Texas Thanksgiving

I realize that Thanksgiving is long gone now and we have jumped head first into the Christmas season, but I’m just now getting around to unloading my camera of the pictures from Thanksgiving. This year I spent the day with a group of friends from Texas.

Because I work at a Chick-fil-A in a mall, and because the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for us, and because I didn't want to get fired for missing work, I stayed in Louisville rather than travel to the great state of Georgia for the holiday. My buddy Michael Riedl invited me to a Texas Thanksgiving.

There are several infamous sayings about Texas…one in particular I will not mention here, but one of the more well-known ones is “Everything is bigger in Texas.” Well, even though this Thanksgiving feast didn’t take place in Texas, it was very big. There were 13 people there and enough food to leave more than twice that without want. We did our best to devour everything in sight (some did better than others) but there was still a lot left over.

Now anyone who knows me or my family knows that there are some world class cooks involved at our family get-togethers. My grandmother, Edith Buchanan, was one of the best cooks ever and her 3 daughters all seemed to inherit her ability to wow people with culinary delights. I’m looking forward to Christmas for, if nothing else, the good food. Big meals are not anything out of the ordinary for us, so honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my Texas pals.

Well, I can gladly report that, as Grace Stargell puts it, Texans “can burn.” Everything we had was delicious! I even had stuffing for the first time. Real stuffing. Not Stove Top, everybody’s had that mess. My family always makes dressing, the kind you bake, instead of stuffing so this was my first experience with it. Michael's Mom baked the turkey and cooked real stuffing and it was delicious. Another highlight was Aaron White’s (a.k.a. “A-Dub”) bacon-wrapped green beans. They were excellent and easy to make…perfect “guy” food.

Anyway, many thanks to Michael Riedl and all the gang from Texas for inviting me to join them. I had a wonderful time and, of course, a delicious meal. This Thanksgiving I had much for which to be thankful, and spending time with my friends made the day very special, particularly since I couldn’t be with my family.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Grace & Peace
Casey

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting." Psalm 136:1

There was actually more food than this, I couldn't get it all in one shot.

The "Dr. Pepper" gang

Before we prayed and ate, we went around the room and
told some things for which we were thankful.

One of the table centerpieces
Kristin did such a beautiful job decorating.

The "little" table

The "big" table
I was at the foot.

Watching football and trying to stay awake after the big meal

Random Thoughts

Every once in a while, I have a random thought. For example, I just thought about how ugly, yet convenient, Velcro shoes can be. Sometimes I write down my random thoughts. Here are 21 more that I’ve had in the not too distant past, along with a few links to related sites:


1. People almost never get pictures developed anymore.

2. I like magnets and small gadgets the best.

3. Regular and caffeine-free taste exactly the same, I don’t care what anyone says.

4. It’s amazing how rude some people can be over a stinkin’ chicken sandwich.

5. I wish books were free.

6. Artists are weird.

7. Nutter Butters are delicious.

8. I know someone from Texas who likes pork bar-b-q better than beef.

9. Name-brand batteries are worth the price.

10. Children make me happy.

11. I keep up with sports a little bit less, every year.

12. Snow is the only thing that can make a junkyard look pretty.

13. I wish I could buy my favorite kind of bread, half a loaf at a time.

14. I have almost no interest in politics.

15. Whoever invented touch-lamps was a genius.

16. Blogs that contain lists are more likely to be read by me.

17. Burns hurt.

18. Dry erase boards are cool…unless you use a permanent marker.

19. I still don’t like text messaging.

20. I wonder what ever happened to Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

21. Breakfast food is good for any meal.


Feel free to leave a comment with some random thoughts you may have had recently. Remember, the “randomer,” the better.

Grace & Peace
CRH

"But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task" Psalm 73:16 (ESV)

Baptism (part 1)

Today at my church, Grace Church Louisville, we had a beautiful service. It was very exciting, humbling, and wonderful. It was similar to almost every service there I’ve witnessed except for one major thing: We had two baptisms today.

Two men, John and David, made public confessions of faith in Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior by participating in believer’s baptism.

One of the last things Jesus Christ told His disciples before returning to heaven to reign at the right hand of God the Father was “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18b – 20 ESV

David is a man who lives at the Salvation Army Shelter in Louisville. A few of the guys at Grace Church go to the Salvation Army every week to preach the Gospel and David got to know them there. They invited him to church one week and he’s been coming ever since. He’s been faithfully attending Grace Church for quite a while now.

He was raised in the church and was baptized when he was young but now admits that he had no idea what he was doing. He began asking about salvation and baptism and his walk with the Lord, and he and Pastor Mark reasoned from Scripture that he wasn’t truly baptized before, so he got baptized today.

John is a man who just recently started coming to Grace. He actually overheard Pastor Mark talking with someone in a coffee shop. Pastor Mark noticed that he was paying attention to the conversation so he approached him. John soon started attending Grace Church regularly. He grew up attending Catholic school and when his parents separated, he lived with his father. Soon after the separation, he began to get involved with drugs and alcohol. At this point in his life, he was an atheist. He admittedly had contempt for God and anyone who believed in Him.

After his life was getting more & more deeply involved with drugs, he sought help through a rehabilitation facility. He quickly learned that depending on himself was not going to work. His resentment toward God soon turned to openness which soon turned to trust. Recently John was at The Abbey of Gethsemane, a local monastery, where he saw a statue that represented Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. He thought to himself “Jesus, what can I do to make my life right? What can I give you to make up for everything I’ve done?” It was at this point that it dawned on him that he had absolutely nothing to bring. He was completely undone and dependent on the grace of Jesus Christ to save him.

It is so wonderful to welcome these two brothers into the family of God; into the body of Christ. Luke 15:10b says “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (NASB) How joyous a day it was today that two publicly proclaimed their utter dependence on the grace of God! We all rejoice when another soul is brought into the body! All glory and honor and praise to His name! Amen.

Grace & Peace
CRH

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" 1 Peter 1: 3 NASB

First Semester of Seminary

As the end of my first semester at Southern Seminary draws nigh, I figured I’d share a few thoughts about how it has gone so far. If I had to describe my attitude in one word, I guess that word would be “thrilled.”

I’m thrilled by many things here.

I’m thrilled to be in a place where each class begins with reading Scripture and prayer. Coming from a secular university, I’m definitely not accustomed to that.

I’m thrilled to be in a place where Gospel ministers go out each day and tell people about Jesus.

I’m thrilled to be in a place where the future of the Church is being shaped by the leadership of so many brilliant and godly men and women. The professors here are among the most gifted in the world and the students here are examples to me.

I’m thrilled to be a part of something so important in God’s creation. It’s humbling to know that God has the ability, grace, mercy, and love to use someone as flawed and sin-loving as myself to accomplish things that glorify Himself.

I’m thrilled to be a part of a body of believers which meets together to truly worship Jesus Christ and proclaim His love to the community around us as well as the entire world. I love my church.

I’m thrilled to learn so much. I sincerely hope and pray that I can retain much of what I learn here. Every class meeting seems to be better than the one before and I’m learning so much.

I’m thrilled to know what terms like Soteriology, Eschatology, Infralapsarianism, Hermeneutics, and other smart-sounding theological words mean. I do realize that I don’t necessarily need to know what they mean in order to know Jesus, but they do help me to know Him better.

I’m thrilled to make new friends…friends who I know will be there for support, fellowship, wise counsel, and accountability for years to come as a minister. I have already met so many people here whom I love and respect.

I’m thrilled to just sit at the breakfast table with a good friend and have a deep and meaningful conversation about Jesus. It makes me think of what the new Creation will be like after Christ returns. We will constantly be worshipping Him. That doesn’t mean it will be one big long choir practice. Rather, it will be more wonderful than anything we can imagine because sin won’t be holding us back and we’ll be in the presence of Christ Almighty, the Savior.

While there are so many things that thrill me (many more than I've mentioned here), there are also things with which I struggle daily…things that are embarrassing to me and, more importantly, are sins against God.

I struggle with discipline. This semester I took a class called Personal Spiritual Disciplines and it has helped show me just how little discipline I actually have. Lord inculcate me with the desire and grant me Your grace to pursue righteousness! "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:11b-13 ESV)

I struggle with discontentment. I’m not usually the type of person to get too worried about different situations but I’m quick to think things should be happening a different way and that my way would be the best choice. "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!" (Romans 11:33 ESV)

I struggle with lustful sins of the flesh. Being 32 years old and single, it’s a constant struggle to stay pure. Sin is so appealing and I’m so prone to wander. Please, Lord, cleanse me of all unrighteousness. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10 ESV)

Today I heard something I hope I am never able to forget. Every time I sin, I am personally thrusting a sword into the side of my precious Lord and Savior. Every time I sin, I am personally bringing about the suffering and death of Christ. Every new sin I commit is a new sword thrust into Jesus’ side. That’s beyond convicting, that’s heartbreaking. O God, please sanctify me that Jesus Christ would no longer suffer on my account!

I truly look forward to the rest of my time here and I'm excited to see how God will work in my life and the lives of others around me. I look forward to seeing people come to know Him. I look forward to people doing whatever they can to glorify Him. This is a thrilling and wonderful time and I long for Christ to be honored through His Church.

If you’re still reading this, and I hope you are, please know that God loves you so much He sacrificed His Son, Jesus Christ, so that you can be made holy in His sight. Jesus Christ loves you so much He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, for you. Please, please trust in Him. Please give yourself totally to Him.

I pray that my meager words might be used by the Holy Spirit to bring glory to God. The peace of Christ to you.
Casey

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:18 NASB)

Country Gone to Town

Between papers and tests for school, workin' at the Chick, and just plain procrastination at its finest, I've had plenty of reasons (a.k.a. excuses) to wait so long to post something. I suppose it's time to rectify that.

After reading some of the popular blogs around the blogosphere, I've learned that I should keep them short and sweet to get people to read the whole thing, so here goes.

A couple of weeks ago, Mama, Sally, and Nealbert came up to Louisville for a visit. The occasion was my birthday. I took a few days off work to entertain and we had us a big ole time. We did a few touristy things like the Louisville Slugger Factory and the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft, but we mostly just enjoyed the time together and tried a bunch of the local restaurants. We did get to drive through Cave Hill Cemetery and we actually found the grave site of Colonel Harland Sanders, of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame...that was pretty cool.

We had a chance to eat at several restaurants around town. I'd been looking forward to eating at a local place called Mike Linnig's. I've had several people tell me it's the best seafood place in Louisville and after eating there, all I can say is most people in Louisville have no idea what good seafood is. Turns out the best place to get fish is right around the corner from my apartment here on the campus of Southern Seminary. It's called Stan's Fish Sandwich and it's really good. Everything we had was delicious...and we made sure to tell them that they have Mike Linnig's beat! Now if I could just find a good Chinese place...

Anyway, we had a great time and it was good to get to see kin-folks for my birthday. Thanks to Mama, My Dear Aunt Sally, and My Buddy Neal for coming to visit!

Here are a few pictures from the visit:

In the cafeteria on campus:

Evidently, Mama didn't like her ice cream.

Ice cream dipped in some kind of peas probably isn't much better.

I thought we were going to be asked to leave.

Sally likeded hers.

A trippy mirror outside the Louisville Science Center

Hippies and their cars...
(I'm shaking my head in disgust)

Sally was making her selections in the Museum of Art & Craft.

My thought balloon: This is some overpriced JUNK.
Neal's: I wish I was half as cool as Casey.

Mama and Sally trying to figure out where the sausage biscuit booth went

I think I would have won. Neal's stance is all wrong.

That's a big bat.

Throwing pennies off the bridge to see
how long it took them to hit the water

Time to get off the bridge

My best Vanna White pose, showing off the tapestry thing I made
Vanna is jealous.

My birthday cake
Keshia is jealous.

Mark Richt Family Adoption

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27 (HCSB)

Pictures from Churchill Downs

Flower garden inside

These horses are impressive up close.

Historic Infield at Churchill Downs

Where the rich folks go to burn their money

Number 11 won this one...I picked him.
Too bad I didn't put money on it.

Addison and Harper are waiting to rub the horses' noses.
Harper's getting a start by rubbing her own nose.

Addison looking down the track in the hopes of seeing some horsies

Harper playing on the railing

The girls, just like their daddy, paying more attention
to the nice John Deere tractor than the horses

Silly picture time

How cute!

Addison enjoys taking pictures.

Harper tried her hand at self-photography.

Addison was trying to look as cute as possible to get a free snack.

It was a pretty good crowd on opening day.

The handlers taking the horses to get ready to race

This was the crowd to our right.

Headed to the gate

Them suckers are fast!

Other side of the signs:
"You must be at least this short to be a jockey."

And They're Off!

Sunday afternoons are for naps...at least according to my Mama, they are. Lately my Sunday afternoons have been for homework but this past Sunday, I was invited by my friends, Shane & Lana Burchfiel and their sweet girls Addison & Harper, to go to opening day of the horse races at historic Churchill Downs. If you visit Louisville, you can't help but notice the influence of equine activities. The Kentucky state slogan is "Unbridled Spirit" and I believe everyone here has all the different odds payouts memorized.

Many sizable cities have begun placing painted statues all over the place. Usually these animals mean something to the town or act as a symbol of the city. For instance, Athens, Georgia has a bunch of bulldog statues sprinkled all around town, obviously as a tribute to the mascot of the University of Georgia...Go Dawgs! Usually these statues are painted in strange and brightly ornate ways to grab attention. Well, in Louisville, we have horse statues. They're life-sized and gaudily decorated statues but they're kinda neat. The statue in this picture is not a good example because it's in a small garden inside Churchill Downs. The ones in town are crazy looking. Anyway, I haven't been to the horse races since I was a kid and went to the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens near Pine Mountain, Georgia. After church and a quick lunch, Shane, Lana, the girls and I all hopped in the car and headed to the races. It was a pretty cool thing to do and we had a great time.

Because we are common people, we weren't allowed to hit up the "Millionaire's Row" so we sat down in the "regular folks" section. Actually, if you want to be close to the track, it's best to sit down there. We were so close to the horses that we could smell the...dirt on the track. What did you think I was going to say? We sat for a few races, watched and listened to all the people trying to make their fortune by betting on the races (it was kinda sad), then perused all the overpriced souvenirs in the gift shop. It was a fun time and it only cost $3 to get in. Anytime you can have fun without spending a pile of money, it's good with me. I had a great time hanging out with my friends. Thanks to the Burchfiels for inviting me! I'll post some pictures as soon as I can figure out a way to make them show up.

CRH

"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3b (NASB)

My First, and Probably Last, Blog on Politics

Today I read a bit of dialogue taking place between a couple of people on Facebook. The subject was politics. The conversation was an argument over political “groups” on Facebook and their effectiveness. The discussion didn’t involve me but it did cause me to think about my own political opinions and how they’ve been affected by my walk with Christ.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been very conservative. I heard a saying once that if you’re not a Democrat in your 20’s, you don’t have a heart, and if you’re not a Republican in your 30’s, you don’t have a brain (or something along those lines). Well, I guess I’ve never had a heart because, while I’ve never been a card-carrying Republican, I’ve been a Conservative since I was a teenager. Years ago, I was a political junkie and lived to listen to all things political. I watched all the news shows, especially the Fox News Channel, and I was a huge fan of conservative talk radio. I almost never missed an episode of The Neal Boortz show (probably the biggest source of my Libertarian leanings) and even found myself listening to Rush Limbaugh occasionally. It didn’t take me long to get sick of Rush because he’s so full of himself, but you get my point, I liked political stuff.

These days I don’t listen to any of that stuff. Neal Boortz is entertaining but I just got tired of him trying to point out the hypocrisy of Christians while being a hypocrite himself. I don’t listen to Rush anymore, well, because he’s Rush and he’s obnoxious. I don’t watch the news channels anymore because I don’t watch any channels anymore. I have a TV but it’s unplugged and sitting in a closet. It’s not that I don’t think politics is important anymore. Obviously politics affects us all whether we want it to or not. I think it’s quite important and I participate in it, I just don’t give it undue attention.

Politics seems to bring out the bad side of people. I’ve seen people whom I would consider to be intelligent people, say some pretty stupid things just to get their person (or party) of choice in office. I remember when it was coming time to elect the successor to Bill Clinton, there were some Democrats saying that we should change the U.S. Constitution to elect him for a third term…that was stupid. Soon after Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California, I remember hearing some Republicans say that we should change the Constitution to allow someone who wasn’t born a U.S. citizen to be President…that was stupid too.

This election season has brought out the “stupids” as well. I’ve heard everything from “Sarah Palin is going to kill all the polar bears” to “Obama is a terrorist and he’s going to make the U.S. a Muslim country.” Good grief! As my professor at West Georgia, Dr. Hovey, once told my class on a totally unrelated topic, “Don’t be stupid!”

The discussion I mentioned at the beginning was about Facebook groups. These groups often involve arguments such as these, or worse. The reason I mention them is that, in the discussion of these groups, one of the people involved said that she would stop inviting people to join the groups when, as she put it, “Obama becomes elected and I have to simply resign myself to praying to God to help our nation over the next 4 years.” I know plenty of people with this kind of attitude and I would submit that it’s the wrong attitude to have about the election.

First off, Christians should be praying for God to help our nation no matter who wins the Presidential election, but that’s not the real problem I have. The problem is that we all try to do everything we can do, we take every precaution and make all necessary arrangements for success, and if everything we do ultimately falls through, then, and only then, do we depend on God for His help. That is exactly the reverse of what we should do. Our first step should be to trust in God no matter what’s happening. Remember, God is sovereign. That means He is totally in control and nothing surprises Him. Whether Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama wins the election, it’s not going to be some huge surprise to God and He’s not going to be sitting in heaven, wringing His hands, trying to figure out a way to deal with it. I hope Sen. Obama doesn’t win but I have a feeling he will. I’m definitely not the political prognosticator who has all the knowledge and experience and can guess who will win with much accuracy, but I just have a feeling that there will be more people to vote against Sen. McCain than there will be to vote against Sen. Obama. Please hear me, no matter who wins, Jesus is Lord…and I’m not just saying that to be trite, it’s the truth. I hope that people will not read that and say “Yes, that’s true” and then go right back to worrying about what’s going to happen.

I don’t know what the Lord has in store for our country. Perhaps the next four years will be a time of renewal for America. Maybe great strides will be made to ensure the freedom of all people by defending the unborn, to protect the sanctity and covenant nature of marriage, etc. Then again, maybe a direct assault will take place on these things and maybe the Lord will use this time to open the eyes of our nation and the world. As I said, I don’t know what’s in store for us. I do know, however, that God WILL be glorified. It may not seem like it to us, as a matter of fact, it may seem to be the opposite, but what man means for evil, God means for good.

I sincerely hope that everyone reading this will place their hope not in a candidate and not in a country, but in Christ. One of my favorite songwriters, Derek Webb has a song that captures this idea quite well: “My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. No, my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood…it’s to a King and a kingdom.”

We are all sinners. The Bible tells us that “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)...no one is exempt from the judgment of God’s righteous and perfect wrath, but that's not the end of the sentence. The next verse says "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). In order for us to escape eternal punishment for our sin, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth, was tortured and murdered in the most humiliating and degrading way possible, as our sacrifice. His was the only sacrifice sufficient to forgive us of our sin, no other sacrifice could possibly cover our sins. If we believe in Christ, in that King and His kingdom, and trust in Him as our Savior, we are forgiven of those sins and welcomed into fellowship with God. I hope you sincerely put your trust in Him.

CRH

I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1-2

When Life Gives You Lemons, Memorize Scripture

One of my classes this semester is called Personal Spiritual Disciplines. My professor, Dr. William Cutrer, is quite an entertaining guy and he's challenged us to memorize Scripture as one of the assignments. I haven't done much Scripture memorization since I was a kid but we are all commanded in Scripture to "let the word of Christ richly dwell within you" Colossians 3:16. A good way for the Word to dwell in us is to memorize it. In Biblical times, Jewish children would memorize whole books of the Torah, and many still do. It's amazing to me to understand that the Scripture quoted by Jesus when He was tempted by Satan was Scripture he learned as a young boy. There are many good reasons to memorize Scripture and I highly recommend it.

For the class assignment, we were given several passages from which we could choose. I've decided to memorize Psalm 19 because it's been one of my favorites for a while and I thought it would be nice to know it by heart. I say it's one of my favorites but actually the first verse is the main reason I like it. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." How can you look at the sky on a clear night and not appreciate what a glorious God He is to have made such beauty? The first verse makes plenty of sense to me. It's a straightforward, declarative sentence and I understand it. The verses that follow are more poetic and it takes a literal-minded person like me a little while to "get" the symbolic nature of the language. In case you don't have your Bible handy, here are the first six verses of the text:

A Psalm of David
1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Psalm 19:1-6 (NASB)

The poetic language of verses 2-6 has confused me a little bit. There are some people who can read something like this and instantly know what the author means but I'm not that type of person. It takes me a little while to figure it out.

Today while I was at work at Chick-fil-A, I had the pleasure of "squeezing" lemons for our lemonade. It should probably be called juicing lemons because we use a juicer, but all the people who have worked there much longer than I, always call it squeezing, so we'll go with that. It takes a lot of lemons to make the lemonade y'all love so much. We go through about 800 - 1200 lemons a day depending on the amount of business we have, and we "squeeze" them one by one, by hand, with a juicer. It's a very monotonous job. Now you're wondering "Why in the world is Casey telling me all this about stupid lemons?" I know, I'll get on with it. Today while I was working on the lemons, I began to recite the portion of Psalm 19 I have memorized just to practice saying it and make sure I have it down pat. While I was going over it, I finally realized what the poetic language about "words" and "speech" and something about a "bridegroom," meant. Once I realized it, it made the passage even more alive and more glorious to me.

I realized that the verses following verse one were explaining how the heavens were indeed telling of His glory. I realized that it is saying that every day and every night, the heavens testify, not with words but with their beauty and majesty, to the intricacies with which God created the universe. The universe is bigger than our minds can fathom and the God who made them is even bigger. When I thought about verse 5, I had to smile. David is describing the sun as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. He's saying that the sun, in doing what God designed it to do, is bursting forth with gladness and declaring God's glory "and nothing is hidden from its heat." Now I'm not married yet but even I understand how a bridegroom, especially a new one, would burst forth from his chamber. He would be excited, happy, and full of joy!

It was so exciting to finally better understand what this passage meant. I was so excited that I finished squeezing lemons in no time. I don't think I've ever finished them that quickly. You never know when the Holy Spirit is going to make something known to you. You might be in the middle of doing something boring when He decides to reveal a little bit of His glory to you. May we, like the sun, gladly declare God's glory as His creation!

CRH

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." Philippians 4:23

First of all...

Well, I, along with most everyone else it seems, feel the need to blog now and again so I've decided to set one up. I'm not promising it will be anything of any great merit but it's a place for me to put into writing whatever I happen to be thinking, working on, contemplating, praying about, searching for, or any other cogitation I may have...thus the name. That name could change in the future because I have my crack marketing team (Kevin Lester) working on something more clever as we speak...or as I type, to be technical. Anyway, if you happen to stumble onto my blog, I hope you're not scared away by my complete lack of sense. If you have anything you want to know about, you might want to ask someone else but I'll be happy to act like I know what I'm talking about.

For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm Casey Harpe and I'm an Evangelical Christian. That's a fancy way of saying I love Jesus and I'd love to tell you about Him. I'm a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. I recently joined a local church called Grace Church Louisville and I rejoice in that. It's so wonderful to be a part of that church. I am quite obnoxious about grammar and spelling so if you catch a mistake here, you should publicly ridicule me until I fix it. I'm originally from the great state of Georgia in a little town called Gay...yes Gay...and no, I'm not, but I was a Gay Boy Scout. If you don't know anything about Gay, you should Google the "Cotton Pickin' Fair" as it's probably the only thing that keeps Gay on the map. I come from a very loving family and I have many really good friends, both at home and new friends here at school. I guess the bottom line is I love Jesus and my new church home, I love my Mama, and I love my family and friends.

I'm not really sure how much or how often I'll be posting to my blog but my hope is that if you take the time to read it, somehow you might get something from it. It will probably be a way for me to vent whatever is on my mind, so there's no telling what all you might find here. I hope you come by often and let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Casey

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." Philippians 4:23