Headed to LP Field!

Tomorrow I will head out for Nashville for our annual Titans game! I am so pumped that I get to see in person this historic 11-1 (hopefully 12-1 after the game) season!

I can't wait to see Chris Johnson run all over the Browns defense, watch Albert Haynesworth pound the depleted Cleveland O-line, and the Irish laddie Cortland Finnegan hopefully pick off Ken Dorsey. It should be a fun game and a great weekend!Hopefully, I'll have pictures when I get back.

Our seats are in section 310, so look for up for us if you're watching the game on tv.

A Thanksgiving Game to be Thankful For-Pt 2

Update-6:02 P.M.

What a great day!  After the Titans shelacked the Lions 47-10, the Cowboys have rolled easily in the first half to a 24-6 lead.  Tony Romo has been almost perfect, for 210 yd and 2 TD.  Our O-line has been awesome, giving Romo all day, and our Defense has 5 sacks and a fumble recovery in just one half.

So, both my teams are looking dominant so far.  And don't look now, but UT basketball starts tonight.  So, it's been a great Thanksgiving so far.  I'm pumped to see how my teams play in December and how they finish up the regular season.  But for right now, I'm just enjoying some Thanksgiving dominance.

A Thanksgiving Game to be Thankful For

Live Update-2:01:

Well, this certainly makes up for our first loss of the season.  We are at this moment up 35-3 in the first half!  Chris Johnson is already over 120 yards with 2 TD, Lendale White has 2 TD, and we have a defensive TD.  I know the Lions are pretty bad, but this has been one of the most dominant halfs on both sides of the ball that I've seen this year.  It makes me very excited to see the rest of this season.  My favorite stat from the first half:  Titans TD: 5; Lions First downs: 3.

I'll try to be back with more updates from the 2nd half and from the Cowboys game later in the day.  Also, my mom's fried chicken and cornbread dressing are coming up soon.  I love Thanksgiving!

Relationships and Bonhoeffer

This semester in my mentoring group with Dr. Neller, we have been reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It has been really good, and it is nice to read the book that has been quoted by so many other books that I have read. It's tough on the church and really blasts those who offer "cheap grace," so it offers a very strong view of what discipleship really looks like.

Today I was reading this and I came across something really cool. Bonhoeffer was talking about relationships and how we have to be able to leave any relationships that claims immediacy over Christ. This sounds tough, but he explains that it is only through Christ that we can have true relationships, and any relationship without him is in the end quite superficial. He says:

"We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempt to overcome it by means of natural association or emotional or spiritual union. There is no way from one person to another. However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however frank and open our behavior, we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul. Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through him [...]

But the same Mediator who makes us individuals is also the founder of a new fellowship. He stands in the center between my neighbor and myself. He divides, but he also unites. Thus although the direct way to our neighbor is barred, we now find the new and only real way to him-the way which passes through the Mediator.

This really struck me. I can really see how relationships with my friends are affected by this. Those with whom I have a spiritual connection are always deeper and more real. I hope that as I leave college next May and move to the next chapter in my life, that I can always seek to build my relationships on Christ.

Tennyson on Happiness

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. "

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

Bottom-Up Bailout?

Today on Meet the Press, the political commentator Tavis Smiley had a very interesting perspective on the economic crisis. I found the transcript, so here is the quote verbatim:

"I think that government has to always be challenged to be responsible to its citizens who are disadvantaged and disenfranchised. And the truth of the matter is that this entire economic crisis has been a top-down conversation and not a bottom-up conversation. Detroit, the city, is the poorest city in the country. In some, in, in some economic areas and categories, the unemployment rate in Detroit is three times, triple the national average. And so everyday people, the working poor and the very poor, cannot be left out of this conversation. And so I don't think that poor people--although we had three presidential debates, let's be honest about it, where the word poverty never came up, where the working poor and the very poor were never discussed in three presidential debates. I don't think, Tom, that the working poor and the very poor in this country begrudge people who are better off. They understand, I think, that there are three million jobs tied into this auto industry. At the same time, where is the conversation about corporate mendacity? Where is the conversation about everyday people and how this government is responsible to those persons who are disadvantaged, disenfranchised? I've not seen enough of that conversation yet. We've been talking about bailing out industry, talking about bailing out Wall Street. Every now and then, some conversation about Main Street. But no conversation about the side street, and that's where too many Americans live these days."

This really got my attention. There's been so much focus in this political season on stimulating the economy, bailing out Wall Street, and helping the middle class, that we often forget the people who are affected the most by these difficult economic times are those below the poverty line. God only knows how bad this thing is going to get in the next several weeks, months, and years. But as a church, we have to be sure we don't just focus on the stock market, but also on the poor, homeless, and unemployed.

A few friends and I were talking this weekend about whether the government should bail out the auto industry to keep the big three companies from going bankrupt. We gave the pros and cons that we had heard and talked about how it would affect the overall economy, and it seemed like there was no perfect answer to the problem. But none of us had thought about the disaster this could wreak on the city of Detroit, which is already in an economic tailspin. I have some friends from Detroit, and they've talked about how the city of Detroit has built the highways so that they go completely over the slums, so that you can go completely from the suburbs to downtown Detroit without seeing the immense poverty that is affecting the lower class of the city. It's time we start looking at the neglected. It's time that we don't just give $700 billion to those on Wall Street, but also to the millions in hunger around the world. It's time we judge success based on the least of these, instead of the global corporations.

I know stimulating the overall economy is important. I know helping the middle class is important. But let's not forget those trapped in the slums, because they need a bail-out too.

Top 5 LOST Episodes

So, there's lots of things to be excited about right now. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Senior year, friends coming back from Greece, graduation, and of course the Titans are 9-0! And now that ABC has announced the premier date for Season 5 of LOST for January 21, I'm officially getting excited. Just 68 days to go! Honestly, season 4 was so good that I was content with having no LOST for a while. It was like a great thanksgiving meal that keeps you full for 8 months. But now I'm definitely getting pumped, and I have no idea what to expect. So, I figured I would commemorate my pump-itude (my word I made up for a pumped attitude) by rolling out my top 5 Lost episodes from the first 4 seasons. So, without further ado:

#5-The Constant-(Season 4/Episode 5)

When I first saw this episode, my mind felt like mush when it ended, and I was frustrated that it didn't really extend the overall narrative of the show. But on further review, this is really the best episode of last season (which was a fantastic season). This was a Desmond episode, which are always weird. Throughout the episode, Desmond keeps flashing back between the current time and 1996, when he was in the army. As he keeps flashing back, he finally discovers that he must find a constant in both time periods and tries to contact Penelope. This lead to one of the greatest Lost scenes of all time when Desmond finally talks to Penelope on the phone and they discuss how they will find each other again.

This show was a big risk from the producers. They had to interrupt the overall storyline to present one of the weirdest time travel experiences ever on television. But it ultimately paid off, and gave us one of the best stand alone episodes in Lost. While I enjoy most Lost episodes for how they fit into the overall storyline, this was just a fantastic single hour of television.


#4-Pilot (Parts 1 and 2)

Lost burst onto the scene with this episode and nothing was ever the same. This entire episode was brilliantly planned by the writers, beginning with the initial close up of Jack's eye, followed by the 20 minute action sequence of the plane crash, the introduction of the monster and the polar bear, the shocking death of the pilot, the creepy French lady over the recording, and finally Charlie's statement that defined the show, "Guys, where are we?"

However, the best part about this episode was how it carefully set up these incredible characters and presented Lost as a character-driven show with fantasy elements, instead of the other way around. By the end of the pilot, we already felt like we knew these characters, and we were excited to learn more. This provided the framework that the whole show was built.


#3-Exodus Part 2 (Season 1/Episode 24)



Following the premier of the first season comes the finale of the first season (still my favorite season, by the way). I know this was originally a 2-part episode spread over 2 weeks, but I'm going to focus on the 2nd part. This was a fantastic episode beginning with Arzt blowing up and Hurley's classic line, "Dude, you have some Arzt on you." While most episodes focus on one character, this one showed flashbacks from every character in the cast, proving that this is an ensemble show. It also neatly summed up the entire first season, giving the season a fulfilling, distinct plotline that no other season has been able to re-create. The scene at the end with everyone getting on flight 815 with Michael Giacchino's piano in the background was beautiful. This episode also set up the Man of science/Man of faith debate between Jack and Locke which has really driven the show since. It also provided a perfect cliff hanger for the summer with Walt getting kidnapped by the Others and Jack and Locke peering down into the hatch. But that was back when we only had to wait 4 months in between seasons, instead of the 8 that we have to wait for now.



#2-Through the Looking Glass-(Season 3/Episode 22)


This was another 2-part season finale. I remember watching this one in Jason's living room, and it was one of the most exciting moments on tv ever. The episode was action packed, with fights with the others on the beach and below in the Looking glass station, plus the scene where Jack beat the snot out of Ben. It had the classic showdown between Jack and Locke. It had tons of tension over trying to get into contact with the freighter. Plus it had a fantastic heroic end for Charlie as he died letting Desmond know the boat was not Penny's.


However, the episode's best moments happened in Jack's flashforward. Of course, at the time, we thought it was just a flashback, but we didn't know where it was in Jack's storyline. This was Matthew Fox's best acting, and he was superb as the drug addicted, depressed, future Jack. When I finally realized it was a flash forward, it floored me for weeks. The final cries of Jack, "We have to go back! We have to go back!" were probably the best way to ever cap off a season. This was the biggest game-changer Lost has ever had and perfectly set up the flashforward/get off the island plotline of season 4.


#1-All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues-(Season 1/Episode 11)

This was another great Jack-isode, and still lives up as my favorite Lost episode ever. This was a tense episode as Jack, Kate, Locke, and Boone went after Ethan after he kidnapped Charlie and Claire. After an awesome fight scene with Ethan, Jack and Kate eventually found Charlie hung up in a tree. After minutes of Jack giving cpr and the sad piano music, I really thought Charlie was dead, but then Jack went at it again and Charlie somehow gasped for air. The flashback really made the episode though. After his dad ended up killing a patient, Jack eventually goes along with the lie that the patient died of natural causes, until he eventually stands up at a board meeting and said it was Christian's fault. This wasn't the biggest episode in terms of the overall plot, but it's still the most entertaining and most re-watchable for me.

Honorable mention goes to last season's finale, "There's No place like home" parts 1, 2, and 3. This episode was meant to be seen as a 3 part arch, so it really is like Lost: The Movie. It was probably the most packed episode storyline-wise in the history of the show. I'm still sorting it all out. It really culminated the entire arch of season 4. The storyline on island and in the flashforwards were awesome. I still need to watch it a few more times, before I can make a good judgment on it, but for now, it doesn't quite crack the top 5.

So, there's my top 5 so far. I'm hoping season 5 will add some more to that list, and I'm sure it will. What are your top 5?

What's Next?

The guiding phrase for the show the West Wing was, "What's Next?" Today after the longest and most arduous election comes to an end, we all must come together and say, "What's next?"

Tonight was a fun night for me and many of my friends. We had Obama cookies, cheered, hugged, and had some sparkling grape juice (non-alcoholic of course) when the election was called. But I know that most of my friends are Republicans, and tonight was not as exciting for them. And they are good, amazing Christians who honestly want what's best for the country and the kingdom of God. I want to say that John McCain is a good man, and he likely would have been a good President. He didn't run a perfect campaign, but for the most part, he kept a respectful dialog. He gave a very gracious concession speech tonight and I think helped to start move the country back together again. And let me point out that while all his aids were telling him to bring up Jeremy Wright, McCain was too honorable to go that deep in the dirt (even Hillary Clinton attacked on that......and she's in the same party!) To all my Republican friends, I hope that we can all come together and work to let's God's light shine out in this country and the whole world. Cause in the end, it matters little who is in charge at the top of government. What matters is what is going on down here as we work to spread the kingdom of God among the poor, broken, and hopeless.

So, thank God, this election is over. We must now ask "What's next?" What's next for President-Elect Obama? ( wow, that's fun to say) What's next for this country? What's next for the world? What's next for the people of God? What's next as we all reach out and try to achieve our highest hopes and strongest ideals? Tomorrow is a new day. What's next?

Phil Fulmer bleeds orange

Today is a tough day for UT fans. Most of us know that it's been time for Phil Fulmer to step down, but it's still tough to see him go. Phil has been the only UT coach I've ever known, and it was so great to have his familiar face on the sideline through the good and bad times in Knoxville. I think it's in everyone's best interests for Phil to step down, but it was still tough to watch this press conference. Every UT fan should be thankful for what Fulmer has done for our team. 3 SEC titles, a national championship, and a 75% winning percentage. Thanks Phil, we'll always have a spot on Rocky Top open for you.

Melchizedek and Stoic Philosophy

What do these two things have in common? I know everything about both now!


For the past month, the date of November 3rd has been looming like an execution date. Tomorrow, both my major term papers for Advanced Into to New Testament, and Old Testament Seminar are due (on the same day!!!! Can you believe that?). Over the past couple of weeks, I have written over 40 pages of notes on 35 sources, condensed into 22 pages for the actual papers.

I wrote my NT paper on "Paul's Theology in Relation to Stoic Philosophy" and my OT paper on Melchizedek. I've learned a lot from my research and I can tell you all you would ever want to know about these topics, and then some. What I've basically come away with though is that Bible scholars have way too much time on their hands and like to make up crazy ideas to get books and papers published (ex: Paul formed his beliefs on women from Stoics! Melchizedek is superior to Jesus!) A great deal of time in my papers is spent refuting crazy ideas from these crazy folks.

Anyways, I'm just celebrating tonight and I'm so happy that I can get back to my regular life away from the library and my computer screen. God bless!

Congrats Philadelphia

I want congratulate the Phillies for winning their first world series title in 28 years. I also want to congratulate Brad Lidge, who was formerly my boy with the Astros until Albert Pujols destroyed his soul in game 5 of the 05' NLCS (I think that home run ball is still traveling in outer space somewhere). But Lidge found his slider again this year and was perfect for saves as a closer. Plus he's a genuinely great guy and I'm very happy to see him win a title. The fans of Philadelphia definitely needed a championship. They haven't won one since Dr. J's 76's won in 1983. I've never been thrilled with Philadelphia fans (they booed Michael Irvin when he was unconscious with the spine injury that ended his career), but they definitely stick with their teams. Enjoy this Philly, and use some of those good feelings to help me out and make sure Obama wins Pennsylvania next week.

Meanwhile, just 156 days until opening day for my teams. Enjoy the off-season and let's get ready for '09!

Kerry Collins is my boy?

This football season has been very weird for me. My Cowboys were supposed to be the best team in the NFL and they've been on a wild ride so far and I have no idea how they are going to finish.

Meanwhile, my Titans lost Vince Young to injury and craziness, but somehow managed to burst off to a 6-0 start. I was thrilled but a little conflicted. For two reasons:

1. White County Cable is stupid and I hadn't gotten to see a Titans game all year! My excitement has been limited to scoring updates and highlights after the game, so it all feels a little separate and apart for me (I miss living in TN and getting to watch every Titans game, even when we're terrible).

2. Vince Young was my boy! When Steve McNair left the Titans in '06 and Vince ignited a 1-4 team to make it within 1 game of the playoffs, I was fully on board the VY train. I was thrilled with every big play he made and loved his leadership and ability to "just win games." When he had a mediocre-at-best season last year, I defended him tooth and nail, blaming everyone from our terrible receivers to Norm Chow (I still blame all of them too). Vince was my favorite NFL player and I was planning on him keeping that status for the next 10-15 years. I know that teams are more important than individual players, but as a fan you tend to gain an attachment to these guys.

So I was extremely happy about the Titans rocking it out, but felt like something was missing. I wasn't quite attached to this team and its players like I had been before. It's like there was a party going on and I wasn't invited.

That all changed tonight. I finally got to watch a Titans game this season and that game happened to be a HUGE win over the COLTS on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL to put us at 7-0 for the season. I got to see for myself our crushing defense, our awesome running backs, and........and........



I finally joined the Kerry Collins train! I know I've said some harsh thing about Kerry before, but that was mostly because of my excitement for VY. Okay, I've talked a lot of smack about Kerry, but I've left that behind now. You have to respect this journeyman, wily veteran, game manager, or whatever "insert cliche here" you want to call him. He doesn't put up huge stats, but he makes huge plays. He made several 3rd and long passes tonight for 1st downs, gave us an option to throw on first down, and made several big passes to help us comeback and win this game. Plus he's a great teammate, a classy guy, has great toughness, and has a great redemption story after his problems in Carolina. I'm really excited about where he can help take us this season. Hopefully, VY will one day be the quarterback of our future, but right now Kerry Collins is the quarterback of a very exciting present.


I'm so pumped about this team and it was great to finally beat the Colts in a big game. Our defense is one of the best defenses I've ever seen. We've got awesome corners in Cortland Finnegan and Nick Harper, great safeties, fast linebackers, and a dominating D-line. I love Chris Johnson and I get excited he might take off for a 50 yard run every time he touches the ball. Our team is coming together and we may just be able to pound our way to the top. And yes, Kerry Collins is my boy.

Yearbook Yourself.......I totally stole this from Lucy

I saw this on Lucy's blog and decided to play around with it and it was just way too much fun. I did this on www.yearbookyourself.com where you get to upload your picture and then put it into different yearbook pictures from the past 60 years. These are my favorites of me.

1952

1968

1970

1976

1978

1980

1982

1986

1990

The election through the eyes of a Christian college student

Four years ago I was a high school senior watching the '04 election and was very disappointed. Neither candidate had a hint of inspiration, they weren't very different in terms of policies, and neither really seemed to care about the things I cared about. I remember trying to get a little fired up about John Kerry, but was not all that disappointed when he lost.

At that time my sister Laura and I were already looking ahead to potential candidates for '08. We both liked Bill Richardson, the former Secretary of Labor and Governor of New Mexico. I cringed at the thought of another Clinton polarizing America, but she seemed like the most likely winner. That year I also took notice of a senate race in Illinois where this guy Barack Obama was winning 80% of the vote and also had an amazing speech on unity at the DNC. I took notice and Laura and I talked about how fun it would be if he ran someday in 2016.

A year later, I was watching the last season of one of my favorite shows, The West Wing. In the last episodes, the writers gave us a fictional look at an intellectual, clean, and inspiring campaign from both fictional candidates played by Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda. I wondered if there was a anyone in real life who could actually have a campaign like this. I naturally thought of my favorite Republican, John McCain, who always seemed intelligent, moderate, bipartisan, honest, and candid in his politics. I also thought of Richardson and Obama and wondered if any of these people could make it in a real campaign. Nah......couldn't happen.

Last year I began reading and discussing with my friends writers like Lee Camp, Shaine Claiborne, and Tony Campolo. I became very interested in the impoverished and oppressed, and also very dis-enchanted with the government. I realized that our American political system was a worldly kingdom, quite apart and separate from the Kingdom of God. I considered becoming a follower of the writings of David Lipscomb, who thought Christians shouldn't vote or be involved in the military, and never get involved in (and perhaps even oppose) the government.

However, at the same time, the campaigns had already begun and I listened to the candidates. I was excited about the idea of Obama, but as I began to listen to his actual campaign he struck me as a type of politician that I had never heard before in my lifetime. I always hear from history about how John and Robert Kennedy were able to inspire a generation and also helped bring real change to fight segregation in our country (I know LBJ actually signed the Civil Rights Act in '64, but it was due to the legacy and fight from Kennedy). I heard about how FDR was able to use the government to legitimately help the poor and downtrodden. I heard about how Lincoln sought to move us to our best ideals and ended slavery and helped keep the nation together. I saw a glimmer of that in the rhetoric of Obama as he spoke about unity and hope for our nation. But he also spoke about issues I really cared about. He wanted health care available to the poor who couldn't afford it and were thus unable to get the help they needed, helping low-income schools, affordable housing for the poor, expand job opportunities for the lower class, raising the minimum wage, being a better steward of our environment, helping the AIDS crisis in Africa, increasing foreign aid, and making a better commitment to peace and diplomacy around the world. I saw hope not just in him, but perhaps a shift in government across the board (federal, state, local, and diplomatic) that his election could provide. He also seemed a legitimate Christian who took kingdom values seriously. I know many call me gullible, naive, and unrealistic to buy all the hype "hook, line, and sinker," but I believed this could be real and I wanted to gamble that perhaps our hopes could be realized in a new type of government.

I was committed to Obama by September '07, but there was no chance he was actually going to win. Clinton and Giuliani were going to sweep the board and I was ready for another nasty campaign and my final separation from politics. But I hoped that Obama could make it close in the primaries and get his message out for future elections. Then during Christmas break, Obama had a huge upset win in Iowa and suddenly there was a chance he could win this thing. For the next several months, I followed the highs and lows of the campaign like watching one of my favorite sports teams. I was crushed by the loss in New Hampshire and pumped up at an official Obama Campaign party in Little Rock when we watched the South Carolina returns. We had an exciting party on Super Tuesday and cheered for every state that went Obama's way. Then we watched Obama win 11 straight primaries in February and we finally really thought we were going to win. However, Clinton hung along for an looooooooooong time until we finally wrapped up the nomination in June.

During this time, McCain managed to pull an upset and win the Republican nomination and suddenly I was facing the reality of my dream campaign. Two genuine, positive candidates were facing each other and both promised an honorable campaign. This fall has been fascinating to watch the ebbs and flows of the election cycle. It has been far from a perfect campaign and there have definitely been some nasty moments, but I think it really hasn't been as nasty as people make it out to be (at least compared to the last 2 election cycles). Of course, it's been getting a lot nastier lately and probably will continue to be until the election (although don't blame both sides if just one side is being excessively negative). Honestly, my biggest disappointment has been the incredible focus the candidates have had toward the middle class during the general election, with very little emphasis on the lower class (But, it's the middle class who decides who wins the election. I just hope the benefits given to the middle class can trickle down to the lower classes as well). No matter who wins, I think we're going to end up with a decent President and hopefully the nation can come together and actually try to help people who really need help. I know the economy isn't looking good for the next few years, and the prospects for changes in health care, education, and environmental stewardship are looking very bleak with all our money tied up in the financial markets, but I'm still holding out some hope.

I know I'm an idealistic, optimistic, and yes, naive college student. But perhaps we can start to look for the best in ourselves and hope that our government can aid us in our pursuit to bring justice and help to the poor and oppressed. I meant to write this last week to encourage everyone to register to vote before the deadline, but my procrastination won out in the end. Instead I encourage everyone who is registered to vote to actually vote if they feel morally inclined. However, if you believe you should be separate and apart from government, then I totally understand and I may be there with you one day. I do ask everyone to pray. Not just for our nation, but for every nation that has God's children crying out for justice and relief. May God bless us all to be agents of hope in a dark world.

It's That Time of Year Again

If the sports year was like a Catholic calendar, then September would be Advent and October would be Lent. This is one of my favorite parts of the year as the Baseball season heats up and the Football season gets started. After a quiet baseball summer, things are getting interesting. The Astros had an awful year until August (including some time in last place in the Central), but have suddenly caught FIRE in the past 5 weeks. They have one of the best records in the majors since August 1, and are actually clicking on all cylinders. Unfortunately, so have the Cubs (1st place in the division) and the Brewers (1st place in the wild card standings). As of tonight, the Astros stand 7 games back of the wild card with 20 games to go. So a playoff trip is very unlikely, but possible (which is much better than I would have predicted a month ago). If anything, we're just a game back of the 3rd place Cardinals, and it's always nice to finish ahead of them. Hopefully, we can finish strong, continue to rebuild in the off-season, get some more help in starting pitching and middle relievers, pick up another bat, and hopefully come back strong in '09. Until then, it's always fun to watch your favorite team play well, especially when Roy Oswalt pitches a 1 hitter like he did tonight. Way to go Roy!



Meanwhile, the Red Sox are finally getting healthy again with Lowell and Beckett back in the lineups (and making very impressive debuts). As of tonight, the Sox are in 1st place in the wild card standings and just 2.5 games behind the Rays in the East. With Beckett, Lester, Dice-K and a solid Wakefield in a playoff rotation, the Sox could make another run at the World Series. It should be an exciting October!








Also, another very exciting thing is happening in baseball right now............The Yankees ARE (probably) NOT GOING TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!!!!! For the first time in over 12 years, it appears the Yankees will not be playing in October. After firing one of baseball's best managers, spending $200 million on payroll, and putting a bunch of prissy celebrities together and calling it a "team," the Yankees now stand 8 games behind the wild-card. I'm so thrilled to not have to see a bunch of conceited New Yorkers gloat about their evil empire. Oh, by the way, Steinbrenner's, have fun this off-season moving away from baseball history and moving into a charmless and dull new stadium that's easier for New Jersey bandwagon fans to get to. I hate the Yankees, and it is so fun to kick them while they're down for a change.

In other news......do you hear that?.......there's a sound in downtown Nashville.......it's getting louder.........there's a mass of people on the walking bridge over the Cumberland River........what's that they're chanting?.......

LET'S GO TITANS!!! LET'S GO TITANS!!!! That's right! It's football time again! And I couldn't be more excited for kick-off tomorrow. The Titans begin their season at noon against their rival Jaguars. The Titans will be lead by Albert Haynesworth, Kyle Vanden-Bosch and a crushing defense. Meanwhile, Vince Young and the offense will seek to improve with the additions of Algie Crumpler at Tight End and blazing speedster Chris Johnson at running back. I still wish the Titans had done more to improve the receiver position, but I think Vince Young will be a lot better with Mike Heimerdinger back at Offensive coordinator and the Madden curse off his back. (Speaking of which, what happens when the relentless Madden curse faces off with an invincible quarterback who hasn't missed a start in approximately 5 zillion games? We'll find out this season with Brett Favre. This situation is just what the Joker described in The Dark Knight, when "an unstoppable force meets an immovable object." I've got my money on Batman, I mean, Favre.)

I think the Titans will be a better team this year, but that still may not be enough to reach the playoffs. The AFC is just so good this year, with at least 11 teams with legitimate shots at the 6 playoff spots. Plus the AFC South was ridiculously difficult last year (no teams under .500!) and will be even better this year. I'm not saying we won't make the playoffs, it will just be a tough ride. But it will be fun all the way and it's exciting to see a team that's on its way up.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch........

TONY ROMO! TERRELL OWENS! JASON WITTEN! MARION BARBER! DEMARCUS WARE! BRADIE JAMES! TERRENCE NEWMAN!

Do you see all those amazing players? Those are just 7 of the 13 pro-bowlers from last year's 13-3 squad. Plus, add in the amazing Zach Thomas, the reformed Adam Jones, and the electrifying Felix Jones, and you've got a potentially better squad and a championship contender. However, after last year's heartbreaking playoff loss to the Giants, it is important to remember that despite last year's success and this year's expectations, we must take everything one game at a time and take no one for granted. We are in an incredibly tough division and we are going to be getting everyone's best shots this year. We must play focused football during the regular season if we want to return to the playoffs. If we get there, we have to play our game and fight hard to and win our first playoff game since 1996. Only then can we start thinking about winning a............you know what, I'm not even going to say it........we'll just say it rhymes with Cooper Mole. Until then, I'm going to enjoy every game with this fun team, and root for my Boys as we run and gun on offense and smash and gash on defense. After the depressing 2000-2005 years with 8,362 different quarterbacks, it's so nice to sit back and enjoy Romo and his gang ever Sunday. I love this team!


This is normally the space I would devote towards getting pumped up for our UT Vols, but I'm still scarred from last Monday's loss to UCLA. The hard thing about college football is that you can see all your title hopes destroyed in the first game of the season. Hopefully we can turn things around real quick in conference play, and everything would be perfect again if somehow we can pull off a monster upset on Florida in two weeks. But until then, I'm worried about our difficult schedule and our sketchy offense. Let's just move on........

I love the fall: checking all my teams' websites every day, getting pumped every weekend, getting swept up in the highs and lows of sports, and cheering along with my friends. So come on, let's grab some food from the Student Center and watch the games tomorrow! Woo hoo!

My Last First Day of School.......for now

Today I began my final year at Harding University as my 17 years of schooling begin to come to an end. Or at least until I go to Grad School. I'm not feeling nostalgic yet, and I'm not ready to start talking about my "lasts" yet ("Oh, this is the last time I don't go to a Harding football game", "this is the last bad piece of pizza I'm having in the caf.") So far, everything has been going swell here in Searcy. It has been great seeing friends again, getting my dorm room set up (For the last time!!!!.......just kidding), and starting classes.

I don't know if I've ever been as excited for a semester of school since Freshman year. I wasn't sure about classes at first, but after the first day, I really like my schedule so far. Here's a brief overview:

11:00-Advanced Intro to New Testament-Stanglin

I was worried that this class was going to be really tough, but based on the syllabus, it doesn't look to bad. Our main reasearch paper is only 8-10 pages, instead of the 25 I was worried about Dr. Stanglin is really smart and it will be fun learning from him this semester.

12:00-Augmentation and Persuasion-Garner

Dr. Garner is a crazy, unpredictable, stream-of-consciousness teacher, and I love him for it. He cracks me up and we always have really interesting discussions in his classes. I'm really excited about this class as we study the ways people persuade and influence and how that affects society today. It should be very fun during an election year.

1:00-Patriarchs-Dr. Manor

This is a 400 level class, but it's with my boy Dr. Manor, who we dubbed our own "Mr. Pheeny." There's only 7 of us in this class, so we all just put our desks in a circle and discuss Genesis with Dr. Manor. It will be difficult and a lot of work, and we have a big paper, but it will also be a lot of fun.

2:00-Biblical Archaeology-Dr. Manor

This is the class I'm most excited about. In this class we get to drive out to Rosebud every Monday and go dig at a giant artificial tel that the honors college built, and perform the work like actual archaeologists would. I've heard from some people that this is the most fun class at Harding, and Dr. Manor promises we're going to have a lot of fun. I'm pretty pumped about it.

6:00-9:00 (Mondays only)-Seminar in African Missions-?

This class was supposed to be my only Tuesday/Thursday class, but apparently they moved it to a Monday night class. I just found this out today, and I have work tonight, so I wasn't able to go. So, we'll see how it goes. Since this got moved it means that I have to readjust my work schedule, fly back from Rosebud to get to class on time, and Mondays will be straight 10:00-9:00 class.

However, if I can get through Mondays, then that means I don't have any classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my archaeology class doesn't meet on Fridays. So things should go pretty smooth the rest of the week. But Mondays may kill me.

I'm also really excited about my job this year. I'm working as a computer lab attendant in the GAC lab, and I'm really glad to actually have a good school job this semester. Also, we plan to hit the ground running with our work in the Woodruff St. neighborhood here in Searcy on Wednesday and get our Bible study rolling. All my friends are awesome here and I'm very excited about everything this semester.

Hopefully, Senior year will be my best year at Harding. It was difficult to leave everyone in Huntsville and it was also hard to leave Kingsport. I wasn't crazy excited about this year. But, God is a great God and he is always faithful and there is always a new and exciting event up ahead. I hope this year that God will be glorified in everything and I can share his blessings with those around me.

Summer of 2008

I used to watch things like VH1 Behind the Music and hear them talk about how there was never a summer like the summer of 1968, or the summer of love or other shows that would mention the summer of (insert year). And I used to wonder what it would be like to refer to a summer in my own life as the summer of whatever and look back at with nostalgia.

In reality, looking back, God has blessed me with multiple summers that fit that description. The summer of '05 was a magical summer after I graduated, where I didn't have a job, but lived quite well on graduation money, and hung out with friends playing disc golf and video games till 4 in the morning every night. The summer of '04 had me going straight from the most impacting IMPACT of my life to Honors Symposium to our mission trip at LIFT. The summer of '06 was incredible with my first internship at Central COC. Last year was equally incredible.

This year, the summer of '08 is only halfway over, and it may already be the most phenomenal summer of my life. I have been so happy these past several weeks and God has blessed me with so much. I feel like I'm going to tell my grandkids about the summer of '08. Here I am, 21 years old and in the prime of life, in the exact place that God wants me to be this summer, and just getting a chance to soak everything in. Here are some things just off the top of my head in no particular order:

• I am getting the chance to do some REAL REAL ministry here. God has blessed a lot of relationships here to allow for some deep discussion and his Spirit is really alive and active in this place.
• IMPACT was amazing this year! We had 15 Junior High students decide to get baptized and the theme of "Day of Reckoning" really got us as a group to look at things with an eternal lens. It was such a blessing to go on that journey with our teens.
• The weather has been beautiful this summer. Maybe global warming has just made me more used to heat, but the temperature has been very comfortable and almost every day as I go over the mountain from church to Hampton Cove I see beautiful sunsets, clouds, sky, trees. I don't know if I've just been in a very Emerson/Thoreau mood lately, but I am just in love with nature right now. The day I got back from Impact I went hiking for 4 hours on this awesome trail where I didn't see anyone the entire time. It was awesome!
  
• The new Coldplay cd is amazing!!! Every song is awesome. You can tell that they just wanted to get very creative instrumentally and lyrically and try a bunch of new things. It reminds me of when the Beatles realized they were so good that they could just go crazy and wild and got creative with Sgt. Pepper's and The White Album.
  
• The Boston Celtics just won the championship in a very fun season of the NBA, capped off by an old school Lakers/Celtics series. I used to always watch the old 80's Lakers Celtics series flashbacks on ESPN with Magic and Bird and always wish I could see one in my own lifetime. Plus I'm really glad that KG and Pierce finally got a championship.
  
• My boy Obama is the nominee, and I'm getting to watch the beginnings of a great debate between McCain and him. I have a lot of respect for both candidates and it is so refreshing to see two solid and honest candidates have a real debate on the issues. I feel so excited and un-cynical about politics right now, and I just have so much hope for things. Of course, that could all go down the tube, but it's nice every once in a while to throw cynicism down and just believe and hope for a change.
  
• Wall-E is probably my favorite movie of the summer so far! It was so smart and funny and had a lot of great messages (My favorite quote: "I'm tired of surviving. I want to live!"). Get Smart was ok and Price Caspian was pretty good. Everything else that I was excited about got bad reviews, but I can't wait for the Dark Knight!
  
• I am getting to share this summer with 3 other fantastic interns, and 3 great Youth Ministers. It is so great to come to work each day with people you love and enjoy. I have laughed so much and had so much fun with Barrie, April and Heath. And they've been a great support and encouragement to me as well. They've helped me out so much and have even been a shoulder to cry on at times. I have idealistic hopes that this isn't the end of our ministry together. I could honestly see Heath and I doing mission work together or something crazy like that.
• There have been some times when I've felt physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted, burdened, and poured out. But I have been continually filled and renewed by the Spirit. It has been great to continue my maturation and walk in Christ and feel the closeness I was hoping for last semester. I hope and pray that I can continue this closeness into the next school year.
• This past Wednesday our theme was Broadcast Generosity and so this week we're getting our community and serving. One group is going under bridges and feeding the homeless, my group painted at a Rescue Mission, and others are doing a lot of other cool things. It's cool getting to see God working here in the same way I've seen him work in Searcy and elsewhere.
• I just love my kids here! I feel like I have so many little brothers and sisters and I see God working in them so much.

Anyways, I'm tired and I've been rambling a lot this post. Basically, this has been a wonderful summer so far. I just want to write a song about it or something, but a blog post will have to do for now. Don't you just love summers?

Living World Religions Field Trip-Day Two

Today was incredible, but exhausting. So I'm going to have to brief in my explanations of the day, so I can go to sleep, because we have another big day tomorrow.

We headed out for the Hindu Temple at 8:15 this morning. On the way I had one of my most profound religious moments of the trip when I saw Texas Stadium, home of my Dallas Cowboys, for the first time in my life. I almost cried it was so glorious, though a little ugly.

The Hindu Temple was fascinating. We looked at all their statues to Vishnu, Ganesh, and many other gods and watched an offering to one of the gods. Then we listened to some explanations of Hinduism from some of the members of the temple. One of my favorite quotes from them was, "Once you learn to treat every person like there is a part of God in each of them, then you really don't need much religion after that." We also examined many of their saints and enjoyed some conversation with them.

From there we headed to the mall's food court for lunch and then headed to a Zen meditation center. This turned out to be just a regular house that they happened to put a bunch of mats in the living room. There we learned about meditation and how to properly perform it. Then we practiced for about 7 minutes. The basic tenants of Zen are pretty cool. They teach about being in the moment and being conscious and aware of everything you do. They gave the example of how we wash the dishes so we can then put them up and then move on to another chore so that we can do something else, while all the while our mind is elsewhere. They said that under Zen you wash the dishes simply to wash the dishes and are in the moment and just thinking about washing the dishes. During meditation we were just supposed to be semi-focused on the wall and try to clear our mind. Our guide told us it was impossible just to force yourself to stop thinking, so she gave us the metaphor of us being a mountain and thoughts are just clouds passing by that mountain. We were just to realize that those thoughts would just pass us by and we didn't have to force them away. Our guide gave us the option of just counting to ten over and over in our heads or saying a spiritual word over and over (I just kept repeating "Jesus") It was a neat experience, though difficult for me because I have bad posture. After that we did walking meditation, which was basically the same thing except you are walking around, and trying to just focus on taking one step at a time. This was a lot easier for me to concentrate on and I really enjoyed it (although it did last a little long and we were just doing circles in the backyard).

Meditation is a spiritual discipline that we Christians tend to neglect, but is however a very important one. Although Foster's Celebration of Disciplines discusses how Christian meditation is different from eastern meditations that try to empty the mind, while we try to empty ourselves but fill ourselves with Christ. I also liked the aspect of Zen where you simply try to stay in the moment and devote yourself to the here and now. Paul says "we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5) and 'whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17).

From there we went to a Bhuddist Soka Gakkai center. There we listened to the recitation of their chants which was really cool. It was weird because the members were mostly white hippies, and their beliefs were a lot different from traditional Bhuddism. I liked that they were really into world peace and ending suffering around the world. But they were basically a self-help group that believed by chanting the phrase "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" you could release the power within to reach a higher consciousness. The leader seemed to not have a lot of depth in his faith and kept saying we were asking "really tough questions" even though they weren't that tough. I was more interested in talking to the Japanese immigrants who were sitting behind us who were beautiful singers (chanters?) and really cool ladies.

Then we headed to a Sikh temple. We took off our shoes and sat down and listened to a long lecture on Sikhism, before enjoying some of the Sikh's hospitality and food. I love Indian type food, and this stuff was great (and full of curry....yum!). Then we listened to another lecture, but also got to listen to hymns and ceremonies and prayers to their holy book. Coleman even got to fan the book, which was hilarious. Then we watched as they put the book to bed and tucked it in as they said, "Goodnight teacher, we will see what you have to teach us tomorrow." Then the Sikh's served us even more dinner and we got to talk and meet a lot of cool people at the temple, who were super nice (definitely my favorite people of the day).

We then went back to the hotel and had some great worship time to God, and had some time to process everything we had seen today.

So yeah, I'm exhausted and a little overwhelmed with everything I've seen today. I need some more time before I can actually process everything I've seen. But, I'm going to bed for now. God bless!

Living World Religions Field Trip-Day 1

I'm currently sitting in a hotel here in Dallas, Texas on our Living World Religions field trip. Being on a charter bus turned a 6 hour drive into a 7 1/2 hour drive, but it was all good. Today is just a get there day and then we start our religion-ing tomorrow. We're going to a Hindu, Sokko Gakkai (a form of Bhuddism) temple, a Zen Temple, and a Siek temple tomorrow. It should be lots of fun.

I'll try to keep you all updated. I'm exhausted tonight, and there's not really anything left to write about. Lata.

I'm A Sell Out.....

So, I guess I didn't get the memo that the writer's strike was over. I looked and I saw that I had only one post in the month of March.......lame.....I'll try to do better in April. It's been a crazy month with tons of stuff going on, papers, tests, midterms, sermons, and just not really in the mood to write any more than I had to for school. Oh well. Anyways, on to the real post.

So, I was filling out my Bible scholarship yesterday and the blank came up for Religion. For these things I usually just put "Christian." I say that on facebook or when people ask me at jail or anywhere else. I've always attended a Church of Christ, but that's not my religion and I don't really have any allegiance to that denomination. My religion and allegiance are to Jesus and that's all. In fact, a few of us are thinking about visiting the Episcopal church in our neighborhood we've been working with, because a lot of the people that we've met there attend it and it's more involved in that community.

However, I've heard rumors around that we don't give as much out in scholarship money for people who don't put "Church of Christ" in the religion blank. I'm pretty sure this is not true and is just a rumor.....but I did not want to take that chance. So, after thinking about it for 5 seconds I slapped the "Church of Christ" tag on there and turned the form in.

I guess I could just say that I meant Church of Christ in the broad universal sense of the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the past 2000 years.......but I didn't. I wanted to make sure I got every dollar I could possibly get and so I sold myself out. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of a lot of aspects of my Church of Christ heritage, and I imagine the Church of Christ will be an important part of my future. But, I'm more proud of my savior Jesus Christ and want to be known only as a follower of Christ, not a follower of any particular denomination (although it may claim to be non-denominational).

So I feel a little guilty today. I know I'm being pretty dramatic about this, and it isn't really that big of a deal. I know I didn't really "sell out" my religion or back down to the "man" or anything. I just feel that I wasn't totally honest with where the center of my life and religion is. I just hope that next time someone asks me my religion I can faithfully say, "I follow Jesus Christ" and that's it.

Bracketology

Well, it's that time of year again. Let me get into my inner Dick Vitale for this:

IT'S MARCH MADNESS BABY!!!!

For the next 3 weeks, I will get to watch one of my favorite annual sports events. This year is even more fun with UT actually having a legitimate shot at the title. But one of my favorite parts of march madness has been going on all week. That's right....filling out my bracket. For years, this has been one of my favorite things to do.

Here's the catch: I'm terrible at it! I have never won a bracket competition, I usually get beat by a girl, and often I am toward the bottom of my groups. That's the thing....you do research, look at bracket trends (there's always at least one #12-#5 upset) and check what the experts say, and then you get beat by the girl who just picks the highest seed for every game. The whole thing is a total crapshoot. Last year I went upset-heavy in my bracket and the bigger seeds dominated. The year before that I had less upsets, and teams like George Mason rocked the house. Plus, even the biggest NCAA fans can't know everything there is to know about the 65 teams in the tournament. I didn't even know San Diego had a basketball team, but I know that I'm picking them to upset UConn. That's the thing about this game.....you just never know.

This year was very difficult to pick, with no clear dominant team. Plus, I have biases still working against me. I have to pick UT to go all the way, there's no way around it. If I picked against them and they won, I would never forgive myself. Last year I picked Kansas to go all the way, and they got beat early and destroyed my bracket. But, this year they have a good team again, and I don't know if I should just forget about last year or make sure I don't get caught by the same trap again. (I've switched my pick on the Kansas/Clemson sweet 16 game 4 times now).

So, here was my strategy for this year: I did more research than ever, I checked out who's entering the tournament with momentum and who slipped their way in (Andy Katz's hot/not list), checked experts from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and CBS, looked at each matchup carefully, tried to avoid cute upsets, avoided biases except for UT, had a very good reason for picking upsets supported by other experts, and tried to pick safe teams for going into later rounds (no 7 seeds in the final four this year).

So my final four: UT, Georgetown, UCLA, Texas
Championship: UT over UCLA

Big Upsets: George Mason over Notre Dame, St. Joeseph's over Oklahoma, Davidson over Gonzaga, USC over Wisconsin (Round 2), Arizona over West Virginia, San Diego over UConn,

(I toyed with Pitt over Memphis in the Sweet 16. Should I go for it? I don't know. I still have till 11:00 tomorrow to change it up).

Well, there you go. I probably wouldn't listen to me, because like I said, I'm going to lose. But, I'll be watching as much as I can. (*Dick Vitale voice*: It's March Madness baby! You gotta love it!)

Back to the Port of Kings

Hey guys! I just wanted to let everyone know that I am coming back home to Kingsport in two days! I'm really excited since this will be my first college spring break spent at home (no Florida or Nicaragua this time). Some things I'm looking forward to:

• Our booth at Waffle House! If I'm there at the middle booth by the window, then I know there is much merriment going on. Plus I miss my K-town waitresses. The Searcy waitresses are always so grumpy.
  
• Frisbee golf! I'm ready to get back in the game!
• Relaxing at home with the Mom and eating good home cooking and sleeping late and just having an awesome time.
• Seeing my gang again and having lots of laughter and fun
• That sweet Eastman air!
• Renewing the ping pong rivalry between Wes and me. 84-82 baby!
• A million other little things that just make home so great!

Can't wait till Friday! Love yall! God bless!

The Sports Desert of February

A lot of people I know say that February is the worst month of the year. They say it's cold, monotonous, and has a lack of any excitement. I have a dislike of February for a different reason:

There are no sports in February!!

Football ends in late January/early February and I'm usually a bit grumpy at how my teams did in the playoffs, if indeed they made the playoffs (this year was no exception). Baseball is still 6 weeks away. The NBA doesn't matter till June. And college basketball usually doesn't get exciting till late February/early March. I haven't even watched Around the Horn/PTI when I get the chance, because there's nothing really interesting to hear about except depressing steroid stories or coaching changes.

I usually have to fill this time just by looking at the Astros or Red Sox rosters and waiting for spring. This year I've made politics my sporting event and have treated the primaries like an NFL season (which probably isn't a good comparison.....since politics actually affects people's lives). But today, my sports famine of February finally found some food.

This afternoon I got to go to the Harding-Henderson State basketball game. HSU is our biggest rivals and the game was nationally televised on CSS. We had to get tickets beforehand, and it was sold out and totally packed. The crowd was on fire and I felt like I had gotten out of a rock concert when I left (even Dr. Burks painted up). We totally dominated the game in the second half and ended up winning by 17. There really is just no comparison to the Rhodes Rowdies here at Harding. Every game you go to is an event, and you never know how pumped up the crowd is going to get.





The next awesome thing to make this a doubly-fantastic sports day was the match-up between #1 Memphis and #2 Tennessee. I can't remember UT basketball ever having a team that was near as good as this one (men's basketball that is), or there ever being a bigger regular season game than this one. The game did not disappoint as it went back and forth and came down to the wire. But in the end, thanks to a Tyler Smith turnaround J, UT came out the victor and can now claim the #1 spot in the country. I can't believe I'm saying that! UT is #1 in the country! Way to go Rocky Top!

I can't say how much I love this team. Last year's team was carried by my boy Chris Lofton. This year there are so many playmakers, we don't need to be carried by any one player. At any time Jajuan Smith, Tyler Smith, Ramar Smith, J.P. Prince, Wayne Chism, Lofton, and a great bench can come alive and dominate. We have great team chemistry, fantastic defense, decent rebounding, great outside shooting, and great dribbling penetration. Like I said.....I love this team!

So, for the next several weeks I will be fully immersed in college basketball. Sports are back. The famine is over. Thank goodness....February was getting rough.

Harding Recruitment Video-1988

I saw this on Dr. Elrod's blog, but I just had to put it on here. Below are some clips from the Harding recruitment video from 1988.

Some highlights include:

• An introduction from then Governor Bill Clinton
• Narration by Jeff Walling (who is currently banned from speaking at Harding)
• The awesome 80's clothes/hair
• The "high tech" computers in what then was called the Beaumont Library
• Jimmy Allen looked exactly the same 20 years ago as he does now
• The student center looked awesome back then! Bowling, pool, ping pong and arcade games. Now all we have is the stupid pit. I should have come here in the 80's.
• Trying to recruit students by showing it all snowy at Harding. I think we've had real snow twice since I've been here. But 1988 must have been before global warming.
• We had only 5 departments back then compared to.....I don't know.....a bunch now.
• The awesome old video games
• The old nursing outfits
• Spring Sing looks exactly the same.....some things never change

You can also watch part 2 and part 3

Okay, so maybe I really do like possessions

I've been talking with my friends a lot about simplicity and being minimalistic. I would like to think that I am not tied down to my stuff and that I could give it all up just like that and move to South America. An event that happened tonight made me realize that maybe I'm not as simplistic as I like to profess.

I was putting some clothes in a dryer tonight at the guys' laundromat and started it and realized that I had picked one of the broken dryers in the laundromat (which apparently 75% of our dryers are now duds......seriously, I'm paying 17 grand a year for this?!?). I was out of quarters so I went back to my room and then ended up going to the student center with my friend Amy. We hung out till almost curfew and when I went back to the laundromat, I looked and my favorite pair of jeans were gone!

Now, you might ask why I would get upset about one pair of jeans. Well, my mom got me these jeans last fall and they're my favorite pair and I wear them ALL THE TIME, because I'm single, I'm a guy, and all my clothes match up well with them. Still, even with that, it shouldn't be a big deal. But, about a month ago, I stupidly left my car door unlocked and someone stole my ipod that my sister had given to me for high school graduation, and my itrip that had allowed me to rock out to any music that I wanted in my car (I said that this happened because God was just trying to get me to rely on possessions less.....but really it's just because I'm just an idiot). Then Coleman got me a Waffle House gift card for my birthday, but every time I try to use it they say it's messed up and I end up having to pay with what's left of my money while the waitresses and my friends look at me like I'm an idiot for wasting so much time trying to use the stupid gift card. So, with the stolen ipod, the lies of waffle house, and now my stolen jeans, I walked back to my dorm room with my naive self dead, losing all faith in humanity, and thinking the world was out to get me. I realized that I really just wanted my stuff back and I was angry that it was all gone.

Of course, when I came back into my room, I realized that I had forgotten my jeans in the room.....so maybe humanity was still okay after all.

But I realized that for all my talk about not being attached to possessions and the treasures of this earth....I still unfortunately am quite attached deep down. I like my stuff. My stuff makes my life better and easier. My stuff is cool. Stuff is good.

And it's not just the stuff. It's the sentimentality attached to the stuff. Like I said, my sister got me that ipod as a graduation present and I have been rocking out to it since senior year. Almost all my things are gifts from someone and have a story. So, it's really difficult to not be attached to them.

I know this is only going to get harder. As I get a real career and disposable income and responsibilities it's going to get harder and harder to keep things simple and to not get too attached to stuff. I pray that God will help me as I continue to grow and try to store treasures in heaven instead of on earth. I pray that I can learn to be okay if possessions are lost, and maybe I can do the intentional loosing. I pray that I can figure out how to be as simple as I want to be. And I pray that God will give me grace while I'm not quite yet there (or actually while I still have a long long way to go). May we all be a people who realize that the stuff of this world isn't what matters, and may we all find our joy in what truly does matter.

Valentine's Day

I did a little research on the origins of Valentine's Day so I could look smart today. The research seems a little murky and I got conflicting reports. Apparently there is evidence of three St. Valentine's . Most believe that the one Valentine's day is referring to was St. Valentine of Rome who was martyred on February 14 in the third century A.D. There is a legend that the Emperor Claudius had outlawed marriage for a time, because he thought single soldiers were better soldiers, but St. Valentine continued to perform marriages in secret, and was thus executed. This is what makes him the patron saint of love.

There is also evidence that February 15 was a pagan holiday in which teenage boys ran through the streets and threw meat from a goat they had sacrificed at women (the women accepted this because they thought it made them more likely to have a baby). Some argue the Catholic church had to nix this and thus made February 14 Valentine's Day.

Then some argue that February 14 is the traditional day that birds start mating in England, but some refute this because they say birds don't mate in England this early in the year.

So, we don't really know where Valentine's Day exactly came from. All we know is that Hallmark and chocolate companies were able to cash in on this baby big time. I always enjoy Valentine's day here at Harding. I get cards and candy in my mailbox from friends, have a good time hanging out, and I get to watch what I like to call the "angry singles." There's two types. The first are always fun because they like to change the name of the holiday to "Singles awareness day," they get really cynical, and they make fun of people in relationships and just act all bitter because they're single. The second type gets all belligerent are say things like, "I don't need no man!" (notice I say "man" because guys are rarely this second type) and talk about how they're too hot for guys. It's lots of fun and there should definitely be anthropological studies done on this stuff.

I myself had a fantastic Valentine's Day. I rocked out a Seminar in Missions test, had fun at work, went with our group to the nursing home in our neighborhood and passed out Valentine cards to old people, got some Chinese with Coleman, watched some Lost, called some people back home, and hung out with some friends for the rest of the night. All in all, a great day. I like to consider myself one of the "chill singles," people who just have a good time and try not to worry about stuff. I'm having a great semester and I'm loving all my friends and loving every minute. Plus tomorrow is February 15th so I get to sacrifice a goat and throw it at girls!.....just kidding, I'm not a teenager anymore so I can't do that. I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and there was much love and awesomeness all around. God bless!

A Glance At Our Islamic Friends

Today in Living World Religions with Dr. Cox we began our study of Islam, a subject that we have also briefly discussed in my Seminar in Missions class. I found it ironic that I was finishing studying for our quiz by reading about Islam in Harding University Chapel today. There's a lot of interesting things about Islam. Of course, my Bible major self finds the most interesting things is when Islamic beliefs over-lap some biblical truths.

One of the coolest things about Islam is that they have 99 names for God. Here's the list so you can take a brief glance at it:

1. Allah
2. The Compassionate (al-Rahman)
3. The Merciful (al-Rahim)
4. The King/Sovereign (al-Malik)
5. The Holy (al-Quddus)
6. The Source of Peace (al-Salam)
7. The Giver of Faith (al-Mu'min)
8. The Overall Protector (al-Muhaimin)
9. The Strong (al-`Aziz)
10. The Almighty (al-Jabbar)
11. The Majestic (al-Mutakabbir)
12. The Creator (al-Khaliq)
13. The Maker (al-Bari')
14. The Fashioner (al-Musawwir)
15. The Great Forgiver (al-Ghaffar)
16. The Dominant (al-Qahhar)
17. The Bestower (al-Wahhab)
18. The Provider (al-Razzaq)
19. The Opener, The Reliever (al-Fattah)
20. The All-Knowing (al-`Alim)
21. The Restrainer, The Withholder (al-Qabid)
22. The Extender (al-Basit)
23. The Humbler (al-Khafid)
24. The Exalter (al-Rafi`)
25. The Empowerer (al-Mu`izz)
26. The Humiliator (al-Mudhill)
27. The All-Hearing, The Hearer (al-Sami`)
28. The All-Seeing (al-Basir)
29. The Judge (al-Hakam)
30. The Just (al-`Adl)
31. The Kindly One (al-Latif)
32. The Gracious, The Aware (al-Khabir)
33. The Clement, The Forbearing (al-Halim)
34. The Mighty (al-`Azim)
35. The Forgiving (al-Ghafur)
36. The Grateful, The Appreciative (al-Shakur)
37. The High, The Sublime (al-`Aliyy)
38. The Great (al-Kabir)
39. The Preserver (al-Hafiz)
40. The Protector, The Guardian, The Feeder, The Sustainer (al-Muqit)
41. The Reckoner (al-Hasib)
42. The Sublime One (al-Jali)
43. The Bountiful, The Gracious (al-Karim)
44. The Watcher, The Watchful (al-Raqib)
45. The Responsive, The Hearkener (al-Mujib)
46. The Infinite, The All-Embracing (al-Wasi`)
47. The Wise (al-Hakim al-Mutlaq)
48. The Loving (al-Wadud)
49. The Glorious (al-Majid)
50. The Resurrector (al-Ba`ith)
51. The Witness (al-Shahid)
52. The True (al-Haqq)
53. The Advocate (al-Wakil)
54. The Most Strong (al-Qawiyy)
55. The Firm (al-Matin)
56. The Patron (al-Waliyy)
57. The Praiseworthy (al-Hamid)
58. The Numberer (al-Muhsi)
59. The Commencer (al-Mubdi)
60. The Restorer (al-Mu`id)
61. The Giver of Life (al-Muhyi)
62. The One Who Gives Death (al-Mumit)
63. The Living One (al-Hayy)
64. The Self-Subsisting (al-Qayyum)
65. The Perceiver (al-Wajid)
66. The One (al-Wahid)
67. The Independent (al-Samad)
68. The Powerful (al-Qadir)
69. The Dominant (al-Muqtadir)
70. The Giver (al-Muqaddim)
71. The Retarder (al-Mu'akhkhir)
72. The First (al-Awwal)
73. The Last (al-Akhir)
74. The Manifest (al-Zahir)
75. The Hidden (al-Batin)
76. The Governor (al-Wali)
77. The High Exalted (al-Muta`ali)
78. The Righteous (al-Barr)
79. The Relenting (al-Tawwab)
80. The Forgiver (al-`Afuww)
81. The Avenger (al-Muntaquim)
82. The Compassionate (al-Ra'uf)
83. The Ruler of the Kingdom (Malik al-Mulk)
84. The Lord of Majesty and Bounty (Dhu'l-Jalal wa'l-Ikram)
85. The Equitable (al-Muqsit)
86. The Gatherer, The Collector (al-Jami`)
87. The Self-Sufficient (al-Ghani)
88. The Enricher (al-Mughni)
89. The Bestower (al-Mu`ti)
90. The Withholder (al-Mani`)
91. The Propitious (al-Nafi`)
92. The Distresser (al-Darr)
93. The Light (al-Nur)
94. The Guide (al-Hadi)
95. The Eternal (al-Azali)
96. The Everlasting (al-Baqi)
97. The Heir (al-Warith)
98. The Guide to the Right Path (al-Rashid)
99. The Patient (al-Sabur)

It's interesting because most seem to be similar descriptions that we Christians give God (with an exception of #71....."the Retarder"?). Descriptions such as "The Mighty" "The Forgiving" "The Compassionate" all fit Christianity's view of who God is. There are some good precepts in Islam such as an emphasis on helping the poor and a strong devotion to God. Another interesting thing is the prayer called the Al-Fatihah that Muslims repeat at least 17 times a day. It goes,

"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgement. You alone we worship. You alone we ask for help. Show us the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored; not the path of those who earn your anger nor of those who go astray."

I mention all these things to just show some similarities between Islam and the True Way. I certainly do not say them to advocate Islam, nor to argue an inclusivist view of salvation. I just wanted to show what I've been learning.

An interesting topic we briefly discussed in Seminar in Missions is how many Islamic rituals should Muslim converts to Christianity be able to keep. We talked about how they should certainly still be able to call God "Allah," since the word used for God in the Greek, Theos, is just the word Greeks used for any deity. Some argue that Muslim converts should still be able to call themselves "Muslims" since the word Muslim means "servant of God." Another question is whether Muslim converts are allowed go to mosque as long as they do not pray anything outside of Christian principles. Some argue against these allowances because it dangers on pluralism. Others counter that argument by saying that Paul became like a Jew to win Jews and like a Greek to win Greeks. All of these are difficult questions, and I do not have the answers (at least not yet), but they are interesting concepts to consider.

I think it is very important that we learn all we can about the world around us and the beliefs of others, so that we can better communicate the love of Christ to them. I'm really excited about all I'm learning this semester and I hope it will make me a better minister of reconciliation. God bless us all as we work together in this ministry.

The Mindless Menace of Violence

The following is from the speech "On the Mindlss Menace of Violence" by Robert Kenndey on April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and two months before his own assassination:

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason [....]

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter [...]

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence [...]

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

***

A group of my friends and I listened to these words as we watched the 2006 movie Bobby, We could not help but notice the parallels between the events portrayed in 1968 and our time in 2008. The nation was at war, hatred filled the streets, and there was a great longing for peace. I struggle many times with the ideas of non-violence and how to make it work on a macro level in these complex times. I do not presume to know the answers and I do not wish to tell smarter people what to do. The only thing I do know is that this world of violence is not what God envisioned for all his children. I know that my sister has traveled the countries of Vietnam and Cambodia and seen the devastation caused by the actions of America and I wonder if those same mistakes are being repeated again. I hear those who believe that violence can create peace and I wonder what Christ would tell them when he preached to his generation “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27).

And yet, we think of peace on a world-wide level and we cannot even keep peace in our own churches or in our own communities or in our own families. How can I preach peace when I still harbor anger and rage in my own heart and mind? We truly live in a broken world full of hatred and despair. But Christ calls out to us amid this fallen world and offers us a peace that surpasses all understanding. Can that peace move us to transform our own hearts, our own families, our own communities, our own churches, and perhaps even the whole world? As Iraqis, Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, Sudanians, gang members in L.A., the poor in our own streets and many many others die every day, can there ever be an end to the “mindless menace of violence” that Bobby Kennedy spoke of?

I truly believe that we can remake this world. I believe we can live the dreams of Dr. King, work as brothers as Bobby Kennedy once hoped, and be servants of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. For our God gives us peace in this world full of violence. I think it is best said as God speaks to mankind in Isaiah 57:18-19,

“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will guide him and restore comfort to him,

creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,"
says the LORD. "And I will heal them."

Amen. May his peace come to those far and near.