If You Don't Know Me, Now's Your Chance!`

I am writing this post in haste, or posthaste, whichever you prefer, for several reasons, some obvious, some not quite so evident unless you know my schedule. So, please accept my apologies for any grammatical or technical errors that may occur.

I am not usually a person to talk about myself, because I find it makes me feel arrogant and self-centered, but I have decided to make an exception because, frankly, I cannot think of any kind of intelligent subject matter to banter to. My mind is exhausted thinking of all of the things that Christian education can be, should be, should do, can do, has done, will do, etc... so I have decided to present you with a short autobiography. 

I was born in Nashville, Tennessee in the year 1990 to my wonderful parents, Joe and Becky Collins, and moved to Mississippi in 2001. I was a resident of the Gulf Coast until recently when I relocated to Clinton to be a Music Education Major at Mississippi College. I have skipped over some more intimate details on purpose, considering the nature of this publishing. I sing in several choirs, have done so all my life, and love and appreciate good music, musicians, and music teachers. I like video games, as all 'guys' do, especially racing and role playing games. I would like to become a music teacher at a high school or college when I graduate, and my biggest dream is to open a private boarding school for the arts on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Now, you know a little bit about me, I would like to share with you one of my most memorable events. 

Katrina, the word carries with it some heavy baggage, along with memories of homes, cars, favorite scenes, even possibly loved ones, but I feel that this was a big turning point in my life. the Friday and Saturday before 'the storm' were spent in mundane effort at organizing a garage sale for my church's youth choir to travel to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a choral festival the following summer. Everybody went on with their work, some in silent determination, others in silent angst. We all finished the work on Friday and left for home, thinking about what possibilities lie ahead. Saturday was tense, everyone wanted to leave early to make preparations, because, as you may know, there is a lot more work to be done to prepare for a hurricane than simply throwing some plywood up and heading north. We, my mother and I, decided to go straight home and pack and head to Tennessee, where we would stay with family friends until the chaos was resolved. 

We stayed in Tennessee until Wednesday, August 31, then headed for grandparents and aunts and uncles in Virginia. We led a 10-vehicle caravan of supplies, workers, and hope to the Coast, driving all through the night, loaded with everything from money to bottled water, gas cans to firearms. when we arrived home, we saw weary faces, blank looks, prayers, TV cameras, National Guardsmen, and MOST of all Christians. The Red Cross, well, they did little besides publicity and hand out some bottled water, it was the Christian churches that did the most work. We worked for weeks and helped our neighbors. We worked for months and helped our towns. We are still working, helping our Coast.

I would like to put more in here, and maybe soon I will, but I am terribly late for a previous engagement, please excuse the incompleteness, I will tie up loose ends in the next post. 

God is Great! BIG NUMBER 3

          He is not a reflection of us, but we should be a reflection of Him, He is perfect, we are imperfect, He created us, and we are to praise Him for our very existence, lest that statement creep in to the rest of the text, ‘OUR VERY EXISTENCE’, what an awesome thought it is to know that we could not have even existed because of one entity. I do not mean that we, as in Dr. Randle, Mr. Howell, and the rest of the class could not have existed as a group, I mean that there would be no New York City, no Tokyo, no Italy, no Earth, we would not have won or fought the Civil War, there would have been no America, no one would have been around to save humanity from the flood, no flood would have occurred, no ‘us’ would have occurred, there would have been no Jesus, no need for Him, no King David, no Israel, no Moses, no Jacob, Isaac, or Abraham, etc… If God did not want us, all of the things we celebrate and hold dear, Jesus, the Bible, our history, church, family, friends, our things, would not have ever been. Without the fall of man, there would have been no Jesus, which is not to raise humanity’s view of itself because, in the same right, there would have been no reason for Him to die.

            God has given us all of earth to subdue, tame, and use for His Glory. If we choose to use the earth for our glory, what glory will there be in the earth, since when do we even have any glory to use anything for. When is the last time any of us did anything righteous? Not just ‘right’, it may be right to fill up your car with gas before it is left on the side of the road empty, but when, unless your car is used for mobile evangelism, is that righteous? For that matter, what is Righteous? It has taken me a while to come up with an answer, but I think that this is what I will say for now, anything that is in the will of God, that we do, willingly, for His name’s sake. To just clear out all the cobwebs, what is righteous may not always be right, because the definitions of ‘right’, of which there are many, include: ‘accurate, or consistent with the facts or general belief’‘, ‘…consistent with generally held ideas of morality and proper conduct’, and ‘in the usual or expected state’. These all point at human opinion, which, let us be honest, is rarely Godly. Being righteous has to do with what God intends or wants, whereas being right involves popular opinion, Roe v. Wade being an excellent example.

            If we are to be in the will of God, should we even think of ourselves? Of course we should, but not in the manner of how we are seen in other’s eyes. We should think of ourselves in the manner of how we are executing God’s will, how close we are to Him and His will. God is. That is one of the most bland statements you can make, at least as far as human opinion is concerned. With only two words, it makes the most powerful statement in mankind. “I think therefore I am.” Descartes said this, existentially, with all thought towards man. “God is”, the statement defines all that we believe in, and it also is a huge gamble. If God is not, then we have nothing to believe in, and we all have no purpose for living. Living without purpose is not impossible, people do it everyday, but purposeful living is incredible. Purposeful living is what we should do everyday, but living in God’s purpose, that is what we should strive for. I challenge us all to live in God’s purpose, and for that matter, to discover what his purpose is for our lives.

If you act now, you could receive a $5,000 gift card to Persian Rugs-R-Us.

Most people wouldn’t call the 1-800 number at the bottom of the screen, but allow me to entertain the notion that all people consider calling. Even if only for a split second, we all wonder where our phone is. Our next thought is usually that it is probably too good to be true, and even if it isn’t we will have to give out every scrap of information that defines us as to who we are. Some people view Christianity in this light, as an offer too good to be true, they wonder where their phone to Jesus is, in the next moment realizing that they will have to give up all of their ‘stuff’ that creates their identity to live in hope of eternal life. Some churches have placed Christianity on the table as a risk-free once in a lifetime offer, which it is not. It is not offered once in a lifetime, there are many opportunities to become a Christian throughout your life, and it is not always happy-go-lucky, jovial people in suits and ties saying, “Have a Blessed Day!” Sometimes our faith is tested and people may look down on us, that is the risk we take for Christ, a small risk it is, yet we instinctively make mountains out of molehills.

            Christianity is not something that comes up at three o’clock in the morning when we cannot get to sleep and are bored. It should be our whole lives. It should be all that we are, but some people make excuses to ignore the long-term so that they can enjoy the short-term. Humanity is permeated by this kind of mediocrity. When was the last time fast-food was an enjoyable experience? Even if the service was good, the restaurant was probably not clean, the food may have been cold, and your order may have been incomplete or incorrect. These problems are not caused by incompetence, or ignorance, rather indifference and lack of joy. Joy? What does joy have to do with putting the correct number of pickle slices on a hamburger? Well, if you are joyous—this does not mean happiness which I will get to in a minute—then you will have a desire to work hard and you will have determination to do the best you can. Now, what is joy? Joy is, in my opinion, the realization that you serve a mighty God, and seeing all of the beauty in his creation. Happiness is the short-term warm and fuzzy feeling that happens when you get something you want. Happiness can come from a shopping mall, whereas joy only comes from God. Our faith in God and prayer to him provides us peace, and following his commands, reading his scriptures, and caring for his creation gives us peace.

            Some actually make the call, give up all that they have to, and complete the transaction. Days, weeks, and months later they find that the product was not as good as they had envisioned it, and they put it in the closet, along with their salad spinners, magic makeover make-up kits, and revolutionary new never dull kitchen knives. Tragic as it is, this happens all too often, and we need to stop it. A challenge that I gave in my prompt response this week was to stop moving only when where you are in the faith gets uncomfortable, but to start moving towards Christ until where you are becomes uncomfortable. If we all heed this advice, we may end up a little shaken, but we will be much closer to where God wants us to be.

 

Why?

            Mississippi College’s academic programs are good, the school has some good teachers, it has decently strict admissions standards, the sports teams have respectable standings in their league. To the indifferent outsider, Mississippi College is average; extraordinary is not a word many people would use to describe it. Mississippi College is the oldest four-year college, largest private university, and largest Baptist university in the state. It has the top-rated water fitness program in the country, these are distinctive characteristics, how do they not stand out?

            Its music department is one of the finest in the area, its voice students compete and win at the National Association of Teachers of Singing regional and state contests, beating out students from the powerful likes of the aforementioned Florida and Louisiana State Universities. Its premiere vocal ensemble, The MC Singers, have had invitations to sing alongside legendary choirs from schools such as North Texas State University, Concordia University, and Florida State University at national and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the leading authority on choral music in the country. Music department alumni go to study at some of the country’s best music conservatories, Eastman, Juilliard, and Cincinnati to name a few. Why does the music department, with these exceptional qualities, not stand out in its field?

            Mississippi College does not have a leading Political Science department, yet it has supplied Mississippi with five of its governors. The school has alumni that have gone on to achieve great feats of mankind; sending rockets into space and competing among the world’s greatest athletes. Six Southern Baptist Convention presidents, presidents of several of Southern Baptist seminaries, and a director of the International Mission Board have walked through its gates. Mississippi College has granted degrees to three of the chief justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court, heads of the American Medical Association, and heads of the American Board of Pathology. Well over one hundred college and university presidents were educated here. With all of this heritage, why has Mississippi College not gained a more prominent position in the academic world?