October 19th, 2011 
Harry Nelson 
Image Credit: CNN
If only debates told us who might be best at being President. But, alas, they tell us nothing of the sort. CNN’s Anderson Cooper, undoubtedly inspired by the Las Vegas backdrop and its perennial home as the stage of the big prize fight, was the emcee for Tuesday’s Republican Presidential Debate. No such august term as “debate moderator” could be applied to Mr. Cooper; rather, “chief egger-on” is a more appropriate description of Cooper’s performance.
April 23rd, 2011 Harry Nelson We were fortunate to host two families for an online simulcast of Secret Church for 6 hours last night. Secret Church, taught by David Platt, is intended to be an intense time of teaching in God’s Word recorded and simulcast to many throughout the world. According to Dr. Platt’s first Secret Church session in November of 2006(last night was the 10th Secret Church), the thought behind the duration stems from his experience teaching God’s Word to some in the persecuted church in Asia, who do not have the freedom to gather in a regular, open worship service to get teaching. Instead, they must gather infrequently for long and intense teaching time in the Word. There is a LOT of material covered during this extended teaching time. As Dr. Platt said, you can think about it later, when the threat of danger is not right outside your door.
The time actually went pretty quickly, and it was scripture filled. David Platt is a young, winsome pastor, who clearly has a heart for God’s church, and faithfully teaching His Word.
April 17th, 2011 Harry Nelson To speak of family discipleship, we might immediately think of children’s and youth Sunday School, or parenting classes, as well as any special activities focused on these groups. Certainly, Sunday School is an important part of discipleship. We will take care to use the time of Sunday School to teach right doctrine in an engaging way to our children and youth. And, we will certainly plan fellowship activities for these groups. But, that is only a small part of family discipleship. Scripture gives us two important things to think about when discussing the idea of family discipleship.
Parents as Primary
April 13th, 2011 Harry Nelson 
Each Spring and Fall, my wife and I head to Wake Forest, NC to the Board of Visitors Meeting of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I serve on the Board as a result of my commitment to help the school through several ways. On Monday night, Pamela and I got to meet Dr. Scott Kellum, one of the professors at Southeastern. Dr. Kellum is part of a growing contingent of Mississippi natives serving at the seminary. Dennis Darville, VP of Institutional Advancement is from Summit, MS, also the hometown of my wife’s mother. On Tuesday morning, Tony Merida of Hattiesburg, MS (don’t know if he’s a native) was elected to the faculty.
Dr. Kellum, an Oxford native, was a co-laborer with Andreas Kostenberger on The Cradle, The Cross, and the Crown. This intense, thorough academic survey of the New Testament is an incredible work. Pamela and I got to speak with Dr. Kellum briefly at a dinner honoring the faculty, and discuss our Mississippi roots. I’m very glad that Southeastern Seminary is home to such great professors/theologians. I’m also glad that the seminary is home to such nice people.
April 8th, 2011 Harry Nelson I’ve started the planning process for the new American Government Experience class to be held in 2012. The American Government Experience is what I wish I had been able to go through when I was a kid. I remember being 13 years old and helping my Dad on a campaign. One Saturday, my Dad was scheduled to drive through the district wtih the candidate (SC Senate), and help him understand the different precinct characteristics within his district. My Dad was unable to do it, but I had learned so much by then, I went in his place. As a result, I was able to participate in more substantive discussions about the race, politics, etc. From there, I went on to run several local campaigns as a teenager. This class is my way of making sure my kids get some dose of that experience. I’m opening it up to other homeschool high schoolers. The class will run from about March of 2012 through March of 2013.
