Holiday Greetings Brothers

Hey everyone. Hope you guys are doing good. How are finals going for everyone? We need to all get together over the Holidays. Don't be a stranger. I know our live's are not so busy that we can't keep in touch with the fellas. Would love to hear from everyone. Let us know how you are doing.

T-Rey

Happy Birthday!

Hellooo

Jason, Brent, and everyone else,
Good to hear from you all. Jason, glad to hear the remodel and school is going well. We need to meet up next time I am in town. I am up every few weeks to see stefanie. Brent, sorry we missed you at stanton's wedding but i hope school is going well. The days and weeks continue to pass by here and everytime i look up the month is gone. Anyway, sorry this is short but I hope everyone keeps posting. I'll try and start checking the blog more than once a month. See you all soon and God Bless.

Trey

HEY! We're not dead.

I know some of y'all still check this blog. I check it every day. Trey, thanks for posting last: what's new? I hear you sneak into town every now and again. :)

School is in, for those of us in school. For those of y'all who aren't in Athens, I am now studying music theory at the junior level at UGA and should complete a bachelor of music (B.Mus.) degree in just a little over 2 years. This will set me up for either 1) a job as a church music director, 2) graduate study in music, or 3) both.

The house remodel is coming along nicely. My morning devotions aren't. I am so caught up in "the cares of this world". And it's not OK just because I know it. I long for the closeness I had with God before Grandmother died.

Just wanted to post something here b/c it's still a good thing. See y'all around...

Greetings!

Hello fellow brothers and friends,
Hope everyone has been doing fine as the summer is coming to an end. I have tried to visit and talk to everyone this summer but my apologies if i have not caught up with you yet, it has been quite a hectic past few months. But the phone and email work both ways! Everything is going fine for me in Atlanta. Still working hard and traveling a good bit to Florida and finally seeing some solid results in the job. Hopefully things will slow down for me a bit come fall. I am hoping to make it to Athens a good bit this fall to see everyone. Until we all meet again, everyone take care and keep in touch.

Your brother,
Trey

Dead.

As in: This blog feels so ______.

These ways of keeping in touch will become more useful (and used) once we are not able to see each other as often to give & get updates. At least, I keep telling myself that.

My home is a wreck. I'm going to be able to start teaching piano again on Tuesday, but just barely. I hope the parents (and students) don't mind the noise of scraping, nailing, and banging. The painters have migrated to the hallway, which is only 5 feet from the piano I teach on. We'll see how it goes.

Tom, when do you get back to Athens?

Ben, how did your comps go?

We Need Some Prayers in Mississippi

Hey y'all. Hope everybody's doing well. Life is good on the Gulf Coast. If you haven't heard about my recent exploits in prison and the hospital, you're due for some good story time with me when I see you again. But I'm fine and back to "normal" now, which brings me to my next point...

I can't seem to wrap my head around what I'm a part of down here. Lagniappe is probably the greatest expression of love I will ever see. God has stirred up an outpouring of grace on this place. I spend every day amongst hundreds of people who have been called to come and serve the kingdom. I witness physical provision on a daily basis in the form of donated shingles and longterm volunteers showing up out of the blue to meet needs and a million other things. I spend time with lonely people who come to the church door looking for company and maybe a hot meal.

Still I don't believe. My eyes are closed to the remarkable occurances that surround me. I see pushy, difficult volunteers rather than a body of believers sent to love those in need. I see an endless list of impossible tasks rather than a perfectly unfolding plan. I see bothersome locals looking to take advantage of our "hospitality" rather than souls searching for love and acceptance. The other interns struggle too. We need the gospel. So please pray for our hard hearts and the success of this ministry.

Beechwood Cinema Gets Frisky

Ben. 2 minutes ago.

"I don't go to Beechwood Cinema. I get tired of getting frisked for Bon Bons every time I go."

Rass & Jimbo

Rass: 23 yesterday.
Bolton: 2X today.

Happy birthday!

Mississippi Here I Am

I got to Mississippi yesterday at 3:00 P.M. and it is crazy. For those who don't know I'm interning this summer at Lagniappe Presbyterian Church, which is a newly planted church in Bay St. Louis, MS. So much needs to be done here, and there aren't enough hours in the day to do it. Twelve hour days consisting of constant physical labor are the norm. Some days are longer. I don't know how the guys who have been here for six months keep this up. That being said, I'm having a ball. Right now we're getting the church ready to house up to two hundred volunteers who will be doing post-Katrina mercy ministry. So I get to do cool stuff like drive forklifts and move bunk houses. Y'all please pray for me and for this church plant. Please pray that God would be at work here calling home sons and daughters. Also pray for me and the rest of the workers at Lagniappe here that we would remember what we're working for.

P.S. I'm having trouble uploading images right now, but I'll send some soon. Stay tuned for more, and blog about yourselves for once.

Happy Mother's Day

Be sure to hug your mothers today and tell them how much you love them.

Church Jokes

This is sad...but oh so funny! I especially like catechism question #26.

A good idea

Graduation gift, anyone?

Whoopsie Dasy!!

I want to apologize for missing prayer last night. Maudlin and I took some out of town business associates out for dinner at five and ten. I completely forgot about prayer group until we left the restaurant, approximately 9:30. My bad dudes, I hate missing prayer group. But we did share the restaurant with Michael Stipe, which was pretty dadgum cool.

What did y'all decide about meeting this summer? Every week or every other week?

No girls allowed,

Andrew M. Rasmussen

Pencil me in...

Gents: We ARE meeting for prayer tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 8pm. Same place. I know many of you have busy weeks...and I trust each of us is just as loaded down with papers and tests as the next guy. However, please try and make it if there is any way you can manage. It's 2 hours for prayer and fellowship that I hope you are able to sacrifice. See you all there.

Fun little thing...

Anyone else press this button besides me?

Graduation Present for Ben

If y'all chip in, I'll order this for Ben.

Gym(nastic) Rats

Hey, did y'all know that Stick It opens this weekend?! It's the gymnastics version of the cheerleader movie Bring It On. I think it has the same director, too. If I don't see it in the theater, I'll rent it fo' sho'.

Also, someone gave out our blog address to a friend-girl/girl-friend of theirs. ONLINE POLL: Are any of y'all's girlfriends reading this blog? If so, I wanna know.

If it's OK with ya'll, I'd prefer a "No Girls In the Treehouse" rule.

next weekend

Guys in athens,
I will be in town next weekend for friday and saturday. I know I mentioned to a couple of yall but lets plan on meeting for dinner on Friday night. I should be in town by around 5 or 6 (I will be out of town and will be flying back to atl early) so lets plan for around 6:00 for dinner. I will talk to yall later in the week to coordinate.

Providence, sweet providence.

I was supposed to write a paper tonight, but God had other, better, plans.

Ben and Tom came over after dinner to have a few beers and sing songs. We talked, drank, and sang 'til just past midnight. What a wonderful time! Thanks, guys. Very encouraging night.

Prayer Group!

Guys in Athens,

We ARE meeting for prayer group tomorrow night at 8:15pm at Jason's. Please make plans to attend if you are able. Guys outside of Athens, please write in a let us know how to pray for you...that's one of the reasons we set up this blog in the first place. Hope you are all doing well.

In Christ,
Ben

PLEASE read THIS article in preparation for prayer group. Thanks!

Cool Quote

“A real Christian is an odd number anyway.
He feels supreme love for one whom he has never seen;
talks familiarly every day to someone he cannot see;
expects to go to heaven on the virtue of another;
empties himself in order to be full;
admits he is wrong so he can be declared right;
goes down in order to get up;
is strongest when he is weakest;
richest when he is poorest;
and happiest when he feels the worst. ”

“He dies so he can live;
forsakes in order to have;
gives away so he can keep;
sees the invisible, hears the inaudible,
and knows that which passes knowledge.”

“The man who has met God
is not looking for anything;
he has found it.
He is not searching for light,
for upon him the light has already shined.
His certainty may seem bigoted,
but his assurance is that of one who knows
by experience his religion is not hearsay.
He is not a copy, not a facsimile.
He is an original from the hand of the Holy Spirit.”

—A.W. Tozer—

Check it out...

Awesome News Y'all...check it out,

Tonight's moon is a 99% Waxing Gibbous!!!

I've been waiting for this for over 3 days now.

Hello All

Friends,
I hope everyone is doing well. I haven't quite been prompt with blog postings lately but what can I say, work has a way of getting in the way of more important things. I have felt a little out of the loop this winter and spring but glad to hear you all are doing fine and it will be great to see everyone again soon. Everything is good on this end and I am still enjoying my job and making good headway on adjusting (but i miss being in athens just a little). Its not the same here without you guys. Even though my faith is suffering being alone,its great to hear how God is working in everyones life and I am praying for you all. We definetly all need to get together sometime this summer and really catch up. See everyone again soon.

Congrats!!!

Ben Cowpudge has (finally) officially gotten the nod to be the next RUF intern at UGA. Yeehaw!

Music question

Hey Jason,

I am looking for some classical music to download from i-tunes. i want something subtle and emotive, without blaring horns and the like. i really enjoy stuff with a single instrument, piano, guitar, or maybe piano and violin together...and i figured you would be the man to ask. any suggestions would be wonderful! thanks dude,

rt

"The Lord is my strength," their voices blended in Indonesian. "Even if the earth shakes and the storms come. I'll fly high with him."

This article is about some Indonesian Christians who came here to help Katrina victims after recieving post-tsunami aid from Americans. Pretty cool, eh?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/atsunami

Tonight's Prayer Group

Rass, Ben, Eddie, & Me. Possibly one of the most effective ones I've been to in recent memory. Confession, repentance, honesty, hearts prostrate before Holy Jehovah. This is how the Family works.

And Ben and Rass stayed for an hour to sing hymns. Couldn't have had more fun praising God with Brothers. Good times.

Prayer Group Update

Just FYI...Prayer Group will be meeting tomorrow at 8:15pm at Jason's house. Please try to attend as you are able. Thanks!

Thunder and Destruction???

Looks like it's more like Rainbows and Rose Pedals to me.

Let's all point and laugh. Robert, rather than "bringing the pain" on the court, went off gallivanting with his love today. HA HA HA HA HA . . . and so on and so forth.

P.S. I'm so lonely.

Final Four Tourney

Yo,

so after being crushed by the incredible lack of interest in the march madness tourney, i have decided to cast aside my sadness and try again. introducing the first posting begging folks to join me friday afternoon around 4:00! the court is really amazing and has that "all-american" feel to it. playing on that court makes me realize that i am living the american dream.

one issue that needs to be addressed. none of us are good at basketball, so yes, we will all suck. that is certainly 0kay, because individual suckiness will be overshadowed by the massive group effort in suckiness!! the point is merely to have a good time airballing each attempt. thus, no one is able to use the excuse "maybe...its just that i am not very good." its basketball with friends, and no one is there to watch.

so i am glad all of us will be there friday to play with me. i will bring capri suns for all, and snickers bars for the winning team.

post entrants and possible team names soon so tourney brackets can be worked out. do it. do it.

peace,
rt.

What Would Jesus Do?

And then there's this:

http://www.bustedtees.com/shirts/jesushatestheyankees

What Would Tom Do?

Did one of y'all submit this design?

http://www.bustedtees.com/shirts/tom

My New Blog...

For the 2 or 3 of you out there you who may actually care, I've gotten back into the business of a personal blog. Hopefully, it will be a great way for me to convey/process what is going on during these last few months of school...and hopefully to chronologue where God is leading me during this RUF internship application period.

Bookmark the site if you want; I should have the first posting coming up shortly. And don't worry, even though this is my first post on this site in over a month...I'm not bailing from the EE blog. Just starting something new in addition to it. Yours in Christ, ben

Click Here!

Now Showcasing...Rob Thomas

This mug is now front and center on Jean Larroux's blogsite. Enjoy your 15-minutes of fame Rob...I'm sure it's all you're gonna get :) hahaha

Messed Up Blog

Anyone know why the sidebar on the blog is stuck way down at the bottom of the page? Until recently, it was where it was supposed to be. Any ideas how to fix it? Or is it just my computer messing up? Thanks.

March Madness '06

Hola todos,

Ben and I are starting a "old folks with old joints and cars who like blackeyed peas" basketball tournament. Ben found a gorgeous full court outdoor arena in Athens that will be the site of this "old folks with old joints and cars who like blackeyed peas" basketball tournament. We will try to play sometime on saturday morning, so if you want to play, blog your commitment, and I will come up with teams. It will be thunder and destruction for those who are not on my team...fair warning.

Ciao,

T&D BobbyT

Read It and Weep

In the words of Bobby T. "I saw this, and I thought my head was gonna explode." Let's take a minute and marvel at the Reuters religious editor's comparison of the West's reaction to the pending martyrdom of an Afghan convert to the violent outbursts of the Muslim world over the Mohammed cartoons. This honestly makes me sick.

Reports

So, what did you do for Spring Break?

Scary, Sketchy, or All Of The Above?

Here's some pictoral goodness from last night.

Again, for our non-listservers

This is worth three minutes of your life, I assure you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=Gi2CfuqcUGE

A Picture's Worth _______ Words...

24th Straight Valentine's Day...

that I've spent alone. Coincidentally, it's also the 24th straight year of me not giving a sheeot.

In related news...I've give 5 American dollars to any of you who can guess how Mr. Brent Jennings is spending his Valentine's night. I laughed heartily when I heard. You're disqualified if you've already spoken to him about his plans, by the way.

Rass...I'm especially looking forward to your guesses.

-Ben

For all our non-listservers out there

(insert funny Brokeback Mountain joke).

Super Bowl Sunday

Did any of y'all really care about the game yesterday? It seemed to me that it was lacking something important, like meaning, or a story. I just couldn't get too excited about such a mediocre matchup, except that Hines and Verron were on the winning team. Oh yeah, and David Greene was on the losing team, which I was happy about. He's a good fit for the Seahawks.

Maybe I missed something. Anyone know what?

Heart Softener

"How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished,
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom."

I'm not gonna get to ride an elephant this summer...

...but I might get to climb the Himalayas.

Howdy fellas. I wanted to update y'all and shamelessly solicit prayers for my possible endeavors this summer, so here goes. God has definitely shut the door on Sri Lanka. MTW has been acting funny about sending me there all along, and now Gary "The" Todd (who pretty much runs the mission scene at Redeemer) has jumped on the Sri-Lanka-is-a-no-go bandwagon, citing the impending civil war. With my church and my church's mission organization against it, I figured God was probably telling me something. Anyway, with that out of the picture, it looks like I might go to Pakistan. Gary just got back from over there, and he's pretty excited about the opportunities he saw. He said about ninety thousand people were killed and another three hundred thousand were affected by the earthquake in October. Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents in the foothills of the Himalayas. The crisis has pushed the Islamic government to open its borders to relief workers of any religious background, which was not the case five months ago. With this opportunity on the table, Redeemer is currently working on assembling two or three teams to go on two week trips over there. My team, that was planning on going to Sri Lanka, will probably be the second wave, leaving in mid-May. Also, two RUF guys, Joseph Davis and Mark Vinson, and myself are trying to work out a deal to stay for three months or so. I hope and pray this comes to fruition, because it seems like this thing could be big. Now that Christians can go without hiding our beliefs, we (probably) won't even be arrested if someone asks us why we're there, and we reply, "Because Jesus Christ loved us to death, we're here to love you." Wow, that sounds cheesy. I promise I'll work on a better response to that question before I go. Also, the underground churches that have been operating there for several years will most likely be working with us, which will be an amazing connection to have. I'm rambling, so now for the before-mentioned solicitation: please pray for these trips and for the Pakistanis who are homeless and hopeless right now.

Love,
Tom Hart

P.S. Sorry to be a Blog Hog.

Hello everyone

Hello all. Hope everyone is doing well wherever you are. I am finally back from Europe and in my 2nd week of work. I am really enjoying it thus far. I wanted to give yall my new cell phone number that I have. It is 770-843-2960. Hope to see you all soon.

New Kid on the Block

Welcome to the blog, Jay!

The Wonder of the Wonderful Cross

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..." (1st John 3:16)

Have you ever thought about the phrase we often hear and exhort one another with: "Look to the cross"? Have you ever wondered what that really means, what it looks like, what thoughts it conjures, why we would say something like that? Christians are a peculiar people if you think about it. We revel and rest in the marvelous beauty...of a tortuous instrument of execution, a vile Roman cross.

Only the lowest of the low met death by crucifixion. It was the method of capital punishment rolled out only for those the government wished to humiliate in addition to execute. It was a most disgraceful, dreadful, and shameful way to die: hanging nude on a cross while your mother, brothers, sisters, friends, enemies, and arrogant accusers watched and mocked and spat and laughed.

Knowing all this, what is our fascination with the wooden timbers of the cross? Saints throughout the centuries have written and spoken and hymned about the beautiful significance of the cross. Its theological significance is something I have known about for a long time now, but just recently I remembered its sweetness, its gravity, its centrality to all of life. Why say, "Look to the cross"? Because it visually reminds us that regardless of what our fickle emotions tell us, we are at peace with God. His justice is satisfied. His consuming wrath was quenched by divine blood. Our sins have been fully avenged. Christ bore the miserable curse for our aggravated crimes.

So seeing the cross reminds us that Jehovah has done far more than simply tell us about His love. He is not the lover who spends the nights penning romantic sonnets to prove His love. No, His love goes deeper, His love is omnipotent and efficacious. It accomplishes all it intends to. His is the powerful love which conquers the obstinate hearts of His people by submiting to death on a cross in their stead.

The cross is crucial because that is precisely where and when and how our God proved the infinite depth of His love. When we see that cruel image, we are warmed by the reality that there, on that cross the Living God laid His Isaac down that we might be made sons. When a saint ponders His Lord's agonies at Golgatha, he sees the tangible evidence, the visual reminder, the undeniable proof of divine favor. And when a person who doesn't yet believe but "seeks to believe" considers this reality, he should know that the promises of This God can be trusted. This God proved His love to a habitually doubting, rebelling people. And This One, True, Living God is absolutely sincere when He beckons, "All of you who are thirsty, come to Me and I will give you Living Water...and you will never thirst again."

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above the Heavenly Host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

The 2006 Old Man Reunion

Brent, Tom, Roecker, Spiff...we wish y'all would have been here to share in the fun. Maybe next time.

Ten million girls aborted

This is from a recent CBS News report. In case you still don't trust CBS, the story is also being reported by numerous other news sources. The fact that there are still human beings on this planet who claim man is 'inherently good' is substantial proof of how completely sin blinds one to reality. Anyway, here's the sad story: "Based on the natural gender ratio from other countries, they estimated that 13.6 million to 13.8 million girls should have been born in 1997 in India. However, 13.1 million were reported, the study said. "We conservatively estimate that prenatal sex determination and selective abortion accounts for 0.5 million missing girls yearly," the study said. "If this practice has been common for most of the past two decades since access to ultrasound became widespread, then a figure of 10 million missing female births would not be unreasonable," it said."

Stuff

Hey, Brent! Great to hear from you! And so encouraging. I especially liked your list of influential books. And your encouragement.

A thought for the group: I was reading a passage in the NT where Jesus was telling parable after parable, but He was only explaining it to the disciples. He told them that it was given to them to know the secrets of the kingdom.

What struck me for the first time was that God had no problem disclosing the secrets of the kingdom to Judas, enemy of the kingdom. God invited His betrayer into the inner circle and disclosed the plan for the kingdom to him in plain words. I don't think a single world leader would do the same.

My fear of God increased as I considered God's confidence in Himself, His confidence in His plan. What He has decreed will happen, and not even an invitation to His inner court and full disclosure of the secrets of His plan can affect What Will Be.

I (we) have no reason not to put complete, childlike faith in One Who is like this. There is no one else like Him, so there is no alternative.

Anyway, just a thought I had the other day.

My head exploded....

watch the letterman/oreilly interview. irritation was my mildest reaction.

www.billoreilly.com

The Essential Role of the Law in Evangelism

The following quotes about the essential role of the Law in evangelism are food for thought...and prayer and consideration. At this hour, I am too tired to include my own thoughts, so maybe I'll add them in a comment soon. I hope each of you is doing well and that you are presently in prayerful awe that God chose you (of all people)...that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit elected from the foundation of the world to resurrect your corrupt, lifeless soul at immeasurable cost to Himself.
----------------------------------------------

"Satan, the god of all dissention, stirs up daily new sects...he has raised up a sect such as teach that men should not be terrified by the Law, but greatly exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ." -- Martin Luther

"A sinner will never receive grace until he first trembles before a just and holy law." -- C.H. Spurgeon

"The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciouses of millions." -- A.W. Tozer

"A gospel which merely says 'Come to Jesus' and offers Him as a Friend, and offers a marvelous life, without convincing of sin, is not New Testament Evangelism. True evangelism...must always start by preaching the Law." -- Martin Lloyd-Jones

"Preach 90% law and 10% grace." -- John Wesley

"You must preach the Law, for the gospel is a silken thread, and you cannot get into the hearts of men unless you have made a way for it with a sharp needle; the sharp needle of the Law will pull the silken thread of the gospel after it." -- Robbie Flockhart

"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a savior from Hell rather than a savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness." -- A.W. Pink

"...the Law acts the part of a severe schoolmaster. It drives us by force, rather than draws us by love. And yet love is the spring of all. It is the spirit of love which, by this painful means, tears away our confidence in the flesh, which leaves us no broken reed whereupon to trust, and so constrains the sinner, stripped of all to cry out in the bitterness of his soul or groan in the depth of his heart, 'I give up every plea beside, Lord, I am damned; but thou hast died.'" -- John Wesley

"Never, never let us despise [the Law]. It is the symptom of an ignorant ministry, and unhealthy state of religion, when the Law is lightly esteemed. The true Christian 'delights in God's Law'(Romans 24:10-20)" -- J.C. Ryle