Monday, November 26, 2012

City on a Hill-gods of Power

This fifth week in our study we looked into the life of Chuck Colson, who once advised President Nixon. I had never heard of Chuck Colson before (sadly) but after hearing him talk on the video I discovered what an incredible impact he had.
Starting out, he came from limited means and wanted to prove himself and make something of his life. He had strong ethics and working hard was how he was raised. He did a good days work for a good days pay. Colson believed in God but didn't know Him or have a relationship with Him. In the video he stated how he would look at the stars or any other creation and know that man could not have done this it had to be God.

Colson began to work his way up and ended up working closely with President Nixon. Colson was known as Nixon's "hatchet man" because he did all of the dirty work, such as laying people off and whatnot. During this time Colson had so much power and control and became completely full of pride that he didn't see much else in his life. With all of this power he said that he still felt empty, like he was missing something.

Then his life changed when the Watergate Scandal blew up.  During this time he ended up asking questions from a friend about God and what made his friend so different. This changed Colson's life and he accepted Christ. After that he addmitted guilty to something he did while he had so much power and he was put in prison. Colson started a huge prison ministry after his life changed and continued to share God throughout his life. He died this year, yet his ministry and story continue to change people.

So the main thing we discussed is pride. Kyle Idleman talked about the Sign of gods of Power
  • Being defensive
  • Stubborn (not being able to say I'm sorry or I was wrong)
  • Ungrateful (everything is unfair)
  • Discontent (who has the bigger better house)
We have all struggled with these four things, mine probably being discontent, always wanting more than I need. Pride can be a very touchy issue, so these are good things to think about.

God gives grace to the humble.

God uses broken experiences for His glory.

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