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Key Bible Verses: So if you are suffering according to God's will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you (1 Peter 4:19). Bonus Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-19

"Jimmy Houston may be America's most famous fisherman. As host of the ESPN2 tv series, Jimmy Houston Outdoors and Jimmy's Outdoor World, his aw-shucks humor (kissing a fish after each catch), Cheshire cat grin, and shaggy blond hair are known to thousands. Houston has won nearly $336,000 on the Bass Angler Sportsman Society (BASS) circuit, making 15 appearances in the BASS Masters Classic tournament, and winning its Angler of the Year title twice.

But BASS signed Anheuser Busch on as an official sponsor in 2002. Houston refused to add the beer sponsor's decal to his boat at BASS professional events. He says he knew immediately that, for "ethical, moral, and scriptural reasons," he couldn't adhere to the Busch requirement. That cost him points needed to qualify for the BASS tournament, the Super Bowl of fishing, and a potential Angler-of-the-Year prize worth $100,000.

"One guy asked me if I prayed about it first," Houston recalls. "I told him, 'Not for a second. To me, it wasn't a decision. I'm simply not going to promote beer for anybody." He was "totally shocked," he says, that other Christian anglers, fearing it would jeopardize their careers, didn't react the same way.

—Eric Tiansay in New Man

My Response: What inducements would I automatically reject?

Thought to Apply: You make up your mind before you start that sacrifice is part of the package. —RICHARD DEVOS

Adapted from New Man (9-10/03) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Being an out-and-out disciple isn't for wimps, Lord. Give me what it takes to be all Yours.

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