Jerry Falwell Home at Last

Today I was traveling back to Fort Worth and listening to the radio when I heard the report that Dr. Falwell had been found unconscious and rushed to the hospital, moments later a friend who still attends Liberty called me to deliver the news that Jerry Falwell had gone on to be with the Lord.

There aren't many things that I can say about Dr. Falwell that haven't already been said. For four years I was a student at Liberty University and during that time I had the opportunity to be a part of Thomas Road Baptist Church and to witness firsthand just what kind of man Jerry Falwell was. I fondly remember his passion for the Lord, the Bible, conservative politics, and LU sports. He was, in many ways, like a grandfather to the students and will be sorely missed.

I for one will treasure the memories of Dr. Falwell - the things I admired about him and the things that I learned from his mistakes, as well as those few times when I got to meet him face to face. Jerry Falwell always had time for people, and was always generous - he even had to have assistants to stop people from asking him for things because he would always give. I recall a time when some close friends of mine asked him for a steak dinner - and he delivered, taking them (several of them) out to one of the town's premier steakhouses. That's just the kind of guy that he was.
I shall also remember his passion for young people to embrace the spiritual disciplines of earnest prayer and study of the scriptures. Jerry Falwell was many things, but to those of us who have attended his school he'll always be our Chancellor.

Lastly, when I heard the news of his passing I could not help but think of a saying he had: "Until God is through with me, nothing can harm me--I'm bulletproof until He calls me home." I smile as I think of the wisdom of his words, indeed those were words he lived and died by. Now that God is finally through with him, he can rest in the presence of his Savior.

Made for More than Ordinary

Do you ever get that feeling, you know the one, where you feel that you were made for something beyond the ordinary. Lately, I’ve been humbled by the realization that God does extraordinary things everyday. Last Saturday my church conducted what we called “The Big Event.” It was an opportunity for the church to reach out to our community in tangible ways. We sent out teams to: wash cars, plant shrubs in apartment complexes, paint local buildings, remove brush from local houses, and do other various landscaping chores for individuals in need all around our area.

I was truly impressed with the response that we received. I met a few individuals who simply could not believe that we were doing these things. They wanted to know why? What was our angle? We just expressed that we were taking the opportunity to serve others because Christ has blessed us. Many of our church members were able to worship with a shovel, a broom, or chainsaw, or even sponges and towels.

As I was digging through my (small, but expanding) library I happened upon a book that I’ve not yet read – Louie Giglio’s The Air I Breathe. It’s a book about worship. He says that we’re all worshipers, every single person living. It’s who we are and what we were created for. He says worship is simple about value. It’s our response to what we value most.

I love how he communicates. One of my favorite books of all time has to be another of his, I am not but I know I AM. I was reminded, looking through this little book on worship that God is constantly showing himself to us. It was really neat to see Him this weekend as Christ was imitated by many people around North Richland Hills, Texas.

I pray that people will keep seeking God, and finding Him. And maybe, just maybe I was able to be a part of that by following Christ’s example and serving others. Doing simple chores? It seems pretty ordinary, but God has big plans, and sometimes those involve doing big stuff with regular folks like us.

Paige Patterson on Campus Violence

Last week in a chapel service at SWBTS, seminary president Paige Patterson admonished the male students to be prepared to stand up to, and stop a campus shooter, should such violence ever occur at the seminary. The clip can be found here (4/18).

Yesterday, the seminary released a statement, written by Dr. Patterson expanding his remarks.
Since his original remarks last wednesday, many have criticized the president for "being insensitive" and for a myriad of other charges, most stemming from each pundit's interpretation of his motives.

I will not make apology for his remarks. Dr. Patterson has been called many things, but "sensitive" is not usually one of them. I do, however believe it is important for us not to judge his motives, only God and Dr. Patterson can know those. I will agree, even as a current student of the seminary, that his remarks struck me as quite bizarre. Upon reading the press release, however it appears to me that he does raise a legitimate viewpoint. Dr. Patterson views Christianity as a faith of selflessness and sacrifice, and rightly so for this is what the Bible commands of us. I agree with Dr. Patterson that the values of courage and sacrifice are important and ought to be taught at our seminaries.

How then should our faith work itself out in our lives? Does our faith lead us to attack a gunman in order to save the lives of others? Or does it manifest itself in other ways? I pray that the day never comes when someone with intent to kill enters our churches or seminaries (again), yet if and when that day does come, we should have an idea of just what our faith does call us to do. Are we to show our faith through quiet martyrdom, or are we to actively struggle against one intent on doing harm? Each of us must answer that question for ourselves.

Feeding the Beast

I am consistently amazed at the lengths (and depths) to which the news media will go in pursuit of a story. In recent days we’ve seen several big stories, and great tragedies. While my heart goes out to those families touched by the events at Virginia Tech and NASA’s Johnson Space Center (story) in Houston. I can’t help but notice the ways in which many of our nation’s news outlets have injected themselves into the news.

Sadly, it seems that the news industry is willing to do anything to get “the big story” and that includes making stories happen. Please do not misunderstand me; I’m not advocating conspiracy theories or anything like that. Here’s an example of how the news organizations themselves are in the news. Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui sent a package to NBC. This package included video footage of him expressing his viewpoints and murderous intentions. Of course NBC dutifully aired the video. As a result of their choice to do so several families of the victims opted not to appear on the network (story).

Whether they should have done it or not is still a matter that is up for debate. Obviously NBC and other major media outlets believed they had a “journalistic obligation” to air the footage. The question that ought to be asked is, “where should the line be drawn?” How far can the news go before they cease to be informing the people, and start ruining lives?

There are some cases that have been in the news that I thought would ruin my life. The Anna Nicole Smith ordeal, you’ll recall dominated the 24 hour news networks for what seemed an eternity. I watched for a while, hoping that some other news would knock the fight to be her baby’s daddy off the news, but in the end I boycotted the 24-hour news networks for a few weeks.

There are countless stories of how the news organizations themselves have sought to be the story rather than simply reporting the stories. Here’s another example: Don Imus. I seriously doubt that he would have been fired had someone not decided that his gaffe was worthy of “top story” status. Once the pack of ravenous wolves that is the news media jumped on him, he was done for.

Here’s the bottom line – the news media is a ravenous beast that either finds or creates news to feed itself. Professional journalism in America today has become a machine that devours anything remotely tragic or sensational, even to the point of making it so for the sake of the story. In the process the news machine uses, chews up, and spits out those whom it exploits for the sake of getting “the story.”

Would we be better off without 24-hour, up-to-the-second, coverage of the “news?” You decide.

Antiplagiarism Service Sued For Copyright Infringement

Last week, this story was published about a lawsuit against a company that offers an anti-plagiarism service to schools across the country. According to the Washington Post, two high school students from Mclean, Virginia are suing iParadigms, LLC--the California company which offers the Turnitin anti-plagiarism database. Turnitin is a service, “seeks to root out cheaters by comparing student term papers and essays against a database of more than 22 million student papers as well as online sources and electronic archives of journals. In the process, the student papers are added to the database.” And that – the fact that student papers are added to the database – is the heart of the lawsuit.

I have a particular interest in this case because SWBTS (where I am currently a student) uses Turnitin to screen papers and major assignments for most of its classes. According to the story, "Turnitin is used by 6,000 institutions in 90 countries, including Harvard and Georgetown universities, company officials have said."

The suit charges that Turnitin unlawfully adds students' papers to its database without the consent of the authors, and offers no remuneration to the students. These high school students object to the use of their intellectual property (their papers) by a for-profit business without their consent. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, seeks $900,000 in damages from Turnitin.

Read more about it here.

What do you think? Is it wrong for this service to use student papers in this way without giving them any compensation or even getting their permission? Is the company doing the same thing (using someone else’s work without giving them credit) that its service seeks to prevent?

On a personal note, I believe it is sad that plagiarism is a problem in seminaries. Conversely, I think it borders on the ridiculous that we must be constantly warned (and threatened) about plagiarism to the point where professors are lecturing us on the evils of “unintentional plagiarism.” Plagiarism is bad, but the remedy must never be worse than the cure.

Could This be the New Northworst Seminary Chapel?

After reading up about Northworst's plans for a new chapel, I've found pictures from one of the contractors in negotiations to build this new chapel. Perhaps it's a bit showy for Northworst. I doubt President Whipple will go for it. What do you think?The proposed chapel would include new state-of-the-art, comfy chairs and an increased seating capacity beyond the seminary's current facilities.


The proposed chapel also includes easy set up and take-down, making it not only high-class, but also highly portable. Do you think this contractor will get the bid for the new chapel?

Having an Examined Faith

In recent weeks I've heard about something called the Blasphemy Challenge. A lot of people are talking about it now, and so I recently decided to look into it and see what they have been talking about. I'll not go into great detail here, but suffice it to say that there is a group of atheists who call themselves the Rational Response Squad. They have sponsored something that they call "the Blasphemy Challenge." They cite Mark 3:29 which mentions "the unpardonable sin" which is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and then encourage people to make a video in which they may say or do anything blasphemous so long as they include in it a verbal rejection of the power or existence of the Holy Spirit. As I looked at the site and some of the videos I was saddened and sobered by what I was seeing.

As I looked over the website I also came across an interview that they had with Dr. Ergun Caner, the President of Liberty Theological Seminary, the seminary at my alma mater. Since I've gotten to spend a little bit of time around Dr. Caner, I have great respect for him and enjoy listening to what he has to say.

I had a listen to about three hours of unedited debate between him and the rational responders. During that debate they covered a wide range of topics from the trustworthiness of scripture, to original sin and the problem of evil, to name a few. However, what I found to be the most valuable nuggets that came from this were insights into today's growing young atheistic movement. These people are young, smart, well educated, and can make a persuasive argument. At the end of the interview Dr. Caner got to ask some questions about what they believed about Christians and why. I do encourage you to have a listen and hear what they had to say.

It is of concern today that there are groups like this who are gaining influence with young people today. However, what is of greater concern to me is the reluctance of the church culture to engage those who challenge what we believe. Dr. Caner invited the Rational Response Squad to speak to students at Liberty University. For some this is unthinkable, but the unoffical motto of the seminary at Liberty is "an unexamined faith is not worth having." The fact is that we simply cannot get away with expecting the people in our pews to be Christians, "just because," or simply with a vague "because the Bible says so."

We must never be afraid of questions because we know that we have the truth. It is alright to ask "why?" or look to look critically at our faith. God promises that when we seek him, we will find him if we seek him with our whole heart.

Check out the related information from Dr. Caner and Liberty here.