Wednesday Night Bible Study
I am very excited at how well the FBCOF College and Career Wednesday Night Bible Study is going. Last night we studied 1 John 1:1-4 in some detail. The group has made lots of strides this summer at going deeper into God's Word and applying it to their lives. The quality and depth of our relationships and understanding have increased dramatically over the summer. The group is working together better as a unit. The only downside is that we continue to have lots of visitors who float through the group and come once or twice and then move on. Our core of 10-12 students is slowly growing, but we need to make a better effort at contacting the visitors and incorporating them into our community. Rusty and Eleanor Bean are doing a great job of leading the Bible Study. God is really working through them.

Is Heaven the Ultimate Goal, or Simply the Ultimate Destination?
In our Bible Study last night I made the statement that "Heaven might not be the ultimate goal, only the ultimate destination." I said this because I am convinced that over the course of the last century that Evangelists have made too big of a deal of the "If you died in your sleep tonight would you spend the rest of eternity in heaven or hell" line. Of course, the eternal future destination of our souls is important and a big deal. But, rather than hook, or scare, potential converts into accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior by using the "where will you spend eternity question", I believe we should be focusing a little more on the present day benefits of a restored personal relationship with God. In short I think evangelists have over done the "benefits of justification" side of accepting Jesus as our Savior and have not spend enough time talking about the "benefits of sanctification" that we experience each and every day of our walk with Jesus as our Lord. There is so much more to our walk with the Lord than simply "becoming saved."

What I'm talking about is the change we experience in our lives when we know we can stop trying to save our souls through good works, and rest up in our daily walk. The joy we experience in living for the Lord each and every day is really undersold. Good works are a part of our Christian life, but not because we are trying to save ourselves; they are the fruit that flow out of a right relationship with God. I think it is important that we stop pushing people toward accepting Jesus Christ as the final step in the process of God drawing us near to Him, and start realizing it is really the first step in the process of us growing near to God.

Kids Kamp
I am looking forward to serving as a Kids Kamp 4th grade counselor in August. My son and daughter will be in the group, and it is their first experience at Kamp. I'll bet they love it. It looks like I will be my son's counselor, and I am not sure whether or not that is good, but I know God will work it all out.

Jobs
I am meeting an old friend for a "job interview" at lunch today. I will be retireing from the Air Force soon and am looking for a job. My friend runs a consulting firm in the local area and is looking for somwone to work as a consultant for Department of Defense Information Operations Exercises. I really want to get as far from the military as I can after I retire, but the pay and benefits are great, and it is the only way that I will be paid for the knowledge I gained while serving in the Air Force. So, we'll see what happens at the interview today. At the very least it should help me firm up the decision of exactly when I plan on spending my last day as a "Blue Suiter."

Daily Bible Reading
2 Chronicles 34-36
Psalm 150
2 Thessalonians 3
Luke 12

Bible Verse of the Day
1 John 5:13-- These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.