Five on Friday

Featuring Mark Holcomb, assistant professor for the School of Theology and Christian Ministry

1. You were recently elected global president of Nazarene Youth International. What is your vision for young people of the Church of the Nazarene?
Well, I'm glad it doesn't just rest on my shoulders. I work with an incredible group of leaders from literally every corner of the world: Bangladesh, South Africa, Germany, Guatemala, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, the Micronesian Islands, Philippines, and of course, the U.S.

We have a shared vision to equip and empower young leaders in the church all over the world. As you might know, the age of the church outside of the U.S. is very young. As a matter of fact, in most corners, they are the church! The youth are the worship leaders, the prayer warriors, the evangelists, the purveyors of social justice - they are leading the church. We don't have to hope they lead; our task is to enable them to lead well.

One of the ways we do this is by trying to create opportunities for them to be together, to be encouraged by being in the presence of each other. We have an event one year from this month called Third Wave. The first was in 2003 in Quito, Ecuador; the second was in 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa; and next year we'll be in Bangkok, Thailand. We will be sitting around tables, discussing church issues, praying for one another, worshiping in languages we don't know and leaving with new friends.

These new relationships we develop change how we view what happens in places like Iraq, Sri Lanka and Haiti. They aren't just faces; they are our friends.

2. How do you juggle all of your responsibilities as professor, NYI leader and resident director?
I'm not really sure, to be honest with you. I think I do what everyone else does every day: one thing at a time, make the most of every day.

I know one of the things I've neglected and I'm trying to change is the time I take to read. Isn't that usually true about all of us, though? We tend to ourselves last, or taking care of ourselves slides very low on our list of priorities.

In order to keep things balanced, I listen to my wife. She is very good about letting me know when I'm getting out of sync. She is my advocate, and I have learned to listen to her when she speaks. At times, she tends to take better care of me than I do myself.

3. What do you enjoy most about your role as resident director in Old Oak?
Well, I was a youth pastor for 23 years before joining the teaching faculty at Olivet, and I love the incarnational side of what an RD gets to do. I have permission to walk into any guy's room at any time and steal a hunk of brownie, watch a football game or just ask them how they're doing - and they don't think twice about it! I get to do so much more than tell them when their hair is getting too long or when they have missed chapel too many times; I have the opportunity to live among them.

They ask us to pray for them, to go to a basketball game with them, to watch a football game with them; those all create memories that become a little more difficult to come by once I'm not an RD. As an RD you have to be intentional in developing relationships ... believe me, there are some who would be OK with never seeing me! But this position has allowed me to be seen as one of them, at least from the standpoint of living among them. I'm part of their community, literally. I'll miss that.

4. You and your wife just became second-time grandparents. Care to brag about your expanding family?
You bet we did! We have two daughters who are presently doing their part at helping our family grow.

We have a 2 1/2 year old grandson, Brayden Edward Sanders, whose parents are Luke and Kristin '06 Sanders. He recently gained a cousin, Jackson Christopher Bowman, January 7, whose parents are Chris and Kelli '08 Bowman. What makes this fun is that Kristin is expecting her second any day. Terry, my wife, is currently in Texas awaiting the arrival of Bradley Sanders. Needless to say, it's a fun time in our home!

5. What is your idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon?
I wake up, have breakfast with my wife - preferably toad in a hole (eggs fried inside bread). We usually drink our share of coffee, lay around, then get cleaned up for the day. This time of year, there's nothing better than watching an Ohio State basketball game. (In the fall, my whole day revolves around the Ohio State football game, dressed in scarlet and gray!). Then I'll go to an Olivet game, football or basketball. Of course, they'll both win.

These days, it will most likely include a trip to Chicago to visit Jackson. Luke, Brayden's dad, gets out of the Army soon. So if they move closer to us, we will begin the rotation. We're hoping that starts some time in April!

Throwback Thursday - 1969

Who's up for a rousing game of Flickerball? Anyone? The game - a cross between football and basketball - replaced football in the men's intramural program in 1969. We think it's just about time to bring this classic game back.

If you've ever played or you know the rules, let us know!

(Photo courtesy of the 1969 Aurora.)

BILLIONS & BILLIONS: Some People would say that is real money!!

Guest Feature by Don Daake and Edward Piatt

Question: A million dollars at one time was a lot of money for a government to spend, and then it became billions and now trillions. It is just hard to understand the scope of these numbers. Do they really make any difference to me, my family and my business?

Anyone over thirty years of age will remember astronomer Carl Sagan’s famous line “billions and billions,” that only his deep baritone voice could project so effectively. Even if you did not really know what a billion galaxies were, he convinced you it was something really big.

For those a little older, you’ll remember Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen’s stunning line “A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you are talking about real money!” While it was attributed to him, no one seems to be able to track down an exact reference. Nevertheless the point is so appropriate today.

The astounding numbers we hear out of Washington and Springfield represent exponential spending growth. Whether you support big or small government, almost everyone agrees that things have gotten out of control. It has gone way beyond partisan politics!

That being said, we have been hearing for years that if large deficit spending continues, our financial house will come crashing down. We have billions of dollars of trade deficits, budget deficits, and a growing federal debt now approaching $12.1 trillion. Yet somehow we seem to be able fend off the Chicken Littles of the world. Sure we have had our ups and downs, but everything has ultimately turned out okay in the past.

It will be okay because it always has been, right? Maybe not this time. Most serious economists and policy makers that we know of are really concerned.

Here-in lies a fundamental problem. Like the boy who cried wolf too many times, we have been desensitized. Desensitization is an important psychological principle that is used to help people overcome fears about flying, bugs, public speaking and even meeting new people. By gradually exposing people to what they fear, eventually they lose that fear.

Desensitization of the wrong type can also happen to us by being exposed to a message over and over again. We have heard about the evils of multi-billion dollar deficits so often it doesn’t sink in anymore. If we are ever going to take serious the massive spending problems we need to re-sensitize ourselves to the sheer size and scope of these large numbers.

Putting these large numbers into the proper context can start us towards economic rehabilitation.

How it stacks up.

A million dollars of $100 bills stacked in a pile would be about 45-50 inches tall. Only 50 inches you might ask? Well those 50 inches could buy a lot of cheeseburgers or 15-20 nicely equipped Cadillacs.

What about a billion dollars of $100 bills stacked up? The pile would be about 358 feet tall, equivalent to a 35 story building-or approximately five times higher than the Executive Center in downtown Kankakee.

While that might be interesting trivia, let’s put this in a more real world context for us. Consider the following three examples that will drive home just how much money is being spent by our federal government each year.

Building Sears Tower over and over and over again.

Even though Sears Tower is now known as Willis Tower, to most of us it will always be known as Sears Tower. If we were to ask you how many days of federal spending it would take to build a complete Sears Towers, we suspect most of you might guess 20-30 days.

With federal spending this year of $3.61 trillion, we are actually spending of $9.8 billion per DAY. The Sears (Willis) Tower today is valued at approximately $840 million. We are not talking 20-30 days of spending to build a new Tower. More than eleven Sears Towers could be built per DAY, 365 days a year or one about every two hours.

Walmart’s profits.

Chances are you have heard of little Arkansas chain store started by a fellow named Walton. Modest at first, it has become the largest retailer in the world and the largest private employer in the United Sates. Walmart is often held out as either the savior or villain of corporate America. Like many large businesses, they have their pros and cons. But detractors will bash them for their large and excessive profits. True they are the “800 Pound Gorilla” in the retail world with 2008 sales of about $379 billion dollars.

What shocks most people, though, is their profit margin on sales in a little less than 3.4 percent, not 30 to 40 or even 50 percent that many people imagine. Of even greater surprise, though, is the fact that every cent of their profits for an entire year would be consumed in less than 31 hours of federal spending!

So when you hear politicians of either party rail against excessive profits of corporate America, perhaps you ought to ask if they have ever had a course in Economics 001 — remedial economics. Our point here is not a defense of Walmart or politician bashing per se, but rather to get all of us to understand these massive numbers.

You’re in Debt! You’re in really deep.

Congress is seeking authority to raise the national debt ceiling to 12.1 trillion. If you want to see the debt growth in real time right in front of your eyes try this Web site. Really appalling!

Even if we never pay off the debt (which we won’t unless the Chinese and others say “PAY UP”), interest payments MUST always be made. Here’s the bottom-line: each of us 308 million Americans owe $39,300. If you have a family of four, you owe a cool $157,200.

For many people that is as much as their house is worth. Since the median income in Illinois for a family of four is about $81,000 you’d have to work almost a full two years to pay your family’s share. But it is really is worse than that, since your take home pay might be only 75 to 80 percent of your gross income. You’d have to work full-time for two-and-a-half years to pay your share. No food, no housing, no movies, no nothing — just working for the man, Uncle Sam.

So what’s the point of all of this? It is not to depress us, but rather to motivate us. We want to re-sensitize you!

Just like your family has to analyze its earning and spending realities, we must demand the same of our government at all levels. Remember when it’s FREE or someone else is paying (the government), it is really expensive. We must be involved in returning financial common sense to our government at all levels.

A trillion here and a trillion there — and we talking about real money!

Don Daake is a professor of business for Olivet Nazarene University. He holds a B.S. from Kansas State University, an MBA from the University of Iowa and Ph.D. from the Florida State University in Strategic Management.

Edward Piatt is a manager with over 25 years experience and is among the first students in Olivet’s first-ever doctoral program, the Doctorate of Education in ethical leadership. He holds a B.S. from Purdue University and an MBA from Governor’s State University.

This article originally appeared in The Daily Journal, Kankakee, Ill.

Word of the Week: Cosmeticize

Cosmeticize (verb)

Pronounced:

kahz-MET-uh-syze

Definition:

To make (something unpleasant or ugly) superficially attractive

Example Sentence:

Julian attempted to cosmetize the financially driven decision to cut employee hours by announcing they would all be able to enjoy three-day weekends from now on.

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According to Merriam-Webster, “‘Cosmeticize’ first appeared in print in the early 19th century as a descendant of the noun ‘cosmetic.’ Originally, its use was often literal; with the meaning ‘to apply a cosmetic to,’ but today it is often used figuratively.”

Are you known for being too blunt? Are you tasked with breaking bad news? Try cosmetizing your everyday conversations with a little verbal rouge.

Here are a few fun examples of not-so-pleasant terms with “politically correct” alternatives from bored.com:

Bald: Folically independent

Clumbsy: Uniquely coordinated

Dead: Biologically challenged

Fat: Horizontally gifted

Gang: Youth group

Lazy: Motivationally deficient

Stained: Creatively re-dyed

Vomit: Unplanned reexamination of recent food choices

Worst: Least best

And finally…

Wrong: Differently logical

Definition and pronunciation taken from Merriam-Webster.

Trivia Tuesday: Big man on campus

Congratulations to Coach Ralph Hodge, who this past Saturday coached his 1000th career game as collegiate men’s basketball head coach — all at Olivet!

With 622 wins, Coach Hodge ranks ninth in wins among all active college men’s basketball coaches. His teams have won 11 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season titles and five CCAC Tournament Championships. He has 14 NAIA Division I National Tournament appearances, earning 12 wins. During those trips, he has taken three teams to the Sweet Sixteen, three teams to the Elite Eight, and in 2000 he led the Tigers to the Final Four.

Frankly, it’s hard to remember a time when Coach Hodge wasn’t involved in Tiger basketball. Of the 1,260 men’s basketball games played since 1966 (when the sport was first established at ONU) Hodge has participated in 1,155 as a player, grad assistant, or coach.

Besides Ralph Hodge, how many people have served as head men’s basketball coach for Olivet?

Take a guess in the comments section, and we’ll post the correct answer next week.

Answer to last week’s question: D. In Italy, they have a tradition of wearing red underwear on New Year's Day to encourage good luck in the coming year.