Opening Volley

This is not my first foray into the blogosphere. However, instead of trying to fit my posts into a certain category or genre I am now going to simply post what I want to post. This is, of course, is what blogging is supposed to be about.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself. First of all, you can call me RV and I am a Christian. There are many other things that I may be called and many other ways I might identify myself but Christian trumps them all. This is, in the truest sense, who I am. Beyond that I am a pastor. A pastor Southern Baptist pastor if you must know. However, my allegiance lies with Jesus Christ over and above any denominational label or doctrine. Thus, I may stray from the typical Southern Baptist (Great Commission Baptist now) line from time to time but my theology does line up best with the Convention. I love being a pastor for several reasons: 1) I was called to do it by the Lord, 2) I love preaching more than just about anything else in the world and 3) I love people and God's Church. While my emotions and passion may get the best of me sometimes as I write, I do pray that in the end God is honored by what I do here.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly than my role as a pastor, I am a husband to the most wonderful wife in the world. She is my sweetheart and I am ever grateful that the Lord brought us together. We are like two separate pieces of a puzzle but we fit together in a way that only God could design.

Beyond these things I do consider myself and American patriot. I served my country for 6 1/2 years in the NC Army National Guard and spent one of those years in Iraq. Just so there is no misunderstanding later on, I was not in the Special Forces, infantry, a helicopter pilot, or anything else like that. I was a heavy wheeled vehicle mechanic in a transportation company whose mission was to "transport heavy equipment across the battlefield," and that we did. Some guys like to make a big deal about their exploits in the military and, essentially, tell "fish stories" about what all they did. I vow never to do that. What happened, happened and I did what I did. I know, God knows, and my comrades know. What some arm-chair Ranger thinks about me is of very little importance.

That being said, I love my country, "these United States." I believe in the principles set forth in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. I believe we have strayed dangerously from those founding principles and we have paid, and are going to pay, the price for it. Our freedom is eroding at a rapid pace and I fear what it will take to bring us back, but I do believe we can return to a greatness that may even surpass the greatness we have seen in the past.

While I can't say for certain what all this blog will contain I envision that topics such as politics and religion, will find their way into my writings. As the blog description indicates, I see this as a kind of miscellaneous bin for my writing so who knows where it will take us. I am open-minded enough to welcome discussion but will not tolerate hatred, foul language or down-right orneriness so comments will be posted at my discretion. If you don't like it then either don't read it, or start your own blog...this one is mine :-).

RV