Who Am I?

All bloggers who use the Blogger service have statistical tools available to them so that they can track usage of their blog.  The types of information which we can see include the number of times the blog is viewed, the number of times each post is viewed, the type of operating system being used by the viewer, the search engine used to visit the blog, the search keywords, and the country of origin of the search. The statistical information is useful in better responding to the interests of our readers.  Your privacy is 100% preserved because we cannot identify individual visitors to our blogs.

Several persons have searched for me.  One person has asked about my "spiritual credentials."  The answer is that I am not your teacher, I am not your pastor; I am your Christian brother and I feel that this blog is my ministry to you.  This blog is for discussion of doctrinal and theological issues, current news as it relates to Christianity, the incredible diversity present among the ἐκκλησία through the centuries and especially today,  and the true basis of our unity, The Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer.  Most of all, this blog is a challenge to everyone to think, to not just accept the way things are, to wonder why things are the way they are, to challenge those things in our belief systems which are not biblical, and especially, to not accept the answers put forth by our modern relativist culture.

As to me, I am a Medical Technologist with a concentration in Hematology, the study of blood diseases like leukemias, anemias, and clotting disorders.  I work in two local clinical laboratories and have a certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology .

In 1970, I was one of the three hundred who stood up and left in protest, along with our pastor, Dr. Herbert Gilmore, when The First Baptist Church of Birmingham voted not to admit Winifred Bryant and her daughter, Twila Fortune, who had made a profession of faith.  The reason they were refused membership was because they were black.

Led by Dr. Gilmore, we formed The Baptist Church of the Covenant, which is still active today in downtown Birmingham.  Both Winifred Bryant and Twila Fortune remain as members of the church.

The local church I currently attend has members of all races and nationalities.

In my early twenties, for two years I attended The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.  During this time, my interest in comparative religion developed.  Over the years I have studied the world's major religions and have discussed and corresponded with adherents of each of them.
I have also been in contact with numerous cultic and occultic groups including Wiccans, Pagans, Spiritualists, the Unity Church, the Unification Church, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Children of God, the Way, the Church of Scientology, and even the Church of Satan.

My interest in word origins and meanings led to my study of onomastics, the meanings of place names, and resulted in my book, An International Glossary of Place Name Elements .

I believe that I do have something to add to the discussion and I feel led by the Lord to do it.