"The Fifth Quarter" movie premiered last week and was released in Atlanta theaters this week. I look forward to seeing this movie today. It features the true story of a local Cobb County family. I am thankful the impact of this story had on my alma mater Wake Forest, and their great football season in 2006 that led to the ACC championship and Orange Bowl appearance. Most of all, I am thankful for the Abbate family sharing their story of tragedy and grief that is being used to bless people in such a powerful way.
Click here to go to the movie website.
Showing posts with label Wake Forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wake Forest. Show all posts
April 1, 2011
February 18, 2010
VALENTINES 2010
Last Friday my wife Cissy and I travelled to Hickory, NC to visit my brother Kim, his wife Betsy, and son, Jackson. En route it started snowing and continued snowing until late that night. Saturday morning we had a fun time playing in the snow.
Cissy and I take turns each year to decide how we will celebrate Valentine’s Day. This year it was my turn to plan the celebration. Months ago I made reservations for last Saturday night at the Zevely Inn, an historic, cozy bed and breakfast inn, at Old Salem in Winston-Salem NC. I reserved their most expensive room. We dined across the street at the Old Salem Tavern. Sunday morning for Valentines Day we awoke in our room to a blazing fire in the fireplace and went downstairs to eat a fine brunch. How romantic!
However, I carefully added another part to our celebration on Saturday night. It just so happened (wink wink!) that the Georgia Tech basketball team was in Winston-Salem to play my Wake Forest Demon Deacons. So, we took in a great game also. Go Deacs!
On Sunday afternoon we were in Charleston SC to visit my sister Lydia and her husband Buz plus their offspring. Monday afternoon Cissy and I were on the beach in Florida for a few days. We will return home by Thursday afternoon so I can serve as a spiritual director on a Walk to Emmaus this weekend.
January 4, 2010
DEMON DEACS
Last night my Demon Deacons of Wake Forest won a double overtime basketball game with Xavier. It was a special game in so many ways. It was the inaugural game of the Skip Prosser Classic. Before his untimely death two years ago, Skip was the dynamic coach at Wake Forest. He came to WF from the head basketball coach position at Xavier. There were some outstanding player performances in the game. Ishmael Smith at point guard was phenomenal. The Deacs are now 11-2 for the season. Now 15 conference games follow. Thankfully, all of the games will be on TV!
October 16, 2009
HEISMAN BUDDIES
I love college football. It has become my favorite sport to watch. Tomorrow I am going to the Wake Forest-Clemson football game. My Demon Deacons will be taking on the Tigers at Death Valley in Clemson. We will be the guests of some Clemson fans. In fact, he is a former Clemson football player.
At the same time tomorrow is the great Texas-Oklahoma game. I lived in Texas for three years and appreciate the huge Red River Rivalry. The two opposing quarterbacks are friends, and both are top Heisman candidates. In the video below they share what is most important in their lives.
At the same time tomorrow is the great Texas-Oklahoma game. I lived in Texas for three years and appreciate the huge Red River Rivalry. The two opposing quarterbacks are friends, and both are top Heisman candidates. In the video below they share what is most important in their lives.
August 22, 2009
BERLIN GOLD
This week I have enjoyed watching on TV the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin, Germany. A special treat on Friday was to watch Michael Bingham, a 2009 graduate of Wake Forest (my alma mater), compete in the 400 meter finals.
The star of the games is Usain Bolt, the Jamaican who won three gold medals in the Olympics last year. Already at this World Championships he has won two gold medals and obliterated world records in the 100 and 200 meters. He has a great chance to win a third gold medal on the 4x100 relay this weekend.
Friday I watched Bolt’s flamboyant and joyful style at the 200 meter award ceremony. Besides the gold medal he received his second $100,000 check for setting another world record. After the sound system played the national anthem, the crowd sang happy birthday to Bolt for his 23rd birthday.
Before the World Championships began this week, Bolt said he wanted to emulate Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was an African-American in the 1936 Olympics that were held in the same Berlin stadium. Hitler built the stadium to showcase and promote Aryan racial supremacy. Hitler’s philosophy was shattered before the world when Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100m.
At this World Championships American stars LaShawn Merritt and Allyson Felix dedicated the gold medals they won to the memory of Jesse Owens. The pair both said they were inspired by the spirit of Owens.
The star of the games is Usain Bolt, the Jamaican who won three gold medals in the Olympics last year. Already at this World Championships he has won two gold medals and obliterated world records in the 100 and 200 meters. He has a great chance to win a third gold medal on the 4x100 relay this weekend.
Friday I watched Bolt’s flamboyant and joyful style at the 200 meter award ceremony. Besides the gold medal he received his second $100,000 check for setting another world record. After the sound system played the national anthem, the crowd sang happy birthday to Bolt for his 23rd birthday.
Before the World Championships began this week, Bolt said he wanted to emulate Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was an African-American in the 1936 Olympics that were held in the same Berlin stadium. Hitler built the stadium to showcase and promote Aryan racial supremacy. Hitler’s philosophy was shattered before the world when Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100m.
At this World Championships American stars LaShawn Merritt and Allyson Felix dedicated the gold medals they won to the memory of Jesse Owens. The pair both said they were inspired by the spirit of Owens. In the early 1970’s I had the opportunity to visit Berlin for a few weeks. One day I set off by myself to find the Olympic Stadium. On that day the stadium seemed to be completely devoid of people. I ran a lap on the track alone in the empty stadium trying to imagine the thrill of that day for Jesse Owens and the shock for Adolf Hitler.
January 28, 2009
DEACS DO IT AGAIN
It is great season for all Wake Forest basketball fans. There have been some great victories. Until tonight the biggest win was over the then #2 ranked UNC Tar Heels. 
Tonight the Demon Deacon took on #1 ranked Duke. After leading virtually the whole game, with a lead that got to 13 points, the Deacs had to hold off a run by the Dookies that tied the score in the last seconds.
James Johnson nailed the victory for Wake with less than one second remaining. Wake now has a overall record of 17-1. Go Deacs!!!
January 15, 2009
DEACS SHOW CRUST
The success of this season’s Wake Forest Demon Deacon basketball squad with a team laden with eight freshmen and sophomores reminds me of another Deacon team of days gone by. It was a team of only two people, a freshman and a sophomore. I was the sophomore. The team had only one competition which they won. It was a pizza eating team!
Tryouts for the team were rough. About 20 applicants showed up at the Farmer’s Dairy, a Winston-Salem ice cream store. Farmer’s Dairy had a special promotion with the “kitchen sink,” a tremendous bowl of all their varieties of ice cream.
If you could eat the whole bowl by yourself, it was free. Most people could not eat the whole bowl; some did after throwing up. The two fastest times to consume the “kitchen sink” would be the team members for the pizza eating team. I made the team.
Today I pulled out several yellowed clippings from area papers of the pizza competition from over 40 years ago. I liked best the way Roy Thompson of the Winston-Salem Journal told the story.
Wake Forest College found a sport of its liking last night, and two stout-hearted, iron-stomached young Deacons covered themselves with glory, pizza sauce, cheese, sausages, mushrooms, onions and other things.
The first and (one hopes) last intercollegiate pizza-eating contest was won in a walk-away by the Baptists’ two-man team.
The winnahs … and new champeens … are Rich (Slim Man) Curd, a freshman biology major from Boonton, N.J. and Phill (The Pit) Ellington, a sophomore from Hickory. Coach and manager of the victorious duo: Steve Poston of Boiling Springs. Wake Forest out-ate teams from Guildford College, Greensboro College and UNC-Greensboro.
This historic event was held in the shadowy depths of Deno’s Pizza Den in Greensboro. The idea was fairly simple. The teams sat down at tables, and waitresses brought pizzas. The pizzas were roughly the size of sports car wheels, and each came laden with the works.
The idea: eat it in five minutes. They took it in relays. One man eating. One man offering encouragement. Except in the case of UNC-G, when it was one GIRL eating, and it was one GIRL offering encouragement.
The girls tired to pull a sneaky. Betty Campbell of Fayetteville and Susan MacDonald of Atlanta removed their belts before the contest. The men all competed in full attire.
At a signal, it began, and “Slim Man” Curd led off for the Deacons. He finished his pizza in four minutes and 30 seconds to give the Baptists a lead from which the other competitors never recovered.
Phill the Pit breezed through his pizza in the second round, and Susan MacDonald downed hers. Guildford and Greensboro College faded.
Rich Curd did it again in the third round, and the other contestants apparently went along with Betty Campbell, who quit early and announced: “I’ll never eat another pizza.” Phill the Pit, after hearing that the others were turning a pale green, and couldn’t make it either, quit in the fourth quarter.
Rich Curd tore into his third pizza as if he hadn’t eaten since a week ago Friday, but word came that the others were giving up. He quit … to save his strength for another day. The man running the contest killed it. He announced that if anybody tied Wake Forest, they’d have a sudden death eat-off. Everybody quit.
The Wake Forest team got Deno’s $50 prize check. Slim Man and The Pit didn’t say what they planned to spend it on. It won’t be pizzas.
I still love to eat a good pizza. Yet I prefer NOT to have one with everything on it, especially anchovies, that were so hard to get down in that collegiate competition. I have not kept up with my teammate Rich and coach/manager Steve over the years. However, I do know Steve further developed his talents. He is a university vice president and director of athletics.
Tryouts for the team were rough. About 20 applicants showed up at the Farmer’s Dairy, a Winston-Salem ice cream store. Farmer’s Dairy had a special promotion with the “kitchen sink,” a tremendous bowl of all their varieties of ice cream.
If you could eat the whole bowl by yourself, it was free. Most people could not eat the whole bowl; some did after throwing up. The two fastest times to consume the “kitchen sink” would be the team members for the pizza eating team. I made the team.Today I pulled out several yellowed clippings from area papers of the pizza competition from over 40 years ago. I liked best the way Roy Thompson of the Winston-Salem Journal told the story.
Wake Forest College found a sport of its liking last night, and two stout-hearted, iron-stomached young Deacons covered themselves with glory, pizza sauce, cheese, sausages, mushrooms, onions and other things.
The first and (one hopes) last intercollegiate pizza-eating contest was won in a walk-away by the Baptists’ two-man team.
The winnahs … and new champeens … are Rich (Slim Man) Curd, a freshman biology major from Boonton, N.J. and Phill (The Pit) Ellington, a sophomore from Hickory. Coach and manager of the victorious duo: Steve Poston of Boiling Springs. Wake Forest out-ate teams from Guildford College, Greensboro College and UNC-Greensboro.
This historic event was held in the shadowy depths of Deno’s Pizza Den in Greensboro. The idea was fairly simple. The teams sat down at tables, and waitresses brought pizzas. The pizzas were roughly the size of sports car wheels, and each came laden with the works.
The idea: eat it in five minutes. They took it in relays. One man eating. One man offering encouragement. Except in the case of UNC-G, when it was one GIRL eating, and it was one GIRL offering encouragement.The girls tired to pull a sneaky. Betty Campbell of Fayetteville and Susan MacDonald of Atlanta removed their belts before the contest. The men all competed in full attire.
At a signal, it began, and “Slim Man” Curd led off for the Deacons. He finished his pizza in four minutes and 30 seconds to give the Baptists a lead from which the other competitors never recovered.
Phill the Pit breezed through his pizza in the second round, and Susan MacDonald downed hers. Guildford and Greensboro College faded.
Rich Curd did it again in the third round, and the other contestants apparently went along with Betty Campbell, who quit early and announced: “I’ll never eat another pizza.” Phill the Pit, after hearing that the others were turning a pale green, and couldn’t make it either, quit in the fourth quarter.
Rich Curd tore into his third pizza as if he hadn’t eaten since a week ago Friday, but word came that the others were giving up. He quit … to save his strength for another day. The man running the contest killed it. He announced that if anybody tied Wake Forest, they’d have a sudden death eat-off. Everybody quit.
The Wake Forest team got Deno’s $50 prize check. Slim Man and The Pit didn’t say what they planned to spend it on. It won’t be pizzas.
I still love to eat a good pizza. Yet I prefer NOT to have one with everything on it, especially anchovies, that were so hard to get down in that collegiate competition. I have not kept up with my teammate Rich and coach/manager Steve over the years. However, I do know Steve further developed his talents. He is a university vice president and director of athletics.
DEACON DARLINGS
The Wake Forest Demon Deacon basketball team looks good!On Wednesday night #2 nationally ranked Wake Forest beat Boston College 83-63, following the Deacons impressive defeat of North Carolina last Saturday. The twice-beaten UNC, the pre-season #1 team that some thought might win the national championship unbeaten, is now tied for 10th place in standings in the ACC!
Wake Forest (15-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) tied the best start in school history, matching a record set 82 years ago by the 1926-27 team. In addition to Jeff Teague (photo) leading the team in scoring with a 20+ point average, on the roster are two players at 6’9”, two at 6’11” and two at 7 feet. To say the least the Deacons are tall and versatile.
Wake Forest travels to unbeaten #9 ranked Clemson on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game. It will be carried live on ABC-TV.
Since the Deacon squad is so young with 8 freshmen and sophomores, I have sort held my breath until now about the prospects for a sizzling season. After watching them again tonight, I feel confident this team is going to make all us Wake Forest alumni mighty proud throughout the season.
January 8, 2009
GROWING UP
As I blogged about my parents yesterday, it brought back a lot of childhood memories. A wonderful gift my parents gave their children was a stable and secure environment to grow up. My father lived in Hickory, North Carolina his whole life. My mother moved there as a child, and lived in the same house for over 75 years.
My mother was a stay-at-home mom who raised four kids. When we got home from school she was always there to greet us. She was involved in our school activities like PTA and band boosters. At the same time she lived an active social life. She was involved in garden club, book club, and bridge club. Both my mother and father were involved in the development of community theater in our town.
My mother was very particular about how things should be arranged and look, whether it be home decorations or personal dress. She gave me a sense of taste for appearance. Even through high school she would take me shopping for clothes. It had to be Gant shirts, alpaca sweaters, Haggar slacks, genuine alligator belt, Bass Weejun shoes, Gold Cup socks, and a London Fog raincoat over a Harris Tweed sportscoat.
She was a wonderful cook. She prepared basic food like fried chicken, meatloaf, and spaghetti in a way that can never be equaled by anyone. Her cakes were awesome … chocolate, caramel, coconut, banana, and brown stone front. Her pies were delicious as well … pecan, pumpkin, lemon chess, and my favorite - hypocrite (custard topping over dried apples). At Christmas time there was all kinds of cookies and pecan rolls.
I never ate a single meal in the high school cafeteria. For several years our school had open lunch where we could drive to nearby hamburger joints or go to the pool hall downtown. My senior year I came home for lunch every single day. The daily menu my mother served me was two hamburgers and a baked potato and the best sweet iced tea with lemon in the world. Some things about the “old days” weren’t so bad!
My father was an industrial engineer at General Electric by vocation, but his avocation was music. He was a featured soloist around area counties for programs featuring classical and popular music and sacred chorales. He frequently sang at funerals and weddings (I still have many of the cufflink sets he received as gifts). I grew up going to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and alot of other times in-between.
Most of my youth he was a choir director at several local churches. He took his choirs to state festivals at Wake Forest College. It was while wandering around the campus as the choirs sang that my desire to go to Wake Forest was born.
In his twenties my father used his voice as a radio announcer. I was exposed to all things radio as a kid. I learned about the simplicity of crystal radios that you could make and attach with an alligator clip to a radiator for a good antennae. With a short wave radio we listened to broadcasts from around the world. I heard the beeps from space of Sputnik (first satellite launched by Russia). I learned how to read electronic schematics, and watched my father build a Citizens Band radio transmitter. We usually had the latest electronic gadgets whether it be a transistor radio, stereo record player, or tape recorder. My father liked photography and we had a simple darkroom to process our own film.
I can remember as a small child that we did not have a car. If I wanted to go to the Woolworth’s dime store, or see a 15 cent movie at the Center or Carolina movie theaters, or play at the community center, I walked. Groceries were delivered from the store by Mr. Hoskins who drove a black van. The Wagner sisters, three old maids who lived down the street, had a car and gave us a ride to church. I walked to school the whole time growing up from kindergarten through high school. For a few years in elementary school it was “cool” to ride a bicycle.
I remember when my father got a motor bike and then upgraded to a motor scooter. Once he and I made a 40 mile one-way trip on the scooter to Blowing Rock. When we got to the steep mountain grades, my father would jump off the scooter and run alongside of me until we regained enough speed that he could hop back on.
Then came a ’49 black Plymouth coupe, followed by a ‘52 green Plymouth station wagon, a ’58 white Plymouth station wagon (with a push button transmission and crank roll down rear window) and a ’62 gold Chevy station wagon with a 327 cubic inch engine and a 4 barrel carburetor. I found in high school that if you took off the air cleaner, and replaced it with the metal lid of a coffee can, it sounded like a mean machine when you wound up the engine as you roared down the road.
Many Sunday afternoon my parents would pile all of us kids in the car and go for a ride in the country. There were frequent Saturday trips to the mountains for picnics and hiking. I remember our first family trip to the beach was to Caswell Baptist Assembly at Southport, NC. In the morning there were age-graded classes for the children and seminars for my father. My mother stayed home with my baby brother.
One day on the beach my mother found a huge hunk of driftwood that was a few feet tall and several feet in circumference. She vowed to bring it home, even if she had to leave one of us kids behind. That piece of driftwood remained in our backyard for almost 50 years until my sister claimed it after my parents passed away.
Below are some photos of me from a few months old up to age 18 as a freshman in college.
My mother was a stay-at-home mom who raised four kids. When we got home from school she was always there to greet us. She was involved in our school activities like PTA and band boosters. At the same time she lived an active social life. She was involved in garden club, book club, and bridge club. Both my mother and father were involved in the development of community theater in our town.
My mother was very particular about how things should be arranged and look, whether it be home decorations or personal dress. She gave me a sense of taste for appearance. Even through high school she would take me shopping for clothes. It had to be Gant shirts, alpaca sweaters, Haggar slacks, genuine alligator belt, Bass Weejun shoes, Gold Cup socks, and a London Fog raincoat over a Harris Tweed sportscoat.
She was a wonderful cook. She prepared basic food like fried chicken, meatloaf, and spaghetti in a way that can never be equaled by anyone. Her cakes were awesome … chocolate, caramel, coconut, banana, and brown stone front. Her pies were delicious as well … pecan, pumpkin, lemon chess, and my favorite - hypocrite (custard topping over dried apples). At Christmas time there was all kinds of cookies and pecan rolls.
I never ate a single meal in the high school cafeteria. For several years our school had open lunch where we could drive to nearby hamburger joints or go to the pool hall downtown. My senior year I came home for lunch every single day. The daily menu my mother served me was two hamburgers and a baked potato and the best sweet iced tea with lemon in the world. Some things about the “old days” weren’t so bad!
My father was an industrial engineer at General Electric by vocation, but his avocation was music. He was a featured soloist around area counties for programs featuring classical and popular music and sacred chorales. He frequently sang at funerals and weddings (I still have many of the cufflink sets he received as gifts). I grew up going to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and alot of other times in-between.
Most of my youth he was a choir director at several local churches. He took his choirs to state festivals at Wake Forest College. It was while wandering around the campus as the choirs sang that my desire to go to Wake Forest was born.
In his twenties my father used his voice as a radio announcer. I was exposed to all things radio as a kid. I learned about the simplicity of crystal radios that you could make and attach with an alligator clip to a radiator for a good antennae. With a short wave radio we listened to broadcasts from around the world. I heard the beeps from space of Sputnik (first satellite launched by Russia). I learned how to read electronic schematics, and watched my father build a Citizens Band radio transmitter. We usually had the latest electronic gadgets whether it be a transistor radio, stereo record player, or tape recorder. My father liked photography and we had a simple darkroom to process our own film.
I can remember as a small child that we did not have a car. If I wanted to go to the Woolworth’s dime store, or see a 15 cent movie at the Center or Carolina movie theaters, or play at the community center, I walked. Groceries were delivered from the store by Mr. Hoskins who drove a black van. The Wagner sisters, three old maids who lived down the street, had a car and gave us a ride to church. I walked to school the whole time growing up from kindergarten through high school. For a few years in elementary school it was “cool” to ride a bicycle.
I remember when my father got a motor bike and then upgraded to a motor scooter. Once he and I made a 40 mile one-way trip on the scooter to Blowing Rock. When we got to the steep mountain grades, my father would jump off the scooter and run alongside of me until we regained enough speed that he could hop back on.
Then came a ’49 black Plymouth coupe, followed by a ‘52 green Plymouth station wagon, a ’58 white Plymouth station wagon (with a push button transmission and crank roll down rear window) and a ’62 gold Chevy station wagon with a 327 cubic inch engine and a 4 barrel carburetor. I found in high school that if you took off the air cleaner, and replaced it with the metal lid of a coffee can, it sounded like a mean machine when you wound up the engine as you roared down the road.
Many Sunday afternoon my parents would pile all of us kids in the car and go for a ride in the country. There were frequent Saturday trips to the mountains for picnics and hiking. I remember our first family trip to the beach was to Caswell Baptist Assembly at Southport, NC. In the morning there were age-graded classes for the children and seminars for my father. My mother stayed home with my baby brother.
One day on the beach my mother found a huge hunk of driftwood that was a few feet tall and several feet in circumference. She vowed to bring it home, even if she had to leave one of us kids behind. That piece of driftwood remained in our backyard for almost 50 years until my sister claimed it after my parents passed away.
Below are some photos of me from a few months old up to age 18 as a freshman in college.
December 29, 2008
DEACON SPORTS
Living in the midst of Georgia Bulldog and Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket fans can sometimes be exasperating with their raucous barking and boastful rambling. They do not have appreciation of the finer and better things in life ... like my Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Deacs had a good fall sports season. The soccer team hoped to repeat as national champions, but were defeated in the semi-final game. The football team was ranked as high as 15th in the polls, and finished with a bowl game win over Navy. The basketball team is 12-0 right now, and ranked 6th in the national polls.
Sunday, January 11, at 8 p.m. is a TV schedule challenge for me. Wake Forest will take on the #1 UNC Heels on the hardwood. At the same time "Jack Bauer" will be cranking up the "24" season. I think I can watch a delayed version of "Jack", but I will have to see the basketball game live.
The Deacs had a good fall sports season. The soccer team hoped to repeat as national champions, but were defeated in the semi-final game. The football team was ranked as high as 15th in the polls, and finished with a bowl game win over Navy. The basketball team is 12-0 right now, and ranked 6th in the national polls.
Sunday, January 11, at 8 p.m. is a TV schedule challenge for me. Wake Forest will take on the #1 UNC Heels on the hardwood. At the same time "Jack Bauer" will be cranking up the "24" season. I think I can watch a delayed version of "Jack", but I will have to see the basketball game live.
November 14, 2008
HOOPS
I love college basketball, but college football has become my favorite spectator sport in recent years. Just about every Saturday I am sitting in front of my big screen TV from about noon till almost midnight. I love it! My Wake Forest Demon Deacons are in the thick of the hunt for the ACC championship. Amazingly, there are still 7 other teams left in the chase this late in the season. My prediction and hope is a North Carolina – Wake Forest showdown in Tampa Bay for the ACC championship game.
Now comes basketball season. Tonight the pre-season No. 21 ranked Wake Forest opened the season with a 94-48 blowout of N.C. Central. Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu from Norcross, Georgia, had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Go Deacs!
Another “small” college in North Carolina known for its academics and basketball is Davidson. Davidson basketball has fascinated me since their great teams in the 1960’s when the then 1,000 student college stunned the major powers and were ranked in the top ten for a few seasons.
Today I read an interesting story about Stephen Curry, the current scoring sensation on the Davidson basketball team. Last March he led his team to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. In four tournament games he averaged 32 points! Click on the Sports Illustrated article to read something of his family’s Christian influence.
This photo of his shoes shot during the tournament tells his motivation ... "I can do all things" ... the Apostle Paul's words in Philippians 4:13.
October 3, 2008
O LORD, I'M FORTY!
It was on October 3, 1968, during my senior year in college, that God drew me closer to Himself.
That evening I attended a lecture about hallucinogenic drugs by Doctors Sidney Cohen and Timothy Leary, former professors of psychology at Harvard. Since I was a psychology major I was interested in what they had to say.
Timothy Leary coined the phrase “turn on, tune in, drop out” and was the founder of the League for Spiritual Discovery (LSD). For an hour and half he explained that using drugs was a spiritual experience to know God.
After attending a reception for Leary and his wife, who both looked and acted stoned out of their minds, I headed back to my dorm room. As I walked I thought how foolish Leary seemed to me. To be honest with myself, though, I had to admit that I had no better solution to knowing God than Leary. I had taken religious courses in college, and had attended church since an infant. But God was a concept, a teaching, not a Person to me.
I went out to sit on the terrace of the Student Union building. I lifted my eyes to the starry sky and said (whether out-loud or not I do not remember), “God, if you exist I want to know you. Do with my life as you please.” Short and simple was my request.
My best friend and roommate found a Bible and gave it to me to read. The following days and weeks I read it and studied it with a few friends. I came to understand that God wanted to have a personal relationship with me through Jesus Christ.
I received the invitation of Christ that I read in Revelation 3:20: “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and have fellowship with him.”
Now forty years have passed and I have never regretted “answering the door.” I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life and to forgive me of my sins and to make me the kind of person He wants me to be. I am still learning to follow and obey God.
I like the promise God gave to Jacob:
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28:15)
That evening I attended a lecture about hallucinogenic drugs by Doctors Sidney Cohen and Timothy Leary, former professors of psychology at Harvard. Since I was a psychology major I was interested in what they had to say.
Timothy Leary coined the phrase “turn on, tune in, drop out” and was the founder of the League for Spiritual Discovery (LSD). For an hour and half he explained that using drugs was a spiritual experience to know God.
After attending a reception for Leary and his wife, who both looked and acted stoned out of their minds, I headed back to my dorm room. As I walked I thought how foolish Leary seemed to me. To be honest with myself, though, I had to admit that I had no better solution to knowing God than Leary. I had taken religious courses in college, and had attended church since an infant. But God was a concept, a teaching, not a Person to me.
I went out to sit on the terrace of the Student Union building. I lifted my eyes to the starry sky and said (whether out-loud or not I do not remember), “God, if you exist I want to know you. Do with my life as you please.” Short and simple was my request.
My best friend and roommate found a Bible and gave it to me to read. The following days and weeks I read it and studied it with a few friends. I came to understand that God wanted to have a personal relationship with me through Jesus Christ.
I received the invitation of Christ that I read in Revelation 3:20: “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and have fellowship with him.”
Now forty years have passed and I have never regretted “answering the door.” I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life and to forgive me of my sins and to make me the kind of person He wants me to be. I am still learning to follow and obey God.
I like the promise God gave to Jacob:
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28:15)
September 20, 2008
ALL WINNERS... ALMOST
In our family our college sports allegiances follow the four schools from which Cissy and I and our children have graduated. It looked like all four would be football winners today … until the last minute of the Auburn-LSU game. Unfortunately, for us, LSU squeaked out a winning touchdown.
How about those Wake Forest Demon Deacons! They are the only undefeated ACC team this year. How can there still be doubters about my Deacs with records of the last two seasons of 11-3 and 9-4, including a conference championship and a bowl game win?
Despite loving basketball all my life, in recent years college football has become my favorite spectator sport. On Saturdays I usually park all afternoon and evening in front of my TV to focus on three games, while flipping to other games during timeouts. At least my fingers on my remote get a good workout!
I am reminded of the analogy of the typical church to a football game. Just as there can be 50,000 fans in desperate need of exercise watching 22 guys desperately in need of rest, so often in the church there is a great host of people on the sidelines watching a few people do most of the work.
Similarly, it seems the “80-20 Rule”, whether it is exact or not, applies to many areas of life. For example, 20% of the world’s population controls 80% of the world’s wealth. In business it is a common rule of thumb that 80% of sales comes from 20% of the clients.
Microsoft has noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most reported bugs, 80% of the users would not encounter any bugs. Hmmm … I better leave that one alone and drop the temptation to rant about Microsoft. Currently I am trying to un-install the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta, which I now realize does not work with my internet security program. So far, it seems nigh impossible to get rid of it.
Do I wear only 20% of my favorite clothes about 80% of the time? Do I spend 80% of the time with 20% of my friends? Whatever … I will settle for my teams winning 80% of the time.
How about those Wake Forest Demon Deacons! They are the only undefeated ACC team this year. How can there still be doubters about my Deacs with records of the last two seasons of 11-3 and 9-4, including a conference championship and a bowl game win?
Despite loving basketball all my life, in recent years college football has become my favorite spectator sport. On Saturdays I usually park all afternoon and evening in front of my TV to focus on three games, while flipping to other games during timeouts. At least my fingers on my remote get a good workout!
I am reminded of the analogy of the typical church to a football game. Just as there can be 50,000 fans in desperate need of exercise watching 22 guys desperately in need of rest, so often in the church there is a great host of people on the sidelines watching a few people do most of the work.
Similarly, it seems the “80-20 Rule”, whether it is exact or not, applies to many areas of life. For example, 20% of the world’s population controls 80% of the world’s wealth. In business it is a common rule of thumb that 80% of sales comes from 20% of the clients.
Microsoft has noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most reported bugs, 80% of the users would not encounter any bugs. Hmmm … I better leave that one alone and drop the temptation to rant about Microsoft. Currently I am trying to un-install the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta, which I now realize does not work with my internet security program. So far, it seems nigh impossible to get rid of it.
Do I wear only 20% of my favorite clothes about 80% of the time? Do I spend 80% of the time with 20% of my friends? Whatever … I will settle for my teams winning 80% of the time.
August 30, 2008
GO DEACS!
My Wake Forest Deamon Deacons kicked off the new college football season on Thursday night by easily defeating Baylor 41-13. Expectations are high for the #23 preseason ranked Deacs.
Next Saturday Wake Forest will look for its 400th win in the program's history with the home opener against Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Watch out for the Old Gold and Black!!!
Next Saturday Wake Forest will look for its 400th win in the program's history with the home opener against Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Watch out for the Old Gold and Black!!!
March 10, 2008
JOURNEY FROM JUGTOWN
Vance Havner (1901-1986) was one of my favorite preachers. He grew up in “Jugtown”, just about a mile or so from where my brother currently lives, and about 12 miles from where I grew up in Hickory, NC. (My brother is a potter -see my blog entry “Potter Principles” on December 9, 2007).I did not encounter the name Vance Havner, however, until I was in a bookstore in California after graduation from college. A friend pointed out to me the book The Best of Vance Havner. As I read the chapter “Journey from Jugtown” I fell in love with Vance Havner. He wrote:
I grew up in the North Carolina hills. From our front porch we could see at night the lights of five little towns. From the back porch one could see Grandfather Mountain, Table Rock, and companion peaks standing like sentinels along the western skyline.
My home community was called Jugtown because in the early years there were little shops up and down the road where the potters wrought vessels of clay. I lived the simple, happy life of an old-fashioned country boy. I tramped the woods with a shepherd dog. There was plenty of outdoors, and all the plain joys of rustic youth uncushioned by modern conveniences. It would drive a teen-ager frantic these days but I thrived on it.
Father was an austere but devout Christian, the pastor's right-hand man at old Corinth Baptist Church. The country preachers always stayed at our house on Saturday before the fourth Sunday in each month, when they came by horse and buggy to preach the monthly sermon. Some of those sermons were long enough to last a month and sounded more like filibusters - but it was sound preaching. Father always let me sit up late on those Saturday nights, before the open fire, and listen to him and the minister talk about the things of God. It beat all the television that has been seen since.
Father should have been a preacher. Two of his brothers did preach; one as a Baptist, the other as a Methodist. Mother was a gentle, kindly soul content to be a housewife. Her life as a "keeper at home" would be anathema to the emancipated woman of today.
I grew up with a Bible in one hand a bird book in the other. Pilgrim 's Progress, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and a set of good classical literature formed our library. I never knew the day when I did not feel that I should preach and write. I memorized Bible portions, made little Sunday School talks, and sent my first "sermon" to our small-town newspaper when I was nine.
When I was ten, I professed faith in Christ. A revival was in progress at Corinth Church, but I came to Jesus alone in the woods. Always following an unbeaten path, I did not go to the mourner's bench as the custom was, but made my decision in a solitary place. There was no dramatic experience such as some can relate; I came as a child in simple trust. I did not understand all about the plan of salvation. I do not understand all about electricity, but I don't intend to sit in the dark until I do.
I was baptized in the South Fork River and a year later I asked the church to license me to preach. I began with a talk at the First Baptist Church of Hickory, twelve miles from my home. I have been in bigger towns and churches since, but none looked as large as did Hickory that night. Dad and I went over in an early Ford with thirty horsepower - twenty of them dead. I stood on a chair and spoke while the pastor of the church stood on one side and the state evangelist stood on the other: like Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses.
[I grew up in this church. My father told me the pastor of FBC Hickory that stood by Vance was the man that drew my grandfather to move from Petersburg VA to Hickory. See my post “Modern Antique” on February 8, 2008]
For several years I preached on Sundays in town and country churches as a boy preacher. Of course, crowds came out of curiosity. Then I went to a Baptist boarding school called South Fork Institute. I was not a star student, but often sat listening to a bird singing outside rather than to a professor teaching on the inside. I went next to what is now Gardner-Webb College. It was during the First World War. We were singing Tipperary and Over There, and girl students wept as boy friends left for camp and for France to make the world safe for democracy. It hasn't been safe for anything since.
The principal of this school advised me, one day, to blaze my own trail instead of following the prescribed course of ministerial training. He told me that I was no genius, but would do well to follow an unbeaten path. I went on to Catawba College for a year, then to Wake Forest. I was restless and wanted to preach. One day, I packed my belongings and left. A professor saw me at the railroad station and said, "Young man, you'll regret this." I haven't regretted it yet. I am not advising others to follow that course, but I believe it was best for me.
Vance Havner served as pastor of several churches early in his career, but for most of his ministry was an itinerant prophet at church revivals and evangelism and bible conferences. He wrote forty books and was one of the most widely quoted preachers of the last century. With his dry humor and sharp mind he spoke truth that put a smile on your face but pierced your heart.
I heard Vance Havner at various conferences and once in a seminary chapel service. When I heard him preach I was always amazed that such a slight, wiry man could pack such a mighty punch with his delivery and message.
I met him only one time. I was his chauffeur to drive him to a preaching engagement. When he greeted me at the door of his small apartment, he warmly invited me in and showed me his humble dwelling.
As we rode to and from the conference where he addressed several thousand people, I was overwhelmed by his humility and honesty. He spoke with compassion about the struggles of some of his friends who were “household names” in the Christian world. I remembered reading how he stated his mission, “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
My home community was called Jugtown because in the early years there were little shops up and down the road where the potters wrought vessels of clay. I lived the simple, happy life of an old-fashioned country boy. I tramped the woods with a shepherd dog. There was plenty of outdoors, and all the plain joys of rustic youth uncushioned by modern conveniences. It would drive a teen-ager frantic these days but I thrived on it.
Father was an austere but devout Christian, the pastor's right-hand man at old Corinth Baptist Church. The country preachers always stayed at our house on Saturday before the fourth Sunday in each month, when they came by horse and buggy to preach the monthly sermon. Some of those sermons were long enough to last a month and sounded more like filibusters - but it was sound preaching. Father always let me sit up late on those Saturday nights, before the open fire, and listen to him and the minister talk about the things of God. It beat all the television that has been seen since.
Father should have been a preacher. Two of his brothers did preach; one as a Baptist, the other as a Methodist. Mother was a gentle, kindly soul content to be a housewife. Her life as a "keeper at home" would be anathema to the emancipated woman of today.
I grew up with a Bible in one hand a bird book in the other. Pilgrim 's Progress, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and a set of good classical literature formed our library. I never knew the day when I did not feel that I should preach and write. I memorized Bible portions, made little Sunday School talks, and sent my first "sermon" to our small-town newspaper when I was nine.
When I was ten, I professed faith in Christ. A revival was in progress at Corinth Church, but I came to Jesus alone in the woods. Always following an unbeaten path, I did not go to the mourner's bench as the custom was, but made my decision in a solitary place. There was no dramatic experience such as some can relate; I came as a child in simple trust. I did not understand all about the plan of salvation. I do not understand all about electricity, but I don't intend to sit in the dark until I do.
I was baptized in the South Fork River and a year later I asked the church to license me to preach. I began with a talk at the First Baptist Church of Hickory, twelve miles from my home. I have been in bigger towns and churches since, but none looked as large as did Hickory that night. Dad and I went over in an early Ford with thirty horsepower - twenty of them dead. I stood on a chair and spoke while the pastor of the church stood on one side and the state evangelist stood on the other: like Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses.
[I grew up in this church. My father told me the pastor of FBC Hickory that stood by Vance was the man that drew my grandfather to move from Petersburg VA to Hickory. See my post “Modern Antique” on February 8, 2008]
For several years I preached on Sundays in town and country churches as a boy preacher. Of course, crowds came out of curiosity. Then I went to a Baptist boarding school called South Fork Institute. I was not a star student, but often sat listening to a bird singing outside rather than to a professor teaching on the inside. I went next to what is now Gardner-Webb College. It was during the First World War. We were singing Tipperary and Over There, and girl students wept as boy friends left for camp and for France to make the world safe for democracy. It hasn't been safe for anything since.
The principal of this school advised me, one day, to blaze my own trail instead of following the prescribed course of ministerial training. He told me that I was no genius, but would do well to follow an unbeaten path. I went on to Catawba College for a year, then to Wake Forest. I was restless and wanted to preach. One day, I packed my belongings and left. A professor saw me at the railroad station and said, "Young man, you'll regret this." I haven't regretted it yet. I am not advising others to follow that course, but I believe it was best for me.
Vance Havner served as pastor of several churches early in his career, but for most of his ministry was an itinerant prophet at church revivals and evangelism and bible conferences. He wrote forty books and was one of the most widely quoted preachers of the last century. With his dry humor and sharp mind he spoke truth that put a smile on your face but pierced your heart.
I heard Vance Havner at various conferences and once in a seminary chapel service. When I heard him preach I was always amazed that such a slight, wiry man could pack such a mighty punch with his delivery and message.
I met him only one time. I was his chauffeur to drive him to a preaching engagement. When he greeted me at the door of his small apartment, he warmly invited me in and showed me his humble dwelling.
As we rode to and from the conference where he addressed several thousand people, I was overwhelmed by his humility and honesty. He spoke with compassion about the struggles of some of his friends who were “household names” in the Christian world. I remembered reading how he stated his mission, “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Vance Havner was a master of the aphorism, the pithy, proverb-like statement. Here are some quotes from him:
They didn’t hold revivals in those days, they turned them loose!
The Bible is either absolute or obsolete.
In this day people are asking, "What must I do to succeed?" instead of "What must I do to be saved?"
Many people are in a rut and a rut is nothing but a grave--with both ends kicked out.
They didn’t hold revivals in those days, they turned them loose!
The Bible is either absolute or obsolete.
In this day people are asking, "What must I do to succeed?" instead of "What must I do to be saved?"
Many people are in a rut and a rut is nothing but a grave--with both ends kicked out.
The church is so subnormal that if it ever got back to the New Testament normal it would seem to people to be abnormal.
It's about time we quit playing church in these services that start at eleven o’clock sharp and end at twelve o’clock dull.
If we don't come apart; we will come apart.
Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, “Shake well before using.” That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them well before they are ever usable.
It is better to die for a conviction than to live with a compromise. Self-preservation is a powerful instinct, but it is not the most important thing on earth.
It is better to die for a conviction than to live with a compromise. Self-preservation is a powerful instinct, but it is not the most important thing on earth.
Two weeks ago our Sunday School class studied the move of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem by King David. To hear Vance Havner preach on the “Steadying the Ark of God” click on http://www.podfeed.net/episode/Steadying+The+Ark+Of+God+by+Vance+Havner/1036251
March 8, 2008
CAROLINA IN MY MIND
Late Friday evening, into the early hours of Saturday morning, I watched “Great Performances” on a local PBS affiliate. The performer was James Taylor. Like many of his admirers, I have enjoyed his music for almost 40 years. He closed his concert with one of my favorites, “Carolina In My Mind.”
A fellow named Tom put together the music video below, featuring some of his favorite scenes of the state. Click the arrow in the lower left corner.
It is a 90 minute drive from our home to cross the state line into North Carolina. Upon entering the Old North State I blow my car horn and breathe a sigh of relief to be back home.
At other times I just have to be content “going to Carolina in my mind.” I have lived in Georgia for 20 years but I will always be a Tar Heel. I quickly add that I am from the Tar Heel state but NOT a UNC fan.
Today is a big day for basketball fans in North Carolina. At noon my Wake Forest Demon Deacons take on the NC State Wolf Pack. Then at 9 p.m. comes the greatest rivalry in college sports, in my opinion, when the Duke Blue Devils play the UNC Tar Heels.
Unfortunately, there is a sorrowful, stunned sadness on the UNC campus this week. The murder of Eve Carson, the beautiful and bright student body president, is not only a shock, but a tragic loss to her family, friends, campus, and the world that she was on mission to touch. May God give grace and comfort to her loved ones.
A fellow named Tom put together the music video below, featuring some of his favorite scenes of the state. Click the arrow in the lower left corner.
It is a 90 minute drive from our home to cross the state line into North Carolina. Upon entering the Old North State I blow my car horn and breathe a sigh of relief to be back home.
At other times I just have to be content “going to Carolina in my mind.” I have lived in Georgia for 20 years but I will always be a Tar Heel. I quickly add that I am from the Tar Heel state but NOT a UNC fan.
Today is a big day for basketball fans in North Carolina. At noon my Wake Forest Demon Deacons take on the NC State Wolf Pack. Then at 9 p.m. comes the greatest rivalry in college sports, in my opinion, when the Duke Blue Devils play the UNC Tar Heels.
Unfortunately, there is a sorrowful, stunned sadness on the UNC campus this week. The murder of Eve Carson, the beautiful and bright student body president, is not only a shock, but a tragic loss to her family, friends, campus, and the world that she was on mission to touch. May God give grace and comfort to her loved ones.
November 16, 2007
DEACONS DUMPED
Ever seen those guys in the inner city standing on the street corner with a sign saying, “Will Work for Food”?
Several months ago I had the joy to be the guest minister for the first Sunday worship service at The Reserve in South Carolina (see blog for September 3, 2007).
The weather was warm and sunny. The tail-gating was filled with delicious food, and meeting their friends was nice. But once the game started things looked pretty challenging for my WF Demon Deacons.
It is rough to be surrounded by 80,000+ orange-clad, screaming and avid (if not rabid) fans. Alas, the Clemson Tigers whipped the Deacons with a 44-10 win.
I had to eat a lot of crow. I tired to serve up more appetizing spiritual food at the worship service on Sunday morning.
I wish the best for the Clemson Tigers at their next game as they host Boston College in a very important game for Atlantic Coast Conference divisional honors. Video shows how the Clemson team enters the stadium.
Several months ago I had the joy to be the guest minister for the first Sunday worship service at The Reserve in South Carolina (see blog for September 3, 2007).
I told them then, “Will Preach for Football Tickets”. That is, I would be glad to lead the worship service again if they would invite me back to the Wake Forest – Clemson football game.
Last Saturday Cissy and I anticipated an exciting afternoon when the day finally arrived for the football game. Indeed it was a great time to be at Clemson with our hosts, Don & Jane Kelley. Don still holds some Clemson and ACC football records.
The weather was warm and sunny. The tail-gating was filled with delicious food, and meeting their friends was nice. But once the game started things looked pretty challenging for my WF Demon Deacons.It is rough to be surrounded by 80,000+ orange-clad, screaming and avid (if not rabid) fans. Alas, the Clemson Tigers whipped the Deacons with a 44-10 win.
I had to eat a lot of crow. I tired to serve up more appetizing spiritual food at the worship service on Sunday morning.
I wish the best for the Clemson Tigers at their next game as they host Boston College in a very important game for Atlantic Coast Conference divisional honors. Video shows how the Clemson team enters the stadium.
June 4, 2006
SPORTS DAY
The baseball game had been rained out the night before so I expect there were a lot of people like me who scrambled at the last moment to fill empty spots for this makeup game. We arrived at the bottom of the first inning.
Our seats were on the fifth row behind home plate so we were up close to the action. Unfortunately, the Braves lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4 to 2.
Evan and I drove back home for us to rest briefly and pick up Cissy to meet my son Seth and his “Roswellington” family (they live in Roswell) for the Atlanta Silverbacks soccer game. They beat the Charleston Battery, 3 to 2.
This game was the first for the Silverbacks in their new stadium. Seth is the project manager for the construction company that has done all the work for the
In the first phase he built two synthetic turf fields and a grass field with state-of-the-art lighting and drainage systems, plus parking. This second phase just completed is a 3,000 seat stadium (which was sold-out last night). The third phase will be to increase seating to 7,500 with a health club and administrative offices. The final stage will be an upper deck to increase total capacity to 15,000 seats.
Seth was on-site Friday night and all day Saturday helping to make sure the stadium was ready to open the gates. You can go to the Silverback website (http://www.atlantasilverbacks.com/) and notice that my flash show of the game is better than theirs! (Their website might be updated with other photos by the time you read these words.)
We got home shortly after 11 p.m. for me to hear the wrap up comments of the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns NBA western conference championship. I have never followed NBA post season as fervently and faithfully as this year. Along with all the other fans I have not been disappointed with all the great series, both in the east and west.
For the last two years I have been pulling for
Just before going to bed, I went on-line to see how my Wake Forest Demon Deacons played in the NCAA golf championship. They had been charging to win the team and individual titles. However, the team tied for third, and Deacon Kyle Reifers tied for second place. Still, not bad! It was a good sports day for me.
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