A fascinating, almost forgotten Middle TN Civil War story. A 57 yr old man who took no side until 2 of his sons were murdered became a feared sniper who wreaked havoc & even had a fully armed boat surrender to him on the Tennessee River amzn.to/4f4owev

This will be a great event for student ministries. I hope you will join us

I confess I'm not into the hype over having a variety of different uniforms in football. I can only imagine what Jack Ham, Dick Butkus, et al would say about having numerous "outfits" for football

Just met with a young pastor, UnionUniversity alum. He has more lost people attending that members! I asked what was drawing them. He said, "The Word. I didn't even have any music when they started coming. I've confronted their sin, & they keep coming. The Word is doing this."

Another conversation: Young man grew up in an unbelieving family. Didn't go to church. Best friend in 8th grade, a Christian, talked with him often about the gospel. Eventually the friend invited him to a camp. At the camp he was converted. Now he's pursuing pastoral ministry

"To do nothing is to be unhappy and make others unhappy also"- Thomas Murphy (1823-1900)

Preaching and care for words

“If a man is known by the company he keeps, so also his character is reflected in the books he reads. A leader’s reading is the outward expression of his inner hungers and aspirations.” -Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

It is great to see some fo the good work being done by our students!

"When we pursue “safety first” for children and young people, what we ultimately mean—whether we know it or not—is that we would prefer to malform their character than to risk their bodily harm" First Things firstthings.com/safety-third/

It was great to meet with @unionstm colleagues today in preparation for a new year. Pictured here are some of our faculty as they think together about their scholarship and ways they are working to adjust and improve their classes for this coming semester

It was a blessing to see another of our UnionSTM students, Taylor Hill, ordained to gospel ministry this evening and to hear the charge from my former youth minister who meant so much to me, Bill Kisner

I am excited about our chapel lineup this Fall. Feel free to join us any time.

With the start of classes today, I begin my 26th year at UnionUniversity . I am grateful.

I've always loved this meditation from G.K. Chesterton.

- “Recreations are not education; accomplishments are not education. Do not say, the people must be educated, when, after all, you only mean, amused, refreshed, soothed, put into good spirits and good humor, or kept from vicious excesses.” —John Henry Newman (1801–1890)

“Young men are inclined to be full of themselves- their desires, goals, and ambitions- yet often they are talking when they should be listening.” - Louis L'Amour

We had a great time having our new UnionSTM majors to our house for dinner