The name of the book was Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. It was written by a pastor whose name was becoming more and more well known in certain circles – Dr. John Piper. Prior to reading the book I was perplexed by the message of the title.

As someone who has a college degree in philosophy, I had read extensively about hedonism. As such, everything I understood about hedonism told me that it was a bad thing. Hedonism, as defined in the secular sense, is the doctrine that pleasure is the highest good and therefore all of life should be devoted to pursuing pleasure.

What then is Christian Hedonism? To put it in simple terms, it is the understanding that the greatest pleasure/joy/happiness in life can only be found in the presence and glory of God. Therefore we should base our lives on the pursuit of the greatest pleasure – God Himself.

I was reminded of this life changing truth as I was reading through the Psalms this morning.

Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

I pray that you will live a life of unbridled hedonism – true hedonism – Desiring God.

So how does God feel about this? Look for a future post to answer that question.

The question is this:

Is my faith the result of me inviting Christ into my life OR is my faith the result of Christ inviting me into His?

The answer to that question will be the foundation on which all of life will be built.

Prior to moving to Lake Placid I wrote a lot. In fact, I wrote everyday. The majority of that writing took place on my blog. Since I moved to Florida, however, my writing pattern has changed. That is if you can call not writing a pattern.

I have been thinking a lot about this over the past few days and I think I know the reasons behind this. One major reason for this was that my writing often served as an outlet. My previous place of service brought with it some difficult challenges and I found writing to be therapeutic. Another major reason for the silence from writing has been that I have been so busy in the work here in Lake Placid that it just hasn’t been a major priority. The people here have been so great to serve with and there is always something to be busy with that I found much greater joy away from the writing desk.

In many ways I say all of this as a new beginning. I have been here in Lake Placid for almost a year and things have been falling into place quite nicely. I am once again desiring to write. My motivation this time isn’t negative pressures or challenges but all of the things that God is flooding my heart and mind with as I serve in this great church and town.

I look forward to the words to come. I know that they will benefit all three of us that read the blog.

It is for that reason, perhaps, that I am a little more grateful that Christmas is here. It is a time that I will be able to slow down a little and process the events that my family have recently experienced. More than that, however, Christmas is a time to remember that it was into our emptiness that God came. He wrapped Himself in flesh and lived in our neighborhood. He experienced all of our trials and burdens and then took upon Himself the weight of our shortcomings, failures, and sin. He who had never sinned became sin for us that we might be righteous. He poured Himself out for us.

He still pours into us. As Psalm 23 promises, he is eager to “restore our souls.” He takes us in our weariness and breathes new life into us.

I pray that you have a Merry Christmas, that your stockings are full, and your hearts are renewed.

Over the past few weeks, God has been speaking to me about some things that need to happen in my own life and ministry. They are things that I can see that He has been preparing me for. So the words that I spoke to our church a week ago must apply to me as well:

Life change steps of faith happen when conviction seizes the opportunity to move in faith.

I will be talking more specifically about what these things are in the weeks to come. The point of all of this is, however, that my expectation for God to move amongst our church must begin with the expectation for God to move in me.

This afternoon I was reading and was struck by the following words:

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. – 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV)

The thought that God is looking for people to strengthen encourages me. When you read the Bible it does not take long to see that God is primarily focused on Himself; not us. His primary objective is to display His own glory. He created us for His purpose. He set forward the work of redemption to secure worshipers for Himself. He will bring all things to an end in order to fulfill His glory.

Yet… He is seeking people to strengthen. He is looking for people in which to pour His power and divine resources. He longs to single out people to build up, encourage, and empower.

And what kind of people is He looking for?      …”those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” He is not looking for the best dressed, best educated, or even the best behaved. He is looking for those who have set their hearts on Him; those who are passionate about Him.

In other words, God seeks to bless those who are passionately pursuing the same thing He is… His glory. As I meditate on this text, I am reminded that if I set my heart to seek His gifts I will miss His gifts and may altogether miss Him. However, if I set my heart to seek His glory, I will find His gifts but more importantly I will find Him.

The NFL preseason started a couple weeks ago. College football began just a couple days ago. We sat in the stands last night as Lake Placid played Sebring.

But it really starts tonight. At 7:00pm tonight there is the kickoff to by drug of choice. The Gators of the University of Florida officially begin their 2009/2010 football season. I say 2010 because their season won’t be over until they win the BCS National Championship game in January.

I write this post in order to help prepare those of you who live in Lake Placid. When you hear loud noises coming from the Morey house tonight do not be startled. Everything is OK. We’re just rockin’ with the Gators.

While I was there I paid a visit to Westridge Church. The church is about five miles from our house there and I have been fond of the church for a long time. Westridge is about 12 years old and averages 4,000 in worship. I have been blessed to know some of their staff. God has built an amazing church there.

I went to worship as well as observe how they do certain things. I wanted to learn more specifically about how they do two different things:

1. How they handle guest services.
2. How they handle lighting, sound, and other environment issues during their services.

Their guest services are exceptional. I expected it it to be such. They are a church that truly exists to bring people to Jesus. From the layout of the building to the volunteers, I always feel like special guest when I attend.

Their worship service was great. The music was the same as our contemporary service (although I prefer our worship leaders). I did, however, learn from how they handled their lighting and sound. I was impressed with some of what they did.

It was a profitable trip. I feel good about our house. I learned from a great church.

By the way, my father-in-law is still in ICU in Lake Placid but is feeling much better. Thanks for all of the prayers.

Coincidentally, as I am heading out of town, my inlaws are coming into town. They are going to spend some time with my wife and kids. No, I didn’t plan it this way. In fact. I really enjoy the time I get to spend with Mandy’s parents. I have been blessed to have a great relationship with them.

Pray for me as I drive. I had the opportunity to fly for free but in the words of my wife, “How are you going to bring things back from the old house if you fly?” Oh well, so much for the short flight.

However, I do get to stop by the Holy Land (Gainesville) on the way. I could use a little Bono’s BBQ and a glimpse of the Swamp.

I don’t think that my pace has very changed much but I have have hit a comfortable stride. I have thought about it a good bit over the last few days and have decided to blog again. This time I want to start fresh. So this is post #1.