Vegalta Sendai were up 1-0 in the first half of their J-League match against defending champions Nagoya Grampus Eight when the losing home side’s keeper, Yoshinari Takagi, came out of his area to collect the ball. He took too long to clear it., allowing Atsushi Yanagisawa to take the ball off him for a seemingly easy chance at a wide-open net. But, Yanagisawa decided to shoot from outside the box instead of going in a bit closer and ended up putting his shot wide of the far post.
Yanagisawa fell over in shock, while Takagi quickly resumed play in the hopes that no one would remember his goof-up to start the series of goof-ups. In the end, the combination of flubs didn’t matter, though, and Vegalta held on to win 1-0.
LITTLE ROCK – This year’s Salt Bowl drew a huge crowd for the big game that pits two bitter small-town rivals at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.
It wasn’t quite the 30,000 people organizers had hoped for, but 23,856 rabid football fans came to see the Benton Panthers square off against the Bryant Hornets.
“It’s just unbelievable that two towns the size of Benton and Bryant can have this kind of turnout,” said Olan King, a Benton fan. “That’s awesome.”
Bryant ended up winning the battle for Saline County 21-14, making it 6 straight Salt Bowl victories.
However, most Benton fans were just happy the game was competitive in the fourth quarter.
In the end, Bryant prevailed again, making it that much sweeter for the Hornet faithful.
“You live in Bryant, you breathe Bryant, you bleed blue, you gotta be here,” said Stephen Kincaid, a 1990 Bryant alum who came to the came in blue hornet goggles.
Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed have a date to get married — finally. The KISS singer and the former Playmate have been together for 28 years and have two children.
Invitations to the Oct. 1 wedding, sent out under the kids’ names, contain art by Nick, 22, and a nontraditional message from Sophie, 18: “After 28 years of loose strings, our parents have finally decided to tie the knot.”
“Our mother will share our horrendous hyphenate of a last name and our father’s life … well, it doesn’t change that much.”
The invite isn’t all rock-star bravado, however. Teasing to the formation of “Team Tweed-Simmons,” it continues: “We will be united as a family in title and spirit forever.”
Simmons is 62 and still touring with Paul Stanley and the current incarnation of KISS; Tweed is 54.
Simmons’ proposal in Belize was naturally captured by reality-TV cameras for A&E’s show “Gene Simmons: Family Jewels,” which rolls its seventh season starting Oct. 4.
So much for Simmons’ “happily unmarried” lifestyle. Makes it look like Poison frontman Bret Michaels, after 16 years and two kids, practically rushed into things with Kristi Gibson, no?
Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed The series I have been doing on “Advice to Gene Simmons” that I am starting what I am calling “Tip Tuesday.” For the next few months we will be looking at the Simmons family. In the July 19th episode Nick said to his father “You were a great father but […]
__________________________________ Gene Simmons Family Jewels The series I have been doing on “Advice to Gene Simmons” that I am starting what I am calling “Tip Tuesday.” For the next few months we will be looking at the Simmons family. In the July 19th episode Nick said to his father “You were a great father but […]
Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Shannon Tweed, 54 yrs old, has been with Gene Simmons 27 years and raised two children with him. The series I have been doing on “Advice to Gene Simmons” that I am starting what I am calling “Tip Tuesday.” For the next few months we will be looking at the Simmons […]
Gene Simmons Family Jewels Adrian Rogers – [2/3] How to Cultivate a Marriage The series I have been doing on “Advice to Gene Simmons” that I am starting what I am calling “Tip Tuesday.” For the next few months we will be looking at the Simmons family. On July 19th on Gene Simmons Jewels, in a […]
Gene Simmons Proposes To Shannon Tweed Kiss singer/bassist Gene Simmons proposed to his longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed in Belize recently, TMZ reports. The couple has been together 28 years and share two children, 22-year-old son Nicholas and 18-year-old daughter Sophie. Simmons popped the question on the A&E reality show ‘Gene Simmons Family Jewels,’ which has followed the life of the Simmons brood since […]
Last Tuesday night I watched Gene Simmons Family Jewels and I commented how I was struck by the good advice that his son Nick gave him. He told him that he grew up thinking that his father was the best. However, now that the marital infidility has come out, it has made Nick think long and hard […]
Last night I watched Gene Simmons Family Jewels and I was struck by the good advice that his son Nick gave him. He told him that he grew up thinking that his father was the best. However, now that the marital infidility has come out, it has made Nick think long and hard about what […]
I watched with great interest the first episode of Gene Simmons show two days ago when his wife left him because of his repeated unfaithfulness. Nerve editors are divided on the subject of Chelsea Handler, by which I mean that I find her kind of funny and Ben made a barfy face when I said […]
Senior Bryant running back/defensive back Stephen Clark celebrates the Hornets’ lead after he scored a touchdown in the first quarter to put his team up 18-0 in last year’s Salt Bowl. The two teams will face once more tonight at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
It is Christmas morning for the two biggest schools of Saline County as the Salt Bowl game between Benton and Bryant has finally arrived. All the hype and smack talk has led up to one of the biggest football rivalry games in the state as nearly 30,000 fans are expected to show up tonight at War Memorial Stadium.
For the Benton Panthers, the key for tonight against the Hornets will be their defense. In year’s past, Benton has had a fairly efficient defense but it has been their struggling offense that has put the defense in bad field positions.
This has led to big plays by opposing offenses.
“We have to play better assignment football,” defensive coordinator Donald Fulcher. “Last year, we would play two or three good series then two or three plays and then we would give up a big play.”
“And it always seemed like it was on third and long,” Fulcher continued. “It was a busted assignment about 90 percent of the time.”
After an 0-6 start, the Panthers salvaged their season by making the playoffs for the first time since 2006 after earning wins over Sheridan, Fair and McClellan. However, those three wins were erased last spring when the Panthers were forced to forfeit the wins due to ineligible player(s).
Benton averaged 19 points per game in 2010 with (graduated) Grant Jones at quarterback, doubling its production from 2009. Jones completed 121 passes for 1,530 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Defensively, nine starters return from a unit that surrendered 33 points weekly a year ago.
“We either didn’t line line up right or we didn’t carry out our assignment,” Fulcher said. “The key is execution and repetition.”
All-league running back Wallace Foote (5’9, 170) led Benton last fall with 116 carries for 627 yards and five TDs and 44 catches for 394 yards and four scores.
Senior team leader Darren Warford (5’11, 215) returns for his third year at tackle after earning all-conference honors. Seniors Nic Garcia and Jacob Benedict hold down the ends.
“They are pretty solid,” Fulcher said.
Jacob Pringle could emerge as a force at linebacker after a productive off-season. Also returning at linebacker, is junior Carson Holloway. In the secondary, the Panthers have three starters returning in Greg Pryor, Collin Simmons and Caleb Davis.
Pryor intercepted three passes at Sheridan and Simmons bench presses 255 pounds and exceptional speed. The Benton Panthers own the overall record of the rivalry at 24-13-1 including winning nine of the first 10 games which began in 1974. Benton also posted 13 straight wins from 1986 to 1998. However, the tide began to shift in 1999 when Bryant snapped the streak, 42-7. Since the series became the Salt Bowl in 2000, the Hornets have gone 9-2-1 and has won five straight Salt Bowls at War Memorial.
Bryant enjoyed its best season since 2004 last fall, claiming its third league title under coach Paul Calley while reaching the second round of the playoffs for the second time in the past three years.
“I can’t really worry about the Salt Bowl, like I have in the past,” Calley said. “Last year, I knew I had a good football team and I was worried to death.
“This year, I don’t know how good we are. I can’ t really worry about the game itself because I’ve got to worry about getting these guys better and getting them ready to play any game.” In May, Bryant graduated 36 seniors, its most successful class in school history. Hayden Lessenberry completed 99 of 154 passes for 1,254 yards and six touchdowns in his first year as varsity quarterback last season. The junior passed for 167 yards and two TDs against Little Rock Catholic, and completed 19 passed for 206 yards at Cabot, shortly after his 15th birthday. Lessenberry rushed for six scores, and should carry the ball more this fall as Bryant switches from a Pro Style offense to the Spread.
All-League running back Stephen Clark (1,012 all-purpose yards in 2010) signed with Henderson State last winter. Karon Dismuke could emerge as an all-state running back after rushing 93 times for 643 yards and five TDs.
Senior Sawyer Nichols paced the Hornets in 2010 with 34 catches for 603 yards and three TDs, including a 95-yarder against Benton. Three starters return from a unit that allowed a league-low 17 points per game last fall. Dylan Winfrey (55 tackles, two interceptions and six pass breakups in 2010) and Nichols split time at one corner so they can play offense full-time.
“That’s what Sawyer Nichols and Dillon Winfrey gives you, that big play ability,” Calley said. “Those guys are going to have to do that for us all year.”
Winfrey, who is expecting an offer from Arkansas State, plays both sides of the ball for the Hornets. He started at receiver and cornerback, earning all-state honors. Winfrey finished the season with 21 catches for 287 yards and three scores in 2010.
Is the person in charge of LSU’s schedule Les Miles? Do you think anyone in their right mind would take on Oregon, Northwestern and West Virginia in their non-conference schedule and then play 8 possibly 9 SEC teams? Harry King thinks the schedule is crazy tough too. The injuries may rack up pretty good with a back breaking schedule like that. Northwestern is very good and I don’t even have to discuss the talent the other two teams have. IF ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY COULD PULL IT OFF IT WOULD BE LSU!
I look for LSU to win the SEC West if they beat Alabama. I give them about a 40% chance of pulling it off.
Ole Miss has lots of young players and Houston Nutt has been doing a great job of recruiting. That means that the rebels have lots of young players like Tennessee does. Both of those teams are probably a year away from making it to the top 25. I was told today by an Ole Miss grad that they need a quarterback and a secondary. We will see what happens.
The Tigers have a teed-up opportunity to rise in the polls and climb into prime position for a national championship run, meeting Oregon at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on Sept. 3. The Ducks didn’t have the power to match blows with 2010 SEC champion Auburn in January’s national championship game. However, Oregon’s exhausting style of spread offense and speed on defense brings an extensive set of challenges for the Tigers. LSU needs stability at quarterback, which didn’t happen last season, to be in the title hunt.
Tigers to know:
LB Ryan Baker
A typical light but lightning fast Tigers’ linebacker. Baker covers a ton of ground and no one questions his toughness—he played with his mouth wired shut (broken jaw) for the first month of last season.
CB Morris Claiborne
A second-team All-SEC pick in 2010 and former track sprinter, Claiborne was picked on readily by opponents who wanted to avoid All-American Patrick Peterson last season. Without Peterson, Claiborne steps into the lead CB role.
LB Stefoin Francois
Converted safety was a star at strong-side linebacker last season. A bit wiry at 215, but has the speed and quickness to shadow most skill players in the SEC—which is really saying something.
QB Jordan Jefferson
The winningest active quarterback in the SEC (20-7), he’s a maligned three-year starter for good reason. Jefferson had only four TD passes in 2010. Coach Les Miles believes Steve Kragthorpe, former head coach atLouisville, can right Jefferson quickly.
CB Tyrann Mathieu
He’s short (5-8) but not small and has a nose for the ball.
TE Deangelo Peterson
Unless a thinned-out receiving corps requires he go back to wide receiver, Peterson should be a security blanket underneath for Jefferson in an offense that relies on production from the tight end position.
WR Rueben Randle
At 6-4, 207, he’s a mismatch for most defensive backs. Five of his 42 career catches were TDs. Led the team with 525 receiving yards last season.
RB Spencer Ware
Introduced to the college football world by going over 100 yards on just 10 carries in the Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M. Now he steps in for Stevan Ridley, a surprise entry in the 2011 NFL Draft. Ware looked unstoppable in spring practice.
Mississippi
Returning Starters: 14, kicker, punter
Strengths: In theory, the Rebels should be more consistent on offense this year with the return of nine starters. Brandon Bolden is one of the most versatile running backs in the conference, rushing for 976 yards, catching 32 passes and accounting for 17 touchdowns last year. With all five offensive linemen back, Bolden figures to be a 1,000-yard rusher in 2011. Damien Jackson is the marquee name on defense after notching 68 tackles from his safety position a year ago.
Weaknesses: If Ole Miss is to bounce back from a bad season, new QB Nathan Stanley will have to be more than an adequate replacement for Jeremiah Masoli. While Masoli had a decent year after transferring from Oregon, his numbers translated to very little because the defense couldn’t stop a soul, even with two good run-stuffing tackles in Ted Laurant and Jerrell Powe. If a defense which returns only five starters can’t improve from poor to average, coach Houston Nutt’s fourth season in Oxford could be his last.
Leigh Anne Tuohy shares her story with SheKnows in a deeply personal interview that gets to the heart behind the heart-filled Sandra Bullock instant classic, The Blind Side.
Tuohy famously took in a homeless teenager in Memphis, Tennessee who would find his calling and become a football superstar. What led this wife of an entrepreneur who owned over 80 fast food restaurants to spearhead an effort to make Michael Oher a home that could not have been further from where he grew up?
How that path was paved is not completely told on screen in The Blind Side directed by John Lee Hancock (The Rookie). Tuohy sat with SheKnows at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills after a long day of interviews with the film’s cast. Stay tuned for our exclusive video interviews with stars Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw!
After sitting amongst the hugest stars in the film and music business, the playing field leveler was Leigh Anne Tuohy. Equal parts firecracker, strong Southern woman, inspiration, motherly to all (including yours truly!), pragmatic and one-hundred percent what made what The Guess Who so perfectly called the iconic American Woman.
Leigh Anne, husband Sean and their two children, Sean Jr (SJ) and Collins, did not simply adopt Michael Oher, the engulfed him in familial love that has changed lives exponentially. With The Blind Side’s arrival on November 20 in theaters everywhere, look for the inspiration to explode.
TUOHY TRIUMPH AND TRAVAILS
SheKnows: Hello Leigh Anne, it is such a pleasure to sit with you after witnessing your stirring story. I think the film is a strong statement for women. How do you think your story speaks to women?
Leigh Anne Tuohy: Southern women are strong natured anyway. It’s kind of a characteristic. Maybe, a characteristic flaw (laughs). I’m very strong willed. I think at this point in our society and in our country right now, everybody’s got to be strong willed. I think women have to wear a lot of different hats. Not only do you have to be the mother the nuturerer, but also the wife and the housekeeper and now, so many have to and want to have a career. So, you have to wear a lot of hats. I’m not a big women’s liberation person — not at all — but I do think right now, women have to contribute to all facets.
SheKnows: I wondered what you thought of hearing Sandra Bullock was going to play you?
Leigh Anne Tuohy: I was thrilled. There were names and names and names that were thrown out over a year-and-a-half. It’s all about timing. It was a rollercoaster. Finally, they said it was going to be Sandra Bullock. I thought, “yeah, I’m sure it’s going to be somebody else.” Three weeks later they called and said she signed on. I was pleasantly surprised. I fell in love with her. She did a great job.
SheKnows: For some, Virginia isn’t quite “the South,” any issues with a Washington, DC suburb of Arlington, Virginia-native tackling Tennessee?
Leigh Anne Tuohy: (Laughs) I think Virginia’s South!
SheKnows: I’m sure Sandra does too. You had kindred spirits heading in to telling this story. One theme that arose for me from The Blind Side is how you did not really change Michael’s life, he changed yours. How can you quantify in a way that your life would be different without him in it?
A FAMILY FINDS ITSELF
Leigh Anne Tuohy: If Michael had not come into our lives it would have been extremely different. With all that being said, we have a different view of life now. We view everybody different than we did. We realized that there’s a need out there that we didn’t really know about. We were living in our own little cocoon. You tend to realize that there is a lot going on out there that you’re not aware of and it brought so much to light. Even relationship aspect-wise, it all brought us closer together. We had that common bond. We went through trenches that a lot of other families don’t go through.
SheKnows: Indeed…
Leigh Anne Tuohy: We came out of this as a stronger family. I’m thankful. I also think that we are so much aware of all people now and feelings and their needs. You don’t know what the guy next to you has going on. He’s got mud on his shoes or a tattoo. We’re so quick to judge. We are so, so quick to judge. You don’t know the worth of that person or what they could contribute to society. We tend to put labels on people. There’s a lot of things that we’ve come through so much, I think, the better.
SheKnows: You’re talking people judging a book by the cover, I know they show in the film, when you first meet Michael where it’s cold and raining and he’s wearing shorts and a T-Shirt in November. What was that moment really like?
Leigh Anne Tuohy: John Lee (Hancock, director) took some liberties with that, but the scene really happened. It was the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the kids had just gotten out of school and we had been over my mom’s dicing nad getting ready to cook for Thanksgiving. We were coming back home and Michael was walking and he had on shorts and it was…it’s almost become an urban legend (laughs). It was a blizzard (laughs). It was chilly, it was like 40 degrees. I just commented that he looked like a fish out of water for an African-American kid to be where he was at that moment in our neighborhood. You just don’t see African-American kids walking around the neighborhood at 9:30 pm at night in shorts. I said, “who is that?” SJ (her son) said, that’s a new guy at our school. I thought, “what he’s doing out here?” SJ told me he plays basketball. But, school was closed. Sean (her husband) wondered if maybe he had gone to shoot some hoops. I said, “turn around the car.”
FATE BLIND-SIDED LEIGH ANN
SheKnows: You were compelled?
Leigh Anne Tuohy: It was obvious after we turned around and chatted a few minutes that he had no mission, no plan. We thought he was going to the gym because it was warm. Sean said that the gym is not open, let us take you home. He wouldn’t let us take him home, but he let us take him to a bus station about six or seven miles away. So, we drove him that night to the bus stop. Then, he went back home. Flash forward a couple weeks and that was the first time he spent the night on our coach. When I pulled over, it was a seed that was planted. I immediately knew after the conversation. I come to find out, none of that was really the truth. It snowballed. I went in on Monday after Thanksgiving and asked about Michael and who was this kid. Why doesn’t he have long pants on in November? Where does he live? Where are his parents? I didn’t get any of the answers I wanted yet. I just took it from there.
SheKnows: In the film, and also in real life, it seems that adopting Michael really happened naturally.
Leigh Anne Tuohy: It did. It really did.
SheKnows: There was a natural Michael coming into the family that felt effortless. When Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw and the kids are gathered around the table and ask Michael if he’d like to be part of the family, it felt truly as if that moment was incredibly organic.
Leigh Anne Tuohy: It was, there was never an agenda. There was never a moment. That was so authentic. It just happened. People find it so hard to believe. We have crazy lives. My husband has a very successful business and he tries to run 80-plus fast food stores, and yet he broadcast (play by play) for Memphis’ NBA team, I’m trying to get here yesterday, he could less, but he needs five suits out because they’re leaving for a week of road games. He needs his suits. That’s what was important right then. That’s how we operate. Whatever the need is at that moment, we take care of it. You throw in a daughter that is a level-nine gymnast and a state champion pole-vaulter and we drive two days a week to Arkansas because that’s where the Olympic guys are, and then you throw in Michael playing three sports and constantly needing everything to get through those sports and then you have Sean, Jr (laughs) who’s just along for the ride and always helping out. Our lives are always crazy. It was like, to Michael, if you want to jump in this frying pan, let’s go!
TIM MCGRAW AS HUSBAND
SheKnows: Lastly, your husband in the film is portrayed by Tim McGraw. Tell me your girlfriends in Memphis were not so excited for you!
Leigh Anne Tuohy: Isn’t that fun (laughs)?
SheKnows: That has to be a blast.
Leigh Anne Tuohy: He did a good job as Sean. He’s cocky and a little arrogant. He’s a smart ass and I think Tim nailed all three of those beautifully. My husband’s personal assistant is a huge Tim McGraw fan, so she was in heaven getting to hang out with him. That was a big feather throughout this whole thing is getting to hang out with Tim McGraw.
This November, you’ll get a hard-hitting football movie featuring no less than Sandra Bullock, Kathy Bates and Tim McGraw. It’s called The Blind Side, and it might be the Rudy of the new millenium.
When a high school student, operating under the perfect storm of being poor, wildly undereducated and badly out of shape, gets recruited by a major football program that grooms him into the exact opposite, his life will change forever. But will it change it for the better? Check out the trailer.
November is the perfect time of year for this kind of movie to hit because it so clearly wants to go for an Oscar run. But at the same time, it should prove accessible to anyone who watches it. Dust off your thesauruses–you’ll need synonyms for “heart-warming” because EVERYONE’S going to call it that. But do you want your heart warmed? Or does this one leave you cold? Hit the comments section and tell us what you think. Thanks for watching!
The Blind Side Cast: Sandra Bullock, Kathy Bates, Kim Dickens, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Rhoda Griffis, Ray McKinnon, Lily Collins
The Blind Side movie trailer courtesy 20th Century Fox. The Blind Side open in US theaters November 20th, 2009. The Blind Side is directed by John Lee Hancock
John Stott, world renowned Bible Scholar and theologian passed away on July 28th, 2011. In 2000, he attended Amsterdam 2000, an evangelists conference where he was interviewed by Karl Faase
Back in the 1970’s I read the book “Basic Christianity” by John Stott. While in London in 1979 I had the opportunity to attend a Tuesday evening prayer meeting where there were about 40 people and I got to hear John Stott speak. I was so thrilled to get to hear him speak in person.
I have included several clips on him because I wanted to honor him after the wonderful godly 90 years he lived.
John Stott’s classic book has introduced generations to Christianity with wisdom and clarity. This video celebrates the 50th Anniversary Edition of this important book by one of the world’s most important Christian voices.
John Stott died on 27 July 2011 aged 90 years. This video contains highlights of his Funeral at All Souls Langham Place in London on Monday 8 August 2011. Produced and displayed with permission from John Stott’s family.
Music clips used by permission of All Souls musicians and Jubilate Hymns (www.jubilate.co.uk)
The funeral for John R. W. Stott, one of the most famous evangelical preachers of the last century, will be held today in London at All Souls Church, Langham Place, where he served with distinction for so many decades of ministry. In honor of John Stott, I here republish an interview I conducted with the great preacher in 1987. The interview was first published in Preaching magazine, for which I was then Associate Editor.]
John R. W. Stott has emerged in the last half of the twentieth century as one of the leading evangelical preachers in the world. His ministry has spanned decades and continents, combining his missionary zeal with the timeless message of the Gospel.
For many years the Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London, Stott is also the founder and director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. His preaching ministry stands as a model of the effective communication of biblical truth to secular men and women
The author of several worthy books, Stott is perhaps best known in the United States through his involvement with the URBANA conferences. His voice and pen have been among the most determinative forces in the development of the contemporary evangelical movement in the Church of England and throughout the world.
Preaching Associate Editor R. Albert Mohler interviewed Stott during one of the British preacher’s frequent visits to the United States.
I Began with a Very Strong Commitment to Scripture
Mohler: Your service over many years at All Souls Church in London had a tremendous impact throughout much of the world. There, in the midst of London’s busiest retail area, you presented the gospel with great effectiveness and power. Did your preaching change at all during your ministry at All Souls?
Stott: I began with a very strong commitment to Scripture, a very high view of its authority and inspiration. I have always loved the Word of God — ever since I was converted. Therefore, I have always sought to exercise an expository or exegetical ministry.
In my early days I used to think that my business was to expound and exegete the text; I am afraid I left the application to the Holy Spirit. It is amazing how you can conceal your laziness with a little pious phraseology! The Holy Spirit certainly can and does apply the Word for the people. But it is wrong to deny our own responsibility in the application of the Word.
All great preachers understand this. They focus on the conclusion, on the application of the text. This is what the Puritans called “preaching through to the heart.” This is how my own preaching has changed. I have learned to add application to exposition — and this is the bridge-building across the chasm.
Mohler: You have recently published a major volume on the cross [The Cross of Christ, InterVarsity Press, 1986]. This has always been central to your preaching — and all genuinely Christian preaching. Do you perceive an inadequate focus on the cross in the pulpit today?
Stott: Indeed, so far as I can see, it is inadequate. I think we need to get back to the fact that the cross is the center of biblical Christianity. We must not allow those on the one hand to put the incarnation as primary, nor can we allow those on the other hand to put the primary focus on the resurrection.
Of course, the cross, the incarnation, and the resurrection belong together. There could have been no atonement without the incarnation or without the resurrection. The incarnation prepares for the atonement and the resurrection endorses the atonement, so they belong always together.
Yet the New Testament is very clear that the cross stands at the center. It worries me that some evangelicals do not focus on Christ crucified as the center. Of course, we preach the whole of biblical religion, but with the cross as central.
One of the surprises which came as a product of the research for the book was the discovery that most books on the cross focus only on the atonement. There is much the New Testament has to say about the cross which is not focused on the atonement.
We are told, for example, to take up our cross and follow Christ. Communion is a cross-centered festival. There is the whole question of balance in the modern world. The problems of suffering and self-image are addressed by the cross. These issues appear quite differently when our world-view is dominated by the cross.
This article below makes we think of the lady tied to the Railroad in the Schaeffer video.
Dr. Francis schaeffer – The flow of Materialism
(Modern man sees no hope for the future and has deluded himself by appealing to nonreason to stay sane. Look at the example of the lady tied to the railroad tracks in this above video as a example.)
Francis Schaeffer took a look at modern day humanism and he showed how pitiful “optimistic humanism” is. Schaffer points out this weakness of the humanistic view:
With my reason I can find absolutely no way to have meaning, morality, hope or beauty if the universe I am living in only an existial absurdity. This would plunge me into dispair, but that is not where I stop. I say to myself “There is hope” even though there is none, “There is help on the way” even though there is none. “We shall overcome” even though there is nothing more certain than we shall be destroyed.
“We need some delusions to keep us going,” Allen tells The New York Times. In You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, which opens next week, Allen says,
The people who successfully delude themselves seem happier than the people who can’t. I’ve known people who have put their faith in religion and in fortune tellers. So it occurred to me that that was a good character for a movie: a woman who everything had failed for her, and all of a sudden, it turned out that a woman telling her fortune was helping her. The problem is, eventually, she’s in for a rude awakening.
Oddly, that seems to make the NYT interviewer go directly a reincarnation question, perhaps unawarenearly one in ten Americans believe both in God and in reincarnation, according to the 2008 General Social Survey. Allen answers,
Neither seems plausible to me. I have a grim, scientific assessment of it. I just feel, what you see is what you get.
This is pretty much Allen’s standard God riff. Until You Tube yanked the tapes for copyright reasons, you could once see Allen him try it out on Rev. Billy Graham — although the stalwart evangelist drew almost as many laughs as Allen.
Perhaps his childhood upbringing in an “unreasonable enforced religion” led the one-time Allen Stewart Konigsberg, now Woody Allen to use humor as a survival too. He once told a biographer:
It was a joyless, unpleasant, stupid, barbaric thing when I was a child and I’ve never gotten over that feeling. If you’re talking about religion it’s one thing; I don’t hold Jewish religion with any more seriousness than I would any other.
Allen qualified that by adding that he benefited from Jewish values and cultural habits which he described as “respect for books and learning and the higher professions” and an “appreciation of theater and music.”
But those are fringe benefits, not matters of faith. This may explain why, when the Jewish journal Moment asked 70 Jewish writers, thinkers and cultural figures this spring what “What does it mean to be a Jew today? they didn’t include Allen.
Woody Allen, the film writer, director, and actor, has consistently populated his scripts with characters who exchange dialogue concerning meaning and purpose. In Hannah and Her Sisters a character named Mickey says, “Do you realize what a thread were all hanging by? Can you understand how meaningless everything is? Everything. I gotta get some answers.”{7} […]
I have gone to see Woody Allen’s latest movie “Midnight in Paris” three times and taken lots of notes during the films. I have attempted since June 12th when I first started posting to give a historical rundown on every person mentioned in the film. Below are the results of my study. I welcome any […]
Looking at the (sometimes skewed) morality of Woody Allen’s best films. In the late ’60s, Woody Allen left the world of stand-up comedy behind for the movies. Since then, he’s become one of American cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers. Sure, he’s had his stinkers and his private life hasn’t been without controversy. But he’s also crafted […]
In one of his philosophical and melancholy musings Woody Allen once drily observed: “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” Life tortures Woody Allen posted by Rod Dreher […]
Midnight in Paris – a delightfully entertaining film of wit, wonder and love Have you ever thought that you were born in the wrong time? Since I was a child, I found my love for MGM musicals set me apart from my friends. Are we really out of place, or is a sense of nostalgia […]
Five favorite Woody Allen classics Add a comment Sean Kernan , Davenport Classic Movies Examiner June 11, 2011 Woody Allen’s new film “Midnight in Paris” starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard opened Friday, June 10th at Rave Motion Pictures in Davenport, Iowa. “Midnight in Paris” stars Owen Wilson as a blocked […]
Below is a press release from a museum in San Francisco: the steins were known for their saturday evening salons, where artists, writers, musicians, intellectuals, and collectors gathered to discuss contemporary art, culture, and ideas. the stein salons have even been described as ‘the first museum of modern art’! midnight in paris transports you to the stein […]
The series I have been doing on “Advice to Gene Simmons” that I am starting what I am calling “Tip Tuesday.” For the next few months we will be looking at the Simmons family.
In the July 19th episode Nick said to his father “You were a great father but not a good spouse.”
On July 19th I watched Gene Simmons Family Jewels and I commented how I was struck by the good advice that his son Nick gave him. He told him that he grew up thinking that his father was the best. However, now that the marital infidility has come out, it has made Nick think long and hard about what other things in his father’s life are not like he thought they were.
Sophie went even farther and said that Gene “was not a good dad.” Both of these clips were repeated in this week’s episode on July 26th.
I felt like yelling at the tv: “WAKE UP GENE BUT THESE AFFAIRS ARE GOING TO COST YOU THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THOSE WHO TRULY LOVE YOU!!!!!CAN’T YOU SEE WHAT IS REALLY VALUABLE IN LIFE?”
In the message that Brandon Barnard brought to Fellowship Bible Church on July 24th he made a big point out of what the pathway of impurity is like. THE PATHWAY OF IMPURITY IS OPPRESSIVE AND COSTLY.
Then Brandon read these scriptures below:
Proverbs 5:21-23
English Standard Version (ESV)
21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and he ponders[a] all his paths. 22The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. 23 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.
Proverbs 6:25-28
English Standard Version (ESV)
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; 26for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,[a]
but a married woman[b] hunts down a precious life. 27Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned? 28Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?
Proverbs 7:22-23
English Standard Version (ESV)
22All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast[a] 23till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.
We are going to address the subject of divorce because it is the theme of our Lord’s teaching in Mark chapter 10…Mark chapter 10. We’re going to be looking at the twelve verses that launch this chapter and it’s going to be in two parts, one this morning and another one next Sunday. So I’m going to let you know that so that you’re not wondering why I haven’t gotten to all of the issues that relate to this theme. I’m unable to do that until next Sunday and we’ll finish up this text next Sunday morning. And then next Sunday evening, I’m going to add a special message on the issue of divorce from 1 Corinthians chapter 7. That will give you the full picture of what the Scripture teaches about divorce. We’ve also put a little notice in Grace Today about the book, The Divorce Dilemma, which is a handy guide to take you through the Scripture to help you understand these issues.
We’re in Mark chapter 10, The Truth About Divorce. Now if you ask the question, how does God view divorce? There is a short answer. The short answer is given by God Himself in Malachi, the last prophecy at the end of your Old Testament, chapter 2 verse 16 where God says, “I hate divorce… I hate divorce.” That is God’s attitude toward a widely accepted, extremely popular and time-honored institution in human society…God hates divorce.
The art world is buzzing after news broke that a British couple reportedly purchased the only full-length Vincent Van Gogh portrait in existence for a mere 1,500 pounds ($3,000).
The potentially priceless picture was originally listed on an auction website as simply ‘portrait of a man,’ but after extensive research, Michael and Mandy Cruickshank believe the work – thought to have been drawn by Van Gogh’s neighbor – is of the legendary Dutch impressionist, who died in 1890.
The Cruickshank’s, who call themselves “amateur collectors,” aren’t the only ones that think their find is the “real deal” – several art historians, who found several clues in the drawing (and behind it) that point to its authenticity, also share their feelings.
“We compared the painting with a well known self portrait, two other portraits and a photo of Van Gogh from the period. We were hampered slightly because it was a pastel drawing which is less clear, but there is a good case for it being Van Gogh,” the Daily Mail quoted Caroline Erolin, a lecturer in medical and forensic art, as saying.
Among the clues that could possibly validate the artwork is the phrase “L’Incompris” (“The Misunderstood”) – words Van Gogh himself was famous for writing on his own walls – scrawled on the wall in the pastel.
Another is apparently the address scrawled on the back of the paper, 17 Rue Victor Massi.
The Cruickshanks discovered that the road’s name – changed in 1887 – was previously Rue Laval, the same Paris street where Van Gogh and his brother Theo lived.
“There is no way to prove for certain that the subject is Van Gogh, but the evidence is so strong that we are quite certain it is him,” Mrs Cruickshank said regarding the clues.
The portrait is currently being displayed in Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby, UK, until September 3. If authenticated, the Cruickshanks say the drawing (seen below) could be worth millions.
I have been going through the characters referenced in Woody Allen’s latest film “Midnight in Paris.” I only have a few characters left. Today is Vincent van Gogh who actually is not mentioned but his painting “The Starry Night” is featured in the poster to promote the movie.
While I’ve been covering Woody Allen films these last few years, I haven’t been that impressed by any of the posters. His last film, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, had a rather boring poster and Whatever Works’ was bland, too. Now we finally have a poster that is at least colorful, though it borrows from the brilliance of another artist. Yahoo has debuted the poster for Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, his new rom-com with a cast of: Owen Wilson, seen strolling the streets below, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody and Léa Seydoux. And if you don’t know, that’s Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night they’re using.
“Midnight in Paris is a wonderful love letter to Paris“, declared Festival director Thierry Frémaux in the press release. “It’s a film in which Woody Allen takes a deeper look at the issues raised in his last films: our relationship with history, art, pleasure and life. His 41st feature reveals once again his inspiration.” You may also remember it was officially announcedthat Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris will be the opening film of the upcoming 64th Cannes Film Festival this summer. As always, I’m not sure what to expect with every new Woody Allen movie, but at least they’re starting off quite well.
Review: Midnight in Paris
Notre Dame. Montmatre. Sacre Coeur. It would be unfair to say that the streets of Paris serve as a backdrop for Woody Allen’s latest romantic comedy Midnight in Paris. Rather, the city itself takes center stage, playing the role of life-changer to Owen Wilson’s neurotic screenwriter/novelist/lovable doofus/youthful Woody Allen-substitute. Paris walks into the protagonist’s life, overwhelms the screen, and tricks the audience into believing that Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen’s return to his 1970s heyday (it’s not). Nevertheless, I’ll be the first to admit that I am more than happy to be tricked by Allen’s magical characterization of the City of Lights in Midnight in Paris.
Early on in the film, Owen Wilson’s character Gil and his fiance Inez (played by Rachel McAdams) visit the Versailles Palace on a sunny afternoon. They are accompanied by Inez’s former professor Paul (Michael Sheen) and his girlfriend Wendy (Mimi Kennedy). Inez flirts with Paul, who pedantically serves as unofficial tour guide. It’s all so familiar to Allen fans. Meanwhile, Gil, a successful screenwriter working unsuccessfully on his first novel, takes in the palace with a warm sentimentality that drives the film through the heart of Paris marked by nostalgia and the romantic past.
The same adulterous entanglements that occupy much of Allen’s filmography are at work here, and McAdams’ Inez is the “obnoxious shrew” at her worst (and I don’t mean that in a complimentary, Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelonakind of way). Paris’s female actors struggle with their surface-only, flat characters, and the adultery is worthy of an eye roll among tired audiences.
Shortly after the scene at Versailles, Midnight in Paris picks up the pace when Gil finds himself wandering the Parisian streets at midnight. He whimsically joins a friendly party in their vintage car and soon discovers that he is now in 1920s Jazz Age Paris, carousing with artists and expatriates including Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and Salvidor Dali. In the wrong hands, such a scenario would never have worked, but Allen lets the campy atmosphere simmer and the absurdity never seems unreasonable. Gil takes the advice of his new friends and revisits the problematic novel he’s been working on. The more Allen pushes the boundaries into 1920s Paris, the more enchanting and endearing Midnight in Paris becomes.
Despite grating flaws in the female characters and a frustratingly contrived ending, all is forgiven for Midnight in Paris due to its nostalgic energy and the overwhelming charm of the main character—the city of Paris. Allen has proved time and again that he thrives in character studies about tourists in his favorite cities, and it’s safe to assume that he truly loves Paris.
Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853 – July 29, 1890) is generally considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, though he had little success during his lifetime. Van Gogh produced all of his work (some 900 paintings and 1100 drawings) during a period of only 10 years before he succumbed to mental illness (possibly bipolar disorder) and committed suicide. His fame grew rapidly after his death especially following a showing of 71 of van Gogh’s paintings in Paris on March 17, 1901 (11 years after his death).
(Properly the name rhymes with loch, but it is also pronounced ‘goph’, ‘go’ and ‘goe’.)
Van Gogh’s influence on expressionism, fauvism and early abstraction was enormous, and can be seen in many other aspects of 20th-century art. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is dedicated to Van Gogh’s work and that of his contemporaries.
Several paintings by Van Gogh rank among the most expensive paintings in the world. On March 30, 1987 Van Gogh’s painting Irises was sold for a record $53.9 million at Southeby’s, New York. On May 15, 1990 his Portrait of Doctor Gachet was sold for $82.5 million at Christie’s, thus establishing a new price record (see also List of most expensive paintings).
Life and Work
Vincent was born in Zundert, The Netherlands; his father was a protestant minister, a profession that Vincent found appealing and to which he would be drawn to a certain extent later in his life. His sister described him as a serious and introspective child.
At age 16 Vincent started to work for the art dealer Goupil & Co. in The Hague. His four years younger brother Theo, with whom Vincent cherished a life long friendship, would join the company later. This friendship is amply documented in a vast amount of letters they sent each other. These letters have been preserved and were published in 1914. They provide a lot of insight into the life of the painter, and show him to be a talented writer with a keen mind. Theo would support Vincent financially throughout his life.
In 1873, his firm transferred him to London, then to Paris. He became increasingly interested in religion; in 1876 Goupil dismissed him for lack of motivation. He became a teaching assistant in Ramsgate near London, then returned to Amsterdam to study theology in 1877.
After dropping out in 1878, he became a layman preacher in Belgium in a poor mining region known as the Borinage. He even preached down in the mines and was extremely concerned with the lot of the workers. He was dismissed after 6 months and continued without pay. During this period he started to produce charcoal sketches.
In 1880, Vincent van Gogh followed the suggestion of his brother Theo and took up painting in earnest. For a brief period Vincent took painting lessons from Anton Mauve at The Hague. Although Vicent and Anton soon split over divergence of artistic views, influences of the Hague School of painting would remain in Vincents work, notably in the way he played with light and in the looseness of his brush strokes. However his usage of colours, favouring dark tones, set him apart from his teacher.
In 1881 he declared his love to his widowed cousin Kee Vos, who rejected him. Later he would move in with the prostitute Sien Hoornik and her children and considered marrying her; his father was strictly against this relationship and even his brother Theo advised against it. They later separated.
Impressed and influenced by Jean-Francois Millet, van Gogh focussed on painting peasants and rural scenes. He moved to the Dutch province Drenthe, later to Nuenen, North Brabant, also in The Netherlands. Here he painted in 1885.
In the winter of 1885-1886 Van Gogh attended the art academy of Antwerp, Belgium. This proved a disappointment as he was dismissed after a few months by his Professor. Van Gogh did however get in touch with Japanese art during this period, which he started to collect eagerly. He admired its bright colors, use of canvas space and the role lines played in the picture. These impressions would influence him strongly. Van Gogh made some painting in Japanese style. Also some of the portraits he painted are set against a background which shows Japanese art.
In spring 1886 Vincent van Gogh went to Paris, where he moved in with his brother Theo; they shared a house on Montmartre. Here he met the painters met Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Bernard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin. He discovered impressionism and liked its use of light and color, more than its lack of social engagement (as he saw it). Especially the technique known as pointillism (where many small dots are applied to the canvas that blend into rich colors only in the eye of the beholder, seeing it from a distance) made its mark on Van Goghs own style. It should be noted that Van Gogh is regarded as a post-impressionist, rather than an impressionist.
In 1888, when city life and living with his brothers proved too much, Van Gogh left Paris and went to Arles, Bouches-du-Rh, France. He was impressed with the local landscape and hoped to found an art colony. He decorated a “yellow house” and created a celebrated series of yellow sunflower paintings for this purpose. Only Paul Gauguin, whose simplified colour schemes and forms (known as synthetism) attracted van Gogh, followed his invitation. The admiration was mutual, and Gauguin painted van Gogh painting sunflowers. However their encounter ended in a quarrel. Van Gogh suffered a mental breakdown and cut off part of his left ear, which he gave to a startled prostitute friend. Gauguin left in December 1888.
The only painting he sold during his lifetime, The Red Vineyard, was created in 1888. It is now on display in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Russia.
Vincent van Gogh now exchanged painting dots for small stripes. He suffered from depression, and in 1889 on his own request Van Gogh was admitted to the psychiatric center at Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint Remy de Provence, Bouches-du-Rh, France. During his stay here the clinic and its garden became his main subject. Pencil strokes changed again, now into spiral curves.
In May 1890 Vincent van Gogh left the clinic and went to the physician Paul Gachet, in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, where he was closer to his brother Theo, who had recently married. Gachet had been recommended to him by Pissarro; he had treated several artists before. Here van Gogh created his only etching: a portrait of the melancholic doctor Gachet. His depression aggravated. On July 27 of the same year, at the age of 37, after a fit of painting activity, van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He died two days later, with Theo at his side, who reported his last words as “La tristesse durera toujours” (French: “The sadness will last forever”). He was buried at the cemetery of Auvers-sur-Oise; Theo unable to come to terms with his brother’s death died 6 months later and was buried next to him. It would not take long before his fame grew higher and higher. Large exhibitions were organized soon: Paris 1901, Amsterdam 1905, Cologne 1912, New York 1913 and Berlin 1914.
Vincent van Gogh’s mother threw away quite a number of his paintings during Vincent’s life and even after his death. But she would live long enough to see her son become a world famous painter.
The above clip is from the film series by Francis Schaeffer “How should we then live?” Below is an outline of the 8th episode on the Impressionists and the age of Fragmentation. Vincent van Gogh was a post-impressionist and he is mentioned in this film series by Schaeffer.
AGE OF FRAGMENTATION
I. Art As a Vehicle Of Modern Thought
A. Impressionism (Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas) and Post-Impressionism (Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat): appearance and reality.
1. Problem of reality in Impressionism: no universal.
2. Post-Impression seeks the universal behind appearances.
3. Painting expresses an idea in its own terms as a work of art; to discuss the idea in a painting is not to intellectualize art.
4. Parallel search for universal in art and philosophy; Cézanne.
B. Fragmentation.
1. Extremes of ultra-naturalism or abstraction: Wassily Kandinsky.
2. Picasso leads choice for abstraction: relevance of this choice.
3. Failure of Picasso (like Sartre, and for similar reasons) to be fully consistent with his choice.
C. Retreat to absurdity.
1. Dada , and Marcel Duchamp: art as absurd. (Dada gave birth to Surrealism).
2. Art followed philosophy but came sooner to logical end.
3. Chance in his art technique as an art theory impossible to practice: Pollock.
How Should We Then Live 8#2
II. Music As a Vehicle of Modern Thought
A. Non-resolution and fragmentation: German and French streams.
1. Influence of Beethoven’s last Quartets.
2. Direction and influence of Debussy.
3. Schoenberg’s non-resolution; contrast with Bach.
4. Stockhausen: electronic music and concern with the element of change.
B. Cage: a case study in confusion.
1. Deliberate chance and confusion in Cage’s music.
2. Cage’s inability to live the philosophy of his music.
C. Contrast of music-by-chance and the world around us.
1. Inconsistency of indulging in expression of chaos when we acknowledge order for practical matters like airplane design.
2. Art as anti-art when it is mere intellectual statement, divorced from reality of who people are and the fullness of what the universe is.
III. General Culture As the Vehicle of Modern Thought
A. Propagation of idea of fragmentation in literature.
1. Effect of Eliot’s Wasteland and Picasso’s Demoiselles d’ Avignon
compared; the drift of general culture.
2. Eliot’s change in his form of writing when he became a Christian.
3. Philosophic popularization by novel: Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir.
B. Cinema as advanced medium of philosophy.
1. Cinema in the 1960s used to express Man’s destruction: e.g. Blow-up.
2. Cinema and the leap into fantasy:
How Should We Then Live 8#3
The Hour of the Wolf, Belle de Jour, Juliet of the Spirits,
The Last Year at Marienbad.
3. Bergman’s inability to live out his philosophy (see Cage):
Silence and The Hour of the Wolf.
IV. Only on Christian Base Can Reality Be Faced Squarely
John Stott discussing how he would like to be remembered. This clip, and 5 others (found on LICC’s YouTube page), have been posted in memory of LICC’s founder John Stott, who passed away on 27th July 2011 aged 90. Visit the full tribute to John at http://www.licc.org.uk/tribute. The clips are all taken from 25 & On, a celebration DVD of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity’s 25th Anniversary. The full interview is available from LICC on CD (www.licc.org.uk/shop/product/25-on).
Back in the 1970’s I read the book “Basic Christianity” by John Stott. While in London in 1979 I had the opportunity to attend a Tuesday evening prayer meeting where there were about 40 people and I got to hear John Stott speak. I was so thrilled to get to hear him speak in person.
I have included several clips on him because I wanted to honor him after the wonderful godly 90 years he lived.
John Stott’s classic book has introduced generations to Christianity with wisdom and clarity. This video celebrates the 50th Anniversary Edition of this important book by one of the world’s most important Christian voices.
John Stott died on 27 July 2011 aged 90 years. This video contains highlights of his Funeral at All Souls Langham Place in London on Monday 8 August 2011. Produced and displayed with permission from John Stott’s family.
Music clips used by permission of All Souls musicians and Jubilate Hymns (www.jubilate.co.uk)
The funeral for John R. W. Stott, one of the most famous evangelical preachers of the last century, will be held today in London at All Souls Church, Langham Place, where he served with distinction for so many decades of ministry. In honor of John Stott, I here republish an interview I conducted with the great preacher in 1987. The interview was first published in Preaching magazine, for which I was then Associate Editor.]
John R. W. Stott has emerged in the last half of the twentieth century as one of the leading evangelical preachers in the world. His ministry has spanned decades and continents, combining his missionary zeal with the timeless message of the Gospel.
For many years the Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London, Stott is also the founder and director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. His preaching ministry stands as a model of the effective communication of biblical truth to secular men and women
The author of several worthy books, Stott is perhaps best known in the United States through his involvement with the URBANA conferences. His voice and pen have been among the most determinative forces in the development of the contemporary evangelical movement in the Church of England and throughout the world.
Preaching Associate Editor R. Albert Mohler interviewed Stott during one of the British preacher’s frequent visits to the United States.
We Belong in a Study, Not an Office
Mohler: You are probably as well known in America as in England. Furthermore, you know America — its churches and its preachers. What would be your word to the Servants of the Word on this side of the Atlantic?
Stott: I think my main word to American preachers is, as Stephen Olford has often said, that we belong in a study, not in an office. The symbol of our ministry is a Bible — not a telephone. We are ministers of the Word, not administrators, and we need to relearn the question of priority in every generation.
The Apostles were in danger of being diverted from the ministry to which they had been called by Jesus — the ministry of Word and prayer. They were almost diverted into a social ministry for squabbling widows.
Now both are important, and both are ministries, but the Apostles had been called to the ministry of the Word and not the ministry of tables. They had to delegate the ministry of the tables to other servants. We are not Apostles, but there is the work of teaching that has come to us in the unfolding of the apostolic message of the New Testament. This is our priority as pastors and preachers.
Jesus preached to the crowds, to the group, and to the individual. He had the masses, the disciples, and individuals coming to Him. He preached to crowds, taught the disciples, and counseled individuals. We must also have this focus. It is all in the ministry of the Word.
I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler
This interview is republished by the kind permission of Preaching magazine, Dr. Michael Duduit, editor. See http://www.preaching.com
The art world is buzzing after news broke that a British couple reportedly purchased the only full-length Vincent Van Gogh portrait in existence for a mere 1,500 pounds ($3,000).
The Daily Hatch 