I'm Back.............Kinda

Well, I'm on American soil again! The trip was WONDERFUL, and I was blessed beyond words. But, I am completely worn out. So, no long post today. Just know that there are many many Christians in East Africa that cherish your prayers! And, they love you without ever having seen you.......a very deep love. Heaven is going to be SOME KIND of family reunion, isn't it?!?!?!

And yes, I found out that Alabama can't win a football game while I am out of the country. Goodness! Surely one of you could have taken up my slack. You will have switches in your Christmas stocking for not covering for me, that's a fact!

It was a great trip, but it's also great to be HOME!

Thanks for your prayers!

DU

Birthdays and Headed to Africa

My sister-in-law, Andee Cone, has a birthday today........so any of you who know her please send her a b-day greeting. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE! Sorry I won't be here to celebrate with the family later this month. I bet ya'll make it somehow without me! :)

I'm headed to Africa in the morning! I still am pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I would imagine I will have a story or two to tell when I get back.
Thanks to all of you who will be praying for us. It's wonderful to know you will be bringing us before the Father.

We will be there during Thanksgiving, so I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday with your families. I will be giving a LOT of thanks for my family as I am away from them........and giving thanks for all of you also.

Somebody PLEASE get my Tide a victory over Auburn. If you do, you will hear a yell coming across the ocean! :)

See ya in a few weeks!

A Question From Jesus

Jesus asked the Pharisees one time "Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?" As you know, he went on to point out to them how they were doing this and then declared "Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition". I'll come back to that.

Before writing "UNchristian", David Kinnaman and his team questioned thousands of Mosaics (born between 1984 and 2002) and Busters (born between 1965 and 1983). His research was from all parts of the USA, and it went on for several years. Here is what he says about the title of the book: "In fact, the title of this book reflects outsiders' most common reaction to the faith.......they think Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind, that Christianity in our society is not what it was meant to be".

One aspect of his research jumped out at me. Among young outsiders that he interviewed, right at 85% said they personally knew a committed Christian. Yet, only 15 percent thought the lifestyles of those Christ followers were significantly different from the norm. In blunt terms, they see Christians as hypocritical. And it's not just the lifestyles. Kinnaman went on to explain: "It's not just our lifestyles that have gotten us in trouble, it's THE VERY WAY IN WHICH WE CONVEY THE PRIORITIES OF BEING A CHRISTIAN. THE MOST COMMON MESSAGE PEOPLE HEAR FROM US IS THAT CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS. They think of us as hypocritical because they are measuring us by OUR OWN STANDARDS". Pretty incredible, huh. Should we wonder why the Mosaics and Busters stay away from us like the plague? Sounds a lot like what Isaiah observed in his time: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me". The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets". When the world sees Christians calling out individuals or other churches in PUBLIC without giving those individuals or groups of people an opportunity to defend themselves, they conclude we are hypocritical. That's not "doing unto others". And duh, they don't see us acting any different than the unbelieving world around them. Folks that call others out in public are a dime a dozen in our culture. Don't believe me? Turn on your tv. Pick up a newspaper. That's what THE WORLD does.

We are to be above that. Aren't we? I know we don't want to be seen as hypocritical, and we also don't want to lose our saltiness or the ability to shine our light in a dark place. If our light is not any brighter than those in the world around us, will it shine?

How does this relate to my first paragraph? We know what Jesus said about "do unto others", but many will turn their head and be ok with one who calls a brother out in public over a tradition. Or calls a church out over it. Therefore, I see that as breaking the command of God for the sake of a tradition.

That's not who we are. Christians are called to a higher standard than that. That is not discipleship.

May God forgive us.

Chickens

I was talking to an old rancher/farmer today about relationships and choices we make and he related this to me: "David, you can have a barn yard full of chickens, and if one of those chickens is a little bit different, the others will peck it till they peck it to death. Yes sir, they'll kill it. Yet, you can put a guinea in there with the chickens, and they will totally leave it alone. Beats all I have ever seen!"

You folks are smart enough to make the application without me stating the obvious.

Chickens aren't exactly at the top of the intelligence ladder, so what does it say about us when we emulate them?

Happy 50th Jan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan doesn't read my blog, because she doesn't do the computer thingie. But, today is her 50th birthday, so if you get a chance call her or send her a card.
She made me promise on my life that I wouldn't plan any big shindig to celebrate, so we had a pretty quiet weekend celebration with some family. I wanted to honor her request.........and live.

Happy Birthday Sweet Jan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Homecoming went really well. The weather could NOT have been better, and we had a lot of folks visiting campus. On top of that, the Bisons won a defensive battle by scoring 60 something points to win by a touchdown! :) GO BISONS!!

Two people that I love and appreciate were honored this weekend by the respective colleges that they graduated from. Mark Wallis was the alum of the year for the College of Business Administration. We couldn't have picked a more deserving graduate! I consider Mark a great friend, and I love visiting with he and Susan everytime I go to Colorado. They are a blessing to Harding. Congrats Mark!!

Bill Chism has been impacting my life since the late 60's when I was at camp Wyldewood. I was a camper, and he was working as a counselor. I'm sure he doesn't remember me, but I sure remember him. We reconnected when his son Kevin and my Matt were both playing football for the Bisons a few years back. Bill was chosen as the alum of the year for the College of Sciences. Bill and Fran are also a blessing to Harding. Congrats Bill!

And thank you both for your BOLD leadership at Harding. I pray God sends us more men like the two of you.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Congrats to LSU for the win in a great ballgame Saturday night. That was a tough pill to swallow. They have a great team, and the Tide must be pretty good to have stayed with them the whole game. We are still pretty young, and it makes me excited for what the future might hold. I sure wouldn't swap coaches with them.

I will be in Africa for their next 3 games.......yep, even the AUBURN game!!!!!!! So, you Bama fans pull them thru for me, and we will end up 9-3 and getting to go to a pretty good bowl game. Not bad for coach Saban's first year. ROLL TIDE!!!!

On A Much Lighter Note

Well, not THAT much lighter! :) LSU comes to Alabama this weekend. I am scaring myself because I have felt pretty good about this game all week. I don't like feeling good about a big game......you have a longer fall to the bottom if you lose. Having said that, I like Bama's chances. A) I think we have a better coach
B) Miles is due a game where all his gambles blow up in his face C) We are due. The Tigers have beat us something like 4 or so in a row. So, the odds are with us. D) Home field advantage. It will be CRAZY in T-town! E) Sometimes the fans with the white hats need to win against the bad guys in black hats. That probably doesn't mean a THING to anybody 35 and under. But then again, I'm not sure I have anybody who reads this blog that is under 35.

I think everybody would agree that LSU is the more talented team. But, parity has been seen like never before in the world of college football this year. The more talented team has lost MANY times this year. So, I'm not too concerned about that.
With there being so much parity today, I think more than ever coaches have the biggest influence on the game. I'm thinking Saban will have his players ready.

Ain't college football great!?!?!?!?! Good luck to all your teams......except you LSU fans. I hope your team waits till next week to win.

------------------------------------------------------------------

It's Homecoming here at Harding this weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and the leaves are turning orange and red. Campus is BEAUTIFUL! I hope as many alums as can will come visit us this weekend. We miss you when you don't come! GO BISONS!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Have I mentioned that I leave for East Africa with Monte Cox a week from Saturday?I'm like a kid on Christmas eve!!! More about Africa next week.........stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned, I should be able next week to tell you about an upcoming event in Searcy. Looks like we will be having a VERY WELL KNOWN Christian author coming to town in December!! You won't be disappointed.



-------------------------------------------------------------------