I made the paper. Yeah, really, me!

http://www.lcni5.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?019+article+News+20090605084155019600

“In Retrospect: The tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam” by Robert McNamara

I have just finished reading “In Retrospect” by Robert McNamara. There are few times in life when a person of such importance to our government admits mistakes and takes their share of blame when things go wrong–”terribly wrong”. I read the updated version which included various articles in response to McNamara’s book. I agreed with some of them but some responses I found sickening. Both of my grandfathers saw combat. One in WWII and the other in Korea. I am very proud of them for their dedication to serve in that capacity. My grandfather that saw combat in WWII would rarely talk of it. But the few things he would talk about were disturbing enough that we didn’t really want him to continue telling us. It was really hard for him. He had seen many war movies in his life but when he sat down to watch “Saving Private Ryan” he turned it off within minutes. It was too real for him. War leaves wounds that a medic cannot heal.

With all of that said, I personally am thankful for Robert McNamara’s book. While I agree that we probably should have pulled out with the fall of Diem and realizing that no stable government was going to be established, I can only say that 40 years after the fact. It is much easier to point out mistakes than prevent them, especially with 40 years of hindsight.

My education in public schools taught me very little about the sixties with the exception of Martin Luther King Jr. While I am thankful for that, there was more to the sixties than Dr. King. In, fact I have come to understand Dr. King much better after learning of the rest of the sixties and the vietnam war a big part of that.

If you want a look at the politics of vietnam from an insider’s perspective, this would be the book to read. As with all stories, there is probably another side and even disagreement between McNamara and those he served with over what actually happened when and how. But Robert McNamara was engaged in a political battle that would cause most of us to cower. He admits his failure. As a Christian, I understand that.

Morning Encouragement

“He (Paul) lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”–Acts 28:30,31

I just found this really encouraging this morning as I head to work.

The Wildest Track in NASCAR

This is a crazy crash! Slide up to about 3:30 to see the best view of what happened. Crazy!

Philippians with the wife

Christy and I are going to be going through Philippians together and hopefully starting tonight. The plan is to go through Ligon Duncan’s sermon series on Philippians 3 nights a week until finished. This will be the first New Testament book that I have studied in over a year. Some of my favorite passages of scripture are in Philippians. The plan is to do three nights a week in Philippians and then continue studying Exodus for Wednesday night bible study. That seems to be going pretty well. I asked the youth if they would prefer to do overviews of books once through Exodus and they gave an emphatic NO! They want verse by verse, chapter by chapter study of these books. They said they are gaining understanding of the bible by going through slowly. Works for me!

Jennifer Knapp!….Come back!….We need you!

One of the greatest talents to pick up a guitar and write a song is Jennifer Knapp. And I miss her music. Folk Rock music is a favorite style of mine and she does it as well as anyone I’ve heard. But I mainly miss the lyrics. She has written some of the most theologically rich songs since broadman press put out the baptist hymnal. Considering the overall state of “christian” music, we need someone like this. She has greatly influenced how I write.

Logano is Back!!

Joey Logano is the only 18 year old to win 2 Nationwide Series Races in the history of Nascar. Pretty impressive! “Sliced Bread” is back!

So, where have I been the last few months?

As I mentioned in a brief post earlier I have had many things going on that have hindered blog participation. 

1.  Anna Grace Martin–Obviously, Anna has been a top priority these last 3 months.  Anna was born on December 17th a few minutes before 1 am.  She is named after Christy’s grandmother on her father’s side, Anna Clark.  She gets the Martin part from me and well,…..we think that Grace  is pretty significant.  Christy and Anna are both doing well.  Anna sleeps better than Christy or myself ever have.  She usually falls asleep around 9:30pm and wakes up around 7:00am.  Yes, I know, we are very fortunate.  I think she looks like her momma.  That’s a good thing. 

2.Internet has been down–One day the internet here at church just stopped working.  When Kevin inquired with the provider, they said we never have had service with them.  Funny……..we’ve been paying for it for a while.  Anyway, it turned out for the best.  We were able to switch providers and it now costs less.

3.Went to the Daytona 500–It was AWESOME!!!!  The worst part was the standing in line to get on a bus to get back to our car.  When we arrived we parked our car fairly close to Cuba.  The next race I go to I am paying  for the good parking.  The parking at Daytona was free but we waited in line 2 hours to get on a bus to take us back to our car and waited another 2 hours to get out of the parking lot.  It put a bad end to a good day.  I got to see all the drivers within handshaking distance.  Took lots of pictures.  It was a good time.  Next out of state race…..Bristol Motor Speedway, August 21,22.

4.  Josh Martin Band–Well, that hasn’t kept me from anything.  We haven’t done a concert since November.  Really, really, really, itching to play.  I have done a couple things on my own but the band scene has been pretty slow.  But we have a couple of things lined up in the not so distant future.  Hopefully, we can finish our new CD soon.

That’s about it.  It’s good to know that Tommy, Marc, John, Shane and Andrew are still aware of my existence.  Really, it was good to hear from you guys.

Exodus with the Youth

We have been going through Exodus verse by verse with the youth on Wednesday nights and it has been going great!  It is such a rich book!!  My goal for our study in this book is for them to see hints of the Gospel through Moses  and the Israelites.  Also to have a bigger view of God than what they had before we started.  I think that is really beginning to take root for some of them.  I don’t know whoever said you can’t teach through a book of the Bible with youth, but they were wrong.  I have one kid who is reading ahead so he can get a better grasp on the big picture.  God is very gracious and good!!

Why ESPN should have full coverage of NCAA tournament

Multiple channels would mean multiple games airing at once.  No hour and a half breaks for local news.  All digital picture, every game.  Need I say more?