A Recovering Baptist in South Carolina

One of the favorite shows that Sarah and I like to watch is "Beat Bobby Flay" on the food network.  One of the things that happens when we watch it around supper time is that my creative juices start flowing and we cook supper creatively.  This evening's supper took less than 20 minutes to cook and it was outstandingly delicious.   We cooked skin on salmon in a cast iron pan.  I put a couple table spoons of butter in the pan to melt and then put the salmon flesh side down in the pan and let it cook for couple minutes.  My salmon was still frozen so I didn't want to just cook from the skin side or it wouldn't cook all the way through.  After a couple minutes I flipped the salmon to skin side down.  The flesh side was not crispy just warmed enough to be able to cook all the way through from the skin side.  I seasoned it with a lime, some white wine and some fish seasoning.  I cooked the fish till they started to get flaky on the top and th...

 For those of you who have been here before, it's been a while.  For those who are new, welcome.  Either way a lot has changed for me in the several years since I last posted.  I bought a house and land and left one employer for a rival employer who offered to pay me more.  One of the things that I want to do with this blog is to share some of the struggles and sometimes the solutions that I've found with growing up as an Independent Fundamental Baptist and then realizing that it's not exactly biblical.  If you have questions or want me to address a specific topic please leave a comment.  Please note, the opinions and views expressed here are mine, and they are not comprehensive nor exclusive.  Unkindness with not be tolerated. On that note, let's talk about my first topic, which time and time again I've seen as something that is consistently lacking in IFB circles and that is Love.  1 Corinthians 13:1-13  gives the big picture view of t...

1 Corinthians 12-14 is the longest discussion about Spiritual Gifts in the scripture. In chapter 12 Paul discusses the gift and how they all fit into the body of Christ. We can't all be eyes, or ears, or hands or feet. We do all, however, have our own part and each part is important. Part of the reason Paul was writing this was that the believers in Corinth were arguing over who's gift was more important. Paul makes all of this irrelevant with the transition from the end of chapter 12 to chapter 13 with this simple phrase. vs.12:31b "And I show you a still more excellent way." Something better than the Spiritual Gifts that they had been fighting over? Yes, there is something better than all of those God given gifts that puts all of us as Christians on equal footing. That one simple thing that make us all equal in our ability to serve God is "Love". Paul says "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a n...

Tonight was the first wedding of the season for us down here in Greenville.  Andrew and Megan Minnick were wed tonight at Mount Calvary Baptist Church and it was a beautiful God honoring wedding. This year as we enter the summer months and the many wedding that come in these warmer months, I have a different perspective this year.   Why? For the simple reason that next year I'll be the one up there on the stage vowing to love, honor and cherish the girl God made for me.  (no we are not engaged yet, but I am working on it!)  I no longer look at a wedding as an event that hopefully some day down the road will happen to me too, but it is something that is now on the horizon! If the next 10 months go by as quickly as the past 10 months have gone by I'll be hitched before you know it!  In all seriousness the reality of it is becoming more and more real.  I have finally found the one girl God has for me, the girl who was designed for me and was put on this eart...

I recently wrote an article for my girlfriend's "Ladies in Waiting"  magazine and then revised it for our church's college and career website  "The Road"  The article is longer than a what they normally post on "The Road" so it will be split up into several posts so keep coming back!

   So as my birthday approached this year nothing was really said about anything. A couple days before my birthday I dropped a little hint reminder for Sarah.  I had done something special for her birthday, although it was limited due to the fact that we weren't officially courting yet and I knew she would feel terrible if she forgot mine. She assured be that she indeed had not forgotten my birthday. As Friday neared (my birthday)  I told Sarah that I didn't have to be at work until 2 p.m.  She then asked me what I wanted to do and told her to surprise me.  I must say she did a very good job.  When I got off of work Thursday night Sarah informed be that I was to be at her house at 9 a.m. the next morning.  I promptly five minutes early. After Sarah prepared a sack lunch we departed in her truck headed south on 385.  I was driving but had no idea where we were heading!  After about 45 min of driving we arrived at Musgrove...