We kicked off our Influence series with Shaun Alexander, 2005 NFL MVP. Love his spirit. Man, he preached a straight-up salvation message straight out of the gate. Loved it. He’s a preacher in a football player’s body! Also love the way Shaun prayed with people. So touchable!

We hit Fago de Chao afterwards. Great food. Great fellowship.

Thought I’d share one cool story. When Shawn signs books I noticed he writes Psalm 37:4. I wanted to know the genesis story so I asked him about it over dinner. Shawn wore #37 at the University of Alabama so a friend told him he should read chapter 37 from all the books in the Bible. Psalm 37:4 was his favorite verse: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” At the time, he was a third string back but two guys in front of him got injured in the same game. His first carry was a 17 yard TD. I think he said his third and fourth carries were 70+ yard TDs. He gained 291 yards on 19 carries.

My big take away this weekend is simple: put Christ first. So many of us want influence, but influence is a byproduct of our relationship with Christ. And if we genuinely delight ourselves in the Lord then everything else will take care of itself.