Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: Destiny

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DESTINY! I love that term. Some people use that word when asking the question, “Where do you think you will go after death?”

Well, I prefer to ponder that word when considering the question: “What is my unique mission I am to accomplish here on earth? What is my destiny?”

A few years ago I coined my own description of the path we travel to reach our own unique destiny. I define that path to destiny as

A series of propelling events which are statistically impossible to have all happened to the same person.

You see, I don’t believe we can make our ultimate impact on this earth unless we travel this seemingly coincidental path. If we are in complete charge of our own lives, then the outcome will be our own accomplishment. But if we are cooperating with God’s unseen grace then our ultimate impact just might be accomplished. [Read more…]

Faith column: It all starts here

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The message of humility is foundational to the advancement of the church in this day and age. God is calling His church to take on humility. Humble is the word that we as Christians should want Christ to write over us. As I looked up the meaning of the word humble, I found such definitions as modest, low in rank, not proud, modest opinion of one’s own importance or rank. As I look for a biblical definition, this is what I like, “When you are humble, you are free from pride and arrogance, you know that your flesh is inadequate, yet you also know that you are in Christ.”

2 Timothy 3 says that in the last days men will become proud, arrogant, and boastful. It goes on to say that they also lack the power of God. Could it be that the lack of power in today’s church is because it has lost humility? Could it be that the church has put more importance on education and intelligence and less importance on the infilling and power of the Holy Spirit? [Read more…]

Guest column: Let’s face it, school safety is an emotional topic

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When it comes to keeping our children out of harm’s way, we parents get testy. I never realized how testy I could get until the day I drove my oldest home from the hospital. Not only did I check every buckle in his car seat fifteen times over, I don’t think I took my car over 25 miles per hour the whole way home. I threw a few sour looks toward drivers who passed me at a higher rate of speed.

It was illogical. It was emotional. But it was instinctual. I couldn’t stop what simply holding my baby boy was doing to me on the inside. I suspect I am not alone among first-time fathers and mothers. The feelings we have may wane over time or become more rational as we age, but they never fully go away.

Keeping composure in emotionally tense situations requires a degree of grace, and I find it doubly ironic that, as a former school-safety-coordinator-turned-minister,  grace would be the state of being I believe our community should adopt in this controversy. [Read more…]