Greetings!

I loved the rain that came early this morning! It was a pleasant surprise. Of course, now it’s balmy outside, but I will never turn down an unexpected rain storm.

Thanks for reading this week’s DHD, as I cover a variety of topics this week.

  1. Goodbye Mr. Scully

It’s hard to believe Vin Scully retired five years ago from broadcasting Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games. What’s even harder to believe is he was covering the Dodgers even before they moved away from Brooklyn.

For 67 years, Vin Scully entertained listeners and viewers through calling sporting events, mostly baseball but other sports too. The announcing legend died this week at the age of 94, and sports fans across this country paid tribute to his incredible talent of talking through a ballgame.

There are two broadcasting legends I believe younger generations should know. The first would be Paul Harvey, and the second is Vin Scully. Both of these men had the ability of making you stop and listen to every word they spoke. Unfortunately, neither of them would fit in broadcasting today. Paul Harvey’s style of news reporting is basically extinct, and Vin Scully was too calm and didn’t have a trendy catchphrase to make it in the modern sports booth.

Sports Illustrated has an excellent article describing Scully, and it features a transcription of him telling a story while calling a game, which reflects the ease yet professional delivery Scully did time and time again. Check out “The Smaller Vin Scully Made Himself, the Larger He Became.”  I definitely appreciate the humility reflected in the title.

Also, in case you have no idea who Vin Scully is or have never heard him speak, check out his farewell speech when he retired:

  1. OU assistant football coach has powerful testimony

More than three years ago, the Baptist Messenger featured an article on Miguel Chavis when he was an assistant coach with the Clemson University football team. You can check out the article here.

I came upon the article this week, when I was searching for something else. I did not remember the Messenger running the article, but I thought it was a neat find because now Chavis is on the football staff at the University of Oklahoma and is developing a reputation of being a successful recruiter.

I hope I can find out more about Chavis, including where he may be going to church in Oklahoma and seeing if he may consider being a part of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at OU. The article did say he was working on a master’s degree at Southern Seminary, so I’m curious if he is involved in other Southern Baptist ministries.

  1. Child leaves for college

It is that time of year, when school is starting up again. Students of all ages are prepping for the new school year, and if it involves starting college, many parents are going through various emotions as well.

I’ll never forget when I said goodbye to my mom after my parents drove me 1,200 miles to start my college years. That was a heavy time 35 years ago (wow! 35 years!). But it’s a cherished memory as it started my path to adulthood.

John Beeson shares an encouraging word as a parent whose daughter is starting college away from home. Check out “Hope When Your Child Leaves for College.”

  1. First review of Mohler’s book

I’m a slow reader. I’m not sure why, but my mind just wanders and can’t read more than a chapter or two in a setting. But I’m almost done with Albert Mohler’s “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,” which I started in mid-June. Only four chapters left.

What I can tell you is Mohler gives excellent analogy of Jesus’ parables. He gives perspectives I have not considered of the most common stories of Jesus, and he is extremely helpful explaining stories I never fully understood, such as the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in Luke 16. I am enlightened and appreciative even more of the messages Jesus was sharing and convinced even more that Jesus is the greatest storyteller in history.

Of course, we know Jesus did more than share stories, and for that I am thankful for why He came to earth.

I plan to dedicate a complete DHD to reviewing Mohler’s book. Maybe next week?

  1. God & Weather still most popular DHD

At the end of 2021, I did a DHD about the most popular DHDs of the year.

The top DHD on that list continues to be my most-read article on baptistmessenger.com. It is also in the top five of popular posts overall on the website.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s “Six Bible Passages of God Controlling the Weather.”

  1. ‘Am I going to hell?’

Have you ever been asked a pointed question? Athiests like to challenge Christians with the question “Do you think I’m going to hell?”

It could take some by surprise, and really, there could be more than what the person is directly asking. The first inclination is they want to paint the person of whom they are inquiring as judgmental and cruel. The question would make Christians as whole appear like bad people and possibly make onlookers consider discrediting Christianity altogether.

Here’s my suggestion if ever approached by this question or other forms of inquiry that have a tendency to set a trap. Share your testimony. Instead of focusing on the person asking the question, respond by saying you know you would be going to hell if not for the saving grace of Jesus Christ whose death, burial and resurrection paid your penalty once and for all.

Apologetic expert Frank Turek was publicly asked this question. In the video below, you can see his exchange with the lady who asked. It is a little long, but notice what he said at the end, when she asked him the final time: