Prodigal Magazine
Stephen Curry Interview
So many people dream of playing for the Tar Heels of North Carolina, the Duke Blue Devils, and the Kentucky Wildcats. Teams that are rich in tradition have the facilities, the following, and the exposure to stay on top for decades and many young men dream of putting on those jerseys while playing AAU ball and high school basketball. They want their names to go down in history as being a part of these storied programs. Stephen Curry also held that dream. His father had excelled in the NBA and he dreamed of going to an ACC school or an ...
Q&A – What is God’s relationship to time?
Answer: We live in a physical world with its four known space-time dimensions of length, width, height (or depth) and time. However, God dwells in a different dimension—the spirit realm—beyond the perception of our physical senses. It’s not that God isn’t real; it’s a matter of His not being limited by the physical laws and dimensions that govern our world (Isaiah 57:15). Knowing that “God is spirit” (John 4:24), what is His relationship to time?In Psalm 90:4, Moses used a simple yet profound analogy in describing the timelessness of God: “For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day ...
MIKESCHAIR Interview
As the world looks in on Christianity today, they are looking for honesty and for sincerity. Too often, what they have found is hypocrisy in those who profess to be followers of Christ. As a new generation of bands hits the forefront in Christianity today, we are seeing a transparency that has never been seen before. MIKESCHAIR is one band who is definitely not afraid to openly discuss who they are, hoping that in their journey with the Lord, others may relate and come to know Him as well. MIKESCHAIR formed while they were students at Belmont University. The Lord has ...
Interview – Phil Wickham
A few weeks ago, I took a silent retreat into the North Carolina wilderness to get alone with God and to allow him to speak to my heart. I took a copy of 1 cd on my ipod, Heaven and Earth which is Phil Wickham’s latest album that releases on November 17. God spoke to me in many ways through scripture but He allowed Phil’s music to bring me to a point of true worship. I sat down with Phil this morning to talk a little bit about who he is, his career and what inspires his songwriting abilities. History Q- Give ...
Men of God Spotlight: Travis Fryman
He played for himself at the beginning of his career. His goal was to win and sharing the infield with Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker meant that winning was something that would happen often. He had an opportunity of a lifetime coming up with the Tigers but a few years after his debut, he began to see the game of baseball and the people surrounding him in an entirely different way. God opened his heart and his eyes to see things that way that God sees them, not just for what they can do, but for who they are. Travis Fryman ...
Archive | August, 2009
Mentoring 101
Leadership and mentoring both come with a significant amount of heartache, so I’d like to tackle the more negative aspects of mentoring before we jump into the fun stuff! Don’t worry, it won’t last long! I know from personal experience that it can be frustrating when you invest your time, talent, and treasure in another person, and that person ultimately ends up failing. It’s easy to step back and blame yourself—a good leader will always do that—and it’s also easy to want to throw in the towel. If you’re at all like me, you probably feel as though you’ve been kicked in the stomach, and that’s a feeling nobody wants repeated with the next protégé!
Continue reading...The Thirsty Rock of the Middle East
27. January 2009
"How have I ignored this situation?" Five years ago, Lynne Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago asked that question when she saw the AIDS crisis firsthand in Africa. On a warm October evening in Amman, Jordan, she asked that same question again, this timeabout the growing danger the Middle Eastern Church faces. Miles south of Amman, the climbing cliffs dropped a cool shadow on the river of bodies as they entered the narrow ravine, escaping from the harsh Jordanian sun hanging in a clean, blue sky. Necks craned skyward at the sheered steepness, anticipation pulsing through the dry desert air. Finally, there at the end of the chasm, hewn into the rock wall by rude tools, was a monstrous façade: a dozen ornate pillars, majestic statues and a giant door, all in one continuous piece. It was the treasury of Petra, the city of rock. Petra had been an impenetrable stronghold that enemies had attempted to breech, but they had failed against the towering landscape. It was only when the antagonists cut off the city's water source that these undefeatable people gave up their territory. It was a fascinating history to the group of fifty Americans speckled with several Europeans and about 20 from Iraq, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries. While the Friday hiatus was a welcome trip, it was not why so many had gathered in Amman on a still-warm October week.
Continue reading...Kanye, Pinocchio and Perspective
23. January 2009
My wife and I were recently having a discussion on perspective. Why does it seem like we are always striving for something just out of reach? Why are we looking to do the next thing, travel to the next place, buy the next gadget? What is it about the human condition that feeds the rat race mentality? Is it the marketing society we live in? " If you have this new dish detergent, your life will be complete and clean" Is it the MTV effect? We see all the movie stars and the rock stars and want our own minute of fame. This discussion reminded me of the bonus track on the new Kanye West cd entitled "Pinocchio's story" which he performed in Singapore. I love the transparency of this track, as Kanye talks about being on the other side. He should have everything. Money, cars, talent, women....and yet he wants what he can't have. Check out the lyrics and the video below.
Continue reading...Prodigal Interview – Dustin Ruth (of the band RUTH)
22. January 2009
The story of the prodigal is one of the most inspiring stories ever spoken because it gives us all hope that we can turn things around in life, even when they seem to be deteriorating so quickly. It is a story where the young man focuses on the wrong things and once life begins to fall apart, he turns his focus homeward, to a father who was waiting on him all along. Dustin Ruth knows this story well. He has lived it and now, his focus is solely on Christ, using music to share the message of what God has done in the lives of the members of Ruth.
Continue reading...Thank you for my wife Dr. King
21. January 2009
MLK day has never seemed so personal to me. Yes, it has always been a day history, speeches, and tributes by atheletes as I watched the game, but it never really sunk in. As I sat on our couch this MLK day, putting my fingers through my wife's dark curly hair, I was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude. The work of this man as well as hundreds of others, paived the way for my wife and I to live in a nation that does not persecute interracial marriage. Other than a few people staring here and there, we have not had to endure the hatred that men and women in interracial relationships have in the past. My curiousity grew about this subject, so I looked into some historical facts to see just how far we have come as a nation. Are we truly tollerant of the ultimate desegregation? A white man, married to a black woman?
Continue reading...5 Bands you’ve never heard of
19. January 2009
If you're like me, every time you turn on the radio you notice all they play are the same eight songs over and over and over again. Its either Britney's new auto-tune-heavy "Womanizer", some version of auto-tuned rap over a generic and un-original beat, Taylor Swift singing about yet another completely unrealistic love story that makes girls melt and guys want to gag, Kanye West being ridiculously over the top, Zac Brown singing about fried chicken and blue jeans, or Fall Out Boy with the latest installment of their flavor of blasé hyper-produced alt-rock. All of this mediocre top 40 makes you wish there was still good music to he heard. I am going to make your wish come true.
Continue reading...ANTICIPATION – Asking God for a wife
15. January 2009
I am a twenty-two year old college student who is somewhat socially awkward and I'm still trying to figure myself out in many ways. One thing I do know, however, is that I tend to over-think things just a wee bit too much. Recently, one of those over-thought topics has been marriage. Now, I know what you're thinking: "you're only twenty-two years old, what in the world are you doing thinking about marriage?" Well...you have a point. Regardless, the point of this isn't why I was thinking about it, but what I was thinking about it. Good old chivalrous tradition states that the man (myself in this case), if he intends to marry a woman, should first ask for her hand in marriage from her father. This tradition has slowly died with time, but there are a few of us who still hold to a lot of the "old-fashioned" ways. (Personally, I think asking her father is going to be a lot more intimidating than asking her. If you don't know if she wants to marry you, don't ask yet...it should be obvious what her answer is going to be.) Asking the father is more than just asking him to give away his daughter, it is asking for his blessing as well (blessing by a parent, yet another dead good tradition).
Continue reading...What is Bibliolatry?
14. January 2009
The term bibliolatry comes from combining the Greek words for Bible and worship. In a Christian context, simply stated, bibliolatry is the worship of the Bible. Typically, the accusation of bibliolatry is used as an attack on those who hold to the inerrancy, infallibility, and supremacy of Scripture. It is often employed as an inflammatory and derogatory attack on believers who hold to “sola scriptura” and/or a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Continue reading...Activity Versus Productivity
13. January 2009
I'm sure many of you have read The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. Concise, well-written, and definitely inspired by God, it will help you. Period. However, my goal today is not to plug the book (at least not for free!), but to draw out one of the many, many profound statements Dr. Warren makes: "never confuse activity with productivity". This is likely common knowledge for most of us in leadership, and it's certainly common sense, but that doesn't mean we all apply it consistently in our lives. In fact, I'd be willing to guess that for most of us, no matter how much we understand the concept, it's probably something we need to rededicate ourselves to quite frequently.
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30. January 2009
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