blast from the past

Last night I couldn't sleep so I went out to the living room and was surfing the internet (thanks to the wireless router that my wonderful wife gave me for Christmas). I was doing some searches for e-sword modules and stumbled across a blog that had a review of the software. But that wasn't what caught my eye. On this blog the author mentioned the 80's Christian metal band Stryper with a link to their website.

Huh? Their website?!?!?

I thought Stryper died long ago. But I have to admit that in the 80's I loved this band. The tape player in my car had a different opinion. It ate one copy of Yellow and Black Attack and two copies of Soldiers Under Command. It never ate anything else. I guess it just didn't appreciate good Christian metal. Anyway, I had to check out this website and when I got there I discovered that Stryper is not only back together, but they have released a new CD titled Reborn. How could this news not have been splashed all over the internet?

Stryper lives! The world seems right again. You may now go about your lives.

The price of freedom

I have a nephew who is serving in the Navy as a construction engineer and this year he spent 7 months in Iraq helping to rebuild the infrastructure there. We see more and more from the MSM about how this war is wrong and how it is like Vietnam in that our troops don't know what they are fighting for and don't want to be there. Well I thought I would present a little different perspective. This is a letter that he wrote while he was serving in Iraq. I think this shows more of what our troops feel.

I learned a lot this July 4th. I spent my 4th of July defending freedom for I proudly answered my nation's call for help and volunteered to go into harm's way. I hope that the sacrifices that I've made over here will help to ensure that our nation is free of terrorists for years to come. I also hope that one day the children of Iraq and other nations will grow up in a world of peace - a world free of terrorists. I think the hardest part of this war is seeing the children endure this hell hole. During my time over here, I've seen thngs that I hope to never see again in my lifetime, but I'm a better man for having seen them because I now know firsthand the true price of freedom.

Happy birthday America!

Derek Cherry
Navy Seabee

Enough said.

One semester down...

Well my first semester of seminary is officially over. I took 2 finals on Tuesday and 2 finals today. I'm glad to have a chance to sit back and catch my breath for a few weeks before I have to dive back in again. Well, actually I won't be able to sit back just yet. If you read my last post you saw that I was having questions about God's plans for my future with the Air Force. I received some great encouragement from some incredible friends and then on Tuesday, out of the blue (pun definitely intended), I got a call from Chaplain Dave Markwalder with the Chaplain Candidate Program asking if I was still interested in the program. After I hung up with him I just had to look up to heaven and say "Yes Lord, I get the point." To make a long story at least a little bit shorter he faxed my information to the recruiter for this area and I will be meeting with him on Monday to finalize my application and schedule my physical. So this weekend will be filled filled with completing a stack of forms for the Air Force and ordering transcripts and whatever else the application process entails. Hopefully now that the semester is over I'll have a little more time to keep this blog updated so those of you that actually check it periodically will know what's going on in our lives. Well, it's late and I have to get up for work tomorrow so I'd better sign off.

Return of the Long Lost Blogger

For all my faithful readers out there (all 2 of you) I must apologize for the long and protracted silence. I have simply been overcome by the daily facts of life, school, work, family, and reading far too many theological books. This past month has been an incredibly busy one as I started my new job as Director of Computer Services for Highview Baptist Church here in Louisville while trying to keep my head above water in school. Dee Dee and I have had many long discussions concerning God's will for our future, especially with some of the things going on in the Air Force these days. It seems that evangelical chaplains are being silenced. The Chief of Chaplains has said that there is nothing to worry about and that everything will be fine, but I can't help but think that he has been in the Air Force for a long time and will be retiring soon. Things can change under new administrations. Needless to say, we have been praying alot about God's will in that area of our lives.

I have also been having lots of trouble staying focused in school, not because of the difficulty of the course work (though it is plenty difficult), but because I hate having to tell my children that I can't play with them or read to them because I am constantly either running out the door to go to class or closing myself off in my bedroom to read something for class. I was talking with David Price, a friend from church and a graduate of Southern, about this today and we seemed to have pretty much the same view. My first responsibility is to my family, and to bring my children to a knowledge and love of the Lord, and if I spend all my time getting a theological education and neglect my children then I have failed.

So, keep us in your prayers as we continue to grow and study and try to discern God's will for our family. Our future seemed set when we moved up here, but now it seems that God is revealing more of His plan to us. He is not changing the plan since He is unchangeable, but He doesn't reveal all of His plans to us at once for various reasons. Sometimes it's to lead us to a stronger faith, and sometimes it's just because of the fact that if He revealed too much of the plan to us at once it would scare us out of our wits and we would turn and run the other direction as fast as we possibly could. Somehow I think the latter might be the reason in my case.

past the halfway mark

Well we've passed through the halfway point of this semester. Last week was midterms. I think I did OK on them, but the results remain to be seen. They were a bit more stressful and quite a bit more detailed than I was used to in undergrad or my previous Master's program. These last two weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for me personally. Going through the stress of preparing for midterms and getting all the reading done for two papers that are due this week just got me sort of depressed. I ran through a time of wondering why I'm here and if this is really what I'm supposed to be doing. Then I got some good news about a job prospect that really raised my spirits. I'm still waiting to hear back but I'm pretty confident that it will come through. I also completed my application to the North American Mission Board for endorsement in the Air Force Chaplain Candidate Program. I know that I have been called at this point in my life to pursue the chaplaincy. I don't know if that is the ultimate plan that God has for me. I might end up doing something totally different, but for now at least, I'm supposed to be going through this process. That knowledge helps during the difficult times of studying for midterms and wondering where the money for next month's rent is going to come from. I am in the middle of God's will for my life right now, and that is exactly where I need to be. Well, that's about it for tonight. I've just felt a need to put some of my feelings down on paper (ok, so it's cyber-paper) but now I need to get back to reading Bonhoeffer's "The Cost of Discipleship". Gotta finish it and get that paper knocked out.

Cell Phone Etiquette

OK, I know there has been MUCH debate of this subject over the years, but I'm putting in my two cents now. I'm sitting at Panera Bread studying for a midterm exam that is coming up tomorrow. I watched this woman drive up about half an hour ago. She was already on her cell phone when she got here. She came in, still on the phone, ordered her food, still on the phone, got it and sat down two tables over from me to eat. She's still on the phone. Now I realize that I am in a public place, and I don't expect complete quiet, my problem is with the fact that she is speaking loud enough for people to hear her on the other side of the restaurant. And she's speaking in Spanish no less. Why do people insist on yelling into their cell phones? And if the reception is that bad, why do they continue sitting somewhere they are not getting good reception? Get up and move somewhere that you might be able to hear.

OK, she just got up to leave, and started whispering by the way. Guess I'll end this particular rant and attempt to get a little more studying done.

From the "You've got to be kidding me" department

CNN.com - 'Planet Xena' has a sidekick: Gabrielle - Oct 1, 2005

I was reading some reports on CNN.com tonight and ran across this one. Has our culture degenerated to such a point that we are now naming scientific discoveries after cheesy characters from even cheesier TV shows? I will admit I have watched an episode of "Xena: Warrior Princess" here and there. But in my opinion there is a huge difference in watching something cheesy on TV and memorializing it by naming a planet after it.

politics test

OK, some of my friends from Baton Rouge were taking this test and I was surprised by their results so I had to go take it too. It seems that alot of the people I knew back there were Democrats which really surprises me. Anyway, here are my results.

You are a Social Conservative (16% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (80% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Republican Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

time flies

Wow! It's amazing how quickly time can pass by. I blinked and realized that 10 days had passed since I last posted anything to this blog. The last couple of weeks at school seemed to get much more intense. The pace really picked up in Greek and I had even more reading to do so I just haven't had much time to spend posting.

Looking back over my posts since we moved I realized that I haven't posted anything about our new church. We joined Highview Baptist Church here in Louisville. This church is doing some amazing things here in the city. It is a well established church that has been on the south side of town for a number of years. About five years ago they decided to start a second campus on the east side of the city. They started it with 80 people. In February of this year when they moved into a brand new facility on their East Campus that original 80 had grown to about 650. Bro. Kevin (the pastor) told me this evening that we had over 1380 in attendance this past Sunday. He also just announced that we are making plans to possibly start a third, fourth and fifth campus at different areas around the metro area. And we are also partnering with other churches to help plant a church in Manhattan. The Lord is truly working at Highview to spread the kingdom.

Also, for those of you that aren't in Baton Rouge, and don't know about this, the pastor at my former church resigned not long after we left. As you may remember, there was a power struggle going on in the church between two different factions, one that didn't like the path of change that the pastor was following and one that supported him no matter what. There were things done wrong on both sides and there is a huge need for church discipline to be applied to some of the ring leaders. Anyway, Bill realized that the church was becoming too polarized around him and he resigned and started a new church plant in Ascension Parish. Things seem to be going very well. People are coming and really getting involved. He tells them from the outset that if they want to come and just sit in a service and then go home and not get involved they are in the wrong place. That's what he was trying to get people to realize at Parkview. God bless you Bill! I pray that God would use you and everyone else at Graceworks in a mighty way to reach people in Baton Rouge and the surrounding area with His love.

One final note. If you've visited here in the past you may have noticed that the Google search box is gone and the Google ads have been replaced. I simply wasn't happy with the control that Google gave me over the advertisers so I'm trying out a different company. Bidvertiser lets me view every ad before it is placed on the site and accept or decline it. With Google I just had to check the site and if there was something I didn't want (which turned out to be most of it) I could block those ads, but it would take a while for them to drop out of the rotation.

Well that's it for tonight. Hopefully it won't be quite as long before I get another post up here.

Officials clash on people returning to New Orleans - Yahoo! News

It seems that Ray Nagin, who so publicly whined and complained about what he saw as a lack of response on the part of the federal government after Hurricane Katrina, is now ignoring the advice of the federal officials he so desperately wanted. Mayor Nagin is encouraging residents to return to the areas of the city that were not severely damaged by the disaster. However, the head of the federal recovery effort, Vice Admiral Thad Allen, says, that after consulting with the EPA and CDC, the timeline given by the mayor is at best ambitious. This is especially true in light of the fact that there is another hurricane readying itself to enter the Gulf of Mexico. (See story here) Ray Nagin wants it both ways. He wants the federal government's help to get him out of a crisis, but now that the immediate danger of the hurricane is gone and the flood waters are receding he wants to do things his own way.

Some great observations about the blame game

Many in the Main Stream Media (MSM) are villifying President Bush in their reports on Hurricane Katrina and coming just short of actually claiming that he caused the storm itself and sent it to wipe out the city of New Orleans. A friend of mine sent me this great article that points out some very basic truths that the MSM and liberals in general need to realize.

it's been awhile

OK, so I've let my posting frequency slip quite a bit (not that it really matters since there's no one reading this blog besides me anyway). Things have been hectic this past week or so. LOTS of reading, a quiz in Greek (every Friday), my first paper due, trying to get together with my accountability partner so my Spiritual Disciplines class, plus the kids have been getting sick, and I'm still looking for a job. Actually, hopefully the job situation will be taken care of soon. I'll post more about that when I get more details.

There are so many things I want to say about the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath but if I put everything down, I'd be typing all night long. To begin with, I'm sick and tired of hearing the liberal media say that the federal government and the military did not show up on the Gulf Coast until 4 or 5 days after the hurricane hit. FEMA is a federal agency and they were there from day one. The Coast Guard is a branch of our military and they were there from day one. That's it. End of story. You CANNOT continue to say that the military and the government were not there. They were. Move on.

Then there's this whole racial thing. Why is it that anytime something happens in this country that warrants extensive media coverage Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, or someone has to stick their nose into it and claim racial discrimination? We've actually had some idiotic people trying to claim that the government broke the levees in New Orleans on purpose to oppress the poor blacks that live there. Come on! How can any sane person truly believe that our government would intentionally endanger the lives of so many, and intentionally destroy one of our major cities? Yes, it is true that the majority of the people affected by the flooding were poor and black. But let's look at the demographics of New Orleans. According to the 2000 Census nearly 70% of the population of the city of New Orleans is black and almost 30 percent of the population was below the poverty level (one of the highest of any major city). With statistics like that, yes, the majority of the people affected are going to be poor and black. Complaining about it is like complaining about a tornado hitting somewhere in Mexico primarily affecting Hispanics. Duh! That's who lives there, so that's who is going to be affected. Let's stop pulling out the race card whenever anything happens. We can't change the way the statistics read now. We can however change things and make them better in the future.

OK, I guess I'm done ranting for now. There's much more I'd like to say about the left-wing media but I need to get to bed.

Surreal

That's the only way I can describe what is happening on the Gulf Coast. Seeing places that I know and love in New Orleans and Biloxi either under water or totally gone is nothing short of surreal. Even after growing up in south Louisiana and living through hurricanes and the aftermath that goes with them, I cannot even imagine what it is like to be living through this. Honestly many of the pictures I've seen remind me of Sarajevo, Bosnia. There was an area in Sarajevo that had been nicknamed "City of the Dead" because the houses there were so mangled from the house to house fighting. It nearly brought me to tears when we were driving through there and I saw children playing soccer in front of an apartment building that was riddled with holes from bullets and mortar shells. But that pales in comparison to what I have seen going on in New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. It looks like a war zone.

We've spoken with friends in Baton Rouge who said that the population of the city has doubled with all the refugees. There are reports there of violence at gas stations. One of our friends told his wife that he didn't want her going to the gas station because people were waiting for women to swipe their credit cards, then attacking them and stealing the gas.

This is all evidence of the fact that this world is stained by the taint of sin. No matter how much secular humanists try to tell us that people are naturally good at heart, times like this show that our natural state is one of selfishness and sin. We need to pray not only for the physical and temporal safety of those on the Gulf Coast, but for their spiritual and eternal safety that can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Pat Robertson's Comments

Last night we had the 700 Club on as we were getting ready for bed and heard Pat Robertson's call for the assasination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. I was utterly shocked to hear this statement come from a man who is a leading conservative Christian. Many Christian leaders have called for him to retract his comments and I add my small voice to that call. I agree with Mr. Robertson in that President Chavez presents a serious security risk to this nation if he is allowed to continue along the course he is currently on. However, assasination is not the answer to this problem. There are numerous other courses of action that are open to the United States besides killing the head of state of another sovereign nation. We as Christians need to be especially careful of our words particularly when in the public sphere. We need to be sure to speak the truth in love if we ever expect the lost people of this world to listen to the message of the gospel.

what have i gotten myself into?

I just got done with my homework for my Greek class and I'm wondering what in the world I have done. Today was the second day of class and for homework we had to translate 20 sentences from Greek into English and 4 from English into Greek. This is the 4th language that I have studied formally (other than English) and I'm amazed at how quickly the class is moving. Day 1 - here's the alphabet, Day 2 - translation. Yikes! I knew seminary was going to be a big jump from what I was used to and so far I have not been disappointed. Actually, it's not too bad. It's going to be A LOT of reading, but luckily I love to read, and so far everything I've had to read has been really interesting to me. Again, luckily I'm a history geek and that's alot of what we've had to read so far for my classes.

books, books everywhere

I have a stack of books that is about a foot and a half high sitting here on my computer desk. These are the books that I will have to read for my classes this semester. Here's my schedule of classes for the fall. Anyone reading this who has been to seminary please feel free to tell me how absolutely insane you think I am.

9:00-9:50 AM Tuesday - Friday - Elementary Greek
11:30-12:20 PM Tuesday - Thursday - Intro to New Testament
12:30-1:20 PM Tuesdy - Thursday - Personal Spiritual Disciplines
1:30-2:45 PM Tuesday & Thursday - Intro to Church History
5:45-7:00 PM Tuesday & Thursday - Biblical Hermeneutics

I put all the reading assignments into a single calendar so they would be easier to keep up with. I'm not sure how smart of an idea that was. It's a little overwhelming when you look at the calendar and see assignments for 50 pages in one class, a chapter in another, 2 chapters in another and an entire book in another. Luckily on that particular day I only have to read about 10 pages in the fifth class so it's an off day :)

Classes start next Monday, or in my case next Tuesday and my first quiz is scheduled for next Friday in Greek. Part of me keeps asking "What have I gotten myself into?" But then I remember how clearly God told us that this is where He wanted us to come, and this is what He wants me to do. As long as I keep my focus on Christ and doing what He has called me to do I can do anything.

On a different note, I posted a new book on the recommended reading list, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. While I don't agree with everything Miller has to say (he is very much a part of the emergent church movement which I don't fully agree with) I would still recommend this book. He focuses alot on the biblical commandments to feed the poor and clothe the naked and how we should build relationships in order to share Christ with the lost. Plus the book is incredibly funny in places. There's one section in particular in his chapter on Money where he ends up having a shouting match with his conscience. You gotta lova a book that has the author shouting "Shut your gaping piehole!" to the voices in his head

back online

We're back online after what seemed like an eternity. It's amazing how dependent we have become on the internet. I didn't have easy access to the web for over a week and felt like I was cut off from civilization. No news, no stock quotes, no email. Thankfully the cable man came this afternoon and got us connected back to the world again. At least to the cyber-world. Well, that's about it for this installment. I know it's short, but it's late and I need to get to bed.

We're here!

We made it to Louisville after a very, very long couple of days. We picked up the U-Haul on Friday and started loading that afternoon. We finished loading and cleaning up the old apartment by about 2:00 on Saturday. Sunday we drove to Dee Dee parent's house in Tennessee and unloaded and then reloaded part of the truck with furniture that we were trading with them. On Monday we drove up to Louisville. We got here at about 3:00, picked up the keys to our new apartment and went with the lady from the office to do a walk thru only to find out that they had that particular apartment entered incorrectly in their computer files. It was a two bedroom with a den instead of the three bedroom we need. She quickly switched us into another apartment that is a three bedroom, but when we walked in the hall carpet was soaking wet. The drain pipe for the air conditioner had become clogged and condensation overflowed. They got someone in to rip out the padding and extract the water. We finally started unloading the truck at about 5:00. Since we were all already exhausted, and since we couldn't put anything in one room until the carpet dries it took forever to unload. We finally finished at about midnight.

Alright, that's enough rambling for one night. I'm off to crash in my own bed (for the first time in two weeks) in my new apartment. Good night all.

we won't be homeless

Yay! We just signed a lease for an apartment here in Louisville. We can move in here the day after we have to move out of the apartment in Baton Rouge. We've spent the last 3 days driving all over Louisville looking at different apartments, or pulling into the complexes and pulling back out again before we even went to the leasing office.

Anyway, I'm just glad the search is over. And we have plenty of room for people to come and visit (just not everyone at once OK. let's space things out a bit). I'll send out an email later letting everyone know what our new address is.

PS. Sorry if this sounds disjointed, it's been a long few days driving up here and then driving all over the city so I'm kind of out of it.

I am now jobless

As of today I am currently unemployed. This was my last day of work. Now the pressure really sets in on this move. We head north to Louisville on Saturday to begin the process of looking for a place to live and a job. If anyone knows of any computer/technology jobs or any church jobs that are opening up in Louisville please let me know.

Today was a bittersweet day for me. I have made many close friends here that I hate saying goodbye to. But I am also glad to be leaving a church that is in turmoil. It seems that every time things seem to settle down just a little bit someone has to stir things up. Some of the people remind me of a child poking a stick in an ant bed. They don't seem to care what they are doing to other's personal lives or reputations as long as they can get them riled up and make them scurry around. I pray that people would focus on God and His will for Parkview and stop worrying about rumors and whispers of rumors before God removes His spirit from the church.

I done gradumuated

Dee Dee and I just watched my online graduation ceremony from CTU. It seems kind of silly to have an online graduation, but since it was an online degree program I guess it was only fitting.

Now the online chat reception is another story. Especially when you read the claim they made in the announcement email -- "It'll be just like being there!" No. It won't. It'll be just like sitting at a computer 1000 miles away from there. Anyway, we skipped the chat reception. Now I'm just waiting for the diploma to come in the mail. And then I get to start the whole process over again at seminary.

Oh, the power of advertising!

As we were leaving our friends' apartment tonight we saw this vehicle, proudly advertising it's owner's business.

I'll just let the picture do the talking. There's really no need for comments on this one.

World Magazine Blog: The award for ugliest dog goes to

World Magazine: The award for ugliest dog goes to

This has got to be the absolute ugliest living thing I have ever seen in my life. Be warned, this picture is not for the squemish.

This is an actual contest that is held in California every year to find the world's ugliest dog and Sam has won for three straight years. Take a look at the article and you'll understand why.

the longest/shortest week in the history of the world

Ever have one of those weeks that seem to both drag by and speed past both at the same time? Starting last Friday we have had a whirlwind of a week. The girls went to spend the night with my sister on Friday and Dee Dee and I left Owen with my mom and went shopping for a new laptop that evening. I found a great deal on one at BestBuy. Saturday we were doing some packing and then were invited to dinner at a friend's house. Sunday we had a single combined worship service (something that Parkview desperately needed) and then went to lunch at the house of one of our members. Monday the girls wanted to go swimming so we went to the pool that morning, came home and got cleaned up then went to my Mom's for a family lunch for the 4th of July. When that was over we went over to a friends house for a cookout around supper time. We made it home in time to watch some fireworks on TV (I know, I know, it's just not the same, but I wasn't going to fight the crowds to see the show down on the river here in Baton Rouge). Tuesday we were invited over to some more friends' house for dinner. Wednesday I ran around at lunch time and after work looking for some accessories I needed for the laptop, and then we ended up at my Mom's for dinner. Tonight, we had a farewell party at yet another friend's house with our Sunday School class since some of them will be out of town this weekend for a Chi Alpha reunion in Ruston, LA.

Whew, it sounds like even more when you write it all out like that. Looking back over the past 7 days at times it seems like it all passed by in a flash and at other times it seems like last Friday was months ago. And it's not over yet. Tomorrow at least we'll be able to sleep in, but then we have our last Parents' Night Out at the church. Dee Dee and I are going out to dinner with two of our best friends here in Baton Rouge. Saturday morning I have my online "graduation" from the master's program I just completed through Colorado Tech. Sunday we have Parent/Child Dedication at the church, plus it will be our last Sunday so there will be many goodbyes to be said. Monday Ashtyn leaves for GA Camp. Next Friday night we will get together with my family to say goodbye. And sometime in all of this we have to find time to pack up our belongings, close out our accounts, and prepare to move 12 1/2 hours away.

time is slipping away

I can't believe how quickly time is flying as our move to Louisville approaches. We pushed things up a bit, we are now leavingon the July 16 instead of July 24 but even taking into account the one week difference it seems awfully close. My last day at Parkview will be July 14, we will pick Ashtyn up from GA camp on the 15th, get together with all of my family that evening, and pull out on Saturday morning, the 16th. We're not actually moving our stuff up there yet, this trip will be to look for a place to live and to hopefully find a job. Then we'll be back in town for a couple days to load everything onto a truck and head up there for good.

It seems like just a couple weeks ago that we got the postcard from Southern announcing the Preview Conference that got this whole moving process started, but it has been just over 3 months. We are still trusting God to provide for us while we are there since we still don't know where we will live, where I will work, or how we are going to pay for school. But God is faithful to provide what we need. He has shown us so clearly that Southern is where He wants us to go that I cannot help but have faith that He will provide the means for us to do it.

the bears, or whatever they're called, didn't like me

When I'm feeling down and sorry for myself, there's no better cure than to listen to the logic of a child. It always cheers me up, and often sends me into an uncontrollable giggling fit. Especially if the child is sound asleep. Such was the case tonight when I went in to kiss the girls goodnight. As I was turning around to leave I heard Ashtyn say "the bears, or whatever they're called, didn't like me." When I looked, she was still out cold. I came down the stairs laughing like crazy and my night was vastly improved over what it had been before I went up.

the packing has begun

I guess it's official now. We're moving. We have actually begun packing. The living room is already looking pretty bare. All the pictures are off the walls, the knick-knacks are wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in boxes and the book case is essentially empty. It's funny how you never really notice all the little decorations in the house until they're gone. Sitting here right now looking at the bare walls with just nail heads sticking out it seems so spartan and unlived in. Once we leave this apartment the only evidence that we were ever here will be the nail holes in the walls.

I pray that something different can be said about the people that we leave behind. Dee Dee has many close friends who are heartbroken to see us leave. I know guys are different and don't show emotion the way that women do in situations like this, and I'm fine with that by the way. But I just wonder if I've made that type of connection with anyone here. I guess if I have to wonder about it, I probably haven't. I just pray that I leave behind more than scars on the walls of the lives of people I've come in contact with here in Baton Rouge.

desiring God

I've been reading an incredible book called Desiring God by John Piper. I'm still only about halfway through the book but I would highly recommend it to anyone. This book will definitely change the way you approach the Throne of Grace in worship. I won't go too deep into the meaning of the book. I just want to comment on one point in particular that has stuck in my head. Piper makes the claim that the greatest hindrance to our worship of the Father is not the fact that we are too focused on our own pleasure as many would say, but that the things that we allow to please us are so pitiful. The whole point of the book is that we should seek pleasure. But we should seek it in the ultimate source of pleasure, our Heavenly Father.

In the book Piper quotes often from C. S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards. One quote from Lewis particularly stands out.

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

I pray that all of us as Christians would be less easily pleased and would seek our pleasure in the worship of the only name that is worhty of worship. If you feel yourself struggling during worship, being distracted, thinking of all the other things you could be doing, I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book and give it a read.

gaggles and gossip

Have you ever spent much time around middle school girls? Especially the younger ones that are just crossing out of childhood into the teenage years? When I was involved in Youth Ministry I dreaded meetings with the middle schoolers, not because I didn't want to be around them, but because I had no idea what the complex matrix of relationships among the girls would look like that day. I would always hear things like, "I'm not friends with her anymore because she said..." or "She told so and so that I like him and I don't!" (Though in reality I knew she did.) It always reminded me of a gaggle of geese all honking and snipping at each other.

I feel much the same way with the situation going on in our church right now. It's hard for me to get into a spirit of worship anymore becuase there are people on both sides of the issues that are acting like a gaggle of 6th grade girls. "They're just being judgemental and trying to play God." "So and so said such and such about the pastor and that's just not right." And the sad thing is that much of the "information" that is being passed around is third, fourth, or fifth hand or even farther from the source. "Well I heard that Joe Bob was talking to Mary Ellen and she said that Betty Sue told her that Billy Frank said ..." You get the picture.

I just wish that everyone, on both sides, would realize that our reason for coming together in the first place is to worship the living God, the Creator of the universe. Let's get back to doing that and all the gossip and back-biting and manipulations will seem so petty and insignificant in the light of His glory.

worldview quiz

A bunch of the other bloggers that I have been visiting have been posting links to this quiz so I thought I would take it too. It seems to be pretty accurate. It shows me as being highly evangelical and highly fundamentalist, which is very true of my personal worldview.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Fundamentalist 71% Neo orthodox 68% Emergent/Postmodern 64% Reformed Evangelical 61% Charismatic/Pentecostal 25% Classical Liberal 18% Modern Liberal 7% Roman Catholic 0% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

5 weeks

We're down to about 5 weeks until we move to Louisville, Kentucky and the nerves are starting to set in. Currently I don't have a job for when we get there, we have no place to live, and we're not sure how we're going to pay for anything. I know, that sounds insane, but we are trusting that since God has called us to go there, he will provide a way for us to make a living while we are there.

I've signed up for a couple of affiliate deals which will provide a small amount of money through this website. That's why you see the Google search box and ads on the side of the page. Anytime someone uses the search box and clicks on the links on the results page, or clicks on the ads on this page, I will receive a small amount of the advertising revenue from Google. I will also be adding some other links in the near future to some other Christian websites. I'll let you know how those work when I get them up and running if anyone would like to help us out by using the links.

On another note, Dee Dee pointed out something else that proved to us that God has called us to seminary at this particular point in time. When I was accepted to the Master's program that I am currently finishing up (today is the last day of the session, Yay!) I was scheduled to start in the middle of a term, in May of 2004. A day or so after being accepted I got a phone call saying that they had had someone drop out and were wondering if I would like to start early. I said sure, so I ended up starting at the beginning of a term, in April, 5 1/2 weeks earlier than I was scheduled to start. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that if I had started when I was scheduled I wouldn't be done for another 7 1/2 weeks from today (there's a 2 week gap between each 11 week term) which would mean I wouldn't be able to start seminary until January, which would mean I probably would not have enough time to be accepted to the Chaplain Candidate Program before I was over the age limit. Isn't it cool when God does stuff like that in our lives to prove to us that He is the one who is ultimately in control?

loving those that are hard to love

My church has been going through a rough time recently. There's alot involved but to boil it down to something manageable for this post I'll say that the pastor and staff had proposed some changes to the structure of the church and some additional steps for membership. We had met and prayed over these changes before ever presenting them to the church and felt that this was the direction that God was leading us to go. There was a backlash of opposition to the changes and it quickly degenerated to personal attacks from people on both sides of the issue. The pastor and his family have had to endure attacks on their character for several months now. I say all that to say that I have never met anyone who gives a better example of the character of a minister as laid out in 2 Timothy 2:24-26, than my pastor, Bill Pruitt. Throughout the entire ordeal, with accusations flying on both sides, I have never heard him utter a negative word about anyone. I have watched him love on people and had my human mind screaming out "Kick them out of the church" (which, by the way, he doesn't have the authority to do anyway). But he has followed the command to love the flock that God has called him to serve. This has been an incredible, and humbling example to me as a young minister just starting out and learning what it means to be a servant leader. I pray that when the trials and attacks of Satan come in my ministry, as I know they will, I will exhibit a small part of the character that I have seen exhibited here.

decisions

Alright, I sent out an email to my entire address book with a link to this blog telling them that they could come here to read the story about how we decided to go to Southern seminary and apply to become an Air Force Chaplain. So I guess I had better actually write the story out so that if by some huge stretch of the imagination someone comes looking for it, they will actually find it.

The whole idea of the chaplaincy has been kicking around since not long before I got out of the Army, but Dee Dee and I have always dismissed it. We thought, "No, I'm too conservative", "I wouldn't fit in with the inclusive atmosphere" and anything else we could come up with to shoot the idea down. But it just kept popping back up.

When we moved here for me to finish my undergrad degree it was with the plan of going on to seminary afterwards. Well, I started visiting seminaries all over the place but just didn't feel like any of them were where God was calling me to go. In fact, I felt like God was telling me "It's not time yet." So in the spring of 2004 we put seminary on hold and I began working on another degree (see the post below for that story).

In March of this year God told us it was time to start thinking about seminary again, and He told us pretty emphatically. Here's how it all happened. Dee Dee is in a Bible study group with some of the other women from our Sunday School class. The topic of the study on Monday, March 28 was submission. Dee Dee asked me how I felt she did in the area of submission and I told her I thought she did great. She agreed but said that the one area she felt she didn't do very well in was the idea of me being a chaplain. I said "Wow, I haven't thought about that in months" to which she quickly replied under her breath "Take it back. Take it back. Take it back."

That week, our Sunday School teacher and I got together for lunch. We had been trying to do so for about a month and a half but just never could hook up. One of the things we talked about was my conversation with Dee Dee about submission and the chaplaincy. I'm not sure why I evern brought it up, but I did. He challenged me to do something about it, to talk to a retired chaplain, or find an active duty chaplain I could talk to just to see what my options were. Well, I emailed a contact for the Chaplain Candidate Program that I found on the internet and got a call back the next day. After talking with him I really felt like God was telling me to pursue it. I know it sounds fast but by Thursday, March 31, I was convinced that God was telling me that this is something I need to do. I might end up not becoming a chaplain for one reason or another, but it's something that I must pursue at this point in my life.

OK, now for the Southern Seminary decision. Like I said, by March 31 I was making plans to go to seminary again (you have to go to seminary to be a chaplain). My human brain said, "OK, I have a good job here at Parkview, so I'll just stay here and commute to New Orleans for seminary." I got home that day and had a flyer in the mail from Southern about their Preview Conference that was coming up in April. I know, coincidence right? Well, let me tell you a little more about that flyer.

• It was postmarked on March 28, the day the idea resurfaced
• It was mailed to the wrong apartment, but made it to my box anyway
• I got it on March 31, the deadline to sign up for the conference was April 1

So we decided that God was telling us we needed to at least look into this school. When we got there we fell in love with it. Through the people we met and the things we heard at the Preview Conference God definitely confirmed that He is calling us to attend there. Oh and when we got to Southern and told the Director of Admissions the story about the flyer he said "And I can add something to that. All the flyers were mailed at the same time, about a month before yours was postmarked."

So there's the whole story. I know it's long and confusing, but that's how it happened.

degrees and more degrees

I did it! I just turned in my final assignment for the last class in my Master's program. On July 9th I will receive a Master of Science in Management with a major in Information Technology Management from Colorado Technical University Online. Now that this degree is completed I will take a two month break before started work on a second Master's degree, this one in Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Looking back over the past dozen years of my life, this is so far from where I thought I would be. In December 1993 I dropped out of college and joined the Army because I was tired of school. The Army promptly sent me to a language school that lasted over a year to learn Arabic. After completing my training I spent 2 1/2 years in Germany and then was transferred to Atlanta, GA. While there I tried for a while to complete my undergraduate degree but it just didn't work out with my work schedule after leaving the Army.

Just a little over three years ago Dee Dee and I decided to move back to Baton Rouge so I could finish up at LSU. We came back here thinking that it would take me a minimum of 2 to 2 1/2 years to finish up. I ended up switching my major to General Studies and finishing in 1 year and then begining this Master's program that lasted 15 months. So in the time we thought it would take me to finish my undergrad degree I finished it and a Master's. Now I'm getting ready to start on another degree. As my friend Shawn said the other night, "This from the guy that nobody thought would ever finish his first degree."

I know, I know, I've rambled in this post, but read the title of this blog OK. I'm just amazed at the places God has taken me and the things He has helped me to accomplish once I stopped running from Him and gave in to His will for my life.

Nerd quiz

OK, so I found this quiz that is supposed to tell how much of a nerd you are. I know there are tons of these things out there and most of them are pretty silly, but I just had to take the five minutes to run through this one to see. Here are my results. I always knew I was a nerd, just not quite that much of one.

"I wanna go with a girl"

It's funny how silly little comments like that can stick in your head for years. We had Shawn and Marja Liner and their daughter Maggie over for dinner last night. Shawn was the best man at our wedding and though we haven't stayed in touch over the years as much as either of us would have liked I still consider him to be one of the closest friends I have. Even after a year or more of not seeing each other when we get together it's like being with family. And I know that anytime we get together, at some point the phrase "I wanna go with a girl" is going to come up.

OK, a little background on the title of this post. It goes back about 12 or 13 years. I was in college at LSU and Shawn, Jim and Arthur Harvey and I had been sitting around their apartment. None of us had dates for the evening so we decided to go see the movie "Groundhog Day". As we were leaving the apartment, the whole idea of not having a date struck me and I blurted out "But I wanna go with a girl!" That phrase will follow me till the day I die as long as I am friends with those guys. But hey, can you really blame me? I mean, I was a 20-21 year old guy, going out to a movie on a Friday night with 3 other guys. OF COURSE I wanted to go with a girl instead.

Anyway, it's just those type of little unguarded moments that allow us to see into someone's heart and form a connection with them that can last for a lifetime. And it's just those little unguarded moments that Christ uses to change a life, and form a relationship that will last for eternity. So form connections with people, seek out friendships in which you can open yourself up and allow Christ to shine through you to touch another life and possibly change them for eternity.

Ramble relocation

For those of you who may not have heard, our family is on the move again. For several years now, actually since before I left the Army, I have had recurring thoughts of returning to the military as a chaplain. I've always dismissed these thoughts for a variety of reasons that I won't go into here. Well, about 2 months ago this thought recurred yet again and this time I couldn't ignore it. Through a series of events over the course of about a week God confirmed to me that He wanted me to pursue becoming a chaplain. To make a long story short, Dee Dee and I visited The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in April and felt that God was confirming that we should apply. So we are off to Louisville, KY to begin my seminary training in August. Once there I will apply to the Chaplain candidate program with the U.S. Air Force.

beginnings

Well, I've finally been assimilated into the blog collective. The youth minister at my church has been blogging for a while now and has been telling me about it but I've just never really thought much about it. I finally started reading his blog among others and I've been sucked in. I've been wanting to send out a newsletter to all my friends from the military and from previous places I've lived just to let them know what's going on in my life. Hopefully this will be a way for me to keep them updated on a more regular basis. As you can see from the title I plan to pretty much just ramble on about nothing in particular in this space. I've also been wanting to journal for years but just never could bring myself to do it. Since I spend sooooo much of my time in front of a computer maybe this is the way I can finally bring myself to do it.