Today I sent this in to Jay Leno Headlines, 3000 W. Alameda Ave, Burbank, CA 91523: “Speaking of cheap vacation getaway opportunities this is the best!!!”
(CNN) – Sinkholes, like the kind that swallowed part of a resort near Disney World in central Florida this week, are more common than you might think.
In the late Sunday night incident, all the guests inside the buildings at the Summer Bay Resort made it out OK before the ground opened up, leaving a 60-foot-wide,15-foot-deep crater.
But sometimes the results have been deadly.
In February, a Florida man fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home. He didn’t survive.
New amateur video shows the aftermath of the sinkhole in Florida. (CNN)
Here is a look at what causes sinkholes, where they occur and just how dangerous and costly they can be:
What causes sinkholes?
Many sinkholes form when acidic rainwater dissolves limestone or similar rock beneath the soil, leaving a large void that collapses when it’s no longer able to support the weight of what’s above, whether that be an open field, a road or a house. These are called “cover-collapse sinkholes,” and it would appear this is what’s happening in Florida, where the ground beneath the home suddenly gave way.
Where do they happen?
Sinkholes are particularly common in Florida, which rests on a nearly unbroken bed of limestone, according to the Florida Sinkhole Research Institute.
Central Florida is particularly known for sinkholes. It’s part of Florida’s so-called Sinkhole Alley, where two-thirds of insurance claims for sinkhole damage occur, according to a report prepared for state lawmakers in 2010. Other places that frequently see sinkholes include Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
Do all sinkholes collapse so dramatically?
No, some merely cause the ground above to sag, or result in small ponds or saltwater marshes, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says.
There do not appear to be any solid numbers, but the Florida Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance reported that insurers had received 24,671 claims for sinkhole damage in that state alone between 2006 and 2010. That’s an average of nearly 17 claims a day, just in Florida.
How dangerous and costly are sinkholes?
Deaths and injuries from sinkholes are rare, but certainly not unheard of. For instance, in 2012, a 15-year-old girl died when her family’s car fell into a Utah sinkhole, according to media accounts. But the holes are enormously costly. Insurance claims submitted in Florida alone between 2006 and 2010 totaled $1.4 billion, according the Florida Senate report.
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider
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I have enjoyed going back and forth with the Arkansas Times Bloggers on many subjects over the years. Now I have discussed the subject of “The Meaning of Life” with them recently and I wanted to share some of this with you.
I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Chris Martin of Coldplay revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was raised an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. The fact Coldplay’s songs deal so much with death and the search for meaning and purpose of life (similar to Solomon’s search in Ecclesiastes), and that our actions are being watched, and Chris describes different ways God tries to reveal himself to us, and many songs deal with trying to find a way to an afterlife and heaven, and he stills uses Christian terms like being “blessed” and “grateful.”
People are looking for a purpose for their lives even if they have millions in the bank and have the world at their finger tips.
Olphart claims that I have the message of Ecclesiastes wrong and he quotes Wikipedia:
Wikipedia notes:
“The title is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Koheleth, meaning “Gatherer”, but traditionally translated as “Teacher” or “Preacher”.[1]
Koheleth introduces himself as “son of David, king in Jerusalem,” PERHAPS IMPLYING that he is Solomon, but the work is IN FACT ANONYMOUS and was most probably composed in the LAST PART OF THE THIRD CENTURY BC.[2] The book is in the form of an autobiography telling of his investigation of the meaning of life and the best way of life. He proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently hevel, a word meaning “vain”, “futile”, “empty”, “meaningless”, “temporary”, “transitory”, “fleeting,” or “mere breath,” as the lives of both wise and foolish men end in death. While Koheleth clearly endorses wisdom as a means for a well-lived earthly life, he is UNABLE TO ASCRIBE ETERNAL MEANING TO IT. IN LIGHT OF THIS PERCEIVED SENSELESSNESS, HE SUGGESTS THAT ONE SHOULD ENJOY THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF DAILY LIFE, SUCH AS EATING, DRINKING, AND TAKING ENJOYMENT IN ONE’S WORK WHICH ARE GIFTS FROM THE HANDS OF GOD. THE BOOK CONCLUDES WITH WORDS THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ADDED BY A LATER EDITOR DISTURBED BY KOHELETH’S FAILURE TO MENTION GOD’S LAWS: “FEAR GOD, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS; FOR THAT IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF EVERYONE” (12:13).[3]”
I have capitalized the parts that directly contradict how you and Dr. Peter May characterize the book of Ecclesiastes. You got the author wrong, you got the date of composition wrong and, most likely, have gotten the central message totally backwards.
Other than that, you are accurate, it seems.
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The Book of Ecclesiastes takes a hard look at life “under the sun:” life from a mortal, earthly, finite perspective. This viewpoint may be contrasted with life “over the sun:” life from an eternal, Heavenly, infinite perspective.
Under the sun, life is monotonous; over the sun, it’s adventurous. Under the sun, wisdom is vain; over the sun, wisdom is extremely useful. Under the sun, wealth is futile; over the sun, wealth opens up great opportunities. Under the sun, death is certain; over the sun, death provides great motivation. The Christian life can be compared to a puzzle, a battle, a challenge, a race, a treasure hunt, or a pilgrimage. None of these are monotonous or boring. They are the stuff of true adventure.
Author: The writer says that he was “the Son of David, King in Jerusalem” (1:1, 12, 16). The writer is Solomon, and the book is an autobiography of his experiences and reflections while he was out of fellowship with God.
Such is life “under the sun” (or Earth) apart from God, is “vanities of vanities”. Solomon concluded that it was all vanity, or “vapor”, a grasping for the wind, all that he had done and experienced, apart from God.
We have seen that worldliness is essentially a matter of eliminating God from the picture and focusing instead only on life “under the sun.” Those who live by this philosophy inevitably become so preoccupied with this life that personal happiness and welfare become their sole concern. In their quest for that ever elusive peace and contentment, however, they eventually become so frustrated that they adopt a spirit of pessimism, cynicism, and despair. It is significant that “the Preacher” illustrates the futility of this search for meaning and purpose by the image of the circle in Ecclesiastes 1:4-7:
“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh…The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the waters run into the sea…unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”
When God is left out of the definition of life, all appears terribly monotonous and aimlessly repetitious.
Is Life Futile?
Ecclesiastes does not end on this pessimistic note, however. After analyzing the futility of life without God, the Preacher affirms that life lived with a conscious awareness of God is supremely meaningful:“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” the Preacher counsels (12:1). Moreover, “because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge” (12:9; emphasis mine). He concludes “the whole matter” by urging his young auditors, “Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (12:13-14). With God in the picture, all of life, be it work, education, recreation, leisure, relationships, or the use of material things, is meaningful. The purpose of life, consequently, is to enjoy life as God’s gift and to devote it to his glory by worshipping him and obeying his commandments. That is the whole duty of man. That is a real sense of purpose.
King Solomon was looking at life from an earthly, temporal point of view, and he came to these conclusions:
1. Life is vain because of its monotony.
2. Life is vain because of the limits of wisdom.
3. Life is vain because of the limits of wealth.
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:8-11
Solomon was the richest man in the Bible – maybe of all time. He was the Bill Gates of his day. However, no one can buy his way into Heaven or out of eternity. Somebody once said that if money can’t buy happiness, at least it will allow you to afford your favorite kind of misery. Money can be a valuable tool. You can’t eat cash, but you can buy food with it. You can’t keep warm with it, but you can buy fuel with it. This quote once appeared in the Wall St. Journal: “Money is a universal passport to everywhere except Heaven; and a universal provider of everything except happiness.”
For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
The Book of Ecclesiastes does not directly identify its author. There are quite a few verses that imply Solomon wrote this book. There are some clues in the context that may suggest a different person wrote the book after Solomon’s death, possibly several hundred years later. Still, the conventional belief is that the author is indeed Solomon.
Date of Writing: Solomon’s reign as king of Israel lasted from around 970 B.C. to around 930 B.C. The Book of Ecclesiastes was likely written towards the end of his reign, approximately 935 B.C.
Purpose of Writing: Ecclesiastes is a book of perspective. The narrative of “the Preacher” (KJV), or “the Teacher” (NIV) reveals the depression that inevitably results from seeking happiness in worldly things. This book gives Christians a chance to see the world through the eyes of a person who, though very wise, is trying to find meaning in temporary, human things. Most every form of worldly pleasure is explored by the Preacher, and none of it gives him a sense of meaning.
In the end, the Preacher comes to accept that faith in God is the only way to find personal meaning. He decides to accept the fact that life is brief and ultimately worthless without God. The Preacher advises the reader to focus on an eternal God instead of temporary pleasure.
Key Verses: Ecclesiastes 1:2, “’Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘vanity of vanities, all is vanity’” (NKJV).
Ecclesiastes 1:18, “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”
Ecclesiastes 2:11, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
Is there any real meaning in life? Or is everything meaningless? All is vanity says the Preacher. On the face of it, the writer seems to be promoting the idea that everything really is meaningless. We must remember, however, that he is constructing an argument designed to lead us from one way of thinking to another that is radically different. He therefore starts with the wrong idea so that he may lead us to the right one. He means to expose what we nowadays call the secular view of life: a life without any absolutes, a life without the certainties of the revelation of God’s Word, a life lived out of values generated by man without reference to God, a life that expects lasting satisfaction from earthbound things. He wants to show how such a life can only be meaningless and must end in disillusionment in time, not to mention eternity. To heighten the drama of his argument, he gives a vivid presentation of this position as if it is all there is!Surprisingly perhaps, this theme of meaninglessness is only a means to his primary goal. Later, as he develops his argument, he shows his readers that there is real meaning in life and that it consists in loving God and being his disciples [12:13-14]. He is not a cynic. He firmly believes that all meaning comes from the infinite, personal God who has revealed Himself to humanity in His Word. Consequently, he is persuaded that this meaning is only understood and grasped in a personal relationship with God – a living faith in Him, which results in a commitment to discipleship as a child of God.
February 7, 2011 by Steve Spurlin, PhDSolomon identifies the futility of life apart from God. In Ecclesiastes 1:2, Solomon states, “Vanity (meaninglessness) of vanities,…Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” This declaration identifies the emptiness of life apart from the proper relationship with our Creator God through His only begotten Son, Messiah Jesus. Solomon goes on to reveal his scientific findings – what he discovered through a scientific investigation of the various activities that man uses to find peace, purpose, and fulfillment in life. And each avenue that the “under the sun” (1:3, et. al.) man utilizes to find what he is looking for has the same conclusion – vanity, emptiness, meaninglessness. That does not mean that man cannot find some measure of fulfillment, peace, and purpose because he does. But what Solomon is identifying is that because of how God created man – “He has…set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (3:11) – we have intrinsic knowledge that there is something, someone, some meaning beyond the here and now, beyond ourselves. There is an eternity. There is eternal purpose. There is eternal meaning. But left alone and to our own devices the best we can do is attend the Super Bowl, wait breathlessly for the half-time entertainment, groove to the music of our youth, or any number of instruments or activities in order to numb ourselves to the emptiness of life apart from a right relationship to our Creator God. And ultimately in the end only find emptiness and meaninglessness.
What is the answer (and its not blowing in the wind)? It is to “Believe (have faith) in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). It is then that sin is forgiven and a real relationship with the God Who created us is established. Then and only then can we find eternal meaning, purpose, and satisfaction in this life, and are enabled to look with hope and confidence towards eternal life.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the preacher. All is vanity.
How can life seem any less meaningful? “What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?” Everything just keeps happening over and over. One generation comes, another goes, and the cycle of life starts over. “All things are wearisome…”
But Koheleth was determined to find meaning in life. He sought out many avenues through which he thought he might find happiness. He tried wisdom, only to discover that “in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”
He tried pleasure. He withheld nothing that he desired from himself. Yet, at the end of the day, he realized that it was “vanity and striving after wind.” There was “no profit under the sun.”
He looked at the world and saw oppression, ugliness, grief, and death. Riches did not live up to its deceitful promises: “The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.” Power is not what it is cracked up to be. In the end, whether a person is rich, poor, good, bad, or anything else, we all end up going back to the dust. As is the fool, so is the wise man.
Looking at life from such an earthly perspective can lead to terrible despair. Koheleth looked at it all; he tried it all. He found nothing ultimately satisfying or meaningful – until he turned back to God.
Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction Published on Sep 24, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider ___________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope […]
Ecclesiastes 2-3 Published on Sep 19, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 16, 2012 | Derek Neider _____________________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular […]
Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how […]
Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series […]
Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction Published on Sep 24, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider ___________________ Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I […]
Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ Ecclesiastes 2-3 Published on Sep 19, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 16, 2012 | Derek Neider _____________________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
Tampa Bay Rays apologize for Avril Lavigne TMZ reported: According to local reports, Avril’s mic didn’t work at the start of her show … and she responded to the cavalcade of boos by yelling obscenities at crowd. Rays rep Rick Vaughn tells TMZ, “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and […]
These are some of the most popular posts in the last 30 days about the spiritual quest of Chris Martin of Coldplay that can be found on http://www.thedailyhatch.org: Chris Martin of Coldplay unknowingly lives out his childhood Christian beliefs (Part 3 of notes from June 23, 2012 Dallas Coldplay Concert, Martin left Christianity because of […]
On the last night of her life, Edie attended a fashion show in her home city of Santa Barbara and even managed to get herself on camera one last time when the documentary crew for “An American Family” (1973) showed up to film Lance Loud. Later that night, at a party, a palm reader grabbed her hand and was taken aback by her very short life line – to which Edie sweetly replied, “It’s okay – I know.”
Edie burned down her Sutton Place apartment in October of 1966 and moved into the Chelsea Hotel. She burned down at least one more room at that historic residence before management placed her in Room 105 above the lobby – and just down the hall from the same room Sid Vicious would one day allegedly kill his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.
Was introduced to Andy Warhol by television producer Lester Persky in January of 1965 and appeared in Vinyl (1965), her first official Warhol film, in March of 1965.
Dated singer/songwriter Bob Dylan before he married Sara Dylan; his songs “Just Like A Woman” and “Like A Rolling Stone” came largely from their relationship. (Andy Warhol appears in the latter song, as “Napoleon in rags.”)
Spent her entire trust fund from the Sedgwick family fortune in just a few months, promoting Andy Warhol and entertaining his clients and hangers-on. This never seemed to register with Warhol, who continued to deride her as a “poor little rich girl” (also the title of one of his movies with her), and wondered out loud when she died if her husband of a few months would “get her money.” (Warhol was told curtly by a friend “Edie didn’t have any money. She spent it all on you.”)
Was the 7th out of eight children.
Her great-great-great grandfather was Judge Theodore Sedgwick. He’d been Speaker of the House of Representatives in the time of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington and had also been the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Her husband, Michael Post, woke up on the morning of November 16, 1971 to find Edie lying dead next to him in bed. The Coronor classified her death as an ‘accident/suicide’ and the cause of her death as ‘acute barbituate intoxication’.
Misha Sedgwick (no relation), portrayed her in a 2004 off-Broadway play.
In 1989, the British rock group, The Cult, consisting of Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, released their “Sonic Temple” album. One of the songs paid tribute to Edie Sedgwick. The song is called “Edie (Ciao Baby)”.
Edie filmed the first part of Ciao Manhattan (1972) from April to August of 1967. Filming completely fell apart when she spontaneously took off to California to eventually hang out at the infamous “Castle” with Nico and sometimes guest Jim Morrison – among others. After a brief trip to Boston to film Lulu – a short film by Richard Leacock – she returned to Manhattan essentially homeless and, by early 1968, was repeatedly institutionalized in mental hospitals.
Grew up on an isolated ranch in Santa Barbara, California, where she and her siblings had their own private school. They made daily visits to the doctor’s office, where they were given Vitamin B injections.
At her funeral, her casket was covered with magnolias. Her wedding bouquet had also been made up of magnolias.
On the last night of her life, she attended a fashion show and party for designer Michael Novarese, where she was berated by a fellow guest about supposedly being a heroin addict. The guest was a woman named Veronica Janeway, who was asked to leave after causing the disturbance.
Did not have her ears pierced until the late ’60s when she stopped wearing her signature ‘shoulder-duster’ earrings.
Was a self-confessed kleptomaniac who would steal from department stores, gift shops, and occasionally from friends and family. Though later it would be mainly to support her drug habit, she would also steal small objects like silverware, pens, lighters, and figurines. According to Andy Warhol, she was also compulsive hoarder (another kleptomaniac trait) and stashed copious amounts of drugs and makeup in particular.
Edie- In Her Own Words
Uploaded on Dec 8, 2009
This is just a little video montage I made of my favorite gal Edie Sedgwick. Enjoy!
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Personal Quotes
I came to New York to see what I could see – that’s from a children’s book, isn’t it? – and to find the living part.
I lived a very isolated life. When you start at 20, you have a lot of nonsense to work out of your system.
It’s not that I’m rebelling. It’s that I’m just trying to find another way.
I made a mask out of my face because I didn’t realize I was quite beautiful. God blessed me so. I practically destroyed it. I had to wear heavy black eyelashes like bat wings, and dark lines under my eyes, and cut all my hair off, my long dark hair. Cut it off and strip it silver and blonde. All those little manoeuvres I did out of things that were happening in my life that upset me.
The very things I might have given in to, that demanded, that said, this is your life. I mean, this is your only way to survive, are the things I fought hardest to end. ‘Cause I believed in something else. And um, what makes that sane is that I can understand other people’s situations in their own terms, but “they” still can’t understand mine.
It was really sad – Bobby [Neuwirth]’s and my affair. The only true, passionate, and lasting love scene, and I practically ended up in the psychopathic ward. I had really learned about sex from him, making love, loving, giving. It just completely blew my mind – it drove me insane. I was like a sex slave to this man. I could make love for forty-eight hours, forty-eight hours, forty-eight hours, without getting tired. But the minute he left me alone, I felt so empty and lost that I would start popping pills.
I had no money. My parents closed down all credit. I couldn’t get any money, and they were trying to lock me up again because I’d taken some acid and told my psychiatrist about it. I just told him what the experience was like and he jumped, and at the same time he read about Andy Warhol’s “pornographic” movies in Time. I was in the studio a lot, so my psychiatrist got really upset and called my parents and was gonna have me put away, so I ran away to Europe with Andy and Chuck.
But fashion as a whole is a farce, completely. The people behind it are perverted, the styles are created by freaked out people, just natural weirdos. I know this because I worked with all those people while I was modelling.
I’ll have to put more earrings on. I bet that someone could analyze me and tell my condition by my earrings.
I moved out to Santa Barbara to straighten out, supposedly, and I started using drugs, which I found were plentiful in Isla Vista, around the college campus – UCSB. And then I started rollicking around with all kinds of kids a lot younger than me. Anywhere from 15 to their 20s, but I was kind of in my late 20s. And, uh…I had fun, but I really didn’t have anyone I particularly loved. And I still don’t, except for loving friends, but I mean I haven’t been in love with anyone in years and years. But I have a certain amount of faith that it’ll come.
[Describing the orgy scene in Ciao! Manhattan]: The whole place turned into a gigantic orgy, every kind of sex freak, from homosexuals to nymphomaniacs, especially the needle and mainlining scene, losing syringes down the pool drains and blocking up the water infiltration system with broken syringes. Oh, it was really some night…Drinking, guzzling tequila, vodka, and scotch, and bourbon, and shooting up every other half-second, and just going into an incredible sexual tailspin. Gobble gobble gobble gobble. Just couldn’t get enough of it. It was one of the wildest scenes I’ve ever been in or ever hope to be in, and I should be ashamed of myself. I’m not, but I should be.
I want a further step for me…that’s my process of development. I don’t want to cut it off. I understand where it’s been cut off for other people, and I understand the whole process in that order of things, but I see no way in that isn’t a trap, that will let me out again without damaging too much, you know?
I heard about this doctor who gave vitamin shots, and they were very stimulating and kept you going for quite a while. I was under treatment with vitamin therapy, just multivitamin shots. But I heard about this super deal that this other doctor had. A guy I was going out with at the time told me not to go to him, never to have his shots. So I immediately took them, thinking there must be something special about them…And there was. And I went, and that was the beginning of injecting drugs. I went to a doctor for it. I didn’t handle it myself until a year later. I turned into a total speed freak for a few months. That’s about as long as I could survive, and then I placed myself in the hospital.
You care enough, that you want your life to be fulfilled in a living way, not in a painting way, not in a writing way…you really do want it to be involving in living, corresponding with other living objects, moving, changing, that kind of thing.
[on Andy Warhol]: I’m a little nervous about saying anything about the artist, because it kind of sticks him right between the eyes, but he deserves it. He really fucked up a great many people’s, young people’s lives.
I have an accident about every two years, and one day it won’t be an accident.
When I started going around with Andy people thought I had a press agent. I didn’t. After a while I got sort of paranoid about all the publicity, and I holed up in my apartment and cut off the telephone for two months. I saw only two people. Then I felt ready to go out again. I want to do more acting. I like it, but it’s hard – the long hours, getting the lines straight, I didn’t have to do that with Andy.
[on why she rejected offers from Hollywood]: I need the support of my friends.
[Describing the aftermath of a drug-fueled sexual encounter]: Something very strange happened. I didn’t realize I was going to say it, and I said, out loud, “I wish I was dead.” And the reason I said it was the love and the beauty and the ecstasy of the whole experience was really an alien experience in a way, because I didn’t even know him. It was a one-night jag. He was married and had children, and I just felt really, like, lost. It just wasn’t worth living anymore because I was all alone again.
They say use it, channel it. Do it, like there will be a sign, be an artist, you’re so creative, do anything, you’ve got to do it, use it. Then, things like, and you’ve got to collect yourself, too. I mean, you know, make your hair more about yourself, self-respect. But I mean, ridiculous. You know why my doctor got so mad this time? He said, that scene, remember in the LSD bit, the only time I had it in that, sleeping with what’s-his-name and having that sex bit go on while, it was very strange-mannered, but I certainly wasn’t mortified. I mean, I humanly might be a little mortified knowing that a thousand other human beings would think it mortifying, but basically, me. So he thought that was a total lack of self-respect, which is wrong. Totally wrong.
I act this way because that’s the way I feel like acting. If people like it, fine. If they don’t, that’s their problem.
[Referring to a house fire]: It’s not going to interfere with the film. I heal miraculously. I’ve been in an auto accident and another fire. They thought I’d need plastic surgery, but I haven’t a scar…No, I don’t think I’m accident prone, but it’s strange.
[Describing a dream]: It’s like my having to walk down thousands and thousands of white marble stairs…and nothing but a very very blue sky, very blue, like…Yes, and I’d have to walk down them forever. I never thought about going up…I don’t know, don’t you think that must mean something? It never occurred to me to turn it around, I mean, why didn’t I think that way? This was after I had the car accident.
[on Bob Neuwirth]: He very much disapproved of drugs. The minute he’d leave me I felt so empty and so lost. If I wasn’t in the act of love-making, I’d be scheming about how to get drugs.
[on the 60’s flower children]: It’s sort of like a mockery in a way of reality because they think everything is smiles and sweetness and flowers when there is something bitter to taste. And to pretend there isn’t is foolish. I mean the ones that wonder around and know, at the same time, and yet wear flowers, and they deserve to wear flowers. And they’ve earned their smile…you can tell by people’s eyes.
{Addressing artist Salvador Dali]: What’s it like being a famous writer?
[on the Factory crowd]: The way those sons-of-bitches took advantage of me. Warhol is a sadistic faggot.
[Describing Manhattan State psychiatric hospital]: It was one of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve ever been through. Really terrifying. I lived in a big dormitory on a ward with about sixty to eighty women. We all did the mopping, cleaning, making beds, scrubbing toilets. And the people there were just so awful. Really pathetic. Some of them were mean. The staff completely ignored you except to administer medication. I thought it was never going to end.
You want to hear something I wrote about the horror of speed? Well, maybe you don’t, but the nearly incommunicable torments of speed, buzzerama, that acrylic high, horrorous, yodelling, repetitious echoes of an infinity so brutally harrowing that words cannot capture the devastation nor the tone of such a vicious nightmare. Yes, I’m even getting paranoid, which is a trip for me. I don’t really dig it, but there it is.
[Describing a fight with her lover, Bob Neuwirth]: I was just livid, out of hand. I got madder and madder as we drove along, and just as we drove by the Chelsea Hotel I did something. I’ve never done anything to hurt anyone, and yet I was so furious that I pressed the button and rolled down the window screen – the glass plate between the front and back seats – and I told the chauffeur that the man in the back was molesting me, he was a junkie! I was so horrified by what I said, so I flipped out by that, that I jumped out of the car into the path of oncoming traffic, certain that my head would be crushed. All that happened was that I got bruised, badly bruised, but no broken bones. I mean, I was conscious, not destroyed at all. But I’d done such a terrible thing! I couldn’t reconcile that. I had been about to explode. The hotel people came out, and they and Bobby carried me in. I had to pretend I was unconscious because I couldn’t comprehend the fact that I had tried to get him busted, to hurt him seriously. He was the only person I had ever gotten violent about. I take whatever violence comes into my system much more heavily on myself than on anyone else. But that was a pretty tight squeeze. I really craved making love to him.
[on falling pregnant after her first sexual experience]: I’d been two years locked up in hospitals. I was twenty when I got out from Bloomingdale and I met a young man from Harvard who was very attractive in a sort of Ivy league way. And we made love in my grandmother’s apartment and it was terrific, it was just fabulous. That was the first time I ever made love and I had no inhibitions or anything. It was just beautiful. I didn’t get my period and so I had to tell my doctor. The hospital pass was given to see if you could handle yourself outside, so I was terrified to tell him that I thought I was pregnant, but I finally did. I was pregnant…I could get an abortion without any hassle at all, just on the grounds of a psychiatric case. So that wasn’t too good a first experience with lovemaking. I mean, it kind of screwed up my head, for one thing. This fellow found out. I was upset…and he asked me, and I said “I’m pregnant. I’m not going to ask you for anything, so don’t get uptight, but it’s just kind of making me uncomfortable. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do about it.” He split, and I didn’t see him again until the summer had passed and I went to Cambridge for my first free year.
I held out pretty long before I really had an affair, but I got lots of attention from my father physically. He was always trying to sleep with me…from the age of about seven on. Only I resisted that. And one of my brothers who claimed that sisters were there for the purpose of teaching…a sister and brother should teach each other the rules and the game of making love; and I wouldn’t fall for that either. I just felt, I had no reason to feel. Nobody told me that incest was a bad thing or anything, but I just didn’t feel turned on by them.
When I was in the hospital, I was very suicidal in a kind of blind way, I was starving to death and just ’cause I didn’t want to turn out like my family showed me, you know, that’s all I ever saw of people, was my own family. I wasn’t allowed to associate with anyone. Oh, God. So I didn’t want to live.
But I really, since I exist, at all, I believe that it’s possible for people…I’ve lived through impossible situations. So I believe in it. I just believe, and that’s the magic…That’s the whole thing, you talk about magic that there’s to believe in, and it is there. But most people don’t really believe in it. And I refuse, like, since I’m still alive and done the things I’ve done and seen things and understood things as far as I have, and I am alive, I mean physically intact. When I shouldn’t be, according to medical reports and so forth. I mean I should be, not here. That’s all there is to it. So the magic’s working and it’s a rare situation.
This is what growth is all about. Why do people stop developing, or, like they stop the way you can rate their, psychologically, their development? Where they stop, and just from being children to maybe stopping at a very adolescent age, and they stay there until they die. Physically die. I mean, they react adolescently. They don’t change. They don’t develop. They don’t – it’s that continual read, that process which is is the total threat for the ego.
If all I cared about was me, I could make a million. And that’s what they will never understand.
Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stones w Edie Sedgwich.m4v
AFP reported this morning: Whitney Houston ‘drowned in bath after taking cocaine’ By Michael Thurston | AFP – 9 hrs ago Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after taking cocaine which could have triggered a heart attack, coroners said. Houston, who died at age 48 in the bathtub of […]
Uploaded by MrDAILYINFO on Feb 12, 2012 R.I.P WHITNEY HOUSTON; Last Performance at Kelly Price’s “For the Love of R&B” Pre-Grammy Party Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. COURTESY OF JET ____________________________ It seems that alcohol and drugs are a bad combination. The report below from Yahoo News: Whitney Houston Died of Prescription Drug, Alcohol Combination, TMZ […]
Amy Winehouse wins a Grammy!!! Take a look. Amy Winehouse’s parents accept Grammy Late Amy Winehouse gets Grammy award for best pop performance by a duo for duet with Tony Bennett. Singer Tony Bennett and parents of the late Amy Winehouse Mitch and Janis Winehouse accept the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body […]
It was so sad to lose these people so soon. The Curse of 27 This page is in response to my most frequently asked questions – is there really a Curse of 27, how many musicians actually died at that age, and who are they. When legendary Blues man, Robert Johnson, was killed at the age […]
A curve ball in the Amy Winehouse case. Troubled Brit singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in July. / AP FILE PHOTO Written by JILL LAWLESS, | Associated Press FILED UNDER Entertainment LONDON — The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her […]
Jim Morrison’s picture above. He died way too young and many of our young people turn to drugs and suicide because of loneliness. It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to this problem that […]
There is a truth that many people know. You can die from drinking too much alcohol at one time. I remember like yesterday when AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott died while on tour in England in 1980. According to Wikipedia: On 19 February 1980, Scott, 33 at the time, passed out after a night of […]
I welcome the input from those that read my blog. Recently I received some criticism from readers and Jordan is probably more of the most vocal. He wrote today, “I hardly see a ‘tragic’ death as you call it, a morally sound reason to throw in people’s faces what drugs do to people…You know as […]
Drugs and alcohol have always been a pitfall that many of the wealthy fall into. We see rock bands that become famous have lots of temptations thrown their way and many fall into these traps. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Barry McGuire fell into these traps. One joined the “27 Club” and the other left the […]
I really enjoyed the movie “Savannah Smiles” last night and afterwards I looked up what happened to Bridgette Andersen and where she is today. IMDB notes: Bridgette Andersen was born on July 11, 1975 to Frank Glass and Teresa Andersen in Inglewood, California and grew up in Malibu. She always considered it good luck to […]
Today I heard Tim Todd’s testimony about drugs. Related posts: Whitney Houston dead at 48, long history of drugs and alcohol February 11, 2012 – 8:31 pm Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as […]
I have written about the “27 Club” several times in the past and I have got a lot of hits in the last 30 days on these blog posts below that deal with Rock and Rollers and drugs. Keith Richards’ wife is a bible believing christian Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen is a […]
Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has […]
Aaron Douglas played for Vols and Bama before dying because of drugs jh39 Aaron Douglas was a lineman for Alabama and I have already written about another Bama lineman by the name of Barrett Jones who was a teammate of Aaron’s. Here are the two links below: Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide (Part 1 […]
The recent events in Little Rock concerning KARK TV’s top weatherman Brett Cummins and his experience of drinking alcohol and snorting coke has left a lot of people asking questions. Since the evening ended in the tragic death of one of Brett’s friends, Dexter Williams, many questions have centered on the use of illegal drugs. […]
Brett Cummins has risen to be the top tv weatherman in the evening at KARK News 4. However, something is missing in his life. (I wish Brett would just take the time to read the story by Marvin A. McMickle | Senior Pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio at the end of this post). I […]
Adam’s song is filled with hope in the last paragraph of lyrics. So many young people stop short of committing suicide and they think more of the hope the future can offer. Take a look at the story below of someone who gave life another chance after he had actually shot himself in a failed […]
I have written about the “27 Club” several times in the past and I have got a lot of hits in the last 30 days on these blog posts below that deal with Rock and Rollers and drugs. Keith Richards’ wife is a bible believing christian Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen is a […]
Sad news today from Heber Springs, Arkansas. Mindy McCready Dead Of An Apparent Suicide By Lyndsey Parker Posts By Lyndsey Parker | Our Country – 9 hours ago Mindy McCready, 1975-2013 [photo: Frederick Breedon IV]Troubled country singer Mindy McCready, age 37, has died of an apparent suicide, the result of a single self-inflicted gunshot, the Cleburne […]
Bob Welch chose suicide because he felt there was no other way like so many others today. (Details of his suicide below later in this post.) It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to […]
Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has […]
CNN reported today: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ilya Zhitomirskiy, one of four co-founders of social network Diaspora, died over the weekend in San Francisco at age 22. Zhitomirskiy committed suicide, a source close to the company told CNNMoney on Sunday. A San Francisco Police Department officer confirmed on Monday that a police report about […]
Aaron Douglas played for Vols and Bama before dying because of drugs jh39 Aaron Douglas was a lineman for Alabama and I have already written about another Bama lineman by the name of Barrett Jones who was a teammate of Aaron’s. Here are the two links below: Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide (Part 1 […]
I Still Haven’t Found What Im Looking For Live From Milan Marilyn Monroe THE LAST INTERVIEW Part 1 Wikipedia notes: Many questions remain unanswered regarding the circumstances and timeline of Monroe’s death after her body was found. 7-7:15p.m. Joe DiMaggio, after trying to get in touch with Monroe all day, speaks with Monroe about DiMaggio’s broken […]
Success does not bring satisfaction in life. How many times have we witnessed that play out. I am truly sorrow that Junior Seau chose to take his life. He was always happy go lucky on the outside. Arkansas Razorback Tony Bua played with Junior Seau at Miami and one time Michael Jordan walked in the […]
Rex Nelson impersonates Houston Nutt at LRTC 08 27 12
Published on Oct 2, 2012
Little Rock Touchdown Club has Rex Nelson do the stats for the games played that week. Rex does a lot of impersonations of different people but I like his Houston Nutt the best. Video by Popeye Video – Mrpopeyevideo
One of my favorite speakers was Bill Bates and he told this funny story of getting run over by Herschel Walker in 1980 at Neyland Stadium:
Georgia’s Herschel Walker runs over Tennessee’s Bill Bates
Uploaded on Jun 29, 2007
University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker announces his presence to the world on Sept. 6, 1980 as he absolutely demolishes and demoralizes All-SEC safety Bill Bates from Tennessee, and pretty much the rest of the Volunteer team. With UGA trailing 15-2 at halftime, Coach Vince Dooley inserted the true freshman Walker into the lineup for the first time and as they say, the rest is history! Dawgs upset the Vols in Knoxville, 16-15, and a Legend is born. Georgia went on to win the 1980 National Championship by beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Walker won the Heisman Trophy his Junior year, 1982.
Herschel Walker announces his presence to the world, abusing Bill Bates in the process. The best part is, if they bumped into each other on the street today and Bates did the whole “Yeah, but who has more Super Bowl rings?” thing (for the record, it’s Bates 3, Walker 0), the modern-day MMA fighter Herschel Walker would literally kill Bill Bates.
LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock Touchdown Club kicked off the 2013 season and announced the club’s line-up of renowned speakers and the state’s finest in football.
The Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club also released its slate of speaker for 2013.
Bret Bielema – Aug. 28
Jeff Long – Sept. 4
Former Oklahoma St. coach Pat Jones – Sept. 18
Lou Holtz – Sept. 23
Fitz Hill – Oct. 2
CBS College Football Columnist – Bruce Feldman – Oct. 16
Mangino at a 2007 KU basketball game Eric Mangino is a very good speaker. Here is a portion of an article by Jim Harris: Jim Harris’ Notebook: Mangino Ready To Return; Big Week For Central Arkansas by Jim Harris 11/14/2011 at 3:37pm It’s easy for fans who don’t follow Kansas football closely to forget just […]
Uploaded by TheMemphisSlim on Sep 3, 2010 Johnny Majors from Huntland, TN tried out for the UT Football team weighing 150 pounds. His Father, Shirley Majors his HS Coach,encourage him and then 4 younger brothers all to be Vols. Johnny Majors was the runner-up in 1956 for the Heisman Trophy to Paul Horning, on a loosing Notre Dame […]
Yesterday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting Rex Nelson during his SEC roundup mentioned the popular rumor that got started last week that Houston Nutt had been contacted by Memphis. Of course, at the time Larry Porter had not even been fired. I called someone I knew in Memphis and they told me that […]
I enjoyed the Little Rock Touchdown Club and have posted a lot about it all fall. I have links below to earlier posts. Yesterday Wally Hall and Steve Sullivan had some good insights. Below are some of the thoughts of Jim Harris that he shared at the lunch. BUILDING THE DEFENSE: How nice it would […]
Earlier I wrote about where I think Arkansas could win a national championship with just two more wins. Below is a portion of an article by Jim Harris of the website Arkansas 360: AND ON BOBBY: Schlabach, on Arkansas’ coach: “I said when he was hired that Bobby Petrino would make Arkansas a contender for […]
Below is a picture of Lane Kiffin with Johnny Majors. Today Johnny Majors spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Majors told several revealing stories about his time at Arkansas from 1964-1968 when he was an assistant coach under Frank Broyles. One of the funniest stories concerned fellow assistant coach Jim MacKenzie who knew how to […]
Former Tennessee Football Coach Johnny Majors is to speak at Little Rock Touchdown Club todayat the Embassy Suites hotel. Majors coached at Iowa State from 1968-1972, Pittsburgh from 1973-1976 and 1993-1996, where he led the Panthers to the 1976 national championship and at Tennessee from 1977-1992, where he won three SEC championships. 1976 Sugar Bowl National Championship […]
I got to ask Pat Summerall a question at the Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting back in October of 2010. Summerall had pointed out that Tom Landry was the defensive coordinator and Vince Lombardi was the offensive backfield coach when he played for the Giants. Summerall had shared how he had recovered from his […]
We have had some great speakers at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and Auburn’s Pat Dye has to be included in that list. Jim Harris: No Little Rock Touchdown Club Speaker Quite Like Former Auburn Coach Pat Dye by Jim Harris 10/3/2011 at 3:22pm The last time former Auburn head football coach Pat Dye addressed […]
Yesterday I got to hear Lloyd Carr speak to the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Below is how the Arkansas Democrat Gazette covered it. LITTLE ROCK — Lloyd Carr coached Tom Brady at the beginning of his 13-year tenure as Michigan’s head coach and Ryan Mallett at the end. Now, Brady and Mallett are New England […]
The Broyles Award Trophy, made out of solid bronze, depicts Broyles (kneeling) and longtime University of Arkansas assistant coach Wilson Matthews (standing), watching over a Razorback football game or practice. Matthews was the coach of Little Rock Central High School before joining Broyles on the Razorback’s staff. ______________ Today at the Little Rock […]
Gene Stallings used to interview the boys that dated his daughters. He asked his future son-in-laws if they played sports. He wanted to know if they had competed at something. Below is an article on what Stallings thinks about Texas A&M joining SEC. Stallings: SEC best fit for A&M By Troy Schulte Wednesday, September 7, […]
Reggie Herring is featured in this video above about the 1980 Florida St victory over Pitt. Mark May did a great job at the first Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting of the year. Jim Harris of Arkansas Sports 360 did a good article on it and I agree with what Wally Hall wrote on his […]
I got to hear Howard Schnellenberger speak on 9-4-12 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. I enjoyed hearing his stories about Bear Bryant and what he learned from the Bear. Here is a story by Jim Harris that discusses these too things. Jim Harris: Spirit Of Arkansan Bear Bryant Runs Through Schnellenberger’s Veins <!– 23 […]
1972 USC Football Highlights vs. Notre Dame Uploaded by 63utuber on Jun 14, 2011 No description available. I got to hear Coach Robinson speak in Little Rock on August 27, 2012. Little Rock Touchdown Club Week 2: Hall Of Fame Coach John Robinson by Zack Veddern on Aug 28, 2012 9:07 AM CDT robinson […]
John L. Smith is to speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday Sept 24, 2011. I am proud of him for showing up. Bill Vickery had some comments on the debacle on Saturday. Vickery said it totally removed the earlier nightmare he had since he was 7 years old when he witnessed his […]
Randy White spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club yesterday. He did a great job. I have always been a big Dallas Cowboy fan. Here is a story from Arkansas Sports 360: HOW ‘BOUT THEM COWBOYS: The Touchdown Club welcomed Randy White to town this Monday. The former Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle is one of […]
I have written a lot about the Dallas Cowboys in the past. One of my favorite stories is getting to ask Pat Summerall a question about Tom Landry and his answer was a classic one. I simply asked him if he had a chance to interact with any Christian Coaches like Tony Dungy or Tom […]
I got to see Matt Jones speak on 9-10-12 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and I was proud of him for opening up concerning what brought his career to an end. Drugs can derail a great career. Take a look at what happened to Matt Jones: Taken in the first round by the Jacksonville […]
Gov. Beebe, Shane Broadway, Steve Sullivan, Jeff Hankins and all the notable ASU grads were in the audience today at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. This was the second time I got to see Gus Malzahn speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Two years ago he was skyped in since tornadoes made it impossible […]
Arkansas is hoping for a top notch recruiter for the next coach. Will we get one? Jim Harris: Recruiting Expert Lemming Says Right Choice For Hogs Can Land Impact Players <!– 23 –> by Jim Harris 10/29/2012 at 3:45pm As much as recruiting seems to excite every college football fan base, including Arkansas’, one would […]
I really enjoyed hearing Mike Slive speak on Monday. The SEC is blessed to have Slive. Take a look below at all of his accomplishments. Home / Sports / LITTLE ROCK TOUCHDOWN CLUB Slive: Nonconference tie-ups tangle scheduling PHOTO BY KAREN E. SEGRAVE Under the leadership of SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, the conference has won 62 […]
Harvey Updyke Interview on The Paul Finebaum Show 4 21 11 Part 3 Bobby Petrino going to Tennessee later this year? I thought he would jump at the chance to do that. However, the Vols have looked pretty good this year and if they go into Miss St’s homefield this week and beat the #17 […]
On Oct 1, 2012 I got to hear Willie Roaf speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and he did a great job. One thing he said about Charles McRae and Antone Davis of Tennessee was hard to hear. I think he said that they were his friends and he thought they were very talented […]
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 16, 2012 | Derek Neider
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Debating with Ark Times Bloggers on “The Meaning of Life” Part 5
I have enjoyed going back and forth with the Arkansas Times Bloggers on many subjects over the years. Now I have discussed the subject of “The Meaning of Life” with them recently and I wanted to share some of this with you.
I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Chris Martin of Coldplay revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was raised an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. The fact Coldplay’s songs deal so much with death and the search for meaning and purpose of life (similar to Solomon’s search in Ecclesiastes), and that our actions are being watched, and Chris describes different ways God tries to reveal himself to us, and many songs deal with trying to find a way to an afterlife and heaven, and he stills uses Christian terms like being “blessed” and “grateful.”
People are looking for a purpose for their lives even if they have millions in the bank and have the world at their finger tips.
Saline–I don’t know what the heck Chris Martin’s religious beliefs have to do with anything but you sure know how to copy and paste. Do you even know who Chris Martin is or anything about his music? Wow Saline—you are still just copying and pasting from the “Daily Hatch”. If I wanted someone’s view on what Chris Martin believes, it would not be yours. Why do you have to keep pasting it on this blog? Is it because no one reads it on yours? Why are you so obsessed with what he believes anyway? Do you have a man crush on him?
Unlike Saline, I don’t think that yearning is put there by some God Who wishes us to unite with Him and Who desires to punish those who can’t achieve it.
Nonetheless, it IS there, no matter how or why it got there. Perhaps, it’s just built into our DNA so that the striving will continue overall until the process of life can achieve no more…I’m an agnostic about religion. I, honestly, cannot understand how anybody can absolutely say that there IS or there IS NOT some supreme mover of all that is, much less go into elaborate detail about what He thinks of us and how He wants us to act.
I realize that I said that yearning is “built” into our DNA and I know what that implies. I definitely believe that evolution is a valid process and I believe that the process was initiated here on our planet when the first strand of basic DNA (or RNA) started the replication of life. I have no idea how it got here but I honestly do not believe that anything that complex just randomly assembled itself. My simple belief that, ultimately, that DNA was built and turned loose in our universe by some intelligence, that DNA is something like our conception of a computer program that runs by itself and has a a huge potential to evolve into higher and increasingly more complex forms. I think that an earthworm, a slime mold, a poison ivy vine, a human being all harbor a yearning for survival of the individual and the survival of the species first, then the yearning becomes more complex for knowledge and, maybe, spirituality in the “higher” forms of life which may, in turn, lead to yearnings incomprehensible to us.
This is in response to Olphart’s comments about mankind’s tendency to yearn for meaning and the fact that it may have been evolved into mankind and that all we are left with in this life is up to time and chance.
Solomon considered this same issue in Ecclesiastes 9:11-13:
I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
_____________________
Francis Crick was in agreement with your materialistic views and he concluded, “The Astonishing Hypothesis is that you—your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules” What if all this is true? What if the cosmos and the chemicals and the particles really are all that there is, and all that we are?
Francis Schaeffer noted, “If man has been kicked up out of that which is only impersonal by chance , then those things that make him man-hope of purpose and significance, love, motions of morality and rationality, beauty and verbal communication-are ultimately unfulfillable and thus meaningless.”
Evidently “NeverVoteRepublican” is sick of me talking about Chris Martin of Coldplay. Let me switch to talking about the second most important person in Coldplay and his name is Will Champion. Wikipedia notes:
William Champion was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, on 31 July 1978 and was brought up in Highfield, Southampton, where his father, Timothy Champion, is a professor of archaeology. As a youth, his musical influences included Tom Waits, Nick Cave and traditional Irish folk music. He learned to play piano and violin when he was 8 and he learned to play the guitar when he was 12. He also had experience on the bass, and tin whistle. Before Will joined Coldplay, he performed in a band called Fat Hamster. He went to primary school at Portswood Primary School, his secondary school was Cantell Maths and Computing College and he went to college at Peter Symonds College. He went to church at Highfield church, Highfield, Southampton.
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Dr. Peter May’s sermon at the Highfield church Southampton is a classic and can be found on the internet. Here are a few of the points that he makes.
This phrase “under the sun” occurs some thirty times in the book, and is the key to understanding it. It means “our view of the world, leaving God out of the picture”.
The book describes life without God; it digs over the ground and stares into the abyss. “Vanity of vanities”, says the preacher, “all is vanity” (1:2).
In other words it is all pointless, it is all in vain; life is meaningless and absurd. If you understood the absurdity of Becket’s play Waiting for Godot, you will understand this book…
There are two other keys to understanding this book. Firstly, the writer is standing back from life and trying to get a detached perspective on it.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun. (2:11)
So he records his thoughts and observations.
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the sun. What a heavy burden God has placed on men. (1:13)
Secondly, there is a humorous irony here, where high expectations are seen in the light of pointless reality. There is also a Socratic irony, which works a bit like a dummy pass in Rugby football. Socrates would feign ignorance in his questions to wrong foot his opponent. Ecclesiastes uses the absurdity of life to point to its meaning. So he assumes a superficial naturalism, to wrong foot his readers in order to point to the deeper underlying truths of our existence.
Taking the wisdom of the world, he pushes it to its logical end-points, which is what Francis Schaeffer did in his book The God Who is There. Schaeffer wrote that if you push people far enough, you will eventually take the lid off, that is, open them up, perhaps in a cathartic moment, to consider higher realities, or life above the sun.
So Ecclesiastes writes:
Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both. As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from the dust and to the dust all return. (3:19-20)
Life seems pointless for animals, who just stand around in a field; the trouble is it doesn’t bother them! It is the fact that we worry about these things and ask questions about meaning, which sets us apart from every other animal.
We shall focus on four themes in Ecclesiastes:
1. Human Yearning
2. Moral Values
3. Our Fallen Nature
4. Ultimate Accountability.
1. Human Yearning
Firstly, the preacher bears witness to a fundamental restlessness and yearning in the human spirit. Unlike the animals, he is never satisfied. There are yearnings for ambition, fame, wealth and pleasure; for wisdom, knowledge and meaning; for justice, and to know the future.
For instance, he writes:
I undertook great projects. I built houses and planted vineyards…
I bought slaves, owned herds, amassed silver and gold…
I acquired singers and a harem as well…
I denied myself nothing… and what does pleasure accomplish?
It was a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (2:4-11)
The eye never has enough seeing or the ear its fill of hearing. (1:8)
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. (5:10) – does that have a modern ring to it?
All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied. (6:7)
When I applied my mind to know wisdom…and saw all that God has done – no-one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it. (8:16-17)
Not only are these yearnings unquenchable, but they are destructive:
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
The more knowledge, the more grief. (1:18)
… a major problem in our generation when we have every major tragedy beamed into our homes.
I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: God gives a man wealth, possessions and honour, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them… This is a grievous evil. (6:1-2)
So he resorts to irony with a black tinge:
A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity…I say that a still born child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man – even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. (6:3-6)
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill …So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour…for a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill. And then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it… What does man get for all his toil and anxious striving – pain and grief: even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. (2:18-23)
I have seen something else under the sun:
The race doesn’t go to the swift
Or the battle to the strong
Nor does food come to the wise
Or wealth to the brilliant
Or favour to the learned;
But time and chance happen to them all. (9:11)
And “death is the destiny of every man; and the living should take this to heart.” (7:2)
The preacher has another yearning, that is relevant today, a longing to be remembered! To leave a legacy.
There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. (1:11)
For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
In days to come, both will be forgotten. (2:16)
There is one more yearning we must flag up; a pivotal saying of the book:
God has made everything beautiful in its time, and He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (3:11)
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (11:5)
beauty … stirs up in us a yearning for transcendence
So beauty is a pointer to ultimate meaning. It points to the intention of the Creator. And stirs up in us a yearning for transcendence. This niggles away at man’s soul, a hunger for some integrating reality and ultimate fulfilment. We know that there is more to this life than meets the eye. Something is missing, something outside and beyond ourselves that would make sense of ourselves, a hunger even for God himself – which man on his own cannot work out. He knows in his heart of hearts there must be a permanence in contrast to our transience, a wisdom that makes sense of our foolishness, a moral purity that is implied by our wickedness. But man hasn’t the resources within himself to fathom it out.
So the first major theme is that man is a restless, striving creature – quite unlike the animals – full of yearnings that offer so much but ironically deliver so very little.
This is a major flaw in the atheist slogan for the London bendy buses: it reads “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” For the person who stands back and reflects upon life, it just isn’t that easy! Your philosophy would need to be “eat, drink and be merry and try not to think about it”. The trouble is, when we do this, we wake up the following morning with an emptiness in the pit of our stomachs, yearning for something more fulfilling. For the pleasure-seeker, there is always a fly in the ointment, giving the perfume a bad smell. It is the smell of death for all those who treat the world as an end in itself.
2. Moral values
Secondly, the book is all about moral values, which become another aspect of eternity set into man’s soul.
The writer observes greed, hypocrisy, oppression, injustice, laziness, cursing and jealousy. He finds that “Patience is better than pride” (7:8), that envy is a driving force in human achievement (4:4), that “bribery corrupts the heart”, that “anger takes up residence in the lap of fools” (7:9), that there is righteousness as well as wickedness, and “no-one knows whether love or hate awaits him” beyond the grave (9:1).
I saw the tears of the oppressed,,, and declared that the dead are happier than the living… But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. (4:1-3)
We cannot live in this world without being bombarded by moral values and human choices. And we cannot live comfortably in this world in the face of evil. But where do these values come from? The moment you admit that some behaviours are good and others are evil, you must either conclude that these are ultimate realities which point beyond ourselves, or that they are merely convenient, mutually agreed ‘house rules’, invented by humanity itself.
once you agree that morality is created by our culture …, you have no grounds for saying that your values are better than anyone else’s.
So Richard Dawkins has now admitted that moral values, including rape, are arbitrary and not wrong in any absolute sense.[1] And of course, once you agree that morality is created by our culture and has no absolute basis, you have no grounds left for saying that your values are better than anyone else’s. There is no grounding for them to be better; they are just different.
Atheists speak of values evolving, as though there was some relentless moral progress that could be documented. Not only is there no objective standard to evaluate this but some of the most appalling cultures in history have existed within living memory, whether the Nazi holocaust of the Jews, or the brutal regimes and mass killings of Stalin, or Mao Tse Tung or Pol Pot. On what criteria can we distinguish between moral values other than personal preference? Unless moral values lie in the character of God himself, we cannot meaningfully speak about the objective nature of good or evil. So our consciences make it very difficult to stop worrying and enjoy life.
Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how […]
Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series […]
Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction Published on Sep 24, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider ___________________ Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I […]
Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ Ecclesiastes 2-3 Published on Sep 19, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 16, 2012 | Derek Neider _____________________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
Tampa Bay Rays apologize for Avril Lavigne TMZ reported: According to local reports, Avril’s mic didn’t work at the start of her show … and she responded to the cavalcade of boos by yelling obscenities at crowd. Rays rep Rick Vaughn tells TMZ, “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and […]
These are some of the most popular posts in the last 30 days about the spiritual quest of Chris Martin of Coldplay that can be found on http://www.thedailyhatch.org: Chris Martin of Coldplay unknowingly lives out his childhood Christian beliefs (Part 3 of notes from June 23, 2012 Dallas Coldplay Concert, Martin left Christianity because of […]
Great band from Memphis and I heard about them in the 1990’s but until today I had not looked into what they were doing. Here is an earlier post I did on them linked here.
When John Cooper, frontman for Christian rock band Skillet, heard that that the group’s eighth and latest album Awake had debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Album chart a few weeks ago, he had one reaction.
“I was very disappointed,” says Cooper, barely able to contain his laughter, “I was really expecting to be No. 1.”
Photo by David MolnSkillet: From left, Jen Ledger, Ben Kasica, John Cooper, Korey Cooper
Cooper is, of course, being funny about his disappointment, but Skillet’s success is no joke. The longtime Memphis-based group — featuring bassist/vocalist Cooper, his wife and multi-instrumentalist Korey Cooper, guitarist Ben Kasica, and drummer Jen Ledger — has made a very unlikely jump into the mainstream rock world, selling nearly 70,000 copies of its album in the first week alone. The band plays Minglewood Hall on Oct. 8.
These days you’ll find Skillet’s songs on the radio, being used as soundtracks for NFL and WWE broadcasts, and even shows on MTV. “There is a snowball effect, where it seems like you’re seeing and hearing the band everywhere,” says Cooper. “And it’s that perception is reality thing; all of a sudden Skillet seems like it’s getting really big. We certainly do hope people will hear the songs and be curious enough about the music to go and buy the record.”
The kind of success Skillet is enjoying now — firmly established as Christian music stars and as a fast-rising mainstream act — is far from where the group began.
In the mid-’90s, Skillet was viewed as upstarts amid a conservative Christian radio climate.
“Ten years ago, as a rock band in Christian music you had a hard time getting played on the radio, a hard time getting people to come to shows. We simply couldn’t get any attention,” says Cooper.
“One of the reasons things have changed for us overall is that now we’re a core artist at the Christian format.”
Cooper says the shift towards rock by Christian radio programmers has been slow but definitive. “Within Christian music there’s been a generational change,” he says. “Most of the people who have influence at the stations now, they grew up listening to rock music, so the resistance is gone.”
Although the group is following other successful faith-oriented bands, like P.O.D. and Switchfoot, to pop success, Skillet has taken the harder path, making the slough from the less glamorous Christian market into the mainstream world.
“We’re probably one of the most successful Christian artists who are crossing over,” notes Cooper. “And so I think — and I hope — Skillet is going to be another bridge between Christian and mainstream music. We hope that our success will give a little credibility to the Christian market.”
Despite the inroads they’ve made on the charts and in radio — the album’s first single “Monster” is getting some relatively strong airplay — Cooper says there is still some resistance to the group within certain corners of the music industry.
“There are some radio station program directors that refuse to play our song — not based on the music but on our history, and because we’ve been in the Christian market for 10 years,” says Cooper. “They don’t want anything to do with Skillet. Those are the times where it’s frustrating, where we just want to be judged as musicians. It’s like, judge me like you judge everyone else — on the songs.”
For Cooper, finding the right balance between a passion for his beliefs and for his career is a continual challenge. “I love rock music, love playing in a band, playing shows. At the same time, I do feel this kind of honest draw to singing about my faith. And I think walking the line between those things can be tough,” he says.
“I’m not a preacher, I’m a lead singer. But I look at someone like (U2 frontman) Bono as having done both those things successfully. He’s very much a preacher for social issues and the things he believe in,” says Cooper. “I just saw U2 play a few weeks ago, and I thought this guy’s preaching way more than I do. But there are people like that, who’ve done a good job combining those things, and I’m trying to follow in their footsteps.”
Skillet’s upcoming show at Minglewood Hall is part of what’s expected to be a long year of touring behind Awake, released on Atlantic/Ardent/INO. Beyond the band’s headlining shows this year, Cooper adds that they may do some opening slots for a mainstream band in 2010.
“The biggest goal is to keep serving our fan base. That’s what we want to do most,” says Cooper. “And, beyond that, the next goal is let’s continue with the mainstream success we’ve built. Mainly, though, we’re having fun and enjoying what we’re doing, and because of that I hope we can continue to do it for a long time.”
Skillet with Hawk Nelson, Decyfer, Down & The Letter Black
The concert is at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison Ave. VIP tickets are $45, general admission is $25. To purchase, go to minglewoodhall.com or call 1-800-965-9324.
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
I’m In A Rock ‘N’ Roll Band – The Singer (Part 1) Jim Morrison – books on tape – w subtitles Light My Fire – The Doors The Rolling Stones – Satisfaction ________________________ The Rolling Stones – The Breakthrough The Rolling Stones – Brian Jones The Rolling Stones- Paint it Black Nirvana – Smells Like […]
It was so sad to lose these people so soon. The Curse of 27 This page is in response to my most frequently asked questions – is there really a Curse of 27, how many musicians actually died at that age, and who are they. When legendary Blues man, Robert Johnson, was killed at the age […]
Amy Winehouse died last week and she joined the “27 club.” Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen is also a member of the “27 Club.” This is group of rockers that have died at age 27. A tribute to the amazing drummer of one of our biggest influences, Echo & The Bunnymen. We […]
cc ‘Janis Joplin’ 2/5 from True Hollywood Story (Janis was having affair with Pigpen) Jerry Garcia (guitar, vocals), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (vocals, harmonica), Bob Weir (guitar, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass), Mickey Hart (drums), Bill Kreutzman (drums). Grateful Dead “Don’t Ease Me In” Live @ Canadian National Exhibition Hall Toronto, CA June 27th, 1970 Grateful Dead […]
Amy Winehouse died last week and joined the “27 club” which is a group of rockers that died at age 27. Gary Thain also joined that same group long ago and I wanted to look at his life today. Uriah Heep – Wizard bb By Sean Nelson, Special to MSN Music , July 23, 2011 […]
Recently Amy Winehouse joined the “27 Club” when she died of a drug overdose. The “27 Club” is a group of rockers that died at age 27. Unfortunately Jimi Hendrix died at age 27 in 1970 and Janis Joplin did the same three weeks later. Today we are going to look at her life and […]
JIMI HENDRIX : FINAL INTERVIEW . The other day when Amy Winehouse died she joined the “27 Club” which includes other famous rockers who died at age 27. Most of them died because of drugs. Unfortunately Jimi Hendrix joined the club for the same reason. Something special for all music and Beat Club-Lovers on YouTube: […]
Amy Winehouse died at age 27 and unfornately joined the “27 club” which is made of famous rockers that died at age 27. Pete Ham was a member of Bad Finger which was one of my favorite groups that I followed. “Come and get it” was my favorite song of theirs. ___________________________________ Badfinger perform a […]
Brian’s Blues, Brian Jones on guitar in the early stones years. unreleased track Brian Jones died at age 27 just like Amy Winehouse did. I remember like yesterday when I first heard the song “I can’t get no satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. I immediately thought about Solomon’s search for satisfaction in the Book of […]
Jim Morrison – Feast Of Friends – (The Doors Documentary) (1969) (Paul Ferrara) 1/4 I was saddened by the recent death of Amy Winehouse and her inclusion into the “27 Club.” This series I am starting today looks at the search that each one of these entertainers were on during their lives. Today I look […]
16 November1971, Santa Barbara, California, USA (barbiturate overdose)
Birth Name
Edith Minturn Sedgwick
Nickname
Princess
Height
5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Mini Biography
Edie Sedgwick was a bright social butterfly whose candle of fame burned brightly at both ends. Born into a wealthy White Anglo-Saxon Protestant family of impressive lineage, Edie became a “celebutante” for her beauty, style, wealth and her associations with figures of the 1960s counterculture.
Edie was born in Santa Barbara into a prominent family plagued by mental illness. Her father, Francis Minturn Sedgwick (1904-1967), was a local rancher who had experienced three nervous breakdowns prior to his 1929 marriage to Alice Delano De Forest, Edie’s mother. Francis also suffered from bipolar disorder, and his doctors told Alice’s father, the Wall Street financier Henry Wheeler De Forest, that the couple should not have any children. They eventually had eight: Edie was the fourth of five daughters and the second-to-last of the Sedgwick children born from 1931 to 1945. Edie later told fellow Warhol superstar Ultra Violet that both her father and a brother had tried to seduce her when she was a child. She once found her father in flagrante delicto with another woman, and after she tried to tell her mother about his offense, her father denounced her as insane and called the doctor. In Edie’s confession to Ultra Violet, she claimed, “They gave me so many tranquillizers I lost all my feelings.”
The Sedgwicks were an old line of WASPs whose lineage included Judge Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813), who had served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and later Speaker of the House of Representatives in the time of George Washington. The Judge’s wife, Pamela Dwight Sedgwick (1753-1807), had lost her sanity during mid-life. The roots of the mental illness that plagued the Sedgwick family likely extend as far back as Pamela Dwight Sedgwick.
Edie was raised on a 3,000-acre ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, bought with money inherited from Alice’s father. The family fortunes improved even further in the early 1950s, when oil was discovered on the ranch. The Sedgwick children were educated in a private school constructed on the ranch, and given daily vitamin B shots by a local physician.
Despite their prosperous, Edie’s upbringing was plagued with trauma. Her brother Minty was an alcoholic by age fifteen and eventually committed suicide at the Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1964, the day before his twenty-sixth birthday. Her other brother, Bobby, also was troubled by psychiatric problems and was institutionalized after suffering a nervous breakdown in the early 1950s while attending Harvard. He crashed his motorcycle into a bus on New Year’s Eve 1964 and died two weeks later.
Edie suffered from bulimia in school, which continued into her adult life. Edie was first institutionalized in the fall of 1962 at the Silver Hill mental hospital (where her brother Minty later died). After wasting away to ninety pounds, she was transferred to the far stricter Bloomingdale, New York Hospital’s Westchester County facility. On a furlough from Bloomindale, she became pregnant and had an abortion.
In the early 1960s, Edie lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while attending Radcliffe College. Edie studied sculpture and spent her time partying and driving her Mercedes. At her therapist’s office, she met recent Harvard graduate Chuck Wein, who was living a bohemian existence and styled himself as an Edwardian dandy. After she turned 21 in 1964, Eddie left Cambridge for New York, moving into her invalid grandmother’s 14-room Park Ave. apartment and spent her nights at the top clubs and discotheques.
Wein came to New York, as well, and became determined to transform Edie into a social butterfly. In January 1965, she was introduced to Andy Warhol, one of the new gods of Pop Art. Wien began bringing her to his work-living space “The Factory” on a regular basis. Blessed or cursed with the soul of a promoter, Wein was continually plotting a strategy to move Edie up into the New York demimonde and further into society.
During one visit with Wein at The Factory, Warhol inserted her into his film “Vinyl” at the last minute.” It was her second appearance in a Warhol film, having also appeared briefly in “Horse.” Warhol had no illusions about Chuck Wein, but he apparently was attracted by the hustler’s blonde good looks. Andy took both of them to Paris in April 1965 for an opening of a show.
When he returned to New York City, Warhol announced that he was crowning Edie “the queen of The Factory,” and commissioned screenplays for her. Wein became his new screenwriter and assistant director, beginning with “Beauty No. 2,” which starred Edie and premiered at the Cinematheque on July 17, 1965. “Beauty No. 2” made Edie Sedgwick the leading lady of underground cinema. Her on-screen persona was compared to Marilyn Monroe, and she became famous among the independent film glitterati. Her association with Warhol helped secure both his reputation and hers. With the glamorous Edie in tow, Warhol made the rounds of parties and gallery openings, and the dynamic duo generated reams of copy and free publicity. Originally an outsider, Warhol was eventually wooed by wealthy socialites and became a major part of the art establishment.
Her newfound celebrity would prove to be her undoing after many urged Edie to leave Warhol for the mainstream cinema. One of these people was Bob Dylan‘s assistant Bob Neuwirth, who became Edie’s lover, wooing her with the promise of starring in a film with his enigmatic boss. Though Edie reportedly also harbored amorous feelings for Dylan, it is unlikely that her feelings were returned or ever consummated. Edie was under the impression that Albert Grossman, Dylan’s manager was going to offer her a film contract. D.A. Pennebaker filmed her at Dylan’s studio in 1965 while making what became the documentary “Don’t Look Back.”
Edie’s last film with Warhol was “Lupe,” although he may also have filmed her in November 1966 for inclusion in “The Andy Warhol Story,” a lost film for which the footage was either lost or destroyed. In 1966, the still-loyal Warhol approached his musical “discovery” Lou Reed, who was appearing with the Velvet Underground in Warhol-produced Plastic Exploding Inevitable (Warhol was the Velvets manager for a while) with a proposition. According to Reed, “Andy said I should write a song about Edie Sedgwick. I said ‘Like what?’ and he said, ‘Oh, don’t you think she’s a femme fatale, Lou?’ So I wrote ‘Femme Fatale’ and we gave it to Nico.”
On February 13, 1966, Edie appeared in photographs with Warhol and Chuck Wein in The New York Times Magazine. Although she still had a crush on Dylan, she did not find out about his secret marriage to Sara Lownds until Warhol told her about it in February 1966. Edie was devastated. Morrissey believes that Edie realized that “maybe [Dylan] hadn’t been truthful.”
Edie’s and Warhol’s relationship was further strained by her dissatisfaction with her decreasing role in Warhol’s life. Edie and Warhold also argued over money. Edie had always picked up the tab when the Factory regulars hit the town, but she attacked Warhol over his failure to pay her money from the films she had been in. Warhol claimed that the films were unprofitable and told her to be patient. Edie decided to part ways with Warhol. According to Gerard Malanga, a Factory regular, “Edie disappeared and that was the end of it. She never came back.”
In the tapes Edie made for “Ciao! Manhattan,” she admitted that she had become addicted to her affair with Neuwirth. While they were together, she was consumed by lust, but when they were apart, she turned to pills for comfort. Edie is one of the women pictured on the inner sleeve of Dylan’s classic “Blonde on Blonde” album (released May 16, 1966), and she was rumored to be the inspiration of the song “Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat.” Other songs rumored to be about her were “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” (the reference “your débutante”) and “Just Like a Woman,” which was featured on the “Ciao! Manhattan” soundtrack. (Dylan biographers typically believe the song was a synthesis of several women.)
She tried modeling again and appeared in the March 15, 1966 edition of “Vogue.” Her modeling career never took off, however, as the fashion industry shunned people with drug problems. She then turned back to acting, auditioning for Norman Mailer’s staging of “The Deer Park,” but Mailer turned her down. Edie “wasn’t very good,” Mailer remembered. “She used so much of herself with every line that we knew she’d be immolated after three performances.”
By the end of 1966, Edie’s star had gone into eclipse and she never recovered. She was badly addicted to drugs and in six months, she spent $80,000. A typical breakfast in this period was a saucer filled with speed. To support her habit, she stole antiques and art from her grandmother’s apartment, and sold them for money. She also turned to dealing but got busted, was briefly incarcerated, and was put on probation for five years. Then, in October 1966, Edie’s apartment on East 63rd St. caught on fire by candles. She suffered burns on her arms, legs and back and was treated at Lenox Hill Hospital.
In 1966, Edie returned home to California, where she was committed to a mental hospital. After she was discharged, she moved back to New York and took a room at the Chelsea Hotel, where her drug addiction worsened. By early 1967, her drugged-fueled behavior was so erratic, Neuwirth broke up with her. Edie subsequently took up with her fellow Warhol superstar Paul America. He and Edie Sedgwick became lovers, united in their common lust for drugs, and they lived together for a brief time at the Chelsea Hotel and indulged heavily in speed. Their relationship was an on-again/off-again affair, as America continually left New York for his brother’s farm in Indiana, and eventually, friction over control issues forced them apart.
America later appeared with Edie in the long-gestated film “Ciao! Manhattan,” his second and last film role. This was supposed to be Edie’s breakout role, but the film’s execution by Warhol acolytes was amateurish. Shooting on “Ciao! Manhattan,” which would prove to be Edie’s final film, commenced on April 15, 1967. The shooting was anarchic, with the filmmakers and the actors addicted to speed, which was injected by a physician with whom the production company had set up a charge account. At one point, America left the set and never returned.
After America’s departure, Edie wound up in Gracie Square Hospital, where she learned of her father’s death, on October 24, 1967.
After her discharge, Edie shacked up in the Warwick Hotel with the screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, who attracted the fragile Edie with the promise of a screenplay written for her, but ultimately he was unable to deal with the erratic behavior stemming from her drug abuse and left. Edie wound up in Bellevue Hospital, and after being discharged due to the intervention of her personal physician, she overdosed on drugs and was committed to Manhattan State Hospital. By late 1968, Edie was a physical and emotional wreck: by the time she returned to the family ranch for Christmas, she was barely able to walk and talk, the result of poor blood circulation in her brain. She recovered and moved into an apartment near U.C. Santa Barbara in 1969, but by August, she was institutionalized again after a drug bust. She met her future husband, Michael Post, during her stay in the psychiatric ward of Santa Barbara’s Cottage Hospital, though upon her discharge, she became the moll of a motorcycle gang in order to obtain drugs. Known as “Princess” by the bikers, she was very promiscuous, sleeping with anyone who would supply her with heroin. She was institutionalized again in 1970.
Edie was furloughed from the hospital in the summer of 1970 to finish filming “Ciao! Manhattan,” the last parts of which feature her clearly in the throes of drug dependency. Under the supervision of two nurses, she played out her scenes, including a shock treatment scene (electro-convulsive therapy) filmed in a real clinic. Ironically, she was soon back at the clinic for real, suffering from delirium tremens, where she received actual shock treatment therapy. She underwent a minimum of 20 electro-convulsive treatments from January to June 1971.
Edie married Michael Post on July 24, 1971, managing to stay clean until October. However, that fall, she was prescribed a pain pill to treat a physical debility. In addition, her doctor prescribed barbiturates, possibly to help her sleep, and frequently boosted their effects with alcohol. On the night of November 15, 1971, Edie went to fashion show at the Santa Barbara Museum and was filmed for the last time in her life. The television documentary “An American Family” was being filmed at the museum that night, and Edie – attracted by the cameras as a moth is to flame – walked over and began talking to Lance Loud, one of the subjects of the documentary.
After the fashion show, Edie went to a party but was asked to leave after her presence caused another guest to rave at her for being a heroin addict. Edie, who had been drinking, called her husband to come retrieve her from the soirée. Back at their apartment, Edie took her prescribed pain medication and they both went to sleep. That morning, when Post awoke at 7:30 AM, he found Edie dead next to him. Her death was ascribed as “acute barbiturate intoxication” and was ruled an “Accident/Suicide” by the coroner. Edie is buried in the tiny Oak Hill Cemetery in Ballard, California.
Andy Warhol & Edie Sedgwick Interview (Merv Griffin Show 1965)
Published onMay 3, 2012
Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick, the first couple of Pop Art, make a very rare national television appearance on The Merv Griffin Show in October of 1965. A fascinating look at the quirky duo as they subject themselves to a little mainstream scrutiny with some mixed results. Andy, at first takes a vow of silence but eventually warms up enough to grunt a few one-word answers. Merv Griffin had over 5000 guests appear on his show from 1963-1986. Footage from the Merv Griffin Show is available for licensing to all forms of media through Reelin’ In The Years Productions.
AFP reported this morning: Whitney Houston ‘drowned in bath after taking cocaine’ By Michael Thurston | AFP – 9 hrs ago Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after taking cocaine which could have triggered a heart attack, coroners said. Houston, who died at age 48 in the bathtub of […]
Uploaded by MrDAILYINFO on Feb 12, 2012 R.I.P WHITNEY HOUSTON; Last Performance at Kelly Price’s “For the Love of R&B” Pre-Grammy Party Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. COURTESY OF JET ____________________________ It seems that alcohol and drugs are a bad combination. The report below from Yahoo News: Whitney Houston Died of Prescription Drug, Alcohol Combination, TMZ […]
Amy Winehouse wins a Grammy!!! Take a look. Amy Winehouse’s parents accept Grammy Late Amy Winehouse gets Grammy award for best pop performance by a duo for duet with Tony Bennett. Singer Tony Bennett and parents of the late Amy Winehouse Mitch and Janis Winehouse accept the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body […]
It was so sad to lose these people so soon. The Curse of 27 This page is in response to my most frequently asked questions – is there really a Curse of 27, how many musicians actually died at that age, and who are they. When legendary Blues man, Robert Johnson, was killed at the age […]
A curve ball in the Amy Winehouse case. Troubled Brit singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in July. / AP FILE PHOTO Written by JILL LAWLESS, | Associated Press FILED UNDER Entertainment LONDON — The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her […]
Jim Morrison’s picture above. He died way too young and many of our young people turn to drugs and suicide because of loneliness. It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to this problem that […]
There is a truth that many people know. You can die from drinking too much alcohol at one time. I remember like yesterday when AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott died while on tour in England in 1980. According to Wikipedia: On 19 February 1980, Scott, 33 at the time, passed out after a night of […]
I welcome the input from those that read my blog. Recently I received some criticism from readers and Jordan is probably more of the most vocal. He wrote today, “I hardly see a ‘tragic’ death as you call it, a morally sound reason to throw in people’s faces what drugs do to people…You know as […]
Drugs and alcohol have always been a pitfall that many of the wealthy fall into. We see rock bands that become famous have lots of temptations thrown their way and many fall into these traps. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Barry McGuire fell into these traps. One joined the “27 Club” and the other left the […]
I really enjoyed the movie “Savannah Smiles” last night and afterwards I looked up what happened to Bridgette Andersen and where she is today. IMDB notes: Bridgette Andersen was born on July 11, 1975 to Frank Glass and Teresa Andersen in Inglewood, California and grew up in Malibu. She always considered it good luck to […]
Today I heard Tim Todd’s testimony about drugs. Related posts: Whitney Houston dead at 48, long history of drugs and alcohol February 11, 2012 – 8:31 pm Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as […]
I have written about the “27 Club” several times in the past and I have got a lot of hits in the last 30 days on these blog posts below that deal with Rock and Rollers and drugs. Keith Richards’ wife is a bible believing christian Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen is a […]
Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has […]
Aaron Douglas played for Vols and Bama before dying because of drugs jh39 Aaron Douglas was a lineman for Alabama and I have already written about another Bama lineman by the name of Barrett Jones who was a teammate of Aaron’s. Here are the two links below: Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide (Part 1 […]
The recent events in Little Rock concerning KARK TV’s top weatherman Brett Cummins and his experience of drinking alcohol and snorting coke has left a lot of people asking questions. Since the evening ended in the tragic death of one of Brett’s friends, Dexter Williams, many questions have centered on the use of illegal drugs. […]
Brett Cummins has risen to be the top tv weatherman in the evening at KARK News 4. However, something is missing in his life. (I wish Brett would just take the time to read the story by Marvin A. McMickle | Senior Pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio at the end of this post). I […]
Adam’s song is filled with hope in the last paragraph of lyrics. So many young people stop short of committing suicide and they think more of the hope the future can offer. Take a look at the story below of someone who gave life another chance after he had actually shot himself in a failed […]
I have written about the “27 Club” several times in the past and I have got a lot of hits in the last 30 days on these blog posts below that deal with Rock and Rollers and drugs. Keith Richards’ wife is a bible believing christian Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen is a […]
Sad news today from Heber Springs, Arkansas. Mindy McCready Dead Of An Apparent Suicide By Lyndsey Parker Posts By Lyndsey Parker | Our Country – 9 hours ago Mindy McCready, 1975-2013 [photo: Frederick Breedon IV]Troubled country singer Mindy McCready, age 37, has died of an apparent suicide, the result of a single self-inflicted gunshot, the Cleburne […]
Bob Welch chose suicide because he felt there was no other way like so many others today. (Details of his suicide below later in this post.) It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to […]
Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has […]
CNN reported today: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ilya Zhitomirskiy, one of four co-founders of social network Diaspora, died over the weekend in San Francisco at age 22. Zhitomirskiy committed suicide, a source close to the company told CNNMoney on Sunday. A San Francisco Police Department officer confirmed on Monday that a police report about […]
Aaron Douglas played for Vols and Bama before dying because of drugs jh39 Aaron Douglas was a lineman for Alabama and I have already written about another Bama lineman by the name of Barrett Jones who was a teammate of Aaron’s. Here are the two links below: Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide (Part 1 […]
I Still Haven’t Found What Im Looking For Live From Milan Marilyn Monroe THE LAST INTERVIEW Part 1 Wikipedia notes: Many questions remain unanswered regarding the circumstances and timeline of Monroe’s death after her body was found. 7-7:15p.m. Joe DiMaggio, after trying to get in touch with Monroe all day, speaks with Monroe about DiMaggio’s broken […]
Success does not bring satisfaction in life. How many times have we witnessed that play out. I am truly sorrow that Junior Seau chose to take his life. He was always happy go lucky on the outside. Arkansas Razorback Tony Bua played with Junior Seau at Miami and one time Michael Jordan walked in the […]
Here is an article on Vince Dooley when he spoke from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
LITTLE ROCK — Vince Dooley stepped down as athletic director at Georgia in 2004 and as head coach in 1988, but he still keeps close tabs on the Bulldogs football program.
Dooley was in Samford Stadium on Saturday in Athens, Ga., where he watched the Arkansas Razorbacks pull out a last-second 31-24 victory over theBulldogs.
“The score was 24-10 Arkansas and then Georgia dominated the fourth quarter for 14 minutes,” Dooley said Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club luncheon at the Embassy Suites hotel. “Georgia scored two touchdowns and had the ball at midfield and then a guy [Jake Bequette] comes off the corner and knocks the hell out of the quarterback.
“[Ryan] Mallett comes back and flicks two throws with his wrist and then gets his body into that last one and it’s all over.”
Mallett’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Greg Childs with 15 seconds left secured the victory and moved the Hogs to 3-0 and No. 10 in The Associated Press rankings, setting up a showdown with No. 1 Alabama on Saturday in Fayetteville.
“I know when two Georgia fans talk to one another, the first thing they say, is ‘How ’bout them Dogs.’ Well today, it’s ‘How ’bout them Hogs.’
“Today, I’m glad not to be in Athens and glad I’m not in coaching.”
With the Bulldogs off to a 1-2 start and 0-2 in the SEC for the first time since 1993, Dooley said he feels for Coach Mark Richt, whom he hired in December 2000. Richt has come under criticism after an 8-5 season a year ago, his worst in his nine years in Athens.
“It’s just the nature of the beast,” Dooley said. “He’s a victim of his own success,and it’s hard for people to tolerate when the team is not winning. The difference is the number of people who don’t tolerate is twice as high.”
While the Hogs are a 7 1 /2-point underdog against defending national champion Alabama, Dooley, who won a national championship in 1980, knows a few key plays can mean the difference between winning and losing.
“If you win a national championship, you need those type of plays to happen,” Dooley said. “Look at Tennessee in 1998 against Arkansas. If they don’t get that fumble, they don’t win it all.”
While Dooley was in the stadium Saturday, he will not be in Samford Stadium on Oct. 9 when Tennessee, coached by his son Derek Dooley, comes to town.
“I will pull for him, but I’m not going to go inside Samford Stadium and pull against Georgia, and besides, they usually have those high tech cameras, which can spot you, and I don’t want that to happen,” Dooley said.
“My wife [Barbara] will be in the stadium, but I’ve told her she’s not allowed to wear that ugly orange until she crosses the state line and I won’t wear that ugly orange either.”
With the Volunteers off to a 1-2 start after a 31-17 loss to Florida, Dooley was asked by the audience if he had any advice for his son and he said, “Hang on.”
“He has a tough job,” Dooley said. “They went through a couple of years where they didn’t recruit anybody and then they hired that one guy [Lane Kiffin] from the West Coast who should have stayed on the West Coast.”
Dooley said he tried to talk his son out of going into coaching after spending one year as a lawyer in Atlanta, but lost that debate. He said when Derek was at LSU, he lost the debate with his mother when he tried to get her to root for LSU when the Tigers played Georgia.
“She told him the credit card is thicker than blood,” Dooley said.
LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock Touchdown Club kicked off the 2013 season and announced the club’s line-up of renowned speakers and the state’s finest in football.
The Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club also released its slate of speaker for 2013.
Bret Bielema – Aug. 28
Jeff Long – Sept. 4
Former Oklahoma St. coach Pat Jones – Sept. 18
Lou Holtz – Sept. 23
Fitz Hill – Oct. 2
CBS College Football Columnist – Bruce Feldman – Oct. 16
Mangino at a 2007 KU basketball game Eric Mangino is a very good speaker. Here is a portion of an article by Jim Harris: Jim Harris’ Notebook: Mangino Ready To Return; Big Week For Central Arkansas by Jim Harris 11/14/2011 at 3:37pm It’s easy for fans who don’t follow Kansas football closely to forget just […]
Uploaded by TheMemphisSlim on Sep 3, 2010 Johnny Majors from Huntland, TN tried out for the UT Football team weighing 150 pounds. His Father, Shirley Majors his HS Coach,encourage him and then 4 younger brothers all to be Vols. Johnny Majors was the runner-up in 1956 for the Heisman Trophy to Paul Horning, on a loosing Notre Dame […]
Yesterday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting Rex Nelson during his SEC roundup mentioned the popular rumor that got started last week that Houston Nutt had been contacted by Memphis. Of course, at the time Larry Porter had not even been fired. I called someone I knew in Memphis and they told me that […]
I enjoyed the Little Rock Touchdown Club and have posted a lot about it all fall. I have links below to earlier posts. Yesterday Wally Hall and Steve Sullivan had some good insights. Below are some of the thoughts of Jim Harris that he shared at the lunch. BUILDING THE DEFENSE: How nice it would […]
Earlier I wrote about where I think Arkansas could win a national championship with just two more wins. Below is a portion of an article by Jim Harris of the website Arkansas 360: AND ON BOBBY: Schlabach, on Arkansas’ coach: “I said when he was hired that Bobby Petrino would make Arkansas a contender for […]
Below is a picture of Lane Kiffin with Johnny Majors. Today Johnny Majors spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Majors told several revealing stories about his time at Arkansas from 1964-1968 when he was an assistant coach under Frank Broyles. One of the funniest stories concerned fellow assistant coach Jim MacKenzie who knew how to […]
Former Tennessee Football Coach Johnny Majors is to speak at Little Rock Touchdown Club todayat the Embassy Suites hotel. Majors coached at Iowa State from 1968-1972, Pittsburgh from 1973-1976 and 1993-1996, where he led the Panthers to the 1976 national championship and at Tennessee from 1977-1992, where he won three SEC championships. 1976 Sugar Bowl National Championship […]
I got to ask Pat Summerall a question at the Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting back in October of 2010. Summerall had pointed out that Tom Landry was the defensive coordinator and Vince Lombardi was the offensive backfield coach when he played for the Giants. Summerall had shared how he had recovered from his […]
We have had some great speakers at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and Auburn’s Pat Dye has to be included in that list. Jim Harris: No Little Rock Touchdown Club Speaker Quite Like Former Auburn Coach Pat Dye by Jim Harris 10/3/2011 at 3:22pm The last time former Auburn head football coach Pat Dye addressed […]
Yesterday I got to hear Lloyd Carr speak to the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Below is how the Arkansas Democrat Gazette covered it. LITTLE ROCK — Lloyd Carr coached Tom Brady at the beginning of his 13-year tenure as Michigan’s head coach and Ryan Mallett at the end. Now, Brady and Mallett are New England […]
The Broyles Award Trophy, made out of solid bronze, depicts Broyles (kneeling) and longtime University of Arkansas assistant coach Wilson Matthews (standing), watching over a Razorback football game or practice. Matthews was the coach of Little Rock Central High School before joining Broyles on the Razorback’s staff. ______________ Today at the Little Rock […]
Gene Stallings used to interview the boys that dated his daughters. He asked his future son-in-laws if they played sports. He wanted to know if they had competed at something. Below is an article on what Stallings thinks about Texas A&M joining SEC. Stallings: SEC best fit for A&M By Troy Schulte Wednesday, September 7, […]
Reggie Herring is featured in this video above about the 1980 Florida St victory over Pitt. Mark May did a great job at the first Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting of the year. Jim Harris of Arkansas Sports 360 did a good article on it and I agree with what Wally Hall wrote on his […]
I got to hear Howard Schnellenberger speak on 9-4-12 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. I enjoyed hearing his stories about Bear Bryant and what he learned from the Bear. Here is a story by Jim Harris that discusses these too things. Jim Harris: Spirit Of Arkansan Bear Bryant Runs Through Schnellenberger’s Veins <!– 23 […]
1972 USC Football Highlights vs. Notre Dame Uploaded by 63utuber on Jun 14, 2011 No description available. I got to hear Coach Robinson speak in Little Rock on August 27, 2012. Little Rock Touchdown Club Week 2: Hall Of Fame Coach John Robinson by Zack Veddern on Aug 28, 2012 9:07 AM CDT robinson […]
John L. Smith is to speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday Sept 24, 2011. I am proud of him for showing up. Bill Vickery had some comments on the debacle on Saturday. Vickery said it totally removed the earlier nightmare he had since he was 7 years old when he witnessed his […]
Randy White spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club yesterday. He did a great job. I have always been a big Dallas Cowboy fan. Here is a story from Arkansas Sports 360: HOW ‘BOUT THEM COWBOYS: The Touchdown Club welcomed Randy White to town this Monday. The former Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle is one of […]
I have written a lot about the Dallas Cowboys in the past. One of my favorite stories is getting to ask Pat Summerall a question about Tom Landry and his answer was a classic one. I simply asked him if he had a chance to interact with any Christian Coaches like Tony Dungy or Tom […]
I got to see Matt Jones speak on 9-10-12 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and I was proud of him for opening up concerning what brought his career to an end. Drugs can derail a great career. Take a look at what happened to Matt Jones: Taken in the first round by the Jacksonville […]
Gov. Beebe, Shane Broadway, Steve Sullivan, Jeff Hankins and all the notable ASU grads were in the audience today at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. This was the second time I got to see Gus Malzahn speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Two years ago he was skyped in since tornadoes made it impossible […]
Arkansas is hoping for a top notch recruiter for the next coach. Will we get one? Jim Harris: Recruiting Expert Lemming Says Right Choice For Hogs Can Land Impact Players <!– 23 –> by Jim Harris 10/29/2012 at 3:45pm As much as recruiting seems to excite every college football fan base, including Arkansas’, one would […]
I really enjoyed hearing Mike Slive speak on Monday. The SEC is blessed to have Slive. Take a look below at all of his accomplishments. Home / Sports / LITTLE ROCK TOUCHDOWN CLUB Slive: Nonconference tie-ups tangle scheduling PHOTO BY KAREN E. SEGRAVE Under the leadership of SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, the conference has won 62 […]
Harvey Updyke Interview on The Paul Finebaum Show 4 21 11 Part 3 Bobby Petrino going to Tennessee later this year? I thought he would jump at the chance to do that. However, the Vols have looked pretty good this year and if they go into Miss St’s homefield this week and beat the #17 […]
On Oct 1, 2012 I got to hear Willie Roaf speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and he did a great job. One thing he said about Charles McRae and Antone Davis of Tennessee was hard to hear. I think he said that they were his friends and he thought they were very talented […]
I heard Frank Broyles talk at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and he said he made a big mistake on the college football board he was on that limited college football to only one game a year till 1980 when it was overturned by the courts. In the article below you will read: Broyles joked that at one point, people worried television would ruin attendance at football games. Broyles had a chance last weekend to appreciate how times have changed.
“Starting at 11 o’clock, until 11 o’clock at night, and 22 games I watched,” he said. “There were 22 games on television last Saturday.”
The Razorbacks are still waiting to find out the time of their Oct. 10 home game against Auburn — it could be in one of four television slots. The game might be on CBS at 2:30 p.m. local time, or on ESPN, ESPNU or the SEC Network. The latter three have time slots between 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Wally Hall in his article wrote the following:
Broyles talked about the great attendance at SEC games and how back in the 1960s he believed too much television would hurt attendance.
“I was wrong,” he said. “What we found out was that it made football fans out of kids 9, 10 and 11 years old. All over the country now you hear people say they are looking forward to football season, except in Arkansas, and we say I can’t wait.”
Broyles also pointed out that every team in the SEC has had to expand their stadium at least 5 times in the last 40 years and 6 of the top 10 teams are from the SEC with UT 4th behind Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn St. and Auburn was #10 by the way according to the most up to date figures.
College football stadiums are getting bigger every day, and there’s a good reason for that: More and more people want to get in on the action.You know all about “The Big House” in Ann Arbor, “The Horseshoe” in Columbus, “The Swamp” in Florida and the Tennessee Navy docking for the big game in Knoxville. But who are the other top draws around the nation?
Here’s a list of the 2007 home attendance leaders, with average per game:
1. Michigan: 110,264
2. Penn State: 108,917
3. Ohio State: 105,110
4. Tennessee: 103,918
5. Georgia: 92,746
6. LSU: 92,619
7. Alabama: 92,138
8. Florida: 90,388
9. Southern California: 87,476
10. Texas: 85,144
Note: With the expansion of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to a capacity of more than 98,000 for 2008, UT is likely to move into the top five after numbers are crunched at the end of the current season.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ matchup with Texas A&M this week brings back a fine memory for Frank Broyles.
Broyles’ first victory as Razorbacks coach — after six straight losses — came against the Aggies in 1958.
“That ‘58 team stayed with me,” Broyles said. “They built the foundation of what you could do: get better with a good attitude, don’t let the losses beat you but get better and better. We did improve.”
Broyles spoke Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, sharing some of his memories from his half-century with the Razorbacks. That 21-8 win at Texas A&M was the start of an eight-game winning streak, and Arkansas went on to finish at least tied for first in the Southwest Conference in 1959, ‘60 and ‘61.
Those days are long gone now, and so is the Southwest Conference, but nostalgic fans will have their chance to reminisce this week as the Razorbacks prepare to play the Aggies on Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.
Broyles talked for about 40 minutes about his coaching days, current trends in college football and the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, from which his late wife, Barbara, suffered.
Broyles mentioned the growth of the spread offense and said offensive linemen play differently now that teams rely so much on speed and passing.
He told one funny story involving former Arkansas athletic director John Barnhill. Broyles said Barnhill once told him Gov. Orval E. Faubus had given him the money to expand War Memorial Stadium.
“We didn’t have Freedom of Information in those days,” Broyles said, drawing a laugh.
Broyles was Arkansas’ coach and later the athletic director before retiring at the end of 2007.
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PICTURE IN PICTURE?:Broyles joked that at one point, people worried television would ruin attendance at football games. Broyles had a chance last weekend to appreciate how times have changed.
“Starting at 11 o’clock, until 11 o’clock at night, and 22 games I watched,” he said. “There were 22 games on television last Saturday.”
The Razorbacks are still waiting to find out the time of their Oct. 10 home game against Auburn — it could be in one of four television slots. The game might be on CBS at 2:30 p.m. local time, or on ESPN, ESPNU or the SEC Network. The latter three have time slots between 11 and 11:30 a.m.
David Bazzel, president of the Little Rock Touchdown Club, announcing Tuesday this year’s speaker line-up at a news conference held in the lobby of the Metropolitan National Bank Building in Little Rock.
A large crowd gathered Tuesday in the atrium at Metropolitan Bank.
Hot dogs and hamburgers were being served, but every person was there for one reason. They wanted to hear who the speakers will be this fall at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, which attracts visitors from all over the state.
As Lunsford Bridges, president and CEO of Metropolitan Bank and the presenting sponsor of the weekly Touchdown Club luncheons, introduced David Bazzel, the thought occurred again of what a difference Bazzel has made in his adopted state.
He came here to be an Arkansas Razorbacks football player and has become an ambassador, innovator and good citizen.
Bazzel created the Broyles Award, the Golden Boot -which is given each year to the winner of the Arkansas-LSU game – and the Little Rock Touchdown Club, and helped found the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club.
No wonder he is on the voting list for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Tuesday’s news conference was more like being invited to a friend’s house for a glass of wine, only to discover they were serving Presqu’ile Pinot Noir, one of the premium wines produced in the United States.
The 10th year will be the best for the LRTDC.
Just a year ago, in a meeting at Corky’s restaurant, Bazzel told his board that he was tired and needed help. Everyone in the room agreed to help. We all know how many hours he has put into this organization – for free – and it has become, according to past speakers, one of the best football clubs in America.
Instead of getting help, he went out and came back with the best lineup of speakers ever, and even added four new awards that will honor some great football players born in Arkansas as well as longtime sports broadcaster Steve Sullivan.
The list of speakers are:
Aug. 21: Bret Bielema, head coach of the University of Arkansas.
Aug. 26: Cliff Harris, the former Ouachita Baptist and Dallas Cowboys football player.
Sept. 3: Dan Hampton, a former Razorback and Chicago Bear.
Sept. 9: Tom Osborne, the former head coach and athletic director at the University of Nebraska.
Sept. 16: Jeff Long, Arkansas athletic director.
Sept. 23: Houston Nutt, the former Arkansas and Ole Miss head football coach.
Sept. 30: Gene Chizik, the former head coach at Auburn and Iowa State.
Oct. 7: Clint Conque, head coach of No. 6-ranked UCA Bears.
Oct. 14: Mitch Mustain, the former Arkansas and Southern Cal quarterback, who is featured in a compelling new documentary The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain.
Oct. 21: Jonathan Luigs, a former Razorback and Rimington Award winner.
Oct. 28: Bryan Harsin, head coach at Arkansas State.
Nov. 4: Steve Sullivan, KATV’s sports director.
Nov. 11: Roland Sales and Ike Forte, former Razorbacks who won MVP awards in bowl games.
Nov. 18: Richard Davenport of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel, both of whom report on recruiting.
Nov. 25: Steve Atwater, the former Razorbacks and Denver Broncos defensive back.
The February banquet will feature Lou Holtz, who was head coach at Arkansas and Minnesota before winning a national championship at Notre Dame. He now works as an ESPN studio analyst.
The awards are the Cliff Harris Award, which will go to the small college defensive player of the year; the Dan Hampton Award, which will go to the defensive lineman of the year in Arkansas; the Willie Roaf Award, given to the offensive lineman of the year in Arkansas and The Sully Award, which will be given for the football call of the year in Arkansas.
Bazzel spent so much of the summer working on speakers and the new awards that he felt compelled to apologize to his girlfriend, Shantell Kelly, twice during the news conference.
No doubt he has again put in countless hours to help his home state and community.
LITTLE ROCK — Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne and new Arkansas coach Bret Bielema headline this fall’s lineup of speakers at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, along with Razorbacks athletic director Jeff Long.
The speaker series in Little Rock begins Aug. 21 with an address from Bielema. Osborne will speak to the club Sept. 9, followed by Long’s address Sept. 16.
Former Arkansas and Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt is set to address the club Sept. 23, with former Auburn coach Gene Chizik’s speech set for Sept. 30.
Other scheduled speakers include: Central Arkansas coach Clint Conque, former Arkansas and Southern Cal player Mitch Mustain, former Razorback Jonathan Luigs and Arkansas State coach Bryan Harsin.
The series wraps up with an awards banquet in January featuring a speech from Lou Holtz.
LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock Touchdown Club kicked off the 2013 season and announced the club’s line-up of renowned speakers and the state’s finest in football.
The Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club also released its slate of speaker for 2013.
Bret Bielema – Aug. 28
Jeff Long – Sept. 4
Former Oklahoma St. coach Pat Jones – Sept. 18
Lou Holtz – Sept. 23
Fitz Hill – Oct. 2
CBS College Football Columnist – Bruce Feldman – Oct. 16
Mangino at a 2007 KU basketball game Eric Mangino is a very good speaker. Here is a portion of an article by Jim Harris: Jim Harris’ Notebook: Mangino Ready To Return; Big Week For Central Arkansas by Jim Harris 11/14/2011 at 3:37pm It’s easy for fans who don’t follow Kansas football closely to forget just […]
Uploaded by TheMemphisSlim on Sep 3, 2010 Johnny Majors from Huntland, TN tried out for the UT Football team weighing 150 pounds. His Father, Shirley Majors his HS Coach,encourage him and then 4 younger brothers all to be Vols. Johnny Majors was the runner-up in 1956 for the Heisman Trophy to Paul Horning, on a loosing Notre Dame […]
Yesterday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting Rex Nelson during his SEC roundup mentioned the popular rumor that got started last week that Houston Nutt had been contacted by Memphis. Of course, at the time Larry Porter had not even been fired. I called someone I knew in Memphis and they told me that […]
I enjoyed the Little Rock Touchdown Club and have posted a lot about it all fall. I have links below to earlier posts. Yesterday Wally Hall and Steve Sullivan had some good insights. Below are some of the thoughts of Jim Harris that he shared at the lunch. BUILDING THE DEFENSE: How nice it would […]
Earlier I wrote about where I think Arkansas could win a national championship with just two more wins. Below is a portion of an article by Jim Harris of the website Arkansas 360: AND ON BOBBY: Schlabach, on Arkansas’ coach: “I said when he was hired that Bobby Petrino would make Arkansas a contender for […]
Below is a picture of Lane Kiffin with Johnny Majors. Today Johnny Majors spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Majors told several revealing stories about his time at Arkansas from 1964-1968 when he was an assistant coach under Frank Broyles. One of the funniest stories concerned fellow assistant coach Jim MacKenzie who knew how to […]
Former Tennessee Football Coach Johnny Majors is to speak at Little Rock Touchdown Club todayat the Embassy Suites hotel. Majors coached at Iowa State from 1968-1972, Pittsburgh from 1973-1976 and 1993-1996, where he led the Panthers to the 1976 national championship and at Tennessee from 1977-1992, where he won three SEC championships. 1976 Sugar Bowl National Championship […]
I got to ask Pat Summerall a question at the Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting back in October of 2010. Summerall had pointed out that Tom Landry was the defensive coordinator and Vince Lombardi was the offensive backfield coach when he played for the Giants. Summerall had shared how he had recovered from his […]
We have had some great speakers at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and Auburn’s Pat Dye has to be included in that list. Jim Harris: No Little Rock Touchdown Club Speaker Quite Like Former Auburn Coach Pat Dye by Jim Harris 10/3/2011 at 3:22pm The last time former Auburn head football coach Pat Dye addressed […]
Yesterday I got to hear Lloyd Carr speak to the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Below is how the Arkansas Democrat Gazette covered it. LITTLE ROCK — Lloyd Carr coached Tom Brady at the beginning of his 13-year tenure as Michigan’s head coach and Ryan Mallett at the end. Now, Brady and Mallett are New England […]
The Broyles Award Trophy, made out of solid bronze, depicts Broyles (kneeling) and longtime University of Arkansas assistant coach Wilson Matthews (standing), watching over a Razorback football game or practice. Matthews was the coach of Little Rock Central High School before joining Broyles on the Razorback’s staff. ______________ Today at the Little Rock […]
Gene Stallings used to interview the boys that dated his daughters. He asked his future son-in-laws if they played sports. He wanted to know if they had competed at something. Below is an article on what Stallings thinks about Texas A&M joining SEC. Stallings: SEC best fit for A&M By Troy Schulte Wednesday, September 7, […]
Reggie Herring is featured in this video above about the 1980 Florida St victory over Pitt. Mark May did a great job at the first Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting of the year. Jim Harris of Arkansas Sports 360 did a good article on it and I agree with what Wally Hall wrote on his […]
I got to hear Howard Schnellenberger speak on 9-4-12 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. I enjoyed hearing his stories about Bear Bryant and what he learned from the Bear. Here is a story by Jim Harris that discusses these too things. Jim Harris: Spirit Of Arkansan Bear Bryant Runs Through Schnellenberger’s Veins <!– 23 […]
1972 USC Football Highlights vs. Notre Dame Uploaded by 63utuber on Jun 14, 2011 No description available. I got to hear Coach Robinson speak in Little Rock on August 27, 2012. Little Rock Touchdown Club Week 2: Hall Of Fame Coach John Robinson by Zack Veddern on Aug 28, 2012 9:07 AM CDT robinson […]
John L. Smith is to speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday Sept 24, 2011. I am proud of him for showing up. Bill Vickery had some comments on the debacle on Saturday. Vickery said it totally removed the earlier nightmare he had since he was 7 years old when he witnessed his […]
Randy White spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club yesterday. He did a great job. I have always been a big Dallas Cowboy fan. Here is a story from Arkansas Sports 360: HOW ‘BOUT THEM COWBOYS: The Touchdown Club welcomed Randy White to town this Monday. The former Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle is one of […]
I have written a lot about the Dallas Cowboys in the past. One of my favorite stories is getting to ask Pat Summerall a question about Tom Landry and his answer was a classic one. I simply asked him if he had a chance to interact with any Christian Coaches like Tony Dungy or Tom […]
I got to see Matt Jones speak on 9-10-12 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and I was proud of him for opening up concerning what brought his career to an end. Drugs can derail a great career. Take a look at what happened to Matt Jones: Taken in the first round by the Jacksonville […]
Gov. Beebe, Shane Broadway, Steve Sullivan, Jeff Hankins and all the notable ASU grads were in the audience today at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. This was the second time I got to see Gus Malzahn speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Two years ago he was skyped in since tornadoes made it impossible […]
Arkansas is hoping for a top notch recruiter for the next coach. Will we get one? Jim Harris: Recruiting Expert Lemming Says Right Choice For Hogs Can Land Impact Players <!– 23 –> by Jim Harris 10/29/2012 at 3:45pm As much as recruiting seems to excite every college football fan base, including Arkansas’, one would […]
I really enjoyed hearing Mike Slive speak on Monday. The SEC is blessed to have Slive. Take a look below at all of his accomplishments. Home / Sports / LITTLE ROCK TOUCHDOWN CLUB Slive: Nonconference tie-ups tangle scheduling PHOTO BY KAREN E. SEGRAVE Under the leadership of SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, the conference has won 62 […]
Harvey Updyke Interview on The Paul Finebaum Show 4 21 11 Part 3 Bobby Petrino going to Tennessee later this year? I thought he would jump at the chance to do that. However, the Vols have looked pretty good this year and if they go into Miss St’s homefield this week and beat the #17 […]
On Oct 1, 2012 I got to hear Willie Roaf speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and he did a great job. One thing he said about Charles McRae and Antone Davis of Tennessee was hard to hear. I think he said that they were his friends and he thought they were very talented […]
Wow, thank you, Ross and Jessie and the other gentleman there, that was really…if you can’t smile when you’re listening to that, something’s wrong with you. You just…you just can’t wipe the smile off your face, can you? It’s just…just so beautiful and so unusual. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a steel drum played here in this church, but we’ve got to do more of that, right? That was really good. Thank you. (Applause) So many wonderful ways in which we can praise the Lord musically, and what a great heritage we have in music and what a great blessing to have so many talented people who can serve us all in our expressions of praise that way.
We have been looking at a series on the inspiration of the Bible which is, of course, foundational to us, critical to us since the Word of God is the authority. Everything that we believe comes out of the pages of the Bible. Everything that is spiritual that is related to God and our understanding of Him and His will comes from the pages of Scripture. It is critical that we understand and believe with all our hearts in the truthfulness of the Word of God. And so we have been looking at the marks of divine revelation, how we know the Bible is written by God. One of those marks is prophecy…prophecy. And by that I mean the ability to predict, the ability to write history before it happens, to determine what will happen before it happens with specificity, precision and exactness. And the seal of divine omniscience on the pages of the Bible is predictive prophecy, prewritten history.
It becomes apparent to any careful, thoughtful, diligent student of the Bible that the prophets of the Bible were told by God what would happen and it did happen. They were told things that it is impossible for any human mind to know. The only conclusion is that God revealed these things. Only God knows the end from the beginning and the future before it happens. The Bible then has to be the work of God. All prewritten history, all the prophecies with the record of perfect fulfillment mark the Bible as authored by God. And by the way the Bible is full of prophecy, full of prophecy which has already been fulfilled, much of it fulfilled in scriptural times so that you have the prophecy in the Bible and you have the record of its fulfillment also recorded in the Bible. It is sort of an internal apologetic, an internal defense of Scripture and God uses prophecy to convince people of the divinity of Scripture. It is truly the record of His doing because there is no way to explain what it predicts, coming to pass with such perfect precision, other than that it is authored by God. And I think we overlook many of the basic prophecies of the Bible that should draw us to a careful study and catch our attention.
For example, you go back in to the twelfth chapter of Genesis and the fifteenth chapter of Genesis and you have a promise that God gives to Abram, later named Abraham, and part of that promise is that he is going to have an heir. In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis the Lord reminds Abraham that He is capable of fulfilling the promise to give to Abraham a seed. “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you. Your reward should be very great. I will fulfill everything I have promised to you.” And Abram said, “O Lord God, what will Thou give me since I am childless?” Verse 3, “Since Thou hast given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” It was his servant, the only heir he had. “The Word of the Lord came to him in verse 4, ‘This man will not be your heir but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.'” Here’s the promise of God that Abraham is going to have a child, a son.
Now remember, Sarah is 90 and Abraham is 100. And God has promised to them in their barrenness and in their old age a son. In fact, the promise of God is reiterated again in the eighteenth chapter verse 11, “Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age. Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ And the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying shall I indeed bear a child when I am so old? Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you at this time next year and Sarah shall have a son.'” Now that is unmistakably a prophecy. That is God saying in one year Sarah will have a son. One year later, chapter 21 records, “Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived, and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.” It was not just a promise of a son, it was a promise of a son in precisely a year from the time God had spoken.
Sarah, you remember, laughed in her doubt and as if to rebuke her unbelief, Abraham named the child Laughter, which is what Isaac means. This fulfillment gives strong assurance to Abraham that God is in control of the future and that God’s word is true. This is an apologetic to Abraham. This is God affirming to Abraham that when He speaks He speaks the truth, and when He says something will come to pass, it will come to pass. Abraham now knows that to be true.
Turn to the third chapter of Exodus. Another great name in the Old Testament is the name Moses, but Moses had a rather inauspicious beginning. Moses was weak, lacking courage, lacking faith even in God. Moses said to God in the third chapter of Exodus in verse 11, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? Who am I? I don’t have the ability to do that.” In chapter 4 he reiterates his lack of confidence, verse 1, and says, “What if they will not believe me, or listen to what I say? For they may say, the Lord has not appeared to you.” In verse 10, Moses again said to the Lord, even after the Lord did a miracle in his presence in the intervening verses. The Lord said…Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I’ve never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Here’s this weak and vacillating Moses. He has been told to do a great work in the power of God, lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. He has no confidence in himself. God tells him, however, that the very place on which he then stood would later become the place where the Israelites would worship God. For all of this took place…go back to chapter 3 and verse 12…in a place called Horeb and in verse 12 God says, “Certainly I will be with you and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” The very mountain where God met Moses in a burning bush, the very mountain where called Horeb in verse 1 of chapter 3 where he was tending the flock of Jethro, that very mountain is Mount Sinai and it was to that very mountain that they returned and there met God and God displayed His power in that mountain, revealed His commandments in that mountain, and Moses went up and got the Law and came down, and you know the whole story. It’s told from the nineteenth chapter of Exodus through the fortieth chapter of Exodus.
What was God doing? God was confirming in the mind of Moses that when He said something He meant it, that when He promised something it would come to pass, and when He predicted something that’s exactly what would happen. You will return to this very same mountain and you with all your people out of Egypt will worship Me in this very same place. That’s exactly what happened. Eventually he went to Egypt, you know the whole entire story, and he led the people out. The history of which is recorded in the early chapters of Exodus.
Just a few other interesting prophecies. In the fourth chapter of the book of Exodus and verse 14, the Lord is having a very irritating time with Moses…very irritating. And in verse 14, “The anger of the Lord is burning against Moses.” You really don’t want to be in that position but that’s where Moses was. “And He said, ‘So you don’t trust My word, you don’t believe My word. All right, is there not your brother Aaron the Levite?'” Don’t you have a brother named Aaron who is a Levite? “And I know that he speaks fluently and moreover, behold he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you he will be glad in his heart.” This is omniscience on display. You have a brother, I know you have a brother. You have a brother whose name is Aaron. You have a brother named Aaron who is a Levite. Furthermore, I know that he speaks fluently. This is omniscience. Moreover, beyond that, he is coming right now as I speak to meet you and furthermore when he sees you, he’s going to be glad to see you.
How does God know all this? Moses hadn’t seen Arrow…Moses hadn’t seen Aaron for forty years. And the meeting…the meeting would actually occur at the place of the burning bush. In verse 27, “Now the Lord said to Aaron, ‘Go meet Moses in the wilderness.’ So he went and met him in the mountain of God and he kissed him.” It was a joyful meeting, just like God said it would be. God knows the future because God writes the future just as He writes the present and the past.
And then there were all those plagues. God said to Moses, “When you go to Egypt, you’re going to pronounce judgment and you’re going to tell those Egyptians to let My people go.” Go to chapter 3 verse 17. “I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt…” Well actually verse 16, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has appeared to me saying I am indeed concerned about you what has been done to you in Egypt. Go tell everybody in Egypt, all the leaders, that God knows and God is very concerned. So I said I would bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'” This is a prophecy. God’s going to do this. They will pay heed to what you say because God’s going to determine that they pay heed to what He says. Again God is not only telling us what will happen, He makes it happen. “And you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him…this is to Pharaoh…the Lord, the God of the Hebrews has met with us. So now, please let us go, a three-day’s journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go.” God knows what the reaction of the Pharaoh will be because He knows the future. “Except under compulsion, so I know they’re going to have to be some very compelling reasons for which this Pharaoh will finally let you go. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it and after that he will let you go. And I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and it shall be that when you go you will not go empty handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing, you will put them under your…you will put them on your sons and daughters, thus you will plunder the Egyptians.” You’re going…you’re going after the compelling miracles force Pharaoh to let you go and you’re going with plenty of plunder.
Well, when Moses and Aaron finally did stand before Pharaoh, they told Pharaoh to let the people go. Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people go. So, for example, chapter 7 verse 17, “Thus says the Lord, by this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in My hand and it shall be turned to blood.” That’s a prophecy. I’m going to strike the water, it’s going to be turned to blood. This is a message from the Lord. “And the fish in the Nile will die and the Nile will become foul and the Egyptians will find difficulty in finding drinking water from the Nile.”
That’s exactly what happened. The Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, “Take your staff, stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, the rivers, the streams, the pools, the reservoirs of water that they may become blood and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and vessels of stone. That which had already been taken out of these water sources and had been kept in houses would also turn to blood. So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. He lifted up the staff, struck the water that was in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and the sight of his servants and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish that were in the Nile died, the Nile became foul, the Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the Nile. The blood was through all the land of Egypt.” The prophecy that comes to pass immediately.
Turn to the eighth chapter and the first verse, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, let My people go that they may serve Me. But if you refuse to let them go I will smite your whole territory with frogs. And the Nile will swarm with frogs which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.'” Again, that is a prophecy. God says it’s going to happen, and it happens. “The Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams, over the pools, make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came and covered the land of Egypt.
You have other plagues. All of them, an amazing series of divine manifestations predicted by God and fulfilled, climaxing with the opening of the sea, the people walking through on dry land, arriving eventually where God said they would arrive, right back at Mount Horeb, or Mount Sinai and there to be brought before God to worship Him. All of this was apologetics. All of this was a defense of the veracity of the Word of God. All of this to show Moses and Aaron and everybody else that when God said something, it came to pass. A good summation of this comes at the end of the fourteenth chapter of Exodus, Exodus chapter 14 and verse 30, “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord…listen to this…and they believed in the Lord and in His servant, Moses.” Yes, this was an apologetic display. This was God defending His veracity. All of that might have happened, all of that could well have happened without ever God saying it would happen. But God would have lost a great opportunity to validate the authority, the authenticity, the accuracy, the precision and the fulfillment of His Word. God said it and it happened exactly the way He said it would happen and the record is written about it. And no wonder the people believed.
If you look to 1 Kings, for a moment, and the seventeenth chapter and there are more but I’m just highlighting some of these kinds of prophecies that we easily overlook that are fulfilled in history. In the seventeenth chapter of 1 Kings we come in to the ministry of Elijah, the prophet. In verse 1 of 1 Kings 17, “Now Elijah the Tishbite who was of the settlers of Giliad said to Ahab, the king, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by My Word.'” That is a prophecy of a drought. That is a prophecy of a drought. God is putting His Word on the line again. You might say, in one sense, He’s sticking His neck out because we’re going to find out whether what He says is really true. InJames 5:17we read a New Testament commentary on this text. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.” God said there was going to be a drought and there certainly was a drought. And that drought lasted in excess of three years. At the end of the drought, go down to chapter 18. “It came about after many days the Word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year,” all right, here we are in the third years, “saying, Go show yourself to Ahab and I’ll send rain on the face of the earth.” It didn’t rain for three years.
Elijah went and showed himself to Ahab. We could read the whole chapter, but let’s go down to verse 41. “Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up and eat and drink for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.’ Ahab went up to eat and drink but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel, crouched down on his knees, put his face between his knees…crouched down…I should say…on the earth and put his face between his knees. He said to his servants, ‘Go up now, look toward the sea.’ So he went up and looked and said there’s nothing. He said, ‘Go back seven times.’ And it came about at the seventh time that he said, ‘Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.'” You can imagine for three years and six months they had been looking for clouds. “And he said, ‘Go up, say to Ahab, prepare your chariot and go down so that the heavy shower doesn’t stop you.'” It’s going to get real muddy real fast. Get that chariot moving. “It came about in a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind and there was a heavy shower and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah.” Here again is an apologetic for the Word of God. God does exactly what He says He is going to do.
The most extensive usage of fulfilled prophecies or of the role that fulfilled prophecy plays is found in Isaiah. From Isaiah 40 to 53, that is a great section of prophecy. I want to show you a couple of portions of it. Isaiah 41…Isaiah 41, as I said, you can run all the way from chapter 40 through 53, the most extensive use of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible is found in that section. But in Isaiah chapter 41 we can look at the contrast between God and all other deities.
Verse 21 of Isaiah 41, this is a good place to sort of jump in to this great section. “Present your case,” the Lord says. “Present your case, you other gods. Bring forward your strong arguments,” the king of Jacob says. “Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place.” You are a god, you are supernatural, you are divine…then tell us the future because that’s a valid defense of omniscience. So he says in verse 22, “Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place. As for the former events, declare what they were.” Tell us what happened in the past, show your omnipotence going….or your omniscience going back and tell us what’s going to happen in the future. “That we may consider them and know their outcome.” We’ll evaluate it. You give us an accurate rendering of history and you write the future for us. “Announce to us…end of verse 22…what is coming. Declare the things that are going to come afterward that we may know that you are gods.” Wow…what a test!
Verse 24, “Indeed you’re of no account. Your work amounts to nothing. He who chooses you to worship…implied…is an abomination.” You can’t worship a God who is not omniscient because that’s not God. You can’t worship a God who cannot tell the future.
A few chapters further, another wonderful text in the forty-sixth chapter, and, believe me, there are several in between. But one of my very favorites is in 46, verses 9 and 10. Verse 9, “Remember the former things long past, for I am god and there is no other. I am God and there is no one like Me.” Here’s why. “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done.” I will tell you what hasn’t happened. I will tell you the end at the beginning, saying, “My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” I will tell you what’s going to happen because I’m in control of it happening. This is not just omniscience, this is also…what?…omnipotence.
So from the earliest times God has established His veracity based upon His ability to predict what is going to happen with precision and accuracy and then to make it happen. And Scripture records the prophecies and the fulfillment, as we have seen in the illustrations that I’ve already given you.
Let me have you turn to the prophets since we’re already there, and see some further indications of the revelation of an omniscient God as the author of Scripture. Turn to Ezekiel 12, Ezekiel 12 and we’re going to move through some Scriptures fairly rapidly. But this, I think, to be a fascinating prophecy. Verse 12, “And the prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. I shall also spread My net over him and he will be caught in My snare and I shall bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it though he will die there.” How can you go to Babylon and be there and not see it? Who is this prince? It refers to King Zedekiah. King Zedekiah is always referred to in the book of Ezekiel by the word “the prince.” Jehoiakim is referred to as king in Judah even though he’s in captivity. He is still referred to as king, though he’s been taken into the Babylonian captivity along with Ezekiel and others. Zedekiah never really gets the title and so he is called the prince.
So how is it that this prince, Zedekiah, is taken to Babylon and lives there until his death and yet never sees it? Go back to 2 Kings 25 and we read the history connected to this prophecy. This is the history connected to that prophecy. Verse 1, 2 Kings 25, “It came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came, he and all his army against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it.” So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. He is referred to as a king in the history although Ezekiel always refers to him as a prince, giving the honor to Jehoiakim in captivity. “So the city was under siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city, there was no food for the people of the land.” That’s how they conquered. They came in and surrounded the city and cut off all supplies until the people starved to death. “Finally the city was broken into and the people were weak. All the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls beside the King’s garden. The soldiers who were left ran for their lives though the Chaldeans were all around the city and they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, the soldiers are fleeing the place trying to get out with their lives, and they are taking with them their king. They overtook him, the Chaldeans did, and the plains of Jericho which is just east and down the slope. And all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the King Zedekiah, brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah and he passed sentence on him. And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.” How was it that he could go to Babylon and be there till he died and never see it? He was blind because they had torn out his eyes after the last sight he ever saw, the massacre of his sons.
Jeremiah speaks of this.Jeremiah 52:10, “And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah at Riblah.” It was mentioned in the prior passage in 2 Kings. “Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.”
Just exactly the way Ezekiel said it would happen. So he lived with one indelible vision in his sightless head, the vision of the execution of his sons in a prison cell until he died, never seeing the Babylon to which he had been taken captive.
Speaking of Babylon, turn to Isaiah chapter 13. And here is a very, very important prophecy in Isaiah chapter 13 about Babylon. And I’m trying to give you a condensed view of these so we can cover a number of them, but in the nineteenth verse of Isaiah 13, we read this, “And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” Wow. “It will never be inhabited, or lived in from generation to generation. Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there, but desert creatures will lie down there and their houses will be full of owls, ostriches will also live there and shaggy goats will frolic there. And hyenas will howl in their fortified towers and jackals in their luxury palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come and her days will not be prolonged.”
Babylon was richer and more powerful than its arch rival, the city of Nineveh. And Nineveh was a massive city. Some say Babylon was the greatest city of the ancient world, famous for culture, famous for education, famous for architecture, famous for social advancement, famous for trade. This city, Babylon, was the emporium of the ancient world. It was on a stream that flowed to the Indian Ocean, near to the Mediterranean so it was a place accessible, a place where many brought their wares and their goods and it became really the home of what we know to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The prophecy then is that Babylon will be completely overthrown. And it was. Amazing. Until the nineteenth century the knowledge of Babylon was based only on Old Testament texts and a few Greek writers who referred to it and nobody knew where it was.
In more recent years there have been found in what is believed to be the location of this great city, accounts of stupendous building operations under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. In the seventh and the sixth centuries B.C., it all began to be built by Nabopolassar, again who was a great king and his son Nebuchadnezzar. So it was a formidable sort of multi-generational effort to build this great city. Some ancient…some students of ancient history say that the great city was divided into two parts by the Euphrates and had large swamp areas and marshes in its surrounding area. It was, according to some accounts, a hundred and ninety-six square miles, fourteen mile sides, fifty-six miles around it. Historians who have dug up the ruins of that place now say it had a 30-foot moat, double walls, the outer wall was as high as 311 feet in some places, 87 feet wide in some places. It had 100 gates they think of solid brass. Two hundred and fifty watchtowers who were at least…which were at least 100 feet higher than the wall, over 400 feet high. And it completely disappeared in the desert. Herodotus, the historian, says the Persians saw that they could not break down the walls. But they observed that the Euphrates River ran under the walls and was deep enough and wide enough to march an army on. Cyrus ordered his troops to dig huge ditches, canals. And by those canals they diverted the river and dried up the riverbed and walked into the city while the Babylonians were feasting in drunkenness and took the city. And you can read about it in the fifth chapter of Daniel. It was 539 B.C. when Babylon fell, never to rise again.
By the time of Alexander the Great, it had become nothing but a desert. By 116 A.D. Trajan, the emperor, describes it as only mounds, humps. It is somewhere around 45 to 50 miles south of Baghdad. There have been buildings built there now. It is now called a ceremonial place, and no one lives there. It is not inhabited. Through history there are interesting records written by historians who talk about the wild animals, the boars, the hyenas, the jackals, the wolves, an occasional lion, mountain lion, owls. There are also historians who have written in the past about how the bedouins didn’t like to pitch their tents there because there were long-term superstitions about that place. It wasn’t a good place.
The soil throughout history has not been suitable for anything. And so it sits and still sits though ceremonial buildings have been built without inhabitants. One mathematician took the components of this prophecy, put them through mathematical analysis and said, “This would have the chance of coming to pass accidentally that would be about one in five million.” Werner Keller writes, “There were in Babylon fifty-three temples, fifty-five chapels of Marduk, 300 chapels for the earthly deities, 180 altars for the goddess Ishtar, 180 for the gods Nargol(?) and Adad(?) and many other different gods.” And it all came down because that’s what God said would happen.
There will be, by the way, according to the book of Revelation, a restoration of Babel in the future at the time of the day of the Lord and the coming of Christ. Whether or not that is a literal Babylon, or whether it speaks figuratively of the great Babylon as rebellion against the true and living God, we can’t be certain. But for now and for human history until the end, it is not an inhabited place.
Another prophecy, Micah chapter 1…Micah chapter 1. As you will remember, the land of Israel basically got split into two kingdoms after Solomon…the southern kingdom Judah, the norther kingdom was called Israel. Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom and Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. But just briefly. In Micah chapter 1 and verse 6, here is a prophecy. “This is the Word of the Lord,” it came to and through Micah in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, it is a prophecy regarding both Samaria and Jerusalem, the two capital cities. And verse 6 says this, “I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley and will lay bare her foundations. All her idols will be smashed, all her earnings burned with fire, all her images I will make desolate, for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings.” That is a spiritual harlot going after false gods rather than the true God, to the earnings of a harlot they will return.
The prophecy is that Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom, will fall. It will fall violently. Vineyards will be planted there. Stones will be poured into the valley. In 722 B.C. that prophecy came to pass. Sargon, the Assyrian, took Samaria. It had been built by Omri, a wicked king, you can read about it in 1 Kings 16. He was succeeded by his son, Ahab, who was even more evil than Omri, and Ahab is famous for his wife who was Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon, she was an idolatress. She killed the prophets. She led the people to worship Baal, the god of Sidon. Because of all of this, God brought this destruction. The city is now gone, wiped out by Sargon and then later on, whatever vestiges were left, destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 and whatever bits and pieces remained were then finally destroyed in 120 B.C. by John Hiercanis(???). And if you go to the site of Samaria today, you will find olive and fig trees. It is a place of agriculture and probably some vineyards still there. One writer says, “Samaria, a huge heap of stones? Her foundation discovered, her streets plowed up and covered with fields and gardens. Samaria has been destroyed but her rubbish thrown down into the valley below. Her foundation stones lie scattered about on the slopes of the hills.” There’s no Samaria today.
Turn to Ezekiel chapter 25 and let me add another to this fascinating list of fulfilled prophecies. This one has to do with Moab…Moab. Moab/Ammon referring to the same. “The Word of the Lord came to me,” in verse 1, “saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them and say to the sons of Ammon, Hear the Word of the Lord God, thus says the Lord God, because you said “Aha” against My sanctuary when it was profaned, treating it lightly, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the sons of the east for a possession and they will set their encampment among you and make their dwellings among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.” Go down to verse 11, “I will execute judgments on Moab and they will know that I am the Lord.” And reiterates in verse 12, “Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance…” and so forth.
What does it say about Moab or Ammon? They’re going to be taken by a power from the east were going to come and take over and build palaces…verse 4…make their dwellings among you. This will be conquered but inhabited…conquered but inhabited. Now you’ve got to understand, these are powerful, well-defended kingdoms. Moab and Ammon are down by the Dead Sea and they are formidable and they are somewhat isolated. But the prophecy came true. Mountains on the west protected them. But the east was vulnerable. Voss writes, “The emir Abdullah of the east, ruler of Trans-Jordania, built his palace there and became director of the Arab Legion and has fought the Jews…this going back some years.” The city of Ammon was conquered. Moab was conquered from the east. But today Ammon Jordan is one of the flourishing cities, a large, growing, prosperous city, I have been there on several occasions, a fascinating Arab city. God said you will be conquered. God did not say you will be uninhabited.
Another one, just briefly, is Edom…Edom. Look at Isaiah 34 and I think with this one I’ll stop and we’ll do this one more evening, I think, because I’ve got a few more that I think are helpful. But look at Isaiah 34 and this relates to the familiar place called Edom, familiar to students of the Bible. Verse…let’s see, we can pick it up at verse 5, “My sword is satiated in heaven. Behold, it shall descend for judgment upon Edom, upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.” Now it gets pretty detailed. “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams, for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Wild oxen shall also fall with them and young bulls with strong ones, thus their land shall be soaked with blood.” Go down to verse 10, “It shall not be quenched night or day, its smoke shall go up forever from generation to generation it shall be desolate.” Down to verse 13, “Thorns shall come up in its fortified cities, nests…nettles and thistles in its fortified cities, it will also be a haunt of jackals and abode of ostriches. The desert creatures shall meet with the wolves, the hairy goat also shall cry to its kind. Yes the night monster shall settle there, shall find herself a resting place. The tree snake shall make its nest, lay eggs there. It will hatch and gather them under its protection. Yes, the hawk shall be gathered to everyone with its kind.” The point is, it’s going to be uninhabited, there aren’t going to be people there. There are just going to be animals there.
Along that same line, Jeremiah makes a prophecy…Jeremiah chapter 49…Jeremiah chapter 49, just three verses in chapter 49, verse 16, “As for the terror of you, the arrogance of your heart has deceived you, O you who live in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the height of the hill, though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s, I will bring you down from there, declares the Lord, and Edom will become an object of horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors, says the Lord, no one will live there, nor will a son of man reside there.”
This powerful kingdom of Idumea descended from Esau would be wiped out and never inhabited again. And verse 16 is a particular note because it was an arrogant place because the people lived in the clefts of the rock and they occupied the height of the hill. And they made their nest as high as an eagle’s. Some of you know that, you’ve been there and you’ve experienced that. Well the great city that defines Edom is a city called Petra and Petra is a city built into the rock. It’s an amazing…one of the great astonishments of my life was, first of all, on horseback to go in through this narrow tiny crack in the high, high cliffs to get inside the city of Petra and then see an entire city carved in the cliffs, virtually impregnable. They were so proud and so arrogant, there was only one way..there is only one way in and that is through this narrow passage that could be guarded, they used to say, by one man. And yet in Obadiah’s prophecy in verse 18 he said, “There shall not be any remaining in the house of Esau for the Lord has spoken it.” And it was conquered. It has a bloody, bloody history, does Edom. If you go to Petra today and Edom, no one lives there. There’s no civilization there. Edom tried to fight off David, but David slew 18 thousand Edomites at the south end of the Dead Sea, the Valley of Salt. David conquered Edom. Amaziah, later king of Judah, also fought and was victorious over Edom. Later Assyria conquered Edom and even Chaldean hordes swept down and devoured Edom. The Nabotaean Arabians that are noted even in the New Testament took Edom and are probably the children of the east mentioned in Ezekiel 25. And some time in the sixth century they took the great city of Petra.
How did they do it? How could they conquer a city that could be guarded by one man because there was only one slit letting you through? When you ride on a horse through there or you walk on foot, you will notice that there is a channel carved along the entrance and it goes for long, long, long distance. And the channel carved is to run water from outside into the city. All they had to do was cut off the water and the city had to surrender.
The Jews under John Heircannis(???) I mentioned ?? 1:20, they conquered this place as well. And there were many other conquerors.
When it was all said and done, the Edomites are so blotted out…this is fascinating to me…they’re so wiped out that the skeptics maintained that they were legendary, they never existed. And Petra wasn’t even discovered until the eighteenth century. It is now a wonder of the world.
Petra, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Babylon, all silent testimony to the veracity of the Word of God. Alexander Keith(?) write, “I would that the skeptic could stand as I did among the ruins, among the rocks and there open the sacred book and read the words of the inspired pen man.” And we all can do that. God’s Word is vindicated. What He says will happen will happen exactly the way He says it will happen. And there are many more.
Maybe I’ll just close with this comment. Turn to Matthew 11. Can’t make a comment without a passage. Matthew 11, and we’ll leave it at this. Verse 21, “Jesus said, ‘Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you Bethsaida,” and in verse 23, “and you Capernaum will not be exalted to heaven will you? You shall descend to Hades.'” Because Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had the presence of the Son of God and the miracles and had rejected, God pronounces a curse on these three cities. And what is fascinating to me about this is that these three cities to this very day are uninhabited, utterly uninhabited. The only one that you can even find ruins for is Capernaum. If you look at a map and you look up Bethsaida, there will be a question mark, they don’t even know where it was. But it was near Capernaum because that’s where Jesus ministered in Galilee. There’s some idea of where Bethsaida was. But the only place that you see ruins is Capernaum. And it is really remarkable, no one lives there…no one. It’s an amazingly beautiful place, it sits right at the head of the Sea of Galilee, spectacular location. There’s nothing there, absolutely nothing. There’s a little Catholic monastery. I remember being there one time and hearing that there was one monk who lived there. And then the people who show you an old church where there is a mosaic of the feeding of the five thousand and who show you the footings of the first church in Capernaum which may have been built on the foundations of Peter’s house, that’s the city where many of the disciples lived. Fabulous place, spectacular place, but if you want to stay in a hotel or you want something to eat, you have to go around to Tiberius because there’s nothing there. They were all wiped out really, they were all wiped out in 400 A.D. in a massive earthquake, never rebuilt…never.
And that’s the way it will be. On the shore stands this one city of Tiberius, it’s still there two thousand years later, sitting there, testimony to the fact that when God says a city will not be built, it will not be built. God’s Word is absolutely accurate…absolutely accurate. And it’s a fitting way to conclude our discussion by saying this. If the Bible says Jesus is coming, He’s coming.
Peter Stoner, is a very interesting mathematician who wrote a book on the probability of prophetic fulfillment. You can find it in many libraries…Peter Stoner, S-t-o-n-e-r. He took eleven of these prophecies that were fulfilled in history and he did some mathematics which is way beyond me and he said, “The probability of all of these components coming to pass by accident…okay, and it becomes exponential very rapidly, all the details, and I’ve only given you some, but take eleven of the prophecies, all the details in the prophecies coming to pass by accident…”the probability is one in five-point-seven-six times ten to the fifty-ninth power.” Now for some of you, that’s meaningless. But for some of you, that’s…that’s meaningful. Let’s make it simple. How many silver dollars, Peter Stoner says, would that be? One in five-point-seventy-six times ten to the fifty-ninth power, how many silver dollars in that? He says, ten to the twenty-eighth power solid silver suns…the sun is a million times the size of the earth. And he says it another way, if there are two trillion galaxies and each have a hundred billion stars, from our silver dollars we could make all the stars in all the galaxies two times ten to the fifth power. That’s a mathematics of probability…incredible odds cannot just happen. It happens because God said it would happen and because God sees to it that it happens and His Word is at stake and His integrity.
When you open your Bible, you are reading the true Word of the true and living God. Well that’s enough. Let’s pray.
Father, we do thank You for the power of the Word. It stands, it stands against all the onslaughts of the critics and the enemies of truth. It stands unequivocally, unmovable, unshaken because it is Your true Word. Our confidence in it is given us by the Spirit of God. We believe it because you have caused us to believe it, but we are confirmed and affirmed and strengthened in that confidence when we take the time to look at the details of this amazing revelation from You. It is true in everything it says and especially concerning the gospel of salvation, that there is no salvation in any other than Jesus Christ, about whom there are so many prophecies, hundreds of which came to pass in His first coming, more yet to come when He returns. Strengthen our confidence in Your Word and enable us to live by every word that proceeds from You, this is our food, in it we find Your character vindicated and our trust secured. In that trust we go forth to honor and to serve you and proclaim Your truth in Christ’s name. Amen.
Amen…so what I’m thinking about doing…not next week but coming up…I may do one more message on the Bible on the subject of canonicity, how do we know that the books we got are really the right ones. But we may do that and something else to kind of wrap up our study when we get through this little holiday period of time.
Our prayer room is open to my right if we can be of any help to you spiritually, if you want to know about joining the church or want to know about baptism, any spiritual need you have, we’re here to serve you. If you desire to know the Lord, you’re not sure you know Christ at all. Maybe your confidence in the Word of God has been strengthened. The Lord has used this tonight and you now know that this Word is true and it’s true when it speaks the gospel that saves, you’d like to talk to somebody, be right over here in the prayer room by the exit sign on my right.
Now, Father, send us away rejoicing that we know You, we know You, the omniscient, omnipotent, eternal God. We thank You for the gift of salvation in Christ in whose name we pray. And everyone said…Amen.
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. It is tough to guard your […]
Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear […]
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