Sunday, October 23, 2005

Reformation Day Fun!!


Halloween freaks me out. It's just weird. We dress little kids up like bloody murderers, witches, ghosts, and SpongeBob SquarePants. We reward their freaky costumes with loads of candy. It's just weird...and a little freaky. I decided to do research on this crazy holiday and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed:
Read the not-so-freaky history of Halloween Here

So, instead of celebrating Halloween, I submit that we all celebrate Reformation Day!! Come on! It'll be fun!

Reformation Day fun can include the following activities:
-Playing Nail the 95 Theses on the Door (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey)
-Making up our own indulgences and then throwing them in a huge bonfire
-Showing the movie Martin Luther on a huge screen on the seminary lawn
-Holding a drama contest for a reenactment of Luther's "Tower Experience"
-Wearing red
-Eating only Gummy Worms all day
-Playing "RECANT!" (A fun game where half of the people yell out RECANT! And then try to look really mean. The other half of the people yell out in unison "I neither can nor will recant anything, for it is neither safe nor right to act against one's conscience!"

Who's in?

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Word Of Mouth!!!

Nikki Tatom and John Ross
This Friday Night
Java Brewing Co. (on Frankfort Ave)
J. Ro plays from 8:00-9:00
Nikki (AND J. Ro) play from 9:00-11:00
Tell your friends!! Grab a cup of coffee and come out to our LAST SHOW in Louisville! (For now, at least)

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The Cost of Discipleship

Have we been taught to share the whole Gospel or just the comfortable parts? Generally, I believe that Christians are able to share the following points:

1. All people are spiritually dead because of their sins and in need of right standing with God.
2. God will breathe new life into every sinner who believes in Him and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord.
3. As a result, a relationship is formed through Jesus' blood and the believer undergoes a process known as sanctification.
4. At the end of the believer's physical life comes glorification-eternal life in heaven with God the Father.

Is this a complete Gospel presentation? I believe that it is not. What about Luke 14: 25-33? In this passage, the crowds are following Jesus. My fiancé preached on this passage a few Sundays ago and as he pointed out, Jesus isn't interested in crowds. He is interested in those who count the cost of being His disciple. Jesus stops the crowd and in a sense says "You are following me now, but do you know where I am going? I am headed to the cross. Count the cost now because once we get to the cross, only those who are true disciples will stay with me."

Counting the cost, huh? When people hear the Gospel message and comprehend it (cognition), do they just pray the prayer and move on? I believe that we should encourage those considering Christianity to count the cost. Being a follower of Christ could cost your comforts. It could cost your family. In fact, it could cost your very life. Is it worth it? Is Jesus worth it? This is the part that seems to be missing from most Gospel presentations. We are so afraid to offend people. We don't want to tell them that sin in their lives must begin to be removed (sanctification). We don’t want to tell them to leave their lives of lustful thinking. We don't want to warn them of their love for the materials things of this world.

Dr. Plummer tells the story of a man who is presenting the gospel door-to-door with a tract. He knocks on a door and a lady answers. He asks if he can share this good news with her. She says yes and begins to listen. He reads each page of the tract. When he comes to the last page, he says "ma'am, I can't read this part. Will you read it out loud?" She says "sure, no problem." She begins to read "the prayer." "Father, forgive me, for I have sinned. I confess that Jesus is Lord. Please come live in my heart...." When she finishes, the man jumps up and down shouting "Yes!! We've got one more!! This lady has just accepted Christ!"

This is NOT the right way to share the gospel! Instead, he should let her know up front that being a follower of Christ will require counting the cost many times.

Counting the cost is not just for those checking Christianity out. It needs to happen often in the lives of believers. Daily sacrificing and dying to your flesh-this is counting the cost. We should encourage each other to daily count the cost of being a disciple of Christ.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Issues

I am having food/drink issues!!

Issue #1: Cutting meat has always been an issue for me. As a kid I would always have my dad cut my meat whether it was tough or tender. The problem was that when I ever-so-gently moved the knife to and fro to cut the delicious meat, the entire table would wobble and drinks would spill over the edges of the glasses that contained them.

Today I got to eat lunch with SBTS Trustees (in my business suit!). I opted to eat the "country ham." I began to cut my tender country ham with grace running from my fingertips until the table started to wobble. I looked up desperately at my water and tea. Sure enough, the drinks were threatening to run over the sides of the glass with each gentle glide of my hand. I stopped trying to cut my meat and just ate the fruit on my plate. Needless to say, I left hungry.

Issue #2: So I craved Chick-fil-A's chicken nuggets all day long. I left work at about 6:00 and rushed over to Chick-fil-A since it IS the absolute best fast food joint of all time. My mouth watered as I waited in the drive-through line. I decided to go with the 12-piece combo (I usually do the 8 piece). I drove away happy, but I couldn't wait until I got home to eat. So I opened my box, held a container of the barbecue sauce in my left hand, and drove with my right hand. Some crazy lady in front of me SLAMMED on her dumb brakes, so I had to slam on my brakes. That's when the impossible happened. Suddenly...

DUN! DUN! DUUUUUUUUN!

My chicken nuggets fell on the floor!!! AUGH!! It was horrible. I pretty much looked like this:

Issue #3: I was saddened by my chicken nuggets being wasted, but I turned on some oldies and continued to drive home in full assurance that the Lord is sovereign. As I drove, I noticed a strange bike rider. It was a guy with no shirt on. He had a 20-oz bottle of Pepsi...oh man...I'm embarrassed to say this...upside down...with the neck of the bottle stored between the cheeks of his buttocks!! AUGH!! It was traumatizing! I'm sure he was just had nowhere else to store it, but COME ON! Okay, I'm grossed out...

Friday, October 07, 2005

Things you HAVE to do during your time at Southern

Things you HAVE to do during your time at Southern:

1. Take pictures of the school after a heavy snow.
2. Host a seminary party at your apartment/house at least once.
3. Take Dr. Nettles for at least one class.
4. Make Dr. Nettles sing "Trouble in River City" on the last day of class.
5. Play on an intramural team at least once (especially you girls!!). I spent a significant amount of time trying to recruit girls to play intramural sports, but was unsuccessful. At the most successful point, we had 4 girls signed up for intramural basketball.
6. Study at Sunergos Coffee.
7. Have a picnic on the seminary lawn.
8. Support your fellow SBTS musicians (Nick Nye, Chad Lewis) by going to their shows.
9. Ask someone before eating in the cafeteria for the first time, especially if you'll be eating from the grill. I've been in there 2 or 3 times and I still get confused.
10. Walk around the upstairs of Honeycutt and admire the...different...kinds of paintings.
11. Park in Dr. Mohler's spot during off hours at least one time. I did it for about 20 seconds...(ssshhh!)...what a rush!!


Monday, October 03, 2005

Late Night Ramblings and Questions

I arrived back in Louisville late tonight. I should just go to bed, but I want to blog for a bit. The problem is that it's too late for me to think of anything clever to blog about. So here are some late night ramblings and questions:


1. Why doesn't blogger's spell check recogize the word "blog?"
2. I was greeted tonight with a stack of returned "Save-the-Date" cards. I am really annoyed.
3. I will be flying in a really small plane at the end of the month (3 seater, I think) and am scared about it. I'm scared that I'll barf. I HATE barfing. I drove myself to the ER a couple of years ago because I vomited 3x in a few hours.
4. What are we supposed to wear for engagement pictures?
5. I wonder what it will be like physically when I die.
6. I have the COOLEST (and hottest) fiance in the world. I love him so much!
7. I'm so excited that Eric Graf is doing our wedding pictures.
8. I wonder if I'll ever be really good at playing the guitar.
9. My throat is itching.
10. I think I'll go to bed now.