Soda - size me...

Well, I have decided to give up soft drinks again. First of all, the caffeine is bad for me. It makes me a fiend, searching all over my room for change so that I can have one hit of the good stuff from the machine downstairs.

Second, soft drinks are filled with calories. The average soft drink has 170-240 calories. I usually consumed 3-4 a day ammounting to 600-800 calories a day. On top of those facts, the ammount of sugar in a soft drink is enormous. My dad is diabetic, so I probably will be one day. So I have several reasons to kick the Coke habit.

However, as we know from previous posts on this blog; I am addicted to Cokes much as a Heroine addict is to his nectar. So, I have a plan. Just as the Heroine addict gets a shot of Methadone from time to time, I will have a shot of Diet Mountain Dew from time to time. It tastes good, has no sugar, yet has the caffeine I crave. Mind you, I will not have 3-4 a day, nor will I have even 1 a day. But when the cravings are too much, I'm going to drop a hit of the Dew.

I'm really writing this to warn my friends that I am crawling back up on the wagon again, so be prepared for the mood swings and twitching. I apologize in advance for being short with you all, and the nasty looks I will give you all over the next couple of weeks.

Maybe I should call the Super Size Me guy to do a documentary on my recovery from my soft drink induced stupor.

It is official, the excitement can begin...

I know that this comes as no surprise to most of you, but I am a little weird. I love American football, pads, big hits, touchdowns, bratwurst, coca-cola, and all. However, four years ago I watched the World Cup in Korea. Since then I have been a futbol fan as well. That is right, I like soccer. I have been keeping up with the English Pemier League for a few years. I like to watch soccer on tv. It is a lot of fun. Well, the World Cup, soccer's biggest event; the world's biggest sporting event, is just around the corner, and I am excited about it.

The World Cup rocks. For the rest of the world, this is the biggest and most important event in the sporting world. No Continent is left unrepresented (well, except for Antarctica, but it doesn't really count now does it.) All over the world, little kids and grown men will sit around radios and televisions listening with deep pride and nervous tension to see how their team will do. Whole countries will shut down on the day that their team plays. People will shout, scream, cry, and wail over the events that take place on a relatively small piece of meticulously manicured grass in Germany. What an event!

As far as my knowledge goes, no team from Africa has ever won the world cup, so I would personally love to see one of the teams from Africa: Togo, Cote D'Ivoire, and Angola; to win. My favorite team from Africa is Cote D' Ivoire. I would shout for joy if they won. This is Aruna Dindane. He is one of the great young players from the Ivory Coast.


Though I would love it if a team from Africa would win, I would love it even more if my favorite team, England; would win. This is England's youngest and best player, Wayne Rooney. He has impressed people with his play in the EPL this past season, and promises to push England far into the World Cup.

I will be looking for all of you at the Fox and the Hound to join me in the World Cup madness very soon. I hope that you will fall in love with it the way I have.

Fun stuff, good times...

Geo had this on his blog, so I stole it. So, what you do is this: you find the last 15 people to respond on your blog, then you answer the given questions about them. Here are my last 15 commentators, and the questions I answered about them.
1. Bonnie
2. Robin
3. Garrett
4. Madison
5. Sarah B.
6. Geo
7. Ginny Mc
8. Kristen H.
9. Sherri Ann
10. Emily
11. Lew
12. Brandi
13. Thomas
14.Holly
15. Ben C.

1.Have you ever kissed #4? . May it never be so. (Madison you are a nice guy, but a guy none the less, so no nookie for you!)

2.What's the best memory you have of #10? Hanging out @ halfway Humps eating supper and talking

3.Why are you friends with #9? . Sherri Ann has a bubbly personality. We met through Thomas.

4.When's the next time you're gonna see #6? Good Question, Geo when are we getting together?

5.What does #12 love most in the world? Jesus, Her Hubby Lew, and those fake bullpups from Mississippi.

6.Tell something juicy about number #15: Ben has gotten himself chin deep in the current debate about whether or not missionaries may have a prayer language, and by whom their baptism must be administered. See this.

7.What impresses you about #1? Bonnie loves me so well. Bonnie never gets mad at me, though she should. She loves me as close to the way Jesusloves as does as anyone I have ever met. Bonnie loves to sing praises to the Lord. And if I may say so, she is just flat out hottastic!

8.What do you like about #8? Kristen loves God and it shows. You can see that she is a Christian in the way she walks and talks. She has a great heart.

9.What's your favorite memory of #2? Unfortunately Robin and I are not close friends, but I have always admired Robin's intelligence, and the book report/book critique outline that she created. It is a great rubric for grading papers. It allows the writer to know what the professor is looking for. (I got a C on the only paper graded under that rubric, So Robin, I am a little upset. Just Joking!)

10.What was your first impression of #7? Who is this hilariously funny girl? I though she was cheeky
11.How did you meet #3? I met Garrett at SWBTS. He lived down the hall from me. He was one of the few guys outside of Cell Block C that would respond to you if you said hello.

12.Do you think #13 could kill someone? In about 20 years I could see Thomas righteously burning heretics at the stake like Calvin did. Or maybe if someone stole his new Bow or Jack Johnson CD.

13.Is #11 your best friend? Lew is probably not my absolute best friend, but he sure is close. Lew is a great guy, honest as the day is long, and striving hard to serve the Lord.

14.Do you think #2 has a crush on you? NO! She is far too much in love with her hubby! I have a story to tell about Robin, and how much she loves her hubby, but I don't want to embarrass her too much.

15.Who does # 14 spend the most time with? Holly spends most of her time with her beau-hunk Glen. However it comes on great authority that she spends a lot of time with the Gilmore Girls as well.

16.What is the last thing you did with #1? In person? -- We drove 12+ hours to Fort Worth from Alabama. She tried to kiss me when we got home, but I told her that girls were gross, and I didn't do that kind of thing!

17.Have you ever been to #3's house? Garrett lives in Atlanta or Maryland right now, so no. But I did enter Garrett's dorm room once or twice. He's neat and clean

18.Would you ever kiss #5? Sarah is married, and hello a girl, see question 16.

19.How do you know #4? Madison and I go to school together, and have had classes together. He is far more intelligent than I.

20.Have you ever slept with #5? No

21.Do you think #6 is sexy? Oh dear goodness NOOOOOO! He's not just sexy, He's dead sexy baby yeah!

22.Have you ever liked #7? Yes

23.Where is the last place you went with #8? It has been a long time since Kristen and I have done anything together, but I think that we went out to eat at Billy Miner's.

24.Are you real close to #9? Unfortunately No

25.What kind of relationship do you have with #10? Unfortunately Emily and I only see each other once every blue moon.

26.Have you ever kissed #11? No, no way, no how, never

27.Have you ever been to the movies with #12? No, but I did go to England with her!

28Have you ever gotten in trouble with #13? Are there a lot of people in China? I don't think we've ever been caught though!

29.Would you ever make a move on #14? No, Holly is married.

30.What do you and #15 talk about the most? Ben has moved away from Seminary, so we don't talk often. However, when we do talk it is usually about a theological topic or how things are at his church.

Well, I went to Athens, AL this weekend. I was a little worried, because I was going to meet most of Bonnie's friends from Auburn. Not only that, but I was going to AL so that Bonnie could sing in a choir reunion. I thought, "Oh great, a boring choir reunion with a bunch of white folk trying to sound like they have soul." Wow, was I ever wrong! Let me tell you, this choir rocks! I have not seen a group of people like this in a long time. All of them, and I do mean all of them worshipped and sang to God with all of their might. The choir director is a man of God who led them by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit moved, and I found myself wanting to shout and dance. It was all I could do not to just to throw my head back and shout with all my might my praises of God. I laughed and cried, and worshipped God like I have not done in a long time. It was awesome!
My favorite song that they sung was Order my Steps. Here is an excerpt from that song:

I want to walk worthy,
my calling to fulfill.
Please order my steps Lord,
and I’ll do Your blessed will.
The world is ever changing,
but You are still the same;
if You order my steps,
I’ll praise Your name.
(imagine this Kirk Franklin Style)

Spring Break...

What I want to do over Spring Break...






Ride motorcycles all over Texas.














Go Camping










Sleep













What I will probably do....















What about you? Any body got any big plans?

I am a Pastor at heart, with a penchant towards preaching being the most important part of that duty; so I am always looking for things that help me understand the duties of a pastor. I especially like to read what those who have gone before me say about the Pastorship, and the church. Mohler gave me some fodder today:

The Reformed Pastor, published in 1656, was the culmination of Baxter's thinking about the ministerial role and the product of an enormously successful ministry in Kidderminster. Baxter believed that a true church was not composed of a mostly absent bishop and thousands of parishioners who preferred to pursue trivial pleasures rather than following the "plain man's pathway to heaven." Nor was it made up of a "society of friends" like the Quakers, who eliminated the office of pastor. A true church was both a hospital and a school, and healing and learning could only come through truth rightly taught and embodied. In that regard, the pastor, both as a role model for others and also as a shepherd and teacher, was absolutely crucial.

The pastor must be "awakened" and reformed himself--thoroughly converted, humble, and obedient--before he could awaken others. The goal of preaching was to exalt Christ by confirming, convicting, and comforting the faithful and by converting the rest. Baxter urged his fellow pastors to preach "with clear demonstrations of love to their souls, and make them feel through the whole, that you aim at nothing but their salvation," so that "the increase of the purity and the unity of his churches" could be manifested.

Baxter himself preached twice a week, for an hour on Sunday and another hour on Thursday, and his preaching was characterized by enormous energy and urgency. "What!" he wrote, "Speak coldly for God and for men's salvation! … such a work as preaching … should be done with all our might, that the people can feel us preach when they hear us."

My Spots...

Ginny had an iteresting post about finding the "spot" for you. Well here are my spots:


Killeen, TX
Charleston, SC
Beaumont, TX
Pensacola, FL
Augusta, GA
Bradenton, FL
El Paso, TX
Lakeland, FL
Corpus Christi, TX
Hampton, VA
Ocala, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Athens, GA (Heck Yeah the home of the UGA Bulldogs)
Tuscaloosa, AL
College Station, TX
Greenville, SC
Jacksonville, FL
Hickory, NC
Tulsa, OK
Clarksville, TN
Chattanooga, TN
Jackson, MS
Gainesville, FL

Patriotism...

I am about to offend some I am sure.

On the way home from work today I heard a song that talked about being an American, and thanking the boys over in other lands for protecting our freedom. That got me to thinking a little bit. I began thinking about my freedom, and from whence it came. No offense to the soldiers all over the world, but you don't protect my freedom. Jesus bought my freedom on the Cross 2000 years ago, and protects it with his blood and intercession for me. You see, real freedom, the kind that God reveals to us; has nothing to do with the autonomy that we Americans hold so dearly. The freedom God reveals is freedom from sin, and freedom to be enslaved to himself. I am free from the one thing that has lasting control over mankind. I am free from sin and the death it causes. I am free to follow God, and enslave myself to him. That is the grandest of all freedoms, the freedom to enslave yourself God, because he and enslavement to him is the best thing for us. For this reason I can say, boys; I love you and support you with my prayers, and any other way that I can, but you don't protect my freedom.
You may protect my almost unchecked ability to pursue life, liberty, and hapiness, but you do not protect my freedom.

Now some will argue that the boys on foreign shores protect my freedom to worship as I please. To that I say, go ahead, try to take it away from me. The Romans tried to take the faith in, and worship of Christ Jesus away from the early Church. The faith spread like wildfire. The Communist tried to do the same, but the Church never died in Russia. Chairman Mao and his henchmen did all they could to eradicate Yahweh adoration, and could never stomp the Church out. Go ahead, try to take my right to worship away. Man never gave me the right to worship God to begin with, so man can't take it away. Also, I welcome the testing, for it will be for my good. Maybe if we lost some of our "freedom" we would follow God more devoutly.

(Aside) Now, I know that it is easy to say all of this in FW, Texas, and much harder to live out in Bagdad, Islamabad, Jakarta, Phnom Pen, New Delhi,Khartoum, et al. And I am not rushing headlong into persecution, but Jesus bought my freedom, and he is the one who protects it.

I don't mean to cause a firestorm. And if I were a little less brash and impetuous I would sit on this for awhile, but I'm not so let me hear what you think. (And please, don't accuse me of hating the military or not supporting our troops. That is not the real issue.)

P.S. I do confess that our boys are doing a great job of protecting us from those who wish to harm us, and for that I am thankful to God, and to our troops.

OK, how cool am I...

Ok, how cool am I that I have actually eaten pizza with these guys. These are The Afters. Imagine this, I am cruising around VH-1's website, and see a picture of these guys with a hot new album, and hit single. And I go, wow, I think I know that guy in the black coat second from the left. He looks like a guy that came and played for some youth thing I did a couple of years ago. So I get to looking a little closer, and heck yeah that's the guy. I paid these guys $200 bucks and a couple of pizza's to come lead worship at a youth rally! And now they are big time. Was it me that made them? ........................................
I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that the pizza I gave them had something to do with it. Yeah, ...I've got Matt Fuqua's cell phone number on a slip of paper somewhere in my room! I rock, and didn't even know it!

OK the love affair is over...

Well, I came home to Fort Worth Hall after my 2 month hiatus in casa de Dalby. I was all excited about being back in the dorm, close to friends, girlfriend etc. I am still excited about those things, but the sparkle wore off real quick. You see I had to beg someone to let me borrow a cart to move all my stuff back up to my room, because those in charge here believe that we all secretly want to steal the laundry carts and keep them for our pagan destructive rituals. Since this is the case you must beg to have someone get a cart for you. I also had to go walk across the sticky floor of the basement. Now this floor is not a floor that you wax, so there is not just that we need a new coat of wax. No, this floor is so covered in spills, that no amount of mopping will get them up. Not only that, but last night reminded me that I live in hell-box. It was hotter than three yards of the bad place in my room last night. Add to that the fact that I am sick, and you can see why I have lost my excitement for this place.

There was one great moment in the night of lost expectations. I did get to sit down and talk to Nathan and Thomas. We even watched a huntin' video. "That bear never knew what hit 'im boys!"