Here is the transcript of my first sermon that I delivered this morning at Junction City UMC in Junction City, Kentucky. I serve at the church as its youth pastor.
The title of the sermon is “Time to Get in the Game.”
I want to take a pause from the WVU Scandal - trust me, we will return to in short time - to talk about something personal for a moment.
Today, is a very special day in my life, the life of my family, and the life of my friends. In a few short hours, I’ll stand at the pulpit and deliver my first sermon (I may post my transcript later in the day for the North Carolina Clique) and I’m going through all the emotions as I prepare for the day. I’m excited. I’m nervous. I’m cautious. And I’m overwhelmed.
And, I’ll admit, it’s an emotional day as well.
I think today marks the end of one journey in my life and the beginning of another. It’s the end of a four-year journey that took me to the depths of depression to a new hope and a new beginning through an improved relationship and walk with Christ. It’s been a long road and there are some things I would still like to get closer to God with. We are all work in progresses, as Alan Jackson would say. But, today I get to do something I never imagined possible nor did I ever dream for myself. I wanted to be a sports writer, a news hound, something with newspapers and communicating. Never in a million years did I imagine what I would end up being called to communicate was God’s word.
You want to talk about something that puts a smile on your face and humbles you that’s it.
Then a new journey begins. Monday I will begin the stretch run for a summer that will test me, excite me, energize me, and I hope challenge me. I think and honestly believe that this summer will be a test of my leadership and to see how I will be as a senior pastor somewhere someday. I’m excited and I can’t wait.
But today is a special day and I’m going to enjoy the butterflies. My family is en route from West Virginia as we type and some of my friends from school will be here as well. However, I’m not going to let it get to my head. This is about serving a gracious and loving Lord through proclamation of His word, not mine. So while it is an awesome day and a great day, this is the Lord’s day.
So what’s the sermon topic for today? The title is Time to Get in the Game and it hopes to look at how we are to prepare ourselves before we witness to others.
As would be the case at any institution of higher learning, faculty at West Virginia University are organizing themselves in groups regarding the Heather Bresch Scandal.
You have a group of faculty members that have drawn up resolutions seeking WVU President Mike Garrison’s resignation or termination over the school’s handling of giving an MBA to Bresch when she didn’t earn the degree. Bresch is an employee at Mylan, Inc., a top financial backer of West Virginia University, and is the daughter of W.Va. Governor Joe Manchin. Then there is the group of faculty members that are circulating and organizing support for the embattled new leader. Keep reading →
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin doesn’t understand.
For the past three years, Manchin has done an admirable job leading the Mountain State. However, when it comes to understanding the seriousness of the WVU-Heather Bresch Scandal, Manchin has left a lot to be desired. In fact, one has to wonder if he understands that this does not just affect the reputation of his daughter, Heather Bresch, but also the reputation of the school officials, West Virginia University, and higher education in West Virginia.
We can give Manchin a pass for wanting to protect his daughter and friend, WVU President Mike Garrison, from media scrutiny saying things like,
“I just think it’s wrong to go into this vigilante mode and throw everything out. If mistakes were made fix it.”
However, when comments like this next one are made we begin to question Manchin’s understanding of the seriousness of this scandal.
Why is it being driven by an out-of-state newspaper? What’s their purpose and reasoning? Why the out-of-state newspaper hasn’t printed all the FOIA information that’s now coming out and showing some facts.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is not the ones at the center of the scandal. The Pittsburgh newspaper just broke the story. Manchin here is attempting to use the old ploy of protectionism to deflect criticism of his administration and those he supports, attempting to place the blame on others.
This is typical play in the Manchin playbook. Remember, Manchin blames agents for Rich Rodriguez leaving West Virginia University for Michigan.
West Virginia University is in the midst of a serious scandal that attempts to damage the school’s academic reputation. This is not the time for silly comments placing the blame on the media. Mistakes were made. Favors were given to someone who is both politically connected and an employee of one of the institution’s top financial backers (Mylan, Inc.).
The scandal is already having financial impact at West Virginia University as donors are starting to pull back contributions to the institution.
If it was up to Manchin, he would just have you cancel your subscription to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Heads are starting to roll at WVU in the wake of the Heather Bresch Scandal.
Provost Gerald Lang and Business School Dean Stephen Sears will step down from their current positions on June 30. According to WSAZ, Lang and Sears will remain at WVU as professors, hopefully not teaching ethics.
Lang will receive a salary of less than $200,000, down from his $243,000 pay currently. Sears will receive $145,000, $55,000 less than his current salary of $200,000.
For those of you keeping score at home, Lang and Sears were in the wrong by granting Bresch a MBA she did not deserve and they get to remain at WVU, though in different capacities.
Sure, this makes sense to you, right?
In other news, Gov. Joe Manchin supports WVU President Mike Garrison.
Of course he does. Garrison and Manchin are friends, just as Garrison and Bresch are friends. So of course Manchin is going to support Garrison.
Turns out we’re not the only one calling for WVU President Mike Garrison to resign following a recent report regarding the administration’s involvement in the Heather Bresch ordeal. This is where WVU thought it would be smart to give Bresch, daughter of WVa Governor Joe Manchin and a Mylan, Inc., employee a MBA degree she did not deserve. Garrison is a personal friend of Manchin and Bresch.
Add Peter Kalis, a WVU alum and Pittsburgh lawyer and was a Rhodes Scholar at WVU, to those saying Garrison should resign. He says,
When the chips were on the table, WVU, an institution that we all love and honor, acted like a dishonest political institution rather than an honest academic institution.
Agreed.
Garrison doesn’t, sadly. He told the Board of Governors,
I have no plans to resign.
He should have plans to resign as he has harmed the school’s academic reputation with his actions and involvement in this case. His job is to protect the school’s reputation and so far he has done nothing but harm this reputation of a great institution.
It’s time for Garrison to step aside.
Last night, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was in my adopted hometown of Chapel Hill in front of an audience of supporters at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, or as its lovingly referenced to as the Dean Dome. Obama was in town attempting to convince Chapel Hill and North Carolina voters to support him in the state’s now all-important primary on May 6.
Obama’s visit to Chapel Hill came on the heels of Gov. Mike Easley throwing his support behind Sen. Hillary Clinton. Obama is leading in most polls in North Carolina, while its a horse race in Indiana.
Here are some thoughts that I had watching parts of the event via Web video.
- First, the atmosphere was more like a UNC basketball game than a political rally. Even UNC’s traditional playing of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” took place. At times, I thought I was watching a concert with a mixture of hits from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and today. Though, can political candidates please put a lid on using John Mellencamp’s “Our Country.” The song was annoying when Chevrolet used it and its just as annoying when politicians use it to get a cheap pop.
- Never set your clock by a political rally. Never. Ever. Obama didn’t begin his address to the Chapel Hill faithful until well after 10 p.m. You could tell some people were getting tired by the number of yawns that you could see behind Obama. Starting a political campaign address that late in the night for a primary election is just bad politics. Even in a town of Chapel Hill where Democrats out number Republicans something like 100 to 1, it’s bad politics.
- The “Yes, We Can” chant is getting a little tiresome. I want some policy discussions from Obama instead of flowery descriptions of “hope” and “change.” Yes, we all want hope for the country and we all want change for the country, but what does Obama’s hope and change look like. We’re into May, almost, and I don’t think anyone can answer that without looking at Obama’s press packets.
While I have applauded Obama’s optimistic outlook in the past, optimism has to be met - when your running for office - with descriptions of policies, not just empty promises to reduce gas prices or lower college tuition. There has to be the answer to the question of how at some point.
Maybe that is too much to ask this political season from any of the candidates.
- Speaking of the “Yes, We Can” chant, I couldn’t help but shake my head at how similar it was to watching an episode of “Bob the Builder.” Looks like I’m not the only one to have these thoughts watching Obama’s crowd chants, by the looks of this video ,this video, as well as this one.
- One thing that caught me as odd in Obama’s statements was when he attempted to tie Sen. John McCain to the high gas prices claiming McCain receives funding from energy folks so how could he be trusted. Yet, a simple search on OpenSecrets.org shows that Obama has received more from individuals and groups representing the Energy and Natural Resources sector than McCain. (HT: Andrew Hogan on that one.)
What’s wrong with me?
It’s a question that I keep asking myself over and over again and especially here lately.
Am I too fat? Do I make the wrong jokes? Am I too nice? Am I not nice enough?
My life is not where I thought it would be at 28. Granted, God’s blessed me in ways I never thought imaginable and shown me things that I never thought I would do (read give a sermon or be involved in ministry.) But, at 28 I figured by now I would be married and with at least one child.
Even with the divorce on my record, I always thought that by now I would at least be in a serious relationship or nearing marriage again for the second, and last, time. Instead, I find myself questioning my own qualities more and more and whether or not it will happen.
Yes, I know it will happen if it God’s will. But as I’ve mentioned to my married friends, those words bounce off easily when you’re sitting in your house alone and it’s just you and bad television to get you through the night.
I yearn for what my friends have or even my own brother. I grant that now is not the right time, but I wonder then when. I want a family. I want to be the husband and be a loving support to my wife (whomever she may be), and the father to my children and be the kind of father that I never had growing up. Is that so wrong? Sometimes I feel like it is. That my deepest desire is wrong and that I shouldn’t have this desire. I know that’s not right and that I’m allowed to have this desire, but the more I’m told wait … wait … wait, the more I feel like I should not have this desire.
Maybe what I just long for the most is companionship. Right now, I barely have any. I spend more nights alone than I care to admit and for a guy who hates being quiet that’s rough. I don’t want to bother my friends here because they have their lives and families, the same with my friends back home in N.C., (sorry guys, please forgive me).
So what’s wrong with me, because I’m tired of the tears, the pains, the hurt, and the waiting for something that may never happen. And that’s hard for me to comprehend.
Next week, I’m delivering my first sermon.
I can’t wait. I’m a walking expectation over the prospect of delivering a message to the people where I’m serving. I get goose bumps and a huge smile just thinking about it. So does my family. A lot of my family from West Virginia, Tennessee and possibly South Carolina are driving in for the sermon next week. Many of my friends from school have also mentioned that they will be in attendance.
It warms my heart to have that kind of support.
But I realized something today as I finished preparing the sermon. I enjoy preparing a sermon. I really do. I enjoyed the stress of trying to organize my thoughts, understanding the passage, and looking up commentaries to gather thoughts of others. I enjoyed finding interesting illustrations - oh how I wish we had multimedia capabilities in our church - and finding stories from my life that relate to the message. I’ve even laughed with friends that I’ve been able to includes sports and YouTube in the same message and make it work, or so I think.
I’m sure between now and Saturday evening, I will make several changes and additions, recite it 200 times to my audience of pictures of friends in my bedroom, and sweat off at least 5 pounds in nervousness. But, I’m glad to be doing this now, especially with meetings that are coming up in a few weeks. Keep reading →
Today is the NFL Draft.
I’ll watch. What else am I going to watch on this Saturday? It’s April and after The Masters there isn’t much going on sports wise until you get to the Kentucky Derby next weekend.
The pick to watch is Atlanta at No. 3. The consensus thought is that the Falcons will use the pick to take Matt Ryan, the quarterback from Boston College, if available. This would all but end the Falcons’ obsession with all things Michael Vick because you cannot afford to have two-high price quarterbacks on the roster. (Yes, Vick is still a cap at $7.572 million if he is a June 1 cut, which could happen if the Falcons go with Ryan.)
After the Falcons, Kansas City should be making a run at improving its team through the draft. The Chiefs have the most picks of any team and will have will picks within the first 35. That will give the Chiefs a lot of opportunity to improve and play catch-up with the AFC West.
The big debate today in the early rounds will be who to take Glenn Dorsey, of LSU, or Chris Long, of Virginia. Regardless of who gets picked when, both players are going in the top 5 and will make immediate impacts on defense. Dorsey could go to St. Louis at No. 2, while Long may go to Oakland at No. 4 or Kansas City at No. 5.
And then there is Darren McFadden. Teams will have some concerns about character issues, but McFadden has all-around NFL ability so character issues will be swept under the rug. The Jets don’t mind though. They are hoping that McFadden is still available at No. 6 to make a move on him, giving the squad a running back it needs.
All eyes here will be waiting for two WVU players to get their names called - Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt. Schmitt will likely be the first Mountaineer taken and possibly in the second or third rounds. Even at the fullback position, rarely used in the NFL today, Schmitt offers possibilities with his speed as a running back or even a move to Tight End from the slot. Plus, you just can’t deny this guys ability and force.
I will admit to being selfish and hope the 49ers take him.
As for Slaton, I believe another year in college would’ve helped, but he will be a later round selection. He’ll make a good contribution, but his draft stock fell after a lack of Slaton-type performance last season.
Other Mountaineers like Marc Magro, Johnny Dingle, and Vaughn Rivers could get a call tomorrow.
