Why I Love Hillview Christian Church

I spent my lunch today eating some fried chicken at KFC along side Greg and Leonard from Teen Mission. I really enjoy our lunches together...we always seem to get into some very compelling and thought provoking conversation. Today's topic was simply about local churches (as opposed to "The Church") As we discussed our thoughts and feelings on everything from elders and leadership to worship music my mind couldn't help but wander back home...to my church.

I love Hillview Christian Church. I really do. I love that we are a church with a vision. I love that we are a church compiled of people from every different walk of life but we still come together to worship our Lord and Savior. I love that we aren't afraid of trying new things. I love that we aren't afraid to disagree, to discuss, and to move forward. I love that we care about our communities. I love that we care about our children and youth. I love that we care about the big picture by supporting missionaries all across the world and by have a mission focus. I love that we have people, as I write this, that are taking the love of Christ to people in Honduras. I love that we raise up our youth so that God calls them to give their lives to ministry. I love that we teach the Bible. I love that the older and wiser members of our church are willing to be "contemporary." I love that we love to eat and drink coffee. I love that we podcast! I love that we stand around and visit for an hour and a half after Sunday morning services are over. I love that we have many grandparents that have brought their children and now their children's children up in Christ. I love that we want to do more. And most of all I love that we love.

Ball State Football 2008

My last two posts have been about religion and politics so I thought I should get back some lighter material...so...we'll talk about sports. Specifically, Ball State Football and the upcoming season.

I think it's safe to say that it's been many years since there has been such a high level of excitment surrounding Ball State's football team. This year, by all indications, is shaping up to be one of the best years in Ball States's 82 years of football. After the first bowl appearance in 11 seasons last year and 16 of 22 starters back the Cardinals have extremely high hopes for this coming season.

Here's a look at the schedule and my short breakdown of each game.

A reminder: You can listen to every Ball State football game on 91.3 WCRD or at WCRD.net. I will once again be the voice of the Ball State Cardinals on WCRD so tune in a listen!

2008 Football Schedule and Results

August 28 Northeastern 7:00 PM This is a game BSU should easily win...I'm thinking something like 49-20 or somewhere around there.

September 5 Navy 7:00 PM A very difficult game for the Cardinals. There are rumors that Navy is bring all of the cadets to the game which would negate any home field advantage for the cards. However, Nate Davis and company got it done in Annapolis last season...BSU wins 38-32...and BSU will have 450 yards through the air while Navy has 350 on the ground.

September 13 at Akron TBA This is a somewhat difficult conference opener. Akron is always a solid oppenent and they play well at home. However, the Cards keep it going and move to 3-0 with a 31-17 "W"

September 20 at Indiana TBA Now things get really difficult. Indiana will not be as good as they were last year...However, they'll still be better than Ball State, in Bloomington anyway. Hoosiers hand the Cards their first lose...38-34.

September 27 Kent State TBA Kent State is predicted to be one of the most improved teams in the MAC. They won't improve enough to compete with Ball State in Schuemann Stadium. Ball State rolls...38-14.

October 4 at Toledo 7:00 PM Since this game is on my birthday I can't help but believe the Cards will deliver a gift in the form of a whoppin of the Rockets. Toledo is always very solid and the glass bowl is an awesome place to watch football but on this night it will only be awesome for people wearing Cardinal and White. BSU wins a tight one 28-25.

October 11 at Western Kentucky TBA Western may be in their first full season at the D-1 level but they'll surprise some people. That game will be close in the first half then Ball State will pull away riding the golden arm of Nate Davis. BSU-41 WKU-27

October 25 Eastern Michigan TBA Eastern Michigan will once again be a bad football team. However, this is a trap game for Ball State and it will be a close conetest into the 2nd half. Then Miquale Lewis takes over for Ball State and the Cards roll 38-28.

November 5 Northern Illinois 8:00 PM Northern Illinois was one of the worst teams in the MAC last season and things won't get much better in Dekalb. The Huskies won't enjoy their trip to Muncie because Ball State will poor it on for the ESPN crew in town. BSU-45 NIU-21.

November 11 at Miami (OH) 7:00 PM Miami is a good squad. They're especially good in Oxford. But Ball State will need to repay the Redhawks for the season opener from last year. Ball State wins with a field goal as time expires. BSU-30 Miami-28.

November 19 at Central Michigan 7:00 PM The biggest game of the season for both squads. CMU will come in with a very good record as will Ball State. It's a shoot out featuring the top two QBs in the MAC if not in the entire nation. The weather will be brutal but BSU will hold on for a 44-38 win.

November 25 Western Michigan TBA This game will also be a match-up of teams win solid records. WMU will jump out on the Cards in the season finale and Nate Davis will lead a mighty comeback in what might be his last game in Schuemann Stadium. Final score BSU-31 WMU-30

Ball State finishes regular season at 11-1 ranked 11th in the country.

Ball State will face Bowling Green in the MAC championship...and it will be another offensive showcase. However, Nate Davis will out duel BG QB Tyler Sheehan and deliver the MAC title to Muncie. BSU-49 BG-38

I have no idea about the bowl game!

Barak Obama vs. Dr. James Dobson

"Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?"

The above quote comes from a speech delivered in 2006 by Illinois Senator Barak Obama. Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family took issue with Obama's comments on his radio show today.

First of all, let me say that I don't completely believe Christianity should be taught in public schools. Second of all, I think the above quote says a lot about Obama's understanding, or lack there of, of the Bible, our faith's ultimate athority. In my opinion this shows that Obama is simply another follower of post-modernism in which your faith is only what you want it to be. In other words, Obama is saying that we can make up our own "Christianity" and there is no determining who's right and who's wrong.

I think the United States has had some successful presidents that were not Christians. However, it must be noted that Barak Obama claims to be a Christian and is still trying to feel out what parts of Christianity he should grab hold of in an attempt to be elected.

If you wish to read more about Obama's statements and his on going fued with Dr. James Dobson you can do so here.

There is ONLY one way!

A recent study of more than 35,000 Americans revealed some disturbing findings about American "Evangelicals." Here is the article from Time Magazine.

Americans of every religious stripe are considerably more tolerant of the beliefs of others than most of us might have assumed, according to a new poll released Monday. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life last year surveyed 35,000 Americans, and found that 70% of respondents agreed with the statement "Many religions can lead to eternal life." Even more remarkable was the fact that 57% of Evangelical Christians were willing to accept that theirs might not be the only path to salvation, since most Christians historically have embraced the words of Jesus, in the Gospel of John, that "no one comes to the Father except through me." Even as mainline churches had become more tolerant, the exclusivity of Christianity's path to heaven has long been one of the Evangelicals' fundamental tenets. The new poll suggests a major shift, at least in the pews.
The Religious Landscape Survey's findings appear to signal that religion may actually be a less divisive factor in American political life than had been suggested by the national conversation over the last few decades. Peter Berger, University Professor of Sociology and Theology at Boston University, said that the poll confirms that "the so-called culture war, in its more aggressive form, is mainly waged between rather small groups of people." The combination of such tolerance with high levels of religious participation and intensity in the U.S., says Berger, "is distinctively American — and rather cheering. "
Less so, perhaps, to Christian conservatives, for whom Rice University sociologist D. Michael Lindsay suggests the survey results have a "devastating effect on theological purity." An acceptance of the notion of other paths to salvation dilutes the impact of the doctrine that Christ died to remove sin and thus opened the pathway to eternal life for those who accept him as their personal savior. It could also reduce the impulse to evangelize, which is based on the premise that those who are not Christian are denied salvation. The problem, says Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is that "the cultural context and the reality of pluralism has pulled many away from historic Christianity."
Quizzed on the breadth of the poll's definition of "Evangelical," Pew pollster John Green said the 296-page survey made use of self-identification by the respondents' churches, denominations or fellowships, whose variety is the report's overriding theme. However, he said, if one isolates the most "traditionalist" members of the white Evangelical group, 50% still agreed that other faiths might offer a path to eternal life. In fact, of the dozens of denominations covered by the Pew survey, it was only Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses who answered in the majority that their own faith was the only way to eternal life.
Analysts expressed some surprise at how far the tolerance needle has swung, but said the trend itself was foreseeable because of American Christians' increasing proximity to other faiths since immigration quotas were loosened in the 1960s. Says Rice's Lindsay, the author of Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite: "If you have a colleague who is Buddhist or your kid plays with a little boy who is Hindu, it changes your appreciation of the religious 'other.'"
While the combination of Americans' religiosity — more than half those polled said was "very important in their lives" — and their tolerance for the beliefs of others may suggest creedal confusion, this appears not to trouble good-hearted U.S. pew-sitters. Says Lindsay, "The problem is not that Americans don't believe in anything, but that they believe in everything, and the two things don't always fit together." But he adds, the views are consistent with tolerant views expressed by Evangelicals he met in various cities as he toured while promoting his book. Mohler agrees: "We've seen this coming," adding that the query about whether others can make it to heaven "has been the question I get asked by more college students and on my radio program." More so than Christ's divinity or Resurrection, he says, "the exclusivity of the Gospel is the most vulnerable doctrine in the face of the modern world."
Liberals and conservatives will interpret the numbers in different ways, says Pew's Green. "The liberal [interpretation] is that Americans are becoming more universalistic, religiously. The conservative one is that Americans are losing faith and becoming more accommodationist." But he says the truth may lie elsewhere. "Just because they don't want to believe that there's only one way to salvation doesn't meant that they don't take their religion very seriously."
The political implications of the Pew findings are more difficult to gauge. Green says that while Americans' unexpectedly high tolerance for one others� creeds might seem to blunt the sharp religious edge of some of today's campaign-trail discourse, it could also lead to larger religious coalitions around certain issues as pious believers overcome their inhibitions about working with others.
The survey's biggest challenge is to the theologians and pastors who will have to reconcile their flocks' acceptance of a new, polyglot heaven with the strict admission criteria to the gated community that preceded it.

We need to get back to teaching God's Truths. There IS ONLY ONE WAY to the father and that is through Jesus Christ. We must not lose this truth in an effort to make the message of Jesus relevant or because we don't want to be offensive. If if was not absolutely essential for Jesus to be crucified on the cross then He would not have been. The fact that he endured the agony of death and then defeated it proves that He is the ONLY way to salvation.

Please e-mail your comments to me at camandry@gmail.com

Andry reaches base in every plate appearance in softball debut

Today I made my softball league debut, albeit in the post-season tournament, for the Gardenside Christian Church softball team. I decided I would take a page out of Greg Herriford's blog book by writing a story as if I covered the game for a print publication.

Lexington, KY-Cameron Andry didn't even know there was a Gardenside Christian softball game until about 3 pm.

He didn't know he was going to play in that game until 6:28. First pitch was scheduled for 6:30.

But as Andry walked off the field after a 18-13 Gardenside Christian victory he looked like a player who had been preparing for his season debut for months. Despite the fact that he was wearing khaki golf shorts and a t-shirt. And the fact that he arrived at the ball park wearing flip flops, without a glove or cleats.

Andry stepped into the batters box for the first time in a long time with his team trailing 8-3. The bases were loaded. Andry watched the first pitch by orders from the third base coach. When the second pitch sailed across the plate Andry sent it on a sharp line over second base, scoring two runs.

After the Gardenside rally in the second inning pulled the team within two runs Eastside was held at bay in the top of the third, scoring only two runs. Andry came to the plate again in the bottom half of the third inning with the score tied. This time his patience at the plate paid off and Andry reached on balls. He later scored.

Gardenside continued to pour it on. Andry continued his stellar play during his next at bat. He blooped a single over the third baseman's head which drove in another run. Andry walked again in the 6th inning.

Andry's line for the night 2-2 with 2 BB and 3 RBI. Not bad for a guy who hadn't swung a bat in a real game since the 3rd grade.

Gardenside improved to 6-4 on the season and will continue their quest to win the city softball title next Monday at 6:30.

A Fun Weekend!

Today is the end of a very fun weekend for me. As I mentioned in my last post I was tired from two straight weeks of church camp...but I wasn't too tired to enjoy a great weekend with friends and family.

I was lucky to go to the same week of camp this week as the Cincinnati Christian Unviersity team that came to our week at Scenic Hills two weeks ago. I really became good friends with Brittany, Katy, Nate, and Sam from CCU and so did the rest of the Hillview faculty from the Scenic Hills week. So Sam (Bowles) and Jessie (my girlfriend) decided they would come to KCA on Friday and hang out with the CCU team and me.

When we left Kentucky Christian Assembly about 2 pm we decided we needed to party it up in Lexington before the CCU team headed back to Cincy. So we came back to Ken and Carol's house (Ken and Carol are in Africa right now) and just enjoyed each other's company for a while. Then we headed to the Mall where Sam Bowles made a cool purchase (He might blog about it so I won't) and then we went to Red Robbin (a very good O'Charley's like resturant) I had perhaps the best burger of my entire life for dinner and enjoyed some great laughs with friends before topping the night off with some coldstone ice cream and then a movie (The Bucket List).

Yesterday was also a very fun day as my Granny and Grandad came and

picked Jessie and me up this morning and took us to Shaker Village (picture below) outside of Harrodsburg, KY. It was a really neat experience and I learned a lot about the Shaker's, their dances, furniture, and architecture. After experience Shaker Village we went to the Cash family reunion and had some great food. Then Granny and Grandad brought me back to Lexington and headed home, unfortunately taking Jessie with them.

All in all a really good weekend!

Another Week of Camp

I got home from another week of jr. high church camp yesterday afternoon. As you would imagine, I was pretty well pooped. (Although not too tired to enjoy a great night with Jessie, Sam, and the CCU team here in Lexington...but that's for another post)

This past week I was Teen Mission USA's represenative at Kentucky Christian Assembly. KCA is a more primitive camp than Scenic Hills and I was ok with that. The dean was a full-time mailman (he walked a 10 mile route daily) and a part-time youth minister. He was very passionate and good with the students. It wasn't the most organized week I've ever been too, in fact most of the time I felt out of the loop, but the results can't be argued with. There were 53 campers and by the end of the week 7 were baptized and many more rededicated their lives.

The students at the south central Kentucky camp are certainly not wealthy. There were not very many students wearing designer clothes...and when it came time for the offering for TM I must say my expectations were pretty low. Boy did God use those students to prove me wrong! The students raised (with some special incentives) a total of over $300. Over $200 of that came on the last night following a wonderful prayer walk that ultimately featured nearly 2 hours of intense prayer from each student and faculty member. It was evident that many if not all of the students at KCA chose to give sacrificially to TM. (A trick I learned from Greg may have also helped the students to give their money. I told them that if they took home money from camp then the next summer their parents wouldn't feel it was necessary to give them as much...haha...they listened!)

The last two weeks of camp have been really enjoyable. But I'm glad I don't have a week of camp or VBS this week. I'll just be hanging out with Greg and going to the station often. Thanks for reading!

Jr. High Students...AHHH!

I really enjoy doing the jr. high age group week of camp. I've helped with that week for, I believe, 6 or 7 years now and I've enjoyed each one. However, last week at Scenic Hills was the more trying week I believe I've ever been too as faculty.

It was a rewarding week and I think we made a difference in some students' lives but...wow...did I want to just shake some of the kids!

I did more one-on-one counseling than I've ever done before at a week of camp and it was very exhausting. Some of the stories that students shared were just heartbreaking for me.

Some of the students (actually some of the boys) were just flat out bad. They put one boy's shorts in a toilet. They intentionally broke three glow sticks and poured them out on the floor. They were extremely obnoxious when it was bed time. They asked stupid questions. They gambled on stinkin carpet ball!!! I mean...some of those guys were just bad. But despite all of those things I think we softened some hearts and really made a difference. And that's why I love jr. high camp!

EMMY NOMINATED!

I got the news last week that Cardinal Sports Live (or as you may have heard me call it, C.S.L.) has received its first every Emmy nomination. This is an incredible feat and one that we at CSL are very proud of. The Emmy awards ceremony we will be attending is in September and takes place in Cleveland. It's a black tie affair and one that I'm really looking forward to. I mean, an Emmy would be a nice addition to my resume!

A First Time

This week I did something I had never done before. It was something that I have always looked forward to and it really was just as special as I had anticipated. On Wednesday evening, I baptized someone for the very first time.

His name is Bradley Montgomery. He's a very kind hearted boy and this week he decided to ask Jesus into his heart. Now, I really don't think his decision was really that closely tied to anything I said or did. I actually think it was some of the other campers and faculty. But, when he wanted to talk about his decision he came to me. We had some very good conversations about what becoming a Christian means and it was very obvious that he ready to make that decision.

It was such a humbling experience for me as I tiptoed down the steps of the pool. My mind was filled with memories of my sins and my unworthiness to actually baptize someone. As Bradley and I found a spot in the pool we stopped and I told him how I would cover his nose with his hand ect. The look in his eyes is something I will not soon forget.

His eyes said it all. They twinkled with the realization that a weight was about to be lifted off his shoulders. They were eyes filled with hope where despair had once roamed. They were eyes filled with joy.

I really don't remember much about the "good confession" we went through or the actually dunk in the water.

But one of my fondest memories of the entire event happened as Bradley and I walked back to the dorm to change out of our swimming trunks. I asked him how he felt and he response was...well...fantastic.

"I feel like I'm dreaming," he responded, "I just feel like I'm so light."

Forgiveness sure feels good.

I'm Back!

I just got home from a wonderful week of jr. high chruch camp. I have several stories to tell you but I'll spread them out over the next few days. After being home for just a few hours, my overall thoughts on the week are that it was a good week. I think there were certainly lives changed and I'll get to all of that in the next couple of days. As well as some other really exciting news!

Firing and Hiring

Yesterday was certainly a learning experience for me. I was exposed to "the business" of television news and its sometimes harsh dealings. For privacy's sake I won't mention the name of this person but a guy (we'll call him John) that I've been working with during my internship at WKYT has decided to leave the station. He hasn't shared where he'll be going or what he'll be doing. However, after talking to one of the men that has been at the station for 20+ years I realized that John may have "seen the writing on the wall" about his future with the station. He was a very engaging, witty, and likable on-air personality. He was extremely friendly and helpful to me during these first few weeks at the station but he also didn't seem to really work that hard. He didn't go out and shoot stories or report. He simply lined up what would go in the sports segments he was in charge of and then he would go on set and deliver it. I learned that it was that lazy or complacent attitude that was behind the "writing on the wall" for him.

I'm sure John will be fine. I'm not worried about him at all and in reality he beat WKYT to the punch by finding and taking another job before they cut him loose.

I also learned a little bit about the hiring process. It seems that WKYT has moved quickly in finding a replacement for John. The process was very fast. The guy got a phone call on Friday, came for an interview the next Tuesday, and will, barring any unusual turn of events, start work a week from this coming Monday. Altogether, it will be about 16 days from first contact to first day on the job for the new guy. Now that's moving quickly.

And for those of you who are thinking, "Man, they should just give the job to Cameron." I appreciate your support but...I still have a year of school left and Lexington, the #62 market, is not exactly an entry level market. Still, my internship gives me a leg up on many of my competitors and is continuing to create contacts that will benefit me down the road.

My Class

Next week I will not be blogging very often if at all. I'll be doing something that I love to do...church camp! I'm going to be representing Teen Mission USA at Scenic Hills next week. It is the jr. high 1 week and will feature the age group of kids going into 8th and 9th grade.

I'm also teaching a class while I'm there. I wanted to get some of your feedback on my lesson rough drafts so just take a gander at what I'm going to be teaching.

Last year I taught about parables while we walked through the beautiful paths of camp. This year I'm going to continue with the concept of getting my class out in the woods away from camp. However, since we will have many of the same kids from last year I wanted to teach something different. So...this is what I've come up with.

I'm going to use my class as a story time. I'll be featuring 4 Bible characters, each one with something that the kids might be able to relate to. The first character is Paul. I'm still thinking about telling the story of Paul but putting it in modern day terms but that's a work in progress. Either way, the ultimate lesson behind Paul is this: Don't let your past dictate your future. My thinking behind this is that there are going to be kids at this week that have some messed up pasts, some that are "known" for being a crazy kid or a bad kid. I want them to understand that God can take that past and use it for his glory.

The second character is David. The concept is this: There will be kids at the week that have been given some wonderful talents and gifts from God but they've got a sin in their past...a "Bathsheba" of their own that they need to let God take.

The third character is Jonah. The concept is this: There will be some kids that God is calling to do more...to talk to the kids at their school who nobody really wants to talk to...to be a leader in their youth group...maybe even to go into full time ministry in the future. But they're trying to push God's calling away. They're trying to run and just live a "normal" life.

The final character is Judas. The concept is this: Perhaps if there's one character in the Bible that we can all relate to very closely it's Judas. We have the opportunity to share communion with Jesus. We have the opportunity to be a best friend with the savior of the Universe and yet we through it all away for earthly desires. However, the difference between us and Judas...Judas paid a dear price for what he did...Jesus paid our price for us.

Perhaps you think there's a character that better personafies the concept I'm going for with each less. If so please send me an e-mail with your thoughts and suggestions.

I'm also going to start out each lesson with a crazy/bizarre story from the Bible. Something to kinda break the ice and grab the kids' attention. For example...Ehud, Baalam's donkey, Elijah calling out the bears on 42 kids because they made fun of his bald head, and perhaps some others.

Once again, if you have any stories to suggest just shoot me an e-mail a camandry@gmail.com

Also, have not received any responses to the challenge I issued a couple of days ago. Can you describe your life in a 6 word phrase? I'm really interested to see what people come up with.

Finally...The results are in and...I won a Communicator Award!

I just got news from Mike Stevens, the sports director at WCRD, that my football broadcast team won a Communicator Award for one of our broadcasts last season. It's a nice accomplishment as well as a testament to the hard work our broadcast team put in to each broadcast.

Altogether, WCRD collected a station-record 7 Communicators Awards in several different categories. We'll set our goals even higher this coming school year!

Also, please watch the two part ESPN piece I posted below. I promise you will not be disappointed.

The Greatest ESPN Story

My words can't do this story justice. This is, simply put, a remarkable story.


Coach Mulkey Part 1

Coach Mulkey Part 2

Your Life in 6 Words

Today I went to Southland Christian Church. I really enjoyed the service. John Meece, the senior minister at SCC, delivered the message and it was a very good one. The sermon series that Southland is currently working through is "Channel Surfing." They've picked 4 channels to do sermons on. Today's message was based on the Discovery Channel. It hinged on the 6 word tag line for the Discovery Channel..."Discover Your World in High Definition"

John Meece issued a challenge for us to give a 6 word memoir of our lives. I came up with this..."Driven to succeed despite my failures."

I'm still thinking because there were some very thought provoking memoirs that Meece talked about. One in particular that fascinated me was by Earnest Hemingway. He was challenged to write a story in only 6 words. After two weeks in a cabin in the mountains Hemingway penned this short story..."For sale: Baby shoes, Never worn." Wow.

If you would like...think about a 6 word memoir about your life. Write it and send it to me. I'd like to see what everybody comes up with.