A Tribute to "The BamaMule"

The BamaMule

The BamaMule is no longer in the family. A sad day indeed. And since I was not around for our last few weeks together, and therefore, a goodbye wheelin' trip was out of the question, I thought an online tribute was the least i could do.

The Mule was my first vehicle, and was given to me by my parents as a suprise in 1997. I had desired a vehicle that had a larger engine and was a manual. Furthermore, i think everybody's first car should be a manual transmission (I know my children's first vehicles will be).

The Mule came with stock with a 4.3 litre V-6 with 160HP and 230 lb. of torque. Optional equipment was none...and the only thing power on the vehicle was the steering! A true teenage boy's vehicle of glory, the Mule sported vinyl seats, a rubber floor throughout, and (by far the best) four-wheel drive! Rest assured that this was made full use of.

Throughout high school, the BamaMule worked hard and played hard. It pulled a trailor full of lawn mowers daily for 3 full summers and falls, helping out with my lawn business. On the occasional weekend, we would hit various trails and mud holes, making it through to the other side far more than needing help getting out. It was also used to transport many rolls of toilet paper that would somehow find its way to various targets, er, people's yards.

After i graduated high school and entered college, my brother, Andrew took the reigns of the Mule for another two years, still hitting the mud. After he went to college, the Blazer became a spare vehicle for my family, being used for the dirtier jobs needed around the house.

During my senior year of college, the BamaMule saw new light, as i took him to Clemson. I also developed a fresh taste for trail riding over mudding (which took forever to clean) with a friend of mine from school. We embarked on numerous trips to western North Carolina, crawling over some trails that would make the faint of heart even more so.

After college and marriage, the BamaMule climbed back up to the #1 spot, becoming my daily driver while working in Easley for about a year. Being 13 years old, and having over 120,000 miles on the odometer, the vehicle never let me down, starting up everyday and doing what was requested of it.

For two years, the Mule moved to Columbia to serve Keri's father as another daily driver. Although a few old parts needed replacing, it took him about 60 miles a day back and forth to work, as well as put his boat in and out of the Lake Murray.

In late 2007, the BamaMule came back to Spartanburg, and after an extensive detailing job, was taken by my brother Andrew to Greenville to be used as a spare vehicle. In February of 2008, a buyer came along and purchased the BamaMule from us. His kids already love it!

In the 11 years that i had a share in the BamaMule, i saw it move from 77,000 to 165,000 miles on its odometer. By the time we sold it, it still started up everytime, never needed "warming up," and was just as capable off road as it ever was.

Ride on, BamaMule...Ride On

Simply Amazing!

For the 2 or 3 of you that have been anxiously waiting for an update, your day has come...and with a project to try out as well.

Here's the senario: You have locked your keys in your car and are miles away from civilization. You are carrying nothing but your cell phone. It's starting to get dark, and you are noticing wierd noises as well as scary people approaching you. And if this wasn't enough, you hear somewhere in the background a banjo softly begin to play the theme from Deliverance. The time has come to QUICKLY make a decision. What should you do? Your options are:

A) Call K.I.T.T on your remote watch to come and help you out.

B) Smash your window with a vengance, find your keys, start your car, and speed away just in time shouting, "I will survive!!"

C) Realize that your time has come, sit down, and cry like a little girl.

D) You call your wife, friend, parent, neighbor's cell phone who is miles away on your cell phone. You ask them to grab your spare car remote key fob, point it at their cell phone, and hit the unlock button. Your doors will unlock, and you will be home free!

Think i'm crazy...try it yourself!

Yes, an older topic, but one that encourages a call to stand...

Recently, a friend of mine journaled about the movie, The Golden Compass. He elaborated on some common views about how Christians should respond to the movie. Here is a excerpt from his thoughts:

I've had a close friend mention the movie to me recently and pledge his steadfast desire to tell all of his friends not to patronize the movie. I've also gotten a few group invitations to boycott the movie. I don't want to make it seem as if I feel more enlightened or to be derogatory when I say this, but I'll be blunt. Why wouldn't I go see the movie? Well to be honest, I'd rather go see American Gangster, but I'm lost on why I should boycott this movie. Is it because the author is an atheist? What is Peter Jackson's faith (the director of Lord of the Rings)? ..... Let's think this through and not jump on the baptist boycott bandwagon. If you take your kid to see this movie is he going to end up wanting to kill God? Seriously?....

Go focus on your friendships with non-Christians and work on loving them instead of fighting against an innocuous movie. If you want to have intelligent conversation with a non-Christian about the movie, go see it. You're going to see about 10 other movies in the theater that year that are also directed by an atheist and have themes not in accordance with biblical living. So, why not go see a movie that would enlighten you to an opposing point of view and might be entertaining? I have a good friend who is studying the Koran. In detail, in order to better understand Islam. Is it because he's questioning his faith? Is it because he has a Muslim friend who he's targeted and befriended? No, it's because he wants to be educated. Are you afraid of the movie because it might educate you to a different point of view. Is it because the Church is afraid of a non-bible thumping point of view? Think about it! Anyways, long story short. I think this is a silly battle, and I hope we're more critically thinking as a body of Christ to fear a movie like this. It's a naive point of view to think we can defeat the work of Satan in people's lives by not going to see a movie. That's about as weak as the SBC's Disney boycott because of gayday. Don't tell me I can't go to the Magic Kingdom. I love Space Mountain.You know what? Call a non-Christian friend up, Buy him and yourself a ticket, then afterwards go out for a beer and have a talk about the movie and about God and salvation.

To begin, let's look at the details. The movie, The Golden Compass came out this past December as a movie geared towards children. Many Christians have been told simply that this movie is bad, and they should not see it or allow their children to see it. Based on this, it is my belief that many Christians today severely underestimate what this movie is about. It is NOT simply a children's movie based on a book written by an atheist author! The issue goes far deeper. Yet this is what many in my camp (including my friend) seem to believe. And many have boycotted the movie because of this very reason. What goes unnoticed is the deeper underlying motives of the book's author. Although Phillip Pullman has publicly denied allocations that the movie is trying to promote atheism, let's look at some statements Pullman gave a few years ago about the books that the movie is based on. The following comes from Christian Post. com.

Even though the British author has taken a more palatable approach in marketing his books as the movie date draws near, comments made in past interviews have been more indicative of his position.

In an interview with Third Way, a Christian newspaper in United Kingdom, Pullman said of the third book in his trilogy: “Of course, I don’t say, ‘There is no God.’ “I say: ‘There is a God, and here he is dying’ – and this is what I was particularly pleased with, as a result of an act of charity. And he goes ‘with a sigh of the most profound and exhausted relief.’”

When his books were released in Australia in 2003, Pullman told The Sydney Morning Herald that his “books are about killing God.”

So, is Pullman simply an atheist author trying to make a movie? Absolutely not!!! He is trying to destroy the Christian faith, starting with our children! Have we so easily forgotten how impressionable children are? Still, some simply want to make the argument that we should not "Baptist Boycott" this movie.

Now, whether those knew the underlying conditions of the movie or not is another story. But let's assume they did, and still wanted to view the movie because they want to have something to discuss with non-believers. Surely, this justifies purchasing a ticket and promoting the movie, doesn't it? Not at all! Again, let me remind you that the movie's underlying theme is the death of God! Can we not simply take that point and use it in discussion if we are so interested in "intelligent conversation?"

"But i need to see the movie in order to discuss it," some might say. Do you? Do you really need to see a movie about killing the Almighty Creator of the world and the Initiator of your salvation in order to have a conversation about God? I am reminded of how agents in the IRS determine if a check is a fake. They do not learn to distinguish between a real check and a fake one by studying the different types of fakes. They can easily spot the fakes because they have studied the true checks, and know what they are supposed to look like. In the same way, we as Believers must not conform to the patterns of this world(Rom. 12:1-2) in order to understand it. We must not even view theology as a trampoline in order to please man (or ourselves). Are we trying to please man or God?(Gal. 1:10)

So in conclusion, it is my belief that we should not see the movie because of the underlying motif of its author. Of course, there will be some who will want to argue, but instead let us draw near to Christ, knowing that His Word is profitable for reproof and training in righteousness. But don't take my word for it. If this topic interests you, check out Al Mohler's stance:

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1065

Welcome to the blog! But who am i welcoming? For all i know, there will probably be nobody that reads this...but for me that is okay. And if you are reading this, then congratulations...you are a forerunner here and deserve a prize. I have decided that there are many things that i should write about after discussing them in my classes, so here is my avenue. Surely there will also be other topics posted as well, most likely those that involve college football in some aspect. So hold onto your seatbelts, cause here we go.

Oh, you are probably wondering why the title of the blog is Held Together in Him. Well, it modeled after Colossians 1:17 that states: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." All things in my life are because Christ is holding it together. Just read Colossians 1 in its entirety.