Tennessee Prayer Breakfast features governor, American Idol veteran, Lipscomb administration

by | Apr 15, 2011 | News Slider

Nearly 700 people gathered in Allen Arena for the 37th annual Tennessee Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning. Gov. Bill Haslam spoke at the event, which was his first appearance at Lipscomb as governor. The president of World Vision, Richard Stearn, was the keynote speaker. Melinda Doolittle, a Christian recording artist and former American Idol contestant, performed, as did the Nashville Choir. “We hope this event will motivate us to pray,” said Joey Ivey, chair of the Citizens’ Committee. The committee plans everything prior to and during the breakfast. It is made up of 41 men and women—pastors, business professionals, community members and political leaders. According to the Tennessee Prayer Breakfast’s website, the purpose of the breakfast is “to seek the blessing of Almighty God for our governor, general assembly, the judiciary and others in positions of leadership throughout the State of Tennessee.” The Soul Choir opened the event by singing a song saying, “Lord, we need you to show up.” Ivey then welcomed the attendees, recognized the sponsors and said the opening prayer.  The first few minutes of the meal were filled with musical performances by Dan Oxley and the Nashville Choir. Beth Harwell, Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, read from Philippians 2. Chaplain (Major) Thomas J. Faichney prayed for government leaders, drawing attention to the government’s role to humbly execute justice under God’s authority, rather than as a substitute for God. He asked for “grace, teachability, selflessness, joy, peace and love” on behalf of federal and state leaders. David Perry prayed on behalf of families, asking for “a spirit of reconciliation.” He prayed that family members would...

International soccer makes appearance in Music City

by | Apr 6, 2011 | Opinion

Tuesday, March 29, 2010 is a date I will always remember. I won’t remember it for the weather, my classes, or for the Singarama practice I missed—I’ll remember it for being the day that I attended my first international soccer match. The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) played Paraguay on Tuesday at LP Field, and I was lucky enough to get a ticket and go with seven of my good friends who love both soccer and America. We ordered our tickets on the pre-sale, so our seats were pretty good—12 rows up around midfield—and we had been looking forward to the match for months. On game day, Trey Weatherly, Taylor Ezell, Casey Boyer, Drew Lewis, Alexander McMeen, Bryce Davidson, Garrett Crothers and I all met up outside of High Rise (wearing almost every scrap of USA apparel we owned) to head to McDougal’s for a little pre-game chicken. After filling up, we headed out to LP Field and joined the masses of red, white, and blue just before kickoff. Before I even entered the stadium I knew that this sporting event would have a different atmosphere from the Braves and Titans games I was used to attending. Never have I seen so many crazy costumes for a professional sporting event. Normally, you would just see people wearing a team jersey, shirt or jacket. Here, there were shirts, jerseys, shorts, pants, flags, bandanas and scarves galore proudly displaying the red, white and blue. Like I said before, our seats were fantastic. You could hear the players shouting and the ball hitting against them. It was incredible. The fans around...

Operation Yellow Ribbon: Success

by | Apr 4, 2011 | News Slider

The second annual Operation Yellow Ribbon was a huge success! The event featured General Tommy Franks as keynote speaker and performances by Charlie Daniels, Wynonna Judd, The Grascals and Montgomery Gentry. Charlie Daniels was honored by being appointed a colonel.  The whole event was hosted by GAC’s Storme Warren. Prior to the show, veteran students and other VIP guests had the opportunity to meet with Gen. Franks and Daniels as well as the performers: Montgomery Gentry, The Grascals and Wynonna Judd. The Grascals’ banjo player Kristin Benson and guitarist Terry Eldredge were excited for the opportunity to show support for troops and veterans. “This is a worthwhile event we’re proud to be a part of,” says Benson. The Grascals played two songs including their cover of The Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville.” “It’s great, anyway you can honor them,” Eldredge said, a bit choked up. “They dodge bullets for us. Anybody who does that deserves to be honored.” Daniels has always been a notoriously patriotic supporter of the military and its veterans, and has performed at both Operation Yellow Ribbon events at Lipscomb. This year he played a new song asking everyone to pray for the troops. He also played the Charlie Daniels Band classic, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” with accompaniment from The Grascals. “There is a Santa Claus and his name isn’t St. Nick, its St. Charlie Daniels,” said Eldredge. To add to the night’s excitement, David Hughes announced Lipscomb’s new partnership with Sentinels of Freedom, a program which awards scholarships to qualifying veterans who were severely injured in the line of duty. The first student...