Greetings! The sun is shining. It’s starting to feel warmer. Everyone should be feeling better after the crazy week we had. This week’s Doyle’s Half Dozen won’t cover the craziness that ensued after the school closings, etc. on Wednesday, but I’m glad everybody (as far as I can tell) has calmed down from that fuss.
Instead, I have six other current, fascinating topics in which to discuss. Enjoy!
- Harrison Ford’s Fall From the Sky
I’m glad to hear one of America’s favorite actors is going to recover from his plane crash. That was wild to read on social media last night as I’m getting ready to watch the Thunder-Bulls game (again, I don’t want to talk about it).
Most will admit Ford’s acting career is on the downswing, but the action/sci-fi flick legend will hold high regard from many movie fans. I mentioned him in a movie review I wrote on 42, the latest film on Jackie Robinson, and I stated the obvious that Ford stole the show as famed Brooklyn Dodger owner Branch Rickey.
If Ford is able to continue his acting career, I hope he chooses similar roles to Rickey because I think he would fit the mold well of depicting historical characters. You know what would be a great one for him (this just hit me)? I wonder if he would be up to play a biopic on John Wayne. That would be a fascinating one to see him play.
- Hillary’s emails
Hillary Clinton is the projected frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s candidate in the next Presidential election. As it stands right now, the former first lady, senator and secretary of state doesn’t have much of a challenge against other Dems.
As you may have heard, Clinton has admitted to using her private email address while she was serving as secretary of state, and evidence may come to light relating to the Benghazi Scandal. Clinton and her husband are skilled politicians. They know it is best to get scandalous matters out of the way well before the election, and she will play this very shrewdly with the help of the mainstream media painting a negative picture of her accusers. She may come away with some bruises but no permanent marks that could prevent her from getting the candidacy.
If you are not familiar with Trey Gowdy, I would encourage you to do a search on the U.S. congressman from South Carolina who is a former prosecuting attorney. His interrogations are masterful, as he grills whoever is in front of him while he presides from whatever committee he may be serving.
Probably his best and most legendary appearance on a committee panel has to be when he was questioning the former IRS commissioner. Search for that on YouTube and enjoy the entertainment value. It is such a fantastic exchange, it makes Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson look like schoolyard children.
If it ever happens that Gowdy and Clinton meet in a congressional hearing, boy that will be fun to watch. It would go down in history with RFK-Hoffa, Oliver North’s Iran-Contra hearing appearances and Anita Hill-Arlen Specter as some of the most legendary interrogations on Capitol Hill in the last century.
- Huck has them howling
I had the chance to hear Mike Huckabee speak this week at Oklahoma Baptist University’s Green & Gold Gala. I realize I’m being politically biased in DHD this week, but I enjoyed hearing the former Arkansas Governor speak. He has a warm, homespun demeanor that all political stripes can enjoy, and he openly stated he put politics aside for the evening and told funny stories and anecdotes that entertained the audience.
He told of one experience when his son unplugged the deep freeze that was full of frozen food which thawed. The Huckabees were in a dilemma. They had to figure out what to do with all this food that was going to go bad.
So instead of throwing all the food away, they invited all their neighbors and friends over for a huge smorgasbord. Huckabee shared funny remarks his guests made and how everyone enjoyed the free food at the Huckabees’ expense.
I admit, I probably would have concluded to throw the food away and would’ve remained upset about the incident. But I learned from Huckabee’s flexibility and innovative generosity. As he concluded, we can either throw it away or give it away.
- Next week’s BGCO Conference gained attention
I have mentioned before about the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma hosting a very important conference on March 9-10. The conference will address “The Gospel, Sexuality and the Church: Equipping the Church to respond to sexual issues with convictional kindness.”
This conference is going to handle issues similar to a national conference that happened last October in Nashville, Tenn. I attended that conference and gave a perspective on things I learned. I hope next week’s conference at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City will have a similar effective result.
The Oklahoma Gazette featured a story about the conference. They don’t offer as positive of a perspective, but the paper was more objective than I anticipated. One fascinating phrasing I found in the piece was “so-called Biblical marriage.” I thought it was humorous. My question would be to the writer, how did marriage originate?
Fellow Christians, I do ask for your prayers for this conference. I will be involved as a moderator of one breakout session titled “What to Do When a Loved One Says I’m Gay” which will feature singer/songwriter Dennis Jernigan. I’ve shared about Jernigan and his wonderful story before on Word Slingers.
- Frank Page at State Indian Evangelism Conference
Tonight I get to hear Executive Director Frank Page of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee speak tonight at the State Indian Evangelism Conference. Page is an excellent speaker, as I had the chance to hear him preach a couple of years ago.
Something you should know about Page, his daughter committed suicide, and he wrote about this tragedy in his book Melissa. Brian Hobbs wrote a review about Page’s book, and you can read it here.
- Heading to watch High School Basketball Playoffs
This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love watching championship tournament basketball. I especially enjoy high school championship basketball. In about an hour and a half of the time that I am writing this, Erick and Lomega will have a rematch of the 2013 Class B Girls State Championship Game. I wrote about Erick’s coach Justin Janz in a recent edition of the Baptist Messenger. Read the story here.
I remember that game and how dramatic it ended. So I’m going to end this week’s DHD to say I will be pulling for Erick as they pursue another state title.