It is that time...

It is that time once again... you know, time to start another school year. As schools across the country begin classes in the next few weeks, join me in praying for all of our schools and all of our faculty, staff, students and parents.

Each school year holds new promises and renewed hope, but as I think about these concepts - promises and hope - I am struck by the fact that neither of them are rooted in the time of the year. No, they are rooted in the institution of school and its process of education. Education in America is our panacea for all that is wrong in our country. Certainly, our schools can not solve all of our problems, but right now, they are all that we have. The opening of all schools comes at a good time; maybe they will draw our focus away from the current crisis and on to more important things... like our children. I am praying for all our children, that this year would be a wonderful year full of fulfilled promises and increasing hope. Blessings!

The Federal Debt

Read it and weep. This is what all the angry rhetoric has been about for the last week. It is not a pretty picture, and according to many, will not get any better looking anytime soon. I try to stay away from politics as much as possible, but this issue is too big, too important to ignore. I truly believe if Congress does not get this right you and I will experience the effects within two years and our country will have changed forever.

What is unsettling to me are comments by Harry Reid, D- Nevada and Chuck Schumer, D- New York regarding a balanced budget amendment. Both men think a balanced budget amendment is an outlandish request with Schumer actually referring to the idea as poison pills.

As I prepare to pay more taxes, higher interest rates and higher prices, one thing I am not prepared to do is give those who can not even think on the idea of a balanced budget more money. I think this is just one more example of how truly out of touch those in DC are. They share none of our burdens and will be exempt from most of the hardships we are about to endure.

A deal will get done; it will not be a deal America needs. It will not be a deal you and I need. It will be a deal that empowers those with power all the more. Will we forget come election time? I hope not because part of the responsibility for this lies at our feet. We have short term memories, easily forgetting those who said one thing and voted for another.

There is a plan that is rooted in this idea of a balanced budget; it is known as the "One Percent Spending Reduction Act or “The Mack Penny Plan.” Rep. Connie Mack explains:

“It’s a bill that says to Congress that you’ll have to cut 1 percent – or one penny – out of every federal dollar for six years,” he explained.

“At a time when so many in our nation are hurting financially, the federal government needs to do its part to cut spending,” added Mack. “The Penny Plan is a straightforward answer to our nation’s overspending problem that asks government to eliminate only one penny from every dollar it spends — a simple solution that all Americans can rally behind. Every time Washington spends more money, our freedom and security are in jeopardy. Voters have continually said ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to Washington’s appetite for spending, and it is time Congress listens."

Do you think this plan will get consideration? I don't either because it makes too much sense. Join me in praying that Congress will do something different this time and think of the country first. If they don't and continue the same pattern I fear our lives will change forever. What we now take for granted... a gallon of gas for the lawn mower, a trip to the beach, a quiet weekend away will all be past memories of ours and distant memories of our children.

Remember the names in the news this weekend. Repeat them often and attach them to what is taking place because, come election time, we must not forget. If we do, we will only have ourselves to blame... again. Blessings!

Nominalism

Man's conception of reality has changed over the course of history, but no change has made more of an impact than the change that occurred as the result of nominalism.

Nominalism came about as a direct result of one man, William of Occam. It was William that actually proposed this doctrine of nominalism; we know nothing of the collaborative help he received in formulating this doctrine as its epistemological moorings reference only him, but what we do know is disturbing enough. Nominalism denies that universals exist; actually, it goes deeper... denying that their is a source of truth higher than man and independent of man.

Nominalism provides the bridge to several logical leaps. Nominalism serves as the bridge to empiricism and a complete focus on sensual reality, a reality rooted only in the senses. A reality only rooted in the sense of men naturally produces relativism, pragmatism, rationalism and materialism. If men and women define reality through their senses then life becomes fixed to their time and space. We lose our ability to dream and hope because there is no reality outside of the human being. Man begins to act like God and looks to himself for answers and not beyond himself for answers. Philosophy becomes God and any idea must become linked to philosophy to mean anything in the world, and that includes science. Predictably, evolution came along to link science to philosophy and provide the legitimacy science so desperately needed.

Nominalism attacks any form of religion because religion depends on a dimension greater than three. Nominalism plants us in this three dimensional world and forbids any thought of anything not explained by the three dimension we, humans, live and play in each day. Logically and rationally, religion becomes illegitimate and comical because, by its nature, it depends most of those dimensions beyond the three we occupy.

Nominalism is alive and well in our country, in our schools and in our churches. It exists in the form of legalism, power, popularity, entertainment and the list goes on and on. Anytime we root truth in men, things or even time and space we fall into the trap of nominalism. What do we learn when we listen to the world? We only need a good education and logic to have all that we need. Is not the American dream rooted in nominalism? These things are worth thinking and praying about to determine if they present a barrier to the real truth... Jesus Christ. Blessings!

Egotism

Charles Peguy once wrote, "one may discern, if he has the courage to see what he sees - which is the higher courage - a prodigious egotism." This egotism seems to be a dominant part of the makeup of modernity. Richard Weaver in his book, Ideas Have Consequences, wrote, "this egotism, which is another form of fragmentation, is a consequence of that fatal decision to make a separate self the measure of value." And, that is where we find ourselves today - self is the measure of all value.

Today, it is the individual who thinks of his or her rights before any other rights. It is these rights that justify things we could not possibly justify outside of self. When self is the measure, the world is a fragmented place. The whole picture can not be viewed, only parts are able to be seen, and they are seen only through the lens of selfishness.

It is the irony of it all that paints the best picture for us through the words of Weaver, "...under the conditions of modern freedom the individual thinks only of his rights, he does not refer his actions to the external frame of obligation." There is only one obligation to self, and that is self. A focus only on self is a natural withdrawal from the macro-community to the micro - community which is so much easier because there is only one to please.

Plato said this regarding self:

"the excessive love of self is in reality the source to each of all offenses; for the lover is blinded about the beloved, so that he judges wrongly of the just, the good and the honorable, and thinks that he ought to always prefer his own interests to the truth."

The results of egotism are many, but one of the most glaring is the removal of oneself from the fabric of society. When one effectively does this one still flows through the social channels, but those social channels are merely channels of movement towards more of one's own ways and purposes. Relationships with those different become dry and brittle and are built on one's own way and not the Biblical mandate of God's way.

Weaver writes, "it is the simple nature of egotism to view things our of proportion, the "I" becoming dominant and the entire world suffering a distortion. Once more we are face to face with the fact of alienation from reality." As we look at our world, we see evidence of this everywhere. When we rationalize the current world through this idea of egotism it almost makes sense. Man has forgotten who he is. He is not perfect but flawed; he is not the high but low. He is not creator but created.

What is our answer? Our answer is Truth, which opens its own can of worms. Many will debate versions of truth, but they will do it through their own egotism. If you examine these various versions of truth you will find the ego present, and you will find the particular version of truth built in a way to feed that individual ego... that self. Truth is not selfish; it is selfless. Truth is found in the one who claimed to be truth... Jesus Christ. Read the gospel of John and release the chains of egotism! Blessings!

Discipleship and the Transfer of Knowledge

Can knowledge be transferred from one setting to another? There are three schools of thought regarding this idea of knowledge transfer.

First, there are those that maintain that students can acquire abstract general thinking skills that allow transfer to take place outside of specific subject-matter domains.

Second, there are those who believe that transfer of general skills is impossible due to that the fact that these skills are bound to, and must be taught, according to precise contexts of processes.

Third, there are still others who believe that the transfer of knowledge is dependent on the individual and the disposition of that individual. C. Brell calls this disposition the "critical spirit" and elaborates on it:

"A concept of critical thinking as transfer... [implies] that teaching for transfer is less a
matter of transmitting knowledge, skills, strategies and principles of thinking... thank of
fostering in students from the start an inquiring disposition, by which I mean a "readiness"
to consider the bearing of apparently discrete frames of reference on one another and
toward the construction of a more integrated world view."

Dewey too wrote of this idea although not in the language of Brell. Both realized that this critical spirit/disposition had to be valued to be effective and impacting.

I agree that this idea of knowledge transfer is heavily dependent on this critical spirit, but where I begin to differ is where this critical spirit dwells. I believe that knowledge can be transferred in various ways depending on the knowledge. And for time and space, I will not go into that aspect at this time, but what I will go into is where this critical spirit dwells for I believe for the transfer of knowledge to be at its highest optimal level this critical spirit must dwell both in the teacher and in the student. How do we achieve that? Well, we achieve that through... discipleship!

When both teacher and student enter the education process with a critical spirit both already value the process both are about the engage. Certainly, the student is at one end of the process and the teacher at the other, but in a properly conducted classroom where discipleship is taking place both should meet each other in the middle of the process. This is true discipleship and true discipleship does not take away from the educational process one bit. As a matter of fact, it enhances it and puts it in the proper position for maximum optimal knowledge transfer.

As is always the case, sincere, honest, excellent research leads us to the truth of God. This is just one more example of that wonderful truth. Blessings!

Zoo People

We recently took in the Birmingham Zoo, and both my wife and I were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. We were told that the African section was recently renovated, and truth be told, that is the section that was most impressive.

The zoo also featured a sprinkler section as well as food courts and playgrounds. The day we picked to go was... hot! I took a picture of this lion because I felt like doing what he was doing... sleeping.

We are zoo people; we love going to the zoo. We have been to several, and this one was as good as all the others. We have found that each has its own passion. The Birmingham Zoo provided numerous opportunities to get closer to animals than most of the others we have frequented.

So, if you are looking for a good day trip, the Birmingham Zoo is a nice option. Another nice "zoo" option is the Nashville Zoo. Happy Trails!

Compromise

What do you think of when you hear the word compromise? Weakness, giving in, negativity, losing... are all words that come to my mind when I hear the word, but all are wrong views of compromise.

Defined compromise is "a settlement of differences by mutual concessions." Look deeper and you will find ideas like concession, adjustment and settlement. This idea of compromise as weakness is a recent phenomenon. I believe it flows out of the current "me" society. You see to compromise when it is all about you results in losing because you have to give up something, and to truly compromise means, yes, you have to... give up something.

The church is also guilty of this view. While, certainly, there can be no compromise of God's word because it is God's word, we do find this ideology being attached to other areas of the church as if they, too, are God's word. The church is commanded to compromise in order to get to God's truth. Although, we don't always use a word like "compromise" as it seems out of place. Jesus told us himself to seek compromise, gather with two or more in Him, and He will be there with us. What I believe he was talking about is compromising by way of putting ourselves last in order for our brother's or sister's wishes to be first, then, there is a chance to get to His will and avoid ours. You can't hope to do this if you are always about your wish, your will and your way. That is not compromise nor is it Christian.

The above poster really captures the sentiment of compromise today. So many of us think we are so right and others are so wrong that we don't even know we are imposing our will on others; we do it so effortlessly. I am as guilty as anyone, and yet, when it is done to me I get so upset. Why? I am used to having my own way, as the poster says, because, after all, I am right, aren't I? There is only one problem; when I impose my will on someone else I am not really concerned about God's will for them, am I?

How can we hope to impact the world for Christ if we can not even agree to be "last" to those in Christ? Compromise has been an important part of our history, although at times, a dark part too, but if you will research that dark part of history you will find, as I did, that compromise was not compromise at all.

The next time you are about to compromise, don't panic because God is in control. He truly works better with two or three than just one, and in order for two or three to work together there will have to be... you guessed it... compromise. Blessings!

Age

Somethings age better than others. Cheese and wine are treated well by age; most other things are not. As I get older, I am beginning to reflect on things of the past... things once taken for granted. Exercise and eating have taken on new importance to me. No longer can I eat whatever I want and still run and lift as I once did. No longer can I increase my exercise and lose weight. Age is the great dividend as it increases other things must decrease.

But, age is also forcing me to reflect on my generation and all that we had. We had it fairly good as a generation. We had good schools, low prices, lots of options, plenty of play and little consequence for our actions. All said, it was a great time to grow up. Now, as my age inches up and up, I have come to some conclusions that you would think I would have known by now.

For instances, as I get older so does everyone else. When I connect with someone on Facebook that I have not seen since high school I am shocked at how they have aged. You would think I would have figured that one out. I am sure they are just as shocked as to how much I have aged.

As I grow older so do my concerns. When I was younger I wore any injury or pain as a badge of honor. The more the pain the more I wanted to go on and continue to play or work. Now, every new pain brings a new concern of something serious.

Age makes no sense to me unless you understand it from a Biblical perspective. The older we get the close we draw to the end, unless you are one of those who rest in Jesus Christ. In Him, you may die to this life, but you will be raised in the end to spend eternity in heaven with Him. This makes sense out of the aging process; nothing else does. Not evolution, not atheism, not any other worldview... none of them provide even a remote explanation of the aging process like Christianity does.

Yes, I am fighting the aging process by running and lifting and watching what I eat, but I am still getting older. The other day I was running around our practice field at a pretty good clip, or so I thought, until one of our football players asked me if that was my warm up lap. My pride kicked in, and I increased my pace... until he disappeared into the weight room. I suspect that our generation will have the hardest time with this aging process because we have had so much. I pray that God will help me handle it with grace and love and be open to being used by Him until the very end. May that be your prayer as well. Blessings!

4th of July Celebration at Coolidge Park

How does it feel to be part of 20,000 people? Well, not too bad. Chattanooga always puts on a good show for the 4th. This year was more of the same.

We were part of the picture to the right as we sat and listened to music until 9:45 pm. Then, the city provided a wonderful fireworks display as the symphony played Stars and Stripes... it was a great time.

I wish everyone a happy 4th of July. Enjoy the freedoms you have and never forget those who gave so much so you could have those freedoms. Blessings!