March Madness, Sadness, Gladness

I pride myself in being so adept at all things college basketball. I really do not believe that about myself, but I continue to deceive myself year after year, especially during March Madness. I chose my final four teams through careful study, prayer, and casting lots (none of those are true). I go by gut and sometimes override my team loyalties with thinking too hard. If you know me, you know that Dook is my least favorite team followed closely by KU. I think Coach K is a coaching genius and would love it if he coached anywhere else but the two aforementioned teams. All that to say, I had Dook as the national champion. I know. Crazy and against all my true team loyalties, those being UNC and Mizzou. I was not sad to see Arizona thrash Dook the other night by 14. It busted my bracket but it did my heart good. I had Kansas, Pitt and OSU as my other final four teams. All wrong! I can pick 'em.

I was a little sad that UNC lost to UK. I had UNC losing that round but not to UK. I am not a UK hater but I am not a Calipari fan at all. I think he and that other joker at Louisville (must be a Kentucky thing) are really good coaches - they must be since both of them are the only coaches to take three different teams to the final four - but they both seem so shady and make good mobsters (I do not totally believe this however).

Gladness comes in the form of VCU - good for them, and especially Butler. To get there last year and to repeat to the final four is a strong statement. I really like Brad Stevens. Great demeanor; never seems to get rattled; and talks of morals and values. Butler is my clear favorite in my heart. Also, props to Calhoun who has overcome alot of adversity, much of which he brought on himself regarding sanctions, but his personal loss of a good friend from college days and a member of his family.

Most of my gladness comes in this form however, - thankful for time spent with our whole family this past weekend. God has so blessed us as a family. Even the guy Shelbi hangs around with is a great, young man. He and I had a conversation about shopping while we waited in the car listening to the ballgame while all the girls shopped. He says, "Mr. Turner, I just do not get the shopping thing. I agreed that I did not understand it either but that I understood that the ladies like to do it, so we get it enough to make sure they get to do it." I thought it was good advice. Kind of like many issues in life. I do not always get it, but I understand enough not to go fighting battles that are not mine or are not even battles in the first place.

Another gladness - the knee is recovering well. So very thankful and blessed. Able to ride the bike, elliptical, and do all kinds of stretching and exercises. It is getting stronger and this time off of running has allowed me to be much more balanced in my workouts. I needed that. Makes me glad.

I Love Creativity

If you know me well, you know that I am not very creative. But, I can find others who are and that is what you will see in this Men's ministry conference being offered by Northwood Church.


Northwood Men's Conference from Northwood Church on Vimeo.

Alaska Adventures

Last Tuesday I left early in the am and headed towards Anchorage via ATL and MSP. I met my brother, James, in MSP and we loaded up for Anchorage. We got in before dark, saw lots of snow, mountains, and icy waters as we landed. We were both pretty tired but stayed up, grabbed some dinner, said Wow! alot at the scenery and hit the hay about 9p AST.

Wednesday, we were up early but it does not get daylight until about 830a so we exercised, destroyed USA Today and the local Anchorage paper and then headed towards Seward. Beautiful drive of about 3 hours through the Turnagain Arm area and lots of snow covered mountains. We saw a few moose on the drive down and seals and bald eagles in Seward. Good conversation with one of the locals telling us about the fishing travails
in the area. Halibut was just in season and expensive! On the ride back we stopped at an animal refuge and saw bison, bears, bear cubs, reindeer, moose and various other animals. Good times!

Thursday morning we woke to snow that all totaled probably 4.5-5 inches. Enough to shut down most southern cities for a couple of days but just a "dusting" as they called in Anchorage. It did not slow them down a bit. We watched alot of NCAA March Madness both Thursday and Friday. We got out and did a little trip to Wasilla, saw the Iditarod starting point, checked out Sarah Palin's house, drove to a ski resort for the view of Mt. McKinley and Friday night began the Youth Evangelism Conference and my buddy Jeff Wallace did a great job of sharing the Word. I taught sessions on Saturday and so enjoyed being with the youth leaders from Alaska. Great people who love God and love students. Sunday consisted of church in the am, more basketball, some rest and packing for the return trip home.

So much fun to spend time with my brother. He is a great guy that God is obviously using to make a difference in people's life and in my life this past week. The picture above is a shot of us yesterday as we were parting ways in MSP as he headed to Kansas City and I flew towards Nashville. Great times with a great brother.

From Slave Patricius to St. Patrick

So for many, St. Patrick's day is about green beer and pinching others, but the real story of Patricius is far from green beer and pinching. Today we celebrate the life and work of St. Patrick who brought the good news of the Gospel to the Emerald Isle and her people.

Who was this man Patrick, and what were his great accomplishments that so many should celebrate him more than 1500 years after he left this earth? Like St. Nicholas, whose identity has been utterly changed into that of a child's Christmas fantasy, the name of St. Patrick is now more generally associated with parades, "Kiss Me I'm Irish" buttons and green bagels than with the great work of evangelization that was his life's work. But Patrick was, as Nicholas, a real person.

Many details about Patrick are lost to us, but there is agreement on several key facts. Patrick was not Irish; he was born on the island of Britain possibly to a Roman family in about the year 387 AD. Raised in relative comfort, his name in Latin was Patricius. At the age of 16 years, he was kidnapped by a party of marauding Irish raiders, carried to Ireland, and sold into slavery. He was sent by his Irish master to tend sheep on the misty hills of Ulster. Miserable and alone, he turned increasingly to prayer. He served this solitary exile for six years until in a dream God told him to flee from his captivity. Walking a great distance to the coast, he found the ship that would take him back to his family.

The reunion with his family was only temporary. In another dream, he described hearing a call from the people of Ireland to come back to them and walk among them. Patrick understood this as God's call to missionary service to go as a Christian witness to the Irish. In answer to that call, he traveled to France where he undertook studies for the priesthood. He was eventually ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre.

Pope Celestine I eventually entrusted to Patrick the mission of evangelizing the Irish, who, on their isolated island, were a pagan and warlike people having never been conquered by the legions of Rome. Fulfilling his youthful dream, Patrick, now a bishop in the company of several disciples, returned to Ireland in March of the year 433 AD. He was almost 50 years old.

Not a great deal is known of Patrick's preaching, but he and his companions were certainly fearless to approach such a fierce, unfriendly population with faith their only protection. However, one story endures. It is that of his use of the simple three-leafed Irish shamrock to illustrate to the high king at the capital at Tara the nature of the Blessed Trinity - Three Persons in One God. It is significant that the shamrock, the metaphor for God Himself, has come down through the centuries as the symbol of the Irish people.

Thomas Cahill, author of "How the Irish Saved Civilization," points out that one of the most remarkable things about St. Patrick's evangelization of Ireland is that it was peaceful. Christianity had come to many other nations in Europe at the point of a sword, only in the bloody aftermath of Roman conquest. Not so Ireland. In those other cases, the conquered nations had accepted Christianity. But in this case, Christianity had accepted Ireland. The evangelizing work of Patrick and those who helped him and came after him was completely successful.

Another of Cahill's observations is that this universal conversion fortuitously came just in time for Christian Ireland to become the repository for almost 200 years of the culture and civilization of Christian Europe, which at that very time was falling into the shadows of barbarian invasion. In due course, Christian missionaries came out of Ireland bringing back to Europe that which had lain beyond the reach of the invaders who had destroyed the Roman Empire. It is not by accident that Ireland has been called the Isle of Saints and Scholars.

From the days of St. Patrick, who died on March 17, 461, down to the present, the Irish have been steadfast in their Christian faith. As a nation, they have suffered much through the centuries. Perhaps the greatest sorrow is that so many have been forced to wander far from the island to which Patrick came to bring them spiritual life. It is not surprising then that when the sons and daughters of Ireland celebrate who they are they do so on the feast of their great spiritual benefactor.

Source: How Now Shall We Live, Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcy and http://www.tothesource.org/3_13_2007/3_13_2007.htm

NFL, iPad2, Earthquakes & Tsunamis

This has been a very surreal day in many ways today. Before you read the rest of this blog, know that I am not really trying to go on a rant, but to establish that our priorities are just messed up if you ask me.

NFL - the owners will not disclose all the financial records; want more and more of the share of revenue and want to extend the season to 18 regular season games. The players are convinced the owners are already getting more than their fair share of revenues; are convinced that 16 regular season games are more than enough. The fans spend amazing amounts of money to watch grown men chase someone with a pigskin and are getting shafted by both owners and players. Players bust up their union. Owners cry foul; fans get short end of stick again.

iPad2 - amazing piece of technology that costs the same as the iPad when it was introduced. Has more capabilities. No pre-sales. Go stand in line, spend money you do not have on a piece of technology that really is very cool. Apple does great things including convincing people that you have to own their products to be cool and that we will manipulate you so much that you will do almost anything to get our technology, because we will convince you, you have to have our stuff.

Earthquakes & Tsunamis - I do not even know what to say about these events today. The videos, pictures of cars, boats, trains, airplanes, houses, buildings, everything being shifted around by water and utterly destroyed. Nuclear sites about to melt down, entire trains disappearing and the people on them gone. Thousands of people unaccounted for and more and more aftershocks of incredible strength continue. Entire towns and villages filled with people, gone. Many Japanese lost their lives today. Many more are unaccounted for and presumed dead.

And we are sad that maybe the NFL will not play a game this year. It is a freaking game that we have allowed to become so much more than it really is. iPads and iPad2s are very cool, but none of them are saving lives in Japan right now.

My heart hurts for the Japanese; for me because I do not know how to really help; and for us as a people who see devastation and loss of life and worry more that maybe our favorite NFL team won't get a shot at a championship or that without the latest technology we will lag behind the world. I am praying that God will break my heart for the things that break His heart.

Here is a good way to get involved now - Baptist Global Response

Out of 7 Billion People, Are You Typical?

Interesting look at population and demographics of the world from National Geographic. Just reiterates why we must tell the Good News.

Orlando, Surgery and Oxycodone

Last week was a pretty interesting week to say the least. I started out in Orlando at the Youth Pastor's Summit that is hosted each year by Universal Studios and Jay Strack. It is a great event bringing in about 2000 youth pastors to be encouraged. This year the main stage speakers were Alex Kendrick/Michael Catt from Sherwood Pictures. They have done Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof and are releasing a new movie Courageous. We screened the movie for about 800 youth leaders and I got to be reacquainted with Michael after many years and to meet Alex. Both wonderful guys do a great media ministry out of a local church.

I visited with our friends the Keators on Tuesday evening and Clark took me to the Magic/Knicks game. Much hype around the Carmelo Anthony trade and the strength of the Knicks, but the Magic came back in the 4th quarter and beat them handily. It was so good to see the Keators. Godly people who continue to show me and others what obedience to Christ looks like in all circumstances. So thankful for their friendship and faithfulness.

I flew home on Wednesday after a morning meeting and had my knee surgery consult in the afternoon. It all went well. Thursday we were up early and Sondra took me to the surgery center. The surgery all went well. First time for general anesthesia & IV and I am pretty sure I did not say anything inappropriate while under sedation. I remember going into the OR and then waking up in recovery. They were able to repair my meniscus, clean up a little arthritis and clean up some stuff that usually goes away when you are an infant. Evidently I had been wanting to hang on to that 47 years or so. Recovery so far has been good. I have stayed off my feet for most of the past two days; icing; and keeping leg elevated. Have taken a little pain meds but stopped that on Fri am and just taking Aleve a couple times a day. Not trying to be tough, it just does not hurt very bad. That oxycodone will mess you up and I decided the sooner I got off that stuff the better.

Morgan came home yesterday and it is nice to have her here. She goes back in a couple of hours but always good to see her. I officially start rehab in the morning and am in town until Tues, 3/15 so looking forward to good recovery and resting when needed.

Happy Birthday Coach Dean Smith

Many of you who know me, think that I have been a North Carolina basketball fan since I was a young boy but actually I am more a Dean Smith fan. Coach Smith has such an impact on my basketball prowess as a young boy that I read most of what he wrote and studied his system along with my school studies. Coach Smith turns 80 and his mind is not as clear as it was when he dreamed up the 4 Corners offense but I like this ESPN clip on a great coach and man. Click here.

Happy Birthday Coach!