Brainstorming

So we have a new trio group at church and we plan to go big; so we need a really modern, edgy-sounding name that will catch people's attention. Any ideas? Brainstorm with me...

It's a group of three guys...a tenor, lead, and baritone. We really don't sing much southern gospel, so nothing that sounds country or quartet(ish) will work.

Thanks your help in advance!

Encouragment

It's not always easy to transfer to a new college as a senior, but this was God's will for me, so I accepted it. I went there thinking that it would be no problem finding friends and meeting new people to hang out with...after all, this was a former student body officer at his previous college, and collegian president! Once again, God had a few things to teach me.

I drove home yesterday from classes feeling pretty discouraged about my experience there so far. I love my classes, that's not it, but I hadn't found one person going the same direction as me. Not that I felt nobody was worthy to be my friend, but I just hadn't found anyone I shared things in common with. See, Newberry is only a Christian college in name, not in practice. I was kind of shocked at all the profanity...I just didn't expect it...probably dumb of me...oh well.

Today ended differently though...in a good way. In Chemistry/Physics, I sit beside a guy name Gerrald who also happens to be my lab partner. He's the starting running back on the football team as well, meaning he is at Newberry for sports, not academics. The became very clear to me from the beginning when he aksed me to help him plot his graph...a very simple graph. I got kind of frustrated with him and was hoping to get a new lab partner because I didn't want my whole semester to be a tutoring session! After all, I thought I was the one going to be the one who needed help.

There are several guys in the class who are also on the football team...most of them have a pretty dirty mouth, which was on display today in the Chemistry lab. One of the O-linemen, who we call "Chi-chi," was letting it fly when my lab partner, Gerrald, stopped him. Then to my amazement he said, "Chi-chi, stop dude! I'm saved. Why do you have to cuss in front of me so much when you know I'm a Christian? You shouldn't cuss, man."

Are you kidding, my whole face lit up! Here was the guy I wanted to get rid of because I thought he was slow, or disinterested, or whatever, and he turns out to be the Christian who God put right next to me on purpose.

So, looks like my whole semester will be a tutoring session, but I don't mind at all! I love the way God works.

And by the way, I got an A on the first test. Yep....definitely encouraged.

What do you think

Just a thought from my time with God today....what does the Bible really mean when it mentions "the world?" For example, the last verse of James says true religion is partly to keep yourself "unspotted from the world." In independent baptist circles (which is what I grew up in), people think "the world" means music and dress...or at least that's the vibe I got growing up.

To me, it means a lot more..."the world" in the Bible in context really means the philosophies of the world, the attitudes, the habits, the ideas...essentially it means Satan's gameplan. When the Bible says not to get spotted with the world, it means not to get sucked into or believe Satan's lies. It does not mean your music and dress...although that is a small part of it. Am I off here? What do you guys think?

Just Slightly Disturbing...

http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/

Please do yourself a favor and visit this site; then tell me what you think.

You've Got to be Kidding...

Someone please hand former President Jimmy Carter a pacifier and a rattle! Everytime he opens his mouth he embarrasses this country, of which I happen to be proud of. This time it takes the top though. He calls out MY REPRESENTATIVE, Joe Wilson, whom he has NEVER met, and calls him RACIST for his "You lie!" comment. WHAT! What is the world coming to? Since when does a disagreement in policy equate to racism? And how dare he make such an antigonizing statement towards a man he doesn't even know personally!

I have news for you Mr. Carter: It wouldn't have mattered if President Obama was white...and by the way...he is HALF WHITE; my representative would have still called out the truth! I mean, how childish can we get here? I cannot believe that he used to be the face of this nation!...the President?

And not only that, (I didn't think it could get worse), he proceeded to call anyone who disagreed with Obama's policies racist! So today, I'm guess I'm a racist according to Mr. Carter. Why don't I just hood up and ride through the countryside....YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

Here's the thing: I haven't even mentioned that truly racist senator from Georgia who said that Joe Wilson was the face of the new KKK! Someone please save me from completely coming unscrewed! I thought America was over this issue...I know that my generation is. Just because we have a half black President, the whole racism thing is coming back out of nowhere...but only from one side. I wonder what side that is?

So, what am I saying? I'm saying, Mr. Carter, please save yourself the embarrassment and shut up. And Rep. Joe Wilson, please save this nation from embarrassment and SPEAK UP! THANK YOU.

My Favorite Quote

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

What's your favorite quote?

Liberty Personified

The scene is breathtaking. From the eyes of the Satue of Liberty, it is early sunrise over New York City. A rolling fog still blankets the sleepy island. As the cautious sun peeks its head out from under the blanket, its rays spill through the many prisms on the island and splash across the harbor to greet Lady Liberty. The old church bells strike six o' clock, and Lady Liberty begins to sense liveliness about the city. The old bells usually greet her with the cheerful, glowing sound of a new day; but this morning, she is greeted with a harsh, monotonous death toll. The sound of those old rusty bells fades, but the ringing grows more loudly and more deathly in her mind.

As the fog dissipates, the sun reaches her first glory into the dawning, and takes a breath of fresh air. Lady Liberty's view is directed to two main buildings, which stand between her and the rising sun. The Twin Trade Towers reach above the fog first, and display their crowns of glory high into the open sky. They form, as it were, stage curtains with the sun peeking through to get the first glimpse of the magnificent Lady Liberty. As she raises her eyes to the sky, a bald eagle swoops down and clasps her torch with its talons. It screams as if it too sensed the ominous ringing of those bells. All of nature seemed poised to forewarn grave danger.

The melancholy tolling of the bells disturbed Lady Liberty as she hung her head in bewilderment. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a passenger airliner skimming across the New York Harbor. This jet was extremely low and was headed for the trade towers. As the jet neared the island of Manhatten, her heart began to pulsate violently as to her amazement she realized the plane was too low to avoid the Trade Towers! It is a nightmare, some horror dream! No! The massive airliner has plunged itself into the North Trade Tower!

Black--just black, billowing smoke, as ink, spills uncontrollably out of the tower and pours its sticky oil over the sky. The trade tower is on fire. The deathly flames lick down the sides of the building, but their thirst is unquenchable. Those tolling bells are racing now in her mind; their death march in on the run. Lady Liberty's heart is throbbing with such intensity that it blocks everything else from her ears. Even the second airliner, as it screamed across her head, she cannot hear. As it crushes itself into the remaing tower, her mind begins to spin uncontrollably. Sparks shoot out like lightning from the tower. Sheets of steel are hanging everwhere, trapped, unable to escape the hellish grip of those flames. Debris is raining down, reeking havoc all over the city. The smoke now forms like an ominous thundercloud over the towers. The North Trade Tower teeters back and forth, losing its balance, and collapses to its death. The sound of the fall roars through the sky as the storm thunders. The South Tower also, singed and scarred, crashes upon its twin; and a ferocious, chaotic clap of steel, debris, and smoke fills the sky like an atomic bomb had just exploded.

Lady Liberty turned her head away as one giant teardrop plunged into the harbor below.

Truth vs. Lies

Last night was a breakthrough event in the world of politics. No, no, I'm not talking about President Obama's speech...I'm talking about the two simple, bold, controversial words of my own Congressman, Joe Wilson. "You Lie!" he said after President Obama said his healthcare plan would not include illegal aliens. It wast one of the most pure and honest moments in Congress since the days of Patrick Henry, John C. Calhoun, and other great statesmen of the past.

It was called brash, inappropriate, heckling, and many other distasteful words by fellow congressmen and the mainstream media. I call it the Truth! Finally, someone who is willing to stand up to the President and call him on the carpet for his double talk. See, I believe that Joe Wilson was simply articulating what millions of Americans wanted to shout out to the President (some did...at the tv screen). He was doing what I put him there to do...speak out on my behalf.

I believe that when you vote for someone and they win the seat, they work for you; they are to reflect your concerns, your ideas, your voice. Joe Wilson works for me and all my fellow South Carolinians and he represented me well last night. Thank you for speaking out!

Sure, he was asked to apologize and he's gotten a lot of bad publicity, but that's the price sometimes of standing up for what is right. It's unfortunate that this country condemns the one speaking the truth, but applauds the man that feeding lies. Which is the greater evil: one man speaking the truth out of turn, or one man given a platform and a title to spew lies to a whole nation?

Don't Look Yet

I'm not ready.