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.

Me as an M&M

I thought this was fun. You can make one of yourself at http://www.becomeanmm.com/
What color will you be?