Attention Word Slingers readers: Beginning December 11, 2019, all posts will be available at BaptistMessenger.com. Thank you for reading Word Slingers!

Greetings!

I spent way too much time looking for my glasses today. Nothing can change your daily priorities quicker than searching for something you deem vital to your wellbeing.

After hours of retracing, searching, fretting and praying (yes, in that order, and I know I’m wrong for doing so), I found them under the side table next to my chair.

Thank you, Lord, for your provisions and allowing me to find my glasses at the time You wanted me to find them. I am weak, but You are strong.

Here are my thoughts on six timely topics. Thank you for reading!

  1. Kyler’s criticism

Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy last Saturday. I’m happy for the speedy quarterback who definitely is the reason the Oklahoma Sooners have been successful this year.

On Sunday, news broke about Murray tweeting derogatory words that were described as “anti-gay.” Murray was 14 or 15 when he jokingly sent these tweets to his friends. Murray is now 21.

I had no idea junior high kids had Twitter accounts six years ago. I still don’t have a Twitter account. I don’t even know exactly what Murray said, but I don’t need to know.

There’s a couple of reasons I bring this topic up. First, words apparently mean more now than they ever do. You can be held under the court of public opinion for words you said years ago, even if you are a minor.

Second, nothing is private anymore. Of course, with God, nothing ever was private, so perhaps this microscopic fish bowl life can help us realize that our words and actions always matter, regardless of where we are or the stage of life we are experiencing.

Two articles to consider are “America Is Intolerably Intolerant” by David French and “Woke Reporter Tries to Sack Heisman Winner Kyler Murray” by Michelle Malkin.

These both appear on the National Review website, but I like both articles for different reasons. French always gives a great perspective:

“Human beings need forgiveness like we need oxygen. The thing that is so shattering about the shame storm is that it is usually grounded in something a person did wrong — even if it’s a minor transgression. Even if it’s just momentary thoughtlessness. Even if it’s just a tweet.”

Malkin stresses the importance of ethics in journalism. She calls out USA Today sports writer Scott Gleeson, who broke the Murray story, saying, “Gleeson’s hit piece reeks of deceptive vigilantism, not journalism.”

I agree with Malkin that Gleeson did not even give Murray a chance to respond before breaking his story, and he appears to have held Murray’s six-year-old tweets for just such an occasion.

  1. Heisman hullabaloo

Oklahoman sports columnist Berry Tramel gave his thoughts about the story on Murray’s “anti-gay” tweets: “I wonder what kind of society we have become when a 14-year-old’s statements are held against him when he’s 22.”

Tramel also was critical of the people responsible for the Heisman Trophy presentation last Saturday. In his opinion piece titled, “Heisman butchering of Tua Tagovailoa’s name inexcusable,” Tramel made the same conclusion I made when I was watching announcement. I knew before Murray’s name was called that the OU quarterback had won because the presenter, Vasili Krishnamurti, botched Tagovailoa’s name when he was addressing the nominees.

Krishnamurti is a Heisman trustee, as Tramel said, and it was apparent that after a long program Saturday night, he did not pay much attention to how the prominent Alabama quarterback pronounced his last name.

“You had one job,” Tramel wrote. “You had one year to learn. You’re in a city of 10 million people, some of which are more than qualified to teach you how to pronounce a name.”

Thanks to Tramel, I learned that the Downtown Athletic Club, which sponsored the Heisman Trophy, went bankrupt years ago. Now it appears the people responsible for one of the most prestigious athletic awards in the country doesn’t seem to care about whom they are honoring.

  1. Compromising religious liberty

I’m pointing out two talking points made this week by Albert Mohler on his daily podcast The Briefing.

On Thursday, Mohler addressed the announcement of two evangelical organizations, Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and the National Organization of Evangelicals (NOE), attempting to compromise the issue of religious liberty with what has been presented as LGBT rights.

“They’re trying to find a way to encourage the federal government,” Mohler said about CCCU and NOE, “to adopt sexual orientation and gender identity protections that would not come at the violation of religious liberty. Now that sounds like the perfect deal politically, if it were possible. That sounds like a way through this cultural impasse.”

I encourage you to listen to Mohler’s comments or at least read the transcript. I agree that this is not a good move and would hinder religious liberty and those with deep convictions based on biblical teachings.

“So what is this compromise?” Mohler asked. “Is it tenable? Is it possible? The bottom line is I believe it is neither. It is not tenable, it is not possible. You can state, as many will, that it is well intended. But a well-intended mistake is still a mistake. A well-intended wound to religious liberty is still a wound. And that’s what we’re looking at here.”

  1. Saluting Solzhenitsyn

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is not well-known in today’s society, but as Mohler mentioned in today’s Briefing, Solzhenitsyn was very instrumental in the fall of the Soviet Union. Mohler’s talk is excellent, addressing the Russian native who would have turned 100 this week.

“You can understand why Solzhenitsyn came to understand atheism as inherently deadly,” Mohler said. “Christians know that all human beings are complex, but Russian history seems to produce some of the most complex characters of all.”

  1. Messenger printing change

We went to press this week for the final Baptist Messenger of the year. I hope you have a chance to check it out next week. We share 10 of the Messenger’s memorable moments of 2018.

Also, starting in January, the Messenger will have a different print schedule. No longer will it be printed weekly, but instead, it will be printed twice a month.

This has caused quite a stir among our readership, but we plan to keep providing the same content that we always have published. And we hope, with the changes we have made, more people will be reading it because it will be no cost to any churches affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Also, please get the word out that anyone who has received the Messenger through their church membership WILL CONTINUE to receive the Messenger. No need to call the Messenger office. It will continue to be mailed as always.

For more information on Messenger changes in 2019 click here.

  1. Christmas blessings

I conclude this week’s DHD sharing the Christmas blessings I shared in 2016. They are still relevant today.