The Faith of Ernie Harwell

As you are probably aware, long-time Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away this week at the age of ninety-two. Harwell, who had been calling major league baseball games for over half a century, spent the bulk of his Hall of Fame career announcing games for my beloved Detroit Tigers.

For those of us that grew up listening to Mr. Harwell's voice on the radio, a part of us has died along with his passing. He connected Tigers fans across generations and leaves us wonderful memories of the innocence of childhood and the peaceful of his voice in the background on a quiet summer evening. For sports fan in Michigan there are names like Schembechler and Howe and Isiah and Sanders and Yzerman and Trammell and many, many others that hold a special place in our hearts. But perhaps more than any other, Ernie Harwell stands above the rest.

Although he was a Southerner by birth, Mr. Harwell grew to love the state of Michigan and its residents. During his last official broadcast at the end of the 2002 season, he had this to say:

"It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure. I'm not leaving, folks. I'll still be with you, living my life in Michigan -- my home state -- surrounded by family and friends," he said.

"And rather than goodbye, please allow me to say thank you. Thank you for letting me be part of your family. Thank you for taking me with you to that cottage up north, to the beach, the picnic, your work place and your backyard. Thank you for sneaking your transistor under the pillow as you grew up loving the Tigers. Now, I might have been a small part of your life. But you've been a very large part of mine. And it's my privilege and honor to share with you the greatest game of all."

And in a ceremony in his honor just mere months before his passing, Mr. Harwell said this:

"In my almost 92 years on this Earth, the good Lord has blessed me with a great journey," Harwell told fans, "and the blessed part of that journey is that it's going to end here in the great state of Michigan. I deeply appreciate the people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have. And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all."

I never had the privilege of meeting him but for those that did, it seems that he always left a positive impression. And I don't think it was by chance. In an interview with Detroit Free Press columnist and author Mitch Albom that took place shortly before his death, Mr. Harwell shared about a life changing event in 1961 where he became a Christian at a Billy Graham event. In his non-confrontational and endearing manner, Harwell shares how his encounter with Jesus radically changed his life and enabled him to face his final days with courage and dignity. You can read Albom's column on Harwell here and watch the video where he tells his story of faith here.

Kent State 40 Years Later

It was forty years ago today that tragedy fell upon the sleepy northeastern Ohio campus known as Kent State University. By the end of that day, four students lay dead, with several others having received gun wounds. Their injuries came not at the hands of terrorists or renegade gunmen, but from the Ohio National Guard.

I was not yet born when the Kent State shootings happened but, in some small way, I do feel a connection to what happened on May 4, 1970. Having served as a campus minister at Kent State for six years, I've spend a lot of time on the campus. In fact I proposed to my wife on campus not too far from where the shootings took place. Even though the deaths of Jeff Miller, Allison Krause, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder happened forty years ago, the tragedy in which their lives were taken still casts a pall over the campus.

When I moved to Kent, Ohio in 1996, the university was still in the processing of forming its identity in the wake of the shootings. On one hand the school sought to distance itself from the killings; on the other hand, it embraced its place in American history. Having become a symbol for the Vietnam war protest movement, at one point the school dropped "State" from its name and changed the logo in an attempt to form a new identity. In time, though, the name "Kent State" was welcomed back and it seems like the campus and its surrounding community has somewhat come to grips with what happened there.

For a look back at what happened and some of the details on May 4th, USA Today has a nice article here and a picture gallery here. For those that are part of the Kent State community, the shootings will always remain a part of the fabric of the university. But I hope that as the years continue to pass that the anger of the past will give way to forgiveness, healing and restoration.

* The iconic photo included here was taken by then-Kent State student John Filo.

How College Loan Debt Affects African Americans

In my work with The Impact Movement I have the privilege of working with a number of highly intelligent and talented students from across the country. Many graduates from our chapters go onto successful careers in a number of fields and become active members of local church congregations in cities throughout the United States and in the world.

For a small percentage of these students, they sense a unique call from God to enter into vocational Christian ministry. Although many of these students are able to see that calling fulfilled, a relatively high number have to delay (or forgo altogether) their plans to enter into the ministry due to financial debt. In some cases this may be caused by consumer (i.e. credit card) debt, but most times it is because of student loans that were incurred in order to get their college education in the first place.

Ericka Blount Danois writes on the Black Voices blog about how African American students are graduating with higher levels of debt than any other ethnic groups in the U.S. Here are some facts listed by Danois:

• Almost 17 percent of all graduates in 2008 borrowed $30,500 or more to get their bachelor's degrees.
• About 25 percent of all college-degree recipients graduated with at least $24,600 in debt, and 10 percent graduated with at least $39,300, says the report.
• Only 19 percent of black students graduated with no debt.
• About 27 percent of all black students graduated with at least $30,500 in student-loan debt, while the portion of students with that level of debt ranged from 9 percent to 16 percent for other races.

According to Danois, the problem is not necessarily that students are borrowing money to go to college but many of them have not thought through how they will repay the loans on the salary they'll be earning:

"According to the report, the problem is not that the students are borrowing too much, but that difficulties in predicting earnings after graduation and students' lack of understanding about the financial impact of loans leave too many of them borrowing more than they can manage.

For instance, if you're attending a graduate teachers' college for $30,000 per year, and upon graduation, you're saddled with more than $100,000 in debt, it would take a lifetime to pay back that loan on a teacher's salary."

If you're currently a college student or a parent that will soon be sending your daughter or son away to school, it is wise to think through if the loans you're considering taking out will be worth it. For students anticipating going into missions, you need to serious think about whether you can realistically pay off $30,000 or more in student loans on a missionary's salary.

One of the tenets of our mission statement for The Impact Movement is to "produce leaders of financial responsibility." We realize that when we have indebtedness to others, we are limited in the options we can pursue in our service to God but with financial responsibility comes great freedom to serve God as He leads.

If you've found yourself in a situation of debt, I encourage you to read Dave Ramsey's advice here. If it is (or has been) a challenge for you to pay for college, it would be wise to look into other options besides loans such as scholarships, grants, and work study programs. College can be a great opportunity but not if it saddles you with crippling debt for the better part of adulthood. Making wise financial decisions before and during college will pay off in the long-run. You won't regret it.