thebarleys.blogspot.com: a great commission blog

This Site has Moved

2008-07-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to go to the new blog

After some thought and research, I've realized that Wordpress is the best place to continue forward with this blog. It has more features and a cleaner layout, and also makes it easier to actually write, which was the whole reason I started blogging in the first place. Everything from this blog has been imported onto that blog, and is pretty much the same with a better look and better features. Please keep on visiting!

Time for a Switch?

2008-07-21T13:52:00.001-07:00

I'm thinking of changing over to wordpress. I really like the appearance of their sites as well as some of the other features that are offered.

Any bloggers out there have preferences of one vs. the other?

Considering Seminary?

2008-07-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

For any of y'all out there considering seminary - you don't have to go to Southeastern, but be sure to go to a place with professors like this:

Who am I? That's a silly question to be asking! But I'm writing the preface to my book on discipleship so the topic has come up, at least in my own mind. Am I a conservative or a liberal, right-wing or left? Though my theology is conservative, I've learned much from my brothers and sisters on both ends of the evangelical spectrum. Some of my friends think only about Israel, others only about Palestine. Some complain about the 3,000 unborn who are killed every day in America, while others focus almost exclusively on the 30,000 children who die of starvation every day in the world. I see no need reason to establish boundaries of love. If we mourn the loss of 4,000 U.S. service personnel in Iraq (as we should), we must also mourn with the same outrage and passion the life of every innocent Iraqi civilian who was lost. Some evangelicals believe that right-wing politics hangs the moon; others support the liberal left. I pledge my allegiance to neither. Folks, I just want to be a Christian -- a simple, radical, marginal, downwardly-mobile follower of Jesus. There's nothing unique or spectacular about being a Jesus-follower. You just remember that God's love is borderless. You just declare the Good News to the poor, as He taught us to do. And it all happens through relationships, not programs or organizations. And here's something strange: I am learning to fall in love with people and not just ideas. And I love ideas! Crazy people like Jim Elliott are finally beginning to make sense to me. I'm learning how to reprioritize my values and resources. Just think -- the average American consumes as much as 520 Ethiopians do. Can we do anything about it? You bet! Because of our website Becky and I receive gifts for reading glasses and protein bars and pre-natal vitamins Bibles and meeting houses and evangelists' salaries and equipment to show the Jesus Film with and food to feed hungry prisoners and on and on the list goes. No fancy organization, no 501 c(3), no overhead, no bureaucracy, no HQ. Just Jesus-people connecting with Jesus-people.

Mark Driscoll on the nature of a church

2008-07-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

A.M. Metzger sent me this definition of the church today from Mark Driscoll. Andy said he'll be blogging about it soon so I eagerly await his thoughts.

"The local church is a community of confessing believers in Jesus Christ who obey Scripture by organizing under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, and scatter to evangelize and care for people everywhere. They observe the Biblical sacraments of baptism and
communion, are unified by the Spirit for mission in the world, and discipled to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission to the glory of God."

By the way, the Mars Hill podcast now has a great message about preaching from Mark Driscoll, and when I can find the link I will post it here.

What's Wrong with Preaching Today? (A.N. Martin)

2008-07-16T13:29:00.001-07:00

Two quotes from A.N. Martin's What's Wrong with Preaching Today?:

"How could men ever teach some of the things they teach in the name of orthodoxy if they were on their knees poring over the Scriptures? No, they are not on their knees poring over the Scriptures, and hence they are simply parroting what their peers have said. How can we who say we believe the biblical doctrines speak of them in such a perfunctory way if we are receiving those truths from God in the context of living communion with Him? We shall speak of them with the glow and fire of heaven upon our souls if we are receiving them in the glow of His presence. Hence, the problem of preaching today lies in the man who preaches, first of all in the area of personal devotional life."

and

"One of the elements of powerful preaching is preaching as a man that has been liberated. Liberated from what? From the ensnaring effects of the fear of men. You are never free to be an instrument of blessing to your people unless you are free from the effects of their smiles and their frowns. People know when you can be bought by their smiles and beaten by their frowns. It will not take them long to discern whether or not you are a man who is not affected either by their smiles or by their frowns. Such a man is a free man in Christ. [...] if your eye is to men, you will be unable to give utterance to that which you know you ought to."

Is it football season yet?

2008-07-16T12:21:00.001-07:00

If this doesn't give you goosebumps, then something is wrong with you.

A New Direction

2008-07-14T12:54:00.001-07:00

Jonathan Parnell and I's blog, Did Not Our Hearts Burn, is adding a new emphasis as we'll be discussing church planting. In Jon's words:

This blog is heading into a revised direction. Our subject material is expanding from biblical theology to include church planting, and the necessary ingredient that unites the two– gospel proclamation. To be clear, the intention here concerns a limited audience. I realize that the review posts are long and probably unfit for the blog genre. What I hope to see happen is
conversation between men who are passionate about these subjects (even if its just Bryan and me). I want to learn more about them, see them working together… to gain deeper knowledge theologically, and proactive wisdom that puts feet to doctrine.
The conviction is drawn straight from the Scriptures. When I think about Luke-Acts, the two themes that come to mind are Jesus’ hermeneutics and the rise of the church. Biblical theology and church planting are so intimately connected in the Word that I don’t want to conceive of one without the other.

Avoiding Extremes when Preaching

2008-07-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

I preached this morning, and as usual after preaching I am quick to think back and try to identify what I could have done better. While preachers are often their own toughest critic, I recognized that one mistake that I tend to fall prey to is going to the extreme in order to make my point.

For example, while preaching yesterday in Acts 1 about keeping the main thing the main thing, I discussed that in vv. 7-8 Jesus points out to the disciples that they are not to know about the end times but instead called to be His witnesses. Trying to make the point that the church often gets sidetracked by non-essential issues, I took a few minutes to discuss some of the theological labels that we sometimes give to ourselves to identify who we are in Christ, when really it should be Christ who defines us.

I made a comment that I would take back now when discussing titles like, "Arminian," "reformed," "pre-trib," "post-mil," etc. I said, "if you don't know what those titles mean, God bless you." Thinking back on it, that was really stupid. I went to the extreme there to try and make a point. I think it's a good thing to know what those titles mean since being theologically literate is never a bad thing. It's only a bad thing when it becomes more important to us than Jesus and impedes our mission for Him (as seen in Acts 1:8).

Oregon is always doing it differently

2008-07-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Is Oregon always on the cutting edge for college football? They've already got the odd-looking jerseys, and this is one way of recruiting that I've never seen before:

Back in 2005, Oregon coaches enlisted students to design custom comic books for the Ducks' top 20 recruiting targets. Each comic portrayed the recruit as a hero who leads the Ducks to a national title. Oregon sent each prospect one page per week during the recruiting period. Here is the entire comic made for running back Jonathan Stewart, one of the nation's top recruits at the time.

Here's a few pictures - what a unique way of recruiting:

Men Rejecting Passivity & Accepting Responsibility

2008-07-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

If you saw the news today you saw that Kansas City Chiefs TE, Tony Gonzalez, saved a life last night. What was so amazing about this was part of Gonzalez's report of the event:

"She was screaming, "He can't breathe, he can't breathe,"' Gonzalez said by phone from California, where he lives in the offseason. "The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything."

Colin Cowherd made a comment today that this quote by Gonzalez gives a picture of the current state of manhood in America. Fifty years ago there would have been men fighting one another to help. Now, there is a room full of passivity. What has happened to our society that we will watch another person die without feeling any responsibility to help?

As Robert Lewis, founder of Men's Fraternity writes, a real man rejects passivity and accepts responsibility. Thank goodness Tony Gonzalez did that last night.

Georgia Dome Renovations

2008-07-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Falcons are in the process of renovating the Georgia Dome to make it more "spirited." Looks good. Thank goodness there's no more teal and aquamarine colored seats in there.

Can a long distance relationship work?

2008-07-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Conventional wisdom would say no. However, this weekend would say yes. Megan and I made the trip to Louisville to see one of my best friends and former roommate, Matt Thomas, get married to Ms. Tara Lynn West (now Mrs. Tara Thomas). Matt and Tara met on a WorldChangers trip before college and dated from then until two days ago when they were married. Not only did they date throughout college, but they also survived a long distance relationship as Matt attended USC while Tara attended Western Kentucky. I told Megan as we made the 9.5 hour drive out to Louisville that I had a new respect for Matt and Tara's relationship that they could make it through that sort of distance. It provided another tangible example of one of my strongest convictions - that love is first and foremost a commitment - commitment that will help them in the future to overcome little mishaps like this:

Why I love used bookstores

2008-07-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

As part of our trip to Matt Thomas' wedding in Louisville, Megan and I made a step in Beckley, WV where we came across a small used bookstore. After thinking that there wasn't anything worth buying I came across three volumes of the Anchor Bible Dictionary (vols. 4-6). Each was being sold for $5. I checked the actual cost on Amazon.com today and found that each one is being sold for $85. There's nothing like making a rare find at a used bookstore! As one of my professors here says, "the good thing about used books is that they work just as well as new books..."

Are Apologetics Dead?

2008-07-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

While many have claimed that apologetics are not neccesarry in the "post-modern age," clearly this is not the case.

My Wish

2008-07-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Every year Sportscenter does a "My Wish" series where children who have been or are seriously ill get to have their sports-related dreams come true. I have to admit it gets a little emotional here in the Barley household when videos like this come on...

Vacation

2008-07-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Megan and I are enjoying a week of vacation in Clarksville, VA, enjoying sunsets just like this on beautiful Kerr Lake.

Wall-E Theology

2008-06-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

Megan and I are both big fans of Pixar movies and we went and saw Wall-E tonight. I won't give any of the details away, but let me just say that 1) I really enjoyed it but 2) it definitely was not what I expected. I just want to give my brief thoughts about the film and what I've noticed to be a growing trend in our culture.

The movie is very much one big "go green" message. If you have been watching tv anytime lately you'll know that this is not a new trend. Numerous tv channels are promoting "going green," and there are a number of movies out (i.e. "The Happening") that are also sharing this message. As I told Megan, I in no way disagree with proper stewardship of the resources that have been given to us. There is certainly a responsibility to take care of our planet and not take it for granted. But here are my fears with this growing trend...

I fear that culture is beginning to put a greater emphasis on the sacredness of nature than it is on human life. We will fight for the ozone layer before we will fight for the poverty that overwhelms the nations or the thousands of children forced into prostitution. MTV and CNN will give more time to water saving tips than they will to the issue of genocides in Africa. I understand both these channels have at times (rarely) profiled matters of social injustice, AIDS, or poverty. But when have we seen "international justice week" on CNN? If the coverage is proportionate to that which we find most important and value the greatest, then the human life comes in a distant second.

The same goes with animals. Was I outraged when Mike Vick killed dogs for fun? Absolutely. But what makes me even more outraged is that the average American can identify Vick as a dog-killer but can't tell you who Leonard Little is. Who is Leonard Little? Only a serious sports fan would recognize this name. He is a defensive end for the St. Louis Rams who killed a woman while driving drunk in 1998 (he only got a 90 day sentence and an 8 game suspension from the league) and was arrested on a DUI just 6 years later. He still plays for the Rams and played in 12 or more games every year from 2000-2006. Have dogs become more precious than a mother in our society? If the level of protest is any indicator, then this is unfortunately the case.

Is our environment important? Yes. Are animal rights important? Absolutely. But we must be careful to not stress these to a point that human rights are minimized, and the preciousness of the human being becomes secondary. Let us champion all these rights, but those of the human first.

My NFL Fanhood is up for grabs... (part 2)

2008-06-27T10:38:00.001-07:00

I last left off with narrowing down my choices to the Titans, Skins, and Falcons. Randy asked me in the comments section why I didn't include the Panthers in my choices. In response to that...

I have a perfectly legitimate reason that I can't cheer for the Panthers. Two words: Ross Cushnie. He is a good friend from high school who happens to be the worst UVA fan I know. Such disgust with his fanhood has overflown into the fact that I could never possibly root for the same teams that he does, and he happens to be a die-hard Panthers fan. To root for the Panthers would be to go against any and all rules of legitimate fanhood.

So with the Panthers eliminated I narrowed my teams down to three, which are now eliminated to one. I chose to eliminate the Redskins because I feel like if I actively chose not to like them as a child, I have no right to start liking them now. The Skins were Richmond's team while I was growing up, and I never rooted for them. Plus, one of the few people I liked within the organization, Joe Gibbs, is now gone. This leaves Daniel Snyder as the face of the franchise. Ugh.

I also eliminated the Titans. What was I thinking? I would have been a bandwagoner to pick this up and coming team. I didn't even like Nashville the only time I've visited.

Which leaves...

The Atlanta Falcons - maybe I never really left them in the first place. I don't know. I guess you just have to stick with your team no matter how bad things get. What almost pushed me over the edge is that they stole USC's defensive coordinator. But let's be honest, USC went ahead and stole Arkansas' DC a day later. That's just football. Also, they have a great owner in Arthur Blank, who has cleaned out the franchise of problems (many of which were, sadly, VT players). I wish they had picked up Darren McFadden in the draft, but maybe Matt Ryan will work out even if he strikes me as being no better than Joey Harrington. The franchise has the opportunity for a fresh start this year, and it's an exciting time to be a fan. I think they even have a chance to make the playoffs considering how weak the division is. So I've been with them all along - fly Falcons fly.

My NFL fanhood is up for grabs... (part 1)

2008-06-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

I've never been a huge NFL fan. The college game has always been far more entertaining, and I've been much more connected to the college game since that's what I grew up on. I've never even been to a regular season NFL game before. But I do find the NFL entertaining to watch in the fall. The first team I really cheered for in the NFL was the Falcons because it seemed that they were filling their roster with VT and South Carolina players. Plus, they were led by one of my childhood heroes, Michael Vick. But...

Then came Bobby Petrino. Then came the dog-fighting allegations. Then came the proof. Then came Vick being put into jail. Then came the Falcons players wearing "Free Mike Vick" t-shirts. Then came the Falcons cleaning out almost any trace of Hokies from their roster. The real kick in the gut came this past January, when Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who had lectured for weeks about the importance of honoring contracts in light of the Petrino fiasco, stole defensive coordinator, Brian vanGorder, away from South Carolina just weeks after he had signed to coach for the Gamecocks and promised to stay with Carolina for a long, long time.

As these events took place, my fanhood for the Falcons was hurt considerably, and I chose to no longer be a Falcons fan. It was too much to keep rooting for a team with everything that was listed above take place. After a year of not really cheering for anyone (though I did cheer for the Redskins in the playoffs) I'm ready to get back into the game, but am starting with a clean slate. My NFL fanhood is up for grabs.

So I opened up to possibly making any team "my team." But I needed to do this with care. This is a big decision - my sons could be cheering for this team because of me and I don't want them rooting for a dead-end franchise! After talking to my buddy, Ross, about this for a while I was able to narrow down the teams. I used the following criteria:

1) I can't just pick a front-runner. For example, picking the Patriots is out of the question.

2) Some sort of connection to the team - this would generally mean that they have Gamecocks or Hokies on their roster (or at least some SEC guys that I watched play in college).

3) Geographic location - they need to be close enough that I can watch them reguarly. A team out west would only be on tv in North Carolina once a year. I flirted with the idea of cheering for the Raiders for a while because of the amount of SEC players on their roster, but could I realistically cheer for a west coast team? The same goes with another team I considered - the Houston Texans. But they're just too far away and have a UVA guy as their starting QB.

4) Not underestimating the "gut factor." Sometimes there's just weird reasons that you do or don't like a team. For example, I considered the Vikings because they have former Gamecock WR Sidney Rice. However, there's no way I could root for a team who wears purple. Out of the question.

With all that said, here's the teams that I narrowed it down to:

Washington Redskins

Tennessee Titans

Atlanta Falcons (I know, I know - but part of me just wants to stay with them through these tough times.)

More to come...

So apparently it wasn't true...

2008-06-25T08:56:00.001-07:00

Apparently I missed all the articles that the whole "new tribe" thing was a hoax (though the pictures were real. The tribe was discovered in 1910). Many thanks to Ross Cushnie, the "anonymous" commenter on the previous post, for bringing this to my attention.

The article is here: http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23911019-948,00.html

Thanks for the comment, Ross. If UVA was as good at football as you are at finding mistakes in my blog, they could possibly beat VT more than once this decade. Click clack!

Uncontacted tribe photographed near Brazil-Peru border

2008-06-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

This is from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24880941/. Apparently they have found an uncontacted tribe in South America. This was just so cool I had to post some pictures below - it goes to show how "big" the world can be in an age where we talk about how "small" it has become because of technology.

On Resolution Number 6 at the SBC

2008-06-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

First off, I feel like I've officially become a part of Southern Baptist life with a blog post title like the one above.

But, an exciting resolution passed at the recent Southern Baptist Convention that looks something like this:

SBC Resolutions
6. On Regenerate Church Membership And Church Member Restoration June 2008
WHEREAS, The ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle, with Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message describing the church as a “local congregation of baptized believers”; and
WHEREAS, A New Testament church is composed only of those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, the local church’s only Lord, by grace through faith (John 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9), which church
practices believers’ only baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:16-20), and the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26:26-30); and
WHEREAS, Local associations, state conventions, and the Southern Baptist Convention compile statistics reported by the churches to make decisions for the future; and
WHEREAS, The 2007 Southern Baptist Convention annual Church Profiles indicate that there are 16,266,920 members in Southern Baptist churches; and
WHEREAS, Those same profiles indicate that only 6,148,868 of those members attend a primary worship service of their church in a typical week; and
WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish us to exercise church discipline as we seek to restore any professed brother or sister in Christ who has strayed from the truth and is in sin (Matthew 18:15-35; Galatians 6:1); and now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any
failure to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we humbly encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior’s teachings on church discipline, even if such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in
those churches, and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we humbly urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to implement a plan to minister to, counsel, and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture (Matthew 18:15-35; 2 Thessalonians
3:6-15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).

Resolutions with the SBC are somewhat tricky in the sense that this is not a new requirement for all churches in the SBC but rather a strong exhortation. However, it is a great step to having church membership actually mean something. The only questions are 1) what took so long? and 2) will it make a difference? To the first, I understand that other victories - such as the battle for the Bible - needed to be won before something like this would make sense. As for the second, I have seen many say that nothing will change but I really see this as a challenge to pastors to actually have a biblical model for church membership. More than anything, this resolution makes me even more thankful that we attend a church where nothing has to change when it comes to church membership.

Returning to Acuna

2008-06-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'll be returning to Acuna, Mexico next spring! Details to come...

Judge sides with Duke: Your football team stinks

2008-06-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

(from espn.com)

A Kentucky judge has confirmed what Duke fans have known for years: their football team is as bad as it gets.

Bad enough that Louisville should have to find another football team to replace the Blue Devils without penalty after Duke pulled out of the final three games of a four-game contract last season.

In a lawsuit filed late last year, Louisville asked for $450,000 in damages and any additional damages the court saw fit.

But Duke's lawyers argued that the Blue Devils' performance on the field was so poor that any Division I team would suffice as a replacement. Duke is 6-45 over the past five years, 13-90 since 1999.

Judge Phillip J. Shepherd of the Franklin County (Ky.) Circuit Court agreed, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"At oral argument, Duke [with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty] persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower," Shepherd wrote in a summary judgment issued Thursday, according to the paper. "Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville."

Duke, according to the suit, asked the Cardinals to find a replacement opponent and promised to pay Louisville only if the school could not find one after a "good faith" effort. A $150,000 penalty for each game was included in the contract if a "team of similar stature" could not be found to fill the date.

The two schools were to meet four times between 2002 and 2009. Louisville beat the Blue Devils 40-3 in September 2002, but Duke opted out of the final three games, to be played last season and in 2008 and 2009.

Louisville claimed it struggled to find another team and received "little, if any, help from either Duke or the [Atlantic Coast Conference]" in finding a replacement.

"We're disappointed with the ruling," Louisville spokesman Kenny Klein said, according to the Courier-
Journal. "We will take our time to review the decision and explore our future options."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

So the Mormons came to Visit...

2008-06-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

I just want to make sure before I write all this that anyone who reads this knows that this is in no way meant to be a bragging session or a slam on the Mormons who came to visit me. It's not my desire to boast of how I won an argument. Instead, I hope that this is edifying for those who want to see how I personally dialogued with a couple of mormon missionaries last night. I also wanted to stress the importance of us trying not to win an argument, but also win these people to Christ. So here it goes...

One of the things Norman Geisler encouraged us to do was to read texts like the Book of Mormon and the Koran in order to be able to better dialogue with people of those faiths. I figured that if I could find a free Bible online then I could find these other two texts for free as well. I ordered both for free last week from various websites, and I figured that there would be Mormon missionaries who would personally deliver the Book of Mormon. I was right, and yesterday I received a call from them and we set up an appointment for them to come last night and visit. What follows are some observations from what took place.

First, let me say that the two guys who came by were really nice, respectful, and personable. Both were former athletes and big sports fans, and were very down to earth. I certainly think these were two guys I could be friends with. I think that we as evangelicals sadly salivate at the chance to nail a Mormon in a debate. We must defend doctrine boldly, but we must also remember that this is an opportunity to show the love of Christ and to hopefully bring two more people to the place where they make a decision to truly accept Jesus Christ. I think that we can defend doctrine but still not be nasty about it in situations like this. I pray I did that last night - my first comment to them was actually telling them that I didn't agree with them whatsoever, but I did love them with the love of Jesus and looked forward to having a friendly debate).

So here's some random thoughts -

1. It's important for we Christians to know what we believe in respect to Mormonism. We can't rely on a few Mormon stereotypes as our defense - those will be shot down quickly. Instead, we must be better equipped than that. I was thankful that I had done a good bit of research before they came last night. There were a number of verses that they quoted out of context that I was glad that I had read up on before they came.

2. There were three places in particular where I posed questions that I did not get any real answer to:

A. The first was when I asked them if the Bible is inerrant and without any error and they said, "yes, absolutely." I then turned to Mark when Jesus comments that there is no marriage in heaven and asked them how they can have a doctrine of eternal marriage if Jesus clearly teaches in the Bible that they claim is without error that there is no marriage in heaven. (Note: I had researched what their response would probably be - that Jesus was saying that no one will get married in heaven. If anyone reads that passage in its context Jesus is responding to a question about a woman who was married here on earth, so clearly that is not what he is saying. Also, the verse that was used to defend this was when Jesus says, "whatever your bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." This is again a clear example of the need to understand verses in context.)

B. The second was the issue that they believe that God is still giving revelation today to their prophets. I asked them if their prophets ever made a mistake and they said no, but there was a prophecy made by Joseph Smith that a huge temple would be built in Missouri within his generation. They said that this prophecy was not fulfilled because of "circumstances," by which they mean that the Mormon church was persecuted at the time of the prophecy making it impossible to build the temple. I asked them how it can be that Joseph Smith could be a true prophet if

a. the criteria for a biblical prophet is that his prophecies always come true,

b. that true prophecy is the word of God (who does not lie),

c. that God is all-knowing and sovereign and therefore no "circumstances" catch Him off guard that makes Him have to modify His prophecy.

d. Therefore, if they believe that God is in sovereign, all-knowing, and doesn't lie, then there cannot be true prophecy that God has to change just because His church was persecuted.

C. Sadly, I asked them when they decided to repent of their sin and recognize the need for a savior and reconciler towards God. Both testimonies were almost identical - they consisted of reading the book of Mormon and asking God if it was true and said that the "Holy Ghost" had confirmed it for them.

3. I think a lot of these guys really just need to lovingly be shown the contradictions in their doctrine. As I was pointing stuff out to them it seemed (at least to me) that they were somewhat surprised by many of these contradictions and had not considered them before.

4. Why are these guys so much more evangelical than we are? They have a faith that is built mostly on a book that is not historically reliable whatsoever. We Christians have a book that is the most historically reliable document in all of ancient history. We should be embarrassed that the Mormons are more eager to talk about a distorted Jesus than we are to talk about the Biblical Jesus.

There was much more that happened over the course of our 90 minute discussion, but these were just a few points that I was thinking over today.

Is Single Issue Voting Wrong? (from John Piper)

2008-06-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm going to write more on this in the next few days, but I've recently felt the conviction to become stronger in my political knowledge. I was once a die-hard politics guy, but grew fairly apathetic because of the politicization of the religiousright as well as cable news channels (see CNN, Fox News) encouraging political screaming matches between republicans and democrats more than encouraging a pursuit of truth and progress. I don't think I'll ever feel really passionate about politics again other than with major issues like abortion, but I do recognize the responsibility to be informed and to vote well.

Christians are often criticized for being single-issue voters, that is, that their vote can be swayed by issues like whether or not a candidate is pro-life or pro-choice. Below is an excellent paragraph from John Piper addressing this issue:

"No endorsement of any single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor, or president. But there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from public office. For example, any candidate who endorsed bribery as a form of government efficiency would be disqualified, no matter what his party or platform was. Or a person who endorsed corporate fraud (say under $50 million) would be disqualified no matter what else he endorsed. Or a person who said that no black people could hold office—on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said that rape is only a misdemeanor—that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office [...]

It's the same with marriage. No one quality makes a good wife or husband, but some qualities would make a person unacceptable. For example, back when I was thinking about getting married, not liking cats would not have disqualified a woman as my wife, but not liking people would. Drinking coffee would not, but drinking whiskey would. Kissing dogs wouldn't, but kissing the mailman would. And so on. Being a single-issue fiancé does not mean that only one issue matters. It means that some issues may matter enough to break off the relationship.So it is with politics. You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from holding public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him—except that child-killing is more serious than those."

Some thoughts from spending a week with Norman Geisler

2008-06-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

This past week, my good friend J.P. Harmon and I decided to man up and take an entire class in one week. The class was Christian Apologetics & World Religions with Dr. Norman Geisler, one of the leading thinkers of the 20th century in Christian apologetics. This was particularly momentous for me because Dr. Geisler had had a unique impact on my decision to come to seminary. He taught and inspired Ravi Zacharias while at Trinity, and Ravi's sermons, lectures, and question and answer sessions on college campuses had a major impact on me feeling the responsibility to be intellectually prepared for ministry. Dr. Geisler was also an author I would read when trying to understand the usual criticisms of the Christian faith.

Needless to say, the experience was incredible. We spent the mornings having Dr. Geisler lecture through his twelve-step apologetic method which is the following:

1. Truth about reality is knowable

2. Opposites cannot both be true

3. The theistic God exists

4. Miracles are possible

5. Miracles performed in connection with a truth claim are acts of God to confirm the truth of God through the messenger of God

6. The New Testament documents are reliable

7. As witnessed in the New Testament, Jesus claimed to be God

8. Jesus’ claim to divinity was proven by an unique convergence of miracles

9. Therefore, Jesus was God in human flesh

10. Whatever Jesus (who is God) affirmed as true, is true

11. Jesus affirmed that the Bible is the Word of God

12. Therefore, it is true that the Bible is the Word of God and whatever is opposed to any biblical truth is false

Following morning lectures, we were given an hour for lunch in which that we spent watching the Euro 2008 with fellow students from across the world who knew an exponentially greater amount about soccer than I did. The afternoons were spent watching some of Dr. Geisler's debates with leading thinkers in secular humanism or other religions, as well as lectures on other world religions.

The experience was powerful and made me all the more thankful for men like Dr. Geisler who I could look to while at USC when challenged with difficult questions and criticisms of Christianity in my various classes. While the world doesn't often admit it, there truly are great thinkers who also happen to be conservative, evangelical, Bible believing Christians.

C.S. Lewis said...

2008-06-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

"The world might stop in ten minutes; meanwhile, we are to go on doing our duty. The great thing is to be found at one's post as a child of God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though our world might last a hundred years."

- God In The Dock

Ravi Zacharias said...

2008-06-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

"G. K. Chesterton correctly remarked that the problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting but that it has been found difficult and left untried. In response to an article in The Times of London entitled 'What's Wrong with the World?' Chesterton replied,

'I am.

Yours truly,

G. K. Chesterton.'

That is precisely Jesus' point - we are wrong with the world."

A Week with Norman Geisler

2008-06-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

If any of my 3 faithful readers are wondering why I haven't written in the past week, it's because I'm doing a semester's worth of material in one week. I am in the middle of spending an incredible week studying underneath one of the leading Christian apologists of the 20th century: Norman Geisler. After three days I have been so encouraged and challenged to love the Lord with all my mind. To the right is the book that I've been getting familiar with all week. (By the way, if you ever get the chance to study with a guy who has written an entire encyclopedia on a topic, take it!)

I'll be posting some more thoughts when I'm able to come up for air, as well as the second part of the series I started titled, "Just want to be like Jesus?" Also, I will be sure to post some responses to the criticisms received from Clemson and UGA fans on the best entrances in college football. The fall is almost here, and it's about time to start talking some smack. J.P. Harmon and Bert Watts have posted responses on their blogs. Gentlemen, prepare for a response soon enough...

What Makes a Great College Football Entrance?

2008-06-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

While I'm a lover of all sports, there will always be one that holds a special place in my heart: college football. I think it was probably because I grew up spending Saturdays making the long drive into the beautiful of mountains of southwest Virginia to see Virginia Tech play. I was a Hokie fan at the right time. My first game was spent nearly freezing to death in a late-fall game where the Hokies beat a Syracuse team led by freshman Donovan McNabb. The first year I remember well is VT's 1995 season where true pocket-QB Jim Druckenmiller led the team to the Sugar Bowl where they defeated Texas. From then on, I was hooked. The next few years would be the beginning of the golden years for Hokie football. Greats such as Bryan Still, Ken Oxendine, pre-incarcerated Michael Vick, Cory Moore, John Engleberger, Lee Suggs, and Kevin Jones would be just a few of the greats that I would consistently witness on beautiful Blacksburg Saturdays.

I wouldn't attend Virginia Tech for college and instead went to the University of South Carolina. While the two schools were different in their campuses and student bodies, they were the same in their zeal for football. Also similar was the fact that at both schools people said, "you HAVE to be there for the entrance of the players. Both schools do have great player entrances - for VT, it's the playing of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and the jumping of all the Hokie faithful. For Carolina, it's 2001 - a tradition started by the late Joe Morrison who wanted to provide something unique for his Gamecocks to run out to. I still remember my first 2001 - it was against UGA with ESPN's College Gameday in town, and all day I talked to strangers who got wide-eyed and said, "I can't believe this is your first 2001," as if I had been deprived of one of the essentials of life for 18 years. 2001 lived up to the hype, but the team did not (we blew a lead and lost), and I was officially a Gamecock fan. It would describe much of the next few years of my time at Carolina football games. Great entrance, disappointing play. But no matter how bad the team played, 2001 was always special.

So that got me thinking - what makes a great pre-game atmosphere and entrance? The following are my brief thoughts on the matter, along with a few videos to illustrate:

Fan Passion

First and foremost, a team's entrance has to excite the fans. For example, there are plenty of schools where the stadium doesn't fill up until after the team has run onto the field. A great entrance must be something that the fans want to be there for. That's what really struck me about 2001 at USC. The stadium was full before the players took the field because everyone wanted to witness it. I would say the same for VT. Basically, don't claim that your school has an incredible entrance and then have 10,000 fans show up after it's done. If your own fans don't make the effort to be there for it or aren't going crazy during the entrance, then it's really not that great. For example, check out the VT entrance and see if there's an empty seat as the team comes out:

VT Entrance:

Tradition

Also important is tradition. If your entrance is only the playing of a recently popular hard-rock song and your players run out on the field from a tunnel, then you're not doing anything that's worth getting fired up for. It's important to not change your entrance every 5 years (whether it's the song or the method of entry). That's why the following schools' pre-game environments are so well known:

The M Club Supports You:

Script Ohio:

Splitting the T at Tennessee:

Uniqueness

In the world of sports if you do something weird or unique long enough it becomes cool. That's what has made 2001 so popular at Carolina. I've heard many talk about when they first started using 2001 as the entrance, and that many of the fans had no idea what was going on or even didn't like it. But, after a couple of decades it has become a trademark of Gamecock football.

A Classic 2001:

The same thing, just twenty years later:

The same can also be said for Mr. Two Bits down in The Swamp:

Don't Use Stupid Videos

Most importantly, DON'T USE STUPID PRE-GAME VIDEOS! Sorry to use the all-caps, but that's how strongly I feel about it. Now that any respectable school has a jumbotron, there is almost always a video that precedes the team’s entrance. Unfortunately, this privilege has been horribly abused. I've given two examples below. A pre-game video should never include 1) An animated movie with your mascot beating up the other team's mascot as seen in the Arizona State video below and at UVA games or 2) your players doing any sort of extensive acting (and by extensive, I mean doing anything beyond looking at the camera in an intimidating fashion). A plus for entrance videos, as seen in the A&M video below, is using old clips to show off the program's accomplishments. Write this down: show football players playing, not acting.

Arizona State entrance video:

A Nebraska entrance video:

A Good example: Texas A&M's video:

So what's important? Fan passion, consistency, tradition, uniqueness, and an avoidance of stupid videos. Most importantly, always build up your own school's entrance and never acknowledge your rivals' entrance as being cool or intimidating, which is exactly why I've chosen not to include any discussion of Clemson running down the hill in this post. Go Gamecocks!

I Think I may be Beginning to like Soccer ("football")...

2008-06-03T14:18:00.001-07:00

So I've been watching a little European soccer from time to time this summer. I'm not sure if it's the passion of the fans, the skill of the players, or the fact that I'm becoming delusional during the (real) football off season. Anyways, I don't know if I could ever become passionate about soccer because of one element of the game that is characterized in the video below:

Supplement to Part 1

2008-06-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

Interestingly enough, I came across this today. It turns out that D.A. Carson wrote about the very issue of RLCs (see the previous two posts) in the most recent Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Here's just an excerpt of what he said:

A particularly virulent form of this approach is hidden behind what Tony Campolo now approvingly calls “red letter Christians.” These red letter Christians, he says, hold the same theological commitments as do other evangelicals, but they take the words of Jesus especially seriously (they devote themselves to the “red letters” of some foolishly printed Bibles) and end up being more concerned than are other Christians for the poor, the hungry, and those at war. Oh, rubbish: this is merely one more futile exercise in trying to find a “canon within the canon” to bless my preferred brand of theology. That’s the first of two serious mistakes commonly practiced by these red letter Christians. The other is worse: their actual grasp of what the red letter words of Jesus are actually saying in context far too frequently leaves a great deal to be desired; more particularly, to read the words of Jesus and emphasize them apart from the narrative framework of each of the canonical gospels, in which the plot-line takes the reader to Jesus’ redeeming death and resurrection, not only has the result of down-playing Jesus’ death and resurrection, but regularly fails to see how the red-letter words of Jesus point to and unpack the significance of his impending crosswork. In other words, it is not only Paul who says that Jesus’ cross and resurrection constitute matters “of first importance” (1 Cor 15:3), and not only Paul who was resolved to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:1–5), but the shape of the narrative in each canonical gospel says the same thing. In each case the narrative rushes toward the cross and resurrection; the cross and resurrection are the climax. So to interpret the narrative, including the red-letter words of Jesus, apart from the climax to which they are rushing, is necessarily a distortion of the canonical gospels themselves.

Part 1 - Why I Believe the Apostles' Teaching

2008-05-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know how often you've heard something like the following: "Jesus didn't even teach about something like homosexuality, so who are we to say if it's right or wrong?" This is not a discussion of the homosexual issue, but this was where I most commonly heard this sort of reasoning used in a college classroom. The statement implies that it doesn't really matter whether or not the apostles may have written on this issue - if Jesus didn't explicitly say it, then we don't have the right to confidently say what God views as right or wrong.

I understand that it's easy to see those red words of Jesus on the page and think, "these really are the words of God." This hermeneutic does not overstate the authority of Jesus's words, but instead neglects the fact that the other words of Scripture contain the same authority since they all have the same Author. If the red words mark the words of God, then really everything from Genesis to Revelation should be marked in red! There are numerous verses I could cite to show God's involvement in Scripture. Here is one passage that is rarely quoted but is beautifully specific in its explanation of how God was intimately involved in the development of Scripture:

"We have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
- 2 Peter 1:19-21 (italics mine)

I love that expression "carried along by the Holy Spirit." The beauty of Scripture is not that it has a hodgepodge of uneducated authors who stuck their own opinion onto paper and claimed it as the word God. Instead, Scripture has one Divine Author who used a number of human authors throughout history to write the story of redemption and the Redeemer. I believe that this reason is sufficient in itself to explain the authority of the apostles' teaching. Since the Holy Spirit moved and guided them to write, we can trust their words as being the words of God. However, in case anyone regards this as being too simple a defense I also wanted to give the other big reason that I believe the teaching of the apostles.

Does it really make any sense that someone would regard Jesus' teaching as being authoritative but at the same time ignore the writings of the apostles - those whom He lived and ministered with, taught how to interpret Scripture, and gave them authority to continue His mission on earth? If anyone would be trustworthy to explain all that Jesus taught beyond what is written in the Gospel accounts, it would be men like Peter, John, and Paul (who obviously was not a part of Jesus' pre-resurrection ministry, but was as directly impacted and influenced by Jesus as anyone else in Scripture). Luke 24 talks about how the resurrected Christ personally opened the disciples' minds to be able to understand how to interpret and preach Scripture:

v. 32 - They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

v. 44-48 - Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

When studying history most people view the original source documents as valuable information when trying to understand what a man was really like. If studying Washington, any writing by his closest generals would be priceless. But with Christ, we have made ourselves the authoritative interpreter of what He was really like and what He really meant. The problem stems from understanding history in an evolutionary fashion, which assumes that we're smarter and better now than we were 2,000 years ago, and we are therefore more qualified to explain what Jesus meant and taught than His disciples. Such historical arrogance is not only misinformed, but also dangerous.

Let's also think about this logically- someone says that they believe the words of Jesus but not the words of apostles. Who do they think wrote down the words that are attributed to Jesus? There is no such thing as believing only in the words of Jesus. It's actually believing selectively in the writings of the apostles.

We may have computers, airplanes, air conditioning, and other cool inventions, but as for me, I will trust the words of the apostles in a heartbeat over my own naturally biased method of interpretation that is as far removed from the context in which Jesus taught and lived as can be. When it comes to understanding what Jesus preached and believed beyond the direct quotes of Him in the four gospels, I'll take the inspired words of those he was closest to without thinking twice.

Introducing the Issue: Some Scripture is God-breathed?

2008-05-31T13:36:00.001-07:00

This is the introduction to the following two-part response to "red-letter Christians" (RLCs). The first part is called "Why I Believe the Apostles' Teaching," while the second is titled "Just Want to Follow Jesus?"

Allow me just a minute to specify what it is I'm addressing. I am not addressing the political movement led by men such as Tony Campolo or Brian McLaren. Instead, these are two essays discussing a hermeneutic (method of Biblical interpretation) that views Jesus' words (the red words in some Bibles) as authoritative and without error while the rest of Scripture is interpreted as having less authority, being the opinions of ordinary men, or being the production of various unsophsticated cultures that, when compared to the advancements made today, are thought to be obsolete.

This is not a complete defense of the inerrancy of Scripture, but instead a pair of brief essays that I hope will show 1. the reliability and authority of the apostles' teaching in the New Testament, which therefore means we should submit ourselves to their teaching, and 2. how often RLCs apply their selective hermeneutic on the red words they claim to fully believe.

C.S. Lewis said...

2008-05-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

"By the way, did you ever meet, or hear of, anyone who was converted from scepticism to a 'liberal' or 'demythologised' Christianity? I think that when unbelievers come in at all, they come in a good deal further [...] A man who first tried to guess 'what the public wants,' and then preached that as Christianity because the public wants it, would be a pretty mixture of fool and knave."

- Letters to Malcolm, 119-120

A New Christian Debate Resource

2008-05-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

(This post is a work in progress and will be cleaned up and improved upon in the coming days).
Last updated 5/29

This is something I'm incredibly excited about working to put together. I often enjoy listening to debates more than anything else because it can never be a one-sided argument. Of course, when the Christian debates the atheist I don't side with the atheist; however, a debate presents both sides of the argument and provides the opportunity to hear the Christian response and defense to objections. This is a facet that is not always offered in a sermon since that is not the proper forum for such objections.

Therefore, after realizing that I have not been able to find a site (though it may be out there, I'm not trying to be revolutionary here) that offers audio or video of Christian debates, the following is what I have found on the internet that either has audio or video files. I have listened to many of these debates, but not all of them in their entirety. I don't necessarily agree entirely with every Christian who is represented here, but just hope to provide a resource that will be useful to any who enjoy Christian apologetics and learning by hearing both sides of the argument. I will be adding to this list and updating the post regularly as I come across more debates that are on the internet. I have divided the list into two sections. The first is debates on theology, and focuses more on debates within Christian circles on theological matters such as Calvinism or eternal security of the believer. The second division is broadly labeled as debates proving the existence or nature of God. These are between Christians and and those of other faiths, atheism included. I recognize that this is also a theological matter, so my labels are not entirely accurate, but this was how I deemed it best to divide the categories. Without further delay...

Debates on Christian Theology:

Al Mohler (president of Southern Seminary) and Paige Patterson (president of Southwestern Seminary) "discuss" the matter of Calvinism at the Southern Baptist Convention here.

My reaction: This is one of the best debates out there - Mohler and Patterson present their positions in a clear and respectful fashion. I think pretty much anyone in the SBC should be required to listen to this.

Mark Driscoll debates Dan Corner over the eternal security of the believer here.

My reaction: Good debate - the audio quality is not great, but Driscoll does a good job defending the security of the believer.

Debates on The Existence/ Nature of God:

"The Great Debate" - Greg Bahnsen (Christian apologist) debates well-known atheist, Gordon Stein, here.

My reaction: Excellent - one of the most famous debates out there. Greg Bahnsen is brilliant

John Lennox (Oxford mathematician & Christian Apologist) and Richard Dawkins (Oxford scientist & author of The God Delusion) debate here.

My reaction: This is a great debate between one of the leading Christian apologists and probably the best known atheist of our generation. The worst part of this is the debate format. It doesn't seem like the moderator really let the two talk without interrupting. Having heard Lennox speak at Southeastern chapel, many of his best arguments (especially his conclusion) were cut off as he was getting to them because of time restraints.

A video conversation between Alister McGrath (of Oxford) and Richard Dawkins here.

My reaction: This video format is somewhat awkward. You can see the same interview on YouTube in a series of ten minute videos as well. This is a good video that is more of a conversation than a debate. This comes from Richard Dawkins' website, so it's important to recognize that he is asking the questions to McGrath. Therefore, Dawkins is able to be on the offense throughout the entire discussion - a significant advantage.

Ray Comfort (from The Way of the Master) vs. Ron Barrier (atheist) here attempting to prove/disprove the existence of a Creator.

My reaction: This is a very poor debate, and I've included it only for the sake of completeness. Barrier's arguments are very poor and mostly simple logic that appeal to the emotions of his audience. Comfort isn't too impressive either for the Christian defense...

William Lane Craig (Christian apologist) debates Jamal Badawi (Muslim apologist) at Emory Univeristy. Part of 1 of 11 is below, and the remaining 10 parts are also on YouTube.

More pictures from Acuna, Mexico

2008-05-26T10:57:00.001-07:00

We said that we would post more pictures later on. Here are a few more pictures from our mission trip to Acuna, Mexico a few months ago...
A picture of one of the houses in the area.

Here's one of the camp's baseball games in process.

A beautiful Mexican sunset.

This was what it looked like when crossing the border. We are crossing from the U.S. into Mexico, and as you can see, there was no wait to get into Mexico. But on the other side, U.S. border police were sure to check each and every car.

Megan was the camp nurse. As you can see, her services were greatly needed!

There are a good number of thiefs in the area. This is one of the many guard dogs that seemed to be in front of almost every house to let residents know if there's an intruder.

Here's Megan with her host family for the week and her friend Alyson.

And finally, here's the cutest girl I think we've ever seen.

We met John Edwards

2008-05-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

So we met John Edwards at the Durham Bulls game last week. Despite him being a former Clemson student (for just a year, I think), a UNC student, and a Democrat, we were able to have a good, brief visit with him.

Lessons learned from my first year at Southeastern Seminary

2008-05-23T11:22:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe, but as I finished my Old Testament II final on Wednesday I also finished my first year of seminary. It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience which has far exceeded Megan and I's expectations. Here's just some quick thoughts on different things I've learned or experienced after my first year...

In the past year I completed classes such as Hermeneutics, Greek I and II, Evangelism, and Theology I. I would say that almost every class has been great, with each professor adding their own twist to the class through their unique personalities. Top professors for the last year have been Dr. Akin (hermeneutics), Dr. Black (Greek I, II and NT II), and Dr. Reid (Evangelism).

I will probably stay away from the "practical" classes for my last two years (by practical I mean classes like counseling, pastoral ministry, etc). It's not that they aren't rewarding, but I've found that seminary is a place to learn things that you could never learn on your own. I found that I probably could have learned as much about counseling by just reading the books that were assigned. If you're serving in a good church you should be learning the practical aspect of ministry there, which will save your seminary electives for classes like the languages.

I came into seminary being strongly discouraged from pursuing anything in the field of apologetics. In the past year I didn't take anything within Christian philosophy because of it, but I have found that my love for apologetics has crept back! In the summer I will be taking a class with Dr. Norman Geisler (more on this later) on Christianity in relation to the other world religions, and in the fall I will take two classes with Dr. Bruce Little: Christian Philosophy and Critical Thinking & Argumentation.

Megan and I could be anywhere two years from now. We came in thinking that we were willing to go anywhere or do anything, but we weren't (at least I wasn't). Many professors here are "afflictors of the comfortable," and they challenge you to look beyond the U.S. to find your place of ministry. Megan and I talk about this often, and we look forward to see where the Lord takes us.

The consistent piece of advice I received coming in was to take professors, not classes. They were right - a class is made or broken by its teacher.

Who would have thought that I would enjoy Greek? I'm on to my third semester this summer...

Half of the education in seminary is interaction with the other students. That's why I strongly feel that being a full-time, on-campus student is a huge advantage, and should be chosen (if possible) over online courses. You hear what people are reading, thinking, experiencing, and who they listen to (sermons).

For the last 18 months Megan has been encouraging me to pursue my PhD after finishing seminary. For the last 14 months or so I strongly disagreed, but am feeling more and more called to continuing my education after graduating from Southeastern. I'm hesitant about this, because I want to make sure this isn't a pride thing, but as of now I see this as a likely next step.

I'm so thankful to be at a "Great Commission" seminary. I had many hesitations about coming to a "confessional seminary", but I am so thankful that we came to Southeastern. God has used it to change me substantially, and developed my heart for the nations.

That's all for now, and if I think of more I'll post them as they come to me...

Chicks Dig the Long Ball

2008-05-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts about Youtube is finding old commercials that you remember as a kid. In the words of Greg Maddux, "Hey! We've got Cy Young winners over here!"

A New Family Tradition...

2008-05-19T15:45:00.001-07:00

I don't blog often about stuff going on with Megan and I, but something pretty cool happened two days ago that I thought I would share:

C.S. Lewis' 4th book in The Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian, just opened in theatres this past Friday. I've read the first three in the series but wanted to read this one before seeing the movie. While I was reading on our bed Megan came up and asked what I was reading and jokingly asked if I would read aloud so she could enjoy also. I took her up on her offer read chapter 2 to her, and we followed that up the following night by reading chapter 3 out loud. It looks like we have a pretty cool new tradition on our hands. One of the things our friend, Andy, said he would pray for in our new marriage was developing traditions. We have founded a few (such as the "great Barley fall festival" featuring homemade boiled peanuts) but never any that happened regularly. We've enjoyed this so far, and I think we will enjoy many books in this fashion. On to chapter 4...

Some Thoughts on Worship… (by Matt Thomas)

2008-05-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

My great friend, Matt, wrote some brief thoughts about worship music on his blog. He was asked by his home church what to look for in a music pastor, and these are just a few of his thoughts. I think this is only a portion of his report, but he did a great job!

A few months ago, a group of people from my home church asked me to write up some things that I felt were important things to look for in Music Minister. This is an excerpt from what I came up with for them (maybe it’ll be helpful to someone):
This is an outline of qualifications and attributes that I feel are essential and important for quality worship leadership in a Christian church. It should be noted that some of this is my personal preference and/or opinion. I will try to differentiate between what is my preference/opinion and what I feel are absolute essentials for this position.
It is important to recognize music as a form of worship not as the only means of worship. Some people simply do not like music, and this dislike should not be equated with a lack of personal worship from that individual. Worship can take the form of giving, praying, serving, fellowshipping, preaching, encouraging, singing, etc., and it should never be equated with or
referred to strictly as the singing of spiritual songs.
Music is an art form (among many art forms) and can be effectively used to lead people to worship God. Other art forms (dance, visual art, drama, etc.) are also effective (and should be encouraged and promoted by the Church) in leading people to worship God, but music seems to predominate among these art forms in Christian churches because it is very relevant to most people’s lives and because it holds a strong place in Church history. It also involves the use of lyrics which are theologically and spiritually sound and foster a focus on and consideration of the gospel.
It is only after this groundwork for worship has been laid that a church can consider the form of musical worship best suited for their congregation. With this in mind I will share my thoughts on musical worship and the hiring of a Minister of Music.
Musical Worship
Musical Worship should have as its focus the glory and worship of God. Any music intended for worship that deviates from this could possibly be counterproductive to the purpose of
the church. Given this, I will list some purposes and priorities of worship through music:
1. The glory and worship of God.
2. The encouragement of the believer.
3. The teaching of spiritual truths to the believer (theology expressed in lyrics).
4. To foster an environment allowing believers and non-believers to be drawn to God (this can be a type of evangelism to non-believers)

Theological Conclusions from Gal. 5:1-6

2008-05-17T09:32:00.001-07:00

I thought I would post the "theological conclusions" portion of my recent term paper for New Testament. As I already mentioned, I did it on Gal. 5:1-6, and this was what I concluded:

It would be irresponsible to emphasize any biblical truth from this text over the exclusive sufficiency of Christ. This truth is stated more specifically in ch. 2 of the text, but this is the foundational principle with which Paul boldly proclaims Christian freedom. There is nothing else that is necessary for salvation such as good works or rituals. Without Christ’s total capacity to save, Paul could not confidently command the Galatians to ignore the necessity of circumcision or to seek justification in the law. By knowing that Christ is enough, Paul does not have to be like his religious recipients in Galatia who hopelessly sought after righteousness in themselves with no direction other than their own misguided opinions. Paul confidently points them to Christ, who is the only means of salvation. It is in light of this necessary truth that all other theological principles from the text must be understood. The heart of the text is that anything that is depended upon for salvation beyond Christ must be cast off.

Ch' ch' ch' changes...

2008-05-16T11:14:00.001-07:00

As you can see, I've been working on a few visual changes for the blog... everything should be cleaned up by the end of the weekend.

The Case for Theology & Apologetics (Pt. 2)

2008-05-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

For anyone who may have listened to the first portion of The White Horse Inn's case for theology and apologetics, here is the second portion of the program. It is excellent!

http://www.oneplace.com/common/player/oneplace/CustomPlayer.asp?bcd=05/11/2008&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/swn/oneplace/wm/wi/wi20080511.wax&MinTitle=White+Horse+Inn&MinURL=http://www.oneplace.comhttp://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the_white_horse_inn/&MinArchives=http://www.oneplace.comhttp://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the_white_horse_inn/archives.asp&Refresh=&AdsCategory=MINISTRY.WI&Show_ID=26

Durham Bulls...Bull Durham

2008-05-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

So Megan and I will be off to see our first Durham Bulls game tonight. It's "WakeMed night" for the Bulls, so we'll be getting a ticket and t-shirt for a discounted rate. It should be a good time, but my only regret is that we won't be in the old Bulls stadium so I could relive many of the great moments from the movie, "Bull Durham." Here's just one clip for it...

God is Enough

2008-05-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Patrick posted this over on his blog (see J.P. Harmon on the links to the right). I had heard of this clip, but never took the time to look it up. It amazes me that I came across this just after speaking this week in New Testament about Christ's sufficiency and exclusivity in light of Galatians 5:1-6. John Piper sums it up well here... God is enough.

Mexico...

2008-05-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'll be returning to Mexico at least once (and possibly twice) in the next year! Please be in prayer as we try to discern how and when we should head south of the border to minister to the Mexican people.

Off to Richmond...

2008-05-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Megan and I are off to Richmond for the weekend for Mother's Day. We haven't been back since Christmas, so we're looking forward to heading north on 85...

The Case for Theology & Apologetics (Pt. 1)

2008-05-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to "The White Horse Inn" recently. It's a half-hour, roundtable discussion that comes on weekly. Their most recent broadcast featured, "The Case for Theology & Apologetics (Pt.1)." I would highly recommend listening to it and a link is given below. This, along with reading Him We Proclaim, has left me thinking increasingly about about the role of both theology and apologetics while preaching. As I work through it, I'll post more, but it's definitely been on my mind the last couple of weeks...

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/

http://www.oneplace.com/common/player/oneplace/CustomPlayer.asp?bcd=05/04/2008&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/swn/oneplace/wm/wi/wi20080504.wax&MinTitle=White+Horse+Inn&MinURL=http://www.oneplace.comhttp://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the_white_horse_inn/&MinArchives=http://www.oneplace.comhttp://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the_white_horse_inn/archives.asp&Refresh=&AdsCategory=MINISTRY.WI&Show_ID=26

And I Didn't Even Scratch the Surface...

2008-05-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted recently because I had a substantial amount of work due for New Testament today. I've come to realize that one of the top five feelings in the world is returning all the books you use for a term paper back to the library.

This is not meant as a complaint though. I loved writing on Galatians 5:1-6 and am looking forward to presenting the paper next Wednesday. I realize more and more how amazing the Bible is. I wrote fifteen pages on seven verses and feel like there was much I had to leave out. I hope to give my life to studying the text and learning the Word, and don't think I'll ever really be able to scratch the surface.

Sacred Harp and "Awake My Soul"

2008-04-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I stumbled across a treasure last night while flipping channels. There was a documentary on PBS titled "Awake My Soul: The Story of Sacred Harp" (http://awakemysoul.com/). The documentary discusses the old southern hymnal, Sacred Harp, and shape-note singing. I had once heard of shape note singing a few years ago, but never had a chance to listen to it until last night. One of the men on the documentary put it well: "it is like a wall of sound." The best part of the show was definitely when the narrator mentioned the music's style in relation to the more aesthetically pleasing Southern Gospel music that would come to replace it in the South: "the critics and cities felt that the Sacred Harp was uncivilized because it preached nothing other than Christ crucified." Watching the documentary last night made me want to find one of these "singings" here in North Carolina...

Here's a video of the documentary's trailer and another video below it of an example of such a singing (as you can see, anyone can lead!)

Some Thoughts on "Expelled"

2008-04-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

My friend, Patrick, and I went to see Ben Stein's documentary "Expelled" today. The film is Stein's attempt to investigate the Intelligent Design (ID) vs. Evolution (primarily atheistic evolution) in American academia, with a particular focus on how ID is not given a legitimate voice at the table of free discussion. Below is a long trailer that fills in the details if you haven't heard of it.

Here's my off the top of my head reaction to the film:

A Few Likes:

I was glad that the film was able to show many of the brilliant men and women out there (who aren't neccesarily religious) who don't take neo-Darwinism as a given when it comes to both scientific inquiry and understanding the origin of life. The film does a good job of showing that it's not as simple as intelligent people believe neo-Darwinism and the superstitious believe something else. When you see graduates of Cambridge, Oxford, etc. asking these questions, the debate cannot be as simple as intelligence vs. ignorance.

I thought the film did a good job of showing that American universities and academic communities are no longer a marketplace of free ideas. Many would respond that this is not the case and that ID simply is not legitimate enough to have a place in that marketplace. However, the film clearly shows that this is not a bunch of backwoods high school dropouts who are questioning modern scientific theory. Google someone like John Lennox - just reading his resume makes my head hurt.

One of the most criticized features in the film is the discussion of what happens when neo-Darwinism is taken to its logical conclusions (this was discussing Nazi Germany's survival of the fittest/ethnic superiority theory that led to the murder of the "inferior" races". Also included were the history of Eugenics (google this, not a very pretty picture) in relation to abortion and groups like Planned Parenthood). I am glad this was included. This is rarely understood in the American academic system. Also rarely taught is that this was not an isolated incident in history. Study Latin American history in the 20th century and you get many of the same sad stories.

A few dislikes:

I really wish they had used John Lennox more. Having just debated Richard Dawkins, he is emerging as one of the leading voices in this debate. I figure they decided to limit his time since he is a strong Christian, and the film tries to show more how non-religious scientists are questioning evolution.

My biggest dislike was that the film stooped too often to belittling those who are fundamentalist neo-Darwinians by interjecting a number of old movie clips after presenting the atheist-evolutionist argument. I don't think we have to go to that level. Just let the two sides make their argument and let people decide on their own. I think that when the Christian argument (not that this was a Christian film) is presented responsibly and lovingly at the marketplace of ideas then it will be victorious. We do not have to take low-blows.

In conclusion, the film was good and I would recommend it. It's certainly not perfect, but it does present the legitimate argument that evolution should no longer be assumed by the modern thinking person.

I'm Sailing!

2008-04-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

Andy Metzger is now a blogger (http://cueimaginationplease.blogspot.com/). A "What about Bob?" clip is posted below in honor of this great occasion.

Journal-Blogging

2008-04-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

A great idea that my new friend, Jonathan Parnell, had while in Mexico was trying to journal-blog through a book. This way we could both digest the book in a more thorough manner, but not have to find a time where we can get together every week with our schedules. The book we chose is Dennis Johnson's Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures. This book emphasizes the supremacy of Christ in all the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. This is expressed beautifully by Johnson when he writes:

Reading and preaching the Bible redemptive historically is more than
drawing lines to connect Old Testament types in ‘Promise Column A’ with New Testament antitypes in ‘Fulfillment Column B.’ It is recognizing that Adam’s, Abraham’s and Israel’s entire experience was designed from the beginning to foreshado the end, and that ancient believers experienced true but limited foretastes of sweet grace because in the fullness of the times, Jesus, the beloved Son, would keep the covenant and bear the curse on their behalf and ours (17).

Jonathan has already written an excellent summary of chapter 1, and I'll be writing a summary of chapter 2 in the next few days. If you've happened to read the book or have any thoughts about reading the Bible as narrative, feel free to include your thoughts at http://openedtous.wordpress.com/.

Great Commission Conversations

2008-04-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Something I feel strongly about is that the Christian's theological passions should be proportionate with the theological passions of Paul and Christ. Here's a brief portion of a journal entry I wrote about 2 Timothy for a New Testament class. This is the concluding application for Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:1-26, particularly in respect to his commands to “not quarrel about words” (v. 14), "avoid irreverent babble” (v. 16), have nothing to do with “foolish, ignorant controversies” (v. 23), and to not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone (v. 24). All of this is geared towards God granting repentance to our peers “so they know the truth” (v.25).

Paul’s commands in respect to serving others
also offers challenges, particularly while in seminary. Recognizing that one’s words have such an impact on outsiders makes me realize that I must always sacrifice my desire to speak to the priority of whether or not my words are going to honor Christ in such a way that will also edify an outside listener. I do not have the right to always give my opinion in every controversial topic or engage any debatable issue. If the matter does not honor Christ then my lips should remain shut—this is where my passion should reside. No longer should we seminarians fly the flag of the non-essentials, but instead we should let all passions be dictated by what Christ is passionate for. Humility is really at the core of this command. Will my words be about me so that I can get in the last word or try to “win” some sort of theological debate, or will I let my words and passions be Great Commission words and Great Commission passions? Our words should reflect that the least important person in a conversation is ourselves. This is rarely the case in my own conversations, and this leaves me with a part of my life that must change.

A Brief Story...

2008-04-08T19:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a brief excerpt from my reflection paper from my time in Mexico- this is discussing our team's mercy ministry visit to a man named Jesus who lived in the city:

While these more subtle cultural nuances existed, nothing was as challenging as the language barrier. As previously mentioned, I was unexpectedly asked to be the lead translator for the mercy ministry team of Gordon Loop, John Bradshaw, Nathan Akin, Jonathan Parnell, and Randy Alston. I say surprisingly because I came to Acuna three years removed from my most recent Spanish class. Even while taking Spanish in college I never took any classes beyond the introductory level or had a real conversation in Spanish. Needless to say, I did not expect to come to do any sort of translating. I prayed that I would have as much facility with the language as possible, and truly felt God’s presence and help with being able to speak the language and recall much of what I learned in my previous years of Spanish classes.

Despite being able to speak the language much better than I expected, I still did not feel entirely comfortable with going to a church member’s house as the most capable translator. Pastor Bernardo’s two daughters, who did not speak any English, joined us to help locate the house of Jesus, the church member we were visiting. John Bradshaw and I, along with Bernardo’s daughters, went into the house to see if there was way we could serve their family. After meeting us outside, he invited us into his home so that we could talk in the same room as his ill mother, who appeared in a great amount of pain as she moaned the majority of the time we were there. At first Jesus insisted that he did not need any help, however much pleading from the pastor’s daughters led to him acknowledging that he needed adult diapers for his bed-ridden mother as well as basic food items.

What was so powerful about this ministry experience was not that we were able to serve a man in need, although that was powerful in itself. What made this so emotive was witnessing four members of the body of Christ—myself, John Bradshaw, and the two pastors daughters—struggle together to communicate with Jesus and his family. John, despite not knowing any Spanish, helped by holding a dictionary and looking up words that I needed. The two girls helped by simplifying what Jesus said into more basic Spanish phrases so I could understand, and also took the basic Spanish phrases I said and reiterated them in a more sophisticated manner. I did not really understand what was transpiring at the time, but later that night I realized that four of us, from all different backgrounds and with all different language aptitudes, used our gifts and struggled together so that we could show a man and his mother the love of Christ in a real and practical way. I witnessed four people come together to function as the body of Christ in that room.

Some Pictures from Acuna, Mexico

2008-04-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the trip, with a little commentary underneath each one...

This is at the border as we crossed into Mexico from the U.S. The sign was welcoming us to Acuna.

This is the church that I spent most of the week at, along with a number of other guys. We planned there, went to church there, and slept there!

One of the very cute and friendly kids that lived by the church. Plus, he's got an awesome Mighty Ducks t-shirt.

This is a picture of the baseball camp. We are in the outfield doing stations, with this station being wiffle ball batting practice. I'm to the left throwing baseballs, while our new friend (and VT alum) Tanner is in good "ready position" to make a play.

This a picture of a wonderful man, Jose. He recently felt called to ministry and came to the church to be trained by our team. He spent the nights with us, and was a great help. One of my best memories of the trip was hearing Jose tell his testimony through one of our translators.

Here is Megan with her "crush" from the week - Jose Juan. I'm still a little jealous...

I have to admit it wasn't all business... as you can see we took a break to pick up a sprinkled cookie. Everybody made fun of me for getting it, and then wanted a bite.

Here's a picture of the whole team, as well as some of the Mexican children, local pastors, and missionaries.

As you can see, this was a wonderful trip where God did great, great things. Megan and I both miss Mexico, and these pictures remind us of how great it was to spend a week in Acuna.

Seeing the Gospel through Marriage

2008-04-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here's my first post on Opened to Us - "Seeing the Gospel through Marriage"

http://openedtous.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/the-gospel-and-marriage/

Back from a Break...

2008-04-04T08:36:00.001-07:00

Since returning from Mexico things haven't slowed down at all- I've been trying to catch up with work and spent last weekend in Winston-Salem for my cousin, Sam's, wedding. I will be writing some obersvations from Mexico in the next week or so, as well as posting pictures. I also am finishing up a nine page reflection on our mission trip today that I am thinking of posting in pieces to give more detail of what took place in Mexico. If anyone would like to read it in its entirety just email me at uscbarley@yahoo.com.

I also recommend checking out http://www.openedtous.wordpress.com. This is a new site that my new friend from the Mexico trip, Jonathan Parnell, started to discuss Biblical Theology. He's written some good stuff already, and I'll be writing occasionally on there as well.

Also, I seriously hope the Braves can pull it together before it's too late... more on that to come...

Back from Mexico...

2008-03-24T05:19:00.001-07:00

Megan and I have returned from a great trip in Acuna, Mexico. We're still recovering from the week and a 3 a.m. wake up call so that we could make our trip back to the U.S., but I'll be posting thoughts and comments about our experiences and encounters as time allows. I will say quickly, though, that great things happened!

One Week to Go...

2008-03-09T12:00:00.001-07:00

This time next week Megan and I will be in Acuna, Mexico for our first mission trip together. We head out next Saturday around noon and are both very excited. Today our church, Promised Land, prayed for us as well as Robby who will be spending the summer in Slovakia doing ministering to students throughout the country. Interestingly enough, another oppurtunity has come up for me to return to Mexico next October through a trip that Promised Land is organizing. Megan can't make the trip because of school, but we're trying to discern whether or not I should go. This is an exciting time, and we are thankful that God has used Southeastern to broaden our view of ministry and develop a heart to go outside of the United States. Six more days to go!

By the way, a number of people have asked me where Acuna is located. I looked it up on a map and the closest city I could find is Sonora, TX. Acuna is just south of Sonora, which is just south of El Dorado... if anyone knows where those cities are.

Just Came Across This - Paul Potts

2008-03-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Andy sent this my way today- I don't know if I've ever enjoyed hearing opera more (or seeing something on reality TV).

I've been saying this for years!

2008-03-06T08:34:00.001-08:00

I saw this link on Dr. Black's blog and have felt that a good straw hat should return as a regular part of a man's wardrobe.

Bring Back the Hat!: http://artofmanliness.com/2008/03/01/bringing-back-the-hat/

Baseball Season is Here!

2008-03-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

In honor of the Braves' spring training game being on TV friday, as well as being a newly hired assistant coach for the Franklin Academy baseball team, I can only express my excitement for baseball being back in the following 5-second video (from Rookie of the Year):

Let's just hope I don't have any episodes like this as a coach...

We did it!

2008-02-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know we have officially raised all our money to be able to go to Mexico in 3 weeks to minister to the people of Acuna! Thank you so much to all who prayed for us and gave. We really appreciate it, and will continue to update you as we get closer to our departure.

Can't believe this worked...

2008-02-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

Check out Patrick's latest post- the 4th option actually works! We just gave it a try. The possibilities for pranks are endless...

http://jpharmon.blogspot.com/

C.S. Lewis: The Man who Made me Think

2008-02-18T10:24:00.001-08:00

I came across this very cool picture from an old Time magazine. It was first published over 60 years ago (Sept. 8, 1947), and it is amazing to see the influence that C.S. Lewis still has in America. He is probably the extra-biblical writer who has had the greatest impact on me. He gave me a greater desire to read Scripture, and most importantly gave me the confidence to know that the Christian faith was not an intellectual crutch for the ignorant. This was a great turning point for me- society has generally categorized Christianity as either being a tradition or a superstition. I used to hold a similar belief. But Lewis showed that one can be an orthodox Christian and be a thinking man. In fact, Lewis showed that the Christian must think in a more sophisticated manner than the unbeliever. The critic often throws out what seems like a contradiction- "I could never believe a God who is loving would send people to Hell"- and does no further examination beyond that. The Christian takes these great truths and must recognize that simple thinking will not do, and pursues a greater understanding of God. Lewis showed that when one thinks, Christ and Christian faith become even more beautiful.

"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right then, have it your way.'"

- C.S. Lewis

Superman Video

2008-02-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Here's the video from the pictures I posted last night... Still pretty amazing.

Superman

2008-02-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

One of the top five sports moments I think I've ever seen...

Kingdom - Alistair Begg

2008-02-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I posted some sermon jams I had enjoyed. After listening to a few more, I think I have found this one by Alistair Begg to be one of the best in terms of content. Plus, you can't beat the awesome accent. Enjoy.

Alistair Begg's thoughts on politics, humility, and the need for a Savior.

http://www.relevantrevolution.com/download3.html

Thank you

2008-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Megan and I wanted to thank all of those who have been so generous by giving to us for our mission trip. I was, unfortunately, becoming very anxious this time last week as we were over $1000 away from being able to go to Mexico. In the past week, both God and His people have been very faithful, and we are now only $345 away from being able to go to Mexico on our first mission trip together! I feel funny putting in actual amounts in this post, but I wanted everyone to know exactly how blessed we have been. This has been an amazing week, and we are so thankful to those who have given, as well as those who have committed to pray for us. We are now about a month away from heading South of the border, and please pray for us and our team that we would be used as much as possible in our short time down there.

Megan said it perfectly this week: "may we always be as generous as people have been with us."

A Featured Hymn - 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

2008-02-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hymns have become more and more intriguing to me. Not only are they full of wonderful theology, but every hymn has a great stories behind it. Below I've put together some of the background of "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" from a variety of resources.

(from http://www.igracemusic.com which is a great site)

“’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” was written by a woman, Louisa M. R. Stead. Out of one of her darkest hours—the tragic drowning of her husband—this hymn was penned.
Louisa Stead was born in England. She felt the call of God upon her life for missionary service. She arrived in America in 1871. In 1875, Louisa married a Mr. Stead, and to this union was born a daughter, Lily. When the child was four years of age, the family decided one day to enjoy the sunny beach at Long Island Sound, New York.
While eating their picnic lunch, they suddenly heard cries of help and spotted a drowning boy in the sea. Mr. Stead charged into the water. As often happens, however, the struggling boy pulled his rescuer under the water with him, and both drowned before the terrified eyes of wife and daughter.
And out of her struggle with God during the ensuing days, flowed these meaningful words—“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.”
(from http://www.tanbible.com/tol_sng/tissosweettotrustinjesus.htm)

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
1. ’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”

Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

2. O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me’
Neath the healing, cleansing flood!(Refrain)

3. Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.(Refrain)

4. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.(Refrain)

Sermon Jams

2008-02-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that putting some music in the background adds something. Maybe a new staff position can be "Pastor of DJing" to give sermons a little more zing. Here's a few of the better ones I've found...

Ravi Zacharias - "Death is Dead"

John Piper - "Real"

Ravi Zacharias/Alistair Begg - "Antinomy"

And here's the main site where there's a number more...

http://www.relevantrevolution.com/download.html

Homeless World Cup

2008-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

I stumbled onto this- it reminded me not only that sports can have a tremendously positive impact on someone's life, but also that the Church's heart should break for the homeless and love them very much (just as Jesus does).

Letting Paul Speak for Himself - 1 Timothy 6:11-21

2008-02-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

Grace be with you.

"The Great Debate"

2008-02-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

If you ever have a while to sit and listen to something I would highly recommend what I have posted below. It is a link to one of the most famous debates of the 20th century and is still referred to as "The Great Debate." This debate is between Greg Bahnsen (pictured above), a brilliant Christian apologist, and Gordon Stein, the well-known and equally intelligent atheist. Stein quickly has to go into retreat due to Bahnsen's incredible ability to reveal the illogical nature of the foundation of Stein's argument against God. Granted, it will probably make your head hurt, but if you have any sort of interest in apologetics this would probably be right up your alley. It's amazing how often you hear about debates between Christian apologists and atheists, but rarely can you find one to listen to. Well, here is one for your listening pleasure.

http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/greg-bahnsen-vs-gordon-stein-the-great-debate/

Image of a Winning Shot

2008-02-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

I thought this was a pretty cool picture, and also that I should take advantage of the Carolina Gamecocks winning a game against a ranked opponent (#23 Ole Miss). This is Dominique Archie's reaction after hitting a game-winning 3 pointer with 6 seconds left. I think the best part is the Ole Miss crowd's reaction in the background.

In Response to Arguments (whether spoken or unspoken) against Missions (part 1)

2008-02-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

I started to write a response to 5 arguments but realized that it was just too much to post at one time. I'm not out to make anyone read a dissertation. Basically I made a list a few days ago of various conflicts people have (or I once had) with missionary work and thought I'd give a brief response to each. If you'd like me to answer another objection in the coming days feel free to let me know.

These aren't in any particular order, but here's two for now...

1. The Sovereignty of God Argument

This is an argument that hopefully nobody even knew existed, and it seems that it probably does not even exist anymore for the most part. In an overly simple summary, this is the belief that essentially views missions as unneccesary because God is sovereign, has chosen who He will save and who He will not, and since there's nothing we can do about it we might as well let God be God and sit around and do nothing. Such a stance is infamously summarized by the pastor who strongly discouraged the great missionary to India, William Carey, to pursue his call to missions: "When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without consulting you or me."

My guess is that the pastor who said that looked something like this:

Now this is not an attempt to get into any sort of Calvinism-Arminianism discussion (I promise to never blog extensively on that-ever). But I did feel it neccessary to respond to this view. This argument is always made from Scripture which certainly does affirm the sovereignty of God (such as Romans 9), but it misses the forest for the trees. Sure, someone can pick a few verses here and there to justify missional complacency, but what is ignored is the HUGE theme of missions that is consistent throughout the Bible. From Genesis (the original purpose of Abraham's call and the call that would soon come for Israel to be light unto the world) to Revelation, there is a consistent theme of the responsibility to go and tell. I guess I don't understand why someone would use verses written by Paul as a reason to ignore missions when he was the greatest missionary in the history of the church.

2. The "Isn't that dangerous?" argument

Southeastern and the International Mission Board (IMB) send missionaries into parts of the world that most sane people wouldn't enter with John Rambo. I've heard people say that it's irresponsible to send missionaries into dangerous areas or where lives may be threatened. Basically it's the view that, "you're not much use to God if you're dead." This argument also stems from a feeling that there is something wrong with living in and engaging a country other than the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe due to the difference in the "quality of life."

I wouldn't say that we should be irresponsible and simply go into any area like James Bond into a room full of bad guys in Goldeneye (for any of you N64 lovers out there). However, there would not be much of a church had the early church taken such a view that dangerous or less industrialized areas should be avoided at all costs. Look at the price that all eleven (subtracting Judas) of the remaining disciples paid once given the Great Commission. Deaths, crucifixion, beatings, stonings, etc. Paul was beaten, threatened, put on trial, but remained faithful to his call until dying for his faith in Christ. We should not be foolish, but "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" (Jim Elliot).

And the Best Superbowl Commercial was...

2008-02-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

If all else fails, just have small animals scream for 30 seconds...

Marleyanity?

2008-01-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

Megan and I went to see "I am Legend" a few weeks ago and both of us came away thinking that the movie is below average. However, one of the best parts of the movie was the inclusion of Bob Marley. His music is pretty much the soundtrack to the film, and if you look at this clip below you'll see that it included more than just his music, but also his worldview.

WARNING: if you're one of those people that doesn't like to know anything about a movie going into it I don't want to spoil it for you, so I've also posted what Robert Neville (Will Smith) says in the clip here:
ROBERT NEVILLE (talking about Bob Marley and explaining why his daughter is named Marley): He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate... literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why - He said, "The people, who were trying to make this world worse... are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness."

While the movie wasn't that great I couldn't help but want to listen to more of Bob Marley's music and even know more about him. During this clip I was thinking that it would be interesting to read a biography about him. I have listened to some of his music since the movie, and I believe this is because they were able to make him an attractive historical figure in the film.

However, it got me wondering- what if when Will Smith was asked his daughter's name he instead responded something like, "Christina, she's named after Jesus Christ," and then went on to describe Jesus' worldview, who He was, some of His famous sayings from the Bible, and what he wanted for the world. Chances are, it would make many moviegoers uncomfortable. And that leaves me asking why someone like Bob Marley can be made attractive in a movie but Jesus can't. This isn't a post complaining that it's not fair that we as a society are naturally drawn to the scene above when if it was the same scene, but instead talking about Jesus, it would be offensive or laughed at by many. My point is to ask why this is? Has society become so calloused that they can't take an honest look at Jesus without a thousand negative presuppositions. Have we as the church given society good reason to have that callousness?

As usual, the blame probably lies with both parties. We as the church haven't done a great job of presenting Jesus Christ as someone who is much greater than Bob Marley (is the stuff that Will Smith said in that clip really all that different then what Jesus said?). And the world is rarely willing to look at Jesus with a fresh and humble outlook. Somebody has been in church before, or saw a documentary on the History Channel, or took a religion class in college, or once read part of the Bible, or grew up in "Christian America," and they aren't willing to acknowledge that they may not have Him figured out after all. Hopefully we as the church can live in such a way that they want to know more- "Light up the darkness" or better yet, "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'" (John 8:12).

The Responsibility to "Go"

2008-01-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

Megan and I made a decision to use our blog for something more than a place where Gamecock football videos are posted (you can probably tell I had more to do with the videos), and more importantly use this as a place to discuss our upcoming trip to Acuna, Mexico, which will not only be our first mission trip together, but also my first mission trip. We plan on giving updates on the trip as we prepare to leave March 15th to go to Acuna, as well as our reflections afterwards from our trip. We are sending out our letters tomorrow morning requesting both prayer and financial support, and we thought this would be a way to send out more than a letter- inviting those who are interested to participate more in our upcoming adventure. If you have any comments please post them, as we would love to know someone is actually reading this!

I felt it was appropriate to begin this new phase of the blog by giving a few thoughts on missions in general, and also briefly respond to a few arguments that people have against missions, which I will do at some point in the next few days. I had never given the appropriate level of thought to missions prior to coming to Southeastern. Fortunately, that has changed. The heartbeat of Southeastern is the Great Commission: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20). Our president, Dr. Akin, has a contagious spirit to truly pursue this call and it has grabbed Megan and I's hearts.

We have reguarly been attending Promised Land Community Church in Creedmoor, NC, which is filled with wonderful people. One family we have been fortunate to become aquainted with are the Pyle's. The first time I met their oldest daughter, Claire (age 8), she not only asked me if I knew where I would spend eternity when I die, but also let me know that she felt called to the mission field (clearly she already is living out her calling)! I responded to her letting her know that I did know Jesus (fortunately) and told her that she didn't have to wait to be a missionary, but could be one right now. Thinking that I had impressed her with my observation, Claire simply responded with an "I know," and went on to tell me the places she could have an impact.

She gets what many of us in the church don't get, and it's the reason I titled this post The Responsibility to Go. I think that Claire understood that whether we ever leave the country or not, all Christians are called to be missionaries. I challenge you to find someone in the New Testament who became a sincere Christian and didn't live the life of a missionary as a result of it. They may not have gone across the world (many of them did, though), but the people who met Jesus and chose to follow Him lived transformed lives with new priorities. For many, the greatest mission field may be the home or the neighborhood, but the responsibility remains for the church to touch the nations in a hurting world, and Christ's call remains to go.

Brett Fav-rah

2008-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today may be the last time we get to see legend Brett Favre play football, and get to see plays like this...

Greek!

2008-01-11T10:06:00.001-08:00

I feel like I've officially started my seminary experience by starting
my first language class- Greek. It's definitely a challenge, but there is a wealth of knowledge to gain in understanding the New Testament by understanding the Greek language. If one feels like taking up the language in their free time (kidding) I've provided the alphabet here to start!

Read the Bible in a Year

2008-01-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

I highly recommend doing this - I did it in 2005 and it was one of the most worthwhile experiences I have had. If you remain disciplined (pretty much just have to read 3 Old Testament chapters and 1 New Testament chapter per day) you can easily read the entire Bible in a year. Here is a link to the program that Megan and I are using for 2007:

http://eword.gospelcom.net/year/47/ojan01.htm

It's definitely not too late to start!

I Saw The Light - I'll Fly Away

2007-12-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

David Crowder Band continuing the bluegrass theme.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

2007-12-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

What's most amazing about this is seeing who the incredible banjo player is in this video about 45 seconds in...

Let's See How Far We've Come

2007-12-14T06:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know we had a terrible second half of the season, but this video was still pretty cool...

The Transparency Incident of 1902- A Poetic and Incongruent Symbol is Born

2007-12-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is from - http://photontorpedotube.blogspot.com/2007/11/transparency-incident-of-1902.html

by Edwin L. Turnage,
Copyright 2007

"McKissick! Make every shot count!"

Those were the words shouted to future USC President, J. Rion McKissick, who was clutching a pistol, as he and twenty-nine other Carolina students crouched behind a hastily-erected barricade on the Horseshoe in 1902.

On the other side of the barricade, an angry mob of 400 Clemson Cadets, armed with bayonets and swords, threatened bodily harm to the Carolina men and destruction of the South Carolina College. What had enraged the Clemson Cadets to such a degree? Merely the poetic and incongruent symbol of a fighting Gamecock. This was the Transparency Incident of 1902 and it is part of the history of the greatest rivalry in College football, South Carolina versus Clemson.

To understand the context of this armed confrontation between the Carolina and Clemson one must understand the roots and origins of this college football rivalry. The Gamecocks had been playing football from 1895, but to be frank and honest, the early South Carolina football teams were poor. Of course, the school itself was small, not even a University at that time. South Carolina College, which had been stripped of its University status by former Governor Pitchfork Ben Tillman and his political allies in the State Legislature, had only 79 students in 1890. By 1902, it was slightly better; there were just 200 students going to South Carolina College.

Clemson on the other hand, was a much more powerful institution. By and large a creation of Tillmanism, a populist political movement that germinated in South Carolina's turbulent reconstruction era politics. Clemson was a great beneficiary of Governor Pitchfork Ben Tillman's efforts. She was flush with revenue derived from taxes on tobacco, and Tillman, a notorious racist who condoned lynching while governor and later on the Senate floor, ordered African-American prisoners to labor on and improve the campus. Then a military school, Clemson had over 400 student-cadets in 1902.

The two schools began playing football against one another in 1896. Carolina won the first game, 12-6, but Clemson quickly overtook Carolina on the football field, winning the next five meetings. In fact, in those days, Clemson was one of the most powerful football teams in the southeast. In 1900, Clemson's football team was coached by the legendary John Heisman, whose first "Tiger" team went undefeated. The 1900 Tigers also whipped South Carolina by the embarrassing score of 51-0. The defeat was so complete, that the two schools were unable to work out an agreement to play each other on Big Thursday in 1901. (Of course, the Clemson fans claimed that it was because South Carolina College was afraid Clemson would administer another whipping.)

As most serious fans of both schools know, back in those days the Carolina Clemson game was always played on Thursday during the State Fair in Columbia. As part of this event, every year the entire student body from Clemson--its entire Corp of Cadets-- would come to Columbia for the game on Thursday. Afterwards, Clemson's Cadets would remain in Columbia and march in the Elks Club Parade on Friday afternoon.

During the 1897-1900 parades, the Clemson Cadets wore garnet and black colors around their shoes. In this way, Clemson literally dragged the Carolina colors through the dust. Clemson also carried a big bass drum, which a Cadet beat upon as they marched. Inscribed on this drum was a picture of a roaring Tiger with the letters, "S.C.C" (South Carolina College), inside its mouth. This was, obviously, symbolic of Clemson eating up their old rival on the football field.

As a modern-day Gamecock fan, I can easily sympathize with the feelings these indignities must have inflicted on the students and supporters of the liberal arts oriented, South Carolina College. But endure it our people did, in hopes that someday the incredible might reoccur against all odds, a victory over Clemson in football.

Now folks, 1902 was a very special year for the Gamecocks. The school's nickname, "Gamecocks," did not become commonly accepted in South Carolina until 1903 when The State newspaper began referring to the team by that name. However, I'm confident that after you read about the Transparency Incident of 1902, you will agree that the 2002 South Carolina football team truly was the first Gamecock team.

Bob Williams, a Virginian, coached the 1902 football team. Williams still has the best winning percentage of any coach who has ever coached football at South Carolina (overall 14-3). South Carolina College began the 2002 season 3-0. The team would finish the year 6-1. The 1902 football team had a stifling defense. It surrendered just 16 points all season, and it shut out five opponents.

Prior to the Clemson game, the fourth game of the season, Williams hired Christy Benet as his assistant coach. Benet, a former guard on earlier football teams at South Carolina College, was reportedly an inspiring speaker.

Meanwhile, the 1902 Clemson team was clearly a dominant force on the field. The 1902 Clemson team also brought a 3-0 record to the Big Thursday game. Included amongst the Clemson wins was a 60-0 thrashing of North Carolina State, as well as wins over the then very powerful football teams, Georgia Tech and Furman.

Clemson had John Heisman as their coach. The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the best college football player in the NCAA in his honor. Heisman was a noted trick play artist. According to contemporaneous newspaper reports, Clemson was so confident of a victory over South Carolina College on Big Thursday, October 30, 1902, that the Cadets were offering bets with odds of four and five to one. What those over-optimistic Clemson Cadets didn't know was that their Tigers were about to meet the first Gamecock team.

The game itself was described in both The State and The Greenwood Index papers as one of the "prettiest games of football ever played." The Gamecocks jumped to a quick 12-0 lead. The Gamecocks gained the advantage by simple old-fashioned football. They played great defense. Clemson did not get a first down in the first half. Meanwhile, the Carolina offense ground out first down after first down running the ball up through the middle of the line. Thus, the Carolina football team twice marched methodically down the field, running the ball through the middle of Clemson's line. Junior Fullback, Guy Gunter, scored the two touchdowns on short runs. (Touchdowns were only worth 5 points in 1902.) Converting on both extra points, Carolina led 12-0 at halftime.

But this was Clemson. It had a weight advantage, a great football team, and a great coach. In the second half of the game, the Tigers stormed back. First, Clemson scored on a 60 yard trick play run by a halfback named Sitton, an end around play. Then, the Tigers took possession of the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter and began a determined drive. The drive stalled, however, on the South Carolina 20-yard line, and the Gamecocks took over midway through the fourth quarter. The Carolina offense then proceeded to run out the clock by grinding out first downs through the middle of the Clemson defensive line. Thus, the game ended in a 12-6 Carolina victory.

This was a monumental upset! After such a long victory drought, what joy and happiness this brought to the students and fans of South Carolina College. One football player was quoted in the 1903 Garnet and Black as stating, "Well, Old Pards, how about we just lay down and die right here." Oh, were the South Carolina students were in happy and celebratory.

That is when the transparency arrived, and things got a bit ugly. That Thursday evening, Carolina's students obtained a drawing by F. Horton Colcock, a Professor at South Carolina. The drawing depicted a bedraggled tiger beneath the crowing gamecock. (See a replica of the transparency at the top of this article. This picture was referred to as a "transparency" by the 1902 newspapers.

It was a poetic and incongruous symbol, a proud Gamecock crowing over a powerful feline, the tiger. Perhaps in an era when football teams were typically named after ferocious beasts, it was the unique quality of a Gamecock, crowing over its beaten, apparently stronger foe. The symbolism of Professor Colcock's drawing was beautiful and the liberal arts students at South Carolina fully appreciated its meaning. Thus, on Thursday evening, South Carolina's students began carrying the transparency around Columbia as they celebrated the football victory.

It is not clear what it was about Professor Colcock's image that triggered such a hostile reaction from the Clemson Cadets, but it had a detrimental affect on their minds. Enraged by the Gamecock symbol, the cadets attacked the Carolina students all over Columbia on Thursday night. The State paper reported that in two separate attacks, the cadets destroyed the offensive transparency, and wounded half a dozen Carolina students with sabres, swords and bayonets. The Greenwood Index also reported on the Thursday night incident. "Several students were slightly cut with knives and left the scene with blackened eyes and swollen faces and some scalp wounds made by canes and stones."

As reported in The State newspaper, the Clemson Commandant, Lt. Sirmyer, an Army Officer from West Point, approached the South Carolina Assistant Coach Benet Friday morning after the assaults. Sirmyer warned Benet that the Carolina students would be wise not to carry Professor Colcock's "offensive transparency" in the Parade on Elks Club Friday night. Ominously, Lt. Sirmyer told Benet if the Carolina students did not heed his warning and if they had the temerity to carry that transparency in the parade, he "would not be responsible" for any violence that might ensue. The State reported that after this meeting, "It was openly and repeated stated by the Clemson Cadets that they would break up South Carolina College that night if the transparency was used."

Finding Benet unbowed by his threat, Lt. Sirmyer resorted to political pressure. He went to General Jones, Columbia's Chief of Police, and asked for the Chief to order Benet not to display the Gamecock transparency. Thus, shortly before the parade, Benet met with Lt. Sirmyer and the Chief. Both urged Benet to talk the Carolina students out of displaying their transparency during the parade. The Chief said he saw nothing offensive about the transparency, but he wished to avoid trouble. Benet considered the request, but decided it would be wrong to acquiesce. He told the Carolina students that they must carry the transparency or they would, in effect, reward the whining, political maneuverings, threats, and violence against them by the Clemson representative, Lt. Sirmyer.

Therefore, Carolina students did proudly carry their transparency in the Big Thursday parade. They had earned the right by the football victory. As the Clemson cadets marched by students waving the Gamecock image at them, Lt. Sirmyer urged restraint. At the Capitol where the parade ended, however, Sirmyer told the cadets to "behave like soldiers." Then he added, "while on duty." The amendment to his order was met with cheers by the 400 cadets. Lt. Sirmyer dismissed the Clemson cadets, and retired from the scene. The 400 Clemson boys proceeded straight up Sumter Street toward the Horseshoe, and were, according to Benet's statement published in the paper, "very angry and excited."

Before the approaching Clemson mob arrived at the campus, word reached the Carolina students and they built barricades. The students, including future President McKissick, armed themselves with pistols and repeating rifles. When the 400 Clemson cadets arrived waving their swords, sabers and bayonets, they faced approximately 50 Carolina students behind the barricades. The State paper correctly pointed out that the Carolina students were entitled to protect themselves, and their residences on the South Carolina College campus from the Clemson mob. The State said that most were armed "with pistols and several with repeating rifles."

Fortunately, Benet learned of the approaching Clemson Cadets and he intervened to avert loss of life. Meanwhile, Lt. Sirmyer, the Clemson Commandant and leader who stated he would not be responsible for the bloodshed that resulted from the display of the transparency, was absent.

Recognizing the gravity of the circumstance--one that could easily have led to multiple fatalities--Benet stepped David-like between the two sides and offered to resolve the dispute by fighting any one of the Clemson men that they might choose. When this proposal was not accepted, Benet argued that the two parties should form a committee to arbitrate their differences. By this time, authorities and police began to arrive, and Benet's suggestion was adopted. The Committee decided that the Carolina students would burn the transparency--an image easily reproduced--and Clemson agreed to cheer Carolina, a further humiliation for the Clemson Cadets. This accomplished, the two sides disbursed. Very fortunately, no death or further mahem resulted.

But here the transparency incident did not end. Upon learning news of the incident was reported in The State newspaper, the President of Clemson, P. H. Mell, wrote a letter, justifying the lawless behavior of the cadets. He also argued that Lt. Sirmyer had properly performed his duties, and he implicated Benet and the Carolina students who lacked the "good sense" not to display the transparency.

Clemson's President Mell stated in his letter that the image on the transparency was "too much for them to bear," meaning the Clemson cadets. He argued the violent actions of the Cadets were justified because the City of Columbia had refused to prohibit the Carolina students from displaying the offensive Gamecock symbol in the parade. Therefore, President Mell wrote, the city, "assumed responsibility for the transparency, its intended insult and the results occurring therefrom."

The failure to acknowledge responsibility and recognize that the Clemson cadets had acted lawlessly and breached the peace of the City, provoked a strong and direct response by the Editor of The State, A. E. Gonzales. Gonzales specifically blamed Lt. Sirmyer for the incident. He stated that President Mell should immediately dismiss Lt. Sirmyer as the Commandant of Clemson's Corp of Cadets. "One judges a tree by its fruit," wrote Gonzales. "The fruits of Lt. Sirmyer's actions have been lawlessness and provocation of domestic war."

Please Clemson fans, this November, as the loudspeakers in Williams Brice ring over and over with the beautiful sounds of a Gamecock crowing, do not be bitter or angry. Rejoice with us as we Carolinians celebrate in our victory. Let us celebrate our victory, and please don't get mad at us about our Gamecocks.

Go Gamecocks!

Cell Sin

2007-10-19T08:11:00.001-07:00

by Mark Driscoll

This past summer I enjoyed some great vacation time with my wife of fifteen years, Grace, and our five children. We went to the high desert and spent most of our time enjoying the sunshine by playing catch, swimming in pools, inner tubing down rivers, going for walks and the like. For the first time in my life, I actually did not turn on my cell phone and did not take any calls or emails while on vacation. I made it a full three weeks of fasting from digital demons such as my BlackBerry, iPod, and second cell phone. Within a few days I also stopped wearing a watch and stopped really caring about time and instead enjoyed my wife, kids, and vacation. In short, it was wonderful. Unplugging my technology and simply having nothing on my body that required a battery seemed like a new kind of spiritual discipline for our age that refreshed and renewed me more than I could have imagined.

Being unplugged from my technology also made me more aware of how much lords over us as a beeping, ringing, and vibrating merciless sovereign god. I was grieved when I went to the pool every day with my kids to swim and play catch in the water and looked around the pool only to see other parents not connecting with their children at all but rather talking on their cell phones and dinking around on their handheld mobile devices while sitting in lounge chairs. When we went out for meals we saw the same thing. Parents with children were commonly interrupted throughout the meal by their technology and spent more time talking on the phone than to their family. To make matters worse, these people were actually quite loud and were incredibly annoying to the rest of us who do not want to hear whether or not their friend Hank’s nasty inner thigh rash had cleared up.

Sadly, the trend continued even late into the evenings. At night my kids like to go for bike rides and walks before heading off to bed so we spent our nights doing just that. At the resort where we stayed, it was amazing how many other families were doing the same, but the parents were not speaking to their children but rather chatting on the phone via their wireless headset (which I keep expecting to include an option to be surgically implanted into one’s head between their ears since there is apparently a lot of extra space there).

A recent article confirmed this is actually a tragic national trend and a cell sin to be repented of. An AP-Ipsos poll found that one in five people toted laptop computers on their most recent vacations, while 80 percent brought along their cell phones. One in five did some work while vacationing, and about the same number checked office messages or called in to see how things were going. Twice as many checked their email, while 50 percent kept up with other personal messages and voice mail. Reasons vacationers performed work-related tasks included an expectation that they be available, a worry about missing important information, or in some cases the enjoyment of staying involved (Source: Associated Press, June 1, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18983920/).

I know in years past I too have been guilty of these same digital sins against God, my family, and my own well-being. Now that I see it as a sin that destroys silence, solitude, fellowship, prayerful listening, and meaningfully and attentive friendship, I am deeply convicted that there is a new spiritual discipline of fasting from technology to be mastered. In this way, we can enjoy the life and people that God puts in front of us rather than ignoring them while we peck away with our thumbs and chat about nothing, which in the end is rarely as important as the people we are ignoring all around us.

Scoreboard

2007-10-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

A Carolina victory vs. UNC

"South Carolina comes to Chapel Hill this weekend, and the Gamecocks will descend on us like a plague."

2007-10-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hardin: Gamecocks to bring their own brand of football
Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007

NO. 7 SOUTH
CAROLINA AT
NORTH CAROLINA

The memories will wash over some of us. Others will be in denial. But there was a time in this state when football was still on a level with basketball and we could dream of 80,000-seat stadiums and national television, a time when the football scores would scroll across the screen of the "Prudential College Scoreboard" and chills would roll across your body as you anticipated the outcome from far-flung places.

They all seem close now, the places that seemed so distant then. Clemson and Athens, Oxford and College Station, Gainesville and Norman. They evoked something that's gone now, replaced by cable and wireless and flat-screen reality. The whole world was flat then, football was king and Columbia, S.C., was hell on earth.

That's all gone now. South Carolina comes to Chapel Hill this weekend, and the Gamecocks will descend on us like a plague. Some of us will see the waves of garnet and black and remember how it could have been. Most of us will have no idea what we're seeing.

Say what you will about South Carolinians and their strange affinity with a game we still struggle to comprehend here north of the border, but the truth is plain and painful to all those who would make this an argument. The uppity Gamecocks are ranked seventh in the nation and will bring a slew of people to Saturday's game, people who understand college football the way we understand basketball, people who back the Gamecocks win or lose, people who hate Clemson more than is healthy and once hated North Carolina the same way.

Well, not quite the same way. The rivalry between Clemson and South Carolina is something we don't have in this state. Take our greatest basketball rivalry, Duke vs. Carolina, and multiply to an unhealthy level and you'll understand the Clemson-USC enmity. Maybe.

After 1971, when South Carolina bolted the ACC in indignation over SAT scores and the perceived bias toward the Big Four schools, a wall was built between Columbia and the state line. Friendships were strained. Longtime relationships ended. Traditions were tossed aside.

Things were never the same again. South Carolina turned its full attention to football, built dorms and decks and shrines to a game that brought attention and expectations and a Heisman Trophy to the Gamecocks. North Carolina lost Bill Dooley, then lost its zeal, eventually paving over prime tailgating areas and building things like hospital wings and classrooms and a big basketball arena.

And then Mike Jordan came to town and football all but died.

Now we watch South Carolina on the flat screen, watch the Gamecocks playing on national television before 80,000 screaming zealots, playing games of national significance in another conference, in another realm. Some of us roll our eyes and mock the energy of a program that wants so badly to win a national title, wants it more than any other program in America.

Now we see them rolling across the highways, flags flapping from black and garnet cars, a devotion to football that we understand only because of our devotion to basketball.

They used to drive up here and complain the whole way. There was no good way to get from Columbia to Chapel Hill.

The kids would come in on Friday night, and Franklin Street would be raucous as student bodies from North and South Carolina partied the way football rivals used to party in this state. Then on Saturday morning, the multitudes would walk through the pines to a beautiful football stadium and renew a rivalry that dated to 1903.

This weekend, the rivalry will resume after pausing for the better part of a generation. The schools haven't met since 1991, the year South Carolina joined the Southeastern Conference and ended any dream that the Gamecocks could return to the ACC and rejoin the league it so naturally fit.

That can never happen now. Too much has happened in the interim, too many friendships strained, too many relationships ended, too many walls built. North and South Carolina parted ways in 1971, the Tar Heels chasing basketball dreams and the Gamecocks chasing a football dream that has brought them more pain than we can ever imagine.

But that's what we always loved and hated them for. Even their basketball teams played tackle in those days.

In 2000, the Gamecocks played a home game against New Mexico State that attracted little attention outside Columbia. It was the first game of the season, so no one else in the nation noticed. They won 31-0. The kids tore down the goal posts that night. They had lost 21 straight games, and yet 81,000 people were inside Williams-Brice Stadium.

Big-time college football is coming back to Chapel Hill this weekend. South Carolina is coming to town.

Old Sportscenter Commerical

2007-10-12T08:06:00.001-07:00

This is in honor of Matt and Tara...

Norwood gives a health to Carolina...

2007-10-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

Defensive end Eric Norwood turns and faces the band and gives a toast during the middle of Carolina's alma mater...

South Carolina-Kentucky Highlights

2007-10-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Here's your top-ten ranked Carolina Gamecocks!

The Best Entrance in College Football...

2007-09-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

An Atlanta Braves Season to Remember

2007-09-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

I remember this season very well- I was 8 when all this happened and remember it like it was yesterday. This is from ESPN.com and the whole season is here at this link-

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=93pennant&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1

Every season when the trade deadline approaches, Fred McGriff's name is invoked as the sine qua non of midseason deals. The acquisition came about mainly because the San Diego Padres, for whom McGriff had slugged 35 homers in 1992, fell apart after a strong third-place finish a year earlier. Drifting at 20 games under .500, the Padres decided to unload all their expensive pieces, including Greg Harris, Gary Sheffield and their first baseman, who was making $4.25 million. "I'm dangling out there, I know I'm going somewhere," McGriff told reporters. "I just hope it's to a team in a pennant race."
Cue the theme from "Gone with the Wind." Braves general manager John Schuerholz had a prospect the Padres coveted, Melvin Nieves.
"We knew McGriff was the guy we wanted, and when we were willing to include Nieves, it came together," Schuerholz recalls. "Nieves was a big, strong kid, and a switch-hitter, too." Schuerholz tossed in two other minor leaguers, Donnie Elliott and Vincent Moore (who managed 31 major league games between them), and McGriff was a Brave. Giants GM Bob Quinn spoke for most of baseball when he said: "What bothers me is that San Diego didn't get more for him."
The trade was consummated July 18. Two days later, McGriff arrived for his first game in Atlanta. A roaring bonfire greeted him -- but this was no pep rally. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was ablaze.
Braves' radio broadcasters Matt Stewart, Pete Van Wieren and Don Sutton had a close-up view. "We noticed flames coming out of a booth belonging to radio sponsors, about three or four booths down," Stewart says. "A breeze had blown some sterno flames into curtains that had probably been there since the stadium opened in 1965. They went up like pine straw. Sutton grabbed us both and said, 'We gotta get out of here.' "
The fire quickly spread out of control. "Nobody could get in there, because the key was with the owner," Van Wieren says. The press room was evacuated. "We ran away from this thick black smoke, and like dummies got in the elevator," Stewart continues. "When we got to the field, I met Jane Fonda for the first time. She was there with Ted Turner. Suddenly, there was a huge boom, and I jumped 10 feet out of my skin. It was the same thing that happened in the [World] Trade Center on 9/11 -- the steel girders had melted from the heat, and the structure collapsed."

Mark Lemke was standing with fellow infielder and good buddy Jeff Blauser on the field when the blaze erupted. "We were just watching the flames, and suddenly there was a huge boom, and we went tearing out into center field," Lemke said. A photo of the two gazing in disbelief as the press box burns is in the Hall of Fame. Sid Bream, the Braves' first baseman who was about to lose his job with the arrival of McGriff, said of the blaze, "I know I'm the most likely suspect, but I swear I didn't do it."
"Ted Turner told me two things," Schuerholz remembers. "One, 'We're going to play this game.' We cordoned off a portion of the stands for the media -- we didn't have many fans that night -- and started about 90 minutes late. Then he said, 'The stadium's caught fire -- tonight, so will the Braves.' "
As with cable news and the mainstreaming of the buffalo burger, Turner had seen the future with unusual clarity. The Cardinals took a 5-0 lead, but McGriff smashed a long homer to tie it, and Atlanta scored three in the eighth to win. Nine-year-old Jeff Francoeur, now playing right field for the team, was watching at home in suburban Atlanta: "I remember that like it was yesterday. McGriff got here, and suddenly we were sure we would win it."

But for the vagaries of travel, McGriff might have caught fire ... literally. "He was supposed to be [in the flambéed press box] for a news conference," Van Wieren recalls. "Whenever a new player arrived, he was brought upstairs for questions. But his plane was late, and he got to the park just in time for the game. He was told about it afterward, and he just kinda rolled his eyes."
The Crime Dog's impact was immediate and telling. He hit .422 with seven homers and 12 RBI in his first dozen games in Atlanta. "It balanced our offense," Schuerholz says. "The pressure was off hitters like [David] Justice and [Ron] Gant, who were trying to pretend they were cleanup hitters."

McGriff was pleasantly surprised by how loose the Braves were. "The first day I got there, they were playing putt-putt in the clubhouse." Two days after McGriff's arrival, the Braves lost to fall a full 10 games behind, but they ripped off their next six to announce they were back in the race.
Baker is still steamed about being misquoted in the wake of the deal. "I said 'I hope they got Fred too late,' but someone left out the word 'hope.' It went out everywhere like I was being cocky, but it was just a misprint." Sadly for Dusty, the Braves used the perceived slight as fuel for their run.
A less-remembered key to Atlanta's turnaround was the replacement of Mike Stanton as closer. Greg McMichael, a rookie who thought his career was over after several knee operations and his release by Cleveland, took over the role and immediately flourished. "His best pitch was a great changeup, and that eliminated lefty-righty matchups, because he could get either out with it," says Mazzone, then the Braves' pitching coach. McMichael was so effective in the late innings that he was featured in Sports Illustrated -- unfortunately, the accompanying photo was of Maddux.
The Giants attempted to make an impact deal at the deadline, too, but balked at Montreal's asking price for aging but cagey starter Dennis Martinez. The Expos wanted a top pitching prospect named Salomon "The Prophet" Torres. Unfortunately for Quinn, he didn't live up to Torres' nickname or he would have pulled the trigger.

The Efficacy of Prayer by C.S. Lewis

2007-09-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Some years ago I got up one morning intending to have my hair cut in preparation for a visit to London, and the first letter I opened made it clear I need not go to London. So I decided to put the haircut off too. But then there began the most unaccountable little nagging in my mind, almost like a voice saying, “Get it cut all the same. Go and get it cut.” In the end I could stand it no longer. I went. Now my barber at that time was a fellow Christian and a man of many troubles whom my brother and I had sometimes been able to help. The moment I opened his shop door he said, “Oh, I was praying you might come today.” And in fact if I had come a day or so later I should have been of no use to him.It awed me; it awes me still. But of course one cannot rigorously prove a causal connection between the barber’s prayers and my visit. It might be telepathy. It might be accident …The question then arises, “What sort of evidence would prove the efficacy of prayer?” The thing we pray for may happen, but how can you ever know it was not going to happen anyway? …“God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.” But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so …For He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. He allows us to neglect what He would have us do, or to fail. Perhaps we do not fully realize the problem, so to call it, of enabling finite free wills to coexist with Omnipotence … This is how (no light matter) God makes something—indeed, makes gods—out of nothing.
January 1959