{"id":9467,"date":"2021-08-31T12:44:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T17:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=9467"},"modified":"2022-04-22T20:20:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T20:20:28","slug":"a-bias-to-agree-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/08\/a-bias-to-agree-with-god\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bias to Agree with God"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><em>In 2016 <\/em><a href=\"\/jerry-bridges-a-humble-man-in-pursuit-of-holiness\/\"><em>Jerry Bridges<\/em><\/a><em>, author of numerous bestselling books, died a few months before the release of his final book, <\/em>The Blessing of Humility.<em> Now and then over the next several weeks we\u2019ll be posting tributes to Jerry and his books by people whose lives his writing touched.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>During a time of prayer, God gently put it on my heart that the guys living next door to me might be interested in a <a href=\"\/blueprint-for-bible-study\/\">Bible study<\/a>, if someone would invite them. I knew from reading and hearing Isaiah 6 that the someone was me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was a new believer and a graduating senior at Howard University when I discovered that I wanted my life to make an impact\u2014as soon as possible and as often as possible. I lived in the athletic dorm at our school, and the residence hall provided me with many opportunities to engage with other guys during the off season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that\u2019s what happened. Shaq, Brian, Ron, and Jemel (all rookies on the football team) got an invitation to join a weekly Bible study.&nbsp; Two of the guys said yes. Over time they even invited a girlfriend or two.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>A New Chapter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast forward to after my graduation, and I was the one receiving an invitation.&nbsp; It was from The Navigators, through Eugene Burrell, to become an intern.&nbsp; During my training, Eugene introduced me to Jerry Bridges\u2019s book <em>The<\/em> <em>Pursuit of Holiness<\/em>.&nbsp; I began to devour the pages, reading them and going through the study guide.&nbsp; For me it was the blessing of having another <a href=\"\/discipling-as-coaching\/\">coach <\/a>in my ear, telling me and cheering me on to pursue the things of God\u2014with holiness being one of his communicable attributes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was tasked with a number of jobs, one of them being to continue leading the Bible study in my old dorm. I wanted to pick a topic that mattered and gave a foundation for life.&nbsp; The four freshmen were now sophomores. Were they even thinking about holiness?&nbsp; Would others in the residence hall love the Bible study too? Could I somehow use this book to invite athletes to pursue or run after something that was the opposite of most things on our campus?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Pursuing Holiness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All I could do was try, and try I did.&nbsp; Full confession: This is not one of those reflection stories where I am a hero. Many of those weeks of Bible study had a low attendance.&nbsp; But what it did for <em>me<\/em> was worth the effort.&nbsp; It put a bias in me\u2014a bias to agree with God, a bias to call sin what it is, and (last but not least) a bias toward <a href=\"\/the-gospel-for-real-people\/\">Jerry Bridges<\/a>.&nbsp; I knew that if I could meet him someday I would tell him about how his book added fuel to the fire of my desire to be used by God.&nbsp; The way to ensure that could happen was to pursue holiness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten years later, I met Jerry. Two years after I met him, he passed away.&nbsp; Before he died, I attended several of his workshops and teachings. Thankfully, I was able to introduce him to students God had placed in the ministry at Bowie State University.&nbsp; Many of them couldn\u2019t know how the truths of this man\u2019s writings had blessed my life, but I was elated that they got a chance to meet him and hear how important it was to pursue holiness and God.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author\"><figure class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__avatar\"><img alt=\" Osaze Murray\" class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__avatar-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/MURRAY-Author-PHoto-bordered9691.png\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__content\"><span class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__name\"> Osaze Murray<\/span><p class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__biography\">The son of a pastor, Osaze Murray is the director of training for The Navigators. Along with his wife, Hadiza, he served as the Navigators Campus Director at Bowie State University and as a former Ethnic Network Director for the AFAM Network. A gospel recording artist, he has released several rap albums. Osaze and Hadiza are the proud and grateful parents of Lydia Amanda and Osaze Josiah.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"\/tag\/jerry-bridges\/\">More from Jerry Bridges<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/38tlleW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/978-1-63146-639-7.PT01-829x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Pursuit of Holiness\" class=\"wp-image-9473\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2016 Jerry Bridges, author of numerous bestselling books, died a few months before the release of his final book, The Blessing of Humility. Now and then over the next several weeks we\u2019ll be posting tributes to Jerry and his &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"A Bias to Agree with God\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/08\/a-bias-to-agree-with-god\/#more-9467\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Bias to Agree with God<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[290],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Bias to Agree with God | The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jerry Bridge&#039;s writings blessed Osaze Murray&#039;s life. 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