This just in...

The Complete Move

2006-05-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

Well, .Mac and iWeb finally got together to allow for comments on their webpages. And so blogspot will no longer be serving as my "comments" page. It will stay up for the old blogs that it holds but this is the last new material that you will most likely see here. For those who need another link to my current blog, it is "http://web.mac.com/wccox". Have a good day.

The Walk-Off

2006-05-14T13:36:00.000-04:00

Should You Choose to Accept It

2006-05-11T23:54:00.000-04:00

May Day/Silent Night

2006-05-02T01:47:00.000-04:00

Welcome Back

2006-04-28T23:19:00.000-04:00

Gotta Serve Somebody

2006-03-31T23:44:00.000-05:00

All is Calm

2006-03-25T13:53:00.000-05:00

Lenten Madness

2006-03-23T10:36:00.000-05:00

The Great Barbecue Explosion of '06

2006-03-21T23:32:00.000-05:00

This Duck Won't Be Lame

2006-03-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

Scattered All Around

2006-03-17T01:18:00.000-05:00

The Christian is a Recovering Addict

2006-03-12T17:50:00.000-05:00

The Chronicles of Chris and EA

2006-03-10T23:44:00.000-05:00

Stand

2006-03-08T00:38:00.000-05:00

Out of the Box

2006-03-07T10:46:00.000-05:00

The Mountain

2006-03-02T23:44:00.000-05:00

Forty

2006-03-02T01:05:00.000-05:00

Remembering Cuba

2006-02-26T12:34:00.000-05:00

The Spell Begins to Break

2006-02-24T16:34:00.000-05:00

The Lords of Un-Discipline

2006-02-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

Death of the Cool

2006-02-18T22:43:00.001-05:00

Lead of Love

2006-02-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

Weekend in GSP

2006-02-18T22:41:00.000-05:00

So here's the deal. Several people are disappointed with the lack of comment making possibilities with the new site. So...I am providing links on my new blogs back to this site to allow for comments. Convuluted? Yes. But it's the best I got right now.

New Home

2006-02-11T11:51:00.000-05:00

The blog is moving to a nicer home for at least 60 days. I'll probably be updating on this site, but for the new site go to:
This just in...

Our Story So Far

2006-02-06T15:01:00.000-05:00

My first memory of EA Ferree is nothing romantic. It was May 21, 2002. My birthday. At the end of TNT, some guys from my freshman hall barged in to throw in me in the lake, which is a cesspool. Well anyway, someone (it very well may have been Justin Nelson) declared that EA's birthday was on the 24th so she should go in too. And she did.

We didn't really catch each other's attention until about 11 months later. I had sworn off dating which pretty much set me up for the fall. BCM's creative arts team was supposed to go do a youth service at Berea First Baptist. I was in charge of the drama team (and thus this outing) and EA worked with Berea's youth group.

I was supposed to meet her on a Monday evening. I forgot. I got back to my dorm room and there was a message from her on the machine. In an apologetic panic, I called her up and asked if there was anything that I could do to make it up to her. She said I better be at her door on my knees with a flower.

I didn't have a flower. But I did have blue and green markers. So I drew a blue tulip on a piece of paper and showed up at her doorstep on my knees. She forgave me.

Over the next month, we hung out a lot. Throwing stuff off the balcony of Blackwell. Fighting each other with water guns. But mainly talking. There was something about this girl. As school wound down, I told my parents that I liked this girl. But I was not going to ask her out until after Seesalt because I didn't want to be distracted.

I asked her out the night Seesalt was over. We had kept in touch over the summer and she actually came down to visit the last week of camp. That Friday night, July 25, I did a horrible job of asking her to go out with me. But she still said yes.

Over the next year, there were plenty of interesting stories. On our first date back at Furman, we went to fair. In a display of foolish manhood, I rode the Gravitron and nearly threw up afterwards. Winter Foreign Study took me away from her for about five weeks (including our six month anniversary and Valentine's Day).

It was over that next summer that I decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this girl. I cannot exactly describe what it felt like. You can't explain love. Anyone that tries to put it in a three-minute song or a chick flick is fooling themselves. But I wanted to be with EA forever.

On October 21, my family set up the stage at the Cornerstone Theater. We were going home for fall break. I had Dad call me to say that he needed us to come by the theater before going home. I acted agitated. We put on a nice show. When we got to Lyman, there was a candlelit dinner. She cried. I asked her to marry me. She said yes. And we danced on the stage.

She became EA Cox on August 6 on that same stage. That was six months ago today. I can honestly say that I would have gone crazy in these last six months without her. She has been my encouragement and my support in a difficult time of transition.

We have our ups and downs like anyone. But I love her all the same. More than she knows in fact. She is a wonderful wife, a beautiful woman, and my best friend.

I just want her, and the rest of you, to know that.

Adventures in the Left-Hand Side of the Bible

2006-02-04T18:34:00.000-05:00

Ah, the Old Testament. For a lot of Christians it's like the crazy uncle that no one likes to talk about. It makes no sense, raises too many questions, and everyone wonders how the heck it is related to the relative that everyone else loves. But in the rough and tumble world of Old Testament History, we have to encounter it head on.

In an inordinate display of responsibility, I decided to do some homework on a Saturday in order to avoid some midweek stress. This week's assignments in OTH calls on me to read about Judges and 1 Samuel. I don't know when you last read Judges, but it's pretty bleak stuff.

Judges is about cycles, but it seems like a downward spiral. Israel is disobedient. The enemy oppresses them. With nowhere to go, Israel cries out to God. God sends a judge to deliver them. Peace reigns again. And Israel returns to disobedience.

But the judges go from righteous (Othniel) and wise (Deborah) to successful yet idolatrous (Gideon) to hormonal vigilante (Samson). The book ends with civil war and all of Israel "did what was right in their own eyes".

How did the Promised Land turn into this? What do these stories of war, bloodshed, vengeance, rape, child sacrifice, and apostasy have to do with a God of hope, love, and mercy?

This is our crazy uncle, but it is our uncle nonetheless. Instead of being like Marcion and seeking to kick the Hebrew Bible out of the family, we should trace our lineage.

The OT kills me. I don't understand it. God seems different. And Israel frustrates the fool out of me. God keeps saving them and they just keep going back to doing whatever the heck they please. And there's the kicker...they're just like us.

We are often most critical of that which we see in ourselves. We turn to God when things get bad (9/11 or Katrina) or we invoke Him in those times that it is advantageous (politics usually). And then we go on with our lives. I wonder if God ever gets sick of us using Him.

But hope is always around the corner. The very next book, 1 Samuel, opens with a woman named Hannah. She prays for a child and promises to give him to God. That kid was named Samuel and he was the beginning of a return to Yahweh. The faithfulness of a few brought the rest back to life.

There are always going to be things in the left-hand side of the Bible that I don't like or understand and I could write about those topics for days. There is always going be those difficulties. But it is part of our tradition.

We don't need to ignore it, belittle it, or even accept without question. We should wrestle with it and learn to love it. Sort of like the crazy uncle, but I don't recommend wrestling with a crazy uncle.

Which, by the way, I don't have a crazy uncle. Just the Old Testament.

In the Woods

2006-02-01T23:58:00.000-05:00

And the wheels just keep on turnin'
The drummer begins to drum
I don't know which way I'm goin'
I don't know which way I've come

I decided to run outside today. I'm trying to get back into shape for a 5K race in April. They don't run 5K races on treadmills, so I figured I should reacquaint myself with hills and trails.

The race is actually being held at Mercer, so I decided that I should run the wooded trail that I have been avoiding because of its monstrous hill. But I decided I would go on the trail backwards hoping that the hill was more gradual on the other side.

Somewhere along the way I took a turn that was part of an extension of the trail. I did not have much of an idea where I was or how much of the trail was left. Both of those factors were important considering how little I have run of late. And by "of late", I mean the last six months.

So I'm just running in the woods not knowing where I was. And that is sort of how my life has felt recently as well. I really do not like school right now. I don't know if I am just tired of sitting in a classroom or if I'm sick of having to prove myself. I just do not feel like I am doing anything; just busy work.

I wrote three more paragraphs venting, but I just deleted them all. Dwelling on my frustration will not do much. Besides, I am very well off: beautiful wife, loving family, friends, food in the kitchen, and a roof over my head and water isn't pouring from it.

The thing that I want to do with my days is to honor God. I know that sounds horribly youth groupish (or Passiony, Piperesque, or...well, I could come up with a lot more), but that is what I desire.

This faith of mine is not meant just for me. That is something I have always known, but I'm trying to figure out what that looks like away from a discipleship group or BCM; away from all that I have known for 22 years. And that is difficult. That is the woods and it is part of growing up.

I got out of the woods this afternoon. Mainly because I kept going. Frustration comes and goes. The two page reflection paper that I had to write tonight may be an afterthought when I have to do it again next week. This semester may turn out to be fulfilling. Or God may only want me here for this short time before something else.

It's like the woods. I don't know where exactly I'm going or where I am. I must live with a faith that goes beyond my human patience. I just have to wait and see.

This Ordinary Day

2006-01-30T18:06:00.000-05:00

7 AM. My morning starts earlier than I would like it to. The alarm clock is on my side of the bed and I have a beautiful wife that must be at work by 8. My routine is fairly regular. Smack the snooze twice and make sure she gets up on the third alarm. Then I reset the alarm for 8:20 and go back to sleep after EA tells me goodbye.

At about 8:20, I begin an argument with myself. "That's the alarm. Get up." "Shut up, I don't have to be at work until 10." "But you can have a leisurely morning. Read the news while eating breakfast. Make fun of the 'Today Show'." I smack the snooze button.

15 minutes later, I crawl out of bed and groggily head for the shower. I read last night that your first 20 minutes awake are just as if you never slept. Probably true, I thought to myself as my left shoulder knocked the door post into the bathroom.

After showering, I throw on my dress clothes for work. It horrifies me to think that I have likely worn dress clothes more in the past six months than in the previous six years.

Data monkey business was about the same today. Joel gave us a query last Friday and we finished it up pretty quickly today. So the only thing to do was to read newsletters. A few interesting tidbits: First Baptist Walterboro had a picture from Chillipepper of Mark Stuart in the audience. Also, Jerry Falwell is speaking at First Baptist Texarkana. That's all I got. Make jokes where you want.

Because of the lack of work, I left CBF International Headquarters at 1 and headed to the Mercer Bookstore to buy a few textbooks. After going home to change (into shorts and a t-shirt), I grabbed laundry and met EA for lunch at Subway.

After a lovely lunch with my wife, I went to the laundromat. I went over to change machine, put in $5, and then pretended like I hit the slots jackpot as quarters clinked down into the cup.

I loaded up the laundry and went about finishing off Through Painted Deserts(an excellent book). Unfortunately, I finished it too quickly which left me to be hypnotized by the spinning washers and dryers.

EA came over to fold the clothes and I threw on my hooded sweatshirt. There's nothing like a sweatshirt straight from the dryer. I told EA once that I was going to write her a song called "Your Love is Like a Sweatshirt From the Dryer". You can stretch out dryer for like five syllables, which the country fans love. Also, I can rhyme "fire", "higher", and "desire". It's basically a license to print my own money.

After dropping the laundry off by home. I headed for Cokesbury, the Methodist version of Lifeway, for some more textbooks. They were cheaper there. It was a little after 4:00, so I opted for taking the back roads rather than 285. Mistake. Another example of the Other Line Phenomenon.

The Other Line Phenomenon occurs most frequently at the grocery store when you choose the shorter of two checkout lines. But for some inexplicable reason, the longer line moves faster. It made sense for me to avoid 285, but a trip that would have taken me 5 minutes on the interstate took 25 minutes on the back roads. Other Line Phenomenon. Remember that.

I found a few more textbooks at Cokesbury. Nice place. Interesting mixture of books. Friendly staff. Most of all, I got a 20% discount for being a seminary student. After the bookstore I drove back (on 285) for the apartment. I took out the garbage and put a pizza in the oven.

Bored because no one else is home, I decided to play with the self-timer on my digital camera. That's why there is an attempt at an artsy picture at the top of the blog. EA got home at about the same time as the pizza came out of the oven. We dined and talked.

That's been my day. How has your's been?

The Difference Between 26 and 28

2006-01-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

I don't really consider myself a math person. The last math course I took was Math 16 during my freshman year at Furman. The course was called Finite Mathematics. I liked that. It meant it stopped. It's not that I was ever bad at math. I just found it as exciting as waiting for my number to be called at the DMV.

This past week, EA and I received an evite to Matt McNair's birthday party. The party was to be on the 28th at 8 o'clock. So last night we left for Matt and Janie's apartment, looking forward to a night with some friends and an opportunity to meet some new people.

Most apartment complexes in the Atlanta area are gated and the McNair's is no different. In some of these places, you can just follow a resident through the gate. This place is much safer. The bar swings down with decapatating capability. So we went to the little box to call Matt and Janie. No answer. Line behind us. Must re-group.

We pulled around to a parking space. I'm assuming that they can't hear the phone because of the party. I call Matt's cell phone and get a guy named Alex. Matt has changed his phone. EA tries to call her parents to check the evite online for us. They aren't home either.

By this time, I'm looking at the gates and trying to figure out ways to climb over them and otherwise break into the complex. I don't verbally express these ideas because, well, I'm supposed to be an adult. We go around to the box again to call. Matt answers.

"This is EA and Chris. We're at the gate."

"Uh...okay."

You know how many movies have those slow-motion flashbacks where the protagonist realizes they missed something earlier? That's sort of the feeling that EA and I were simultaneously having. Suddenly, we're wondering if the 28 was actually a 26.

It was a 26. Matt opened the door and it was just he and his wife there in the apartment. There are things in life that are hard to put into the words: love, why you like a certain movie or kind of music, and awkwardness. I'll let you guess which we felt.

Despite being unannounced, Matt and Janie welcomed us into their home. We ended up staying for nearly 3 hours and talked, which probably means they didn't let us stay just out of pity. Which is nice.

We ended up having a great time last night; one that was a bit unexpected. Usually when you screw up something as simple as the difference between 26 and 28, it bites you in the butt. It was nice to have friends gracious enough to let us see the flip side.

"Heaven comes much later"

2006-01-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

A man and a woman are standing just off the beach. Surrounding their feet is the charred brush from a fire the night before. The woman, carrying her baby, asks about baptism. She's worried about her son. Will baptism get her boy to heaven? The man, a strong African priest, smiles and relates the story of Jesus and John the Baptist. When John saw the dove descend from heaven, he knew that freedom had come. In a thick accent, but a warm voice he said, "Heaven comes much later."

That scene was not from some evangelistic movie. Nor a church drama. It was one of the closing scenes in tonight's episode of "Lost". Mr. (or should I say Father) Eko's words have reverberated in my head since then. There's a certain tension to this world. Jesus preached that the Kingdom of God (sometimes translated as "Heaven") was here and that it was still coming. That puts the Christian in an odd place.

It is likely true that the gospel most frequently preached today runs on the fuel of heavenly paradise and hellish peril. It is about getting to heaven or avoiding hell. And that is certainly part of the story, but it isn't the whole thing. It's the end. What good is The Sixth Sense if we know Bruce Willis is a ghost when we don't go through the journey with him? It goes from great movie to nifty idea.

The Christian faith is about so much more than heaven and hell. We're missing the journey. What would the point of the rest of our lives be? Perhaps the rest of our lives are about freedom. Maybe we are still here to progress the reign of God with the love that our new freedom makes possible. Maybe, just maybe, our salvation by grace is about others just as much as, if not more than, it is about ourselves.

Let's say heaven is the afterlife; a place (do not point anywhere). If that is the case, I agree with Eko. Salvation, represented by baptism, is about more than just going to heaven. It is about freedom. The reign of God that began with His Son and extends into the now and on towards heaven. We can look forward to that great day. But, for now, let us say that heaven comes much later.

. . .pepper

2006-01-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

I inherited this tradition. It goes back as far as I can remember. And it is officially called the Not Yet Ready for Evening Worship Service Singers, but we have shortened it to the Not Yet Readies. Basically, it is a group of us that are not the most musically adept Seesalt staffers. We're the ones who do not sing solos.

So each week of Seesalt, we lead the music on the last morning of the week. These are loud, motion-fueled, active VBS songs. It's a Friday morning tradition. It has also become a staple of Saturday morning the past couple of years at Chillipepper. Last year, Steven and I led the group. This year all Seesalt staffers, ready and not ready, joined us on the stage. It was beautiful.

There is a tradition within this tradition. It is called "Arky Arky"; also known as "Rise and Shine". Wes Church, a Hall of Famer among the NYR, would go into complete spasms during the line "Give God the glory, glory". When he left about four years ago, it was up to me to take up his mantle.

The song is likely going to kill me one day. I throw my entire body into it. My friend Emily said that it looks like my arms disconnect from shoulder. For all I know, they do. The best visual representation I can give you is a picture that my friend Lauren took this past Saturday:We did this for two sessions and I was about to collapse at the end of each one and my arms and shoulders have been sore since then. But you haven't lived until you have seen eight hundred people give God the glory, glory like this. The rest of the morning, I emceed; introducing guests and dismissing people at the end. Dad has a lot of faith in me. By the end of the weekend, I got more comfortable doing this. It was actually rather fun.

Fast forward to Saturday night. Audio Adrenaline put on, in my opinion, the best concert that we've had in Chillipepper history. The crowd was into it from the first song to the close. They brought rock to Sevierville and the students loved every second of it. Oh, and my wife, Emily, and Sarah danced around like little teenage girls. Just thought I'd throw that in.

The amazing thing about this was that Mark Stuart's gravelly voice sounded like it was going to crack all night long. Audio A is actually calling it quits soon because of his vocal problems. It was like watching a football player who was badly injured going back on the field snap after snap and finishing off the game. He's a topnotch performer.

Also impressive was Will McGinniss's brief testimony after "Ocean Floor". Most Christian bands have these obligatory moments in concert, but the words of the bassist did not sound like canned routine. Rather he spoke from the heart; simply and eloquently relating to those screaming students how great God is and challenging them to make a difference in this world. He told them that we do not need Bono or the government to initiate change in this world. That is what the church is for.

Sunday is always a bittersweet day; mainly because we had to leave. After our traditional late-afternoon lunch at Apple Barn, we said goodbye. It was especially hard for me this year because I live nowhere near any of these people. It was especially hard saying goodbye to my parents, brother, and sister. And I know I will see them again soon. I just can't see that when I have to say goodbye after a wonderful weekend with family and friends.

It was a great weekend and that is an understatement. I could've put much more in these two blogs from hanging out backstage with the Techies to meeting my brother's new girlfriend Tiffany (quality individual), but alas I have gone too long.

My only regret is that I did not get a Chillipepper t-shirt to go along with my hooded sweatshirt. I hope that kid in North, South Carolina appreciates my sacrifice.

Chilli. . .

2006-01-22T23:21:00.000-05:00

(While eating a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and half-watching Erin Brokovich in an effort to avoid any highlights of the Panthers' NFC Championship debacle)

I have written on several occasions about how I enjoy to run in spite of the fact that it exhausts me to no end. There is something that tires me far more than a run, but I love it infinitely more than running. "It" is working at conferences like Chillipepper and Seesalt. There is an obvious bias on my part, but love is one of the few well-behaved children of bias.

This weekend over 1700 youth converged on Sevierville, TN for a three days. EA and I got there Thursday night to help set up. Much was already done, but I was fortunate enough to get there in time to hang the letters spelling out "Chillipepper" from the catwalk. These letters have a long and storied history which mainly includes them falling during the conference. The hanging of the letters is always an event.

The best part of Thursday and Friday is the reunions. I get to see my family, biological and extended. There is something about reunions that is both goofy and heart-warming. On one hand, we make these silly faces and noises like "heyyyyyy" and "ahhhhh" usually accompanied by a high-pitched statement of their name. But these are friends and family so you don't care about appearing goofy.

The churches start coming in Friday evening. This is always an exciting, hectic, and awkward time. It is exciting because there is this buzz in the air. Teenagers have this kinetic energy and when you multiply that energy by hundreds in a lobby waiting to head down for their seats, then hectic is an appropriate term.

It is also exciting because we get to see campers from Seesalt, but it is also awkward because you don't remember some of their names. I recognize them. I remember their personality. They might have been one of the strongest students in my Bible study group. But after meeting hundreds of students over the summer and the time that passes from late July to January, it is sometimes hard to remember their names. And I feel bad, because they're important. But forgetting someone's name is a lousy way to show them they're important.

Everything got off to a great start Friday night. We have two sessions: Alpha and Omega. Big Daddy Weave (some of the nicest, most down-to-earth guys you'll meet) led music and the students loved them. Al Fike (comedian) and Dave Edwards (speaking) did a great job, also.

One of the cooler moments was getting to talk in the chat room with a couple of guys who were in a discussion group that I led my senior year in college. It was amazing to see how much they had matured in just a few months and how they wanted their faith to be the routine of church and "being good". They're solid guys and I pray that they inspire others in their youth group to live that way.

A little after midnight, we all gathered in the lobby. We'd meet again at 8 in the morning. I said good night to my mom and dad, brother, sister, and friends. Then EA and I headed to bed.

(Tomorrow: Part 2)

There was a time. . .

2006-01-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Today was Martin Luther King Day and Atlanta is his hometown. While I was in the laundromat, the television was on a celebration at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King preached. I was transfixed by the intensity of the speaker. The cadence of his voice was almost hypnotic. He implored the congregation to look at this day as more than just a holiday.

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" may be the most powerful letter written outside of the Paul's epistles. I first read it in a college philosophy course. The words thundered off of the page. Here was a man that truly believed in the Gospel and its power. You could pull numerous quotes from it, but here is one that speaks volumes to where we live today:

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated."

What does he mean, "There was a time. . ."? Political parties have to hear our voices. Our views are all over the news. After all, this is a "Christian" nation. We have prestige and power.

The trouble is the Gospel was never about power, at least not the power with which the world is familiar. And the power to influence a politician is nothing like what Dr. King is referencing, a conviction that transforms society.

There was a time. That time still does exist, but it is somewhere off in the background. Behind the screaming heads on the television and our man-made cathedrals, there are many people that understand that the Gospel is not about the American dream or the status quo.

It's about freedom. Freedom from oppression. Freedom from loneliness. Freedom from hunger. Freedom from hatred. Freedom from the sin that robs us of our humanity. A freedom for all people. And it is the privilege of flawed people like Dr. King, you, I, and everyone that calls themselves "Christian" to declare that freedom to a world enslaved.

There was a time. We will see that time again.

Change Beneath the Golden Arches

2006-01-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

I always get the Big Mac whenever I go to McDonald's. Always. My sophomore year of college I read Fast Food Nation. It disturbed me, but not enough. Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Always. Plus fries and a Coke.

The close proximity of McDonald's has made it a frequent stop for supper when we aren't cooking. Last week, after downing another Big Mac, the #1 combo, I told EA not to let me eat another one. I did not want my arteries to clog like 285 after work lets out. It would be tough. I always got the Big Mac.

Not today. When I got home from class, EA announced she wanted to voyage to the Golden Arches for dinner. This was my moment of truth. I glanced two rows down and there it was. Chicken Ranch BLT. Grilled. I left what I knew behind. And it was great. Better than the Big Mac.

It's been spring here this week. Beautiful weather and warm temperatures. It messes with your head; makes you think about newness. It made me think about change. The Beautiful Letdown has been in my car CD player this week. There's something about those songs that stir something inside of me. Makes me want to do something with my life.

There's a certain idealism in college that one picks up. You want to change the world. I am afraid I am too much of a coward to tackle that kind of challenge. God only knows how much strength He'll have to give me. Big Mac to Chicken Ranch BLT. Big deal. I do want to see miracles, to see the world change. Let it be so.

Soundtracks

2006-01-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

I'm a media junky. I don't know if you've picked up on that, but I like my movies, television, and music. I love them all. The popcorn-accompanied goodness of a great movie. The unabashed excellence of an episode of "Lost". But if you forced me to pick one over all the others, I'd go with music. I'll tell you why.

They say that smell is the sense that is most closely tied to memory. I'm not sure if that's true. Because whenever I hear songs, my mind goes back to certain periods of my life.

Whenever I hear 40 Acres by Caedmon's Call, I am reminded of the summer after my freshmen year of high school. I remember Wes Church crowing about the drums kicking in on the second verse of "Daring Daylight Escape". The radiant acoustic sounds of that album remind me of a long and winding road trip and, appropriately, Crossroads Truckstop.

Jars of Clay's underappreciated classic If I Left the Zoo dominated my new car CD player my junior year at Dorman. Whenever I hear "Grace" or "I'm Alright", my mind goes back to driving home from track meets with the windows rolled down on those late spring nights.

Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown was in my mind before it even came out. The lyrics to "Dare You to Move" danced in my head while I was in Cuba my sophomore year at Furman. The remade version on Letdown would go on to inspire the first dinner theater I wrote and "Gone" would be the first song that I would dance to (like a white guy, when no one was looking).

Jars' Who We Are Instead became the soundtrack of my junior year and that first year with EA. "Sunny Days" became my promise to her as I left for Europe, "Show You Love" found its way into another dinner theater, and I got to see my favorite group perform these songs twice in concert. Everytime I hear the CD, I can't help think of Furman.

Coldplay's X&Y will always be associated with this past summer just because it was always on in our cars. And then there's the individual songs. "Company Car" reminds me of my sister as we wailed along with Switchfoot in the car. "The Scientist" reminds me of my favorite drama we did at BCM. "God Will Lift Up Your Head" reminds me of the joy of Seesalt.

But there is no album for me now. My soundtrack is not really cohesive. There's some Switchfoot, Bob Dylan, Remy Zero, Johnny Cash, Jars, Mae, and others. It's eclectic. And I think that's how my life is right now. It's kind of here and there. And that's not a bad thing; it's just where I am at the time.

So it's funny, despite being the least musical member of my family (right now, my mom is writing an e-mail saying that I do have musical talent) music has had a huge impact on my life. And I suspect the same is true for most of you.

On the Run Again

2006-01-09T20:12:00.000-05:00

It is has been a beautiful day here in Atlanta. Even though it is the dead of winter, it was a shorts day. I missed shorts. There's a freedom to them. I think that this is especially true for guys because we don't care what people think of our legs. So I got to wear shorts again and it was glorious. First time, I've done that in several months.

Today, I did something else that I haven't done in several months; since October to be exact. After leaving the wonderful world of data entry, I headed over to the student center for a run on the treadmill. Despite the beauty of the day, I figured that a treadmill would be a good place to re-start my quest to run consistently. Outside has hills. And hills are very bad. Especially since I don't have the sense to run them like a normal person. No, I have to sprint them.

So the treadmill was a good and healthy place to begin. I learned from the fall return to running that I should not push myself too hard. I probably still ran harder than I should, but I at least had the sense to stop before I started seeing black spots. I guess there are some things that you learn with age.

The one thing that I noticed while I was on the treadmill in the weight room: I was the only guy. I felt a little bit self-conscious. Here I was, sweating up a storm, red faced, listening to my iPod shuffle, and all of these girls were coming towards the treadmill area and then kind of backing off. Perhaps worried that sweat would splatter off of me and onto them.

I didn't feel particularly bad. I have seen these type of girls before. While there are many females that are incredibly athletic and quite a few that could kick my butt, these are the girls that get on the treadmill and walk. And they walk for a very long time. They don't like to get sweaty, but they have to get a workout. It is somewhat annoying to those of us who want to run on the treadmill. It is like someone buying a Mustang and driving 25 MPH in the fast lane.

Anyway, I finished up my run and headed out to my car simultaneously wondering why I ever stopped running and why I ever started up again. I'm sure that my wife could tell me that the psychological stimulants going on are similar to that of drug users and that explains why I keep coming back. She is now affirming that fact. But I love it and it is more healthy for me than smoking pot.

Just to let you know, I don't know that from experience. Call it a hunch. Have a good night.

A Non-Oppressive Exile in Adulthood

2006-01-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today at work, my uncle (who also works at CBF) came by the corner of the supply room. The last few days he had seen me at work and then seen me coming in for class as he was leaving for home. This how the exchange went:

"So you're here for work in the mornings?"

"Yep, four hours."

"And you have three hours of class in the evenings?"

"Yep."

"Five days a week."

"It's the life I've always dreamed of."

I can't say that my nine to seven (that's when I get out of class) is what I would like it to be. I feel a bit stunted creatively and don't get to see EA as much as I would like. As I indicated, it is a non-oppressive exile. I'm thankful that I have a job and that we can eat and have a roof over our head. I just guess I feel like there's something lacking. I'm happy, I promise. On to other happenings:

-I have found the cure for the monotony of work and it is listening to a DVD's worth of "Sports Night" episodes. If you are wondering how I can listen to a TV show, that indicates two things. First of all, you're not a member of my immediate family. Secondly, you need to know that "Sports Night" was a marvelously witty, dialogue-driven show. Naturally, one of my co-workers today said that it was a stupid show. But he's from Texas, so there you go.

-Speaking of Texas, the Rose Bowl was probably the best 1-A game I have seen in a long time. Just an unbelievable game. As I watched Vince Young absolutely dismantle the Southern California (not USC) defense, I couldn't help but thinking about Mike Vick watching the game at home with a sinking feeling that the title of most athletic QB was being taken from him. And then I chuckled to myself.

-One of the happiest occurrences for me this week has been going into my "office" sitting at my new desk and listening to music on my computer via the new speakers. Which reminds me that I want to thank my Granddad for going way over and beyond the call of duty by bringing the desk, helping me put together the desk, and looking at my car. I have some awesome grandparents.

-This week in religious conflict, EA and I just got finished watching the series premier of "The Book of Daniel", a show that has kicked up quite a bit of controversy for a program that hadn't aired. All the ruckus is concerning the depiction of clergy (the main character is a Episcopal priest) and his dysfunctional family. Well, the family is definitely dysfunctional. And there is definite moral dubiousness going on with the priest (pill popping), wife (alcoholism), children (homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, and drug dealing respectively), bishop (extramarital affair), and basically everyone else in the show. Despite all of this, the verdict is semi-positive. Though very flawed, the priest is a character that seems to be honestly pursuing God. And his conversations with Jesus (yeah, he talks to Jesus) are the highlight of the show. Jesus has a sense of humor, gives wise counsel, seems dignified, but loving and accessible. The jury is still out and I can understand the commotion, but there are some positives in the mix.

-Finally, I can't seem to figure out my class. It will be incredibly fascinating one minute and then mind-numbingly boring the next. I am not quite sure what to make of it all. We have dissected Apple's epic "1984" commercial (the father of the Super Bowl commercial), which was rather cool. The people in the class are nice, as is the professor who worked for Turner Broadcasting for 13 years. Stay tuned.

Well, the long post was the result of a busy week. Sorry about it. Anyway, I'm off. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow.

New

2006-01-01T23:48:00.000-05:00

"Is this the new year or just another night?/Is this the new fear or just another fright?/Is this the new tear or just another desperation?"

As I sit here on the first night of the new year, I listen to those words in a song called "The Blues". It is one of those songs that is both painful and beautiful. I live in a world where we are on a constant search for the next new thing. This computer that I type on was new about a year and a half ago. Now it is going the way of the buffalo. Commercials are telling us that, here at the beginning of the new year, we have to start things off right and get a new car or new furniture.

This morning in church, the voice from Ecclesiastes came roaring back to life: "There is nothing new under the sun." From the pulpit, the preacher declared that there was something to this life. I am not going to try to hide what that is, but as I look at the world, I see this cycle. We chase after everything on this planet and it just turns to dust in our hands. I look around and this climate of the haves and the have nots just stuns me. I am so blessed and, many times, happy. I look at others and I don't know what to do.

So there is something new, or rather, something ancient that makes all things new. The word "new" is mentioned 264 times in the New International Version of the Bible. The one I have to think about on New Year's Day is 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. Paul goes on and on about this ministry of reconciliation and I think it is the only thing that can bring hope to this world where the poor suffer, the children starve, the wicked prosper, and joy is a fleeting dream for many.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

God wants His people back; to hold them, to let them know that this world is but a bad dream standing in the way of the true reality that was intended for us long ago. This message of reconciliation does not mean that one just cares for someone's spiritual nature; that would be suggesting that God only cares about one part of us. Rather, God is concerned with us mind, body, heart, and soul. All of that is to be reconciled to God. We should care about every part of the person.

There is something new in this world that no one has seen: hope, joy, peace, love. It is a world apart from what many know now. Anyone in Christ, who has truly experienced that transformation from God is a new creation. I am a terribly cynical person, but I truly believe this. If I, if others, truly seek to show that reconciliation with their lives then I really do believe something amazing will happen. It already is and has been for thousands of years.

Yeah, one day the world is going to cave in. But I think the world that will collapse is this fake, cardboard existence that we have built on our selfishness and pride. What will remain is something that was intended from the beginning, but will seem as new and beautiful as a newborn's smile. Some may say that is utopian idealism. I say that it's the Gospel.

Jesus, God's own son, said it best. The Kingdom is here and the Kingdom is coming. God is going to make creation beautiful again. We have the pleasure and responsibility of working with Him in doing that. In Christ, all things--including this year--are new.

Old

2005-12-31T23:39:00.000-05:00

So this is the end. As I am sitting here on the edge of a new year, I can't help but feel a little bit old. I remember when I was seven years old and 1990 was a huge deal; I had never experienced a new decade before. And I was seven. Things are a heck of a lot more exciting when you are seven.

Of course, I am not truly old. I'm 22 and in the grand scheme of things, that is not many years. I have family members in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s and I don't consider any of them to be old. Yet when I write my age down, my response is "Whoa, when did that happen?" (To which my sarcastic side responds, "In the last twenty-two years, you idiot.")

Being back in my hometown brings back a flood of memories and acute awareness of how time passes. When we got into Spartanburg last night, we ate at Ruby Tuesday, which is located where my high school used to be. The track where I ran is now a Wal-Mart. The whole school razed for a shopping center and now students attend Dorman High School several miles down I-26. And whenever I think about that, it's a bit weird.

Today, we went to my grandparents' house for Christmas. It is quite an experience. Grandma and Granddad, their four children and their spouses, and then 12 grandchildren. 22 people in all. Pure chaos. And I love it. As I looked around at all of my younger cousins, my aunts and uncles, my parents, and my grandparents, I realized that there is great beauty to growing up (not growing old).

Age is not something that you feel weird about or that you mourn. I think a lot of people don't live that way. A few years ago, one of my friends (She will remain nameless, but her name is a synonym for "feline") refused to acknowledge that they had turned 20. There is an entire industry dedicated to making people feel younger: plastic surgery, makeup, etc. Everyone is scared to death of being old.

That's kind of pointless. We can't avoid growing old and isn't a bad thing. As I spent time with my family and listened to stories, I marveled at the journeys that people have taken. After this afternoon, I don't feel as strange about being old, or rather, 22.

As 2005 comes to an end in about 20 minutes, I am glad for what it has brought. I married the girl of my dreams and graduated from the school of my dreams. I have a wonderful family that loves me. I look forward to what's next.

Bored

2005-12-29T19:35:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm bored which means that starting this blog entry is probably a horrendous idea, but here we go anyway. EA has been at work two and a half hours longer than expected. So here I am by myself with the Emerald (that's right, Emerald Nuts) Bowl on TV. And with my luck, Utah just scored another touchdown to send the game into official blowout territory (the score is currently 29-10 with 11:44 left in the game).

Now there is technically something that I should be doing: coming up with something that I want for Christmas (we haven't celebrated Christmas on my side of the family yet). Actually, my wonderful parents are probably at some shopping establishment in the metro Spartanburg area expecting a phone call. And I have no idea what I want, which I guess is good. It means I am rather satisfied with what I have in life. Ah, but what for Christmas? Here are a few ideas in no particular order:

1. Peace on Earth
2. Happiness for my family and a wonderful year for Concoxions and Bethesda Ministries
3. That the NCAA would discover massive recruiting violations at Liberty University as Jerry Falwell continues his Quixotic quest for 1-A glory.
4. That people would experience God's grace in amazing way (even Jerry Falwell)
5. A time machine in order to warn Ingle Martin about the App. State player that will blindside him on the final play of his career.
6. "Leave it Behind" on DVD
7. That all supply lines for toilets will stay intact
8. That my wife knows each day that I love her dearly
9. Nearby locations for Zorba's and Firehouse Subs
10. Something tangible that I can tell my parents

Utah just scored to take a 38-10 lead over Georgia Tech as the excitement continues. And I still got nothing. So let's move on to another issue that has come up as of late: Facebook. I tried and tried to not join into this thing that has overtaken the lives of so many of my age. This week in a fit of boredom (not unlike this one) I caved. I feel like I have compromised some sort of standard. Now that I'm in, I can see why it is so addictive. I just pray that it doesn't become the e-heroin for me that it has become for so many others.

So I got a call from EA and she is still at work. After that, I called Dad and gave him some feeble attempts at gift ideas. He said that he and Mom had some ideas. I told him that I trust their judgment, which I do seeing as how they raised me and I am still quite fond of them both.

We have switched bowl games as the Utes closed out their dismantling of the Yellow Jackets. We are now getting ready to watch Oregon Ducks (great nickname, horrible uniforms) play the Oklahoma Sooners (unusual nickname, classic uniforms) in the Holiday Bowl. I'm about to google Sooner to find out what one is.

Fortunately, the Oklahoma athletics website has a "What is a Sooner?" section. Let me give you a sample:

The Oklahoma Territory opened with the Land Run of 1889. Settlers from across the globe, seeking free land, made their way to the prairies of the plains to stake their claim to a new life. One of the few rules to claiming a lot of land was that all participants were to start at the same time. Those who went too soon were called "Sooners." As time went on, "Sooner" came to be a synonym of Progressivism.

That may be one of the most positive spins on cheating that I have ever seen. Despite being historically informative, that information forces me to pull for the Fighting Water Fowl.

Fake punt! Fake punt! Oregon pulls off one of the greatest plays in football. There is nothing like watching an undersized former soccer player running for his life. Alas, it was all in vain as Oregon goes for it on their next 4th down and fails. Still that fake punt was the most exciting thing to happen since I had two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches six hours ago.

This just in: Rafael Palmeiro named Progressive Baseball Player of the Year narrowly beating out Barry Bonds.

Alright, I think I will spare you of any more of this radomness. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow

Flood

2005-12-28T22:39:00.000-05:00

"Rain, rain on my face/Hasn't stopped raining for days." Well, it wasn't exactly days and it wasn't exactly rain either. Let's set the story:

Last night, EA and I were talking to my dad on the computer. EA hears a noise coming from the back of our apartment and runs to our bedroom. She screams for me and that was the beginning of a very long night.

Pouring through the light fixture in our closet was water. Lots and lots of water. The next fifteen minutes or so is a blur. After placing a bowl under the leak, EA started rescuing items from the closet and I ran upstairs to ask the our neighbors to shut off the water. I don't think the guy spoke much English, but he said, "Uh...okay." And I ran back down.

Water was still pouring down and EA asked me to start evacuating the bathroom. I switched on the bathroom light and discovered another unfortunate surprise. The floor was wet, water was pouring from the vent above the toilet and from a hole above the shower.

Knowing that water and electricity aren't good friends, I shut the light off and began getting towels and toiletries out of the bathroom. I went back and forth from the bathroom, catching some of the leakage as I went along. A little bit before the deluge calmed down to a drip, I replaced the bowl with a clear bucket, which plays into our story a bit later.

Well, somewhere along the way, EA called the number that we're supposed to when such emergencies take place. Unfortunately, this is not the most efficient system. We call, leave a message, the maintenance guy is paged, he calls, listens to the message, and calls us. A little over a half hour later, we get the call as I'm sopping up our soaked carpet with towels. He thinks it's an overflowed tub, says he will come by in the morning (it's after midnight at this point), and will call the carpet guy.

As we're cleaning up, I grab EA's handy headlamp since I don't want to turn on the light from which water was previously pouring from (the whole water and electricity thing again). For the first time I looked at the bucket. The liquid was yellow. I don't have hard evidence that the water was urine. I didn't taste it or anything; not that tasting it would've helped. I've never tasted urine. Nevermind. Moving on.

To make an already long story a bit shorter, the carpet guy got here sometime around Conan's opening monologue. He cuts out the padding underneath the carpet, treats the carpet for mildew, and cleans it. What he used to treat it must've been the strongest cleaning solution known to humanity. I walked into the room and could taste this toxic-lemon solution in the back of my throat. Apparently, I am very sensitive to smell.

So our previously clean apartment now looks like a mess. Our closet has exploded in our guest room, hallway, and guest bath. We're currently sleeping on our couch because of the aforementioned cleanse-your-soul carpet cleaning solution. And the pulled-out couch has displaced several other items in our living room. Welcome to adulthood, Christopher.

We learned this morning that the actual culprit was a busted supply pipe to the toilet, but the maintenance guy (a friendly fellow) fixed it. The rest of today was spent with me going to the laundromat with the mystery liquid-soaked towels and EA cleaning the bathroom. We did go to Moe's for dinner, which was nice. But anyway, that is what has gone on in the last twenty-four hours. Like I said, we can laugh about it all now.

Kids, the moral of the story is: if you hear a funny noise coming from your bedroom, grab a bucket. Vaya con Dios.

The Gospel on ESPN

2005-12-27T13:21:00.000-05:00

I was not really paying attention to what was on the television as the channel sat on ESPN. However, regular programming was interrupted for a brief word from Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy. Last week he encountered what is probably every parents worst fear as his son James apparently committed suicide.

Everything that I have read about Dungy in the past half week has lauded him as decent and humble man, one of the few NFL coaches that spends a quality amount of time with his family, etc.

I already admired Dungy, but that admiration increased with his first statement to the media since his son's passing. Outside of the church where his James' funeral took place, Dungy thanked the Colts organization, the people of Indianapolis and Tampa (where his son lived and Dungy used to coach), and those from all over the country that have supported his family in this horrible time.

He then went on to talk about the hope that God promises and how he was thankful that God would carry his family through this rough time. He talked about how his son had a relationship with Jesus Christ and how this father believed that he would see his son again one day.

It was just amazing to be sitting there eating lunch and suddenly on ESPN from the mouth of a football coach who had just experienced a tragedy I can only imagine, I was reminded of the great hope that comes from God. And for that, I am thankful.

A Beautiful Scandal

2005-12-25T00:36:00.000-05:00

No one could have imagined such an unlikely way for the world to be saved. Every aspect of the story was and still is remarkably unusual: the cast of characters, the setting, the timing, and, most of all, the plot. On that night a few thousand years ago, the divine and the human touched and, to the scandal of the universe, embraced. And it was an embrace that would never be released. We hear the story each and every single Christmas and we forget how incredible, beautiful, and scandalous that story truly is.

There was a certain wildness about Yahweh that always unnerved the children of Israel. The fear of God came honestly. The divine appeared in burning bushes and was made known through miraculous signs and wonders. The Lord was too great to behold. Moses only caught a glimpse of His backside. Scripture tells us that another man died when he touched the Ark in which God's presence dwelt. It is not hard to see why Jesus was accused of blasphemy; the thought of God with us seemed like more than we could bear.

And yet, the angel Gabriel appeared to a young girl in the most backwater of all backwater towns, Nazareth. He told her that God had found great favor with her, something that would have caused any heart to leap with joy and wonder. That joy and wonder must have turned to great confusion when Mary learned what that great favor found her, a virgin, with a child. Mary's simple life turned to scandal. Who would believe her? How would the man to whom she was promised respond when he learned that she was pregnant? Joseph could abandon her. The town could find her guilty of adultery and stone her. Despite these nightmares lurking at the door of her heart, Mary did something that few young girls would have the courage to do. She said, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."

Throughout her son's life, people would whisper behind his back that he was a bastard. He carried that stigma around with him during his ministry on the hillsides of Palestine. But he somehow seemed to fit in among those types of people: prostitutes and thieves, the demon-possessed and the destitute. Even though Jesus (or Joshua, as his countrymen would know him) was Immanuel--God with us--he touched those dirty and unwanted souls with a love unlike any that they had ever seen. Perhaps it was that stigma, that scandal of his birth that allowed him to touch the other outcasts in a way that no king or prophet before him could have.

From one backwater town to another, Mary traveled with her husband. She was a fortunate one; he had not decided to leave her. It was on that night, in the city of a great king, that a greater king was born. Despite what our carols and songs proclaim, it was probably not a silent evening. It was likely a very human birth full of pain and fear and blood. After the frightened child was born, he was placed in a feeding trough for animals. It must have been an embarrassing place for the new parents to place their son, but there was no where else to place the baby. It was another unlikely chapter in this story of God born human, King come as peasant, Love's pure light labeled illegitimate mistake.

The divine irony was not kept as a secret between Mary and Joseph. A marketing exec probably would have gone straight to the chief priests, Herod, or even Caesar himself with the news of God come to earth. God continued to work in what seemed like a counterintuitive way. In the hillsides outside of town, perhaps the same hillsides where Jesus would teach, shepherds were let in on God's tragic comedy. Simple, dirty, uneducated shepherds were treated to a display of the heavenly hosts of which the most pious rabbis of their time could only dream. And then they were treated to something infinitely greater. Who knows what went through the minds of those simple men as they saw that brown little infant lying in the manger. It must have felt better than winning the lottery, getting married, and being reunited with a long lost loved one in the same day. They ran back out to those fields praising God that they were so blessed. They told everyone they knew of the great news, which, being shepherds, probably meant very few people and a lot of sheep.

And Mary and Joseph? They were probably stunned. After nine rollercoaster months of infinite joy and worry, there lay the baby in the hay. The light of the world, creation's great hope, God with us. The future was not safe nor always happy for that child; though one must believe that God's own Son found infinite joy even in a world that brought so much hurt. The baby would become a man that would transform the world. He taught with great wisdom, performed incredible miracles, and loved everyone in the most excellent way. Just as his name indicated, he would save in a way no one could expect. Not by power nor might nor sword nor money. He would save by love. In the greatest scandal of them all, the most powerful force in the entire universe proved to be the one that presented itself at the mercy of the worst this world has to offer. All hope would seem lost. Three days later the great experiment of Immanuel would forever unite a wayward creation back with its Heavenly Father.

But that night, he was still just a child. Scripture tells us that Mary stored all of these things up in her heart. It's amazing that her heart did not burst. But despite everything that had happened and everything that was to come, we can hope that Mary felt that night a peace that surpassed all understanding. As she looked at that baby boy, she saw the hope of the world. Love had carried him to that point and his love would carry her and the rest of us home. The Divine and the human had touched at last. God with us. What a beautiful scandal.

Preparing Room

2005-12-21T17:25:00.000-05:00

So Mom was right all along. This afternoon I had the first of what will probably be many realizations that those little things my parents made me do actually have a purpose. Whenever we had company coming over growing up, our parents made us clean up the house for our guests. Being the creative debaters that we were, us Cox children would argue that this was hypocrisy. By cleaning up our house, we were putting on this show to make people think that we were cleaner than we actually were. Of course, Mom would always give us that look. Yep, that's the one.

My family is coming into Atlanta tomorrow and, being my first day out of work, it fell to me to clean up our apartment. As I was vacuuming, sweeping, putting stuff up, and all the other incredibly stimulating activities that accompnay cleaning, I was reminded of my younger self. He asked me the same question. "Why are you doing this? Hypocrisy, remember? There's an X-Box over in the corner of the room. You've got a National Championship to win." Didn't listen. Silly younger version of myself.

It was then that I understood what my folks were talking about all the time. It's a sign of respect. What would it say to my family if our apartment was a wreck? That I did not think that they were worthy of the time to clean up a bit. When guests come in, you want to show them respect. That's why we put things like welcome mats and little cheese cubes (we don't have any cheese cubes) out when we're expecting company. It lets people know that they are welcome.

The Christmas carol "Joy to the World" has a line that proclaims "Let every heart prepare him room...". I believe that this is somewhat the same notion as vacuuming my apartment just on a grander scale. Instead of taking advantage of the free grace that God gives us and instead of using what Jesus did as a ticket to go to heaven, we prepare room. It is hard for me to express what I am thinking because it is hard to explain something as metaphysical as preparing your life, your soul for the God of all. I guess it is simply living a life of humility and thankfulness. I think that we're supposed to live our lives preparing room for God and for others. Thus what I learn while vacuuming. Thanks Mom.

2 Pennies on "Happy Holidays"

2005-12-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

The majority of my work at CBF recently has been scouring church newsletters for information. It is not the most stimulating activity, but I have had far more mundane tasks since I began my tenure as a student worker. One of the more interesting facets of the church newsletter is the pastor's column. There is a vast spectrum concerning the quality of these weekly letters. Sometimes they are thought-provoking and profound and other times it seems like they hurriedly wrote it on the way out to lunch. Recently, Justin and I have noticed that they have dealt almost exclusively with this whole "Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays" issue.

Like I said, there are those that are thought-provoking. One South Carolina pastor (score one for the home team) questioned the furor over storefront "Happy Holidays" by asking, "When did it become the responsibility of department stores to preach the gospel?" Good question. Others are asking why the church wants the name of Christ to be associated with a materialistic society. More good questions.

Granted, there are some of these columns that seem to be of the written on the way out to lunch variety. Most of these can typically be defined as rants. Some rail against fellow Christians that are boycotting department stores. Some rant against the department stores that are putting up signs saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Lots of sound and fury. There have been quite a few that have sought to skewer Santa Claus and that strikes me as strange because (Warning: Do not continue reading if you are an individual with steadfast faith in the existence of Santa Claus; I'll skip a line to give you time to go away)

...Santa is not real. They're swinging at the air.

After a morning of reading these newsletters, I headed home to change clothes and then went to the laundromat. As I was sitting there reading and waiting for our clothes, there were three little Hispanic girls who were running all over the place. They were causing general mischief and doing all of the wonderful things children do, but their favorite target was a big, inflatable Santa that stood at the storefront. They would run up, punch him, and run away giggling when the manager or their mom told them to get away. It was quite amusing.

Now, replace one of those little girls with a grown person who is outraged over this whole "Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays" thing. If your imagination isn't good enough, there will probably be one or two on the news tonight. Now, instead of giving Santa a little punch and running away giggling, they are just wailing on the big inflatable elf; I mean absolutely beating the mess out of it. Now there are two things I would think if I saw such a scene taking place:

1. Why the heck are they wasting so much time on an inflatable display?

2. Hmm...guess they don't have much of a Christmas spirit.

There would be other thoughts, but those would be close to the top. And I guess that is how I see things like the "Friend or Foe" campaign where some have declared a holiday (whoops, I mean Christmas) holy war. I feel like this whole campaign to get "Merry Christmas" into Target commercials and onto the displays of malls across America is a waste of time and completely out of the spirit of Christmas; and by the spirit of Christmas I mean the spirit of love, joy, and peace that was manifest when God became incarnate in an innocent baby. Christ is the reason for the season (to borrow a cliche), but would he want us boycotting (economic blackmail) and screaming on the news on his birthday? I don't think he would.

I'm sure that what Christmas has become breaks God's heart. The dating for Christmas was originally a pagan holiday and it is returning to those roots. It is sad to see the birth of Jesus traded for things that are not real: a red-nosed reindeer, a dancing snowman, a jolly old elf, and my right to be lavished with gifts. There's nothing wrong with these aspects of Christmas, just their centrality. This prostitution of Christmas has to be changed, Gomer needs her Hosea. There are two options. We can continue the antagonistic route in the grand tradition of the Crusades, the conquistadores, and the person who beats the heck out of an inflatable Santa.

Or...we can go with the model that is demonstrated by this season. God did not try to force us to follow Him. Instead, God came here and dwelt among us. He lovingly pointed us in the direction for which we were meant; the direction that would give us more fulfillment than any 40% off Saturday Sale. I think that is the better way. So instead of being all up in arms about a secular, pluralistic society naturally not saying "Merry Christmas"; perhaps we should demonstrate to that world what Christmas is all about. Instead of boycotting all their Holiday activities or saying "Merry Christmas" with an air of superiority, we go to where these "pagans" are and say "Merry Christmas" with love, humility, and thankfulness. Even more, we scream "Merry Christmas" with actions that would make God smile.

Confessions of a Receptionist: A Running Blog

2005-12-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

11:59 AM-For the next five hours and a minute, I am going to be working the reception desk here at CBF International Headquarters. Seeing as it is a Friday and the entire administrative staff (including the normal receptionist) are going to a Christmas party, it might be a boring afternoon. So in order to keep myself entertained, I'm going to pop on here every so often with thoughts, happenings, and the like. I apologize for the randomness in advance.

12:11 PM-According to cnn.com, a computer software program has analyzed da Vinci's portrait of Mona Lisa and determined that she was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, and 2% angry. The program apparently examines features such as the curvature of the lips and the crinkles around the eyes. If the same program were to examine my face, it would find me 29% bored, 25% happy, and 46% wondering how much good money was being wasted on such a computer program.

12:28-Just played a game of solitaire and won. What is it about the cards bouncing all over the screen when you win that is so enthralling? I have seen it tons of times and I still watch the entire thing. And, yes, 29 minutes in I am officially bored out of my mind.

12:54-Ask and it shall be given unto you. About a minute after my last update, I got my first call, which required me to go find someone in this empty office who could answer the question, which in turn required me to call back. I also signed for a couple of FedEx packages as well. Exciting times.

1:09-EA just called me up on the CBF phone. She saw the blog and would like to be mentioned in it. That and she is a wonderful wife and wanted to see how my day is going. I love her very much. If you too, would like to be mentioned in the blog, you can contact me via cell phone or e-mail. Thanks for playing.

1:47-I eat most of my lunches at work and that normally expresses itself in sandwiches. However, the advent of cold weather and a general laziness on my part in the morning has manifested itself in eating a lot of soup recently. The fine folks at Campbell's have this microwaveable, sippable Soup at Hand products. My favorite is Creamy Tomato, but I always desired for there to be Clam Chowder. Lo and behold, yesterday at the supermarket I stumbled upon a new product that read "New England Clam Chowder". All of that is to say, that is what my lunch is at this moment. And it's pretty good.

2:03-The peach is dead. I just read an article on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website stating that the Peach Bowl will be no more. Starting next year, the Atlanta-based bowl game is dropping its thirty-seven year-old name to become the Chick-fil-A Bowl. It is the eighth bowl game to give exclusive naming rights to a sponsor. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you capitalism.

2:35-I have just been accosted by my first caller. The man has called three times asking for the same two people; neither of whom have been here. Each time he calls, he asks where they are and I tell them likely at the Christmas Party. Well, there was also a Christmas party here last Friday and this individual does not believe there is another one. Increduloulsy he asks, "Is there anyone there at all?" I respond that there is and eventually put him through to the voice mail of another individual who is not here. I now have a greater appreciation for receptionsists.

2:55-Just got a call from the Concoxions home office in Moore, SC and spoke with Kat, Steven, Shari, and Taylor. Their call was well-timed as it came on the heels of the aforementioned begrudged caller. It was good talking to them; all wonderful friends/family. Upstate SC has been overwhelmed by ice and it has unfortunately cancelled tonight's Christmas show. However, there is still room for Tuesday's show. Contact Concoxions at (864) 587-7269.

3:41-It is quiet in here. Too quiet. Ah, wait, the phone's ringing.

3:43-That didn't last long. Anyway, I went Christmas shopping yesterday and it was an interesting experience. First of all, I treat shopping for other people like it is some sort of covert mission and my shopping cart is my vehicle. You can imagine the interesting looks I get from people when I whip a shopping cart down an aisle like I'm a five year-old. I have mellowed a bit so it isn't as bad as it used to be. The main thing that I encountered was outside of the stores I visited: traffic. I had never felt so much like I was in Atlanta as yesterday. I tried to find a non-interstate way to one of the stores and I encountered gridlock. So instead of turning around and going down familiar avenues, I would make another foreign turn. Car accident that takes up all but one lane. EA can attest that I am incredibly stubborn in staying the course even when I should not. I continued and eventually found my way back home; since it was too late to head back to the store. The other thing about the traffic is that many Atlanta drivers are only concerned with themselves and they drive like maniacs to preserve whatever they're trying to accomplish. I was waiting at this stoplight and the left turn signal was turning yellow. Suddenly down this 60-70 yard left turn lane this car comes careening through. The light turns red while he is still 20 yards away and he keeps going. It was like something out of "Grand Theft Auto" and no one even flinched. If he got out of his car, pulled out a flamethrower, and started torching cars, most people would be like, "Hmm...guess he had a rough day at the office."

4:06-I'm all for one speaking their mind, but this may be taking things a bit too far. According to cnn.com, a New York man has baffled his neighbors with his Christmas display depicting a knife-wielding Santa, a severed head, and tree full of decapitated Barbie dolls. Joel Krupnik said that his family thought that the display would be a fun way to comment about the commercialization and secularization of Christmas. I agree on the ends, not necessarily on the means. Look for a gun-toting groundhog holding Bill Murray hostage on February 2.

4:25-Say what you will about the "Purpose-Driven" phenomenon, but Rick Warren has his heart and his head in the right place. I just read an interview with Warren on newsweek.com and he surprised me. Since the wild success of the book, he and his wife decided that they were not going to change the way that they live. They started what he called "reverse tithing" where they gave 90% of their money and lived on 10%. Granted he makes a lot, but that still is very impressive. Even more, Warren is setting his sights on mobilizing Christians to serve the world through a project called PEACE. It seeks to combat AIDS, illiteracy, poverty, spiritual emptiness, and egocentric leadership. Warren states, "I could take you to millions of villages that have no clinic, no post office, no grocery store, but they have a church. There are 2.1 billion Christians around the world. What if we could mobilize those people for more than spiritual care?" Here's hoping that his legions of readers are listening because he has some good things to say.

4:47-The few people that were here are now gone. I look over the computer screen and see nothing but empty cubicles. It is actually kind of peaceful in here; it is very still. I like it.

4:51-This blog really has not been much of anything. It was just sort of a way to keep myself sane. I like writing; sometimes it is pretty decent and sometimes it is inane drivel. We probably ended up closer to the latter rather than the former today. All that remains for me is this last nine minutes. Then I will close up.

5:06-The Christmas tree and lamps have been turned off and the elevator has been locked. Have a good night.

Monday afternoon postscript-Dad called us Friday night and asked if he could play even though my blog was finished. So I am mentioning my dad Bill Cox, an incredible father and an excellent judge of character in picking his spouse. Here's to you, Dad.

The 2005 Innies

2005-12-13T15:58:00.000-05:00

Alright, brevity will start tomorrow. Here's the deal with critics and people that give out awards: they're just the same as you and I. They aren't unbiased. Their approval or disapproval means jack squat. And now I join them in that tradition. With the recent announcement of Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, I decided it was about time to name my favorites (not the best, for I am an unassuming man) of 2005.

I will present the nominees (no rhyme or reason to the number) and the winner. But what to call them? I could call them the Chrissies but that is a castration of my name that I have never appreciated. So we're going to go with the last word in this blog's title. So without further ado, I present to you the 2005 Innies (Warning much hyperbole to follow):

The Nominees for Best Song
-"Different" (Acceptance, Phantoms)--The iTunes Free Music Download that was stuck in my head all summer long.
-"Swallowed in the Sea" (Coldplay, X & Y)--Perhaps the prettiest song I've ever heard and in this case, that's a compliment.
-"Till Kingdom Come" (Coldplay, X & Y)--Just an incredible song.
-"God Will Lift Up Your Head" (Jars of Clay, Redemption Songs)--If I were to pick a song that would give the world hope, it would be this one.
-"The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" (Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound)--An incredible turn of phrase backed by progressive rock makes this a standout.

And the winner is...

TIE: "Till Kingdom Come" and "God Will Lift Up Your Head". There was no way to pick through these two songs. Coldplay's beautiful "Till Kingdom Come" sounds like it could be a modern day hymn though it comes from a "secular" album. Jars' "God Will Lift Up Your Head" is a modern day hymn. In this soaring anthem, Jars put new music to an ancient hymn text that captures the powerful message of the faith. The other songs were great, but these two give me chills.

The Nominees for Best Album
-Nothing is Sound, Switchfoot--Ecclesiastes, the Soundtrack and it works.
-Redemption Songs, Jars of Clay--Jars takes old hymns, emphasizes the text, and, with a little help from the Blind Boys of Alabama and others, turns out the best "praise and worship" album in a long time.
-X & Y, Coldplay--Chris Martin is a strange dude when he performs on television, but he knows how to write a song that can catch your ear.

And the winner is...
X & Y. This was likely going to be only a three-way race before the year began, so no other nominees need apply. The fact that Coldplay beat out Jars and Switchfoot tells you how good I think this album is. Redemption Songs and Nothing is Sound are both great CDs. But X & Y is a complete work. From "Square One" all the way through "Till Kingdom Come", Coldplay pulls off an album that does not slip up or slow down. Incredible music, introspective lyrics, and a pop sensibility that does not compromise rock. Bravo ye British lads.

The Nominees for Best Television Show, Drama
-"Lost" (Wednesdays at 9 PM on ABC)--The most gripping hour on television.
-"Furman Football" (assorted Saturday afternoons on assorted stations)--The most gripping three plus hours on television.
-"CSI: MiVegas" (Mondays at 10 PM, Thursdays at 9 PM on CBS)--I combined the two shows because they're virtually the same. The original version (Vegas) is anchored by William Petersen's quirky, interesting portrayal of Grissom. Miami stands out for Alan Kalt-er, David Caruso's over-the-top job on the intense Horatio (almost sending Miami to the comedy category).

And the winner is...
"Lost". Furman wins two more games and this might be a different story. Actually, there is not a drama on TV that can touch "Lost". The characters, the backstories, and the mythology take the deserted island saga to a whole new level. It is also one of the few shows on television that will genuinely surprise viewers. No character is safe, no plot is too far-fetched, and no viewer is bored. Easily, the best show on TV.

The Nominees for Best Television Show, Comedy
-"My Name is Earl" (soon to be Thursdays at 9 PM on NBC)--I did not think that it was possible to be inanely stupid and incredibly smart at the same time. "Earl" goes there and the results are hilarious.
-There's nothing else. That is how bad sitcoms are these days.

And the winner is...
"My Name is Earl". I know, it's a big surprise. So let me take a moment to talk about why television needs more comedies like "Earl". Since the days of "Cheers" and "Seinfeld", there has not been much in the realm of the traditional, two-camera, laugh track-induced sitcom. Are the writers dumbing down their material? Have they turned sex into crutch? Yes and yes. In this era, only "Earl" and "Sports Night" have grabbed my attention. They broke the mold. They were smart. Neither use laugh tracks and both shoot their episodes in the more cinematic style. TV needs shows like this. "Earl" is not to the level of "Sports Night", but that great show is no longer with us. "Earl" is our hope.

The Nominees for Best Motion Picture
-Batman Begins--They got it right! They actually got it right!
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--Johnny Depp has this knack of starring in movies that I think I'm going to dislike, but end up enjoying immensely. Granted, if I saw one of his weird movies, the whole thing would be shot.
-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe--Thank you, Lord of the Rings for making this possible. And sorry, that I like this movie ten times better than any of your's.
-King Kong--What? I haven't seen this movie? Half the Golden Globe nominees are movies that haven't even come out yet. If they can do it, so can I. I like monkeys and so, King Kong is on my list.
-Walk the Line--Just a great movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon turn in the two best acting jobs of the year.

And the winner is...
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It wasn't going to be beaten unless Adamson and Co. royally screwed it up. Thankfully, they delivered a faithful and beautiful adaptation of the beloved novel. The script, acting, set, CGI, and music made my childhood imagination come alive. This movie is going to be compared to The Lord of the Rings, but it's different. Same genre, but very different story. And it is a story that touches me in a way that the Tolkien trilogy does not. It is easily the best movie of the year and already is in my personal top five. Here's hoping they keep the hothand for Prince Caspian.

That'll do it for our first annual Innies. Thanks for joining us and have yourselves a safe drive home. Good night!

Need More Brevity

2005-12-12T21:18:00.000-05:00

Wow...after just reading my previous post; I realize I need to be more succinct. We'll see how long that lasts. Starting now.

The Powerful and the Weak

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

Last night, EA and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and it was like watching my childhood imagination spring to life on a big screen. I felt like I was in sixth grade all over again; back before that odd mix of puberty, cynicism, and maturity shaped me into whatever the heck I am now.

The only thing different between last night's childlike wonder and the original is that I did not catch all of the symbolism back then; it was not until I re-read the books as an older teenager that those parallels hit me. On the big screen last night, it unfolded in a beautiful story.

The thing that struck me the most was the irony of how weakness and power are all bound up together. Aslan, a majestic lion and the creator of Narnia, is a fierce being. An oft-quoted line from the book takes place after the Pevensie children have met the Beavers:

"Then he [Aslan] isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

That is a very true picture of God and it is also one that suits us quite nicely. It is probably the side of God that we sing the most about in our churches from "Holy! Holy! Holy!" to "How Great is Our God". 'Course he isn't safe and 'course he's great and good, but it is only one side of the story.

God can actually be quite vulnerable. The most moving scene in the book and the movie is the one that most closely parallels what Jesus, God incarnate, did on earth. When the White Witch comes to demand Edmund's life for his treachery, Aslan offers to go in his place. On paper, it looks like one of the stupidest moves one can make. Trading Aslan's life--the King, the Creator, the One who can lead Narnia over evil--for the life of the young, traitorous Edmund? It makes no sense.

I do not know why, but God identifies with this vulnerability that we all feel. Maybe it is the vulnerability that Jesus felt as a fragile and frail human walking the earth. Maybe it is the vulnerability that God opened Himself up to at the dawn of time when we were given the choice to love and the choice to reject God. There is something in the vulnerable, that attracts God because we always find Him there.

Thankfully, Aslan returns to life and explains to the two children "that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

The apostle Paul's assertion was right: God's power is perfected in weakness. This perfect weakness called love is what truly won the battle.

This strange combination of weakness and power can be seen throughout the book and movie. The fact that little children lead a great nation. Or that the youngest child is the one that speaks with the most bravery. Instead of taking the safe route and leaving Narnia, the children ultimately decide to stay and help those they barely know. Common sense gives way to uncommon faith. And as all this happens, ice turns to water, water flows to everything.

So this theme of weakness has been in my mind for over half a day now. I came home from my first exam (a laugher) and looked for some news on the internet. In its most recent issue Time magazine featured the Best Photos of 2005. Nearly every single photo seemed to be the product of some sort of disaster that befell the world this past year: Katrina, the tsunami that struck east Asia, the Pakistani earthquake, and the fighting in Iraq. Weakness everywhere.

It was a picture of a child that made me stop; a small snatch of hope in despair. It was a young Iraqi boy; no more than four or five years old, brown skin, green and yellow sweatshirt, and pink pants. The caption said that his home had been destroyed by a suicide bomber.

But he was playing. Surrounded in the picture by desert dust and a bombed-out building, he had turned a concrete security barrier into his own personal jungle gym. He was probably in one of the most dangerous places in the world, but didn't seem to care.

For some odd reason, he reminded me of Christmas, which was the first sign the winter was thawing in Narnia. It is the birth of a child who probably looked a lot like that boy in the picture that we celebrate this time of year. He was not powerful and he lived in a world that was not safe. But that vulnerable step, that beautiful, fragile notion of Immanuel is what began to change everything. In spite of its weakness, it had the power to change the world.

Ice Patches

2005-12-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

There is some really, really bad stuff going on in Boone, NC. Furman lost 29-23 to App. State. A late fourth quarter rally put the Mountaineers ahead and then a fumble stopped a last minute Furman drive. There's going to be some argument over whether Martin actually fumbled; it looked like his arm was maybe going forward. But it was likely too close to call, especially in the instant replay-less 1-AA playoffs.

The thing that is going to kill me about this game is the ice patch that cost us the game. In the third quarter, Martin scampered around the line for what looked to be an untouched score. Furman would have gone up by more than a touchdown. But there was an ice patch or something that caused Martin to slip. We didn't score on the next play nor for the rest of the game for that matter. It's crazy how little things like ice patches can transform things so drastically.

As a result, Furman misses out on a trip to the National Championship and my brother and other Furman fans were ridiculed on the way back to the bus; likely hailed with obscenities. I'm sure there are good Mountaineer fans out there; unfortunately it is the loud, rude, obnoxious ones that catch our attention. Their team was not more talented today. They just got the breaks that they needed and that's what life is like sometimes--all about the breaks.

I don't believe in karma. I do not believe that the random things that happen to individuals happen because they did this or that. There are consequences, but freak ice patches are freak ice patches. I am not completely sure if I buy into the whole "Everything Happens for a Purpose" idea either. Things happen and they have purpose, but I am not sure that there is a correlation between the two. Eh...still it is just a game.

So anyway, congratulations to the Fighting Football Paladins for a fine 2005 season. You overachieved in ways that many of us did not expect and, as far as the seniors are concerned, I wish you could have gone out in a better way. As far as my prediction for the offseason, the Fighting Football Paladins will be undefeated for the next eight months. I guarantee it. So anyway, have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

Our First Christmas Tree

2005-12-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

Semifinals for the Fighting Football Paladins: High Noon at Boone

2005-12-09T16:06:00.000-05:00

It is a pattern that is repeated annually. A horror movie comes out and does fairly well at the box office. Suddenly, movie executives start saying things like, "You know what? I think we can squeeze another movie out of this and make a few more million." Then one of his minions says something to the effect of "But how? We knocked off the serial killer in the final scene. He fell off of the 34th story and was impaled on a parking meter when he hit the ground." Exec says, "Who cares? These guys never really die anyway. We'll do a sequel, but this time the setting will be even creepier and the bad guy is even more powerful." Then the minion grovels and says, "A brilliant idea Mr. Laney!" I sort of feel like that is how the powers that be have set up this weekend's semifinal showdown between the Fighting Football Paladins and the Mountaineers of Appalachian State.

We honestly thought like we had gotten rid of the monster during our 34-31 victory back in October. We had our last minute drive, our successful two-point conversion attempt, and stopped their final second rally. We were good. Now they're back seeking revenge for their defeat and this time we are playing at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC, home of the Game We Do Not Speak Of. All for a trip to the National Championship. This one is going to be a barnburner.

There are two schools of thought concerning this game. Most people believe this game will be decided like the previous six; a tight game with the victor winning by a score or less. Then there are some Mountaineer fans (likely the minority, likely drunk college students) that believe that App. State will stomp the Paladins. I am going to have to go with the former group since I am a sober seminary student and a Furman fan.

The game frightens me, but I think that we can win. History tells us that in playoff rematches, the loser of the first game wins the second contest 90% of the time. Thankfully, they let the players and not history decide the game. This is what I have seen over Furman's last two playoff games: a defense that has improved remarkably, a QB that is leading his team, a running game that is chugging along, and an intense fire within each and every player.

When I posted about the first game back in October, I wrote that there was really no way that you could make any sort of prediction for a game like this and proceeded to use math to make a prediction. I'm going to do something similar, because there is no way to predict this game. We won in the first round by 2 and in the quarterfinals by 4. I'm going to follow the pattern and say that Furman is going to win by 6. And yes, that requires our kicker to get over his recent problems which I believe he can. The Fighting Football Paladins will put the ghosts of Boone to rest and head on to its fourth National Championship appearance. Final score: Furman 30, Appalachian State 24. Have a good day and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

Linus Van Pelt: Theologian

2005-12-06T20:53:00.000-05:00

With the upcoming release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a lot of well-deserved attention has been directed towards C.S. Lewis. However, it is time that we direct our focus toward another one of the great theologians of the twentieth century: Linus Van Pelt.

I will make no secret that my favorite Christmas special is "A Charlie Brown Christmas", which is wrapping up as I write this. Sure the animation is primitive; Charlie Brown's Christmas tree grows, and then loses, additional tree limbs. The plot is not incredibly complicated. But it is a wonderful special: the Vince Guraldi music, the childlike simplicity, and then there's Linus.

There is that moment when Charlie Brown desperately asks, "Does anyone know what Christmas is all about?" I apologize for the hyperbole, but the following scene is one of the greatest in television history:

Lights, please.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.

For a child, Linus was a wise theologian. Now a child might not seem like a worthy candidate for the title "wise theologian". After all, he did not have any sort of degree. He was just a child. But some of the most profound truths are revealed to us simply. A story--whether the true story of Christmas or C.S. Lewis' fanciful tale of Narnia--can speak volumes that our reasoned arguments cannot reach. Linus knew the story.

Christmas has become somewhat of a commercial racquet in the eyes of many, but Linus knew that there was something more. He didn't try to beat it into people's heads. But when a friend was desperately looking for the good, for the hope, for the joy that is supposed to be associated with Christmas, Linus humbly obliged. That's a good example to follow.

If you read the "Peanuts" comic strip, you'll find that Linus is quite knowledgeable about theology. Not bad for a kid. But it is at this time of year that we recognize his achievement. So here's to you, Linus Van Pelt. Though you are a cartoon who has funny hair and carries around a security blanket, you are one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century.

Busboy

2005-12-05T23:57:00.000-05:00

My psychology degree-wielding wife says that it is important when one is studying for two separate things to take breaks where neither subject is being focused on. I readily agree to such a strategy. This past weekend got me thinking about busboys (and girls...buspeople, if you will). EA and I headed for Upstate South Carolina to see the Christmas dinner theater show at Cornerstone Theater in Lyman. The night was a remarkably festive, entertainingly spiritual, digestively satisfying experience.

However, as the theater portion of the evening was about to hit full swing, we heard from my dad and several other cast members that the tables needed to be bussed. So the two of us headed back into the green room/kitchen, threw on some blue aprons, grabbed a gray tub, and headed back into the main room.

I started up top and began to clear people's dishes, coffee cups, etc. Then one gentleman in a gruff voice said, "You're blocking my view, boy." I'm six feet tall which does eclipse one's vision if they are sitting down. So I proceeded to get on my knees and bussed tables that way. I was not being particularly humble or penitent. It just seemed like the polite (though inefficient) thing to do.

Now, what EA and I did Friday evening is not that remarkable. We were just helping out our family and it was relatively little trouble. But there are people who spend their whole lives serving like this. Look around and see the people who just end up in serving others: those who bus tables, pick up garbage, find jobs for people, do maintenance work, and the list could go on.

The economist (EA is also part of that group) might say that those people are functions of society; that is why they get paid. Somebody has to do those thankless tasks. But how often do we appreciate those that render those services? Not much. So you should hug a busboy. Actually, that might weird him out, so a simple "thank you" would do.

Paid service is one thing. Volunteer service is a completely different matter. We often call it charity. Charity is one of those things that everyone talks about. Matt Lauer and Katie Couric talk about it on the "Today" show virtually every morning, but I suspect that their Habitat-building and the rest is for the cameras. It does draw attention to those causes, which is wonderful. I'm just as bad. Here I am writing this blog and what am I going to do tomorrow after my exams? Come home, crash on the couch, and likely play an inordinate amount of video games until EA gets home from work.

This is the time of year that we hypothetically celebrate the coming of Christ, God with us. It is appropriate that the minds of many people turn to charity and service at this time of year, because that is basically what the life Jesus led was all about. Love, redemption, and salvation were all in there too, but it seems like all those words plus service were apart of the same mission. They might have been interchangeable to Jesus except they would have been in Aramaic.

The greatest command that frail baby in the manger would give was to love God with every pore of your being and then to love your neighbor as yourself. I think you could plug the word "serve" into those commandments and get the same effect.

Bob Dylan once sang, "You gotta serve somebody" and he was right. You have to serve something: career, sports, music, relationships, drugs, food, video games, whatever. When you go Christmas shopping, you will see some people serving all kinds of things. Some are going to be serving themselves or material possessions. Others, like that Salvation Army bell ringer (like my Grandad) are obviously serving others.

I believe it is a good thing that my mind has turned to busboys during this time of year. It is easy to think about myself, the misery that exams are causing me, and the joy that Christmas will bring me. I'm not here to serve myself. Jesus told me so.

But, I'm just a busboy, so what do I know?

Quarterfinals for the Fighting Football Paladins

2005-12-03T00:17:00.000-05:00

I have never seen the movie Arachnophobia. All I know is that it starred John Goodman and way too many spiders. If you happen upon any of the 1-AA message boards--home of some crazy, crazy people--you would think that everyone has got a bad case of arachnophobia. The Richmond Spiders, by most accounts, are the hottest team in 1-AA right now. They have a superhuman quarterback that goes by the nickname King Tutt. Their defense is dominant to the tune of 40 sacks. And their crowning achievement is smacking around #3 seed Hampton last week. Now there is a good bit of those sentences that are true. They are on a huge winning streak, their quarterback is good, their defense has gotten 40 sacks, and they did beat Hampton last week. The trouble is they do not award victories before the game on account of streaks, star QBs can have bad days (see Martin, Ingle @ Western Carolina), there is more to defense than sacks, and Hampton...well, I don't want to judge but they are not that incredible of a team.

Don't get me wrong, this game between the Fighting Football Paladins and the Richmond Spiders scares me. Richmond is an Atlantic-10 team and the A-10 has handed Furman four of its last five playoffs defeats. We are also playing on the road (another issue entirely), which has not been our strongest suit this year. But I have seen this Team on Fire Syndrome before. Last year, Furman shelacked Jacksonville State 49-7 in the first round. We had won six consecutive games. We looked good. And we lost a home game in the quarters 14-13 to James Madison. I'm not saying that the same thing is going to happen to Richmond, just that these things happen.

Now, I do think that Furman is a better team than Richmond. Our defense played an incredible game last week and they will face a more balanced offense last week. Our offense was anemic, but I believe both the running and passing games will find their rhythm. It is going to be close, but I think this team has what it takes to win this one on the road. Fighting Football Paladins take the Arachnids out and move one step closer to Chattanooga. Final score: Furman 29, Richmond 24. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

December Dawns

2005-12-01T22:24:00.000-05:00

Happy first day of December to all. Yesterday, I finished off my tour of four papers in four days. Hopefully this means that I will not be sitting down to the ol' iBook to write any papers until the spring. The last thing that stands between me and the freedom of the holiday is finals; two beasts on Tuesday and two less taxing exams the next Monday. I must say that the Tuesday exams, manageable on their own, are a bit intimidating only a hour apart. There will is studying to be done. That is the nature of December for students.

Thankfully, EA and I are going to take part in a few other December events this weekend that will provide some relaxation without costing me studying time. Friday night, we will be leaving work in the afternoon and making a beeline for Lyman for the Cornerstone Christmas Spectacular (I added the Spectacular part, but it still is quite good). Then on Saturday, we're going to Furman to meet up with friends and watch the football game on TV (and maybe get some Firehouse). Hopefully, it will be a great weekend.

December has always been one of the turning point months; the winter version of May (the greatest month of them all). The weather, even in the South, begins to turn cold. The first half of the school year comes to a close. In the world of Concoxions, things begin to rapidly ramp up for Chillipepper and then Seesalt. Most importantly there is Christmas, which is becoming somewhat bittersweet. It is a wonderful time when we celebrate that moment when God's light broke through to our world. The trouble is that many people ignore this aspect of the holiday and turn it into crass commercialism, which is bad enough. However, many Christians are so incensed at this that they spend the holidays warring against those that try to take Christ out of Christmas. But there are still those moments that permeate through all this noise. I am learning that it is important to savor those moments and not become Scrooged like most others.

So here's to December. It is a crazy and hectic month filled with school-related stress at the beginning and holiday madness at the end. It is a month for family and friends. It is a month where the sacred and secular collide. It is one of those times of year where we do not need a disaster to be reminded of the need to share with our brothers and sisters. It is when we look back on the old and look forward to the new. It is this crazy time where we're reminded how much life is worth. Here's to the next 31 days. May we make the most of it.

11:58 PM

2005-11-29T23:58:00.000-05:00

I could not think of a witty title--there is not much left in the tank--thus you have the time. Things are a bit hectic here in Atlanta. EA had a busy day at the office. I wrote two (count 'em, two) papers; with another to write tomorrow on an article titled "Canaanites, Cowboys, and Indians." My beautiful wife, a wonderful sister-in-law, spent a few hours scanning and attempting to e-mail Taylor information for his paper, which was originally annihilated by the horrid combination of the Furman Network and a library PC. Despite all of the hoopla, we were done with everything by midnight. I should be in bed. And I'm not. Moving on.

-A big congratulations to my violin virtuoso of a sister Shari on making All-State Orchestra. The is an elite stringed squandron of the best high schoolers in the state of South Carolina. Good job Shari!

-Speaking of music, tonight's musical guests on Letterman are...Donald Trump and Regis Philbin. Wrap your mind around that.

-Today, I was reminded that there is not a more somber, desolate place in the world than a college (or graduate school) library near the end of the term. I went into the Monroe F. Swilley Library this afternoon to read an article for one of my papers and everyone looks like a refugee from "Lost." And it is more quiet than a library normally is. It is like a black hole of sound; except when someone coughs, then everyone's heads whirl around with eyes ablaze. Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men...and Women.

-The papers that I have written over the past few days have required me to be quite reflective and I really do not have the desire to wax poetic about what I have learned at this point; perhaps I will do that when I have more time. So let me share a few things that I have learned that did not make the cut:
--I make a mean DiGiorno Pizza.
--I can enter numbers at near superhuman speed on the keyboard number pad.
--The Hebrew language is shifty. It starts out looking simple and becomes the most complicated thing you have ever seen.
--I am completely at peace with being responsible for the genocide of the cockroaches in our apartment.

-It was good to see another playoff game in Paladin Stadium and especially good to see the defense win one for us. This week, we inexplicably go to Richmond to face the Spiders. Most experts think we'll lose, which is great. More on Friday. By the way, for those wondering what the heck I will write about after the Fighting Football Paladins call it a season, I have plenty of ideas. It could be interesting...hopefully.

-A big thank you to my wonderful wife EA for reorganizing our guest room/office/study. It is amazing what a difference putting a desk on a different wall makes. Of course the biggest difference is the inspirational presence of my beloved Finding Nemo movie poster above my desk. Yes, I'm 22.

On that note, I believe that it is now time for bed. Good night and Godspeed.

A Mighty Fortress is Our Subculture Part 2

2005-11-29T00:49:00.000-05:00

Missio Safety: Trading Abundant Life for Convenient Life

The most popular slogan for Christian radios stations these days is “Safe for the Whole Family.” In the same way the move to get Christians out of public schools is indicative, this marketing campaign further demonstrates that many Christian parents are concerned about worldly influences lurking in secular media. Author John Fischer relates the story of a mother who called a radio station furious that they would broadcast news that contained stories about murder and violence, incredulous that they did not screen the news. This is symptomatic of a Christian subculture that has traded the mission of God for a mission of protecting themselves from the fallen world. Fischer writes: “To the cultural Christian, the world is a very scary place, to be avoided whenever possible. Because of this and as evidence of a predominant fear of the world, safety has emerged as one of the central issues for cultural Christians, and one of the main reasons a cultural Christianity exists.”

Jesus once told the disciples that he came that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Somehow the image of frightened Christians fleeing from the world and building fortresses to protect them from its ill effects does not connote abundant life. Instead it seems to be more of a convenient life. Instead of having to worry about what is righteous and unrighteous, they build a fence in order to not transgress God’s law. The ramifications of such an attitude will be examined later. Needless to say, the cultural Christian observes an unsafe world and thus believes that he or she must leave that world behind.

To further examine the Christian subculture in light of this “missio safety”, the best facet to observe would be its most prominent: the musical genre now known as contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM. It started out as a bunch of Jesus movement hippies making music, but it has turned into an entertainment empire. As the Internet and file sharing has taken a chunk out of music sales in 2001, contemporary Christian music brought in more than $1 billion dollars, a twelve percent increase. One can now witness this most prominent aspect of the subculture from numerous CCM stations on the radio dial to the appearance of uber-Christian rock group Third Day playing at the 2004 Republican National Convention. What is the message that this foremost aspect of the subculture provides? For starters, it demonstrates how the subculture is truly a parallel universe. Mark Allan Powell, author of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, writes:
Artists in the Christian rock scene have a tendency to copy the styles of successful mainstream performers in order to provide godly alternatives to whatever is popular at the time. Artists…have been marketed as though they were low-fat cheese: ‘almost as tasty as the real thing—and better for you!’ While certainly not true of all Christian acts, such a low-fat cheese approach raises some problems.

The rationale behind this perspective is reminiscent of the Holiness Code found within the Pentateuch, only without the complex theological underpinnings. In the fifth chapter of Numbers, Moses is implored to send all of the unclean outside of the camp and the Lord states, “they must not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” For fear of impurity, cultural Christians seek to get all of the impure things of the world outside of their camp. For a culture that likely holds the hymn “Amazing Grace” in high regard, there seems to be an ironic obsession with staying pure, or rather staying a certain brand of Christianity. If the Christian, especially the children, are exposed to something outside of these walls, then it could pollute the entire camp. This worldview neuters the gospel. Many Christians are locking themselves up behind doors of personalized piety instead of joining with Paul in celebrating that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!” Then they turn around and wonder how the world could possibly think Christians never have fun.

The subculture completely disintegrates points of contact between the cultural Christian and the rest of the world. Living under the belief that the world is bad, the cultural Christian will avoid it at all costs. Therefore they do not know what touches people outside of their bubble. They do not know what makes them happy, what makes them sad, what they are worried about, or what gives them hope. As Jesus ministered on the hills of Palestine, he seemed acutely aware of what was going on in the lives of the people. He understood who they were. The cultural Christian, in his or her flight from the world, has left that potential understanding in the dust.

Another problem is this sort of quixotic quest for purity locks some Christians outside of the subculture for petty pietistic reasons. These divisions within the Christian community send an intolerant message to the world at large. The album She Must and Shall Go Free by folk artist Derek Webb was banned from some Christian radio stations and bookstores because it included words such as “whore” and “bastard” even though he used the terms in ways similar to the Old Testament prophets. Country-rock band Vigilantes of Love was similarly shown the door for an album that included a Song of Solomon-styled song that celebrated marital sex. Finally, Sixpence None the Richer’s number one national hit “Kiss Me” was declared ineligible to receive any nominations for the Dove Award, the Christian Grammys, because “though it’s a nice song, there is nothing especially Christian about a woman wanting her husband to kiss her.”

All of this is in the name of keeping the culture safe. Even though Webb was making a powerful statement about God’s grace in the face of humanity’s infidelity, he used bad words and that voice should not be heard. Credence should not be given to an innocent song about kissing because that sends teenagers on a slippery slope to thinking about sex and sex—apparently even the marital variety—is bad. Even though all of these songs rejoice in a facet of the Christian life, they do not fit the industry’s preconceived notions of what is Christian and not. The powers that be determine what is part of the subculture’s new orthodoxy. Again the sound and fury within the fortress sends a distorted view of Christianity to those outside the subculture. The message is that the company line must be followed to the letter. What happens to the outsider if some Christians are not shown give room to breathe? As a result, Christianity does not appear safe, welcome, or loving.

Can the cultural Christian not simply make his or her own decisions? Technically speaking, they can, but it is easier and, from an odd perspective, safer to allow someone else to make the decision. In discussing the line between the sacred and secular, Fischer writes: "Cultural Christians tend to let other people define these lines for them, especially pastors and those in positions of authority…. Cultural Christians seem to go along with the crowd. They tend to accept the popular Christian version of things, thus trusting the subculture to interpret the world to them and authorize for them that which is good and bad." One can easily observe the precarious nature of such an attitude. Cultural Christians allow others to discern for them thus they wholly reject the “worldly” and fully accept anything with the Christian label without thinking about it. Although this statement may seem exaggerative, this mindset is about five steps away from Jonesville; “Drink this Kool-Aid to experience the fullness of life and do not panic if you happen to black out.” Such an acceptance stunts spiritual growth and thus proves harmful when those Christians go out into the world.

Now there is good, sound doctrine being presented in Christian music and books and there are also shallow and dangerous ideas that exist. Would it be wise for someone to be proactive and to enter into real dialogue concerning what is of God and what is not? But many people just swallow what is fed to them. This is the exact opposite mindset of the one Jesus spoke of when he encouraged his followers to be as innocent as doves, but as wise as serpents. This subculture presents a cultural Christian that is more concerned with the safety of their piety than the sharing God’s love with the world. And even if one were to venture outside those walls after being spoon-fed every piece of doctrine and human opinion, would the cultural Christian even know what to do? However, the dangerous reality for the cultural Christian is that many of the messages coming out of their subculture may not be very “Christian” after all.

Round 1 for the Fighting Football Paladins

2005-11-25T21:20:00.000-05:00

It is time to hit the reset button in the world of 1-AA football. For the 16 teams that take the field tomorrow, there is only one simple reality: win to move on; lose and the season is over. Ever heard of March Madness? This is its late fall cousin and Madness is still its last name. Last year, the unseeded Dukes of James Madison surprised all (including the Fighting Football Paladins) when they took the national championship despite the fact that they never had the benefit of playing at home. This year the Fighting Fourth Presidents are not even in the playoffs meaning that a new champ will be crowned in Chattanooga on December 16. Among those vying for the only unquestionable title of National Champion in all of Division 1 football are the Fighting Football Paladins.

Paladin Stadium will play host to the first round contest between the Furman Paladins and the Colonels of Nicholls State tomorrow at 12:30 PM. Furman is coming off of a resounding 56-35 victory over UT-Chattanooga in which Ingle Martin passed for a career record 323 yards and fullback Jerome Felton rumbled (and caught) his way to 4 touchdowns. The 6-3 Colonels are co-champions of the Southland Conference and boast the nation's second best rushing attack. Most prognosticators are picking a close, high scoring game in which the Paladins edge out the visitors from Louisiana.

The rap on Furman this season is that its defense gives up chunks of yardage and way too many points. At the beginning of the season, this was unquestionably true (I even posted a missing persons notice for the defense). However, many of the points "piled" up on Furman as of late have been at the expense of the second team. This was the certainly the case versus Wofford and Chattanooga. So while the defense is not dominant, it is not holey like a donut, as most people would lead one to believe.

Nicholls State runs a triple option attack. This is not a new scheme for Furman which has seen both Georgia Southern and Wofford run a similar game plan. Furman's familiarity with this type of offense is the primary reason why I believe the Fighting Football Paladins will win the day. The offense continues to click on all cylinders and this is a team that wants the national championship that they let slip away last year. The Fighting Football Paladins will leave the Colonels with no other option but to head home after the first round. Final score: Furman 38, Nicholls State 27. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Spiders. Go Paladins!

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

2005-11-23T23:22:00.000-05:00

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and up the interstate we go
Well, go's a bit of an exagerration for the traffic was slow
Well, slow is a bit of an understatement cause traffic was tight
We were stuck--first Atlanta and then 'Nooga--in a sea of red lights
For several hours I would press the brake, release, roll, and repeat
My right leg was cramping and my butt, asleep in the seat

But, hark, what is this amidst this monotony of traffic jams?
The cars start moving, like water bursting forth from the dam
(To the more sensitive reader, notice in that sentence there
That I am referring to the physical structure, I did not swear)
So we got going again somewhere in the mountains of Tennessee
We were just south of Nash Vegas, two hours from free

Up I-Twenty-Four we sped for Nashville, Music City
My wife and I talking, our conversation light and witty
At roughly a quarter of eight (nine Eastern), we arrived
Happy to know we concluded our journey, safe and alive
Greeted by Marnie's smiling face and a jumping canine
David brought SATCo for dinner, a meal divine

Then we all sat down to watch an episode of "Lost" on ABC
It was an interesting, excellent episode if you ask me
"Law & Order" was next as I looked for playoff news
I will post on Friday to give you my football views
So I believe I'll end this poem, I know it's been a fright
Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night

A Mighty Fortress is Our Subculture Part 1

2005-11-22T16:03:00.000-05:00

Editor's Note: The following is part one of a multi-part post taken from the research paper that I wrote for Evangelism and Mission a few weeks ago. Much of said post is in the context that it was originally written. The reference to "missio safety" is a play on the term "missio Dei", which is translated as the mission of God. As far as how I am doing right now, I'm enjoying a week without school. I'm watching "Chariots of Fire" as I post this so I may be distracted. That has absoulutely nothing do with the post, but I thought I would mention it. I will likely plug a news and notes post in sometime soon. On to Part 1!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and build societies to protect yourselves from all the evil nations, baptizing your children with the conviction that the best way to save the world is to leave it, and teaching them that if you build it, ‘they’ will come. And surely I am with you—and you only—to the very end of the age.” Such a perversion of the Great Commission does not sit well. How could anyone take some of Christ’s last recorded words and twist them around into farce? The hyperbole is intended to make a point and the point is that many Christians—most of them unknowingly and unintentionally—buy into such a distortion of the gospel by cocooning themselves in a Christian subculture.

In an age of overpowering media, many Christians have looked at the world and decided that it is not good. In order to protect their faith, they have constructed a world where the purity of their beliefs can be maintained. As one article states, “Christians have developed what essentially functions as a parallel universe encompassing art, education, journalism, music, politics, publishing, and more. For many believers these religious networks have largely supplanted similar institutions in secular society.” (Bandow, "Christianity's Parallel Universe", 58) This is not an unusual phenomenon. The Essenes withdrew to the Dead Sea in order to protect Judaism from Rome. The Amish are doing a similar thing today. This is not to label the Essenes and Amish as cowards, but simply to point out that such a solution to the problem of worldly influences is not uncommon.

It is difficult in this day and age to be an evangelical Christian and not experienced the subculture. Many, if not most, of the people building and living in this Christian subculture are well-meaning people. But the extent to which these “cultural Christians” (Fischer, 53) turn to this subculture is building a wall between itself and the world to which Jesus Christ commanded them to go. Advocacy groups tell Christian parents to pull their children out of public schools and encourage teachers to make a similar flight. Christians create safe alternatives to what the world has to offer. Spiritual growth is stunted, points of contact disintegrate, and dialogue dies before it ever has a chance. While not completely detrimental, it is important to identify the dangers of this locked-up fortress called Christian subculture. It is even more important rediscover what it means to share the gospel.

Skipping School: The Trouble with Salvation by Sabotage

There has been a recent trend that has found many cultural Christians running away from the world instead of entering into it. The most prominent example of this behavior has been the recent calls from certain groups to pull Christians out of public schools. This issue made headlines this past summer as a proposal presented at the Southern Baptist Convention, where it was soundly defeated. However, there are many groups such as Rescue 2010 and the Exodus Project out there that desire to create the next the great Christian society by going underground. Bob Simonds, founder of Project 2010, writes:
"Deception in our schools is the rule, not sincerity; arrogance, not cooperation. Therefore, after 15 years of sincere efforts to gain parental rights, a ‘safe-passage’ curriculum for our dear innocent children, the Lord has counseled me, and an impressive array of those associated in ministry have confirmed God’s leading, that CHRISTIANS MUST EXIT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS as soon as it is feasible and possible. The price in human loss social depravity and the spiritual slaughter of our young Christian children is no longer acceptable… As Christian influence exits our public schools, the liberal establishment will get to see first hand the massive problems that will run completely out of control without Christian influence." (Rescue 2010 Strategy, http://www.nace-cee.org/rescue2010.htm)

While certainly not in the majority, these voices are vigorous and are not above making passionate appeals for their “darling children.” This is not to say that all people that home school their children or send them to private schools are in the same camp as Simonds nor are they wrong for making that choice. The problem is found in these activist groups and their firm belief that the only way to save their children and the world is to take their families out of the public school system. The method employed is frequently a polemical rhetoric and likely strikes the decent people—Christian and non-Christian—that work within public schools as deeply offensive.

It is not a secret that there are many cultural Christians that see modern American culture as the second coming of Babylon. Though, there may be some merit for such a view, the way most handle the issue does great harm to the name of Christianity. The public school debate is only one aspect of the public sector that has been taken over by an “us versus them” mentality and speeches filled with war rhetoric. However, this notion of pulling out is a slightly new wrinkle to the so-called “culture wars.” When the director of Exodus 2000 declares that “it is simply not possible to save the public school system. We must come out of that corrupt system just as the children of Israel left Egypt for the Promised Land” (Editorial, "Stay in School", Christianity Today, 40) it sends a powerful message to the world that runs contrary to the gospel: that they are beyond hope.

The abandonment strategy seems to leave behind the heart and mind as well. If Christians are called to meet God in the world and bring the divine love to all people, how can that happen when they leave that world behind. If a man were trying to woo a woman, he would not leave her alone and hope that the gaping hole in her life would convince her that he is the one she wants. This abandonment policy implies other problems. It paints the picture that Christians are somehow better than the rest of the world because they are being obedient to “God’s call”. The message of a hopeless world tells Christians that they should probably spend more time caring for their own personal piety than sharing the good news with their neighbor. Such an action is selfish, it considers one’s own family more important than others. By pulling out Christian teachers, it deprives non-Christian children—whom are still children of God—of positive influence. Such a move teaches the Christian children from an early age that the world is segregated and polemically paints non-Christians as those who seek to “create promiscuous gay atheists who have trouble fitting in séances between having abortions and shooting up.” (Ibid., 41 Ultimately, it shows a complete lack of faith in God’s redemptive work. Simonds believes that it is time to call quits after trying for fifteen years. Christians should be thankful that God has a bit more patience.

The method of saving the world by leaving it does not seem to be the way for proclaiming the reign of God to the world. It appears to lack a love for the other and assumes that nothing good can come out of anything that is not officially ordained by the Christian culture. Fortunately, there are many Christians that recognize the problem with such an attitude towards the rest of the world. An editorial in Christianity Today points out the foibles of Simonds’ plan: “Even if his assertion is true, Simonds’s tactic is hardly a Christian method of influencing society. Sabotage the system, he implies, and they’ll be sorry they crossed us.” (Ibid., 40) The article is correct. Such language and attitude reminds one of fear-induced disdain for an enemy rather than love-induced compassion for a neighbor. It seems that these cultural Christians have replaced the missio Dei—the mission of God—with a missio safety; their prime objective is to create a world where their faith cannot be impugned. Should the Christian’s goal be to love the people of the world even when it is difficult or try to create some idealistic, homogenous society via a crusade-like toppling of the current regime?

Additionally, there is something to be said about the diversity-infused education that a child receives in a public school education. The parent must be in constant dialogue with his or her child just as the child is in dialogue with the world. The diversity that some claim as harmful to a child’s faith can actually be beneficial. The child, with the guidance of his or her parents, encounters the world and that can only help them share God’s message as they grow older. (Ibid., 41) However, those calling for the exodus seem to have lost all hope for truly living in the world. They carry this conviction with them through their lives and persist in the belief that they can best share the gospel by abandoning the world. The adherence to missio safety does not stop at the decision to incite an exodus from the schools. An alternative society must be built in place of the secular city.

Sources:
Bandow, Doug. "Christianity's Parallel Universe." The American Enterprise Vol. 6 (November/December 1995):58-61.

Editorial. "Stay in School." Christianity Today, 6 September 1999, 40-41.

Fischer, John. Finding God Where You Least Expect Him. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2003.

Simonds, Bob. "Rescue 2010 Strategy." http://www.nace-cee.org/rescue2010.htm. 13 November 2005.

Lunch Break: Week 11 for the Fighting Football Paladins, etc.

2005-11-18T12:09:00.000-05:00

We're coming to you live from the corner of the supply room of CBF International Headquarters overlooking a beautiful day here in Atlanta. I am the only one doing data monkey work today because both Eric (gone home to Texas) and Justin (no idea what he's doing) did not show up to work today. All of which means things are going incredibly slow. So I am using some of the lunch break to post. We have not had internet for about two and half days, the third such internet stoppage in as many weeks. As EA said last night, "It's Comcrapstic" (I could not be more proud). Moving on:

-This week the #4 Fighting Football Paladins hit the road to take on the Mocassins (not the snake, not the shoe, but the Native American tribe; though their mascot is a bird with an engineer hat on a train, go figure) of Tennessee-Chattanooga in their regular season finale. Furman needs to win this game to improve their chances of opening the playoffs at home and an outside shot at getting a seed. Continuing a year-long theme, this is a very dangerous game. The Paladins have not exactly been road warriors this year (2-2 with one victory being on a last-second TD and the other in 3 overtimes) and Chattanooga is a much-improved team. Throw into the mix that the Mocs have an outside chance at the playoffs (one that involves losses of apocalyptic proportions for most of the Top 20) and Furman is going to need to bring their A game to the mountains of Tennessee. The one thing that encourages me is how well Furman played last week against Wofford. I believe that will carry over into this week as the Fighting Football Paladins make a strong case to begin a playoff run in Greenville. Final Score: Furman 35, Chattanooga 21.

-I do not know what it was, but Wednesday night's episode of "Lost" reminded me why it is one of the best shows on television. The revelation of the "Ethan" for the other survivors completely caught me off guard. The big African dude is now one of my favorite characters and I am intrigued by his mentioning prayer, response to finding a Bible, and his 40 days of silence. Ah, and Ana Lucia might want to stop going Lord of the Flies on everyone; trying to kill the man who loved the girl you killed doesn't fix things. Stay tuned.

-Walk the Line has joined The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on my list of must-see films for the holiday season. You may be asking yourself (as I'm sure my Rascal Flatts-loving wife is), "Why does a biopic focused on country legend Johnny Cash appeal to one who has a great distate for country music?" First off, I think Cash's story is appeals to those who are music fans outside of that Nashville-based genre. After all, Cash is not only in the Country Music Hall of Fame, but also the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Secondly, Cash was a professing Christian who at the same time was very honest about the fact that he was a flawed and broken man; the story of his life is a tale of redemption. Thirdly, Johnny Cash country music is not the same as country music today (which may warrant itself an entire post if I get around to it). Fourthly, it is supposed to be a phenomenal movie. Fifthly and finally, it gives me the excuse to say the name "Joaquin Phoenix" numerous times.

-I am counting down the days until EA and I get to head to Nashville and then the Spartanburg-Greenville area to see family that we have missed much the past few weeks. Plus, we're only one week out from The Greatest Feast in America at my Grandma's and Grandad's. Good times. Well, lunch is over and I should get back to work. Have a good day and a safe weekend. Go Paladins!

Coming Up For Air

2005-11-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

Stop #1 on the 2005 McAfee Tour of Academic Attrition was finished earlier today as I knocked off my research paper. It came in at a shade over 17 pages. I did not get the opportunity to post it in sections to the blog like I planned, but I still may post it after some tweaking. The next hurdle is two short papers that are due before Wednesday. Then there is a brief respite for Thanksgiving and then major papers will be due in the next week in Spiritual Formation, Old Testament, and Evangelism & Mission. Finally, everything will come to a stop after that little holiday tradition we call final exams. The great price of education. A few more thoughts while I'm here:

-I have decided that I feel restricted by academic papers. The inability to use personal pronouns, the requirement of using so many sources, etc. All of it just seems incredibly dry to me right now. When you look at scripture, what do you see? Narrative, poetry, and personal letters. Those genres speak to people. I do not feel like a formulaic five-point paper contains that kind of power.

-Even though it has cooled down a bit recently, I cannot remember ever being this far into November and it never really feeling like fall. I love warm weather, but I have to admit that I'm ready for things to cool down. Granted, I will be singing a different tune when I'm scraping frost off my car in a couple of months.

-Today, I received my class schedule for J-term and the spring. In January, I am taking Digital Media and Religious Ministry, which I am hoping will be a nice and useful change of pace. And then in the spring, I have the Sequel Term: Old Testament II, Spiritual Formation II, Church History II, Evangelism & Mission II, and then topped off by Introduction to Greek. Hopefully, me and ol' McAfee will start getting along over the course of the next few months.

-The Fighting Football Paladins handled the Wofford Terriers with ease this past weekend and find themselves at #4 going into the final weekend of the regular season. I can think of a hundred reasons why we should not get a seed in the playoffs, but that ranking gives me a glimmer of hope. But first thing's first, we have to beat a tough Chattanooga team on Saturday.

-Funny thought: People thinking Kat Garber is still a high schooler.

-iTunes Flashback Music Pick of the Week: "The Times They Are A'Changin'" by Bob Dylan. It was a completely random music selection for me and I cannot get the song out of my head. Plus, it is hard to listen to this song and not think that there is some voice of prophecy in it.

-I do not know why, but few things give me such pure, unadulterated joy as watching 5,000 Superballs being dumped off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater on Letterman.

That is all that I have tonight. Vaya con Dios.

Week 10 for the Fighting Football Paladins: Why I Don't Like My Hometown College

2005-11-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

For most of yesterday, our Internet was once again Comcastigated as our server went down. This prevented me from posting some of my thoughts from my research paper (to hopefully come later today) and my thoughts on this week's game. What? You think that a research paper is going to prevent me from writing about my favorite team? Not so. This week the Fighting Football Paladins take on their I-85 rivals, the Terriers of Wofford College. The rivalry is actually the oldest in the state of South Carolina. Wofford took the first meeting in 1889 and Furman has pretty much owned the series since.

Wofford College is the main college in my hometown of Spartanburg, SC, which is a wonderful place. On paper, there is not a lot about it (except the Beacon) that would draw you there. However, it is home and it grows on you. With that said, I can't stand Wofford and it is all the fault of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. A few years ago the Herald-Journal, our local newspaper, started a policy of treating the Wofford Terriers like they were the greatest thing in 1-AA. They stopped writing articles about Furman and instead just posted wire reports with disparaging headlines (usually something along the lines of "Furman struggles to win" or something like that). That is why I do not pull for Wofford (the college, not my uncle). Is it their fault? Eh...probably not.

The rivalry is an unusual one. Besides being the oldest series in the state, it is a second longest-running one as well. It was renewed when the Terriers joined the Southern Conference roughly a decade ago. Wofford certainly considers Furman to be one of their biggest rivals. Two of the last three years, the Paladins came into Spartanburg and ruined the Terriers' playoff hopes. Does Furman consider Wofford their rival? Absolutely, but a rivalry that is secondary to Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, and possibly The Citadel. We want to beat Wofford and respect Wofford, but I think this game only gets the blood running of Spartanburg natives like me and my brother.

As for the actual game, sixth-ranked Furman is coming off of a heart-breaking 27-24 loss at Georgia Southern last week. Wofford is recovering from their first ever shutout loss in SoCon play, a 24-0 defeat at the hands of Western Carolina. Wofford at 5-4 is playing for pride. Furman, despite being knocked out of the driver's seat for the conference championship, is playing for playoff position. The quest is still on to put numbers on the right side of the field house. If Furman wins its final two games, they will likely have a home game in the first round of the playoffs. If we lose one, it will probably be playoffs but no home game. Two losses mean no playoffs. As I said earlier, the rivalry is unusual. My dad said this morning that it wouldn't surprise him if Furman won by four touchdowns or if Wofford pulled off the upset at Paladin Stadium.

Furman is now playing for their playoff lives. They are undefeated at home, while dropping both of their losses in unfriendly confines. They know the importance of starting a playoff run at Paladin Stadium. That factor combined with a desire for redemption after the Georgia Southern game should figure into a victory for Furman. Plus, we're undefeated against teams nicknamed after dogs this season and the terrier is the smallest and yappiest among them. I expect Ingle Martin to have a solid day. The defense will continue to improve in a tune up for the playoffs. The Fighting Football Paladins will keep the yappy dogs quiet. Final score: Furman 31, Wofford 14. Have a good day. Go Paladins!

Sitting on the Edge

2005-11-08T23:35:00.000-05:00

In about 5 days, there is a research paper that is due for my Evangelism and Mission class. Our objective is to tackle some sort of issue that threatens/impacts the carrying out of the gospel in the world. The buzz word is actually missio Dei, which means the mission of God, but I think that "gospel" carries more weight than that term. My paper is to deal with the Christian subculture and how these boundaries we have created prevent us from carrying out the Great Commission. The problem is that this phenomenon in its present form is fairly new, meaning that not many of the academic types have contributed to this topic. I have sources (mainly books by non-academic types and articles concerning the issue), but I needed more sources. So this evening, EA and I journeyed up 285 to that great American bastion of learning: Barnes & Noble.

The Christian literature section at Barnes & Noble is one of the most maddening, bewildering, frustrating, and fascinating places I can go. You never know what kind of authors are neighboring each other. Although all the books are under the same genre category they are far from homogeneous. Some of them frustrate me. I have made it no secret since I took "Jesus and the Gospels" a few years back that I think John Dominic Crossan is off his nut, but you can find him a few shelves down from C.S. Lewis or Max Lucado. But that's part of what fascinates me. You never know what you are going to find and, as a result, you never know what you are going to learn. Which is why we have Christian bookstores; you pretty much know what you're going to get. Let's say Joe Christian walks into Barnes & Noble looking for Every Young Man's Purpose-Driven Battle to Be A Wild Jesus Freak At Heart by John Piper (I apologize to the scores of people I just offended there in making a point; I do believe that there is some good in those books) and instead he finds a book about Gnosticism. The next thing we know, Joe is questioning his faith, hugging trees, dating a Buddhist, and talking about Eastern mysticism with his liberal buddies at Starbucks.

Now such an enormous turnaround for Joe seems ridiculous. But there are times that similar transformations occur. I saw my college religion classes throw fellow students for such a loop because they had been cocooned in the safety of a Christian subculture. When they were exposed to what some of the rest of the world had to say, they either retreated further into their cocoon or they tossed their faith aside. The Christian subculture stunts the growth of Christians sometimes because it often provides all the answers and no questions. Now I am not saying that Christian bookstores, music, books, or whatever else is evil. Today, I bought a Christian book at Barnes & Noble and used my iTunes card to by what is considered Christian music (thanks for tip on the Jars iTunes Originals, Taylor). I am just saying that we are taking this culture and fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world.

So here I am, sitting at the edge of writing this paper. I am not sure where it is going to take me. But in order to keep myself on task and to work through the various topics that I am going tackle, I will be posting rough drafts of the different sections of the paper over the next several days. The posts will be less formal than the actual paper will be, but suggestions will be welcome. There are going to be posts on Christian Private Schools, the Danger of the Christian Subculture's Obsession with Safety ("99.3 the Light, Safe for the Whole Family"), the worldly pitfalls of the Christian subculture, the dangers of the subculture on the gospel (obviously), and the Biblical models for breaking the boundaries put up by the subculture (Paul in Acts 17, Peter and Cornelius, and Jesus). So there will be something regular on here this week. Hope it makes sense. Hope it isn't boring. Here we go.

Greetings from Music City

2005-11-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

11-5-05
Dear Friends and Family,
In lieu of a postcard, I am sending you this blog. Hello from Nashville, Tennessee. First off, yes, the Fighting Football Paladins lost and, all things considered, should have (or at least could have) won. It is disappointing, but the season isn't over and life moves on. EA and I are having a lovely time up here in her hometown. We got in yesterday evening and EA's dad grilled some hamburgers and spent the rest of the evening hanging out at her house. Her mother's fundraiser went well this morning. I had the most incredible breakfast casserole; we're talking unbelievable stuff here. EA's grandparents and great aunt came over to look at wedding proofs. My afternoon was spent watching the South Carolina game and then the aforementioned Furman game. I feel like I am maturing nicely concerning Furman losses, which is good considering I'm an adult and all. After the game, EA and I got food from SATCo (San Antonio Taco Co.) since her parents were at a function. Downtown Nashville is a happening place on a Saturday night. It is a college town mixed with the music scene and other artsy types. It makes me feel all adult-like. Anyway, I just wanted to sit down and write to all of you. I miss all of you and wish you were here; it would be crowded here at the Ferrees, but it would be fun. Hope to hear from all of you soon.
Grace and peace,
Chris(topher)

Week 9 for the Fighting Football Paladins: Number One with a Bullseye

2005-11-04T21:29:00.000-05:00

Week 9 is when The Stretch starts for the Fighting Football Paladins and this year it could not be any bigger. Furman finds itself in the driver's seat for a second consecutive Southern Conference title, ranked #1 in the nation, and three wins shy of tying the greatest regular season record for a Furman team. The question has to be asked: Who are these guys? This is the same team that got shelacked by Western Carolina and whose defense was giving up chunks of yardage early in the season. At the same time, this is the team that has gotten it done with the game on the line. Losing with two minutes to play and a field to cross? No problem. Down by 14 in the fourth with the starting QB on the sidelines? We can handle it. Overtime? Seen it go into double in one game and triple in the other; both victories.

Despite this Jekyll and Hyde tendency, the #1 Fighting Football Paladins are 7-1 heading into Statesboro for a showdown with the #14 Georgia Southern Eagles. This is the rivalry game for both teams. Furman is coming off of a 45-6 Homecoming triumph over Elon followed by an open date. Georgia Southern is happy to be back at home after gunning down the wascally Jackrabbits of South Dakota State 55-42 in a Midwestern shootout. Furman's #1 ranking makes a big bullseye even bigger in the eyes of the Eagles. Georgia Southern fans hate Furman. Go on their message boards, this is one that they want in a bad way. So why is there such a huge bullseye on the Paladins? Let's take a quick review:

1. We're #1- I just like typing that and am taking advantage of it given the ranking's tenuous nature this year.
2. 29-22- The Eagles seemed unstoppable last year until they came into Greenville and Furman took away their swagger and a share of the SoCon title.
3. We're a small liberal arts college- This is a matter of personal opinion, but reasons #1 and 2 are so much worse because of #3. Many Eagles fans don't understand how a school of 2600 with high academic standards can hang with (and sometimes beat) their enormous school. In fact, the main excuse for their loss last year is still that our rich higherups payed off the refs. They can't deal with it.
4. The Rivalry Factor- Furman-Georgia Southern has turned into one of the marquee rivalries in 1-AA. If both teams were completely out of the playoff race, there would still be enormous intensity.
5. Their backs are to the wall- If 6-3 Georgia Southern loses one more game, their hopes for a playoff bid are all but gone and that is downright unacceptable in Statesboro. In other words, this dangerous team becomes all the more dangerous. Kind of like a cornered animal.

There are probably more reasons, but those will suffice. In fact, those reasons are so persuasive that most of the national media is predicting the #14 team to trump #1. Honestly, that is fine by me. This game is frightening enough and the last thing Furman needed was Georgia Southern to be stewing over the fact that they were picked to lose at home. Paulson Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in the country. Furman has never won their in the regular season (although Furman did knock them off there in the national semifinals; Georgia Southern's first ever home playoff loss...that can be reason #6). Furman has not faced an offense like the triple option all season and "fullback" Jermaine Austin is a beast.

Like I said, the game frightens me. But something about this Furman team makes me believe in them despite contrary evidence. Like I've said before, I will not pick against them. But this pick isn't even out of obligation. The balance of the Furman ground game and pass game will keep the young Georgia Southern defense guessing. Jerome Felton will continue to pound his way through to the endzone and Ingle Martin will begin to show his late season form of last year. And the Furman defense will contain the powerful GSU offense enough to preserve the victory. The Fighting Football Paladins will make sure that these Eagles stay on the endangered list. Furman 31, Georgia Southern 21. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

The Gospel According to Earl

2005-11-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

It is fairly popular to slap the fragment "The Gospel According to..." in front of any item of popular culture. It probably started with the guy that wrote the book The Gospel According to Peanuts (the comic strip). And since then, we've had things like The Gospel According to Tony Soprano, The Gospel According to the Simpsons, The Gospel According to Harry Potter and The Gospel According to My Dog Skip. By the way, I only made one of those up. So I decided to try my hand at this.

"My Name is Earl" is my favorite new show on TV and, given the state of the sitcom, it is my favorite comedy that is on right now. The basic premise of the show is that Earl is basically a bad guy, an older person might call him a rapscallion. But basically he lives only for himself, lies to people, commits petty crimes, etc. One day, he wins $100,000 in the lottery and is hit by a car about 2 seconds later. Through the spiritual and drug induced guidance of Carson Daly, Earl decides that his current hospital-dwelling state is the result of karma. You do bad things, bad things will come to you. If you do good...well, you get the idea. So he decides to right all of the wrongs he has committed. As the narrative opening of each show goes: "I'm just trying to make a difference. My name is Earl."

It's funny that the "cutting edge" show of the new season is about a guy who seems to have genuine desire to turn his life around. There's something very Capra-esque (It's A Wonderful Life) about the show's concept; not in the execution, but at least in the concept. It is refreshing to see a character that is not completely consumed with self-gratification. Instead he sees the wrong in his life and tries to attone for those sins. No matter what he has done, whether bullying a kid in elementary school or framing a friend for a botched convenience store robbery (larceny and deceit have never been so hilarious), he tries to give goodness back to those he has hurt. Earl's attitude of just trying to make a difference is one that every Christian should model.

Despite these redemptive themes in this show, this "gospel" has a problem (sort of like the Gospel According to Thomas). Of course, the red flags would have gone up for the ultra-fundamentalist a while ago: karma. My trouble is not with the use of the term "karma". Earl's understanding of the concept is completely separated from its Eastern religious origins. In Spiritual Formation this Wednesday, we talked about how so many people think that God rewards the obedient and punishes the evil. Suddenly, I heard Earl's voice, "I"m talkin' about karma!" Instead of talking about grace, there are many people talking about karma disguised as righteousness.

Think about it. How many times has a brand new church gymnasium been accredited to the great righteousness of the congregation? Kurt Warner wins the Super Bowl and thanks God, then tons of churches say that it was Warner's faith that won the Super Bowl (instead of the sick offense that St. Louis had that season). What about the Christians on the 29 other teams? And then there is the flip side of God going to great measures of punishing the unrighteous. Take your pick: 9/11, the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the Chicago Cubs. These people got what they deserved. Good works can bring good results and sin can bring on consequences. But on this sort of cosmic level? There are plenty of bad things that happen to good people and good things that happen to bad people. God may prove me wrong on this and I'll concede (God being Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the Universe; has a huge upper hand), but when I go with what Jesus says I can't buy into this earthly rewards/punishment system.

In Matthew 5:45, Jesus says, "He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Christianity is about grace. It is something that no one earns and no one deserves. Earl decides to make a list of redemptive actions and he finds his lottery ticket. He decides to renig on helping the guy he bullied in high school and he gets robbed. I laugh, but how many people view life that way. How many people are told to stay in line in hopes of brownie points or in fear of retribution? Are we not supposed to obey God's commandments out of love? I talk a big game, but I find myself trying to break myself of this thought process. Our rewards based society (sticker for an A on a spelling test, trophy for the winner of the race) has wired us to think this way. We need to be rewired for grace.

That's my take on the gospel according to current pop culture. Earl isn't perfect, but he tries. He may come around on this whole karma thing, too and just decide to do good for the love of doing good. Time will tell. So on Tuesdays at 9:00 tune into "My Name is Earl". It is a hilarious show. And it might give you something to think about also. You can thank me for giving you two reasons for watching TV.

"We're #1" and other thoughts

2005-10-31T22:04:00.000-05:00

-For the first time in 15 years the Fighting Football Paladins of Furman University find themselves on top of the 1-AA football world. That's right, we're #1. The Paladins collected 61 first place votes and 2,742 votes overall. Unfortunately, the #1 ranking has been the kiss of death for teams this season. James Madison, Southern Illinois (twice), Western Kentucky (twice), and New Hampshire have all been knocked off while holding on to the top position. Naturally, Furman plays a ranked rival on the road in one of the most hostile stadiums in the nation. Oh, and they're mad because we beat them last year. Stay tuned, it's going to be a good one.
-The greatest irony of Furman's ascension to #1 is the headline when the story broke: "Furman earns No. 1 ranking". We didn't even play last week.
-I have already finished off my most recent critical review (aka book report) and it is not even 10:15 yet. That is roughly 5 hours earlier than I finished my last review. At this rate, if I have a few more of these (God forbid), I might have it done several days in advance.
-Jon Dees is a cool guy.
-EA Cox is the best wife ever.
-We had several kids come to our apartment for trick-or-treating tonight. The best costume award goes to Batman. I feel safer knowing that the Caped Crusader lives in our building.
-Proof that my music tastes are getting a bit random, my last four purchases on iTunes: "Breathe Your Name" by Sixpence None the Richer; Amusing by Chris Rice; "Save Me" by Remy Zero; "Jesus Walks" (clean version, don't panic) by Kanye West.
-Today was the 488th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenburg. Have you hugged a Protestant today?
That's all I have. A happy November 1 to everyone tomorrow.

The Greatest Game Ever Played

2005-10-29T23:30:00.000-04:00

November 6 is a special day. It is my brother Taylor's 20th birthday and it is my three month anniversary with EA. It will also be the one year anniversary of the greatest football game I have ever seen in my entire life. Since this Saturday finds me without a Furman game and my desire to tell this story on November 6 will hinge on the outcome of the previous day's game with Georgia Southern, I am telling this story to you today.

There was buzz about campus that week as is usually the case during Homecoming week. But this time the commotion had a different quality. Instead of playing the normal sacrificial lamb for Homecoming (see Elon, 2005), this year's contest was against Georgia Southern. Furman-Georgia Southern has become the most heated rivalry in the Southern Conference. Furman was ranked third in the nation with their only losses being an overtime decision to 1-A Pittsburgh and a last second heartbreaker against Appalachian State. Despite such an impressive season, few gave the Fighting Football Paladins a chance against the #2 Eagles of Georgia Southern. With the exception of a loss to 1-A powerhouse Georgia, the Eagles had steamrolled their opponents by an average score of 54-10; their starters had no idea what it was like to play late in the game because they were so dominant.

The game was on our minds all week. Instead of doing the normal football prediction on Tuesday Update (a weekly news broadcast covering BCM announcements), we filmed a special TNT College Gameday segment at Paladin Stadium. Justin Nelson, allegedly a lifelong Paladin fan, picked the home team to lose. This is how unstoppable people thought Georgia Southern was at this point. We had a great time going through the normal Homecoming traditions and then gameday came. We got to the stadium a good hour and a half before kickoff and the student section was already filling in.

The stands were packed. It was the fourth largest crowd that ever attended a game at Paladin Stadium. Thousands of Georgia Southern fans had made the trip up from Statesboro; they were loud and profane. I cannot print the things that they chanted on the visitor side of the stands. I remember the intensity that we felt in that student section; the sights and sounds. I remember us cheering on our punter (the punter!) Bo Moore as he pinned Georgia Southern inside the 10 several times in the first quarter. Every play, every pass, every run put the stands on edge. I have never seen a crowd more behind a team. Even down 12-10 at halftime, you would not think that we were losing.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. The fans on both sides grew exponentially louder. Furman opened the third quarter with a commanding touchdown drive and a two point conversion to take an 18-12 lead. Georgia Southern would regain the lead, but the end of the third quarter ended with Furman making a goal line stand on the student section end. As the final period began, my voice was shot. With 3:53 left in the game, Furman had the ball at their own 20 and was losing 22-21. The knock against Furman and Bobby Lamb was always that they could not win this type of game.

About two and a half minutes later, again down by the student section, Furman crashed into the end zone. Next was a two point conversion, an end around that Isaac West ran into the end zone. He held his finger up in the air as he crossed the goal line. The student section went ballistic. People were hugging each other, slapping high fives, screaming in joy. People were stunned. The Georgia Southern fans sat across the field in stunned silence. When Cam Newton broke up a Georgia Southern desperation pass to the end zone, the clock struck 00:00. It seemed like everyone on the home side poured out onto the field. The final score was 29-22. The campus and Homecoming dance was filled with sheer euphoria. Everyone was exhausted but happy and we didn't even play the game. Such a description does not do justice to the game. But you have to believe me when I say it was an incredible game; in fact, the greatest one ever played.

Random Friday Night Thoughts

2005-10-28T23:28:00.000-04:00

-First of all, big news on the job front. The biggest news is that EA had her first day of work today. She is doing temp gigs and today she took phone calls at a lawyer's office. It's great stuff. Plus, if that wasn't enough the data monkey business has gotten much more interesting. I am done with the Georgia annual and looking at individual church records to determine what sort of affiliation they have. It is kind of like detective work, but not. Still it is a heck of a lot more exciting than typing in how many people went to Sunday School at Calvary Baptist Church in Enterthenameofvirtuallyanycity, Georgia.
-We talked about Levitical dietary laws in Old Testament a few days ago. Once again, I firmly believe I could not have cut it as an Ancient Hebrew observer of Judaism. Pulled pork barbecue, the Italian combo at Firehouse Subs, ham and cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and pizza with any sort of meat toppings would all be off limits. If strawberry Pop-Tarts are unclean, then I would starve.
-DiGiorno Pizza makes a quality meal.
-#1-ranked Western Kentucky dropped a 31-20 decision to #8 Southern Illinois last night. This opens the door for the Fighting Football Paladins, idle this week, to likely take over the top spot in the rankings and also means the Furman will be heading into Statesboro, GA next Saturday with largest imaginable bullseye on them. Granted, we already had a bullseye given that we are Furman, we beat Georgia Southern last year, their fighting for their playoff lives, and they have the opportunity to knock us off course in our quest for a conference championship. So a #1 ranking is just icing on the cake for them, but I am proud of the Fighting Football Paladins and their potential holding of the top spot. Hopefully, they'll have a better run of it than all the other teams.
-The cheesecake at Chili's is incredible. I didn't mention that in the post on churches because I felt like it didn't fit in.
-Have you noticed this trend of local news stations doing reports tied into whatever the 10 o'clock show is on that network? There are things like, "Tonight on 'Without a Trace', a young child was kidnapped in broad daylight; see how the same thing can happen to one of your loved ones" or "This week's 'ER' dealt with a rare form of heart disease; learn how this life-threatening illness is not as rare as you think". This is terrible. Not only are they trying to cash in on the popularity of these shows, but they're scaring people to death. This has to be stopped.
-I just saw a commercial for the Georgia Lottery and those offkey-singing kids make the Not Yet Readies look like the Metropolitan Opera...plus there were not any cool motions.
-Three days until we can move past all of this Halloween nonsense.
That's all this tired mind has right now. Have a great weekend.

House of God, Home for Believers

2005-10-26T22:20:00.000-04:00

This morning in Spiritual Formation (or as I like to call it, Group Therapy) the discussion turned to communities and crises. The general consensus in the room was that churches often don't do a good job when someone is facing tough times. At least that has been our experiences; like I said, it's group therapy. Cody raised the question of what the church could do to help those that are facing crises. That's when I got thinking and then speaking. We always refer to church as the House of God, which it is. But it is also needs to be a Home for Believers.

Christians need to feel like they are at home when they are at church. Home is where I feel safe. I feel like I can be myself and my family will still love me. That is the environment that needs to exist in the church. Instead, we often throw on our "Everything is Fine" masks and turn each Sunday into Halloween. People that are struggling feel like they are failing as Christians and do not see anyone else that will identify with them. We would never say so, but we have bought into the philosophy of Job's friends, who were jerks by the way. If we are right with God then all is well. If I am struggling then it is my fault. The difference is Job's friends said this to his face and most of us are at least polite enough to not speak this to friends that are Jobed (by the way, taking Biblical names and turning them into verbs is great; you should try it sometime).

Looking back on my youth, I never felt like my church was home. I want to express that this is my experience and that many other members of that congregation have found spiritual growth there. But I was one in a congregation of nearly three thousand and I, to tweak a Coldplay lyric, was swallowed in the FBC. I did not feel like I could be myself because I could not really play the youth group game well. I did not feel like it was a place that I could share my struggles or my questions. So even though I was considered a "leader", I did not feel like I belonged. It wasn't like being at home; it was more like going to a rich relative's house where you had to dress up and behave. Sure I had fun (the rich relative's house always has cool stuff), but it was not home. Thankfully there were still homes for me: my own home with family and a house belonging to my discipleship leader, Danny Jelley. It was in those places that I felt like I could be myself. I felt like I could share my struggles and ask my questions. Among family and friends, I found two places that I could call home.

We can't really get over this House of God thing or at least a narrow view of what the House of God means. I believe (and I think Rodney Norvell planted this seed) that we sometimes view God in strictly Old Testament terms, a sentiment that I'm sure would get me in trouble with those professors that have taught me Hebrew Bible. But when we think of the House of God, we think of it as a place that has to be clean; we think of the Holy of Holies. We seem to forget that in the New Testament, God (Jesus) dwelled among sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and common people. His home was any place that God's children were in need. Some of the most thriving churches today are the ones full of addicts going through 12-step programs. The members know that everyone else is going through the same thing; that there is always an ear to listen to their problems. Can you imagine how freeing that is? You don't have to dress a certain way. You don't have to put on an act. You come just as you are, which coincidentally is the refrain from a common song played during invitations.

We're homesick Christians. Why do you think "I Can Only Imagine" is played a bazillion times on Christian radio? We need to experience God's love and I fear that many of us are trying to find that on our own. In other words, the love of God is not being imparted to some people (maybe many, I don't want to make sweeping judgments...oh, maybe I'm too late) in the church. We face crises, questions, and doubts, but an unlistening church leaves us orphans. I am not saying that the church is to satisfy that void that only God can fill. There will always be something lacking until we see God face to face. But I think one of the missions of the church is to impart God's love to world. Part of what that means is making our churches homes for believers (and unbelievers as well, but that has a slightly different dynamic).

Tonight, EA and I went up to Chattanooga to meet her parents to show them the proofs of our wedding pictures and eat some dinner. It was a wonderful evening. As we pulled out of the parking lot, EA said how part of her wished that she could go to Nashville, her home. I know the feeling. What if that is how we felt about church? There are some (many) people that do feel that way. I am thrilled for them. But a room full of people this morning reminded me that we have a long way to go. And oh, it starts with me; I need to point that out. The House of God is the Home for Believers. Someday, I will see this home and it will fuel my imagination for my true home.

Homecoming Photos from the Mushroom Kingdom

2005-10-23T09:15:00.000-04:00

Super Fighting Football Paladins 8

2005-10-22T02:19:00.000-04:00

Editor's Note: We're changing this week's title of our weekly prediction column in honor of the Super Mario Bros. float artfully done by BCM (more pictures coming soon).

For Week 8, the Fighting Football Paladins will take on the Elon Phoenix (formerly Fighting Christians) in a Homecoming match beneath the shade of Paris Mountain. On paper, #2 Furman should stomp Elon like a bunch of Goombas. However, Furman has made few things easy so far this season. Yet still, the Paladins have fought and persevered their way to a 6-1 start and find themselves in the driver's seat for the Southern Conference title. This week has another making of a trap game as Furman looks ahead to a critical match against Georgia Southern at Statesboro in two weeks. The unranked Phoenix are also similar to the Citadel team that Furman faced last week, but less talented. So here's hoping that this one is not going into any overtimes. The Super Fighting Football Paladins squad should put out a solid effort for the Homecoming crowd and make sure these Phoenix don't rise from the ashes. Furman 30, Elon 14. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

Morning Update

2005-10-19T08:20:00.000-04:00

Here are the morning's notes:
-We are now two days from the beginning of Furman's Homecoming. I love Homecoming: pomping the floats, the carnival rides on the mall, seeing friends that have graduated (of course I'm one of them now), the paranoid feeling that some inebriated guy is going to vandalize your float. It's magical. I am looking forward to going back. This year's theme is "Furman loves the 80s" and BCM's float is "Super Mario Bros." I plan to post some pictures at the end of the weekend.
-Speaking of Super Mario Bros., yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the original Nintendo Entertainment System's release. For my generation, that is a milestone event. I mentioned this at work yesterday and everyone started gushing about the glories of Excitebike, RBI Baseball, Punch Out, Duck Hunt, Tecmo Bowl, and our dear friends Mario and Luigi. Video games have come a long way, but you still can't beat those original Nintendo games for pure playing quality. Thanks Mario.
-I have found the perfect church. I don't know how it isn't packed to the gills, because it is not only the perfect church, but it is located in the perfect city. That is why our Data Monkey Church of the Day is Ideal Baptist Church of Ideal, GA.
-I am not sure what to think about Furman's backup-quarterback-rallies-team-from-two-touchdown-fourth-quarter-deficit-for-a-heartstopping-triple-overtime victory over unranked The Citadel. I can't decide whether this Furman squad is either a team of destiny or if it is going to crash and burn in an ugly way. Still a win is a win and I will say that, so far, this is the most clutch Furman team I have seen.
-The Furman-Citadel game was easily the most exciting thing I have seen on PBS since the rest of Sesame Street found out Mr. Snuffleupagus was real.
-The Book Review is the biggest scam in my graduate education. It is an overglorified book report and it exists for the pure purpose of proving that the student read the book. It requires little thought, but a terrible amount of time. I have my third paper of this nature due on November 1 and I am not pleased.
-"My Name is Earl" is a funny, funny show.
-X:Spectrum is a great conference.
-Thanks are in order to the genius at Sticky Fingers that said, "Hey, we should have an all you can eat buffet on Sunday afternoons." Sometimes the greatest ideas are the simplest.
-I can now create sentences in Hebrew.
That wraps up this rambling session. Vaya con Dios.

Week 7 for the Fighting Football Paladins

2005-10-14T23:46:00.000-04:00

After a thrilling victory over Appalachian State, the Fighting Football Paladins return to action to take on the Bulldogs of The Citadel. The trip to the Low Country of South Carolina is a potential trap game as the Paladins and Bulldogs meet in the longest running Southern Conference rivalry (the rivalry with Wofford, though older, has not had nearly as many contests). Despite a 2-3 record, the Citadel did defeat Western Carolina, a team that handed Furman its only loss of the season, and has played admirably against two 1-A opponents before the depth chart turned those games into routes. As the #5 Paladins head into this game, there are three factors to consider. First, Furman is facing a team with a stingy defense and an anemic offense led by a freshman backup at quarterback. The Citadel is not a prolific passing team which has been the Achilles' heel for Furman's defense. The key is that the Paladins offense does not implode via turnovers as it did against Western Carolina. Second, the "trap game". Coming off the victory over App. State and several weeks shy of the important Georgia Southern-Wofford stretch, it would be easy for Furman to overlook this week's game and next week's Homecoming match versus Elon. The topsy turvy nature of this year's Southern Conference does allow the Paladins to overlook any game and I believe Furman knows that. Thirdly, Furman's record against team nicknamed after dogs. The Fighting Football Paladins are unbeaten in their last six matches against teams named after dogs, including a 2-0 mark against teams nicknamed "Bulldogs" this season. The Citadel will join their other canine kin in the loss column this week as the Fighting Football Paladins will wear out the Citadel. Furman's offense will not throw the Bulldogs a bone and the defense will finally hold a team under 20 points: Furman 31, The Citadel 17. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

Finding Oz

2005-10-13T21:34:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I will be a scarecrow. It is a role that I am playing in a teaching parody (instead of a teaching parable) entitled “The Lizard of Oz” for a one-day conference that my dad is running. It is a fun role; I have played some straight arrow roles in dramas recently and this media obsessed straw man gives me a chance to play something different (“Runnin’, you know that you are runnin’…”). My thoughts have been straying to Oz a lot recently. It has been years since I have seen the movie, but there are aspects seared into my consciousness. Mainly I have been thinking about the need for a brain, heart, and courage.

Do you remember that scene at the end of the movie when the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion find out that they possess what they were seeking all along? The wizard gives them little tokens to remind them of what they have. The Scarecrow received a diploma. That reminds me that I am basically working to get a piece of paper that says I have a brain. The Tinman got some sort of ticking heart and the Cowardly Lion got…honestly, I don’t remember what he got. The lion kind of fades into the background. Scarecrow and Tinman sang about if they only had a brain or a heart; the Cowardly Lion sang about being king of the forest. Egomaniac.

I think one of the reasons that The Wizard of Oz sticks out for so many people is that everyone is looking for a brain, a heart, the nerve. Each person possesses the capacity for these attributes, but it seems like we don’t utilize those capabilities. I find myself yearning for a brain, heart, or courage at times. I’m a cowardly tincrow. Take this morning for example. Old Testament was being Old Testament, when suddenly the lecture found it way to the plagues. Dr. Garber told a story about watching Prince of Egypt with his young niece. During the 10th Plague, the one that made Pharaoh cry uncle, Dr. Garber’s niece turned and asked, “Why did God have to kill all the children?” And my heart sank. Why did God kill the children? I don’t know. It makes my head spin when I try to rationalize such an event with a God that I believe is all-loving. It is times like these where I wish I had a brain that could crack these mysteries, because it is events like these that keep some people away from the faith.

The Tinman wanted a heart so he could love. Love is something that every person desires from the human race, but we are incredibly stingy sharing it. I am studying to become a minister and from everything that I have gathered, love is an important element. Sometimes I wonder whether if that is being emphasized enough in my education here. To borrow from Paul, I could have an airtight theology that could stare down any scholar. I could have the most comprehensive missional focus. I can know Hebrew backwards and forwards, which is opposite from our backwards and forwards. But if I am not loving people, it’s all dissonance. And there is a lot of times that I feel like I am just noise. I firmly believe that love—God’s love, not the junk that the world is feeding us—is the only thing that can turn this world around. If I only had the heart.

I really hate Halloween and I hate scary movies. Take last year when Berea First Baptist was putting on a haunted trail. EA really wanted me to go on it. That’s a Catch-22. I suck it up and go on the trail; EA and I were in separate groups. I played it cool for the youth in my group and I thought I was fine. But when I turned the light off in my room that night, every little noise sent my imagination sprinting. I realize that is silly, but fear finds root in silly soil. When most people talk about the Christian faith and fear, they usually refer to what is commonly called witnessing. We are rather sheepish about talking about what we believe. I have to talk myself up into telling a kid about Christ at Seesalt and that is a Christian environment. But we don’t have the nerve to do other things. When I was on foreign study in Greece and Italy, I noticed that many beggars sat outside of the churches that we visited. Many of us on the trip did not even make eye contact with the beggars while others just assumed they were scam artists, which is entirely possible. The thing is associating with these people was entirely outside of our comfort zone. The good news is that conquering fear is as exhilarating as the actual fear is crippling. When I truly share with a student the difference God has made or when I broke down and gave those beggars a few Euros, I could sense that is what I was supposed to do. Those are just baby steps. It is a scary world out there and I need the nerve.

I have out loud conversations with God at times, which I’m sure is not surprising since I have conversations with myself. I have never audibly heard God talk back. I’m sure I would freak out if I did. I am terribly self-critical and so many of these conversations consist of me asking God to help me serve Him better. I stand there asking for wisdom, grace, or boldness just like our Ozian trio before the wizard. I act like these are things separate from me that God can kind of magically grant me. That is when there is this moment that mirrors the end of The Wizard of Oz. God lets me know that I was created with a brain, heart, and the nerve. But instead of giving me some stupid trinket, I am reminded to use the gifts that I have been given. Too often I put them to waste. I have to remember the One that gave me those abilities in the first place. But mostly, I hear "Christopher, you have the brain, the heart, and the courage. It won't be easy, but follow me." That’s a liberating thing to hear. It’s like leaving the black and white Kansas of my regular life and finding a vibrant Technicolor Oz.

Getting to Breathe

2005-10-12T20:38:00.000-04:00

I am thankful. After what seemed like an eternity of turning around to read, study for a test, or write a paper, I got one afternoon to relax. I finish work at 1:00 on Wednesdays, so I headed home with plenty of day left. I came home and spent some quality time with EA. After that, I did what nearly any male in his early 20s does with spare time: I played video games. I led my Furman Paladins on a three game tear with dominating victories over South Carolina, NC State, and Virginia. Clay Allen finds himself on top in the Heisman rank and the Paladins have moved up to #3 in the country. For those of you that think this is an utter waste of time, you are only half right. It simultaneously serves as therapy, relaxation, and catharsis. You can't beat that. I took care of a few loose ends, then shaved, and got dressed up; we were going to Moe's. That's right, we got ourselves a coupon so EA and I dined on fajitas on the patio at Moe's. The sun was going down and we listened to the beautiful symphony that is the traffic on Chamblee-Tucker. It was wonderful. There are times that I feel like my life in Atlanta just flies by without me. I spend so much time at work and school and then I usually have to do work when I come home. Time with God and EA suffers. Today was different. I got to breathe and it was rejuvenating. "Lost" has just gotten off to an interesting start, so I'm off. Have a cluckety-cluck-cluck day.

Pots and Kettles

2005-10-10T16:21:00.000-04:00

"The pot calls the kettle 'black'."

We were sitting in EVM today, many of us wondering why we were having a hour and a half lecture before our test, when something was said about Bob Jones University. There was some snickering and some snide comments. A few minutes later, there was a comment about the horrible grammar on tracts that some Christians pass out. There was more laughing and people started trading barbs and stories about those people before our professor brought things back to focus.

Before I start, I want to point out two things. First, I do not understand the folks at Bob Jones University (an ultra-conservative school that was a ten-minute drive from Furman; home to many rules and regulations). I can honestly say I have a better grasp on ancient Hebrew than why any Christian would want to go to a school that prohibits you from listening to this type of music or requires a chaperone if you are to go out on a date. It's totally beyond me, but people go there. Secondly, I think that tracts are not the best way for one to share their faith and they can be...well, not the most eloquently written. But at the same time, there are certainly people that have come to a relationship with God through one of these pamphlets.

The comments, the snide remarks, and joking goes on an awful lot. I try not to look down upon people that believe differently than I, but I have to admit that I am guilty of cracking the occasional Bob Jones joke. But for some reason (perhaps my midterm-induced irritation), it all got on my nerves today. I am not so sensitively attuned that I have a problem with joking. Some people are so worried about offending people and think we should never crack a joke. I think that's ridiculous; we need to laugh. Today though, there was an attitude behind this joking. There are some people that exist in the conservatively moderate to liberal end of the spectrum that turn their noses up at the more conservative folks. Bob Jones students are members of a cult. Such and such a group is close-minded or backwards. These people are not being real Christians, because they exclude this person or believe this. It all comes out to we're better than you because we're more loving, etc. And the terrible irony is that such an attitude is not loving at all.

I think that it is a heck of a lot easier to love your enemy than your neighbor in most cases. The fact of the matter is the people who are most like us are often the ones that bother us the most. Jesus got under the skin of the Pharisees because he was very similar to them, but he differed from them in areas that really set them off. Same thing is going on with Southern Baptists and Cooperative Baptists today. Two groups that come from the same background, but disagree on a few issues and all sheol breaks loose. You can find such a problem in near any denomination. It's easier to love someone who is out and out in disagreement with you (a Muslim living in Afghanistan) than a person who is like you, but not completely (that guy who sits at the end of your pew on Sundays who is really conservative or liberal or whatever).

Of course, the argument that I have heard from many people is that those people are doing the exact same thing. Conservatives will point out that others think that they are close-minded, unloving, and wrong. Moderates or liberals will point out that some may think they are going to hell. Well, to not be delicate about it, who gives a crap? Christians are not to just love those who love us. What others say about you and what others have done to you matters, but it never changes the fact that you are supposed to love them.

One of the reasons that non-Christians do not take the Christian faith seriously is that we are running around like pots and kettles calling each other black. I do it (probably to both sides actually) and today I realized that I do not like that fact. We all make mistakes and we all have things that we are wrong about. We should never think ourselves better than others; that's Biblical. That doesn't solve all of our problems and differences (I could not possibly come up with something like that), but it can keep us from running around like kitchen supplies.

The Exorcism

2005-10-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

In the year 2002, I was sitting (and also standing) in my dorm room, my eyes glued to the TV. Furman and Appalachian State were battling it out in one of the most competitive football games I had ever seen. The atmosphere in Boone (and in Blackwell Basement) grew tense as Billy Napier led the Paladins, down 14-9, towards the endzone. My room erupted as Furman broke through to the endzone with 7 seconds left in the game. The Paladins were about to wrap up a come from behind victory against a ranked opponent on the road. Then we decided to go for two and that's when it became the Game We Do Not Speak Of.

Three years and two more heartbreaking losses later, I was standing in the student section at Paladin Stadium. The atmosphere in Greenville grew tense after Richie Williams led the Mountaineers to the endzone to take a 31-26 lead. I turned to my brother and said, "It's going to come down to us going for two." Ingle Martin did what he has done in similar situations and led his team down the field. There were key third down conversions and a crucial offsides penalty on fourth down. With 31 seconds left in the game, Martin found Patrick Sprague in the endzone for a 6-yard touchdown. There was jubilant celebration followed by an uncomfortable buzz. Older students were explaining to younger ones what had happened years before. Despite the history, everyone knew Furman had to go for two. Apparently, Bobby Lamb hesitated, but fullback Jerome Felton said that he could get it in the endzone. Felton pounded into the line of scrimmage and then reached across the line. 2 point conversion good; Furman was up 34-31.

31 seconds is a lot of time for an offense like the one that belongs to App. State. The previous year, Richie Williams led the Mountaineers on a last-second drive after a Furman score for a 30-29 victory. This game was not yet over. The kickoff was returned to the App. State 46 yard line. Three plays later and the Mountaineers were preparing for a field goal with 3 seconds left. The stadium was electric. The student section reached a decibel level previously unreached. The snap. Furman's defense crashed the line. The kick went up. Someone got a hand on it. It wobbled through the air. It landed on the ground. Three seconds later, my feet landed on the turf after jumping the brick wall. Students flooded the field, celebrating with players. Everyone eventually converged to a point, jumping up and down. 2002, the Game We Do Not Speak Of had been exorcised. Later it was reported that William Freeman made the block. He was just a redshirt freshman that day in Boone 3 years ago. In the superficial world of sports, it was a redemptive experience. The 5000 lbs. gorilla had been killed. The 2 point conversion was successful. The Paladins won the day 34-31.

Week 6 for the Fighting Football Paladins: Tropical Storms and 5000 lbs. Gorillas

2005-10-07T23:44:00.000-04:00

There are no two ways about the Furman-App. State series the past three years: they've owned us. The reason that they have owned us is that we signed the deed away and practically begged them to take it, but they have owned us nonetheless. Too many Furman fans would prefer not to relive the history, but for the sake of journalism it must be done. If one were to peg this three-year tailspin on something, it is the 2002 contest between the Fighting Football Paladins and the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. It is referred to as the Game That We Do Not Speak Of. And I will not tell you why we don't speak of it; as far as football experiences go, it was horrifying. In 2003, the series returned to Greenville and we were sure, positive that Furman would avenge the previous year's debacle. During the second half of the game, Furman found its way into the red zone five times and came away with a grand total of three points. Turnovers and penalties were the name of the game in a 13-10 loss. The next year, we are absolutely positive that we are going to go up to Boone and take back our honor. We came into the game ranked #2 in the country with an overtime loss to a 1-A team as the only blemish on what had been an impressive early season. Mountaineer QB Richie Williams passed all over us, set numerous NCAA passing records, and then led App. State on a game-winning last minute drive for a 30-29 win. These are the three games that have taken place under the tenure of Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. Appalachian State is not a monkey on his back, it is a 5000 lbs. gorilla.

The day after we dropped the third against the Boonies I said that no matter where in the country I was, I would come back to Paladin Stadium to see the Fighting Football Paladins take on App. State. I need to see Furman beat these guys and so I'm back in the Upstate. This week's game finds the #6 Fighting Football Paladins taking on the #16 Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Williams is still slinging passes for the lone undefeated team in Southern Conference play. App. State has probably played well the most consistently for any team remaining on Furman's schedule. And then there is the 5000 lbs. gorilla. Throw in the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammi and it is an understatement to say we have a huge game coming up tomorrow. One of the big questions involves the weather. The Upstate has been drenched for the past two days with rain. Does the rain benefit App. State's aerial attack or Furman's ground game? I spoke with meteorology/Furman football expert Taylor Cox and he believes that the elements favor the Mountaineers. Appalachian State's talented receivers will know what they are doing and thus the unknowing Paladin secondary will be a step behind on the soggy turf.

All of this--the history, the tropical storm, the 5000 lbs. gorilla--seems like a set-up for another Furman disappointment. To be frank (actually I'm Chris, not Frank), this game frightens me and, as previously stated, it's a huge game. The Fighting Football Paladins take their Southern Conference destiny into their hands tomorrow. App. State is the only undefeated team left in the SoCon and a Paladin victory would put them back in the driver's seat. So what's the call? Well, this is a game where anything can happen and so, naturally, I am going to take a purely scientific approach. So far this season, the Paladin offense has averaged 39 points a game and the defense has allowed 34.2 points per game. We'll take that for the score but round up the App. State total thanks in part to the elemental advantage. That is the only thing I can do to predict a game like this. Bobby Lamb will get rid of that darn, dirty ape. The Fighting Football Paladins will continue to come up big in the close games. And the defense will do enough to bring home the victory: Furman 39, Appalachian State 35.

A few, final quick hit notes:
-Friday Afternoon Football was a mess. My brother got hurt. My team lost. And I still enjoyed it. See what I said: it's the most enjoyable sport. Thanks to EA for serving as a wonderful first down marker.
-Firehouse Subs is the most wonderful food establishment in the world. You throw in some good friends and you can't have a finer experience.
-There is one other big sporting event tomorrow: the Braves take on the Astros in Game 3 of the NLDS. I reference you to Taylor's previous post for an excellent recap of Game 2 and a brief look at the rest of the series.
-It's good being home.
That'll do it for now. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins and go Braves!

Friday Afternoon Football: A Brief History

2005-10-07T01:02:00.000-04:00

Backyard football is the most enjoyable sport in the world. I cannot give empirical evidence to this fact, but you will have to take my word that I speak the truth. And if backyard football is the most enjoyable sport in the world, the greatest manifestation that I have experienced is something that became known as Friday Afternoon Football. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

It was the fall of 2003, the Tuesday after Katartidzo. BCM was putting on an event called Fall on the Mall Not on the Mall (we were supposed to have the mall, but something about growing grass shifted us to just outside of the football stadium; Furman is overly protective of their landscaping) and we decided to play a game of football. One of the girls, feeling very feministly, decided that the game should be guys versus girls. So that's what we did...I don't have to tell you what happened, you know (actually, there are excellent female football players...really). Well, a few weeks later a rematch was declared and we came together to do battle on the gridiron known as the North Village Field. The result was the same, but the beginnings of a tradition was born.

There were several times during that fall and the winter that we came together to play football. A great e-mail list was formed and this e-mail list served as a forum for the most innocuous trash talk the world has ever seen. I would come back to my apartment after classes on Thursday and there would be fifteen messages in my inbox of trash talk. It would all build up to Friday, where we would have wide-open shootouts of football games. A total lack of defense, long bombs, trick plays, and kickoff returns would be the order of the day. Some, such as Chris Teel, would come to the game wearing cleats, gloves, and UnderArmor; it was the perfect mix of Friday fun and pseudo-seriousness. It was towards the end of that first year that it was given the name Friday Afternoon Football.

Last fall, the gatherings became more of a tradition as new blood came on the scene. Men and women gathered at the North Village Field on as many Fridays as possible to take part in athletic competition. As the season continued, players took on mythical qualities. Andrew Floyd became the reliable white guy a la Ricky Proehl. Bryan Granger was the deep threat with hands like glue. TJ Cofield was the fiery competitor always ready to make the play. Taylor Cox was the steady all-around player who could run, pass, or catch. Jon Dees would always come up with the big play when you least expected it. Kat Garber did well except when she ditched us for ultimate frisbee. The Harris twins were the greatest female athletes the North Village Fields had ever seen. Yes, these titans came to play each week. Not only to do battle with each other, but with the evils of the previous school week.

I was glad to hear that the tradition continued after I left. Andrew Floyd did a wonderful job of making sure that FAF continued. Tomorrow, I have the privilege of returning to the field where legends have played. It is going to be raining. It is going to be muddy. It is going to be glorious. You see, backyard football is the most enjoyable sport in the world. It is the truth.

Born to Run

2005-10-06T00:26:00.000-04:00

Today, I did something that I have not done in about six or seven weeks. I pulled on a pair of shorts, threw on one of my old cross country shirts, and I went for a run. EA thinks that I am crazy for it, but I love running. When I go long periods of time without a run, it bothers me. As I was leaving work on Tuesday, there was some team running back and forth on the field behind McAfee. My soul longed to be with them. Running is a therapeutic experience for me. It is a time to pray and a time to think. Sometimes the prayers are "Oh God, please don't let me throw up" and sometimes things are a bit deeper. But basically I love to run.

I am not a "runner" type person. I don't have any bumper stickers proclaiming my runninghood. I have not been in an organized race since I was a senior in high school. I only own one pair of running shoes, but they also double as my everyday sneakers. Despite all of these non-runner traits, I was born to run. It showed at an early age. The story goes that I scared my parents to death when I went missing one day at the age of two. Eventually a neighbor found me and brought me over to the house. My parents figured out that I--having seen my dad go running many times--had decided to go for a jog myself. They were much simpler times.

The weather today was perfect for running: overcast and cool with one of those revitalizing breezes whipping around. I had heard about a trail on campus and eventually found my way to a path through the woods. Initially, it was one of those nice wood trails. A little uneven, but it was nice to be running between the trees. Suddenly I turned a corner and there was this steep incline and it basically continued for a very long time. By the time I got up to the top, my legs were about to turn to Jell-O. Now a person with some sense would stop and walk for a bit. I apparently took a leave of my senses somewhere on the way up the hill.

Despite my early start in the world of running, it was not until I was good into high school before I truly got into the world of putting one foot in front of the other in rapid succession. Dad and I would run together on weekends while I was in middle school, but it was not until my sophomore year at Dorman High School that I started running track. Although, I ran cross country in the fall, it was on the oval that I had my most distinguishing experiences. I ran the 800 meters and the 4x800 meter relay. The 800 meters is the most psychotic race for an individual to run. It is not a distance race and it is not a sprint. You run as fast as you possibly can for two laps and then nearly pass out or worse. There were several occasions during my sophomore and junior year that a race forced me to...well, let's say relive my previous meal. Dad would follow me around the infield of the track placing paper cuts over the places where I had booted. It was a big accomplishment my senior year when I did not throw up after any of my races. I am merely telling you this to give you an idea of how odd us runners are.

So I found my way out of the wooded trail and I am feeling tired. I have never been good at pacing myself. Even if it has been a couple of months since I last ran, I will go as hard as I possibly can. I ran around the rest of the Mercer Graduate Campus and came to my stopping place: the field on which the soccer girls were running on Tuesday. There was a copper taste in the back of my mouth that I always get when I run harder than I should. So naturally I decide to go get my keys and fill up on water right? Well...no. I looked across that green grass and there was a stirring deep down (in retrospect, it may have been lunch) telling me to do some sprints. So I took off for my first sprint and I was winded when I came to a stop. I said to myself out loud, "Christopher (my reasonable voice always calls me by the name my parents call me), you don't have to do this. Why are you running sprints?" To which, I answered out loud, "Because I can." Yes, I actually had an out loud conversation with myself. I ran two more sprints and feel more exhausted; some may say lightheaded, I prefer to think of it as massive amounts of oxygen leaving my brain. Another conversation. Reasonable voice: "What (heavy breathing) the heck (cough) are you doing?" Former cross country runner: "Shut up, you're wasting air." And I ran one more.

Just to let you know, I didn't pass out or throw up. I did sit down three times on the way to my car, but I was no worse for the wear. Will I go back out there? Yeah, first chance I get. Like I said, I love running. It's a release. I remember one night, my sophomore year, I was upset about something. And so I went out at 11:30 at night and ran underneath the lights of Plyler and Furman Hall. But it is more than just a release (I do not normally run because I am steamed or upset). The only way that I can explain it is to borrow from an oft-quoted statement. In the movie Chariots of Fire(one of my favorite movies, which is based on a true story), a Christian missionary Eric Liddell is trying to explain to his sister why he runs. She sees it as a foolish sport or a prideful attempt at glory. Eric tells his sister, "When I run, I feel God's pleasure." I am not an Olympic-class runner like Eric Liddell, but when I run, I also feel God's pleasure. That's why I run. That's why I choose to do anything worthwhile. If it becomes about something else, then there is not as much fulfillment in it. But when I run or write a rambling blog, I feel like, somehow, someway, it makes God smile. So in conclusion, I am not crazy for being a runner. It is simply what I was born to do. That's part of my story and I'm sticking to it.

A Retreat That Barely Advances

2005-10-02T20:13:00.000-04:00

I always wondered why one goes on a retreat when they want to make some sort of progress in their life. I understand the techinical value of the retreat; I just guess that I have always wondered why we use the word "retreat". Especially when I found out that one of the definitions of the word is "the process of going backward or receding from a position or condition gained". These are the questions that keep me up at night, which likely means I should be pondering things that have significance for the world at large. Despite all of these etymological problems, I know that the retreats are quite beneficial. And a retreat is just what I went on this past Friday and Saturday. Even though I really did not want to lay down $45 for a 16 hour retreat, I hoped that--coming between a week of papers and a week of tests--it would be beneficial. A retreat. Good news, right? Well...

-The first issue is a superficial reason, but a reason nonetheless. We payed $45 for this required retreat. That's like eight to ten meals. And we're a half-income household at this point. If EA and I die of starvation in a few weeks (it won't happen because our families love us), you'll know who to blame. When I read that, it isn't a superficial reason at all.

-We went to the Camp Pinnacle nestled in the mountains of Clayton, GA. A great choice except for one problem. We never went outside. All of us live in Atlanta, where the closest we get to nature is the outfield grass of Turner Field. We finally break free to the beautiful Georgia mountains and what do we do? Spend the the majority of our time in a small, institutional-looking room in the basement.

-The youth group mentality lives on far beyond the youth group. This was a required retreat for all first year students, which is a younger crew than one would expect for a seminary (ahem...School of Theology, my apologies). So when free time comes around late Friday night, everyone kind of cliques off. I have only gotten to know these people, many of whom I like, within the context of a classroom. But since I am not single and live in the apartment complex of the rest, I am not part of their "group". And, at least as was the case in my youth group, the only way to get in is to be incredibly outgoing. That isn't me. I am initially shy and then offbeat after that. A big part of the weekend was about connecting and I don't feel like I got to do that much. So that was kind of frustrating. But I did kick some serious butt in Bible Outburst.

-The main issue was that we really did not do anything spiritual at all. Now, I may have been expecting too much from the weekend. You don't want to offend anyone or anything, but there is an important factor to consider: all of us are training to become ministers. Our small groups did not talk about anything spiritual until Saturday morning. A Bible was never cracked the whole entire weekend except during a Bible drill (of all the things to pull from the church set, why the Bible drill?). We sang a few praise and worship choruses on Friday night. I think we prayed once outside of meals. And we had communion right before we left. That's it. This perplexes me because my professors don't shy away from talking about God in class. But this weekend, things were kind of nebulous. That frustrated me the most.

$45. 16 hours. 5 and a half hour round trip plus gas. I'm sure I sound incredibly selfish. And I hate it when I sound that way; it bugs the crap out of me. But I have to get this off my chest. I did not feel re-energized. I did not feel like much of a connection was made with others. I did not feel like I had been on a retreat.

I did not take much away from this weekend except one thing and I don't know whether it was intentional or not. We had an unusual communion. Instead of the normal bread and psuedo-wine, we had peanut butter Ritz, Oreos, and some sort of clear liquid that we think may have been water, but we are not sure. Nothing was said about this difference (nothing was really said at all) beforehand and it served as a huge distraction for me during the communion. But as I thought about it, there was a lesson to be learned. Communion, remembering and celebrating Christ, is not just about the bread and the wine. For years I have heard my dad talk about how we are to remember what Jesus did whenever we eat and whenever we drink. This unusual Eucharist put that to the test. Sometimes we get wrapped up in so many of the things of the church that we miss God. Don't get me wrong, I love the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. I think many Baptist churches do it too rarely. But if I get hung up over whether I am partaking of bread and wine, Ritz and whatever, or cheeseburger and Coke, then I'm missing the point. The point is remembering the love of God manifest in His Son. "Do this in remembrance of me." We had communion again this morning in church and I learned that today was Worldwide Communion Day, a beautiful picture to envision. Today, somewhere in the world there was a body of believers taking part in the celebration of Christ at every hour. But if I see the Eucharist in every meal I eat, every instance of fellowship with other Christians, then what is preventing each day from being Worldwide Communion Day? The trick is just remembering that through the Hebrew quiz, Old Testament test, and fall break. That's it. Have a good night.

Better Alert the Proper Authorities

2005-10-01T22:07:00.000-04:00

Week 5 for the Fighting Football Paladins

2005-09-30T15:18:00.000-04:00

Last week, the Furman Fighting Football Paladins survived a shoot-out, outlasting the 17th ranked Hofstra Prideful Dutchmen 44-41 in double overtime. The game was a story of good news/bad news. On the good end, the Furman offense played one of its best games of the season. The ground game has established itself as a force to be reckoned with and, after a costly opening drive interception, quarterback Ingle Martin played a consistent game, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing (actually diving) for the game winner. The bad news is that the defense looked holey in an unholy way. The Paladins are surrendering an average of 35 points a game; a remarkable stat for a 3-1 team. This week the Fighting Football Paladins take on the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University. In the past season and a half, the Paladins have posted a 5-0 record against team nicknamed after some type of dog, including a 45-23 triumph over the Samford Bulldogs two weeks ago (James Madison, though their mascot is a dog, does not count because their nickname is the Dukes). Given the similarity of mascots and conference weakness, I would base my prediction on the previous games score. But hopefully there is room for improvement. Although, Gardner-Webb is one of the top-producing offenses in the nation it has mainly been against schools smaller than my apartment. Their offense does concern me, but I believe the Furman defense will finally click (and they better or we're in trouble next week). The 7th ranked will keep the Bulldogs on a short leash and prevail over their Big South opponent: Furman 45, Gardner-Webb 17. Have a good afternoon and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

The Blues

2005-09-29T20:26:00.000-04:00

A few years ago, I was in a class called "Religious Approaches to Meaning" and we were studying the book of Ecclesiastes. I decided that this book was really an ancient Hebrew version of the blues. The author's woman had done him wrong. Now, everything is meaningless. Well, Ecclesiastes came up in Spiritual Formation yesterday and I made the same comment (you never retire good material). The people in the class thought it was rather funny. When Old Testament turned boring, it got me to thinking. I mentioned awhile ago how "Nothing is Sound" was a lot like Ecclesiastes, but what if the book was a blues album. So that's when I started coming up with song titles to this album based on Ecclesiastes (I swear I do pay attention in class). I may throw in a few sample lyrics too. Now, I do want to make a disclaimer. I don't know a whole lot about the blues. I am a twenty-two year old white guy and the only blues song I own is from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. Should that stop me? Probably, but it doesn't. And so I introduce "The Blues".

1. It Don't Mean Nothin'
The sun comes up/But it's gonna go back down/And that rich man's/Gonna be six feet underground
Everything lives/Then everything dies/You never fill the ears of hearing/And seeing don't fill the eyes
A generation comes/It don't mean nothin'
A man plows a field/It don't mean nothin'
My woman said she loved me/It don't mean nothin'
In this ol' life/I want to say somethin'/The whole thing is meaningless/And everything's nothin'
(Ecclesiastes 1)

2. I Got Everything (And Nothing's What I Got)
I gotta brand new car/Now it don't run/Had good times with a lady/But now it's no fun
My pockets full/Money in the bank/Til taxman calls/And I fills up the tank
I got all I want/Life's an ease/But then it all disappears/And I'm chasin' the breeze
(Ecclesiastes 2)

3. Time and Time Again
You're born/You die/You laugh/You cry
You hug/You shove/See hawks/Then doves
Two left feet/Til you cut a rug/You full of hate/Then feelin' love
The Man gives/Each thing its due/Time and time again/Nothing's new
(Ecclesiastes 3)

4. Hungry, Jealous, Lonely, and Forgotten
I think this one's self-explanatory.
(Ecclesiastes 4:1-8, 13-16

5. I Need One (Plus One)
I got nobody/No one at all/No one's hand/Stoppin' my fall
I got nobody/Keepin' me warm/When it's so black/In the howlin' storm
I need one/Cause I got none/I need one/Cause there's no one
A pair's always gonna beat this lonely jack/I need one plus one, that's what I lack
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

6. Lord Shut My Mouth
I was on the line with the Man upstairs/Told Him this ol' life just ain't no fair
Said the blind could do better work/Would've been nicer to call Him a jerk
Lord shut my mouth/Don't know what I say
Lord shut my mouth/Just needin' to pray
You the man/I'm the kid/Lord shut my mouth/'Fore you pop your lid
(Ecclesiastes 4:17-5:6

7. If I Had a Dollar (It Still Don't Make Sense)
This is easily my favorite title and I don't want to mess it up with my half-baked lyrics.
(Ecclesiastes 5:7-20)

8. It Don't Mean Nothin, Pt. 2
Ecclesiastes repeats, thus "The Blues" repeats.
(Ecclesiastes 6-7)

9. The June Blues
Classroom's my castle/Desk's my throne/Got the brains/You'd want to own
From fall to spring/I am the king/But when June comes/My smarts don't mean a thing
Even the wise one's/Gonna fail/Compared to the infinite/You just a snail
I sing the blues of/Death and June/Gotta use the smarts/Cause June comes soon
(Ecclesiastes 8; 9:13-18)

10. Grave Miss Understanding
There once was a lady/She had it so fine/Drivin' Mercedes/And drinkin' her wine
Looked at poor fools/Laughed at their folly/But once they're all equal/Ain't gonna be so jolly
You look here, Miss/The grave makes you one/Listen here, Girl/There's a limit on your fun
It's gonna happen/That ugly crash landing/You're equal to all/In your grave, Miss Understanding
(Ecclesiastes 9:1-12)

11. Fool's Lament
The brain is running a bit dry on these lyrics.
(Ecclesiastes 10)

12. The Light of Day and the Dead of Night
Once was a young man/Could run and play/Could stay out all night/After being out all day
All the same time/I wished I was grown/Went by so fast/That I should've known
The light of day/always turns to the dead of night/Oh I got my way/Now I'm losin' the fight
Children, listen/To one that's done/Enjoy your youth/While you're still young
(Ecclesiastes 11-12:8)

13. Light at the End of the Tunnel
It don't mean nothin'/Is there anything true?/Is there light to this darkness/Though the days are few
Feel like I'm trapped/Got nobody to hold/Everything's meaningless/I'm growin' old
There must be some light/'Fore this tunnel will end/Lord give me some sign/Some message you send
Just when I thought/That all hope was lost/The message came/Down from the Boss
If there is any hope/To this empty life/Fear, obey the Man/To avoid the strife
(Ecclesiastes 12:9-14)

Yes, I have far too much time on my hands. Granted these aren't brilliant; it's just something that I like to do in order to entertain myself. But you should read Ecclesiastes sometimes; it is an interesting(and slightly depressing) read. I mean, every once and a while you need the blues. Take it from a white guy. Good night.

What if Constantine had not lived?

2005-09-28T20:59:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in a previous post about how we are discussing in Church History the changes that occurred when Constantine took over the Roman Empire. Many people know the story: Constantine has a vision (or a dream, depending on the source) where he sees the cross accompanied by "In this you will conquer"; except in Latin. So the aspiring augustus puts the chi-rho cross on the shields, his army wins the day, and Constantine takes Rome. Fast forward to 313 and the Edict of Milan makes it safe to be a Christian again; actually for the first time (even though Galerius issued a similar edict two years prior because he feared the Christian God was afflicting him with sickness for his acts of persecution). And there you go, Christianity goes from the pits to the imperial palace.

The changes are a mixed bag. On one hand, Christians are not being killed, which is a very good thing. Christians had more freedom in order to intellectually pursue the study of their faith and we get scholars like Augustine. On the flip side, this new position shifted the faith in other ways. Many could testify to the fact that their faith grows stronger when they face difficult days. The sudden change of fortune put more ease into Christianity for some of its adherents. Also, Christianity sought to minister to and associate with the poor for roughly 300 years. But now, wealth was seen as the blessing of God. Needless to say, Constantine caused some interesting changes. And all of these were not bad, but they were changes.

This got me to thinking: What if Constantine had not lived? What would the state of Christianity be? What would the state of the world be? Sometimes I imagine that Christians would still be this peaceful rebellion that would hold fast to its beliefs in the face of he pagan world. Would I want to be a Christian? Would I be willing to die for what I believe? I would like to believe that I would die for my God, but I cannot say with any real certainty. A world of martyrdom seems so foreign to me.

Would Christianity be more successful or less successful if it did not become associated with the rich and powerful like Constantine? I don't think I can say for sure one way or another. The policies of Constantine and subsequent rulers have greatly benefited Christianity. But at the same time, I wonder whether we are softer than those earlier Christians. I am not saying that the lack of need that many of us have in America is a bad thing; I have benefited quite well from a middle-class upbringing. I just wonder what it means when we live in a culture where we let Christian musicians or The Purpose Driven Life do our ministering for us (that is not meant as a knock on either of those)? I don't know. I am just trying to wrangle (I like that word also, Andrew) with this issue. I still believe that God works through history and that God worked through Constantine somehow, someway despite the emperor's motives. But, what if Constantine had not lived? What would our faith look like? Would we still want to be Christians? I don't know. It is just something that I've been pondering. Good night.

. . .

2005-09-27T20:23:00.000-04:00

For those of you that think the title indicates any sort of profundity, you would be wrong. Basically, I could not come up with any kind of title and I thought the ellipsis would look cool. Yeah, we're struggling here in Atlanta right now. On to the news.
-The big news is that EA has a job interview tomorrow with an organization called My House. EA could better tell you what she is doing than I could, but she would get to work in an area that she wants and would point towards the career she desires. But this is an exciting opportunity; so keep her in your prayers tomorrow afternoon...I mean, I hope you would keep both of us in your prayers more consistently than just tomorrow, but...you know what I mean.
-I am at a point where I do not like school. I am not sure whether this is a small funk that I have gone through many times before or, if after sixteen years of formal education, my brain is declaring open rebellion. Church History, however, continues to be my most stimulating class. Today we discussed the changes that occurred when Constantine took over the Roman Empire. It is much more exciting than it sounds.
-The data monkey business just got more interesting. My services have been farmed out to another department. What I am doing--looking up the history of speakers at different churches--is not much more exciting, but at least it is a change of pace. In related news, the Arkansas annual was finished off today.
-Furman has moved up to #7 in the nation. Even more surprising is that someone gave us a first place vote. Who the heck gave us a first place vote?
-The Atlanta Braves are currently one win (or one Phillies loss) away from winning their 14th consecutive division title. The Braves were winning 2-0 this evening before the sky opened up over Turner Field and said "Stop". Still, 14 in a row; that is ridiculous. Given that they win this year, the Braves have been Divisional Champs for 63% of my life. And World Series champs for 4.5% of my life. Maybe one day that second percentage will grow. But at least we'll always have 1995. Poor Chicago fans.
-An open book Hebrew test is a lot more difficult than it sounds.
-When all is said and done, "Linus and Lucy" (the theme from Peanuts) will be in my Top 25 songs of all time. And I am completely secure writing that.
-We talked about Jacob wrestling God in Old Testament today. Do you think it was a ladder match? Thank you! I'll be here all week.
-Like I said, besides EA's job interview, things are slow right now. But the rains over Turner Field have stopped and I also think I am going to give "My Name is Earl" a shot. Vaya con Dios.

Run Down the Aisle

2005-09-25T20:55:00.000-04:00

EA and I were in church this morning singing "Be Strong in the Lord" as kids were coming down for the children's sermon. This is a scene repeated in churches throughout the country with various characters, locations, and accompaniment. I have witnessed this scene numerous times before, but this morning was different. As I was looking down into the hymnal, I heard a noise. It sounded like running. The next thing I knew, a little blond headed kid is tearing down the aisle; running as fast as he can. Suddenly, kids were running down both the aisles that lined our pew. All I could do was laugh the last chorus of the hymn. To my surprise, no one in the congregation lectured or glared at the kids. This was a welcome surprise to someone whom, as a young kid, received a tongue-lashing from a crotchety old lady for laying down on a pew while waiting for his mommy. She told me you never laid down in God's house. Apparently she never read the story of young Samuel.

In the sermon (the big people one, not the children's), the pastor stood by a boat washed ashore on the sanctuary steps and told us about walking on water. There are things in life that seem kind of ridiculous. An attempt at treading the waves seems like one of them. But then my mind went back to those kids re-enacting Chariots of Fire down the middle of the church. If I went charging down the aisle--a thought that certainly has occurred to me during many a long sermon--most people would probably think I had lost my mind. Why? Because it is not a proper thing for a twenty-two year old to do. The laws of societal norms prohibit such a pace for an adult. The laws of nature hold an even stricter prohibition on strolling the sea. Yet that didn't stop Jesus...or even Peter.

The aisle holds somewhat of a mythic and metaphorical place in my cultural background. "Walk down the aisle" has become a cliche (and later, sarcastic) way of expressing one's initial commitment to follow Christ. Even though most will admit that the aisle walking has nothing to do with the actual commitment, it is intertwined with so many testimonies. Walking down the aisle during an invitation is an acceptable way for one to make a decision to follow Jesus. In all of my years in church and youth camps, I have never once seen one person run down an aisle. It isn't normal. It is outside of what is normally held as acceptable.

All of this got me to thinking about the absurdity of following Christ. Home, career, comfort, notions of social hierarchy, and basic beliefs in the law of nature were all abandoned by the disciples. It was a risky venture. But you don't often think of the Christian faith portrayed in terms of risk. In the proverbial Bible Belt, it is the expected thing to do, the safe thing, the normal thing. Sure a youth leader will come along every once in a while and try to package the gospel differently by calling it "Extreme" and maybe match it up with some pseudo-hard core music. But all that does is make it cool and cool is the safest thing around.

So after church, EA and I met up with some friends from Furman for lunch. She, Matt, Robby, Brent, and I somehow got onto the topic of Blue Like Jazz. I believe it involved Robby reading a cartoon from the book at a poetry reading, but that is another story for another time. The question came up about whether the book would one day be seen as a Christian classic. Robby responded that he did not know, because it was such a trendy book right now. It is easy to think the book is brilliant when everyone else thinks that. Cool is deceptive. Brent said something to the extent of that he believed that one of the reasons the book was so popular is becuase it was honest and it described faith as beautiful, instead of this absolute truth. He said that those are things that speak to a post-modern culture. I am not completely sure if I remeber what he said, just that I agreed with it. I have read that the book has ruffled a few feathers of some old school people for some of the same reasons.

EA and I continued the conversation on the drive back to our apartment. She said that the thing she liked about the book was that it spoke to her and seemed concerned with more than just formulaic Christianity. But the conversation was not ultimately about Blue Like Jazz, because that book is not incredibly important in the grand scheme of things. We talked about Christianity as it was portrayed in many churches today. How we make a huge fuss over whether you are baptized the proper way instead of being the witness you are called to be or looking out for the underpriveleged (which stemmed from a discussion in Sunday School). How we are quick to drop the hammer on homosexuals, but don't really say anything about greed. Our faith was something bigger, more complicated, and more beautiful than all of this. Jesus does not fit in with the normal and safe things. That is what caused James and John to leave their business behind. That is what caused Peter to jump out of the boat. That is what has moved the souls of men and women for nearly two thousand years.

So all of this brings me back to standing in church this morning with a hymnal in my hands. I don't think the elementary schoolers zooming by me were full of great religious fervor. They probably just wanted to run becuase running is fun. But they got me thinking (as kids are often prone to do unintentionally). If the aisle is this symbol of coming towards what God wants, then what is stopping me from running down that aisle? Jesus said that we could learn from children about the Kingdom. And that's all well and good and cute, but we don't really ever go at things with their imagination, their faith, their abandonment. It is not socially acceptable. But to quote my dad, "There is a big difference between being child-like and childish". Christianity goes beyond what the world considers safe or normal. That's a tall order, but I have to ask myself in my daily life: Why walk down the aisle, when you can run?

Furman vs. Hofstra Blogcast

2005-09-24T13:40:00.000-04:00

Welcome to our blogcast of the Furman-Hofstra game. We're coming to you live from right outside the Georgia capital city. I am forced to listen to my first Furman home game on the radio in roughly five years, so I figured that I would entertain myself and keep a running blog on the highlights. Also, this is for all the people at Katartidzo in order to let you know what went on at Paladin Stadium. Of course, if we get blown out, I may just delete the whole thing.

1:48 PM-Bobby Lamb just stated that two keys to our game are running the ball successfully and throwing the ball with Ingle. I hope that Hofstra doesn't catch wind of that top secret plan. By the way, today's game is brought to you by The Loop Pizza Grill and Coca-Cola (both of which provided my lunch).

1:56-Interesting bit of trivia from the Hofstra athletic website. The school has incredibly close ties to Dutch heritage. Their alma mater, "The Netherlands", was written to the tune of the Dutch national anthem. Their flag was patterned after a privateer's flag in the Dutch army (which I didn't know that they had an army). Plus, their nicknames are the "Pride" and the "Dutch", including variations such as the "Dutchmen" and "Flying Dutchmen". That is a little too much love for Holland.

1:59-Hofstra won the toss and differed to the second half, a smart move. I don't know why every team doesn't choose to kickoff first.

2:03-Hofstra just picked off an Ingle Martin pass for a touchdown. You could hear the crowd over the radio sound like they just got shot. That is seven interceptions for Martin on the season. I'm beginning to wonder if Jacksonville State put some sort of curse on him after he led Furman on that last minute drive a few weeks ago. He hasn't looked (or in this case, sounded) the same since. Hofstra 7, Furman 0.

2:06-Complete pass for a Furman first down to the 38. Everything's not lost.

2:09-Joel Bell just made a good block on a run for a first down. He's from my hometown of Spartanburg and also about eight feet tall.

2:14-Cedrick Gipson pounds it into the endzone for an 8-yard touchdown run. Impressive drive and a good job of answering the bell. Furman 7, Hofstra 7.

2:18-Hofstra is already at mid-field. I have a bad feeling that our defensive scheme is not going to slow this passing game down.

2:23-7-yard touchdown run for Hofstra. We did everything but send the Hofstra offense an invitation to come into the endzone. Hofstra 14, Furman 7.

2:31-Furman is forced to punt. But on the bright side, Ingle punts it to the 7.

2:33-Woohoo! We hit them in the backfield. First time that has happened all day.

2:34-First quarter is over. Hofstra just converted a third down from the 11 with a pass (naturally) to the 28. Our score after one, Hofstra 14, Furman 7.

2:38-The Furman defense steps up with a big sack on third down and I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

2:44-Touchdown! B-Mays puts it in the endzone with an 11-yard option run. Ingle seems to be finding his rhythmn again. Now, I must look for some wood to knock on. Furman 14, Hofstra 14.

2:50-This is getting ridiculous. Clarkson just tossed a 30-yard pass for a Hofstra touchdown. I'm beginning to think my prediction was too conservative. Hofstra 21, Furman 14.

2:54-Whew. Martin to Stone for a 27-yard pass play on third and long. By the way, given the historically tenuous nature of European politics, would a football game between the Flying Dutchmen and the Fighting Irish cause a Third World War?

3:03-Furman has a big 3rd and 4 from the Hofstra 6-yard line. In this kind of game, the difference between a touchdown and a field goal is a huge. And I just realized that I am stating the obvious. My apologies. Furman calls a timeout.

3:04-Timeout payed off. Martin dishes a shovel pass to Stepp for a 6-yard touchdown. Stepp is apparently shaken up. We're in trouble if he doesn't get healthy. Furman 21, Hofstra 21.

3:10-Furman holds Hofstra to a three and out. Now they're going to try to gun for another score before the first half expires. 1:40 left in the 2nd Quarter.

3:12-Jerome Felton is a beast. He just tore off an 25-yard run to the Furman 38.

3:13-There are few things more entertaining than listening to the crowd when the officials miss an obvious penalty. Apparently, Hofstra committed an obvious pass interference infraction in front of one of the officials. The succeeding 3rd and 10 attempt doesn't work. So we're going to run the clock down and punt.

3:17-That'll do it for the first half. We're all knotted up at 21.

3:31-The Paladins find themselves in the middle of a shootout. In retrospect, the first half could have gone much worse. When Hofstra returned the Martin interception for a touchdown, I figured that we were in serious trouble. The defense has been inconsistent. When Hofstra scores, our defense has hardly done anything to stop them. The offense has made the proper adjustments and seems to be moving the ball well. Martin is 8 of 13 for 115 yards with an interception and a touchdown. Our ground game is working well. Ultimately, I believe our success in this game is going to come down to our defense. If the defense continues to let the Hofstra offense steamroll us, then we could be in trouble. But if the defense steps up, I believe our offense can put us over the top. In other news, Clemson just lost their second consecutive overtime game, dropping a 16-13 decision to Boston College. Clemson fans will probably start grumbling about firing Tommy Bowden soon. This has been the Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies Halftime Report.

3:43-Good start for the defense. Furman holds Hofstra to three and out to start off the second half.

3:48-Martin passes a bullet to John "Pride of Burlington" Rust for another first down.

3:51-3rd and Goal from the 5. Touchdown! Martin to Sprague for a 5-yard pass. Another good drive by the Paladins as Furman takes its first lead of the game. Furman 28, Hofstra 21.

3:59-Another third down stop for the defense. Good play by Maurice Duncan who is going up against a 6'4" receiver. I lived on Mo's freshman hall and he is not very tall.

4:00-Don't you think it is a bit melodramatic when announcers say that a player "makes a fatal mistake"? This is why people take football so seriously. They think people are dying out there. Daric Carter apparently just made one of these "fatal mistakes", but they're carrying on the game as normal.

4:04-Justin Stepp is now out for the game. He gave it the ol' college try, but they figured it best to bring him out. Oh, and Furman is moving the ball well. The heat is apparently getting to the Northerners.

4:13-Ah! Internet radio goes out while officials are measuring a Furman 4th and short. I hate PCs.

4:14-Furman apparently converted the fourth down, but fumbled inside the 5-yard line. Hofstra ball at the 1-yard line. At the end of the 3rd quarter: Furman 28, Hofstra 21.

4:17-My wife wants me to write that Furman is a bunch of idiots because they fumbled at the three inch line. I don't know if this is the best idea seeing that I once taught on grace.

4:18-Hofstra converts a 3rd and 6 from inside the 10. Trying...not...to...call...Furman...idiots.

4:20-Willie Free makes a diving interception! No, wait, now they are calling it incomplete and calling Freeman on unsportsmanlike conduct. The Furman faithful are ready to lynch the refs and Hofstra is inside 30.

4:22-Big 3rd and 10.

4:23-Crap. Hofstra touchdown. That was a 99-yard drive. Furman 28, Hofstra 28. So what we have is another instance of Furman having a shot at putting the game away and instead opening the door wide open for the opposition.

4:27-One of the commentators just informed the audience that Mays' fumble inside the five was in almost the exact same spot as the fumble against James Madison. We just went three and out and I just got a very bad feeling.

4:32-Hofstra has quickly found their way inside the 15. It is 3rd and 9.

4:33-We apparently have lost the ability to stop Hofstra on third down; although I question whether we actually had that ability mastered. Touchdown. Hofstra 35, Furman 28. 9:37 left in the game. I'm going to state the obvious...we need a touchdown. And probably quickly.

4:34-According to the CIA World Factbook, the Netherlands is a country slightly smaller than New Jersey.

4:37-Making the incredibly optimistic assumption that Hofstra does not score again, Furman is giving up an average of 33.5 points a game according to my math. If defense wins championships, we're in trouble.

4:40-We have a 3rd and 10 at our own 48. As the radio guys say, "It does not get much bigger than this."

4:41-And we gain two. What do we do here? A. Go for it. B. Fake. C. Punt D. Pooch.

4:42-The correct answer is D.

4:44-We got them to 3rd and 5 and I did not write anything considering my track record. No such luck.

4:46-Furman finally gets the stop on 3rd down. We're going to get another crack at this.

4:47-Brigham returns the punt to the Hofstra 46. Plenty of time. Don't panic.

4:48-Daric Carter runs it down to the 29.

4:49-Daric Carter runs it down to the 19.

4:50-Daric Carter runs it down to the 11. I sound like a broken record and, right now, I'm loving it.

4:51-Martin scrambles down to the 4-yard line for the first down. 1:10 remaining.

4:52-Gipson loses two yards. 48 seconds left. Furman calls time out. Why is it every game I have listened to on the radio has nearly given me a heart attack?

4:54-Gipson runs it to the 5. Not a good use of a timeout. Furman burns its final timeout.

4:55-Touchdown! 5-yard pass. God bless you, John Rust and Ingle Martin. Extra point is good! And we are all tied up again with 32 seconds left.

4:57-Hofstra kneels the kickoff. Hofstra still scares me. We have not consistently stopped them.

4:58-Surprise of the game thus far. Hofstra takes a knee and decides to settle it in overtime.

5:00-The last time Furman was in an overtime game, it was a 41-38 loss to Division 1-A Pittsburgh. And I didn't need the radio for that. But here is the stat that I did not know. We are 1-5 in the last six overtime games.

5:02-We lost the coin toss and have to go on offense first. We need a special coin toss coach. Someone in the Furman Math Department needs to get on this.

5:04-Our first two plays net us only two yards. We do not need to put this much faith in our defense with Hofstra getting the ball on the 25.

5:05-Three and out. Now we're going to have to kick a long field goal.

5:06-Beckler drills the 40-yard field goal, but now we have to stop them from scoring a touchdown.

5:07-Sack! Intentional grounding flag! Good start. It will be 2nd and 21 from the 36.

5:08-Hofstra calls a timeout. Thank goodness they're playing down by our student section.

5:09-Hofstra runs a draw play to the 30-yard line. Big, big play coming up.

5:10-Furman knocks the ball away! Hofstra is going to try for a 48-yarder. Watch for the fake.

5:11-Furman calls timeout to ice the kicker. I am still paranoid about a fake. Hofstra's kicker was a back-up last year. I'm suspicious.

5:12-The kicker drills it. 38-38 as we head into the second overtime.

5:13-Hofstra sends it to the other side of the field and the Furman student section is running down to the other end of the stadium. It warms my heart.

5:14-Hofstra gets a good first down gain. A 12-yard gain down to the 13.

5:15-Furman stops a run. Only a 1-yard gain.

5:16-Incomplete pass. Mo breaks up another pass.

5:17-Furman comes up with another 3rd down stop. Rico Scott on the tackle and Hofstra will attempt a 33-yarder. Kick is good. Hofstra 41, Furman 38.

5:18-Daric Carter runs it down to the 20.

5:20-Jerome Felton smashes the ball through for a first down. This is a workout. I've got heart rate and sweat going.

5:21-Felton runs it down for another four yards.

5:22-Felton runs it down to the 4-yard line. He is a half-foot short of the 1st down.

5:23-Furman down to the one foot line! First down and goal from inside the one.

5:24-AHHHH! We fumbled the ball, but recovered it. Yikes.

Still 5:24-The announcers thought Martin got in, but apparently the officials did not give it to us. This is ridiculous. 3rd and an inch. And there's a tightness in my chest.

5:25-TOUCHDOWN! Martin dives ahead for the score. The announcer says it was a one-inch run. You can't call it a run if it is only an inch! But I don't care, because we won. Wow. Furman pulls it out. The students are rushing the field. Good times. In 2OT, #9 Furman 44, #17 Hofstra 41.

Wrap up-Dad called me from the stadium after the game. We broke down the game. He thought our defense figured things out in the second half, but apparently the fumble inside the 5 messed us up. The offense looked really good with the exception of two costly turnovers. He also stated that Martin made it into the endzone on 2nd down during the second overtime and he does not know why the refs did not give it to us. We agreed that this was an important victory. Two losses at this point of the season would have put us in a serious hole. But instead Furman puts another one up in the win column and looks ahead to another home game against Gardner-Webb next week. Hopefully, Furman will take that opportunity to work out the many kinks we still have. Of course, you never know. Furman has not made things easy this season. The Verizon Wireless Player of the Game is Ingle Martin. After throwing an early interception that was returned for a touchdown, he settled down. As a result, he did an excellent job of leading the offense the rest of the day including the last minute drive in the fourth quarter and the game winning touchdown in the second overtime. First time, he has looked back up to snuff since the season opener. Congratulations, Ingle. That about wraps it up here from Atlanta, GA. Again, our final score is Furman 44, Hofstra 41.

Week 4 for the Fighting Football Paladins and other stuff

2005-09-23T19:44:00.000-04:00

There are several things to take care of, so let's get it started:
-This week the ninth-ranked Fighting Football Paladins take on the #17 Pride of Hofstra at Paladin Stadium. This game will prove to be a true test for Furman since Hofstra is a heavy passing team (the Paladin defense gave up 352 yards in the air to Samford last week) and a member of the Atlantic-10 conference (considered the toughest conference in 1-AA and home of various teams that have defeated Furman in the playoffs over the last half decade). The 2-0 Pride are coming off of a 55-0 shelacking of Stony Brook while Furman is hoping to continue their winning ways after defeating Samford 45-23. This game presents a difficulty for me. In my year plus of making official predictions for Furman games, I have only predicted Furman to lose once: to 1-A Pittsburgh (and I was nearly proven wrong in that one). I believe it is bad when you are merely an amateur prognosticator to pick against your team. Hofstra scares me. Their offense is a threat to our bend don't break defense. Our running game will likely not run all over the Pride like it did over Samford. And yet, I have faith that the Paladins are still a better team than they have shown thus far. My prediction for this week: Ingle Martin will get his groove back and the Paladins will humble the Pride on a Scott Beckler field goal. Furman 34, Hofstra 31.

-Data Monkey Church of the Day: Nimrod Baptist Church

-EA and I had the pleasure of eating with my Grandma today. I don't know if most people are fortunate enough to have fascinating conversations with their grandparents that run the gamut from theology to current events, but I am. And that makes for a good day.

-The "Lost" season premiere did not disappoint. Just in case someone has not seen the episode and is planning to, I will give my response in vague questions. How the heck did that get on the island? Why doesn't anyone believe Hurley? Walt? Should not Locke consider being a man of faith and logic? Desmond?! Yep, "Lost" is back and now Wednesday can't come soon enough.

-Now that I have listened to "Nothing is Sound" for about a week, I am ready to submit a review. First of all, don't let the single "Stars" deceive you. That song is great, but it does not really indicate where the album goes thematically or musically. Thematically speaking, if the author of Ecclesiastes recorded an album, it would probably be a lot like "Nothing is Sound"...except in Hebrew. Musically, Switchfoot again finds the right balance of rock, pop, and (for a lack of a better word) ballads. It is probably a harder album than "The Beautiful Letdown", but that's just one man's opinion. Standout tracks thus far include "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" and the painfully beautiful "The Blues". The only regret is that Switchfoot seems to have left some of their trademark humor (a la "Chem 6A" and "Gone") behind for the more serious fodder of the U2s and Coldplays of the world. It's a mixed blessing. Still, this is a great album by a group that has not yet found its ceiling.

-Yesterday, I finally got the opportunity to read something of my own choosing. I took my lunch break from work and headed behind Day Hall to eat underneath the blue sky for some time of quiet. Of course, McAfee is around the area where I-85 and I-285 collide into a jumbled mess, so there is not much quiet. But it is all far enough away that it sounds like a distant, roaring wind. And as I sat there reading about Jesus, I was reminded of how beautiful God is. Kind of cliche sounding, but it was something I needed to be reminded of after a week of chaos.

That does it for tonight. Have a good night and a safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

"Lost" and the Living Story

2005-09-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

I am sitting down to watch the season premiere of "Lost"--a recap of last season is currently on. I mentioned in an earlier post that this is my favorite show. Let me tell you a little about it:

An airline flight--Oceanic 815 from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles--crashes somewhere in the Pacific. The plane was thrown 1000 miles off course after losing communication. Somehow, someway 46 people survive the crash. They now find themselves on this seemingly deserted island. But this is not just any deserted island. Somewhere in the jungle is a monster and it eats people at random times. We do not know what the monster is or why it's eating people. It may not even be a monster, but some sort of security system for the island. There's also this guy named John Locke who was a parapalegic before the plane crashed. Suddenly, after the plane crash, the guy can walk again. There's also this kid named Walt who may or may not be psychic and who may or may not be conjuring up polar bears that randomly attack people in the jungle. That's right, a polar bear in a jungle on an island in the Pacific. Then, there is this girl named Clair. She's pregnant. A psychic (another one, not the kid) tells her not to let anyone else raise the baby. Bad stuff will happen if she does. So we think her kid may be the Antichrist, but we're not sure. A strange, pseudo-super powered guy named Ethan kidnaps Clair, but she comes back with amnesia and Ethan is shot before we can find anything out. He's Canadian, so might be the source of his strength. There's this guy named Hurley who won the lottery back in the States. But after he won the lottery, bad things started happening. His grandfather died, his new house burned down, he got arrested, and on and on. He received his winning lottery numbers from this guy who is now in the mental institution. Long story short, he thinks the numbers are cursed. There is a crazy French lady (like there is any other kind of French lady...apologies to the French) who has been on the island for about 16 years. She keeps talking about "the Others" and "the Others" are coming and "the Others" are going to kill everyone. She generally freaks people out. Also, Locke--the ex-parapalegic, now Outback Jim boar hunter--finds a hatch in the middle of the island...this deserted island. We don't know what the hatch is or what's in the hatch (though we're allegedly going to find out before 10 tonight), but Locke develops a Moby Dick-like obsession. He thinks hope is in the hatch, which makes me think it's kind of like Pandora's Box. There's a huge Spanish galleon-style ship in the middle of the island where they find dynamite to blow up the hatch. Oh and by the way, Hurley's cursed lottery numbers, which were part of a signal that attracted the French lady and her crew to the island, are also etched on the side of the hatch. Plus several guys--Walt the possibly psychic kid, his dad, a con-man named Sawyer, and a Korean man named Jin--go out on a raft to see if they can get rescued and get help for the others. They get a signal, but the signal turns out to be these guys who just want to kidnap Walt. And they blow up the raft. We don't know what happens to the other three. All this time, Clair has a normal-looking child, Jack (the doctor and reluctant leader of the tribe) chases down the ghost of his father, and people die from various things like being eaten by a monster, drowning, being in a crashed Nigerian plane as it falls to the ground, being blown up by dynamite, and getting killed by this Ethan guy.

Whew.

That sounds like a pretty ridiculous show doesn't it? As I look over that previous paragraph, it seems like the weirdest cross between "Gilligan's Island", "X-Files", and "Looney Toons" ever conceived. But I love the show. Justin and I caught the season premiere in our apartment about this time last year. We'd seen some commercials, thought it looked interesting if a little unorthodox, and decided to give it a shot. And it has owned our lives ever since.

Justin and I decided that we had to tell people about this new show "Lost". We got some strange looks from people. You give a spiel like I just gave and people are going to be kind of reluctant to watch that kind of show (others are morbidly intrigued). The funny thing is when those same people, who thought we were nuts, sat down and watched the show they liked it. Most of them, a lot. In fact, this past week "Lost" won the Emmy for Best Drama, which I feel validates me a bit. But ultimately, the point is that these people were incredibly skeptical about the show, but came to like it when they sat down to watch it.

The Christian faith is the same way. I find myself getting frustrated at times because I can never adequately explain what God had done in my life. I'm sure many people have experienced that when you try to explain this:

God created the whole universe, but we rebelled and that separated us from God. Instead of wiping these humans out, God came to earth, lived among humanity, and they still killed the greatest thing to grace the earth. But somehow, someway that death makes it possible to patch things up with God. If we turn away from that junk called sin and commit ourselves to what God wants, we can make peace even though we don't deserve it. Oh yeah, and this God is three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one. So even though we talk about God in three different ways, we're still monotheistic.

It makes sense to Christians (though I'll admit that it does not always make sense to me), but tell someone on the street that story and they may look at you like people looked at me when I told them about "Lost". Christians need to tell people about their faith, but they have to realize that people need to experience it. Just as the stories of "Lost" drew people into the show, the living story of someone's life can draw someone into Christianity. And they might find that they like it. A lot.

There is a song entitled "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love". And I believe that is true. Christians are to live lives of love: full of compassion for the oppressed, a desire to see God's healing in the lives of others, a life that is willing to sacrifice all for God and fellow human. People need to not just hear about Christianity, but to experience it. Word and deed must go hand in hand. God has done incredible things in the lives of people; they are living stories. Is everyone going to come running when they hear the story? No, of course not. But if they truly experience what Christianity is about, then they just might like it. Kind of like "Lost".

So watch this TV show tonight. It's pretty good. And, if you're in to the rest of what I wrote, pray that I will back up my words.

Evil, thy name is "Critical Review"

2005-09-19T20:54:00.000-04:00

I have a love/hate relationship with papers that I write for my classes. Last spring, I had a field day (or field days...field term) in "Faith and Ethics" as I wrote papers dealing with religion and politics, the role of grace, etc. I enjoy writing such papers. Then there are papers like the one that I spent the wee hours of this morning writing: it was a critical review. The book was pretty good for assigned reading, but this critical review--an overglorified book report--sort of takes out any redeeming quality to the experience. I write about what the author says and then what I think about his published musings. It is not the most stimulating experience. Anyway, I finished the paper. Today, was rather exhausting thanks to that expereince. But I should not complain, because things are actually good. Great weekend. Great wife. And my mom sent cookies back with us. One paper down. One to go.

Coming Back

2005-09-18T08:38:00.000-04:00

This weekend has been all about returns. EA and I returned to my home to spend a great weekend with family. The Fighting Football Paladins made somewhat of a return to respectability. And I got to return to Furman; one of my favorite places in the world. That last statement may sound like sentimental hyperbole, but it is true.

Let's start with the football game. The Fighting Football Paladins took on the Samford Bulldogs of the Ohio Valley Conference. It was good to be back in Paladin Stadium. The student section was jammed packed, a rarity for a home opener against a lesser opponent, and a great overall crowd was on hand to root on the home team. Furman roared out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a three and out for Samford, an impressive touchdown drive, and another touchdown set up by a William Freeman interception. It looked like we would cruise on to an easy victory, but, like so many other times this season, we were wrong. Furman struggled through the rest of the first half and barely led 21-16 at the break. Our halftime conversations concerned what was wrong with our team. They looked out of synch. There was no way we were going to do what we were supposed to if we continued to play like this.

EA, Kat, Shari, and I left the student section at halftime to return to our actual seats with parents and Mellissa. The band performed some songs from various James Bond movies. The baton twirlers dropped their fire batons a few times; our whole organization was having a rough night. We started out the first half by driving the ball down the field for a touchdown to take the 28-16 lead. We breathed a sigh of relief. And then we sighed for another reason. Samford responded with a touchdown drive of their own to cut the lead back to five points. Ultimately that was closest the game would be from that point on. Furman added several scores to the board to take a 45-23 victory. On the positive end, we had three players rush for over 100 yards and although we did not have a positive turnover ratio, we did not turn the ball over more than our opponent. On the negative end, our team still looks inconsistent. We have flashes of brilliance and seem to muck it up as soon as the positive vibes start coming up. Our quarterback is still in a funk. He finished the game with a touchdown and an interception, but we only got 135 yards in the air. The verdict: We still have a long way to go, but at least we showed improvement and an ability to adjust. We'll see how all of that works when we take on the ranked Hofstra Pride next week.

As far as coming back home and coming back to Furman, I could not have asked for a better weekend. I am one of those people that needs to be reminded of where I come from. I am not sure what that says about me psychologically, but it was good to be home. It is good to be with my Mom and Dad. It is good to return to my family's unique sense of humor. I am incredibly fortunate that I have been blessed with parents, a brother, and sister that I love very dearly. Returning to Furman felt as much like going home. As Kat and I were walking to the game after visiting my brother's dorm, we just commented on how being there felt so right. It was good to see and catch up with friends from college; to talk with guys like Andrew, Jon, TJ, and Bryan. To see the smiling faces of people like Lauren, Karen, Hilary, and Anna. To analyze Furman football with my brother. To kiss my wife in the place where we fell in love. It was just a great day. And I needed that as I head into a four day stretch filled with papers and projects. Well, it is about time for church. Vaya con Dios.

Week 3 for the Fighting Football Paladins: Don't Panic

2005-09-16T23:58:00.000-04:00

It has now been 6 days since Western Carolina dropped Furman 41-21. Since that time, Furman dropped from #2 to #10, which isn't half bad considered we lost to an unranked team by 20. Following last week, the Furman faithful fear football failure for the fall (how's that for alliteration?). Yes, Furman has not played a good game thus far this season. Yes, Furman is 0-1 in the conference and has not yet played Georgia Southern, App. State, or Wofford. Yes, our receivers appear unsure, our special teams seem less than special, and we turnover more than a gymnast. But I will pull a page from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (I have not read the book, but the movie is hilarious) when I say: Don't panic. We have only played two games this season and I think this team is far more talented than they are showing. They may not pull it together, but I think they can; the dreams of the preseason are not out of reach. This week the Fighting Football Paladins take on the Bulldogs of Samford in their home opener. I am fortunate enough that I have taken the trip down I-85 to attend the game. On paper, the Bulldogs are far inferior opponent and the Paladins should have no problems with their Ohio Valley opponent. Granted they should not have had problems with Western Carolina either, but que sera sera. This week, the Paladins will begin to find their footing against a weaker opponent before a home crowd. Beneath the lights of Paladin Stadium, the home team will have a positive turnover ratio and take a bite out of the Bulldogs. My prediction: Furman 35, Samford 14. Have a good night and safe tomorrow. Go Paladins!

Random Thoughts While Procrastinating

2005-09-13T21:04:00.000-04:00

I have learned over my educational career that anything else is more attractive than homework. And so...
-It just recently occurred to me that I am no longer referred to as a college student. As a matter of fact, I am a seminarian. I feel old.
-When I was doing homework earlier, I was reading about Genesis and how the story of the Patriarchs (and Matriarchs, my femininely sensitive friends) is a family saga. That got me to thinking. Why hasn't anyone written a novel on the saga of Abraham's family, but set in a different time period. It could be an incredible tale that stretches from an immigrant Abraham arriving in early 20th Century America to Joseph somehow serving in the present day government. How could a story like that miss? There's sex, violence, sibling rivalries that nearly lead to war, deceit, and, best of all, it's all Biblical so the sensibilities of the religious aren't offended. That right there is a recipe for knocking The DaVinci Code off its perch.
-The Braves bullpen scares me. In past years, there has been situations when a certain pitcher came in and I resigned myself to the fact that the Braves were going to lose. That's how I feel with everyone who walks out of that gate right now. I would love to have Smoltz come in for save situations again, if not for the fact that between being our top starter and a closer, his arm would come flying off.
-The more I listen to each of their albums, the more convinced I am that Coldplay and U2 have inadvertently put out the most Christian-conscious albums of the past year. Listen to songs like "Fix You" and "Till Kingdom Come" on "X&Y". It may take some interpretation to put those songs in a spiritual perspective, but not a whole lot. And then there's U2..."How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" ends with a song called "Yahweh". And that is just one example from that album. The great irony is neither is a "Christian" band (which is a whole other issue entirely) and the members of Coldplay (unlike U2) do not even make a case that they are Christians. Yet you can still find a lot of God and the Christian faith in their songs. It is just another example of finding God where you least expect; a shout out to Justin Martyr and his Logos theology. There. I just studied for Thursday's Church History exam.
-The more things change in life, the more they remain the same. I am a married adult living in Atlanta and yet I am back to eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch each day.
-At work today, I finished my week and a half long journey of entering information on Florida churches into the database. Next up: the Yellowhammer State, Alabama.
-Leo Mazzone has stopped rocking and is not looking at the field. Not good.
-And now a word from one of our sponsors. EA has started herself a blog. There is a link to it. It is excellent reading material, but of course I'm biased. For EA's first entry, she discussed how she cooked scrambled eggs with a stove instead of a microwave. Trust me, that's a big deal. For further reading, check out both Taylor's and Shari's blogs in links section. Both are excellent.
-Tomorrow I am to share my testimony (technically, they're calling it a "spiritual journey") in my Spiritual Formation class. It is funny that no matter how many times I share that with people, I am always a little nervous. I guess I feel like I have trouble putting into words what God has done in my life. I see it as this beautiful story of God's grace played out across my life so far with these vivid characters that are incredibly special to me. And it is hard to put all of that in words. But I'm looking forward to it all the same.
-Here's to Furman BCM, having its first meeting tonight, and to the Holey Fellowship of Krispy Kreme that meets afterwards. May you treasure the community that you have.
-Enough with the rambling. Goodbye, goodnight.

It's just a game and other lessons you learn in life

2005-09-11T13:42:00.000-04:00

Last night I switched off the via internet radio in mild frustration. Furman was wrapping up one of the worst games that they have played in several years, a 41-21 loss to unranked Western Carolina. Our quarterback, that looked so clutch last week, threw 5 interceptions. It wasn't a good evening to say the least. There was a time that this would have really upset me. As a child, I probably would have cried. As a teenager, I would have gotten angry. Today? Well, I'm frustrated. That is a natural feeling. But the thing is, ultimately, it doesn't matter.

I know that this is not an incredibly enlightening thought. I'm sure many intellectual and theological types would look down on me for caring so much about a inconsequential game. And I guess that's part of the problem: the way in which we look down on others. I bet many Western Carolina students feel that they are a lot better than Furman students just by virtue of last night's game. Why? Because I have been there before. We are always comparing ourselves to others; looking for some way in which we can one up our neighbor. We compare looks, wealth, politics, intelligence, spiritual depth, and the outcomes of our favorite sporting events. And the thing is it is all a game, but we treat all of these things with the utmost importance. We don't want to feel inferior even though our parents and our faith have always told us everyone is equal.

I was fine after the game last night. I realized it wasn't the end of the world and (from the sports perspective) there was a lot of season left. But things became clearer this morning. I forgot that today was September 11 until I turned on the news as I was getting ready for church. That day stands out for everyone for various reasons. For me, that day coincided with my first day of college. One could not help but be affected. I remember that the games (both athletic events and the others that I was referencing) stopped in the days that followed the tragedy. I believe for many people, life ceased being about him or her and where they stacked up against the rest of the world. Tragedy does that; one can witness the response to Hurricane Katrina. People realize that we often are just playing games when we see others suffering.

These ironically positive effects of tragedy don't last for long. Just like a youth camp high that eventually runs out of steam, people go back to their games because the strongest effects of tragedy peter out. It happened with 9/11 and it will happen with Hurricane Katrina. There are two things we can remember. The first is that there is always tragedy. You can look around the world to poverty in Africa or war on nearly every continent. Likely though, you could drive five or ten minutes to find people living in poverty. You could actually look in suburbs and find lives empty because they are consumed with these games of keeping up with the Joneses and finding success in money or business.

That's a rather bleak way to look at life, but it is certainly a true way of looking at the world. We need to remember that the people in need are not always at the top of the news hour. The second thing that we can do is remember what our parents and faith taught us as we grew up. Each person has value in God's eyes and thus should have value in our own eyes. Instead of trying to figure out how we can one up our neighbor, we could give loving our neighbor a shot. It doesn't matter what they look like, how smart they are, whether they are Republican or Democrat, or whether my team beat theirs. It matters that they are. And Jesus was crystal clear that we should share God's love with that person.

So that is what I have been thinking after my team got whipped. Here's hoping that the Paladins will get their act together next week. I want them to win to see if I can apply these principles from the other end of things. That, and I do care if they win. I have to be honest; I want us to win. The game is a lot more fun if they do. Alright, I'll stop before I completely destroy what I've been writing about. Have a great Sunday.

Week 2 for the Fighting Football Paladins

2005-09-09T23:40:00.000-04:00

This week the Fighting Football Paladins head up to Cullowhee, NC for their Southern Conference opener against the Catamounts of Western Carolina. The Cats from Cullowhee are coming off a season opening 21-7 victory over Mars Hill, which is roughly as impressive as the fact that I tied my shoes this morning. Western Carolina has an impressive defense that may grant them an opportunity to move into the second tier of the Southern Conference. So do the Cats amount to a threat? Despite the difficulty of playing in Cullowhee and a staunch Western Carolina defense, the lack of an offensive playmaker on the Catamounts should lead to another Furman victory. My prediction: Furman learns their lesson from last week and whips Western 28-10. EA would like me to mention that her prediction is Furman 24, Western Carolina 7. That's it for tonight. Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.

Snapshots of Today

2005-09-08T23:22:00.000-04:00

-"Church name that I stumbled across while working" of the Day: Families R Us Baptist Church
-Church History continues to be a fascinating class. Our professor does a great job of bringing the lives of early Christians around to what is relevant today. It's great when learning is fun.
-Music makes everything better; data monkey business goes by more quickly accompanied by iTunes.
-I put "The Beautiful Letdown" in my car CD player on the way home. I remember how floored I was when I first listened to this album. Switchfoot's new CD drops next week. Here's hoping they bring their A game again.
-I think that this may be the season that I finally win the National Championship with Furman on NCAA Football 06. My two-time Heisman winning running back is clicking on all cylinders. My young guys are stepping up on defense. And yes, I know that it isn't real.
-There is nothing more beautiful at the end of a long day than the face of your wife.
-EA and I ate dinner at Will Swinson's house this evening. It was a great meal and even better to hang out and talk with Will and his family.
-Speaking of family, talking to your own is a surefire way to brighten your day. If you haven't talked to them in awhile, go do it.
-That's it for today. Coming tomorrow, my prediction for Furman vs. Western Carolina and other assorted reading.