Liberty's Library

Originally written February 12, 2007

The letters and manuscripts that make up the Bible speak mostly on subjects having to do with faith in God the father, the coming of the Messiah, and how His teachings should (and did) transform its listeners into a brotherhood of Christianity. Paul says in I Corinthians (1:10) that we should let no divisions be among this brotherhood. Instead we are to be joined together in the same mind and judgment. This, of course, is a preface to the shame he later brings on the Corinthian church for harboring divisions.

I watched as a church visibly split down the center isle after one of the members called the marital availability of a divorced minister candidate into question. Divorcees felt that he should be allowed to re-marry. After all, either God approved of their divorce; they felt, or would understand and forgive if they had sinned by separating and or remarrying. Others kept repeating verse after verse quoting, “God’s stance”, on multiple marriages and being divorced for any reason other than death or unfaithfulness. Like Francium and water, this loaded topic exploded and exposed a rift in the membership that had long existed under the surface. Opinions got hotter while opposition got stronger. To quote Brick Tambland, choruses of “loud noises” rang louder than any song service ever held in that building.

It is no small wonder why the Holy Spirit placed so much emphasis on unity in the scriptures. Division among His children is the single most destructive topic about which Jesus ever prayed. Our separation from Him is the reason God formulated a salvation plan that included Christ’s coming to earth. Today, it is the only cause of war, poverty, addiction, oppression and suffering around the world. You might ask how this could be true.

Poverty is the division between people and means. Addiction separates the body from its fix. Force without justice gives way to oppression. A reaction absent of a solution leads to suffering. War is often the result of quick pride without calm wisdom. While the ‘how’ of every problem might change, the ‘why’ is always some form of partition, disagreement, or error.

That little church discovered that the only way to rebuild in-roads amongst the two factions was to openly and respectfully study what the Bible had to say and discuss all possible meanings scripture could hold. The forum was not designed for the body to come together under one opinion. Rather, the membership could once again talk about what they felt and why without causing pain or breaking open even larger chasms.

The division of racism in America can only be discussed and debated in one forum. A theatre of respect, honesty, and openness must exist for any solutions to be reached. I am so thankful for Cameron’s methodology to this very intricate matter and only seek to offer constructive and complimentary discussion. I need to state that I am participating under the assumption that the discussion addresses areas of concern to the Black community. So, my response is directed to this community.

I’m convinced that the key to some if not all of these problems is encouragement. The time for buck-passing on the part of whites and apathy on the part of blacks is over. Squabbling over who’s at fault accomplishes nothing save more division. It is time to empower people with solutions and equip them with knowledge.

Just look at all of these African American firsts. www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html. These endeavors are nothing short of extraordinary and are the product of hard work and dedication. This list is yet unfinished. More can and will be done. We must push the younger generation on to greatness and add their names.

Most of all, while celebrating one’s individual heritage, we need to embrace the citizenship of our America as one people, not sub-groups of unassimilated sub-cultures. For example, Notre Dame College offers a 3-credit course in the English Major track called (EN 343) Major African-American Writers. We should be including these writers in an expanded section of American Literature. Why further separate the nation and her people’s accolades along these racial lines?

With that in mind, let’s take each item one at a time:

How to secure medical coverage – Half of this answer is that there is good news to share concerning the nation’s economy. Too many citizens are buying into the media’s message that big oil profits, a rising Dow, and other successful businesses are bad for the country. Nothing (short of global warming) could be further from the truth. So many journalists want society to believe we live in soup kitchen America and that our poor population is rising with every waking moment. This article, “Not So Poor: The luxury of American poverty - Census Bureau definitions too wide” by Robert Rector found in the National Review, dated Oct 25, 1999 challenges that horse-and-buggy thinking.

The other half of this answer is being gainfully employed. And more and more people are doing just that. According to www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy, 111,000 jobs were created in January. Since August 2003, more than 7.4 million jobs have been created – more than the EU and Japan combined. Over 500,000 jobs have been added in the past three months alone. Finally, the economy has now added jobs for 41 straight months. Productivity has had strong average annual growth of 3.1 percent, which is higher than that of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. According to the US Department of Labor, the national unemployment rate in December of 2006 was 4.6%. This was the lowest unemployment rate since the tech bubble burst in the late 90s/early 00s.

If more people have jobs, more people have insurance. There is a new message today and it is “The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.” ~ Booker T. Washington. This is good news and you can be apart of it!

After all of that, I’m wondering who is saying disparaging things about the economy and why? Perhaps, this Booker T. Washington quote applies here:

"There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the
troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public.
Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they
have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because
they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want
the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their
jobs...There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the
patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only
an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make
themselves prominent before the public."

Now, what about those who stay chronically unemployed? After education incentives haven’t worked and unemployment has run out and the fourth baby is born…there is one very drastic solution that needs to be seriously considered. If someone can work but won’t, we must remove their ability to harm children as a consequence of laziness. Remove the children from the care of their unfit parents placing them in families who do have health and dental benefits. Cameron said it best when he said, “when millions of children are still without something so fundamental, it shames us as a people”. I can only add to that by saying that it should shame the parents more so.

Amending Public Schooling – Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954) was a powerful landmark that overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ‘separate but equal’ stamp. It, along with the Higher Education Act (1965) secured equal public schooling, which has paved the way for institutions, that 60 years ago, Black America could have only dreamed. From the US Department of Education website: “Today, there are 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universitys with more than 228,000 students enrolled. Fifty-six institutions are under private control, and 51 are public colleges and universities.” The HEA defines an HBCU as: "...any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."

Stop issuing scholarships based on race. Highlighting or setting apart one race over another is the every definition of racism and it needs to end. Plus, by offering these scholarships, the black populous is saying, “you’re right. We are weak and can’t do this by our own merits”. I can think of no academic slap in the face harder than making a minority believe itself to be inferior all the while reinforcing the idea that it is impossible to get by without handouts. It wasn’t for real but these guys out of Boston University did something pretty remarkable in order to shed some light on this racist practice. Ever heard of the scholarship for white students?

Finally, a short note on elementary school funding. Millions and millions of dollars go into public education every year. Yet where does it go? The teachers (my wife being one) don’t know and the principals are still asking for more and more with each passing year. Here is a story about New York’s sham funding system from 2002. I’d like to know exactly where my money is going before we throw more at this problem. Perhaps we’re spending enough and we won’t really know until we find it.

Internet access for children – My best solution for this situation is putting the power of the internet in the hands of our publicly funded libraries. This would cut costs of trying to outfit everyone with a computer. According to Wikipedia under “racial demographics in America”, Today, most African Americans (over 60%) live outside the southern US and in urban areas, but are increasingly moving to the suburbs. Lets use our urban mass transit system to direct this 60%+ to the locally operated and maintained libraries to use the pre-existing internet access at a reduced rate or free. In Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, the library allows its visitors free internet access for 30 minutes. Some libraries might offer more time to its patrons. I can also see this as a great opportunity for our local churches to step up and help with the needs of the community. Take this church for example. They have a program called, “Homework Central” that is a fully functioning after-school tutoring program complete with computers with internet access and is totally funded by the weekly and special contributions. What a great ministry opportunity that is.

How to prevent the Brain Drain – The city of Toledo is suffering from this very situation. Some folks seem to like the Mayor’s suggestions. This article from the Toledo Blade newspaper shares what Mayor Finkbeiner’s survey has found.

1. Lower cost of living.
2. Cut city income and property taxes.
3. Make an effort to hire local college graduates.
4. Inform the public to take advantage of the buyers housing market.

I leave you with a very inspirational and eye-opening final word from Mr. Washington’s “Up with Slavery”:

"Think about it: We went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into
slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery
with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in
our hands...Notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, we are in a
stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and
religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other
portion of the globe."

The answer is that black America can do anything it wants to do. Just look at what it has already overcome. It can refuse payment from depression and be a people of means thus crushing poverty. Black America can be proactive in finding a solution to end suffering. It can fix and heal the collective body from the addictive entitlement mindset and emerge victorious. Young black men and women can use their wisdom to silence the war raging within and be proud.

Can they do it alone? Maybe…maybe not. But why should they have to? We are one America and it is our job to help ourselves.

Originally written December 4, 2004


Love vs. Fear

Just a few days ago, the American culture entered into a season of giving. We’ve begun a period of good will and charity. Outward expressions of love abound at this time of year like none other. Of course I’m referring to the Christmas holiday: A time of peace on earth.

However, now there is another very different emotional expression that hits a similar peak, depression and fear: the fear of being alone during the holidays and the depression that comes when those fears are realized.

Love and fear: two polar opposites. Several times in the scriptures we read of a situation where love is matched up against fear. If love were to win out, it would affect the outcome one way while fear would affect the outcome in the reverse. Let’s look at three.

Read Matthew 14:23-30 (Peter walks on water)
Peter let fear get the better of him…Fear – 1, Love – 0.
FEAR PARALYZES US.

Read Matthew 25:24-26, 30 (The Wicked Servant)
The servant let fear blind him…Fear – 2, Love – 0.
FEAR IS SELFISH.

But the best example of love overcoming personal fear is the story of the crucifixion. During communion I usually think about His physical suffering and pain but I don’t usually focus on His mental anguish or His human fears. The conflict between human fears and His Godly love is described in Matthew 26:36ff.

Read Matthew 26:36-37 (Jesus in Gethsemane)
In verse 38, Christ, the Creator of the universe and the Messiah of Prophecy, admits His fear. So now the stage is set and His love slowly battles His fears and the dread of the terrible pain He must suffer. Love struggles against fear in the garden.

If Jesus lets fear win, John 10:18 and John 19:11 tell us that he had the power to remain off of the cross. If Jesus allows love to win, He had the power to lay down His life for us (Matt. 26:39). The internal conflict was so agonizing, says Luke 22:44, that He sweat great drops of blood: A rare yet well-documented medical condition called “hematohidrosis” .

As he prayed in the garden, He was comforted by His Father and by an angel; while the apostles whom Jesus labeled His friends in John 15:15 and His only source of human comfort, slept. But John (one of those who slept) later says in I John 4:18 that “perfect love casts out fear”; so Love won in that garden and Jesus went to the cross so that mankind’s fears can be replaced by faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love.


The wicked servant learned that fear is selfish. Peter learned that fear paralyses.
Jesus taught us that love is selfless. Christ demonstrated to us that love enables.

Originally written February 27, 2005


Introduction: Read Joseph Scriven story. (Mentioned 107 times in OT/NT) I’d like to share with you the 7 aspects of God’s influence on our Friendships.

1. God gave us a model: Jesus is the greatest of friends
a. John 15:9 says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
b. Jesus is always there (Camp Song: Jesus Never Fails).
c. Christ will never quit loving us, just as God will never quit loving Him.
d. John 15: 13-15 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

2. God gave us some Insight: Some Proverbs of Friendship
a. The Hebrew word for friend (Rea) also means, neighbor, companion, fellow, brother, lover…etc.
b. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times”.
c. Proverbs 17:18 says, “A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.”
d. Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
e. Proverbs 22:11 says, “He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.”
f. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
g. Proverbs 27:9 says, “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.”
h. Proverbs 27:10 says, “Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you – better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.”
i. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

3. God reminds us that people aren’t perfect: There are circumstances where even our best friends will desert or disappoint us.
a. Proverbs 19:4 says, “Wealth brings many friends, but a poor man’s friend deserts him.”
b. Proverbs 19:6 says, “Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts.”
c. Proverbs 19:7 says, “A poor man is shunned by all his relatives—how much more do his friends avoid him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.”
d. Proverbs 27:14 says, “If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.”
e. Luke 15:11-32. The prodigal son. As long as the money was there, the friends were there. But when the money ran out and hard times came, no friends were there to bail him out. Hired himself out to a pig farmer.

4. God tells us to be patient: Friendships are developed
a. That’s why there are so many degrees of familiarity.
i. I know their face…but I don’t know their name.
ii. I only know their name because I overheard someone talking about them.
iii. Yea, they are an acquaintance. I say “hi” in passing.
iv. I have a few classes with them…or…he/she is in my department at work.
v. I know them fairly well, but we’re not close.
vi. I was just talking to her yesterday. Yea we are good friends.
vii. Oh, he’s my best friend in the whole world. We talk almost everyday and twice on Sundays.

5. God shows us how to do it right: Friendships take communication
a. The more you talk and get to know each other, the stronger the friendship becomes.
i. So be careful whom you befriend.
1. James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people. Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?”
b. Just the reverse is also true.
i. Old college friends that I’ve fallen out of touch with over the years.
c. Our relationship with Christ is the same way. So was His relationship with His Father.
i. Prayer, prayer, and more prayer.
ii. Simply talking to God is a great way to get started.
iii. God is never going to come alive to you as a living, breathing friend if you don’t talk to Him.
1. Sometimes it is short and sweet.
2. Sometimes it’s heartfelt and deep.
3. Sometimes it’s not for you but for someone else.
4. Sometimes its formal maybe during a worship service.
5. Sometimes prayer is accompanied by tears (joy or sorrow).
d. Christ Prayed to His Father all the time.
i. The Lord’s Prayer in Matt. 6
ii. John 17 in the garden
iii. John 11:41 Jesus’ prayer at Lazarus’ resurrection (very informal).
iv. Luke 24:50 Christ blesses the disciples before ascending.
v. Luke 22 prayers at the Lord’s Supper.
vi. Luke 11 Christ teaches his disciples how to pray.
vii. Luke 9:29 While Jesus was praying, he was transfigured.
viii. Luke 9:16 Christ blesses the 5 loaves and 2 fish.
ix. Mark 1:35 Jesus prays in a solitary place.
x. Matthew 15:36 Christ prays over the 7 loaves and few fish.

6. God give us the gift of Friends: Our Church is a Community of Friends/Family
a. Christians who serve God serve people.
i. Matthew 7:12 says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.
b. The way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus
i. Matthew 25:40 says, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”
c. We must take advantage of our bond and reach out as friends to the lost.

7. God wants us to use our gifts for His kingdom: Using our friendships as a tool for Evangelism
a. By far the most effective way to touch people today is through the association of friendship.
b. In America, friendship association is the key that unlocks the door of opportunity to saving souls.
c. A Man was sitting at a gospel meeting and heard a sermon on the text in Acts 26.
d.[Paraphrase Acts 26]
e. Acts 26:28 says, “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ Paul replied, ‘Short time or long – I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
f. That man was a man by the name of Philip Bliss.
g.[Finish reading the Philip Bliss selection with closing.]

Originally written 12/01


1. You have been asked by the elders of a congregation that has never had a small group ministry to establish one. Describe in detail how you would go about it.

First things first, the eldership needs to be 100% sold on the idea. I can assume that by the question, they are indeed in favor of small groups. (I can also assume that they have a ‘small groups goal in mind.) They also need to publicly approve of small groups for the benefit of the members.

Now that the Eldership is behind the idea, we need to begin educating the congregation on small groups. They need to know what small groups are and how they work. A good way to do this is by going back to the beginnings of the New Testament church when they met in houses. Tell them why the church began meeting in buildings (Constantine became a Christian and organized them into buildings) and how the small groups are still an effective way to come together.

Say I were going to call our small groups ‘Life Groups’; a way of educating about the groups is making an acrostic that incorporated all the aspects of the groups and what the goals are:
L – Love…getting to love one another
I – Involve…getting involved in one another’s lives
F – Fellowship…enjoying the togetherness of the family
E – Evangelism…without this aspect, we are losing a powerful tool. Inviting others to group meetings (outreach).

The next step would be cultivating the idea of the groups to the congregation. This entails setting a goal for participation. Let’s say that the Eldership wants an optimal level to be 60%. This should be a striving or rallying point for the congregation.

Secondly, setting a date for implication or a “go date” is needed during this process. This also helps to serve as a rallying point.

Finally in the cultivation stage, announcing the leaders and co-leaders (Leader training is simultaneously happening…see next section). This should help to make a connection with the members as now, more people than just the Elders and the Minister are visibly involved.

Lastly in my planning stage, plan a countdown to the implication dates and involve the membership in preparing for the kickoff by holding a special service concerning the power of small group dynamics using Jesus and his disciples or His closer friends as a Biblical example.

Splitting into Groups
During the time between the public announcement of the small group plan and the countdown to implication, we have been holding a training seminar for all those interested in being small group leaders. (You may even want to begin a small group with just the leaders at first so they can learn how to direct a group…time suggested; 6 weeks). I will probably find that people within the seminar will naturally emerge as leaders. Along with leader training should be the establishment of a co-leader system. This step is in expectation that the groups will multiply then divide when the number gets too big to be a small group. The Co-Leader(s) would then take the satellite group and become its group leader.

Once the training seminar has been completed, I am going to allow the leaders to recruit people for their small groups. I expect to see a ‘common ground’ trend, as people tend to gravitate towards groups with which they can identify.


2. You have been asked by the Main Street Church of Christ to perform an overall analysis of congregational effectiveness. Describe how you would go about this.


I have to admit, this question is a bit vague, so I’m going to have to go on what I think is meant by this question. Effectiveness is the measure of how you are doing as a congregation versus what the congregational goals are. The Body needs a yardstick to measure up to; something to visualize progress or the lack there of. There are several ways to gage effectiveness.

1. If one of your goals is to grow proportionally with the community, look at the growth of the congregation over the last few years and compare to the growth rate of the community. If the community is growing at 5% over five years and the body is growing at barely 1% over five years, effective growth is lacking.

2. If one of your goals is to appeal to the demographics of the community, look at the demographics in the community and compare that to the congregation. If the building is in a predominately black community and 80% of your membership is white, you are not effectively representing the community. Likewise, if your community is made up of younger families and the congregation is mostly elderly folks, you are heading towards stagnation.

3. Look into the ministry systems of the Body. Are they active, involved, is outreach being done, are Bible studies being conducted? Are they producing results that are helping the membership attain their preset goals? Are contacts with non-members being followed up? Is there an influx in new members?

4. Does there seem to be discord among the members? Look for factions and cliques forming within the congregation. Is one of the groups being catered to more than others? It is wise to monitor the tension within the family because cracks in the foundation affect the whole structure.

5. Note the attendance at church functions and assemblies. Are you maintaining numbers that reflect your team goals? Do the same numbers of members show up when you hold a service-oriented project versus a fellowship event like a cookout or ballgame? Maintaining a family atmosphere is crucial in effective group dynamics.

6. Finally, but by no means the last possible analysis tool, gage the outreach and encouragement towards the members themselves. When a brother is having surgery, do members take care of the brother’s family by providing for them? Do members grieve with the grieving and rejoice with the overjoyed? The family needs to love each other in times of sorrow and in happier times. Is this reflected in the Body that meets in your location?

This list is by no means all-inclusive, but these should give a good look at the overall effectiveness of the congregation in question. The important thing to remember is without preset goals it is impossible to measure progress. Without that initial starting point or point of reference, you cannot see where you’ve been and where you are.

Originally written September 12, 2008


President Weatherdaddy, in his first one-hundred days, would:

*Seal the northern and southern borders. Beef up border patrol by re-assigning 50% of the national guard to said borders. If you are in the national guard, shouldn't more of you be "guarding the nation"?

*Bring home 80% of our military personelle currently serving in Europe and Japan. The remaining 20% can "monitor the situation" just fine, thank you.

*Publicly call out every member of congress...this, the worst congress in American history...for not working together to get one single important piece of legislation passed. Then, work to set term limits.

*Strip down the Federal government's responsibilities to national defense, foreign policy, and homeland security (The supreme court will remain untouched). Everything else will fall under the jurisdiction of each of the several states.

*Hault any new legislation from the hopper until we have researched whether or not existing legislation would accomplish the same goal. Why inact new laws if we're not enforcing the ones we already have?

*Abolish the IRS.

*Adopt the gold standard.

*Inact the 5% income flat tax. This is plenty of money to cover all necessary programs and services taken on by the Federal government.

*Tell the UN to set up headquarters elsewhere.

*Discontinue billions and billions of foreign aid dollars that are just handed out like candy. If a country needs help so bad, they can ask for it. We reserve the right to say no.

*Cut all welfare and entitlement for those who can work but don't. You are endangering your family by your willingness to sit on your ass and shirk your responsibilities. Therefore, if you refuse to provide for them, your children will be removed from your "care" and placed in foster care.

*Work to only allow abortions for specific, medically-proven circumstances. This will be a compromise that I'd hate to make but fewer children killed is fewer children killed and that's the goal.

*Get out of the nation building business.

*Work to make the burning and general desecration of the U.S. Flag a crime punishable by fines and/or jailtime. Look folks, I like free speech just as much as the next guy, but if you can yell "fire" in a movie theatre and get charged with inciting a riot, then you should be charged for destroying a national symbol that's proper care is clearly defined in the flag code.

*Remove all governmental influence from the bedrooms of consenting adults. If two guys or two girls want to get married, let the church make that call. It is not the job of the government to limit who can and can't get married.

*Allow each state the right to vote on legal drinking age. If they can decide their own speed limit, why not the drinking age?

*Find smoking bans unconstitutional that don't allow private businesses the right to serve both smoking and non-smoking clientel.

Then on day 101, I'm taking a nap!

Originally written September 14, 2004


Mornin' Everyone,

I had a great weekend and wanted to share some of the highlights.

First of all, Micah's football team won on Friday night. He had the first points of the game with a 35 yard field goal. He was so siked about putting that one through! It was great to be there and be excited for him and be the big brother. Lots of family and church family came to the game as well to cheer him on so the stands were full of people pulling for him...and it was an away game!

Then on Saturday morning, Micah played on the JV team and they won that game too. He had all the kicking duties that game so he worked alot. he did well as the team cruised to a 41-8 victory.

The coolest part of the weekend, though, was going to the Ohio State game. However, the coolest part wasn't being at "The Shoe" and it wasn't seeing the best band in the land or even watching my team win a very close game. In order to fully appreciate this, you'll have to read one of my previous posts...the one with all the quotes in it. Go ahead, I'll wait...........

Okay, now that you are caught up, I give you the coolest part of my weekend:

It's right after the Football game on Friday night. It was an away game so, I hop into my car along with my parents and Abby (my niece) and we head back to Marysville to wait for the band and the team to get back. We stop by the high school to wait for the team, but discover that they beat us there because we dropped off Abby at her house. So I go find Micah and we all ride home together.

When we arrive home there is a message waiting for my dad on the answering machine. I'm not paying much attention, you know, the message isn't for me, so I walk on by and head for Micah's room which is where I sleep while I'm home (Micah and I share his room just like old times). I catch a glimpse of my dad fevorishly writing something down from the answering machine message but make nothing of it.

Now, it's 8:00 on Saturday morning and Micah is already at the school to dress and practice for his JV game later that morning. I wake up and head in for breakfast when my mom greets me in the kitchen. She gives me "good mornings" and asks what I want for breakfast. So I'm munching on my Honey Combs and looking out the sliding glass doors that overlook the golf course and noting what a beautiful morning it is...and I noticed my dad was gone. That's when my mom levels me with some great news!

Fast forward to a few hours later. The JV game has just ended with a victory. Micah has left the field to come see us in the stands, but has to go back into the locker room to change. We wait for him by the enterance to the school and when he comes out, he gets leveled by the same good news!

"Look here", says my dad as he holds two OSU tickets.

"Yea, Yea, I know", mumbles Micah, who first believes that my dad is just rubbing in the fact that he and I are going to the OSU game. However, after a second look, he realizes that these tickets are different than the ones that had been sitting on my dad's desk for the past week.

Dad declares, "These are two tickets to the OSU game...two more tickets".

Micah goes nuts! He's jumping up and down and hugging anyone that moves, including this poor couple that just happened to walk by where we were. Picture a football player jumping and screaming like a school girl and that was my brother.

However, the story isn't over. Tyler, my nephew who is about two years younger than Micah came along to the JV game and he's watching Micah go into histerics completely unaware that the same great news is about to knock him off his feet.

"Buddy, you're in...you're going", I said as my dad held out the remaining, precious Ohio State ticket in front of a bewildered 16 year old.

Now you've got two teenaged boys jumping up and down embracing each other and screaming like two school girls...in public!

Then came the explaination concerning the appearance of these "holy grail" tickets from above. Mom chimes in with the details.

"Your dad was calling all over the place yesterday looking for two more Ohio State Tickets and he found some, but they were in Dublin. So, he went in to Dublin before your game and picked them up. That's why we took two cars to the game."

So, on that Saturday afternoon, along with 104,622 of our closest friends, my dad, Micah, Tyler and I watched the two family-favorite teams play one another for the very first time...live. What a day that I shared with my family!

I'll never forget the bridge we walked down from the parking lot towards the Horseshoe that day in Columbus; marveling at the tens of thousands of people walking that bridge with me and the bridges on either side. I'll never forget the "Best Darn Band in the Land" that played with such attitude, pristine dominance, and insistance of respect which 104,622 people freely gave. However, I'll treasure the memories of sitting next to my dad for hours soaking in this moment together...I'll treasure my little brother and nephew getting a front row seat for the game winning 55 yard kick that was directed towards the end zone where they sat...and I'll treasure the bonds strenghtened by the events of that weekend, both family and new aquaintences.

How firm thy friendships...O - HI - O!

Until I see you again,
Be good and be God's ~