Well, it's been ten months since the last time I updated and quite a bit has happened.
The thing I'm concentrating the most on is the fact that my family and I are moving to Evansville, Indiana on Monday. I took a job working with the Northwest Church of Christ and I am really excited about it.
On a side note: I'm also really excited to move away from El Reno; Dan knows the joke.
I guess I'm just really used to facebook now because I can't think of that much more to say.
So, I guess I'll just talk to you all later with an update as to how things are going after the move.
I love you.
~Curtis

So, I surprised myself this morning when I checked pleonast (which I still check almost every day) and I noticed that I hadn't posted anything about the birth of my son! I am ashamed at my negligence and am attempting to remonstrate this now.

Back on December 27, 2011, at 14:41 CST, Titus Russell Carwile was born at Integris Hospital in Yukon, Oklahoma. He was 21 inches long and a manly 7 pounds, 2.5 ounces. He was greeted into the world by his mother (obviously), his father, his Grandpa and Grandma Carwile from Louisville, KY, and his Mimi and Paca (Pauletta and Eddie Cook) from Amarillo, TX.

He is a handsome young man (naturally); all of his doctors and nurses made the point to tell us that he was. Actually, we've had several people already tell us that "You know, you have to tell people that their baby is pretty. But, we don't have to lie about your kid." He never once looked like an alien. He has just always looked like a daper young man.

For the record, he does not have red hair. A lot of people ask about it. For some reason, when the light hits it just right (like in flash photos), it looks redder than it really is.

A lot of people ask where we got his name so I will tell all of you in case you were asking. We got the name "Titus" from the Bible. I was about to put "obviously" in that last statement but, oddly/sadly enough, it isn't as obvious as I would have thought. For example, when we told our doctor his name, she asked if it was from a book or something and I simply replied, "Yes, the Bible." She was embarassed and said, "Well, of course, it's in the Bible... Old Testament, right?" "The New." "My mother would be so ashamed." :) On a side note, the next time we went in for a check-up, our doctor told us that she had read the book of Titus twice since the last time we saw her. I'm calling all of that Titus' first evangelistic effort. :) But, we got the name Titus from the Apostle Paul's "true son in the faith." We decided on it because of who Titus was: a confident young evangelist who was someone everyone could trust to be above reproach in behavior and charater. This is exactly what I want my son to be. His middle name "Russell," while it is the same as my middle name, doesn't come from me, but from the greatest man I have ever personally known, my Pappaw, Jake Russell Trail. He was a tender-hearted and godly man who was great with his family, great with his friends, and great with his finances. Again, Titus Russell was named after someone I would love for him to be just like.

All modesty aside, Becca and I are doing a pretty good job with the whole "Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4" thing. We are reading Titus the Bible every day, usually when we wake up and when we go to bed. We are praying together multiple times a day. I'm even singing "church songs" to him. He's been to every worship assembly since January 4th, 2012. Plus, Titus and I will sit at the computer and listen to sermons on-line; we're really liking Mark Roberts' "Man-Up" series he did last year at the West Side Church of Christ in Irving, TX (their website is www.justchristians.com). He even sits there and helps me work on my lessons for Sunday and Wednesday.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say right now. I'm sure that I will relate all of the adorable and brilliant things he does in the future. So, stay tuned.

I love you all.
I love you and you.
~Curtis

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7327683/big-east-conference-introduces-boise-state-broncos-san-diego-state-aztecs-houston-cougars-smu-mustangs-ucf-knights

This morning, I was reading about the different shifts in college sports. It all started with Colorado moving to the Pac(ific)-12. Now, last time I checked, Colorado is not all that close to the Pacific. But, we all shrugged and said, "It's only Colorado and the Pac-12. So, who really cares?" But, now, I see that Boise State (which is, as you would suspect, in Idaho) is joining the Big East. The Big EAST. Last time I checked, Idaho was in the western part of the US, a very far distance away from the east.

So, why are all of these schools moving to conferences of which they have no business being a part? Some will say that it's for more money or more prestige. And, while that may be part of it, my theory is simpler: all these schools just aren't that good at geography. Seriously, how hard is it for Boise State to look at a map and say, "Heeeeywaitaminute. We're in Idaho. We're nowhere near the East"? I don't understand why they don't do that. I mean, it's not like they don't have the time; they live in IDAHO for goodness sake! It just seems like, if people had just some understanding of geography, a lot of this wouldn't be a problem. So, all I can come up with is that these schools and conferences which are participating in these shenanigans don't know their east from their west.

And, since these are all seats of "higher learning," I am forced to ask the question: why would anyone want to go to a school or a school associated with one of these conferences that doesn't know basic geography? Think about it for a moment. If you are going to a college to learn something, anything, and your school can't get something as elementary as "east and west" right, what makes you think they can teach you calculus or physics or history or geography or anything else? The point is that you can't. Therefore, my recommendation is that people go to schools that know what they are doing or, at the very least, know their cardinal directions.


I understand that this was a very long rant about something most people don't care about and it wasn't even all that funny. However, this is Pleonast; if I can't things like this here, where else can I do it? Long Live Pleonast!

I love you all.
I love you and you.
And, Merry Christmas!
~Curtis

The beginning of Ephesians 5:14 says, "Awake, you who sleep!"

There's a man I know (and, I know he doesn't mind me saying this) who, because of a medical condition, falls asleep almost immediately as soon as he sits down. And, I have preached several sermons with him sleeping right through every single one. The first time that happened, I was a little disturbed by it. But, then, someone explained to me that he does have this medical condition and it never bothered me again.

Not all of us have that same excuse, do we? Not all of us have a medical condition which makes us sleep whenever we sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. As a matter of fact, less than 0.002% of the population has narcolepsy (source: Stanford University School of Medicine, 1989). So, when we fall asleep in the worship assemblies, there's a pretty good chance that we could have avoided that.

And, just for a moment, I would like to bring up a few practical things we can do to avoid falling asleep during the worship assemblies.
1. Get plenty of sleep. Now, while that may sound like a ridiculous thing to say, the American medical Association estimates that 60% of Americans don't get enough sleep on a regular basis. As a people, we don't sleep well. We have to get up early and we like to stay up late. We give ourselves poor sleep schedules. And, because of this, we have poor sleep patterns. And, because of this, we have less restful sleep. This causes us to be less alert, less focused, and less productive during the hours of the day we are awake. We need to get plenty of sleep if we're going to stay awake during worship services. And, I'm not talking about just on Tuesday and Saturday nights; I'm talking about getting yourself in a good and regular sleep schedule and doing your best to stay on it. And, work your sleep schedule around worship times (Matthew 6:33). If you know that you need to be at worship assemblies at 9AM or 9:30AM on Sunday mornings (and, you always want to be, at least, 15 minutes early), and you know that it will take you roughly so long to get yourself and your family ready to go and roughly so long to get there, start from the time you need to wake up and count eight hours back and you'll find the time you need to go to sleep every night. For me, right now, that's 11PM. I'm not saying that's what yours should be; I'm just saying that this is what mine is. Find the best time that works out for you and your family and make it your schedule. Understand that there will come times when it needs to be adjusted, but do your best to keep your schedule. If you do this, you will get a more restful sleep and this will help you stay awake in worship assemblies.

2 & 3. Now, getting on a good sleep schedule is going to mean that we are going to have to forgo other things. And, this brings us to points #2 and #3: Realize and Sacrifice. Some times, I don't think we understand what our worship assemblies are supposed to be. I've actually stopped calling them "church services" because it gives the impression that the primary function is to just service the people. And, while we do have a responsibility to provide each other spiritual edification (Hebrews 10:24-25; Ephesians 4:11-16), our primary function in whatever we do, espcially when it comes to our worship assemblies, is to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31). I think we don't understand that because we don't realize that God is there in our midst when we gather together in His name (Matthew 18:20). Some times, we get the notion in our heads that God is just sitting up in Heaven, looking down at us like we're an ant farm. That's the wrong way to think about things because, when He is a very real Presence everywhere, especially in our worship assemblies. You know, if we knew that this coming Sunday morning, Jesus was going to physically walk into our worship assemblies, wouldn't we make ourselves well rested so we could take it all in, the day Jesus came to our congregation?! Yet, God/Jesus IS there every time we assemble to worship in a very real way. And, if we realize this, then making those sacrifices will be so much easier. I mean, what is more important that God and Jesus? Is your job, your retirement, that movie or TV show, that football game, that concert, hanging out with your friends, or anything else more important than your worship to God? It shouldn't be. And, while many of us would say that those things aren't as important, what do our actions say? I'm afraid that, with many of us, our actions betray just how spiritually weak and immature we truly are. If we need to sacrifice some things to get a good sleep, then, let them be the less important things and let us never forsake our Lord and Savior and our worship to Him! And, getting back to the main message, if we realize this and make the appropriate sacrifices, getting a good night's sleep to where you're not falling asleep in the worship assemblies wouldn't really be a problem.

4. Well, one last thing we can do is this: Participate in the worship assemblies. When I say that to people, they'll say things like, "I can't participate in the worship services" and they'll give a number of reasons (eg, "i'm afraid to get up infront of people," "I'm just not talented in that way," "I'm a woman," etc). None of those things are what I mean when I say "participate in the worship assemblies." What I mean is be focused and productively active during worship. And, I'll just point this out right here: if you're not focused and productively active, then what you're doing is not really "worship," is it (Isaiah 29:13)? But, what I mean by participating is that you are not just physically there, but that you are mentally there, as well. Again, this is where having a good sleep schedule come in helpful. Give yourself plenty of time to wake up mentally and give yourself plenty of time to be at services before they begin to make sure that you are mentally "there" and not thinking about the guy who "made you late" by driving 40mph in a 55mph zone. So, don't just be there physically, be there mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Also, when the preacher is doing the preaching, open your Bible and turn to those passages (Acts 17:11); engage your mind in the thougths, ideas, principles, and concepts that are being presented (Colossians 3:16a; Philippians 4:8) and, then, engage your body of the application of those things (James 1:22, 25; 2:14-26). Take notes. And, don't just take notes on the sermon, but on the prayers and songs which are being offered up to the Lord, on the Lord's Supper, on the giving of our means (keep a little journal of just whether or not you're cheerful in your giving or not or something small like that), and even take notes on the announcements (write down the names of the people you need to call, email, visit, and/or pray for during the week or Gospel meetings you plan on attending). When the song leader gets up, take out a song book and think about the words while you sing (1 Corinthians 14:15). And, remember that the Lord is right there, so belt out every off-key note to tell God just how happy (James 5:13) and thankful you are to Him for all the amazing love He has shown to you and all mankind. When someone leads a prayer, follow along and repeat those words to yourself and understand those words and make them your words (1 Corinthians 14:15). When the Lord's Supper is being obseved, take your mind back to the cross and remember the love Jesus showed in that great sacrifice (Romans 5:6-11) and proclaim that death and resurrection with each emblem. And, when you give, don't just toss your check in the basket, but think about the many different ways God has blessed you and think about how the congregation can and will use that money to spread the "good news" of how great and how good God truly is and all the good that will come from that work. So, participate in the worship and, I'll guarantee that you'll be too busy to fall asleep in the worship assemblies.

Are any of these things too difficult for us to do? No, of course, not. Will it take some effort on our part to employ these practical applications? Yeah, there's no doubt about that. But, will it be worth it? You better believe it! So, "awake, you who sleep" and worship the Lord with your awakened heart (Colossians 3:23) "for He is good" (Psalm 106:1)!


I love you all.
I love you and you.
~Curtis

First Chronicles 16:8 says this: "Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!"

In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed that on the final Thursday of November, the entire United States would celebrate a Day of Thanksgiving. And, even though a harvest festival of sorts had been celebrated in the Americas since as early as 1598, this was the first official Thanksgiving.

What a lot of people don’t know about Lincoln making Thanksgiving a national holiday is that it was an attempt to end the American Civil War. The war began in 1861 and after the summer of 1863, over 500,000 soldiers had died due to wounds or disease. Abraham Lincoln thought that was insane. So, he thought long and hard about how to end the war through more peaceful means. Lincoln eventually used an idea proposed to him by Sarah Hale and made Thanksgiving a national day of thanks for the entire American people, both North and South. His reasoning was that, if they would just stop fighting with each other, focus on God and the countless blessings He had blessed all men every with, then maybe, just maybe, both sides would continue their cessation of aggression. Unfortunately, his plan didn’t work and the war continued on into the spring of 1865.

In light of this coming Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, I would like to make this suggestion: if you are currently are “war” with anyone, regardless of offense, that you and whoever you are at war with lay down your pride, focus on God and the many blessings with which He has blessed all people everywhere, and just leave your broken pride right there in the blood-stained mud. And, instead, take the hand of the person you had called “enemy” and move forward into eternity together.

And, if you think you are not at war with anyone right now, let me remind you that if you are in sin, you are at war... with God, the Almighty and Omniscient Creator, Sustainer, Master, and Judge of the entire Universe. So, just stop your warring against Him, humble yourself before Him, tell Him that you are wrong for sinning against Him, and that you’re sorry, and that you’re going to repent even this very night because of His marvelous deeds, the greatest of which is the giving on His Son, our Savior and Friend, to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we might stand whole and holy now and forevermore.


God has blessed us all so richly. Let us give our whole lives into giving Him thanks.
I hope that you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
I love you all.
I love you and you.
~Curtis