Self Portrait Questions

• Date and Place of Birth: October 18th, 1960, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• A Book I Recently Read: "The Ragamuffin Gospel"
• Something Few People Know About Me: I Love the game of baseball
• I Wish I Could: Travel For A Living
• My Most Valuable Possession: My Soul
• I Am Most Comfortable When: I'm Reading A Good Book
• My Most Precious Childhood Memory: Playing football on Thanksgiving with all of our family (After eating way too much food at Grandma's house!)
• Five People I Would Invite To A Fantasy Dinner Party: Jesus Christ, My Grandpa Bible, Rich Mullins, Paul McCartney, and George S. Patton
• The Best Gift I Ever Received: The gift of forgiveness from Jesus Christ for all of my sins.
• My Favorite Meal: Krystal Hamburgers, Fries, Chili, Large Coke
• I Am Most Proud Of: My Daughter, Grace
• One Word To Sum Me Up: Grateful
• Favorite Things To Do To Relax: Reading, Talking with Friends, Playing the piano
• Last Words You Would Say To Those You Love: Love Jesus and accept His gift of salvation - your eternity depends on your response. And know that you know that you know!
• Favorite Sports To Watch: College Football (Go Vols!) and Baseball (Go Braves!) 
• Favorite Sports To Play: Baseball, Tennis, Racquetball, Ping Pong, Football, Basketball
• Scariest Thing You've Ever Done: Spending the night in a haunted cabin outside of Mt. Rainier
• Favorite Song: "Brandy" by Looking Glass
• People I Miss The Most: Papa Bible and Mama Lee
• Technology I Miss: The slide-show projector | Something special about turning off the lights, loading up the boxes of slides, and re-living special memories of people and places. 
• Favorite Concert: Doobie Brothers at Red Rocks has got to be number one, Billy Joel at the UTC Roundhouse would be a close second. 
• Favorite Car That I Have Ever Owned: Datsun 200SX (A friend of mine, Victor, installed so many lights, switches, and buttons inside that car that I lost track of how many times I got pulled over for being a distraction on the road.)
• Place You Want To Visit Before You Die: Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY
• Favorite TV Show: TIE - Kolchak - The Night Stalker (Nostalgia) and Mr. Monk
• Favorite Album: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
• Favorite Scripture: So many to pick from, but I'm going to go with Habakkuk 2:14.
• Favorite Book of The Bible: The Gospel of John
• What I Most Look Forward To In Heaven: Little bit of a soapbox here, so many time I've been guilty of desiring the company of friends and family that have died, or expressed longing for the beauty and adventure that awaits in Heaven, but the number one thing I most look forward to in Heaven is being with the One who loves me the most, Jesus Christ! Anything else is icing on the cake. 
• Favorite Type of Art: Contemporary Abstract

Facts Versus Opinions

My daughter (who I am enormously proud of by the way) called me the other night and discussed an upcoming writing assignment in her Sophomore English class at college. The task was to argue the pros / cons of an article written by Patrick Stokes, "You Are Only Entitled To What You Can Argue For". 

The premise is simple, dividing opinions between statements of taste, such as "I prefer winter over summer" and "I love chocolate over strawberries" versus opinions grounded in technical, legal, or scientific expertise. Mr. Stokes premise is that of course you cannot argue about the first kind of opinions, they are a matter of personal taste. His issue is that our society is leaning more and more toward associating both types of opinions as unarguable, thus voiding the authority and power behind expert opinions.

Going home . . .

Just like John Muir wrote, “Going to the mountains is going home.”

Five Truths About Christian Suffering

After learning of the recent passing of a good friend, I found myself searching the web for articles on suffering. This article by Joseph Scheumann helped re-orientate my spiritual perspective. (Not to mention motivating me to re-read the Psalms) Hope it helps you as well . . .   

All Christians suffer. Either you have, you are, or you will — “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

This reality is a stark reminder that we have not reached the new heavens and new earth. The New Jerusalem of no tears and no pain, of no mourning and no death, has not arrived yet, (Revelation 21:1, 4) though all creation yearns for that day.  

But just because we experience suffering as we await the redemption of our bodies, it doesn’t mean that our suffering is random or without purpose. And neither does it mean that Scripture doesn’t tell us how to think about our suffering now.

Here are five important biblical truths about suffering every Christian should have ready: