And the Victory Bells will Ring Out!!!!

TECH 34-27 OU

Enough Said!

It's Been an Interesting Week to Say the Least...

This week has not been your typical week in Abilene, Texas. The things that have happened here in West Central Texas have really hit my core. I woke up Sunday morning to find out that a man had been murdered for asking some people to leave his house. I honestly can't believe that asking someone to leave your house is cause enough to think you have the right to kill him. Michael was beaten and stabbed to death at HIS home. The blood stains are still in the street from the senseless act of violence. Rest In Peace Michael. Heaven has another special angel watching over us.

We made a quick trip to Dallas on Tuesday night to take care of some personal matters on Wednesday. It was an awesome trip. Tom and I played Nintendo Wii until almost 1:00 a.m. We are hooked. I think we might give each other that for Christmas. I was completely soaked with sweat when we were done playing tennis. It was quite a site. On Wednesday we went to lunch with mom after we were done with our meeting. Guess where we went? It was Wednesday, and Wednesdays in Dallas are cheap enchilada day at El Fenix. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. YUMMY STUFF!!! Mom got me some El Fenix hot sauce and chips as my birthday present. AWESOME!!! We also spent some time with Teresa and her girls. They were in town for the Hannah Montana show in Fort Worth. Hannah Montana...who would have figured Billy Ray Cyrus's daughter could pull off a smashing success. That girl has got it going on!

I attended the funeral of Michael Myrick on Thursday. It was a graveside service. I bet there were close to 200 people there. We left Abilene and carpooled to the Hawley Cemetery for the service. While at the service I met Chrissie Mouton the news reporter from KTXS. What a weird place to run into her. You see she is good friends with Lisa Spooner. Who is Lisa Spooner? Lisa was Lisa Dalzell before meeting Ron and she also was a Miss Lake O' the Pines who went onto win the Crown of Miss Texas. Anyways, Lisa said Chrissie and I needed to meet since we both live here in Abilene. Well we finally did. She is awesome person. I can't wait to spend more time with her.

Fast Forward to Thursday night and my Ethics class. The topic for tonight's class was "Morality, Marriage, and Human Sexuality." That should tell you enough right there. Long story short, I walked out of the class because I was not shown the same respect that other students in the class were given by the instructor. He allows them to ramble on about an assortment of off the topic conversations rather than teaching the class. When it came my turn to comment on an expressed opinion he made earlier in the class, I was given two sentences worth of time before he started talking over me. He completely dismissed my opinion as not relevant to his discussion and moved on with class. There is one thing in this world that I cannot stand and that is IGNORANCE. And for the 45 minutes that I was in class last night, a majority of the comments were full of ignorance.

And here we are at Friday. Tomorrow is Tom's birthday. I gotta go shopping and get him something. He has to work all day so maybe I could just get it tomorrow. Nah....today would be better.

Until next time. Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

Something to Think about!!

Came across this story today, and I think it has some good things to say about our concept of God, sin, and evil.

The professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God's good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"

"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"

"Er...yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "From God"

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then
God is evil."

Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."

"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

There was silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."

"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."

"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. “A very good semester, indeed.”

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teachingyour opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," The student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

Last Week...

These are the awesome folks that sat at my table at the Junior League Christmas Carousel Gala on Saturday Night. We had a BLAST!!!
I lost my keys in the process, but oh well.

This is the Awesome Harley that was in the picture area as you walked into gala.

Our house decorated for Halloween.
We ran out of candy at 9 pm so we turned off the light.

Lola in the very scary Shark Costume.

Shelby waiting to cast a spell on you!