is the new life in Christ which brings Him the recognition and praise He so deserves for all He has done and continues to do, the new life through the Holy Spirit that brings Him the part of the reward for His poured-out love that is mine to pour back.

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Oh Jesus, I pray that your feet would be well-washed by this our version of alabaster perfume and hair-dryed tears. May we, both those going to Dakar and those supporting, in small but whole-hearted fashion, reciprocate your love through this specific mission. It's in trusting you Jesus, that we pray this. Yes indeed.