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Employment!!!
Today Lee had a job interview with Club Z Tutoring and, along with going to school, he is going to be tutoring high school and middle school students.
The service is aimed at helping students to become learners, which is outstanding, and Lee is very excited to be able to work with them on something he is passionate about…and get paid for it! It will be exciting to help students to improve their communication/literary skills and study skills with the hope that the advancement in their ability to study would bear fruit in thier reading of the Bible, not just school work.
It will be an awesome opportunity to meet some great people and, hopefully, make an impact for the sake of the gospel through equipping them to think critically and deeply while teaching themselves.
Welcome!
Hey friends and family!
Due to requests from family and friends alike who complained that Lee’s blog (www.focalelement.blogspot.com) was nice but didn’t let everyone know how things are going with the two of us in Kentucky, we decided to get wild and crazy and become a two blog household.
We are doing well up here in the wonderful state of Kentucky (the only thing that is not wonderful about it is that it is not adjacent to Texas and close to all of you). Beth is working for Decker College in the Student Services Department for Distance Learning (www.eDecker.com) and Lee has taken an amazing Intro to Christian Philosophy class at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (www.sbts.edu), which explains the first article on his blog.
We are living in a great town home about 15-20 minutes outside of downtown Louisville and, if you email us at focalelement@gmail.com, we will send you our address and phone numbers if you do not already have them (its just not a good idea to post that stuff on the internet). We love our place and you can be expecting photos of it very very soon.
This past weekend we were so fortunate as to have been able to come back to Texas for the wonderful Pittsfest 2k5…aka the Holy Matrimony of Sarah and Matt Pitts (their married name, they are not related) and you can see some of the photos we took during wedding festivities below. It was a blast and we were able to see a lot of friends and our families, which made it hard and lonely coming back to Kentucky…but the Lord is faithful and takes care of us.
When we got back home Lee went to turn down the AC (its been like 99 degrees the past couple of days) and heard dripping noises behind him…the hot water heater plumbing had sprung a leak and it was dripping all over the dining room table. It was an exciting night, to say the least, but our apartment complex is taking care of the damage to our apartment and we are taking it in stride, laughing. I will post a picture sometime soon of some of the leaky fun.
Well, it is almost time for date night! We love you all and we miss you very much, let us know how you are doing!
Second Post: Worldview ***READ PREVIOUS
(Continued from Previous Post)
***If you have not had the opportunity to read the previous post, you will probably want to take a few moments to do so and ponder the questions posed at the end of the thread.
Having taken some time to ponder those two questions, you have taken the first steps in beginning to understand what you believe and why you believe it.
Through examining the most influential sources of your own worldview, you have, perhaps for the first time, examined the structural integrity of your beliefs. You have, symbolically speaking, taken a moment to walk around the house you live in and examine the foundation for potentially dangerous weaknesses. You are able to make repairs on the foundation to save your home; or, as you might find necessary, you can lay a new foundation and rebuild your home before it collapses.
(If I’m talking to you right now, congratulations on averting a near disaster)
You might be thinking…”why in the world is this guy talking about a house?” but the simple point is that most people running around in this world do not really know why they believe what they believe. Most people base their entire lives, all of their decisions, thoughts, passions, their most strongly held convictions on a worldview that is inherently dangerous because their beliefs are determined solely on the basis of what feels like the truth and, therefore, in their minds must be true.
Forgive me for asking so many questions, but would you vote for a president who said in debates that his platform was based on what just felt right to him? Would you hire a babysitter who felt they could do a good job, even if they had no experience whatsoever with childcare? Would you allow your neighbor to bulldoze your home because they felt like having a new swimming pool? Absolutely not! You demand to have explanations, to deal with facts, reasons, proof, evidence, and a mere feeling is not sufficient (I emphasize mere as a means of pointing out that feelings in and of themselves, apart from sound reasons and truth, are not adequate). You want them to answer your question of “WHY?” with an answer that has some meat to it, an answer that you can stand behind and support intelligently and passionately.
So why then is it that so many people live their lives with that kind of mentality? Why is it that people are living the unexamined life? Why are people willing to have their feet firmly planted in mid-air…upholding a worldview that is not built on even the semblance of a firm foundation?
There really are a tremendous number of answers to that question, more than I could even begin to list. I will say, however, that we must first begin with ourselves, by accepting responsibility for our own beliefs and our own faulty worldviews. We must be willing to confess that we have made the same mistakes; I certainly did for the first 18 years of my life, and rectify those mistakes by pursuing truth at all costs.
So where exactly do you start in trying to figure out the truth? To discover which worldview is the right worldview? To know which worldview provides the clarity we need to see God, the world, ourselves, death, and answer all the big questions?
I will tell you openly and honestly that I have found that the answer is found in Jesus Christ and in the very Word of God, the Bible (now don’t run off and get your feelings hurt because I said something you might not like very much).
Some of you might be thinking that I have, after all of my discussion of examining our belief systems to ensure that they are legitimate, reasonable, and provide clarity regarding the world around us, hopped a train to “Nutty Zealot-ville” and contradicted myself. You might be confused by the thought that it is impossible for the Christian worldview to be grounded on anything but purely desperate, unfounded, insupportable, unreasonable faith. If you find yourself distracted by the fact that I am a Christian and profess Jesus Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, you have allowed your intolerance of Christianity and prejudice against Christians to allow you to dump a lot of your own personal baggage onto a very important conversation.
Don’t miss the point of this thread friends…I want you to examine what you believe with a critical eye, looking for the flaws; then, I want you to thoroughly look at other worldviews with the same critical eye; and I want you to press on in asking the difficult questions about the different worldviews that exist in the world. Finally, I have offered up my own Christian worldview to your ferocious examination, as I have challenged you to do all along.
As always, I leave with a closing exhortation to think deeply and critically about what you believe; and, since I have offered it up as truth, think critically about the Christian worldview. The place to start with that is, of course, the Bible, and I would recommend looking to the life of Christ in the Gospel of John to begin with and then reading the book of Galatians.
I have exposed myself and what I believe to your brutal criticism and analysis, and I would love to face the business end of your thoughts…so feel free to post comments or email me (focalelement@gmail.com) and I will do my best to answer for the worldview I profess.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, know that I sincerely appreciate it and it is a great reward to know that you read it.
If you don’t have a Bible, I recommend using the ESV translation… (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/)
Bible Study Resource Links:
*** www.desiringgod.org *** – Incredible Bible Teaching
www.cri.org – Christian Research Institute
www.gospelcom.net
Worldview Resources
Matt Foster – now the only unmarried roommate left standing 
The First Post: Worldviews ***UPDATED
Before I explain the name or purpose of this blog, I am going to hop into the thick of things and write an article over the next week or so with the purpose of looking at some critical issues that deal with philosophy and a Christian worldview. Basically, I want us (yep, you have to think through this with me and take a little time for introspection) to aim our critical eyes at the impact that secular, cutting edge philosophy has as it trickles down through an intellectual hierarchy in place in the American education system.To be very basic, philosophy is the analysis of the way things are, it is “the critical analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs” (dictionary.com). Everybody with a brain is, by nature, a philosophical being. Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, we all think and we all utilize philosophical methods to develop an understanding of the world we live in (also know as a worldview).
Your worldview could be compared to the lens on your camera…if the lens is cracked, smudged, or fogged up, the result is a photograph that does not accurately reflect the image you were attempting to capture. You may think “who cares, maybe the photo is cooler after the distortion?” Well, that may be true for pictures that don’t really matter, but what happens when you’re looking at your wedding photos, the picture of your first born son in the arms of your beaming wife, the images of important world events on the front page of the newspaper? The important things require a crystal clear lens, just like the important life issues demand a clear worldview…a worldview that provides the right answers about God, morality, human nature, and death (just to name a few).
So, we need to uphold a worldview that provides answers with clarity…but how do we begin to figure out whether our worldview provides the clarity we need? Well, the complete answer is way outside the scope of this particular blog thread, but there are many books and future threads to come that will shed more light on the larger issue (see end of thread for a recommended book list). For today’s purpose, we want to begin examining our worldviews by answering two simple questions that shed light on our understanding of the world ….”Who or what was most influential in the development of your worldview?” and “Would you be willing to bank your life on the trustworthiness of that influence?” Can you answer both of those questions? Most people can, in a general way, explain their basic beliefs about the world…but, in all likelihood, they have probably not taken the time to really reflect on where their worldview came from or how valid the source is. The point is this…if you do not have a dependable foundation for your worldview, then how can you trust what you uphold as truth? Maybe it is time to think through those two important questions.
(Possible answers to get the juices flowing could include: school, parents, friends, personal contemplation/exploration, etc…and you can figure out the rest)
TO BE CONTINUED…
Be encouraged to take some time to chew your answers and I would love to encourage conversation through posting your comments below or, if you prefer, email focalelement@gmail.com)
Book List:
James W Sire. The Universe Next Door
Ronald Nash. Faith & Reason.
Ronald Nash. Life’s Ultimate Questions.
CS Lewis. Mere Christianity.
D.A. Carson. Practically anything he has written
Albert Mohler Jr. Commentaries posted at www.albertmohler.com
Honeymoon
My wife and I went to Maui on our honeymoon and our first lunch by the beach was at Cheeseburger in Paradise, where we shared a quite tasty pina colada in a pineapple. We had a blast and it was a beautiful, relaxing, and adventurous week.
Re:Wilsons 