On prioritizing God: Jackie Hill Perry and Tony Dungy speak

On April 3, Jackie Hill Perry shared a message titled “But as for You.” The author spoke on a passage from 2 Timothy 4.

“This message is for every Christian that actually wants to make disciples,” Perry said.

Perry’s first point was to preach the Word. She spoke of the need to share the Word in any and every ministry.

“The reason the Word exists is because God wants you to know it,” Perry said. Perry spoke of God accommodating himself so that we can understand his Word. 

While conveying the need to preach the gospel, Perry also warned of false teachers.

“You can find a preacher for every passion,” Perry said.

She spoke on the necessity to preach directly from the Bible and not to misconstrue the Word to suit one’s passions.

“We don’t preach to suit passions — we preach to passion. We must preach to the mind and train people in truth,” Perry said.

This was Perry’s second point in her message. She shared the necessity of making disciples that can discern what is true.

In sharing how to preach the Word, Perry said, “We need to preach in a way that creates an affection for God that is greater than anything else.”

She ended her message by emphasizing the point that God is not self-serving but self-giving.

On April 5, coach and sports analyst Tony Dungy spoke to students at Convocation. He shared parts of his testimony and spoke from the Bible to convey the need to decide whether one should choose success or significance.

“Success or significance — what is going to be the driving force in your life?” Dungy said.

Dungy spoke of the Christian walk as taking the narrow path rather than the big highway and the uncommonness of significance.

Dungy spoke primarily from the book of Matthew as he shared how Christians should want to choose the uncommon, narrow road of significance.

Throughout his career, Dungy continually worked to serve his players as he led them. He earned the respect of his players through his unique leadership style.

“If you make God your priority, he will give you everything you need,” Dungy said.

Dungy proceeded to share a story of how he was given information about a trick play that the opposing team was planning to run. Because of how he received the information about the play, Dungy struggled with whether he should share the information with his team. Ultimately, he chose not to compromise his integrity and did not share the play with the team.

When the trick play was successful during the next day’s game, Dungy questioned whether he made the right decision. Thankfully, his team intercepted the ball during the next play. God provided for Dungy to make the right decision.

Although it was hard for Dungy to be a Christian as a football coach, he remained steadfast in his faith.

“You have to be a Christian all the time,” Dungy said.

To conclude his message, Dungy spoke about how Christians should live.

“Run to win but run the right race … the race to heaven,” Dungy said.

Lunney is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion