Category: Stuff (Page 47 of 65)

Today is a HUGE home game for the Bulldogs. They’re sitting at #7 in the country and are hosting our biggest rival. Tickets are no where to be found. We couldn’t find any tickets so we’d resigned our afternoon to be sitting in front of the television at my grandmother’s house.

My birthday is tomorrow (the 8th) but it’s on a Sunday and that gets in the way of having a ‘free’ day to do stuff. Anyway, I’m heading to bed last night and pick up a card w/ my name on the outside of the envelope. It’s a birthday card. Early. I open it up and there are two lower level tickets to today’s Bulldog Basketball game!!! The Wife got me tickets!!! We’re going to the game.

My wife is awesome! Maybe I’ll take the camera, and see if I can snap a few shots while at the game!

Things have been pretty busy the past week. Here are a couple of notable things I should have posted on:

• We had the Youth Super Bowl party last week. Lots of kids came and crammed into the Randle’s house. Thankfully most of them were not in front of the television when Janet Jackson decided to show her little metal sun off. I was sitting there with a few dads when it happened. Justin pulled the boobie panel off and it fell out. Everyone kinda looked at each other with a, “Did what I think happened really happen?” sort of look. No one wanted to be the first to say anything.
• Most of the kids were either playing pool or Dance, Dance Revolution. These kids really get into it. It’s a PlayStation2 game with a dance pad with arrows on it. You have to step on certain arrows at certain time in a certain beat. It’s funny to watch. Looks to be tiring too. Heard a lady lost over 100 pounds dancing with this game. I was about to buy a friends PS2 for $85 because he never played it anymore. But then he told me he couldn’t sell it anymore because his mom bought DDR. I was about to get a steal of a game system.
• My transcript for USM finally went through to Asbury at the first of the week. Then I was just having to wait on my admissions packet being processed and approved. It has been a little bit of a frustrating process for me, just because I thought time had passed to get into this semester’s online courses. Then I found out there was a window of opportunity, but it was quickly closing.
• My Bulldogs were pushed up four spots into the Top Ten. They currently reside at #7 in the nation. Go Dogs!
• MSU football had an okay signing class. To be expected. We’ve sucked the last few years and had a complete turnover in coaches (excepting the WR coach). Plus, the NCAA is breathing down our necks. But I still think this class will produce for us in 4 or 5 years. But there are no Parade All Americans in this class.
• My book I bought used off of Amazon.com came in this week. It will give me some pointers on how to snowboard. In five and a half weeks I’ll be in Copper Mountain, Colorado. I’ll be tired and sore but having a blast! More on this trip later.
• I was accepted to Asbury. Woo Hoo! I still had a few more hoops to jump through, but it went much more smoothly and quickly that I anticipated. Now I’m slated to begin classes on Monday morning online. Foudations in Christian Discipleship. Should be interesting. Now I’ve got to find time to read and write papers and all that good stuff. Sheesh…
• I woke up yesterday to find out that Monta Ellis committed to Mississippi State. Monta is rated one of the top five junior basketball players in the country. He will make an immediate impact if he ever makes it to MSU. Other schools will be hard and fast on recruiting him. But the NBA might be a factor too. Couple this news with the announcement that our coach, Rick Stansbury, signed a contract extension…our basketball future is looking better and better.
• The Fam went last night to see The Music Man at the local highschool. Great performance. We saw Footloose there last year. Let’s just say I’d rather stay at home and watch Bill O’Reilley any old day than go see Footloose again. But last night was really good. Great performance. Great voices. Good acting. Good production. Two thumbs up! And The Kid made it through the whole thing. She really likes the DVD of The Music Man. So she was familiar with all of the songs already. After the last few scenes, she’s ask, “Is it over now?” because she was ready to go home and drink some milk. But we had 2nd row seats, so she was able to see well, and it kept her attention.

And the beat goes on…

This team has the makings of something special.

You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first?
Are we assuming The Wife found out with me? If so, I’d first call my mom probably. Sounds sappy, but true.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
First thing is probably a tank of gas so I can drive somewhere and get a new car. I’m tired of my ’88 Honda Accord w/ a busted muffler and no heater/AC.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
I buy my wife a pink MSU sweatshirt with grey lettering.

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
Sure. Of course, the tithe would go to the Lord. Would it all go to my local church? Probably not. But I’d make sure a big portion (more than 10%) would be giving to Christian missional organizations and people I know we could help.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
Mutual Funds. Real Estate. Bulldog Club.

The speaker who came in for our Disciple Now told a funny story. Maybe it’s an urban legend, but it’s funny either way.

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Two college roommates. Guys. One’s a cheerleader (let’s call him Bob). So during one of the big competitions when the cheerleader dude is on stage, his roommate (let’s call him Fred) runs out and yanks his pants down. In front of hundreds and hundreds of people (possibly a thousand.) Talk about embarrassment.

So Bob is looking for a way to get him back. Bob knows that Fred is going out with a girl who is at least halfway skanky….probably much more than that. She’s been around the block a few times, if you catch my drift. Anyway, Bob empties out Fred’s shampoo and refills his shampoo bottle with Nair. Bob then asked Fred if he’d heard about a guy they knew in school. “He was sleeping around with this girl, got an STD, got cancer or something, lost all his hair and died.” “No way!” Fred said. But that was that.

Then that night when Fred’s in the shower, washing his hair w/ hair removal cream….clumps of hair are coming out of his scalp. He begins to freak out and worry. Fred goes to bed that night and then wakes up with lots of hair all over his pillow and bed. He’s about to lose it. He thinks he’s caught something from his girlfriend that’s causing him to slowly die now.

Fred knows that Bob is a Christian so he begs Bob to pray for him. “Pray for me dude. Pray that God will heal me.” Bob is laughing on the inside, but keeps his game face on and says okay. So Bob then puts the real shampoo back in Fred’s bathroom. That night, Fred washes his hair….and nothing noticeable happens. He wakes up the next morning and his pillow is clean. HE’S HEALED!!! He begins to thank Bob profusely. He begins to praise God for his healing. And he breaks up with the girl, gives his life to Christ, surrenders to the ministry, and to this day is a pastor at a church with a pretty vivid testimony about skanky girls, STD’s, hair loss, and healings.

Bob never had the heart to tell Fred what was really behind the hair loss.

Is it true? Dunno. Could be. Funny either way.

It was a good weekend overall, like I said. I had four great small group leaders that connected well with my kids. I think that’s the most important part of the weekend. I guess we spend the most money on the speaker and worship leader, but I think those guys just set the stage, so to speak, for what goes on in the small groups back at the homes.

As I said, there were a few concerns with the speaker. I think he did a pretty okay job. But sometimes he added stuff to his talks that were really unnecessary. Two major instances stand out. Once, he was talking about being passionate for Christ. Talking about what passion is. He says, “You know what I’m going to do first thing when I get home after this weekend? I’m not going to bring my luggage in and sit down and talk with my wife. I am going to come in, give her a big kiss, and then I’m going to make love to my wife.” Um, let’s just say I thought that was a little too far. Maybe a good point. Definitely a bad visual.

The last night, he was trying to paint a word picture of God giving Christ, His Son, as a sacrifice for all of our sins. Explaining propitiation. I think it occurred to him at the last second. But he calls my wife up from the back of the room asks her to bring our daughter up there as well. He asks The Wife to show The Kid to the room. It was like a scene from the Lion King or something. Everyone does the obligatory, “Awwww.” Then he calls me up as well. Anyway, he begins to tell a story of me coming home and seeing The Wife brutally killed before my eyes. Then the Prez calls me and asks me how this situation would be resolved. Someone has to pay for the wrong, but it’s up to me to decide. Then, in striking detail, the speaker describes me taking The Kid with me to Washington D.C. to do something about it. The Prez said that it’s up to me but “someone has to pay for this wrong.” And I fill a syringe with some kind of poison or another and instead of poking it in the killer, I inject it into my pure, innocent daughter and take her life instead of the life of the killer.

Well….I see his point. But I don’t think it’s an entirely accurate analogy. Christ died willingly for our sins, The Kid would have been a participant forced to comply (in that situation). Plus, she wouldn’t have know what was going on. But I see the point he was trying to make. Let’s just say that all the students in the room who knew me, The Wife, and The Kid were really offended. He got pretty bad reviews after that.

BUT…it sure gave the small groups something to talk about when they got back home!

This Disciple Now weekend has been pretty good so far. And it’s nearly over.

I’ve not posted in the last couple of days because my time has been precious. But to be honest, the last three days, running full fledge with Disciple Now, do not hold a candle with Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Those had to have been the two craziest days of my working life, it seems. I promise, the phone rang for me every 10 minutes at least. Sometimes I’d get off the phone and get a message that I needed to return another phone call. It was nuts.

But the weekend has been a blast. All that’s left is church in the morning with lunch afterwards. The speaker has been pretty good, but there’ve been a few things that have caused a touch of concern here and there. I’ll touch on those more later when I feel like typing longer. But I think the heart of all of his messages have been solid and beneficial. But to me, the heart of a Disciple Now weekend is what goes on in the small groups in the homes. The other churches we do Disciple Now with get their small group leaders from the BSU at Mississippi State. I always get folks I know personally. And I sometimes get folks who are members of my own church. College kids who are alumni of our youth group. Some people might think that is not such a good idea. But I think in my case there’s nothing wrong with it. It can be a positive thing, even.

I think it allows the kids to see someone who’s been where they are…I mean specifically where they are: same school, same teachers, same town, same things to do on the weekends, same church. And now these young adults are committed Christians with a passion to serve Jesus and share Him with Junior and Senior High students (or basically anyone). Something I hope my current students end up doing as well.

Hopefully I’ll carve out some intentional time in each of the next few days to talk a little more about Disciple Now, some other goings on I’m a part of (applying for seminary – hoping for a quick enrollment), and some goofy stuff too. But it’s past time for bed, and I was up late last night. And early service comes quite early in the morning.

Thanks to anyone who prayed for our weekend. Many, many thanks.

My wife and I have been talking about this a little lately.

How do you know if you’re called to missions?

If we’re a Christian, then we probably recognize the need for missionaries. We recognize the need for taking the Gospel of Christ to people who either haven’t heard it, or haven’t heard it in a ‘relevant’ manner. No one denies that.

But what is it that actually ‘clicks’ in someone’s head or heart or soul….that says, “Hey, I should go do this!”? Is it just a greater realization of the need? Is it a specific, compelling urge to go do it, or is it a still, small voice heard in the depths of prayer that is a confirmation?

We’ve taken our youth group on mission trips before. A couple each year, actually. Some to rural North Carolina, some to the ghetto-licious parts of Jackson, MS. Some to Montgomery, Alabama. Some mission work even in our own hometown. But what about launching out and taking some pretty big steps. How do you know if your called to do something more than a week at a time?

I don’t claim any impressive skill set to be able to do great and mighty tasks. But there’s always been a small interest in seeing “what could be” with a missional sort of situation. The bigger part of me was probably in the “God, don’t send me to Africa” crowd. Because that’s what we grow up thinking missionaries are, right? People sitting on a tree stump, sleeping in a hammock surrounded by mosquitoes in the deep dark jungles of the Congo learning to make clicking sounds with our language and presenting the stories of Jesus on a felt board.

But is it a specific “call”? Or could it be just a light going off saying, “I see this as a need for God’s Kingdom. I, as a follower of Christ, am called, expected even, to join Jesus in His Kingdom’s work. Therefore I should strongly consider jumping into this.”

I say all this with nothing really in mind. I’ve heard of tons of possibilities over the years…but just throwing all this out there. Random thoughts and everything, you know.

Our community’s Disciple Now is this weekend.

To me it’s always one of those weekends that can be lots of fun and lots of good can come out of it, but it’s also one of those weekends where you are so relieved when it’s finally over. If you don’t know exactly what it is, it’s basically a weekend long Bible study where you have some “small group” meetings in homes usually lead by college age or above young adults. I will break up all the kids in our youth group into those small groups. But there will be times when we all come together as a number of churches in our town are participating. Some times of corporate teaching/worship and some meals.

Last year’s was pretty much a success. Not a ‘blow you out of the water’ sort of deal, but a good time with potential for having a meaningful impact on the kids’ lives.

This week has been and will be kinda hectic leading up to the weekend. But I’m hoping that it’s not too crazy. But I ask that people lift up the weekend in their prayers if they think about it.

I walk outside this morning to a really wet and cold day. I’m going after the newspaper. I didn’t get one yesterday to read the previews of the big MSU vs. LSUx game. But after a nice win, I figure I’ll get a good story and read some quotes. As I wrestle with a little bundle of energy at the end of a thin green leash, I see that there’s no Sunday paper today either. No sports news. No coupons for The Wife. Dang!

But it was a good game yesterday anyway. Mississippi State, after losing on a last second shot to Kentucky last Thursday, invaded the Deaf Dome in Baton Rouge to jump out to a big lead (19 points), then let is slowly slip away, then end up winning by five. Tim Brando said we’re a Sweet Sixteen team at the minimum. I hope Tim’s right, but I’m not counting any chickens. But this team has potential. But they have to keep improving.

But we’re 3-1 in the SEC right now, 14-1 overall. The new rankings come out tomorrow night. How sweet would 15-0, 4-0 be right now? Man, don’t get me thinking about it. But the next best thing this season is that UMiss is terrible.