From Left to Right: Pastor Mickey Schneider, Dr. P. Andrew Sandlin, Ben House, Pastor Randy Booth
The past two weekends have been wonderful experiences for me and my wife. On Friday, November 2, Stephanie and I went to Good Shepherd School in Tyler, Texas where I spoke at their annual fundraising banquet. My topic was "Punic Wars and Culture Wars." When I arrived that afternoon, I was whisked into a junior high class that had just finished reading Michael Shaara's Killer Angels. I talked about how that book was structured in a fashion resembling Homer's Iliad. From there I went to a high school class that had been reading Medieval literature. We discussed the Medieval period, the changeover of the epic hero from Greek concepts to Christian, and a host of other things relating to history, theology, and literature. We attended the afternoon chapel, where the students and faculty had an "Evensong" service that ended the day with prayers.
I especially enjoyed spending time with Father John Boonzaaijer, Father Walter Bannock, and Mark Hoyt. All three are delightful men of God, committed to Christian education and to the advance of God's kingdom.
This past weekend, Stephanie and I went to San Destin, Florida where we attended the 17th annual Trinity Presbyterian Church (of Niceville, Florida) Family Advance. I was a speaker at the Advance, along with two of my best friends, Randy Booth, pastor of Grace Covenant Church in Nacogdoches, Texas and moderator of the CREC, and Andrew Sandlin, a pastor of Church of the King in California and president of the Center for Cultural Leadership. As intimidating as it is to speak along with these two men, it was even more intimidating and humbling to be participating at an event at Pastor Mickey Schneider's church. Pastor Schneider represents the epitome of godly pastoral leadership. He has long been one of my favorite people.
Randy and Andrew gave talks on different aspects of family, children, and marriage. Both of these men gave wonderful counsel concerning the need for wisdom, church life, and godliness in raising our children and transitioning them toward lives of marriage and independence from mom and day. I repeated my "Punic Wars and Culture Wars" lecture, which I hope was more tuned to practical Christian application than to obscure ancient history. On Sunday morning, I gave a talk on two great, but slightly flawed church fathers: Eusebius and Augustine.
Florida was sunny and beautiful. It has been years since I visited the state. But the fellowship and the talks, the food, and book tables were what made the trip really great.
