5 Things in Week 3 of 2013

1. I am Baptist, so it follows that baptism is a big deal.  Sunday I preached from Matthew 3 about John the Baptist and his baptism of Jesus.  The three main points were: 1) Baptism authenticated the ministry of John the Baptist and the identity of Jesus Christ, 2) Baptism identified Christ with us and identifies us with Christ and the church, and 3) Baptism is and act of obedience for us.

2. Both my girls, Holley and Courtney, start new semesters today, UNT and UT respectively.  The farther they go you begin to realize that they have so much less to complete.  I’m very proud of them both.  They work hard, study hard and both manage to be involved in Baptist Student Ministries and have lots of fun.  College life is a great time of life.  I don’t miss it, but I sure did enjoy it.

3. I read today that some think our kids are not in school long enough during the year.  Specifically, Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, thinks we should lengthen the winter break and shorten the summer break.  That makes perfect sense because we all know that we would rather have lots of free time when it is too cold outside to enjoy the weather and less free time in the the sunny summer.  The complaint is that kids forget a lot of stuff over the summer so the break should be shorter.  I’m thinking if they can’t remember it over the summer then maybe it’s because they didn’t really learn it.  And, what happens to us when we graduate?  How do we function without the government continually telling us what to know and “educating” us?  I’m sure all my teacher friends, including my lovely wife, would just love to have year round school.  😉

4. Just started reading the last of my Christmas gift books, “Killing Kennedy” by Bill O’Reilly.  I loved “Killing Lincoln” and this one is off to a great start.  Other books completed already are: “The Racketeer” by John Grisham (5 stars) and “The Truth That Makes Them Free: A Collection of Essays” edited by Donald G. Davis, Jr. (4 stars).

5. Happy Birthday shout out to my much older brother, James Mantooth.  It’s nice to know someone who looks older, is older and acts much younger than I.  God bless you James.  :)))