Reformation (play)Station

2007-11-16T09:17:00.000-06:00

And it Starts...

2007-10-12T08:20:00.000-05:00

What I Meant to Say Was...

2007-04-07T01:38:00.000-05:00

This is the video I thought would come first, but who cares? A little trip down East Main.

Walk About

2007-04-06T23:09:00.000-05:00

I'm going to start showing you a little of the Frankfort landscape. I'm not promising any kind of award-winning documentary or anything, but I do want you to be able to get a little bit of a feel for the city that we now call home. More to come.

He Didn't Even Have a Name

2007-04-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

I don't know what prompts me to do certain things. Today I was compelled to buy a duck. Yeah, you heard me right. So I buy this duck and bring it home. Needless to say about 16.3 minutes later I was walking right back out the door with said duck in tow. I took a duck on a 30 minute tour of East Main Street and it only cost me $10. Now that's a deal.

Mo' Photo fo' sho'

2007-03-24T22:50:00.001-05:00

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Ladies and Gentlemen!!! William Josiah!

2007-02-26T15:24:00.000-06:00

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Prayer Requests

2007-02-23T11:28:00.000-06:00

I would like to ask for prayer in a couple of things. First, pray that Marie and I would find a home that we will delight in and that would fit our budget. We have gone back and forth between a couple and have just not felt good about either one for different reasons. We got so close as to call our Realtor yesterday and say we wanted to make an offer. We backed off late last night and canceled our meeting this morning. We are content where we are but most of our stuff is in storage. So the situation is that we don't have to be in a big hurry but we would like our own place.

Secondly, pray that God would be pleased in using us at Buck Run and the city of Frankfort. Marie and I desire to have a fruitful ministry here and long for God to continually open our minds to more of Him and for us to walk ever closer to Him in holiness. Pray for us that God will use us to change lives in this town and area.

Also, for all the non-family readers of the (play)station, I have a new nephew! He is three weeks old. He was born to my Sister and Brother-in-Law, Ashlea and Matt. His name is William Josiah Stanley after my late grandfather, Papa. He resides in Dothan, AL where he is in training to become a professional competitor in the Cut the Baby national circuit. (Cut the Baby is a new competitive sport that I invented. See previous post) I will now show you a picture of him.

I've never seen him in person. Somehow I think that Matt and Ashlea feel good that I'm not around him right now after seeing what I'm capable of doing to my own children. I'm so glad that the Lord has blessed our family with another little life. Also, Matt and Ashlea would like for you to pronounce his name WEE-yum. they would like that about as much as we would like you calling ours charlie

Number One Reason Not to Play Ball in the House

2007-02-17T10:22:00.000-06:00

Let's just say it involved a rubber ball, an overhead light globe, one mother out of the house for the evening and one fairly non-reactionary child. Results are obvious.

Five cuts total. Nothing too serious. This could have been FAR worse. Thank you, Lord.

All cleaned up and happy. Not Momma. That's a different story. This will probably be my last babysitting job for a while.

2007-02-07T12:05:00.001-06:00

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So I'm Weird...

2007-01-24T01:35:00.000-06:00

I can't stand it when people send me...wait I'm going to save that for one of my weird things.

Ben Robinson has "tagged" me. This is not the first time that I have been tagged nor will it most likely be the last. Though to my knowledge, never have I ever responded to said tag. I may have inadvertantly responded without knowing it (that's part of the charm of being me) or I may have responded in my sleep (again, charming) but I cannot honestly recall being interested before.

I am not interested now either but because Ben has tagged me and publically called me out on it in my comments, I will demur. I guess this is the point where I am supposed to "tag" others: Jonathan Oue, Brian Moats, Jonathan Henson, Jeremy Hodges, and Derek Hughes. I'm sure this will fail miserably.

Here we go:

I hate it when people send me obnoxious little stuff like those emails that have all the pictures of birds flying and mountains and kittens and kittens eating birds on mountains. I'm not against kittens or mountains but I hate how a lot of people find "inspirational" emails worth their time. I hate listening to the midi file that's attached to these emails (like some version of How Great Thou Art that sounds like its being played on a $12 keyboard from Big Lots), and I hate the little admonitions at the end that promise death and destruction to anyone who does not "pass this blessing on". Do tags fall into this category?
I still get panic striken in water because of the movie Jaws. When I was little my dad used to read me a book from the library called "Real Life Shark Attacks". Yeah, it was. Now, whenever I'm in water I can convince myself that there is a 2000 lbs. behemoth lurking just beneath the surface ready to chew me to death. This makes swimming in the ocean a virtual impossibility. Lakes are better although if the boat doesn't come and get me in about 3 seconds after I fall over skiing, you're going to see a brother do some modern-day walking on water. There are even times in my own swimming pool where I have rushed violently to the side and pulled myself from the water because he was coming. I may need therapy. Thanks Dad!
I know that my other blog reached 93 on WordPress' Blogs of the Day: Growing Blogs on January 22, 2007 but I don't know my wife's cell phone number. Class, can you say narcissism?
It takes about 3.72 seconds for someone to meet me and call me a jerk. I am particularly good at getting girls in waitressing positions to call me a jerk. I think that it says something about a person when they can get a total stranger who is depending on their tip for a living to open her mouth and say the words, "You're a jerk." I had a friend lately explain my existence to a man I didn't know as "Adam's entire reason for being is to put other people in increadibly awkward situations." Yeah.
I frequently participate in extremely geeky behavior. I play video games sometimes to 3 or 4 in the morning. There's nothing like winning your seventh straight national championship game at 4:43 a.m. when you have somewhere to be at 6:00. I also collect comic books. There, I've admitted it. I collected comic books when I was in high school and for the last year I have been doing it again. I told myself for the longest time that it was only going to be a few titles. I think I may have said that to someone recently. "No, I don't collect. I just buy a few titles." Look, when you say the word "titles" in reference to comics and you look up comic stores in the yellow pages when you go to a new town, you're a collector. I also respond to "tags".

There, now that wasn't so bad. And here I thought that you stopped playing "tag" with boys when you graduated 4th grade.

Christmas and Beyond

2007-01-21T13:56:00.000-06:00

Connor always wanted to be a Super Hero. Charles just wants to be Connor.

A very Bishop Christmas. The entire family together on Christmas Eve.

Let it be known among those of the free world! Charles hates Christmas.

Well War Eagle! to you too, honey.

It's probably illegal to have this much fun somewhere in the world. Connor giving me my Christmas present. He built and painted a wooden War Eagle boat.

Yeah! Git 'er done, bubble butt.

Is it wrong to intentionally humiliate your children when they don't know any better?
Connor wearing his birthday present.

Woot! Dad, this Little John album is off the chain fo' shizzle!

A New Home if Not a New Hope

2007-01-19T15:32:00.000-06:00

For those of you wanting some guy named skywalker to swing in and save this blog from the evil clutches of the empire, I'm afraid it is too late. No amount of stretching out with your feelings is going to resolve this one.

However, I will continue to maintain use of this site to post family pics. If you want something with a more theological twang go here. But if you like cokes and jokes, stick around.

Brings a Tear to My Eye

2006-08-29T14:42:00.000-05:00

Listen here. Very moving.

He's the Best There Is at What He Does...

2006-08-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

2006-08-03T00:39:00.000-05:00

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward."
Psalm127:3

The Alley Cat Speaks

2006-06-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

I Feel So Old Testament

2006-06-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, June 11 at 6:07 pm Connor, Marie and I welcomed Charles Luke Bishop into the world. Marie's water broke at 11:15 pm on Saturday and we arrived at Baptist Medical Center East at 3:00 am. After about an hour and a half they prepared her to start a Pitocin(sp?) drip. She progressed slowly but steadily throughout the day and was ready to push at 5:00 pm. Charles had drifted back up to a -3 station (which I'm told is high) so Marie had her work cut out for her in pushing. After an hour of work and a couple of pulls on the vacuum, Charles burst onto the scene. He didn't sing a song or dance or anything, but I could tell he was pretty excited.

Marie's family were there as well as almost every relative we have on my side. They were all hunkered outside the door listening to the last few series of pushes eagerly anticipating that first cry.

Charles was born healthy and strong at 8lbs 10oz. and 21'' and Marie did much better during this delivery than she did the first time around. Her recovery has been extremely good and she is feeling like a million bucks.

It should be noted that David and Katie Sullivan made a last ditch attempt to overtake us in the baby department. Katie's water broke on Sunday and they headed off to the hospital as well. And although David and Katie made a valiant effort, they came up short of taking the gold and had to settle for the silver, Rachael being born around 1:00am. Reminds me of Alabama football how they always come second to Auburn. Cool huh.

We will be at home this evening if everything progresses as it has been. We will be accepting monetary gifts no smaller than $100 to go toward the Connor and Charles Theological Education Fund. This fund provides educational material (books) for their father who will use them to put into a reserve (library) for their edification (family worship). You can send a check to our home address or simply bring it by in person as we would love to thank you for your contribution.

Thanks for everyones prayers. We are blessed indeed to have all of you as friends.

A Lord's Day Psalm

2006-05-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is you keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going
out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

Giving Up and Giving In

2006-05-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

Sitting in an assembly last night, I could not help but notice the large number of children making noise and causing disruptions. Some were sitting on the back of church pews forcing others behind them to move in order to see. Some were talking out loud the entire time. Some were walking around in the aisles during the program. Some were just bored and letting you know it.

My mind begins to wonder at times like these what my grandfather's generation would have done with their kids. What did the puritans do with their children in such assemblies? I'll bet it didn't sound quite like it did last night.

Lots of parents that I know foster this inane notion that such behavior is ordinary and cannot be controlled. Parents of this stripe are not flaming atheists or even uneducated simpletons. They are the people next door. This type of behavior is everywhere. All I have to do if I want to watch some kid tell his parents off in public or display some sort of reckless act of rebellion is step outside of my house. I have watched it at the park, in the grocery line, at schools, in parking lots, at my church, and even at Chic-fil-a.

Children are out of control.

That is not the most obvious observation however. We all know that children are out of control. Anyone who has ever given birth to a child or raised a child or had any interaction with a child whatsoever could tell you that children are out of control. That is their nature.

The most obvious observation about this is that the parents are out of control - literally. Parents have given up their God-ordained privilege and responsibility to control, train, instruct, and discipline their children. What parents miss in all this is that they are actually giving up their privilege and right to enjoy their children.

Children who hiss and whine and hit and ignore are not enjoyable children. Parents of these children fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day and just long to go back to work. They cherish time away from their kids. You all know exactly the type of person we're talking about. The young mother who has kept her job outside the home because it is a haven of escape where she doesn't have the weight of dealing with her children. The father who would rather go out with his friends rather than spend time taking his children camping. Bad parents are the rule not the exception.

Marie and I have witnessed first-hand things that make our toenails curl. Stuff that we thought any ol' run of the mill parent would correct right away is becoming common place behavior. Connor is even sensitive to this. In observing a child defying his parents, Connor can become noticeably unsettled. Once, on a playground, Connor heard a mother yelling at her boys because they would not listen to her. His response was classic Connor, "That mom is being ugly. She doesn't understand."

Right son. Moms and dads who fail to discipline and love their children do not understand. Giving in to your kids and letting them do what they please is not understanding. Choosing to let a child get what he wants using inappropriate and blatantly sinful behavior is not understanding. Of course the bible tells us all about this. Romans 3:11 says, "There is none who understands." Parents turn out to be bad parents because they are sinful people who are not seeking the Lord. Christians turn out to be bad parents when they acquiesce to their sin and do not seek the Lord.

When I observe what I observed last night, it only makes me hurt for the families that are dealing with it. I hurt for the kids because they will grow up thinking that the universe revolves around them and will, if not for the intervening grace of God, forevermore be a pain. I hurt for the parents who rob themselves of so much joy and torture their children because they refuse to obey God. They just don't understand.

Yes, but what are his qualifications?

2006-05-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Baptist Press announced Ronnie Floyd as the person to be nominated (unopposed I assume) for the presidency of the SBC. The following are the stats listed in the article

Floyd has been pastor of the Arkansas congregation [FBC Springdale] for almost 20 years. Under his leadership, the church grew from 3,700 members to more than 16,000 members and baptized more than 11,700 people.
[FBC] has planted 17 churches in the U.S. and overseas in the past seven years.
Floyd...earned a master's degree and a doctorate degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He and his wife, Jeana, have been married 29 years and have two married sons and one grandchild.
FBC Springdale lists 819 baptisms [for 2005].
The church gave $32,000 through the Cooperative Program and $189,000 to SBC causes distributed through the SBC allocation budget.
[FBC] had total undesigning receipts of $11,952,137 and total mission expenditures of $1,637,503, including $54,261 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $9,516 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
FBC Springdale conducts an average of 12 international mission trips annually, and has started a total of 25 churches across America and the world since 1992.
Floyd speaks daily on ÂWinners,Â a TV ministry broadcast around America and the world by the Daystar Television Network.
[Floyd] has written 17 books and another, "The Top 10 Lessons Every Minister Needs To Know," will be released later this year.
Under Floyd FBC Springdale added a second campus, the Church at Pinnacle Hills.

In addition to this information, we are given a quick glimpse at his resume of involvement with other SBC committees and organizations. They include service with the Executive Committee, a member of the selected seven-member committee that restructured the Southern Baptist Convention, the search committee that called the president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, president of the 1997 Pastors’ Conference, and as a trustee of GuideStone Financial Services.

I don't know anything about Ronnie Floyd other than what I have just read. I assume that he affirms the Baptist Faith and Message. I trust Johnny Hunt, who is bringing the nomination, to make an informed nomination when it comes to basic Baptist doctrine.

While these are commendable accomplishments, there are other things that I would have liked to have heard in this article about Floyd. I imagine that most members of SBC churches and their pastors for that matter will find this information adequate to form their opinion of whether or not Floyd is suited to be the SBC president. I wish that when we were choosing our leaders we were given more than just a list of accomplishments. The truth of the matter is that none of the facts given are any proof of a biblical view of the church, the ministry, or the gospel. In our day of doctrinal and methodological laxity, stats alone cannot substantiate a biblical and Christ-honoring ministry. These same things could be said of T.D. Jakes and even greater numbers could be posted about Benny Hinn.

I do not want anyone to draw parallels between Floyd and Jakes or Hinn, but I for one would like to know a little more about our SBC president before I vote for him. I will take the time to find out what I need to know, but how many of our voters will do the same?

p.s. This makes that whole bru-ha-ha over Johnny Hunt at the Founders Website pretty funny now doesn't it.

A Lord's Day Psalm

2006-05-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

A Prayer for Deliverance
Psalm 120

A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.

What shall be given to you,
and what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
A warrior's sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!

Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!
(ESV)

Connor's Morning Routine

2006-05-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

Evangelism Restored

2006-05-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

Light is shed upon the heart once again. Clarity.

It happened that a young man was staying in Palmer's home in Savannah during a time of revival. Many services were being held and the young man's host let him know that he could pleas himself whether he attended or not. Having nothing else to do, he did attend and soon by his irritation revealed that he did not like what he was hearing. The crisis came on a Monday when, entering Palmer's study, the visitor protested, 'You preachers are the most contradictory men in the world; you say, and you unsay, just as it pleases you, without the least pretension to consistancy.' Palmer, who was working at his desk, has recorded what followed:

"Somehow I was not surprised at this outbreak; for though no sign of religious feeling had been evinced, there was a restlessness in his manner which satisfied me that he was secretly fighting against the truth. I thought it best to treat the case in an off-hand sort of way, and with seeming indefference so as to cut him off from all opportunity to coquette with the Gospel. Without arresting my pen, I simply, answered, 'Well, what now?'

'Why, yesterday you said in your sermon that sinners are perfectly helpless in themselves - utterly unable to repent or believe and then turned square round and said that they would all be damned if they did not.'

'Well, my dear E-, there is no use in our quarrelling over this matter; either you can or you cannot. If you can, all I have to say is that I hope you will just go and do it.'

As I did not raise my eyes from my writing, which was continued as I spoke, I had no means of marking the effect of these words, until after a moment's silence, with a choking utterance, the reply came back: 'I have been trying my best for three whole days, and cannot.' 'Ah,' said I, laying down my pen: 'that puts a different face upon it; we will go then and tell the difficulty straight out to God.'

We knelt together and I prayed as though this was the first time in human history that this trouble had ever arisen; that here was a soul in the most desperate extremity, which must believe or perish, and hopelessly unable of itself, to do it; that, consequently it was just the case of calling for Divine interposition; and pleading most earnestly for the fulfilment of the Divine promise. Upon rising I offered not a single word of comfort or advice...So I left my friend in his powerlessness in the hands of God, as the only helper. In a short time he came through the struggle, rejoicing in the hope of eternal life."

And again:

Some, indeed, would have man to do all, though he could do nothing; and others would have him to do nothing, because all was done for him. As long as I am told that I must come to God, and that I can come, I am left to suppose that some good thing, or some power of good remains in me, and I arrogate to myself what belongs to Jehovah. The creature is exalted and God is robbed of his glory. If, on the other hand, I am told that I cannot come to God, but not also that I must come, I am left to rest contented at a distance from God, I am not responsible for my rebellion. But if we preach that sinners can't come, and yet must come, then is the honour of God vindicated and the sinner is shut up. Man must be so shut up that he must come to Christ, and yet know that he cannot. He must come to Christ, or he will look to another, when there is not other to whom he may come; he cannot come, or he will look to himself. This is the gospel vice, to shut up men to faith.

Iain H. Murray, The Old Evangelicalism (East Peoria, IL: Banner of Truth, 2005) pp. 16-18

Books, Books, Books!

2006-04-28T18:05:00.000-05:00

Here are the new acquisitions after the conference.

Conference Give-Aways
Pathway to Freedom - Alistair Begg
Getting the Gospel Right - R.C. Sproul
Give Praise to God - Ryken, Thomas, and Duncan
The Deliberate Church - Mark Dever
Counted Righteous in Christ - John Piper
God Is the Gospel - John Piper
Women's Ministry in the Local Church - J. Ligon Duncan
A Display of God's Glory - Mark Dever
The Reformed Pastor - Richard Baxter
Why One Way? - John MacArthur
Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God - C.J. Mahaney
Humility - C.J. Mahaney
Speaking the Love in Truth - David Powlison
The Holy Bible (ESV)
The MacArthur Study Bible (NAS)

Stuff I Bought
The Old Evangelicalism - Iain Murray
Reformed Dogmatics (3 vols.) - Herman Bavinik
A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith - Dr. Robert L. Reymond
Systematic Theology - Robert Duncan Culver
C.H. Spurgeon Autobiography (2 vols.)
Polity - Mark Dever

It Is Well

2006-04-28T10:15:00.000-05:00

Not a good recording, but done from a cell phone. The men sang with GUSTO!

Fictional Fact

2006-04-13T12:18:00.000-05:00

Edmund Morris is a well known, well educated, and celebrated historian and author. So well known in fact that he was commissioned in 1985 to write a memoir of President Ronald Reagan. The book this project produced was "Dutch", published in 1999.

I love a good biography. As such I spend a little bit of money on biographies from time to time. They are never cheap. However, I bought "Dutch" for $5.99 in a discount book bin. Why is that? Other Reagan biographies are much more expensive and rarely find themselves placed in with the bargain books. After all, Morris was given unparalleled access into the President's personal life as well as the White House. He attended meetings, summits, banquets, and private t.v. chats with Reagan in an attempt to capture the man from the inside out. Yet his biography was nothing more than hype for a few months and then faded into infamy.

The reason Morris' memoir was such a flop was that, in the telling, he incorporated himself into all of Reagan's life. He used a fictional character to walk into historical events and tell the story from the first person. This literary device was much eschewed by serious historians due to the confusing nature of such an account. Where did fact meet fiction? Or did they meet at all? Were factual events marred by the presence of a literary device and the storytelling it took to entwine that device into history?

I remember hearing one historian giving an interview for the book say that there was just no way to take the book seriously because the fictional character so deeply flawed the actual history that no good sense could be made of the story. There was simply no way to tell if what you were reading was fact or fiction.

Fast forward now to The DaVinci Code. This is a book that is confessed fiction by the author himself. Or is it? Dan Brown has repeatedly held that his book is a fictional tale based on solid historical fact. It's fictional history with the emphasis on history.

I find nothing inherently wrong with taking the framework of actual events and using them as the background of a personalized fictional account designed to entertain. However, there is something substantially wrong with an author weaving fiction into history in order to rewrite the story. The DaVinci Code and any other work like it are bad books because of what they purport to accomplish - namely the telling of historical events.

If Dan Brown wanted to unearth the hidden truth of Jesus' family life after the cross and the conspiracy to cover that life up, then he should have written an investigative report using actual facts. Instead, what we have is a novelist trying to be an historian. Serious scholars from both the secular and sacred world have pushed aside this novel like any other bad attempt at history. However, celebrity have heralded this book from the beginning and people across the world are buying into the lie.

The only thing historically accurate about The DaVinci Code is that this story has been told before. It is nothing new to Christ. Men have been suppressing the truth for years and such men never lack for willing hearers.

A New Resource

2006-04-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

For all of you who like to peruse the shelves. Sometimes there is something that catches your eye for whatever reason that you may not necessarily want to buy. Here is a good resource for some Christian books summarized into a very readable and free format. Thought you might be interested.

You Might Be a Redneck...

2006-04-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

Turns out I'm 74% dixie. Strange for a guy who has lived all of his life, save one year, in Alabama. If you want to find out what percentage southerner you are, take the test here.

Beware the Audioblog

2006-04-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

Take your Station experience to a whole new level. Audioblogger appears courtesy of the fine folks at blogger.com. Oh, what they'll think of next!

A Lord's Day Psalm

2006-04-09T08:40:00.000-05:00

The Man Who Fears the Lord
Psalm 128

How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
within your house,
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel!

Calvinists and Southern Baptists?

2006-04-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

SBC Life has just published a couple of articles on Calvinism and they were brought to me courtesy of Baptist Press. See the articles here and here.

I thought both articles were fairly well written. Akin's was especially helpful in several areas. The sense I got from reading Yarnell's article was that Calvinists and Southern Baptists are two different groups. I'm not familiar with Yarnell and don't really know his theological leanings but his article especially has this flavor with quotes like, "Most Southern Baptists would counter..." and "In response, Calvinists argue...".

I have always seen Calvinism as a doctrinal belief system that can be held by any denominational group. Yet more and more literature seems to be popping up that sets Southern Baptists over and against Calvinism, as if the two cannot co-exist or that they are mutually exclusive. My first encounter with this sort of thinking came in 2000 when I was introduced to Fisher Humphreys' and Paul Robertson's book "God So Loved the World: Traditional Baptists and Calvinism".

The problem one creates when juxtaposing these two is akin to comparing apples with a fruit stand. Southern Baptists are a diverse group with many different doctrinal positions within its bounds. Calvinism is one of these doctrinal systems.

I'm glad we're starting to get some open dialogue about Calvinism in the SBC. I loved some of Akin's remarks and agree that we need some level-headed conversation and cooperation over this issue. The sad thing is that our convention has many men pastoring her churches who are left to die fighting a battle they didn't start over issues they never raised. Some churches have taken it on themselves to root out Calvinists and destroy their ministry, reputation, family (whatever it takes) to get them out of town. I personally know several people who not only approve of this behavior, but find delight in the pain and suffering of pastors who are confronted with such tragedy.

I hope that all of us will do our best to bridge the divide that has formed between Southern Baptists with different theological convictions; major on the majors, find something to rejoice about together, and exalt our God and Savior through love and charity.

Another Five Pointer

2006-04-04T16:31:00.000-05:00

Since my readership is largley a book crew, I have a question. What are the five most important books on your shelf other than the bible?

Can You Feel It?

2006-04-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

My beloved Tigers are gearing up for another fantastic football season! I can hardly type I'm so excited. I checked in today at College Football News to get the skinny on what they thought and found myself nodding ferociously at commentator Pete Fiutak's article. I agree whole-heartedly with his comments about Auburn's inability to show up when they're supposed to. That's why I kind of want to see them ranked a little lower by the media. However, as we all know, those bogus pre-season polls are necessary to win a national title in this dumb BCS system we have. Here's how Fiutak motivates the big-headed Tigers when greatness is being proclaimed by the media.

So here you go, Auburn. To get you in the proper frame of mind: You're not good enough to win the national title and you're not even going to win the SEC title. You had no business playing for the national title in 2004 or 1983, and you shouldn't have even been part of the discussion in 1993. Chuck Long deserved the Heisman, the real Tigers in the West are in LSU, and you'll always be second banana to that team in Crimson.

There, hope that gave you what you needed. Now go play for the national championship.

It's a decent article and if you want to check it out look here. I am looking forward to this season after that shameful showdown with the Badgers in the Capital One Bowl. Our boys in blue need to prove to the world and to many faithful Tiger fans that they can live up to the hype. I believe in this team and will always enjoy watching them play, but it would sure be nice to put a national title in the bragging rights.

All that being said, I know that the Tigers will thrill this year. But for Pete's sake, heed the advice given by our friend at CFN.

Jonathan Oue Does It Again

2006-04-03T14:21:00.000-05:00

Since I can't seem to find interesting things to put on my own blog, I employ Mr. Oue to find interesting things that I can pirate from his blog. This is the best thing I could come up with on short notice.

Lacking Mind or Heart

2006-04-03T12:29:00.000-05:00

In dealing with the Ritschlian heresy of the late 1800's, Warfield made the following comment concerning evangelical circles. This comment is another testimony to Ecclesiastes 1:9, and to the enduring nature of mankind's sinfulness. Where the word of God is weakly held, there the conviction required to protect the church fails and discernment wains. Read the quote:

There seems to have been at first a strong tendency in evangelical circles to look upon the new teaching with some favor. Such a tendency was, indeed, little creditable to either head or heart; and can be esteemed merely a fresh example of that shallow charity which "thinketh no evil," only because it lacks the mind to perceive or the heart to care for the evil that is flaunted in its face.
-B.B. Warfield in reaction to the church's acceptance of the Ritschlian school. (Selected Shorter Writings Vol. 2, p. 449)

Lord's Day Psalm

2006-04-02T08:22:00.000-05:00

Desiring the Shining Face of God
Psalm 67

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
A Psalm. A Song

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
Selah
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon the earth.
Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear Him!

One of My Favorite Theologians

2006-04-01T21:35:00.000-06:00

Superman will always and forever rank in my top ten theologians. When I was five or so, I begged my parents to let me enter a phone booth so that I could change into the Man of Steel. Needless to say, I've been impervious to the natural maturation of the mind ever since.

There's a new comic out by Morrison and Quitely that captures the essence of Superman as I know him. I'm not a comic collector anymore, but this little series has really delighted me. It's also got me ready for the Superman movie this summer. I guess I'm just glad that the Man of Tomorrow is back for today. It's been awhile since we've had some time together.

Simpler times.

Charles LUKE...I am Your Father

2006-03-31T10:46:00.001-06:00

You know the pictures turned out great, but getting a good angle with the camera was a real pain.

Go, Thom, Go

2006-03-29T13:50:00.000-06:00

A good and pithy (for Allen) article from Thom Rainer.

Can I just take this opportunity to address Thom for a moment:
LifeWay price-gouges. And trying to look up stuff on your website is definitely an excercise in sanctification. Thank you.

Another Useless Post

2006-03-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

Inspired by Jonathan Oue's post today, I decided to include a self-portrait of the artist on the road. I took this photo while driving south on I-85 leaving Books-A-Million and going to Waffle House (pretty predictable I know) at about 11:30 pm. You can add your own comments.

Children and the Gospel

2006-03-28T13:55:00.000-06:00

Connor is getting to the age where questions about the gospel are becoming more frequent. This relationship to Jesus Christ intrigues him and well it should. He watches his mother and father walk, talk, and live with a man he cannot see, touch, hear, or feel. I imagine that even his wild imagination has trouble keeping up with such a proposition.

His prayers have been beautifully simple and heart-wrentching. I listen as he asks the Lord in the best way he knows how to keep him from sin, to help him to understand salvation, to help him turn from his sin and turn to God. He asks for grace and faith and says he is sorry for his sin. After discipline a while back he came to me later with the concern that he was a scoffer and didn't want to be like those that didn't listen to their father's instruction. He wants to read his bible and asks frequently to hear another story or chapter. He strives with all his heart to obey and honor Marie and I.

Does that mean that he is converted? Does it mean that spiritual life is within him? Maybe - maybe not. It is simply too soon to tell and the last thing that I want to do is give him some false assurance of salvation prematurely. Besides, I could never give him that gift anyway.

If this is an interest to you at all, check this out. Jim Ellif is my favorite pastor when it comes to talking about children and the gospel. I'll leave you with an excerpt from the article.

The parents of the interested child should move the emphasis off the externals mentioned earlier—praying a "sinner's" prayer (that is not even found in the Bible), walking an aisle, talking to the pastor, raising a hand, signing a card—to a look at life.
When your five year old child comes home from a children's meeting with a card in his hand saying that he has "prayed the prayer" of salvation and been converted, what are you going to do? If you have always emphasized that coming to Christ means that you "pray the sinner's prayer, and that once a person prays a prayer to receive Jesus he will be saved because God does not lie," then you are in a very difficult position. Now that he has prayed this prayer, how are you supposed to lead him?

If you persist in holding to your idea that praying a prayer, or some other external and additional (usually manmade) accoutrement to faith is the pivotal act that makes a Christian, then you have to accept his experience as inviolable. But if you are a more biblical thinker, you will not at all believe that doing such a thing invariably makes your child a Christian. With genuine respect for any movement and interest your child has shown toward God, you will nonetheless bring him to this reality: "When God saves a person, he makes him alive from the dead. When God makes you a true Christian you will see signs of this life that will increase until you can be sure that you are alive."

Just a Reminder...

2006-03-27T14:52:00.000-06:00

For all of you non-reservationists, just a reminder that once upon a time I used to be one of you. Top left gentlemen.

Sandy Creekers

2006-03-21T16:42:00.000-06:00

I never thought that I'd see the day that modern Southern Baptists would refer to themselves as a Sandy Creeker or a Calvinist, but here we are. I was already looking for some good source documents on the early Baptist confessions because I have always just taken everyone's word on the content of them (ie. reformed or not). Recently, another blog post has again pressed me to want to read and study the early Baptist confessions. I did a quick web search* of said documents and found something that, quite frankly, surprised me. I had always assumed that the Sandy Creek Baptists would have been Arminian/Pelagian in their soteriology because of what I have always heard from people about them. Anyway, I found a Sandy Creek statement of faith that I would have no problem adopting. Read it here or here.

A couple of questions:
1.) Did Sandy Creek Baptists hold to a reformed soteriology or does their statement of faith speak generally and allow for interpretations that explain away clear meaning.
2.) Does anyone know of a good book for source document confessions and creeds. I have seen a few, but would like some input to any that may not have crossed my desk. If you are Richard Bailey (sorry Richard, I can't believe I put Jason in there at first) or Paul Lamey, please stoop to comment because I value your opinion on good books.

*I don't recommend the internet as a primary means of gathering information, but it was the best I could do given that I am in a hotel with 47 youth choir students. If all you ever read is internet sources, then you'll probably end up misspelling your tatoo.

Gospel Reality for Teens

2006-03-20T22:08:00.000-06:00

The last thing that today's youth need is a Revolve New Testament. Culture, even church culture, is teaching them to love the world and hate the Lord.

There is much that can be said today for kids who are diligent to show up at church and all the church functions instead of running with the "worldly" gang. Yet I think that there are some eerie similarities between "church" kids and "world" kids. Most of these similarities have to do with the inward person of the heart. Now that doesn't come to much of a surprise to those of you who labor in youth ministry or work with kids in some way. But it should move us to action when it comes to pressing the gospel into their hearts.

I realize the importance of teaching morality and boundaries to children. It is one of my responsibilities as a parent to instill in my son the difference between right and wrong. However, instilling moral responsibility and behavioral patterns will only produce another morally and socially capable person (which we really need). The overwhelming desire of my heart is not to simply teach Connor the difference between right and wrong or even knowing and doing the right thing. The main concern is teaching him the implications of the gospel on his living. I want him to know that when he disrespects his mother that it is because he is fundamentally morally bankrupt. For all the shaping and molding Marie and I can do, it is to no avail if Connor never connects the reality of the gospel with his attitude.

As I have watched these kids over the last couple of days (we're on youth choir tour), I have had some interesting reactions. One is that my fear of them being God-haters has been confirmed in many ways. Please let me explain what I mean. The familiar verse in James 4:4 tells us "that friendship with the world is hostility toward God." The curse of following out this truth is that "whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." This truth bears itself out in another verse as well. Jesus puts it plainly in his sermon on the mount. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matt. 6:24)

Youth have adapted to this uncanny ability of duplicity far too easily. They can speak one language straight to your face, concealing the real thing, and speak another language to the ones to which they feel they can really be vulnerable. I have seen this first-hand. Kids that want to impress me, or at the very least want me to think they have it together, will speak and act as if they are consistently walking in moral purity. However, the testimony of their lives sends the billboard message that all is not well in their hearts. "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me." (Is. 29:13) Parents foster this mentality too many times with statements like, "Would you talk to them? They can open up to you about things that they can't open up to me about." I understand what they mean, but it is another example of our people using experience to interpret the scripture for us. Gospel reality says that fathers and mothers are supposed to teach their children. When the door of communication is closed between the two, who closed it?

So, when I say that some of these kids hate God, I mean just that. They do not love Him. They do not know Him. They have set themselves up against Him as their enemy. They serve something other than Him. This, at least in the words of Jesus, constitutes hatred of the Almighty. I have used this phrase with some and have received responses ranging from disagreement to whole-hearted approval to apprehensive acknowledgement. The truth is though, that these kids need to hear that they hate God. They need to at least entertain the notion that in some way, their devotion to the world might have an impact on the reality of their relationship with God. They have heard for far too long how important they are and how loved they are and how God just desperately wants them to love Him too. They need to know that if they have not been changed by God then they still hate Him and that He hates them right back. (Ps. 5:5)

Another reaction I have had is how much I love them. I love their sense of humor and their ease with one another. I love the companionship shared by so many of them and their talents and skills. I love to hear them sit and play music, singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord. I love their friendship and their willingness to try hard at bending their will to the leadership before them. I have found that ministry with them is exhilarating and fun and refreshing and real.

Their natural inquisitiveness opens them up to conversations that they probably didn't plan to get into. When they speak their mind on a subject, they unwittingly reveal so much of themselves and what motivates them. They ponder and think and try to fit what they hear into a world-system that, in all reality, is some deformed product of the church and the world - a type of quasi-humanism that longs to know yet refuses to learn.

I have never apologized for the gospel and I never will. When I struggle with sin, be it secret or confessed, the gospel is what comes running to my aid. When they struggle with sin, it is the only thing that saves. I trust in its promise and power to deliver kids. I trust Christ when he says that he came to seek those that are lost and to heal those that are sick. The gospel is a reality that kids need. The gospel is what turns their hate into love.

Putting Out the Fire

2006-03-16T16:26:00.000-06:00

Baptist Fire is a paltry website, nothing more than anonymous rantings of a fool. The following may seem contradictory, but this will be my final word about it.

Proverbs 26:20-21 reads, "For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife." (emphasis mine)

When it comes to regarding foolish people, especially when their foolishness is so blatantly obvious, my thinking is let them be. Proverbs again says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes." (26:4-5)

I have been close to some of the situations that were reported on this website and I must say that there will be no good to come in constantly taking the bait that they are throwing. Stirring up garbage on the bottom of the lake just makes the lake dirty.

I would like to believe that some loving and honest friendships can be fostered through theological discussion. In matter of fact, I have friends that disagree with "Calvinism" that I cherish and even look to for opinion and judgment. Yet, as you who know me well can attest, I have those in my life to which all spiritual attachment has been severed because of the hatred of a doctrine. Indeed, some in my life who should be my greatest spiritual companions only seek to hurl insult and breed division between us. They take every opportunity to spread the gossip of the day without extending a helping hand to those who may need and heed their counsel. Baptist Fire is nothing more than this. This website that is so committed to evangelism, which is the highest form of love to those who do not believe, does a fine job of showing its hatred for men and women, numbering in the millions, who hold a different theological position.

I can say with integrity that the most influential evangelists in my life would be labeled "Calvinist" by Baptist Fire. I have no love for man-made monikers, but if a Calvinist is what some will label me without understanding me, then that does not bother me in the least. This rubbish within our convention is a shame and, were it not so devastatingly absurd, laughable. Sometimes I truly long to be in a place where this foolishness was not an issue, but I am not so naive.

My advice is this. Cultivate loving relationships with those whom differ that will cooperate and get on with the business of sharing the gospel with a lost world. Leave the fools who will not understand in the mire that they have created for themselves. Wisdom demands such. As we who are faithful demonstrate the loving unity of the faith, those who seek to contradict will be silenced and exposed for all their shamefulness. Quit looking at this useless website. The author is anonymous and no good comes from it because the nature of it breeds contempt. Fix your eyes on Jesus, love people, stand for pure and sound doctrine, and let the fools banquet in their own grave.

A Sigh of Relief

2006-03-14T08:13:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure how many of you regularly read the Baptist Press articles. I get the email daily and peruse through them. I admit that I do not read every single article and not all articles that I read do I read thoroughly, so that is my first disclaimer.

My second disclaimer is that I love that fact that Southern Baptists have done so much in the wake of the natural disasters on the Gulf Coast and in Pakistan and Indonesia. Places that faced such catastrophic circumstances certainly needed aid and I am thrilled that God has used Southern Baptists to make an impact not just with social needs, but for the gospel as well.

Now, since I'm done with disclaiming, let me ask this question. Does it seem like the majority of articles on Baptist Press deal with some kind of social work/aid or legal/political issues?

When I was at the convention last year, it seemed more like a Republican Caucus than a meeting of the church. I don't see very many articles (besides the "Making the Gospel Good News" series) that deal with actual "gospel" ministry. No doubt, these relief efforts are huge in-roads to places that we could never get to with the gospel. They should be used and celebrated, but I feel a kind of vacuum in my heart when I read the BP news for information on the actual spread of the gospel, or the movement of the Holy Spirit in our churches.

Maybe it's just me. But if my instincts are anywhere close to right, is this the beginning of the social gospel for the Southern Baptist Church?

Please know that I'm not attempting any kind of commentary here; the absence of any real data proves that. I'm just writing an honest reaction to my In-Box.

Some Things I Love

2006-03-13T16:40:00.000-06:00

a wife

a son

a restaurant

a study

a new computer

Quenched and Thirsty

2006-03-13T16:03:00.000-06:00

Ivory towers and holland flowers
can beg the life from any man
but water poured in living showers
quenches thirsty, homeless sins.

Just wanted you to know that I'm back. More to come...

This Is How I Feel

2006-02-28T08:47:00.000-06:00

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

2006-02-28T08:40:00.000-06:00

Computer...crashed...again. Can't...fully...function. Must...reach...telephone.... Why...why...random words. Random...words.

I should have a new laptop by the end of this week. Such a killer. I am haunting the halls of East Memorial looking for someones computer which I may devour.

Dr. Mohler's Position on the SAT - Shocking

2006-02-23T11:46:00.000-06:00

Check this out. It blew my mind.

All this time I thought Al Mohler was a white guy.

note: okay, I really did know that Al Mohler was a white guy. This was all just a clever ploy to get him to come to my blog so that I could say hi. "Hi, Dr. Mohler!"

p.s. if Jason is looking at this, "Hi, Jason!"

Welcome Back

2006-02-23T10:37:00.000-06:00

Well, we're not out of the woods yet with the 'ol farmer in the Dell. He's been hoeing a row in my hard drive for some time now. A brilliant, probably divinely gifted, computer medium has spoken to the soul of my machine and has persuaded it to come back to its shell for some time longer. The long and short of it is that I am 80% back in business. I know that both of you are glad.

Crash and Burn - Overheated and Underworked

2006-02-20T11:01:00.000-06:00

My computer crashed! Can you believe it? Just when you think you know someone, they go and let you down. I'm having my files pulled off of it today, but the hard drive is shot I'm told. Sorry to dissappoint, but I'm sure you'll find something else to do - whoever you are. If you can't find anything on your own, you may want to look here for some interesting material. I'll be back in a few days.

Juxtapose and Consider

2006-02-16T16:49:00.000-06:00

Two Johns on worship. First Dr. Frame:

Worshipers should not take a passive attitude toward worship, such as we usually take toward entertainment. As we have seen, worship is a priestly service. It is latreia, "labor, service." Therefore, we should go to church to do something: to bring praise to God and to minister to one another. This perspective should make us less concerned about what we "get out of" worship and more concerned about what we contribute to God and to our brothers and sisters. It should encourage us to sing from the heart, to pray fervently, to hear God's word with the expectation that we will change our behavior in response, and to be a grateful guest at the Lord's Table. It should encourage us toward the relatively "democratic" structure of worship in 1 Corinthians 14, in which many people suggest things for the congregation to do, within a structure of decency and order.

And now we shall hear from Dr. Piper:

This is a subtle thing. We strive against God's all-sufficient glory if we think we can become a means to his end without making joy in him our end. Christian Hedonism does not put us above God when it makes the joy of worship its goal. It is precisely in confessing our frustrated, hopeless condition without him that we honor him. A patient is not greater than his doctor because he longs to be made well. A child is not greater than his father when he wants the fun of playing together with him.

On the contrary, the one who actually sets himself above God is the person who presumes to come to God to give rather than get. With a pretense of self-denial he positions himself as God's benefactor - as if the world and all it contans were not already God's (Psalm 50:12)!

We've All Got One

2006-02-16T08:36:00.000-06:00

You should take time to read this article. Hilarious - but strangely familiar.

Why the Young Men Go Presby

2006-02-15T14:49:00.000-06:00

Picture taken at Trinity Festival 2006 (Doug Wilson and gang). Gives a whole new perspective on "drink you under the table."

Future Hall of Famer

2006-02-14T17:44:00.000-06:00

At the Bishop house, we raise em up right. Mark this down, when you see my son catching touchdown passes over Bammers, you can remember that you saw it here first. I would say that he'll be catching passes over a Jones or a Sullivan or a Cagle, but all of you are having little cheerleaders. Maybe one day Connor will ask one of your daughters to be his date to an Auburn Football Dinner.

He's in the Hunt

2006-02-14T17:36:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Scott, I'm reminded of what I heard while at Jax. Dr. Vines introduced Johnny Hunt as "the next President of the Southern Baptist Convention". I thought some of you might like that.

Two Things to Note

2006-02-13T16:34:00.000-06:00

Click this link and consider two things:
1.) the number of times you hear, "Mmm-hmm".
2.) the number of times you see C.J. get up out of his chair w/ maniacal laughter.

I will be at this conference and am looking forward to it.

The Only Men on Earth

2006-02-13T15:31:00.000-06:00

Last Tuesday I finished two books: The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien and Night by Elie Wiesel. One book is a tale of fantasy, the other of the horrors of genocide.

While Frodo and company have captivated me and awakened my creativity, it is not an important story. It is less than nothing compared with the terror that awaited the Jews inside German concentration camps. I remember reading in the Ring how the hobbits felt they were beset on all sides by peril. It can only be a meager illustration of that peril that beset the thousands Jews that ran from Buna to Gleiwitz in the snow. By Wiesel's own account, anyone that slowed or stopped was shot immediately. To fall meant to die. These immaciated, anemic men ran for their lives as the Red Army pushed the Nazi forces, and thus the Jews, from their positions at the camps. Where their strength came from, God only knows. This quote by Wiesel, written about this moment, has taken me.

We were masters of nature, masters of the world. We had forgotten everything - death, fatigue, our natural needs. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die, condemned and wandering, mere numbers, we were the only men on earth.

There is a horror that we do not know. It is the horror of severe, unrelenting, brutal, even beastial persecution. We do not know it, but it is known. It is known in Darfur. It is known to the Anuaks of Ethiopia. We say we have learned, yet we go pleasantly about our lives while it takes place across the globe.

Read books like Wiesel's Night. Watch movies like Hotel Rwanda. These are important things. Important because we cannot be ignorant, nor do we have an excuse to be. I would imagine that there are far more people in the U.S. talking about the adventures of a little hobbit than about the atrocities across the earth. And this, in a way, is it's own silent genocide.

Too Educated to Be Wise

2006-02-13T09:09:00.000-06:00

Every one of you expiring (I know what I said) seminoids needs to read this.

A Lord's Day Psalm

2006-02-12T12:15:00.000-06:00

Psalm 107
1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble 3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; 5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! 9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! 16 For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.

17 Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; 18 they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! 22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

23 Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; 24 they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. 25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; 27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! 32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. 36 And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; 37 they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish. 39 When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, 40 he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes; 41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

Some Better Thing

2006-02-10T15:42:00.000-06:00

They received not the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, that they apart from us should not be made perfect.

Christ has inherited a better name; He has brought us a better hope; He is the surety of a better covenant enacted in better pormises; in Him we have the better country and the better substance. To them God spake in the prophets; to us in the Son. To them was offered the rest of Canaan; to us the rest of God. Their high priest was a man who died; ours is a Priest for ever, in the power of an endless life. Their sanctuary was on earth, and even that had its veil; ours is the true sanctuary, with the veil taken away. Theirs was the old covenant, in which there was no power to continue; ours is the new, with the heart made new by the Spirit. Theirs was the blood of bulls and of goats, ours is the blood of Jesus. Theirs was a sanctifying cleanness of the flesh; ours is the cleansing of the heart from evil conscience. Theirs a worship which made nothing perfect; in ours we are perfected for evermore. Their worship was a witness that the way into the Holiest was not yet open; ours is the blessed experience that in the new and living way we have living access into the very presence and love of the Father. God hath indeed provided some better thing for us.

-Andrew Murray

The Saddest Story in the Bible

2006-02-10T15:34:00.000-06:00

I guess Bailey Smith has long been telling "The Saddest Story in the Bible". After hearing him at the Jax Pastor's Conference, I just had to go back and take a look at that well-known Hall of Faith that is Hebrews 11. I thought to myself, surely a man like Dr. Smith would have the credentials and time-tested expertise to navigate this text without missing the boat entirely. A simple reading of the chapter proves to be more than his sermon could stand.

I don't understand his motives behind his sermon and I don't pretend to. I have no idea if he understood the text perfectly and simply wanted to present some obscure point of application as his sermon topic, but even with this benefit there simply is no excuse for presenting a text in this way. Thousands of pastors were present and within the hearing and influence of this sermon and for that reason alone Dr. Smith should have been more careful. His influence is real, even if it falls to those who cannot discern. I suppose that is the way it always happens with such teachers.

Dr. Smith's sermon concerned itself with this question: how can we prevent their sacrifice from being in vain? His presupposition was that fallen and persecuted saints labored for Christ, but to no avail if we who follow behind them are not faithful. This is simply nowhere to be found.

Hebrews 11 is not about striving in the hope of future generations. Hebrews 11 is about the faith of the people of God. Faith is defined as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1) Faith's effect for OT believers was that through it they "received their commendation." (Heb. 11:2) Why did they receive a commendation through faith? Because they had an assurance of things hoped for, a promise that acted as the north star by which they navigated their lives. The promise they believed and sought and lived to see fulfilled was of a coming Messiah, a future King and a Savior.

Each and every person mentioned in Hebrews 11 was commended by their faith in the word of God. Their salvation was the same as ours. Isn't this the clear theme of the chapter? Faith commends us to God. Faith in what? Faith in the word of God. In the OT economy, their faith was placed in the coming fulfillment of the promise of Messiah. In the NT economy, our faith is placed in the fulfilled promise of the coming Messiah. They placed their faith in the word to come, we in the word fulfilled. The object of faith can only be explained as Jesus Christ. Consider 11:26, "He [Moses] considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward."

Beginning in verse 32, the floodgates open as the author begins to think of all that could illustrate this assurance of things hoped for. His pen can scarcely keep up with the pictures of faith that come flashing to his mind and he fears that "time would fail" him to tell all of their stories. Our benefit in reading this passage is a heart that swells with gratefulness at the faith placed in the hearts of the men and women of old. Yet, though they suffered much, they did not receive the promise, or better, the fulfillment of the promise. Though they faithfully perservered, they were not granted to see their hope, in life, consummated. Though they were saved from the ravages of sin by their faith, they did not see the One that would save them. No, they "endured, as seeing Him who is unseen." (Heb. 11:27)

It should be clear then from the context of this chapter, let alone the whole of Hebrews, that the object of faith is Jesus and that this is an illustration that all of the people of God, whether old or new, find as the object of their faith Jesus Christ. Therefore, when we come to verses 39 and 40 we can read this simple statement with full assurance of meaning. "God has provided something better (the new covenant) for us (NT believers), so that apart from us (NT faith) they (OT faith) would not be made perfect." Their faith was part of the whole, not the whole in itself. It lacked in that Jesus Christ had yet to be revealed in their time. This made their faith no less saving, just less revealed.

The claim that OT believers work could be rendered in vain is a sub-Christian statement. It denies the very work of redemption and the very claims of Jesus himself. "I will build my church" (Matt. 16:18) still applies whether confessing believers remain faithful or not. To insinuate that God's work through them is dependent on our work today is the height of Arminian pride. It truly is a heavy yoke they bear that work under the pretense of self-righteousness.

I'm sure that Dr. Smith would say he disagrees with my analysis, but this is indeed what was communicated. If that is not what he meant, he should at the least clarify if not apologize. There are a myriad other texts that can be used to prick the hearts of God's men to faithfulness if that was his aim. Yet I think this uncovers it nicely: when we seek to use the word, we cease being used by the word.

The height of insult was that he used the very object of faith in chapter 11 as an embodiment of the helpless plea of the past. In Dr. Smith's closing illustration, he pictures Jesus holding out his nail-scarred hands and asking us if we have the heart to waste His sacrifice. If this is truly what Dr. Smith believes is possible, then our ability to discern truth is farther gone than I thought. When we cannot tell the voice of the Shepherd from the voice of another, it is disastrous for the flock. And that is truly one of the saddest stories in the bible.

Ten Chuck Norris Facts

2006-02-10T09:47:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if these are Paul Lamey originals, but my guess is that they are. I pulled these from his site because they are worth reading. I laughed so hard that milk came out of my nose. And I wasn't even drinking milk. Good times.

Top Ten +/- Chuck Norris Facts

1. Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.

2. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

3. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

4. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

5. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can’t see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.

6. Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.

7. Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting implies
the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.

8.It can't be mentioned because it might kill you and then you wouldn't be able to finish this list.

9. Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate an Indian.

10. In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Chuck Norris, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.

11. There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

Additional Chuck Norris Facts

* Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

* Chuck Norris is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing.

* The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.

* Contrary to popular belief, Chuck Norris, not the box jellyfish of northern Australia, is the most venomous creature on earth. Within 3 minutes of being bitten, a human being experiences the following symptoms: fever, blurred vision, beard rash, tightness of the jeans, and the feeling of being repeatedly kicked through a car windshield.

* Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chuck Norris has 72… and they’re all poisonous.

* If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, “Two seconds ’til.” After you ask, “Two seconds ’til what?” he roundhouse kicks you in the face.

*When an episode of Walker Texas Ranger was aired in France, the French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.

*Chuck Norris invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.

*There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Oklahoma.

*When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.

Closing Comments on Jax

2006-02-09T17:18:00.000-06:00

Let me be brief because, let's face it, this really isn't all that interesting.

A word-centered ministry must mean a church that hears the word preached from the pulpit. Given the topic of most break-out sessions, I would venture that most of the ministries at Jax are program driven. The pulpit certainly has been a powerful force for the word of God, but does it really have to stop there?
Associations at Jax say something. Big talk about expository preaching at the conference - but only three or four that model it. Bailey Smith should not be asked back to the conference.
Emphasis on the dramatic. Even one of the preachers used multiple personal testimony videos during his sermon. I'm all for personal testimony, but using it as the substance of your sermon is a little sad. The music ministry majors on wowing the audience with over-the-top theatrics and special effects. An interesting juxtaposition with the message of "verbal" power from the word. I would rather just hear them sing. I would imagine that no one was really "listening" to the words when the big "Jesus" banner dropped from the ceiling, or when Jesus went into it.
Marketing over giving. I've been to another conference where you get so many books for free that you have trouble getting them all home. Nothing of substance given for free at this conference.
Overall, the preaching was the strongest point of this conference. I found little fuel for everyday ministry in the break-out sessions, but I imagine that most pastors thought it was incredible. I find things very anemic if they do not begin and end with the word, even the music. I gleaned some very practical tips on keeping people interested, but you can go to any business seminar for that kind of stuff. Lots of lip-service, very little substance.

Sounds like it really was a cross-section of Southern Baptist ministry after all, huh?

So Far, So Good

2006-02-07T13:52:00.000-06:00

I have been pleasantly surprised by the content of the sermons in this year's Conference. Every preacher that I have heard, with the exception of Bailey Smith, has really done a pretty good job. Even Junior Hill endeared himself to me quite a bit this year. He is an exceptional story-teller but also stuck to the text and preached the bible. David Allen was the first speaker on Saturday morning, and if you ask me, has been the standard of measure for every one of these men. There have been a few that have not preached expositionally and yet the sermons were not unbiblical treatments of texts (with the exception of Bailey Smith). Not even Al Mohler's sermon was really all that expositional, even though he did exactly as I expected him and gave us a culture digest with a prescription for cure at the end. By the way, next time you see him, ask him how he liked Steve Gaines' message. David Jeremiah has been phenomenal as usual. Again, I am impressed with the caliber of the sermons this year, with the exception of Bailey Smith.

Largely, as you might have guessed, the sermons have not had a reformed influence. But as we all know, I do not hold that up as a watershed issue among preachers as long as the sermon is biblical and honors God. I feel that most here have done that, with the exception of Bailey Smith. There has been a lot of talk about personal evangelism, as you also might have guessed, but that has been something that has been feeding my soul and increasing my desire and strengthening my boldness. I am thankful to God for what I am hearing, with the exception of Bailey Smith.

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to post my observations about the Conference before we leave here tomorrow. And just to make sure you got it...with the exception of Bailey Smith.

The Two Faces of the SBC

2006-02-04T17:14:00.000-06:00

I had to put this in a seperate post. David Allen is bothered by pep-rally preaching. The man can flat preach. He was my favorite preacher last year by a long shot. He has already scored another winner this year. If you're not familiar, he is the Dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern. This little firebrand of a man is enough to make a guy think of moving to Texas. He is a giant among preachers, if I may judge him from the few times I have been blessed to hear him. Let me overview his sermon, the two that followed him, and make a few observations.

Jeremiah 10:21 was his text. "For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered."

His message, by his own intent, was both a tribute to Dr. Vines and an urgent call for expository preaching. He began by saying that we are in a crisis when it comes to preaching and cited such things as topical, narrative, and therapeutic preaching as examples. This was the jist of the message. Preachers today, like prophets in Jeremiah's time, have become "stupid", like brute animals, and without sense. They have become so because they have not sought the Lord in His word.

"To seek the Lord," says Allen, "means to seek Him in His word, not apart from His word." Dr. Allen asks the obvious question, if scripture is God speaking, then why do we think we have anything better to say? He asserts that todays preachers are largely using the text as a resource and not the source or as a footnote to some plagerized outline.

He gives two consequences for not seeking the Lord. The first is that preachers will not prosper. The second is that their flocks shall be scattered. He took a moment to make sure everyone in the room knew what Jeremiah intended when he said "prosper" by talking about "success" and the current measure of it in today's pulpits. I liked his three-fold effect of the loss that comes from not seeking the Lord.

Preachers will have personal loss - they will become stupid.
Preachers will have professional loss - they shall not prosper.
Preachers will have pastoral loss - their flocks will be scattered.

His passionate call for the man of God to preach the word of God literally moved me to tears. He spoke to those in the room that were already preaching expositionally and implored them to "hold the line", to which I immediately went to pieces.

One last parallel he drew and I will move on. He said that in Jeremiah's day, King Josiah had removed the idols that were killing Judah and replaced them with the word of God. He said that Josiah had replaced the visual with the verbal. In today's climate, Dr. Allen points a finger at the Emerging movement as the next attempt to replace the verbal with the visual. He said that the message of the Emerging church is the logical next step to what we have created with our weak preaching and that we must stand as the shepherds of God and seek His word in order to replace the visual (idolatry) with the verbal (expository preaching). I encourage you to get a tape.

Of course, as is common at this conference, the crowd gave Dr. Allen an empassioned standing ovation. Dr. Vines called it "the message of the hour" and said that he "wished all preachers had a copy of that sermon." It truly was remarkable.

Yet more remarkable I think is how people respond to this message. The two speakers that followed this afternoon were John Sullivan and Bailey Smith. John Sullivan preached a topical sermon in which he read a text and then preached a sermon outline that was gleaned from a word pulled from the text. The words which he spoke weren't untrue, just not textual. It was an example of what David Allen had just this morning spoken against. Still, the sermon focused on giving praise to God for His creation, providence, and redemption. So the fact that it was at least pointing to the work of God and giving Him due praise made it worth listening to. But then there was Bailey Smith.

Bailey Smith preached from Hebrews 11:39-40. "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receieve what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." His sermon was an emotional call for us to carry on in such a way as to not make the sacrifice of those who came before us be in vain. He gave several quick illustrations of "effiminate preachers" lacking the integrity to preach against moral laxity and rebellion. His assertion was that the current condition of the church was bad and that it was, in fact, dying. Then he said, "I wonder if Jesus wanted to die for that which is dead."

He set this whole thing up by telling a story about his uncle who lost his wife and child in the same day. His wife, while still alive but knowing she was about to die, handed him his daughter and commented that it was all worth it because of their daughter. Just hours later, the daughter then passed and the father was heard wondering if his wife would have thought it was all worth it if she had known the child would die so quickly. Hence the whole "I wonder if Jesus..." satement.

I think this underscores the deep rooted misunderstandings that Bailey Smith has of the ministry of reconciliation. It is hard for me to believe that he thinks that Jesus could indeed die in vain, but that seems to be what he was saying. At any rate, this is what I understood him to say. The church, if she does not remain faithful, will render useless the dying and suffering of the saints who have gone before and possibly render the death of Jesus Christ a vanity. He imagined the saints feeling this way: "If all that they have given us has produced this [sic]. Then they would say, 'What a waste.''

He finished with another imaginary situation in which Jesus stands before us with all the martyrs and sufferers behind Him. Jesus then motions to those behind Him and asks, "Do you have the heart to waste all that?" And then, showing us His nail-peirced hands, asks, "Do you have the heart to waste this?"

Of course, at the conclusion, there was thunderous applause and another standing ovation.

Here is my question. Why do these men and women at this conference applaud both Dr. Allen and Bailey Smith? Do they not see that the word of God has clearly indicted such preaching. I find it disheartening to hear applause for both men coming from the same assembly. I believe that it is simply further proof that we are here simply for a pep-rally.

I am going to wait until the end of the conference to post my thoughts on everything. I want to be gracious and fair. And for your sakes, concise.

Jax and Initial Observations

2006-02-04T16:36:00.000-06:00

First of all, let me say that of all the downtown areas that I have ever been in, Jacksonville is definitely one of the nicest. The city was extraordinarily clean last year because of the SuperBowl being here, but I had my suspicions that would change this year. Not so. Jacksonville is still an extremely well-kept, if not gigantic, downtown area. With the bridges over St. Johns and the riverwalk setting, it is a wonderful location for a conference.

Friday night was devoted entirely to honoring Dr. Vines and his ministry at Jax. It was a stirring tribute to a man who has made a significant impact in shaping the SBC as we know it today. His life was quickly retold through video montages that featured old church members and people that he had impacted in ministry. All of them talked about Dr. Vines ability to preach the word and many spoke of the impact of expository preaching on their lives. Even if you had never known anything of the man, one thing was clear. This was a preacher of the Word of God.

The music was well done as always. It was all pretty much Southern Gospel, which was no surprise, but the preparation of the choir and orchestra always astound me. They do what they do very well. The culmination of the service was a huge torch (I'm talking 50 ft.) being lit and the choir holding up lights while singing "I will carry the torch!" It ending with all the lights going off except for a few lights in the middle forming a cross.

Some initial reactions:

One of our party remarked on the color of the hair in the auditorium. From our perch in the balcony, we did seem to have a birds-eye-view. He was trying to illustrate that there were very few young people in attendance. I do not know the ratio of young to old, but it certainly does seem to be leaning to one side. I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing, but I'll explain that later. In all fairness, I have seen a great many young men and women at this conference.
There is a definite sense of the sensational to the music and performances. Jax is known for wowing it's attendee's with big, show-stopping numbers complete with enormous props (see giant torch above). This is not necessarily a problem, but it does seem a little garish- although my personality does play into my thoughts on this a great deal. I'll also say a little more about this later.
I am not all that impressed with the conference seminars. It is a conference centered on instructing people on how to implement and maintain programs in the church. Very few conferences deal with actually teaching the bible, or have anything to do with finding biblical solutions to current trends and cultural problems.
There was a lot of talk about Dr. Vines being a part of the conservative resurgence of the SBC. That is certainly a good thing, but I did wonder as we got back to the room about the sufficiency of the word in the church. This thought coupled with an obviously aging demographic for the conference got me wondering about discipleship...

All in all, we really enjoyed ourselves. Yet I think it goes without saying that there seems to be very little on the agenda this year that hasn't already had a hearing. My assumption is that we will hear very much the same kind of rhetoric and "pep-rally" preaching that we heard last year. It just seems that no one else is really bothered by that.

A Case Study in Southern Baptist Ministry

2006-02-02T13:14:00.000-06:00

I will be heading out tomorrow for the final installment of the FBC Jacksonville Pastor's Conference with Dr. Vines as host. Jerry Vines is retiring from pastoral ministry and this will be his send-off in many ways. I have attended the conference only once before - last year. I was only partly aware that they had a conference until my church sent me down to look at their music ministry.

I have generally had a high opinion of Jerry Vines over the years. I have heard many of the legendary stories about the man and he definitely is one of those larger than life characters. His daughter and son-in-law are now staff members of our church and the chance to verify some of these stories through Joy has been rather fulfilling. Overall, the conference itself is a fun event and a good break from the everyday toil of music ministry. The singing and music are out of this world (even if it is Southern Gospel). However, the speaking schedule has its hits and misses.

The speakers named at this year's Conference are David Allen, Mac Brunson, Jerry Falwell, Steve Gaines, Junior Hill, Johnny Hunt, David Jeremiah, Al Mohler, Paige Patterson, Bailey Smith, and John Sullivan. I think you can probably guess who I might list as a hit. As for the rest, I am wholly unexcited to hear what they have to say. I do suppose that, just like in recent years, we will hear some rousing rhetoric aimed at the much-aligned "calvinist". Seeing that there are very few reformed brothers who attend this conference, I imagine I'll be one of the few squirming in my seat.

I will take time to blog this conference and give you my take on what is said. The only reason I think this is worth the time is that I believe it may yet be another indicator as to the direction our Convention is heading. Jax has long been a widely-used model in Southern Baptist ministry and this conference is basically a cross-section of what they do. This will also be another passing of the baton, as it were. Our current and emerging (no pun intended) leadership seem to be rabidly attacking brothers within their own convention. Older leaders had, at the very least, an ability to work with Reformed Baptists.

I have heard that within our own State Convention, there have been meetings with the staff concerning "Calvinism" and know for a fact that they have been promoting, at least in part, a book by Fischer Humphreys entitled "God So Loved the World: Traditional Baptists and Calvinism". I have said it now for a couple of years: this will be a boiling point issue very soon in our Convention. I just pray that everyone at the Jax Conference will spend their energy celebrating the grace of God through Pastor Vines rather than railing attacks at the Calvies.

Deadlines or Dead Lines

2006-01-31T17:14:00.000-06:00

So, if you are one of the faithful that has been logging on to Reformation Station for the past two months, you might say to yourself, "Has Bishop lost his sense of purpose?" The resounding answer from those who know me best and from those that have followed this flawed experiment from the beginning will bellow forth a resounding "NO!" They will say, "Bishop has always been the perfect picture of mediocrity at every level. This is simply yet another of its manifestations."

Okay, the mediocre comment stings - even if I did write it myself. In high school you have to write those goofy "Last Will and Testaments" as a senior. I left my sister a legacy of mediocrity. Yes, after a mere four years I realized to which end I am destined. Some of my friends (I hope I can call you that) sit in very important offices doing very important jobs beside very important people. What can I say, some are destined for greatness and some are like me.

At any rate, I give myself this ultimatum: compose a blog that has at least some significance, or stop this all together. I have no grand illusions, but maybe yet can muster some meaningful ideas. So hear this! (all eight of you) I give myself one month. At the end of February, if I have not produced something viable, then you guys are going to pull the plug. I will post at the end of the month an opionion poll in which the current readership of Reformation Station (whatever that may be) will vote yay or nay for this blog. Stay tuned.

Belle and the Draggin'

2006-01-31T15:37:00.000-06:00

Shut up. It's a new dog. I said, shut up.

A mid-winter's(?) walk. The kid is enormous.

Only the Lonely

2006-01-31T15:11:00.000-06:00

Through countless, endless, spaceless places,
One has placed us in the cases
of time and will, though never ageless,
to search and find or find and fall.

There cannot be so soon a sample
of created things, with minds less ample,
offending reason as if to trample
the dance, that is, creation’s ball.

To those who stand with distant gazes,
our plight looks more like waltz in hazes
open to the more mortal phases
that bring us all within the pall.

That we seem lost amidst the cosmos
often enters thoughts like most ghosts,
over the boundaries founded and posts
towering stakes of claim to call.

Tis’ but a fact though, we may yet quell it,
our view from inside this urgent pellet
only seems to find its zealot
taken in the minds of those who stall.

Together all, in voiceless wonder,
overtaking the boundless blunder,
opine which we cannot mutter:
that we are safe within the hall.

The hall of all the great advances
of the feeble and the framed romances
ousted by those great men’s stances
that reveal the thrill of all enthralled.

Put Your Demand In, Take Your Demand Out, Put Your Demand In and You Shake It All About

2005-12-14T10:41:00.000-06:00

I heard a radio show yesterday on my way home. I think it was called "The Meeting House". I'm not a regular listener to this show, so I don't know who puts it out or who the host is or anything about it really. But I was listening to it for about 7 minutes and 43 seconds yesterday and I heard their first guest say something really cool.

The topic was technology. I guess they were supposed to be discussing PDA's, and digital cameras, and laptops, and desktop Christmas Card publishing, and all sorts of things that one might discuss when talking about technology and Christmas. Anyway, it was really very uninteresting to me until they got to talking about that GREAT SATAN of American retail - that's right, TARGET. They were talking about how technology has actually allowed us to curb the paganism forced upon all of our unwitting children by the GREAT SATAN. You see, an email petition from true believers of Jesus Christ has caused the LORD OF THE DARK to reverse its decision to use the term Holiday Season (which we all know is just code for - BELIEVE IN SATAN) and replace it with the word CHRISTmas.

The guest on this program then made this statement. "You know, as Christians we have a biblical responsibility to stomp our foot and make demands; and then share the real reason for the season in love." Wow! This guy has been walking with God.

I for one am tremendously relieved that the NEFARIOUS KING OF ALL HATRED has rethought their position. After all, I do love their trendy marketing campaigns and great holiday bargains. Now I can go into any one of their locations with my proud Christian head held high and in love say Merry CHRISTmas to all those around me. It's just good to know that Christians can finally start grabbing people by the collar and saying, "Hey! We aint gonna put up with it anymore! We believe in CHRISTmas and we demand that you say it just that way so that we can continue to live in our undisturbed Christianized society!" Whew! That really felt good. This stomp-your-foot-and-make-demands Christianity thing really let's the steam off.

I think I'm going to start a petition that we change the official name of Christmas to Jesusmas. Surely then everybody would know the real reason for the season.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Death and Gladness

2005-12-13T08:57:00.000-06:00

As we start the New Year many are thinking of a fresh start and a fresh beginning. I, on the other hand, am thinking of endings and of death. The passing of my grandfather, Billie Reeves, was by far the most emotionally trying moment of my life. I now truly understand something of the loss one feels when they lose someone they deeply love. It is a terrible and empty feeling, a vacuum that cannot be understood or satisfied. I often cry with Marie because we miss him so much. I have told her that when Papa died, I filled up with grief and don’t feel like I have emptied of it completely.

Connor likes to talk about Papa being in heaven. The other day he said, “Dad, I know that you are glad and sad that Papa is in heaven. But I’m just glad.” God bless my son and his sensitivity to the pain and reality around him. I love to hear his perspective on life more than almost any theologian or philosopher. The simplicity of his sentiment reminds me of the simplicity of God’s love and consolation. Papa is gone away from us, but he is with Christ; and Christ is right here.

The weekend that Papa left us will linger in my memory probably for the rest of my life. Every color seemed more brilliant, every fall tree proclaiming the cycle of life and death in its own way. Every smile and laugh had a hint of sorrow. Every sad song seemed even sadder. It was like every sense and emotion was tuned up as high as it would go.

I thought about two things more than anything else in those few days. The first was about life and accomplishments – legacy. Papa’s death made me want to evaluate what it is that I am supposed to be about. What lasting mark should I be leaving on this earth? Papa’s was his family. There is just a tremendous amount of love and care that exists between all of us. Our love and legacy is a testimony to the love and legacy of Papa. The challenge to me is to live my life in a very intentional way, being sure that I am faithful to my calling. The bible says it this way – “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-2

The second thing I thought about was how unnatural death is. God created us to have life and have it more abundantly. We brought death into this world through our shameful sin. It is our rebellion against God to which the curse of death is a result. Death happens because sin is an ever present reality. We have all worked for and earned death in our bodies. Christ is the only answer to the death we have earned for our souls.

If the Lord tarries, all of us will die. I will experience this loss again and it will only become more and more profound as the circle of death draws ever closer to my own life. While I stand on the fringes observing this terrible thief that robs us of the things that fill our lives with such joy, I am thankful that my Savior has given me an unquenchable joy that endures through the deepest valleys.

I will miss Papa so much and it will hurt for a long time, but through this pain Jesus has taught me once more that He is sufficient and that He is working His will through me. For that, I am glad.

In Memoriam

2005-12-05T17:18:00.000-06:00

Billie Joe Reeves

1927 - 2005

My Papa

We love you and miss you more than the world could ever know.

WAR EAGLE!!!!

2005-11-19T18:05:00.000-06:00

Marie and I just watched the Iron Bowl from the check-in office of the Cheaha State Park Motel. OH MY WORD!!! War Eagle everyone. I am completely blown away. This is one satisfied Auburn fan.

Marie and I watched the sun rise this morning. I was careful to point out to Marie that there was no Red and White in the sky. There was however, a considerable amount orange and blue. I'm not saying anything, but...

A word to the losers: Keep your head up boys!

Seriously, I hate hearing Bama fans complain about a season that never should have been 9-0. No one but no one saw that coming. What a thrill to watch your team go so strong against a strong schedule. Auburn started it's season with nationally televized home field loss against a mediocre GT team. The Tide exceeded expectations and fought hard to win 9 straight after a miserable year just last year. Shula is a good coach and it will be a shame to hear all the Bama faithful calling for his head after what they will call a dissapointing season. You guys fought and played well behind a ridiculously bad offensive line and stood toe to toe with the likely SEC champion. Heads up boys.

All that being said, I can't tell you how unbelievably proud I am of Auburn. We could hang our heads and say, "Oh, we should have beaten GT. Oh, we should have beaten LSU. Waa, Waa, ect. ect." Point is, we came in this season with huge unkowns. Who was our quaterback? Who was our running back? Is our defense up to the task. Well fans, questions answered. Brandon Cox is going to be a great quarterback for Auburn and did a phenominal job on an impressive sophmore season. I love his poise and confidence in his receivers. He doesn't put up the numbers of more talked about QB's but who cares. He is the clear leader of this very impressive offense. Viva la AUBURN!!!!

As I said earlier, Marie and I are at Cheaha State Park celebrating our anniversary. We got up at 5:00 to see the sun rise, breakfast at 7:30, then hiked to see a breath-taking view of the Talladega National Forest on an impressive rock outcropping. We were able to take a long nap in our little cabin. I wish I had pictures of this thing - BEAUTIFUL! Then we went to lunch and prepared for the big game. Now it is back to the room for some good reading and early to bed. No phone, no t.v., no noise. It has been a good stay and I recommend it to anyone. Tomorrow it is off to B'ham for a two night stay at the Winfrey Hotel in the Galleria. Marie and I both wish it was a little more of this, but back to the hustle and bustle I guess.

Once again, WAR EAGLE!!!

Shaved and Amazed

2005-11-09T15:58:00.000-06:00

I know all you baldy purists are saying, "Hey! Wait just a minute - that's no bald head!" I do heartily concure. I am too much a wuss to go full bald. This is as close as I will probably ever come. Marie's first words: "That is the most horrible thing I have ever seen."

For those of you who remember my bald-head fantasy this summer here is a quick comparison. (Please note that the author is aware that he needs more exercise and sunshine)

Reflections on a Book's Life

2005-10-17T21:45:00.000-05:00

I just received in the mail a copy of "The Mother at Home" by Rev. John S.C. Abbott. The copy I bought is enscribed "Mrs Thomas Murray, Moorbrock, Carsphairm, 28th December 1889". I would assume that the book is at least that old, but it doesn't look like a book printed in 1889 or before. It looks more like something that would have been printed in the sixties just by the binding and font on the cover, but I am no antiquarian book expert either. It was shipped from England and I paid a grand total of $7.49 for book, shipping, good read, and all.

This book is a gift to my wife, who is about to be a mother for the second time. I mentioned earlier that we have both been reading puritan literature concerning families. We were made aware of this book by Solid Ground Christian Books, a publisher in Birmingham. I had heard of them some years back and purchased "The Works of John Owen" from them for a song. They seem to be specializing right now in puritan family literature (among other things) because a lot of the books they are now re-typing or copying for publication deal in this area of applied theology. At any rate, Marie and I both fell in love with "The Mother at Home" and a children's book titled "The Child at Home".

Marie enjoyed the book so much that I thought she might like to have an early hardbound edition for her library (as most of the the Solid Ground books are paperback). Imagine my surprise to actually finding a copy of it on Ebay!

As I wrote on Marie's card (cause you know, every gift has to come with a card), I began to think about writing and books. I wondered if Mrs. Thomas Murray ever considered that her book would end up in the hands of an American - and an Alabamian at that! I wonder if Rev. John S.C. Abbott every thought that his little book about mothers would still exist some 170 plus years later. The Rev. Abbott died in 1877 at the age of 72. Beyond that bit of factual biography and some knowledge of his theological position I know very little about the man. Yet his pen has been a comfort and when I read his words I feel I have just had a long conversation with a wise grandfather. Good writers do that for me. They take me under their arm and with great joy begin to spill the secret longings of their heart. God is good to have given us books.

Since reading this book and others in this vein, including some work by Cotton Mather, Marie has often remarked at the ability of these men to communicate ideas and biblical truth. Her reaction to this writing was that all other books seem to fall short of the puritans. Now hear me, my wife is no avid reader. Nor is she widely educated in or exposed to puritan writings, but there is a measure of truth to what she is already beginning to suspect. Puritan writers had a way with the pen and the sword. That is, they knew how to write and how to read the scripture. There is very little written today that will have as much meaning and relevance in 100 or 200 years as that of the puritans.

At any rate, this has become a very useless post. I simply want to leave you with this meditation. Here, we are given 80, 90, possibly 100 years of life. Twenty-seven of those years, I have already spent. There is no telling how many words we will speak or write in a day, let alone in a life-time. There is a man that is still speaking to mothers who choose to listen to his sound advice. When time has had its way with you and your mouth and pen cease to move - will you still be speaking?

Cow College Drowns Hogs

2005-10-15T22:37:00.000-05:00

Auburn 34 - Arkansas 17

WAR EAGLE!!!

Rebels with a Cause

2005-10-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

A tired and overused cliche? Absolutely. But the Ole Miss Rebels sure gave me a thrill on a sleepy Saturday afternoon. College football has to be one of the great joys in life. There is nothing like a crisp, sunny fall afternoon to accentuate just what I love about life on earth.

Well, I am nearly breathless after Alabama barely escapes its first defeat of the year at the hands of a far inferior Ole Miss football team. From the beginning of this game it was clear that Mississippi had come to play football. The off week, Prothro's glaring absence, coming off of an emotional win - all factors in todays less-than-stellar Alabama performance? Probably, but who cares (except Bama fans) when the product is a nail-biter like this one. I turned to Marie during the game and said, "This is college football at its finest." No, I don't mean the quality of play - but the atmosphere and excitment of an underdog besting a top ten national contender. Ole Miss had every opportunity to win this game - missed field goals, blown chances at shifting momentum, and penalties all contributed to their loss. In a lot of ways you could say that they beat themselves. But given the level of play they have seen previously this season, I think everyone involved should be quite proud. When the outcome became clear, I turned again to Marie and expressed my disappointment. But I did take joy in the fact that a million Alabama fans were at home, biting their pillows, and waiting with breathless anticipation for that last field goal. Thanks Ole Miss.

Oh Baby!

2005-10-13T15:49:00.000-05:00

Marie and I met our OB the other day. His name is Dr. Phillips and is an extremely nice man. I have the feeling I will really enjoy getting to know him. He has four children of his own and was very easy to talk to.

Marie woke up last Saturday morning worried that something might be wrong with the pregnancy (we miscarried last October) so the appointment with the Dr. was something that Marie was anxiously anticipating. Everything checked out fine and we even got to hear the heartbeat. Connor was with us and was just amazed that his little baby already had a heart that was beating. It was amazing being there as a family. The ultrasound estimated that we were 6 weeks and 2 days pregnant, which means a due date of the first of June. Wow.

I can't remember who I was talking to, but I was telling someone that parenthood requires you to be a theologian. Forget being called to ministry, or shepherding a local church, or teaching at a seminary; being a dad requires you to know the bible. I am amazed every day at the level of understanding Connor has when it comes to the issues of life. There is no more humbling experience than explaining to your four year old son why a particular attitude is wrong and how that has everything to do with who Jesus Christ is. Marie and I have been reading a lot of puritan family literature lately thanks to Solid Ground Christian Books. I am impessed with the concern of the puritans for the spiritual state of their children and the lengths to which they would go to ensure that their children were brought up with a solid understanding of a biblical worldview. The most constant and rewarding task that I have ever faced as a bible teacher, is teaching my son the precepts and principles of scripture. My prayer and longing for him to see Jesus Christ in spirit and truth is a burden I cannot explain with words. I have an earnest expectation of joy over teaching another little one to love the Mighty One.

O Ye of Little Faith

2005-10-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Habakkuk 1:5 reads:
Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days - You would not believe if you were told.

There are countless numbers of young, idealistic evangelicals that have become everyone's naysayer. Each feeling as if they owe the world another reformer. The cry of these hyper-spiritual (mostly reformed) young men is that they are defending the faith. Driven on in their quest to find heresy lurking in every corner by bold, perceptive, intelligent men; many of these younglings often trample the less mature and make a general nuisance in the house of God.

There is much on the Christian landscape today that should prompt serious discussion. The lawn has been overrun by weeds and many places are without water and beginning to die. This is cause for concern and there is nothing wrong with thinking Christians giving voice to biblical solutions. After all, iron still sharpens iron. However, with the advent of such broad avenues of communication, every youngling with an ear to the track is giving bold, authoritative advice. How many Spurgeons or how many Edwards' does this world really need.

It would be nice to see some humility on the horizon of evangelical youth. Reserve and patience would be excellent virtues to remember. It fails the conscience of some of these younglings that insightful men often spent long hours meditating and calculating - memorizing and exegeting scripture before laying their minds bare for the rest of us. The bible still cautions young men in the quickness of speech. This is because in the fervor of youth, lie the traps of irreparable harm.
In Habakkuk, the prophet saw real problems. His was not merely theological rubbish that littered the house, but unprecedented lawlessness. His questions were also not accusatory and brash (for if they were, they would most likely have gone unanswered) but full of confusion and a genuine desire to know the truth. Our younglings often cry out not with the voice of Habakkuk, but with the voice of God. They are the bastions of truth and all who fall under their pronouncements must adhere or be labeled heretics.

God's answer is unmistakably plain and at once both chastising and nurturing. He says I am doing something but you don't believe it and wouldn't get it if I told you. Younglings who bluster away at the world and at the rest of evangelicalism need to remember that God is still the Sovereign Author of history. He is writing what He desires. He allows the error, however infuriating. He authorizes world events, however horrifying. He patiently endures, however frustrating, the feeble advances of sin and death. But in the end He loves His church. Younglings would do well to remember that this is the heart of God.

(note: I am fully aware that I fit neatly into this category. However, as I observe those around me and those in my peer group, I find a disconcerting disdain for the church. That is not what they will say. They will attribute their attitudes to doctrinal purity or defending the glory of God. I also concede that I am guilty of this very attitude at times. All you need to do is read my blog to see that I am quick to condemn and marginalize. I fully believe we should fight for doctrinal purity and that we should stand firm for biblical methodology. I believe we should run the race, fight the good fight, and persevere to the end. But at what cost to those who might in time become our allies. I have been reading J. C. Ryle lately and have found his balance of grace and grit to be timely and refreshing. I desperately want the church to change. I long to be a part of that change and see a new reformation. I just want to honor the Lord and other men as I navigate this road to redemption. Please don't hold my hypocrisy against me.)

And above all...not to preach

2005-10-10T17:31:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen! The emerging church movement people have done it again. Jim Henderson has written a book entitled a.k.a. "Lost" in which he chastises the less intellectual and far out of touch non-emerging Christian community for calling people "lost". It has a much nicer ring to it if you say that they are people Jesus misses most.

This book is "evangelism for the rest of us" and focuses on encounters with "missing people" that are non-confrontational, based on everyday experiences, and non-threatening. If you read my blog on the rottweiler and the mormons I think you'll understand why I carry a baseball bat on all my witnessing exploits. Other than that, I try not to beat people up with the bible. Jim feels the same way. His thought is that we should provide an "on-ramp" for continuing conversations, being good at listening to others, and being sensitive to how the "missing person" perceives the encounter with the gospel.

There are so many things to say about this book, but fortunately for you I don't have time. Instead I want to direct your attention to a video clip from the aptly titled "Off the Map Evangelism Conference". Jim does something that could have been extremely helpful by interviewing three "lost" people. Something like this could have been a real eye opener and I applaud him for the sincere attempt to connect with people on a personal level. Like so much of the emerging movement, this book takes issue with some long held methodologies that really do need to be reevaluated, but the stench of bad theology just keeps me away. Anyhoo, check out the video and then go to Barns & Noble and read the Appendix B to the book, entitled PAY SOMEONE TO CRITIQUE YOUR CHURCH. Now, why didn't I think of that?

To see the interview click here - and remember to take the Off the Map Pledge of Kindness.

The Funniest Blog Ever Made

2005-10-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

I know that this is a sweeping statement, but I can't help it. It's true. I also know that this will be lost on everybody because there is nobody that reads my blog that doesn't read the one I am about to mention too. (wow, that was the worst sentence known to man)

Anyway, let's get down to it. The funniest blog ever made goes to -drumroll please - Luther Was Right!

This masterful piece of online literature is one of the most thought provoking and stirring blogs in the entire blogosphere (what makes it a sphere anyway?). It manages this depth while also succeeding in making people bust a gut laughing. I kid you not, when I read this blog (and I do often), I always sit laughing with tears streaming down my face before my monitor. Even now, when not even viewing the blog, I find myself truly LOL.

To properly read the blog, you must scroll to the bottom and start from the beginning. Right away you will feel a deep sense of hopelessness. Stay calm, this feeling is normal, but it will not go away. Continue to read, in chronological order, the descent into utter despair. The odd thing about this is that futility and absolute (I'm laughing again) wordlessness causes instant initialization of my funny bone.

Seriously, this blog has nothing to say. When you look up "forcing the hand" in the dictionary, you find this blog in full. Please, take a moment (for truly, that's all it does take) and read this. You will be enriched, I assure you.

The Soul-A-Month Club - Unbelievable!!

2005-10-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

I don't like stealing from other blogs, that's why mine is so empty. But here is an article I thought people should read. It is published by Bailey Smith and is reprinted here in its entirety. I got the link from Scott at Scattered and Covered. This is sheer absurdity. How long will we continue to allow it in our pulpits?

Many times a year I will hear someone say, "I'm not in the ministry, I'm just a layman." We all know that Christain lay people are a vital part of the ministry also, in a very important way.

May I share a ministry all can be a part of and I believe, should be, because of its need in this pagan generation? It is the Soul-A-Month Ministry.

I was at Peace Baptist Church in Wilson, N.C. and made the statement that for every $48.00 given to Bailey Smith Ministries someone will get saved. A couple after the service said to me, "Why don't you start a Soul-A-Month club. We would like to send you $48.00 a month." Ministry born!

Years ago, I read of a ship that had gone down in the Atlantic and a part of the cargo was a large cross to be delivered to a new church. It was floating in the water and a crew member of the sunken ship climbed on the cross to save his life and he was reaching out to get others to the cross. Wow!

I asked a graphic artist to draw me a picture of that and here it is - don't you love it? It grabs my heart every time I look at it.

See yourself saved by the cross and with $48.00 a month you are bringing someone drowning in sin to safety. What a privilege and responsibility.

You can email or call our office for a free envelope. Please keep this envelope in an upright visible place. Sandy and I lean our big envelope against the wall at our desk where we write our check. It will bless you just to see it, and then take the appropriate envelope and mail it to see a soul saved each month.

No, don't reach out to touch someone - reach out to save someone by helping them to the cross of the Lord Jesus. Of course, your $48.00 each month to save a soul is tax-deductible.

Yours for souls,
Bailey Smith

P.S. - By the way with, some churches it cost $100,000 to $300,000 to see one convert.

Please make your check to Bailey Smith Ministry. Some are giving $96.00 a month representing a soul for the husband and wife.

Please mail your contribution to:
Soul-A-Month Ministries
Bailey Smith Ministries
P.O. Box 450649
Atlanta, GA 31145

And people say Calvinism is bad - jeesh! It reminds me of that other religious organization that asked for money for the salvation of souls. Somebody remind me of the guy that stood up to them. Wasn't he a monk of some sort?

All kidding aside, I truly hope that this is representative of the extreme fringes of Southern Baptist belief.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

2005-10-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

On the recommendation of World Magazine and a few of my friends, Marie and I went to see The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I have to say that I was surprised that it wasn't more over the top in the foul language category or obscenity (of course, we had checked out those things beforehand). But overall, I was completely unaffected by this movie.

I've seen movies that were much more frightening and intense, so the scare factor wasn't all that high. I've seen courtroom movies with much better acting and high-impact scenes, so the drama wasn't all that strong. And I've seen movies that made a much deeper spiritual statement about the existence of God, so the message of the movie wasn't all that profound.

Emily writes, "People say God is dead. How can they continue to believe that if I show them the devil."

This is the entire message of the movie summed up in one line. Emily Rose is possessed by a demon (spoiler warning, if that's possible) so that she can prove to the world that God and the spiritual realm are real, at least that's what the the virgin Mary told her in a vision. I have not read or seen any other material about this incident, nor do I have a vast knowledge of Roman Catholic teachings on exorcism and demon possession. Yet, I do know that once Jesus Christ comes into a life and sets up His reign in that person's heart, there is no power in heaven or earth that can unseat Him from that throne. So I do not believe that a believer can be possessed by a demon. I believe that there might be at times some sort of demonic oppression and I suppose if demons wanting to knock things off of shelves and make chairs move across floors or make strange noises in the night, that would be completely possible. I've often said that ghost stories might have some validity to them simply because people who believe in a ghost realm, do not believe God when He says that it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment. Anything that takes men away from the truth is fair game to be one of Satan's tactics.

Anyway, big rabbit trail. The movie depicts devils and the spiritual realm to be something that is much more powerful than any human being. I would hate for a true believer to go see this movie and come away with the mistaken impression that even though they are bought with the blood of Christ, that Satan or some demon can come into their body and do what they please. If the movie is a fair representation of the actual people being portrayed (and it probably isn't), then I don't think there was one actual Christian involved with these events. Could this have been a true exorcism. Yeah, it's entirely possible. But what Emily needed was not a priest but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The priest in the movie says at Emily's grave that "Once you've seen [the darkness], it is always with you." His meaning was once you have been opened to the spiritual realm of demons, you will always have their activity around you. This was illustrated by another so-called Christian who was involved with the Exorcism as a doctor. After the incident, he is seen in broad daylight running from unseen tormentors. I turned to Marie in the movie theatre after the priest made this statement and said, "On the contrary, once you have seen the light it dispels the darkness." I believe that it dispels it once and for all.

This movie was pretty cool in some aspects. The possession scenes were freaky to be sure and the court room prosecutor was an interesting character. Even the end of the movie had a neat little twist. But, it did not really affect me at all. I came away with the same confidence in Christ that I have known all my Christian life. I do not believe that I can cast out demons, but I do have the power of the gospel. And if I ever encounter someone with demonic possession, you can bet that I will be using it instead of some crucifix.

The story of Emily Rose is loosely based on the actual exorcism, death, and ensuing trial of Anneliese Michel, a german college student whose parents and priest thought that she had been overcome by demonic forces. She was diagnosed with Epilepsy and died of malnutrition in 1976. Her ordeal first began in 1968 when she began to have uncontrollable seizures and started to hear voices and see visions during her prayers.

The following is an excerpt from The Real Emily Rose.

"The last day of the Exorcism Rite was on June 30th, 1976, and Anneliese was suffering at this point from Pneumonia. She was also totally emaciated, and running a high fever. Exhausted and unable to physically perform the genuflections herself, her parents stood in and helped carry her through the motions. "Beg for Absolution" is the last statement Anneliese made to the exorcists. To her mother, she said, "Mother, I'm afraid." Anna Michel recorded the death of her daughter on the following day, July 1st, 1976, and at noon, Pastor Ernst Alt informed the authorities in Aschaffenburg. The senior prosecutor began investigating immediately. "

And Two More Things...

2005-10-06T11:18:00.000-05:00

This guy is funny. He's thinking, "Darn! I didn't get my camera up in time."

And this ref is thinking, "I wonder what Judy made for dinner tonight."

OH MY OUCH!!!

2005-10-05T17:04:00.000-05:00

Alabama fans are just drooling over the Florida win (and even I have to admit they looked really good). There was only one little damper on the day. Tyrone Prothro's (4) broken leg in the endzone with what would surely have been another Bama TD. You know if this guy could have caught this ball, I would put him on the field in a wheel chair and asked for better pass protection.

Athletes like this are really fun to watch even if they do play for the Tide. He will be sorely missed on the field and I'm sure Tide fans are sorry that this has happened.

From what I hear, though, the break was not as bad as it looks and people are saying Prothro will return next year. For his sake, I hope they are right.

I'm always for the gruesome close-up so I provided it for all of you gruesome close-up connoisseurs.
Have a great day!

And you said it wasn't a big deal...

2005-10-05T16:33:00.000-05:00

This is a page from the October edition of essential connection, a youth publication from LifeWay. And looky there - a whole article on John Calvin. I appreciated the care taken by the author to paint Calvin in a positive light, but I think it is interesting that articles like this are cropping up here and there.

Ole Calvin is getting his day in the limelight again. I hope that the coming storm is more civil than in days past.

Change of Plans in the Baby Dept.

2005-09-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

Well, just as our adoption journey begins, there has been a kink in the plan. You see, aparently adoption agencies don't let expecting parents adopt. That's right folks, you heard it! The Bishop's are expecting another little one. Marie took a couple of pregnancy tests on Monday morning and they both came in positive. She then went to the Doctor to get a blood test and also have him check her thyroid levels. Well, yesterday the blood test came back 100% positive on the pregnancy.

The most remarkable thing about this whole affair is that Marie's thyroid, which has been a major concern over the past few years, is completely normal right now. She has been working with a nutritionalist in Mobile and evidently it has done the job. She will continue to work with him through the pregnancy in order to keep the thyroid functioning well. But praise the Lord! I can't believe that He has been so gracious.

We are both really excited, especially Marie. Connor is also extremely pumped about this. He can't wait to get a hold of his new brother. We keep telling him that it could very well be a girl, but he just says, "Naw, I don't want a sister yet." Marie is due in May and we are probably entering our 7th or 8th week. God is so incredibly good and gracious. This baby represents a lot of prayer and searching on our part and is a testimony to God's grace and mercy. If it is a boy he will probably be named Charles Luke, since that is the name we had picked for our next boy. If it is a girl, we will have to call her "girlie" or something for a while because we can't decide on a suitable girl name.

Anyway folks, Bishop now has two spawn. This may be more than the world can handle. Soli Deo Gloria!

The "Adoption Questions" Begin

2005-09-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

Adoption is not a selfless act of suffering. I know that people don't mean to sound this way, but what I'm getting is that folks generally think of adoption as taking on someone else's child. There is always a degree of burden in caring for someone else's child. I mean, let's face it, there is a reason we pay babysitters. But adoption is so much more than a lifetime committment to babysitting. I have heard people say that we are doing a great thing for a child, but at this point it is much more about the blessing we will receive in the awesome privilege of parenting. This child will be the realization of the desire of our hearts just like a biological child would be.

My hunch is that people just don't have a frame of reference for this sort of thing and when they have someone of which they feel close enough to ask honest questions, they spill them. I'm all for the honest questions, and I don't mind answering why we're adopting or questions about the adoption process. It is amusing to me, however, to find this sort of thing happening so quickly.

Maybe I Just Don't Get It

2005-09-22T12:59:00.000-05:00

Banner of compassion Photo by Norm Miller Planting the Christian flag in New Orleans, said Bobby Welch (center), is “an expression of our hope the Gospel of Jesus Christ will go forth as never before in New Orleans.” Accompanying Welch: David Hankins (left), executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention; New Orleans pastor Fred Luter (striped shirt) and Baton Rouge pastor Stephen Trammell.

Adopting Charlie

2005-09-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have heard by now that we are planning to adopt a child from the Ukraine. We have long thought of the possibility of adoption and through the influence of some dear friends, we have been brought to the threshold. We will be completing the beginning phase of paperwork in order to become eligible for adoption. Please pray for us that we will be able to discern which child is our child and that the process would go smoothly. I am excited and only grow more excited the more I think about it. Please pray also that the Lord would provide us the funds to take such a step. Most importantly, pray for our child, Charles Luke, that he will be taken care of and that we will come to him in the Lord's time. We are expecting to be able to travel to the Ukraine in the Spring.

There's Just Something About That Name

2005-09-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

Au-burn, Au-burn, Auuuuuuu-burn,

There's just something about that name.

Au-burn, Au-burn, Auuuuuuu-burn,

Like the fragrance after the rain.

May I just say that all my yelling at the t.v. and at the game the last two weeks has evidently paid off. While I did not watch nor listen to the Auburn massacre of Ball State, that bastion of college football from up north, I am excited to hear that the movers and shakers on the plains have been doing a little moving and shaking. You see, I hear that my favorite midget, Tre Smith (22), is doing less ball carrying these days. "Hey Tre! One great game against Bama doesn't make you a Cadillac, or any other midsize sedan for that matter." I am glad to see our offensive coordinator making some great moves by placing some of these other, more talented, men in the backfield.

We did attend the Mississippi State game and were just thrilled to ride around Auburn with our flags flapping and our stereo blaring the Auburn fight song (yeah, I bought the CD). It was great to be in that sea of orange watching the fighter jets fly over, seeing Spirit fly around the stadium and hear that incredible opening cadence from the Auburn band. There is just nothing like college game day. I had a game dog right as I entered the stadium. I knew it was going to be a good day. My parents came to the game and sat right in front of us. I enjoyed hitting my Dad in the back of the head with the shaker and hearing him go, "Son!". My brother and sister were also at the game, sitting down in the lower level right in the north end zone. They met us after the game at an Italian restaurant and we all enjoyed a calzone. What a day!

That being said, the game itself was kind of boring. Both teams looked really uninspired. The action was often slow and since there was no heightened sense of competition due to state's lack of offense, it became harder and harder to stay involved with the game. It was nice to see our first rushing TD for the season come from a redshirt freshman. O Lester (28), how we hope you will become one of the great ones.

I raise a glass to Auburn football. You are my one true love in sports.

Spotty at Best

2005-09-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to throw a line to all you Bishop blog watchers (I believe the number is actually up to five), and tell you that I have not disappeared again. On the contrary, I have a few things to say about Auburn again; as well as making some comments on the revival I was a part of this past week in Sylacauga. Dr. Lawson preached and I led music. I am trying to distill my thoughts so that it is worth your time to read. I had no time to blog while I was there. Shoddy work, I know, but it's the best I've got.

War Eagle Anyway!

2005-09-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

I am still an Auburn fan. I am still a Brandon Cox fan.

It was a tremendous disappointment to lose the first game of the season and to break our winning streak. I would have loved to see it go to 21. That being said there were some good things that happened in the game against Georgia Tech.

Let me open by quoting my brother-in-law. "We got beat by a better team." I don't know that I felt that way Saturday night, but in retrospect I do think that GT was just all around a better team. My disappointments were mainly our defense and our sloppiness (ie. penalties and poor execution). I was ready to see Stanley McGlover (75) put a Plainsman whoopin on Reggie Ball. That didn't happen. I was ready to see Quentin Groves (54) get nasty on somebody. That didn't happen either. Our DB's were not aggressive enough and I would cut Will Herring (35) from the starting team until he can learn to put his arms around somebody and actually tackle them. And I could've slapped David Irons (4) for that first touchdown. With the way Calvin Johnson was dropping passes, Irons certainly could've helped him drop that pass if he had been anywhere in sight. By the way, Calvin, aren't you supposed to have that shirt tucked in?

I was pleased with the overall performance of Brandon Cox (12). I really think he is going to end up being a great quarterback. I was impressed with his poise in the pocket and his quick delivery. He was not as accurate as I had been led to believe, especially on the long ball, but he generally made good throws and brought a good game for his first time out. Especially since he was facing the blitz king defense of GT. He settled down pretty well after the first two drives and really didn't unravel until late in the game. He needs to hold on the the ball better when he scrambles and should improve on some of the choices he makes. He likes Anthony Mix (9) as a receiver, which is good, but I would love to see Courtney Taylor (86) get a few more looks.

I'm not a Tre Smith (22) fan. But its not because I don't want to be. Tre did an excellent job making good on the screen pass and was pretty good when he actually turned the corner. I don't think he has the agility or size to be a great running back. He didn't open up a running game for us because the GT defense didn't really fear him. When he does get to break out and run he does fine until he is bumped or grabbed, then he goes right down. I just don't want to be yelling "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" when we are 10 down in the fourth.

It is my personal opinion that if we were to use Carl Stewart (32) and Kenny Irons (23) as a double threat team of backs we would enjoy the same defense stunning offense that we had last year. Defensive Coordinators just had nowhere to go because they knew when they blitzed, they were going to get passed on, when they covered deep they were going to get a short drop to a great runner, when they covered short there were wide receivers waiting in the wings and backs that could make things happen on the ground. I don't think John Tenuta ever felt like he was stuck.

Like I said, overall I was disappointed but encouraged at the same time. While I hate to lose, there are some promising things on the horizon for Auburn.

One more thing. Everyone is going to moan when I say this, but I think Auburn has a better shot at the SEC title than a lot of teams this year. We don't play Tennessee or Florida in our regular season which means we only have three big games left on the schedule. I predict we will be 5-1 going into LA. We will be a more mature team and be a more consistent team. Cox will be a better leader. We have a legitimate shot at LSU. Our biggest challenge lies in Georgia. The Dawgs are going to be beasts this year, they looked GREAT! If we can beat them, then I know we can beat that bunch of cry babies in Tuscaloosa (I hate BAMA). If, and I do mean if, we can make those three hurdles while not overlooking the other teams on our schedule, then I think we've got a great shot at playing in the SEC championship again this year. And if we win that one? Who knows?

WAR EAGLE!!!

Late Post

2005-09-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

There's a story worth checking out that didn't get posted until today, but you have to read down below the N'awlins post.

The Big Sleazy

2005-09-02T07:47:00.000-05:00

I am already tired of the media frenzy that is the N.O. aftermath. Leave it to the media to make the hurricane and its effects the fault of all things republican. People are complaining that aid has not arrived faster. They are saying that we can help in Iraq and in countries devastated by the tsunamies, but that we won't help our own people. Some twitty Entertainment Tonight anchor was visibly angry as she signed off the show, citing her frustration at the current administration for not doing more to help those at home. They will blame the war in Iraq, they will blame upper class apathy, they will blame poor administration and engineering, and they will blame you and me, but they will not help themselves.

Rescue workers are trying to get into a ravaged city to help people evacuate from homes and public areas such as the Super-Dome, hospitals, and hotels. What do they receive as welcome? Bullets. That's right, the sub-human riff-raff which are the gangs of New Orleans are firing live ammunition in the direction of aid-workers heads. One hundred and fifty boats were lined up the other day ready to head into the city to help evacuate stranded people. The first boat out gets shot at. A helicopter dropping supplies and lifting out people gets shot at. A rescue unit on top of a hospital evacuating critical care patients into a helicopter has sniper fire opened up on them. People in the Convention Center are dying and these gangs are raping, beating, robbing and terrorizing. This is one of the main reasons why aid is being delayed. People simply don't want to risk life and limb in order to save some simpleton with an uzi.

If it were my family in that mess, I would have started walking a long time ago. I would at the very least be trying to evacuate myself. God gave us two legs on which to walk and that is what I would use them for. I understand that some of these people can't walk out due to the strain of poor health, or age, or some other malady. However, most of these people could walk and should walk out of New Orleans. I have a feeling after watching hours of coverage in growing frustration, that their are only three kinds of people left in New Orleans: those with genuine physical restrictions such as age, ambulatory problems, or some other affliction, those that want to cause anarchy and terror, and those that are simply waiting for a hand-out.

I wish I were not so pessimistic about these poor people. I genuinely feel deep pain for those that are stuck there. It just seems like so many of them would rather sit and complain than get off their rear ends and do something about their own situation. Of course, this is what the government has trained them to do - sit and wait for someone to give them something.

I know that this is not a very diplomatic post (but no one reads my blog anyway), but I needed to get this off my chest. Send in the Marines, kill anyone with a gun after one warning. Take these people out of there and get them medicine, food, and water. Let the Mayor of New Orleans continue to curse God for what has happened, and let this be a sober reminder that people are completely, totally, and utterly depraved and sin-sick. This is just another testimony of the Godlessness that is New Orleans.

If you were locked in a room with me would you...
	sit and discuss theology
	ask me to sing a song
	give me money to leave you alone
	give me money to sing a song

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