Liberty Univ. Offers Scholarship to Eagle Scout Facing Gun Charges

They have never met a crisis that they could not turn into an opportunity for self-promotion.

[Jonathan Charles]

They have never met a crisis that they could not turn into an opportunity for self-promotion.

Or …. a story with a good ending. I’m happy for the kid

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My own plan for my kids’ education. Wear a Liberty T-Shirt .. take a gun to school … get on the news … get scholarship ( :) )

[Note to the NSA or whoever monitors everything on the Internet .. the plan for my kids’ education is humor]

[Jonathan Charles]

They have never met a crisis that they could not turn into an opportunity for self-promotion.

That does seem to be a constant pattern. Have any of the other brief celebrities ever accepted one of these scholarships? How about the model/beauty pageant gal? Whatever happened to her?

[Jonathan Charles]

They have never met a crisis that they could not turn into an opportunity for self-promotion.

Cheap shot, man. Granted, they do a lot of promotion. But you don’t know whether this was purely a charitable act toward a kid with existing ties to Liberty, purely a stunt, or some mixture of the two.

[Jonathan Charles]

They have never met a crisis that they could not turn into an opportunity for self-promotion.

Isn’t that a bit cynical?

The kid was wearing a LU shirt when being interviewed on TV that had been given to him by his sister who graduated from Liberty. Jerry, Jr., was in the area, saw the interview, called the kid and asked him about the shirt and if he was planning on going to LU. He told him he had wanted to, but couldn’t afford it. Jerry, Jr. did what I saw his dad do many, many times. Made it possible for him to go to LU. Maybe he’s making an investment in a kid. Maybe he’s creating good will. Maybe he’s making a political statement. Maybe he’s self-promoting. I don’t know if any of us have the answer to that question. I do think we can be happy for the kid who now gets to go to the school he had wanted to attend and that Jerry, Jr., cared enough for either the kid or the school or even both, to make a generous and timely arrangement. If we need to follow the usual SI practice and criticize the University….might I recommend their music style? That usually gets a nice conversation started. :-D

(BTW…Jerry, Sr. asked me where my kids wanted to go back in 2006. I told him they wanted to go to LU if I could afford it. He was willing to give my kids a free scholarship, but I didn’t want that. Instead, I asked him to let me teach for him. Two months later, I was on the online faculty and it’s been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in ministry. Jerry wasn’t a perfect man, but he was always a generous guy and he genuinely cared about people.)

I do think we can be happy for the kid who now gets to go to the school he had wanted to attend and that Jerry, Jr., cared enough for either the kid or the school or even both, to make a generous and timely arrangement.

I agree. I applaud Liberty for making the offer.

Remember this:

Or this:

Or this:

That Jerry made some stupid comments throughout his 40+ years of ministry and tens of thousands of hours of public statements? I don’t think anyone would have suggested anything different. Jerry would have told you that the infamous PTL debacle was probably the biggest mistake in his ministry. It came very close to costing him everything he’d worked to accomplish up to that point. I’m sure he made more mistakes than these three. I know I sure have. Thankfully, I’m not famous so I don’t have anyone to drag them out on a regular basis and wave them around to remind everyone. Well, except my family that is. They like to keep me humble. :-D

I don’t think anyone, friend or foe, would deny that Liberty has a flair for the dramatic and the celebrity.

Maybe there would be less cynicism in this particular case of charity if there was more of a history of doing good just for the chance to do good, where Matt. 6:3—“But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth…”—was the perceived influence driving the opportunity.

Just an observation.

“God, thank you that I am not like Jerry” as I beat my chest with eyes pointed toward heaven.

Come on, we all know that Falwell manufactured and co-opted controversy in order to keep his ministry in the spotlight. Falwell’s mantle has fallen on his sons and Robert Jeffress who has a huge building program to pay for.

Jonathan….I can guarantee with absolute knowledge that paying for every building that is under construction and virtually every one on the master plan for the university is something that no one at the University is losing one minute’s sleep over. Not a minute. Not a second. If I could tell you why, I would, but if I did, someone would need to kill me and I’ve still papers to grade, so now wouldn’t be a good time. :-P

The Falwell’s have never let outside criticism deter them, nor distract them. Perhaps that’s why they are the largest evangelical university in the world. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, I watched a series of the “brethren” do everything in their power to change, weaken and disable what was going on in Lynchburg. Some have already had to close their doors and others soon will. Yet, LU continues doing what they always said that they wanted to do, “Train Young Champions for Christ.” Like’em, hate’em, love’em, loathe’em — one has to admit that they have always been willing to march to the beat of their own drum. Perhaps that is something every Christian educational institution of higher learning should learn to do.