A one year project to become a better man in America's south
Day 191 – Last year I set a goal to get deeply involved in a church ministry by the end of 2011. I failed to accomplish that goal, but I wasn’t going to let another year pass by with another failure. I’m happy to announce that today we officially launched First Baptist Church of Columbia’s Internet ministry.
Day 184 – Dr Wendall Estep offered another great sermon today at First Baptist Church of Columbia. Continuing his series on The Sermon on The Mount, he gave a thoughtful lesson on judging.
Matthew 7:1-11 cites Jesus as saying:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Day 177 – Spiritual life is a very important aspect of my being. It instills a sense of humility that’s sometimes easy to lose sight of- but devoting time to praise reminds us that there’s something greater, something we can never be. It’s humbling.
Sharing that feeling with my friends and family is amazing.
Tonight, I attended a very meaningful ceremony for my friend Richie Hayward. Richie was ordained as a Deacon of First Baptist Church of Columbia. The meaning and the substance behind this really hit me hard as I watched the FBC Deacons lay hands on Richie and the other inductees.
Day 108 – Today I want to tell you about Seth Miller. Two word describe him pretty well – pathetic loser.
This guy builds some of the worst looking WordPress sites I’ve ever seen. He supposedly smokes pot all day while attacking people on Twitter from his grandmother’s home, where he lives. Columbia attorney Todd Kincannon calls Miller “the dumbest drug dealer ever.”
To learn more about Seth, click here and here and here and here.
Day 29 – In continuing our study of the Beatitudes this weekend, Dr. Wendell Estep of First Baptist Church of Columbia moved on to Matthew 5:6, which states “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Dr. Estep said that we have three types of thirsts. The first is the physical thirst. As you know, I certainly have a large appetite for tacos, boiled peanuts and barbecue. The second is the intellectual thirst. The third is spiritual thirst.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions as to why I talk about faith so much on this blog. It’s an easy answer. I believe that to be a better person you must thirst for spiritual growth. That is not to say that I think religious people are better people than atheists. I don’t think they’re better. I just think they’re are better off.
DAY 17 - It has been an extremely busy week for us at Donehue Direct and I do not have a lot of time to write today. I’m posting now because I promised to post everyday. I have a really good post that I wrote yesterday on “The Lost Art of Hand Written Thank You Notes” but I haven’t even had time to post it. I’ll get it up at some point today.
One quick programming note – We will be shooting Pub Politics Episode 70 at 6:00 pm today from Tin Roof. This is our Back to School and USC Football episode. Our guest will be Todd Ellis (pictured above with Coach Spurier), voice of the Gamecocks. For those of you who have been to one of our episodes at Tin Roof, you know that the sound has been sucky. This time we will be using Tin Roof’s stage and sound system. It should be really good. I think you’ll dig it.
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Day 14- It is early Sunday morning and I write from Charleston while watching “Meet the Press”. I do not have much time to write today, so I want to pose a question to you all.
Under no circumstance do I want to turn this into a political blog. However, I do want to discuss faith and in this instance, the circumstances just happen to be about a political figure.
When first running for Congress, Michelle Bachmann spoke at a mega church stating that she did not want to become a tax attorney, but her husband urged her to and because the Bible says a wife should be submissive to her husband, she did. Congressman Bachmann was asked about the comments during Friday night’s debate and she stated that the word “submissive” is a synonym for “respectful.” Maybe that’s true. Maybe its not. That’s not where I want to go with this.
Day 13 - It has been another whirlwind weekend. I write from Charleston, SC where I just arrived late last night for the Redstate Gathering and Rick Perry’s announcement for President of the United States, after driving six hours from Martinsville, VA
Upon arriving in Charleston, I hit downtown with my buddy Patrick, enjoying a few beers at Pearlz, Tommy Condon’s and Social. We hooked up with some national political buddies, showing them the charm of the nation’s best city.
The drive to Charleston gave me an opportunity to reexamine C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I regularly enjoy books on tape as they seem to help the time pass by much faster than music while driving long distances.
Day 8 - Yesterday I finished reading Grethen Rubin’s The Happiness Project on the same day Pastor Wendell Estep of Columbia’s First Baptist Church began a study of The Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes and a discussion on happiness. I found it amazing that God put this sermon in front of me as I began this one –year project concentrating on happiness.
As Dr. Estep explained, “The Sermon on the Mount, found in the Book of Matthew, is the Christian Constitution. The Beatitudes are the preamble. Together they tell us what is expected of us as Christians.”
Day 5 – How do you want people to remember you?
Do you want to be known as some selfish jerk that curses too much, drinks too much, loses his temper and never lifts a finger for other people? Or do you want to be known as a good man, humble, giving and warm-hearted?
I’ll take the latter, thank you. I prefer to hear God’s voice say “well done good and faithful servant.” If people genuinely say, “he was a good man” at my funeral, I will have had a life well lived.
