Greetings!
I’m glad you chose to read my weekly post of Doyle’s Half Dozen. Here’s my thoughts on six timely topics.
- College students need their own church
School has started back, in all grades and levels of education. If you are a young college student who is experiencing your first time away from home, I would encourage you to read Russell Moore’s blog Why You Need a Church (Not Just a Campus Ministry)
Moore gives an endorsement for on-campus Christian ministries such as Baptist Collegiate Ministry, but I am in agreement with him on the importance of college students being involved in a church in the area where they are attending college. He gives five strong suggestions on how a college student can avoid “unchurched spirituality” and how to make the Christian life fresh and exciting while being in college.
- Great SMO videos
In September, many Oklahoma Baptist churches will be promoting the Edna McMillan State Missions Offering (SMO), which benefits nearly 30 state Baptist ministries. The creative videographers who work with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma have done a great job producing four videos that promote SMO.
One of my favorite videos features my friend LeRon West, pastor of Tulsa, Gilcrease Heights. There’s a lot I’ve learned about LeRon through watching this video. I hope you’ll check it out.
- My Connect Group
I mentioned in last week’s DHD that I was back doing what I enjoy — teaching Sunday School. My church now calls it “Connect Groups.”
For our first Sunday meeting together, 10 people attended. This new group is for single adults in the ages of 30s-50s. I was thrilled. There were five ladies and five men, and all 10 of us came on our own. It wasn’t friends starting the class together; few of us even knew each other prior to meeting.
Now I’m excited to see who will come this Sunday! Maybe you will!
- Abortion is not an economic benefit
I listened to Al Mohler’s The Briefing this morning. It was excellent as always. It also got me stirred up.
His opening segment is about Chelsea Clinton giving a speech on how supporting abortion is “great for the American economy.”
Any time I hear somebody paint abortion in a positive flair, I want to immediately call out their foolishness. Mohler did exactly that, referencing Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby, saying Chelsea Clinton has made a “singularly wretched argument.”
Clinton claims abortion allowed women to be involved in the workforce unencumbered by motherhood, adding $3.5 million to the American ecomony. However, as Mohler points out, since 1973 when Roe v. Wade led to legalizing abortion in the United States, 60 million unborn babies were aborted.
“…just imagine what would have been the addition to the United States economy by not only the workforce entry of many of those 60 million American lives, but also the economic impact as consumer and participants in the larger economy,” Mohler said.
- Talking homosexuality to children
I read Lucy Olson’s article this morning, and I think it’s excellent. Check out “Talking to children about homosexuality.”
She references Rosaria Butterfield, whom I greatly admire. If you ever have a chance to hear Rosaria speak, please take advantage of the opportunity, especially since she limits her number of speaking engagements.
- ‘Boom Town’ pre-review
What do you call a report on a book you’re in the middle of reading? Whatever you call it, this is what I’m offering.
This week, I purchased Sam Anderson’s new book “Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, its chaotic founding, its apocalyptic weather, its purloined basketball team and the dream of becoming a world-class metropolis.”
Yep, that’s a long subtitle, one that would make my editor Brian Hobbs very proud.
I have a fascination about Oklahoma history, especially when it centers on my hometown of Oklahoma City. Add elements that involve the Oklahoma City Thunder, and I’m totally engrossed.
Anderson is an excellent author. I’ve never heard of him, but he’s got me hooked in this book.
His New York liberal mindset is a negative. I don’t care for the profanity sprinkled about on a couple of the pages. And since he’s an “outsider,” I naturally take offense in some of his opinions of my homeland. But he also lavishes on the compliments, so it evens out.
Outsider or not, Anderson is educating me on many things I didn’t know about OKC. I did take Oklahoma history; I’m fairly familiar with the Land Run of 1889. However, Anderson goes deeper into state history and shares some fascinating tales.
His narratives on the Thunder are good and mostly fair. I still think people are making a bigger deal on the James Harden trade than they should. Anderson is one of such embellishers.
I’m less than 100 pages in, but so far, it’s great reading. I’ll give a full review when I’m done.