It's the most wonderful time of the year!?

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Not just because we give, and most importantly, get gifts (just kidding). It's my favorite time of the year because this is the time when we celebrate unity, family, Jesus. When it comes to Christmas let's remember that Jesus really is the reason for the season. More importantly, though, we as Christians have to keep in mind that Jesus is the reason, period.

At the baptism of Jesus, the Father and the Spirit are present (Matthew 3), indicating the diversity of the Trinity as well as the unity. In Deuteronomy 6, God reminds his people of the importance of family and why we should as mature adults pass our faith on to the next generation. The Bible in general reminds us of the importance of Jesus, our Savior.

This holiday season, I want to encourage you to focus on what is important: finding ways to be unified amidst all the diversity; finding ways to pass your faith on to the next generation that you have the privilege of spending time with this season; finding ways to give glory to Jesus for what he has done for you, not just this season, but for eternity.

If you have any prayer requests please feel free to let me know. I am here for you, to pray for you, to encourage you. God bless and Merry Christmas!

The DED guy

Last time I had a chance to submit anything I was sitting happily in my professor chair, minding my own business. About one week ago, TBC's president Strom and our academic dean, Dr. Dusing, invited me into the prez's office for a 'meeting'. "Pink slip for me." That's what I thought. Quite the opposite.

President Strom proceeded to assure me that I was called into the inner sanctum for a good reason. He and Dr. Dusing said that they had been thinking for a bit that I would be a likely candidate to fill the shoes of the Distance Education Director (the DED guy). Needless to say, I was shocked. They appreciated my excitement about where the college could go with the technology that we currently have, as well as where we could go with technology that we could acquire.

I told them that I would need to pray about it and talk to my wife and family before making such a big decision. So I did. I prayed, wrestled with God, panicked, freaked out a little, and, with God's help, felt a peace about it. So, Tuesday, June 16, I accepted the position of Distance Education Director for Trinity Bible College and I am very excited.

God has provided so much for us, he has opened so many doors for us. Please pray for and with me that I can help TBC to move forward with a vision and determination to provide a quality education and experience from Trinity Bible College.

If you are interested in checking out TBC's distance education program, or would simply like more information please contact TBC at 1-800-523-1603. You can also join a TBC DE group on my facebook page at facebook.com/setownsend and join the 'tbc distance education' group or follow me on twitter at 'tbcde'.

Farewell, for now.

Peace Sign, Baby!

My daughters were asking me about the peace sign today. You know, the circle with the vertical line going down the middle with two angled lines near the bottom of the vertical line. They heard that the peace sign is actually a broken, upside down cross.

I'm not one, necessarily, to argue too much. I can be kind of a quiet person. However, this question sort of got to me. Before I became a Christian I was involved in the kind of lifestyle that proponents of 'the peace symbol' as noted above, lived. I had my acid washed jean jacket with the big peace symbol marked in big fat permanent marker on the back of the jacket. I was all for peace, etc...Not once, as I walked in these circles, did I ever hear anyone refer to this symbol as an upside down broken cross. Why?

I believe that we as Christians can become so put off by what society does, or does not do, that we feel we have no choice but to complain, point our fingers, yell a little bit, maybe even kick a little dust off our feet. But, when we are confronted with the requirement to approach those same people with love (the people we yelled at, pointed fingers at, etc.) we find ourselves involved in a little holy tension. We say to ourselves, and to God on occasion, "Oh God, thank you so much for not making me like that person over there. Thank you for giving me a place to call home; away from them and in your arms." We hide. We like to hide. We don't want to get stained by the world, we want to tell the world what is wrong with it and then let God sort it out. We're like the Marines, "Kill 'em all and let God sort them out."

Okay, this is a bit off topic from the peace symbol thing. But there are other things we as Christians point our fingers at. What about music? In the 80's it was Christian rock. In the 90's it was secular music (still is). We have been opposed to neck ties ( a long time ago...this one is okay :) ). We have been opposed to movie theaters (not movies necessarily, just movie theaters. (Yeah, weird). And the list goes on.

I guess what I am trying to say is, we could probably make more headway for Jesus if we stopped banning everything and start living our lives for Jesus, even around those that we used to be like.

Enough ranting and raving. What do you think?

American Idol

Well, there has been a lot of buzz about the winner of American Idol, I would say. Personal, I am happy with the decision. I have always liked Kris and Danny. Not just because they are Christians, but they also are very talented.

One aspect about this decision that excited me the most was Adam's response to a reporter when asked about his sexual preference and how some may tie it to his loss. The reporter asked, essentially, 'what is your response to people who say you lost because you are gay?' Adam's response was refreshing. He said, essentially, 'I don't think I lost because I am gay, I lost because Kris is a better performer.' I appreciate that perspective from anyone. Whether it's sexual preference, religious affiliation, race, etc...keeping yourself grounded and in reality is refreshing.

Adam was a great performer. I don't really know why he didn't win, but I am pleased with the result. Not because Kris is a Christian, but because he was such an underdog for so much of the season. He must have something going for him if he was able to rise to this level out of nearly nowhere.

What do you think?