...thoughts expressed here are not necessarily final.

October 11, 2004 In case you missed the news...

Just when you thought that reality TV was running out of stupid ideas, Tommy Lee has proven us wrong. The Motley Crue drummer is filming a show for NBC in which he enrolls at the University of Nebraska and lives life as a Cornhusker. He'll even audition for the university's marching band. Talk about clash of cultures.

Superman star Christopher Reeve died Sunday. John Kerry promptly dedicated a speech to him today. Curious how liberals are always dropping names in defense of their policies. In his answer on stem cell research Friday night, Kerry made a pro hominem defense for his support, appealing to Michael Fox and Chris Reeve, not really touching on the issues.

Barna sez-

People who become Christian before their teen years are more likely than those who are converted when older to remain "absolutely committed" to Christianity. However, they are also less likely to believe that a profession of faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to get to Heaven and they are less prone to watch Christian television. Get the full scoop at Barna.org.

Pastor Joel blogs on at the dive. This week he is blogging about another evangelical taboo subject- Biblical Submission.

Leonard Sweet's newest is out... The blurb from the site: "God's desire is to enjoy an honest, open-access relationship with you. In Out of the Question...Into the Mystery, you will be introduced to the mystery and adventure of this GodLife relationship." I'll be reading it soon...here is an early review.

A new musical production based on the Ten Commandments might exceed expectations.Val kilmer is in the starring role. I am all for a comeback of musicals- I think it is a forgotten film genre. Maybe this one will make it to celluloid.

JibJab's good to be in DC has gotten some notice from Jay Leno and now I don't see it as viewable. Maybe it's gotten too much traffic- I'll check back later. It was rated risque anyway.

Lewis Course Rides On

As posted last week, i am in the midst of a C. S. Lewis- a-thon. I am listening to Focus on the Family/Tyndale 's Radio Theater production of the Chonicles of Narnia on the advice of Larry. I am listening to Louis Markos audio lectures from the Teaching Company. and participating on a Barnes and Noble course site taught by Bruce Edwards. Last week I waded through the PBS site on Freud and Lewis hosted by Armand Nicholi called the Question of God. And of course theree the email discussion that is going on behind the scenes.

On the B& N course, I had an early flourish and I notice that is the way the class as a whole responded. Lesson 2 has half as many posts as lesson one. I printed out the instructor's lectures (very good, I think) and questions to read and ponder offline. Earnie and I are doing the Radio theater set together, so the pace will be slow. As for the FOF/Radio theater quality, I actually opted for the published order. The Magician's Nephew is fairly fresh in my mind however, since that was the last Chronicle I read a couple of years ago. I listened to the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from the Radio Theater set and I can't imagine them being done any better than this! I almost had to pull off the road once when touched by the artistic rendering. That is the power of art- to bring into heart-consciousness the evocations of reality that otherwise might not make out of the realm of the head.

I have listened to the first four lessons with Markos; he has good general insight but I think he tries to cover WAY too much territory in the short amount of time. I'm impressed with how he simplifies such a diverse corpus of work. Lots of good handles to grab onto.

Lausanne Rides Again!

Last week 1700 Christian leaders from 127 nations took part in the Lausanne Forum on World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand. This key strategy consultation on the challenges of world missions was held for the third time (first one was in Lausanne in 1974, second one in Manilla in 1989). The organisation asks prayer for the 31 Issue Groups who have to present their findings and action plans, and for effective follow-on and implementation as the participants return home and stay in contact with one another.

IRS Asked If Churches Can Pray for Bush Re-Election
Susan Jones, CNS News

Is it legal for churches to pray for the re-election of President George W. Bush during their services? The Christian Defense Coalition says it is seeking "clarification" from the Internal Revenue Service, before coalition members launch a two-week prayer tour in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a group that monitors politics from the pulpit, says churches, like all tax-exempt organizations, are "absolutely prohibited from supporting or opposing candidates for elected public office." Americans United says churches that support or oppose a candidate may face an IRS audit, fines and loss of tax-exempt status.

Ministry Watchdog Calls for TBN to Submit to Investigation

MinistryWatch.com, a division of Wall Watchers, has issued a "Donor Alert" regarding TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network). The alert asking donors to consider withholding contributions to TBN comes on the heels of a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times focusing on the network's finances and the luxurious lifestyles of TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch. According to those articles, the Crouches receive combined annual salaries of more than $750,000 ("considerably higher than the average for executive pay for nonprofits," MinistryWatch says), and the ministry holds more than $230 million in U.S. Treasury bonds and more than $30 million in cash reserves. Michael Barrick with MinistryWatch wonders why the network continues to solicit donations.

Fall Preview- a time for gathering information for prospective students. It was to be a turn at drinking from the fire hose, but we managed it well. We traveled in cloudy weather with a bit of drizzle- we were to come to find that our whole trip would be in a misting rain and wind.

When we arrived at the seminary we picked up our registration packets, got settled into our room in the Legacy Center, and headed off to the Pizza Dinner. We met some young seminary prospects and their parents as well.

There were a few folks with gray hair there that were planning on attending so we were no the odd men out.

Friday-We had a continental breakfast before the information fair. I headed off to admissions to check to see if our applications had made it through processing yet. I was told that Earnie's was on the Director's desk and mine had not made it quite so far.

When Martha walked down with me to speak with the ministries employment office, I saw that Earnie had met up with some faces from her past. Carol Marra and Joyce and Rich Marcy were representing Christian Academy and Highview at the information fair. Earnie had worked with Joyce and Carol when she was the counselor at Christian academy in the late 80's. The encounter served as a bit of a love note from God to give Earnie affirmation that she is in the right place.
We were also able to leave CV's with the campus employment representative and get the paperwork to start a ministry CV to place on file.

We headed off to worship with Dr. Moore speaking. I liked his delivery. His insights on the seminary discovery process were nothing new to us, but they did affirm our thoughts,. The general spirit at the chapel service reinforced my sense that we really need to be a part of the seminary environment to experience the fullest benefit of this endeavor.

At lunch I met a part time Prof who is also on staff at Walnut Street Baptist church. My Great Grandmother was a lifelong member there. She never moved her letter even after she was too old to travel there and attended Pleasant Grove instead. Earnie met a couple of young ladies from Austin who will be getting their credentials to work in Women's ministry. They had a long and profitable discourse. Also at our table was Logan, a young man from the place where Earnie's Dad was born. It is indeed a small world when Christians get together.

The town hall meeting with Drs. Mohler and Moore was enlightening . They both were exactly what I expected from their writings. I noted a real sense of repartee and camaraderie through out the faculty and it seems to be a top down facet of the school.

We went to the President's home for a dessert reception at the end of the day. I must say this is where my spirit was a bit irked. Everyone was gushing over Dr. Mohler and his 40k volume library. I tried to be gracious but I thought there was a bit too much celebrity emphasis on the man for my tastes. I don't know if he encourages this- I doubt it. He looked very tired to me. There was a lot of drooling over the books and the president as well, I am afraid. It is one thing to strive for excellence as a corrolarry to pursuing Christ and another to exalt in the things of this world. This is one of the fears I expressed in my application "autobiography". I really wanted to get back to making much of God.

Had a good conversation with Dr. Purcell who is from the Paducah area. I listened carefully and apparently he is interim at Kings Baptist Church. He was talking about getting them started in Powerpoint. I restrained myself from voicing my "Power corrupts, Powerpoint corrupts absolutely" diatribe. I hope I have learned to keep my mouth shut.

On Saturday morning, Russell Moore gave a talk on Preparing for Seminary and Douglas Walker spoke on Understanding God's Call. It was a standard three point message that every seminary floats to the prospective newbies. I was underwhelmed with both these messages.

The Campus Picnic was blasted by the cold winds that were on tap. We moved inside but the food got cold in the process.

Most of the conference attendees had left by then, but I got a chance to speak with Bruce Ware- I really liked his sense of humor.

We headed out to Mom's for my brother Tom's birthday dinner and caught up with him a bit.