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JACKSON, Tenn. — Sept. 28, 2004 — “What are you looking for?” According to Dr. Mike Boyd, president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and pastor of Wallace Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville, that is life’s most important question, and he challenged 51���� students to examine their lives based on the answer Jesus gave.

“Jesus, in Matthew 6, tells us what we ought to be looking for,” Boyd said. “He says, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.’”

In a 51���� chapel service Sept. 22, Boyd asked students to consider the implications of passion, priority, power and purity in that statement.

“It was a joy to have Mike Boyd in chapel in his role as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention,” Union President David S. Dockery said. “He challenged the Union community to focus on priorities centered and grounded in the kingdom of God. We appreciated his words and his leadership in TBC life.”

Boyd emphasized personal responsibility for seeking passion for God’s kingdom versus the world.

“We can blame our environment; we can blame our upbringing or our genetic makeup,” he said. “The reality is what we seek is our decision. God places those things in our minds and in our hearts, and we respond in obedience or disobedience. You decide this passion that is in you.”

Another indicator of a passion for God is in a person’s priorities, Boyd said. To examine their priorities, Boyd suggested students look at how they spend their time.

“You look at your calendar and you can tell a whole lot about what your priorities are,” Boyd said. “We’re so organized, but the reality is that we miss so much.

The use of talents and resources also shows where priorities are placed.

“There is a saying in business that money follows the mission,” Boyd said. “That’s true in education. That’s true in church. Where a man places his passion, that’s where his treasure is going to be.

“I’ve discovered in church that it is the people who you think can least afford it that are some of the strongest givers. They don’t always give the largest amounts, but they have such a heart.”