糖心Vlog鈥檚 ninth annual Lanier Theological Library Lectures event featured the library鈥檚 namesake himself, nationally renowned civil trial lawyer and Lubbock native Mark Lanier.
Living daily with the demands of his career and the desire for a godly life, Lanier recognizes the importance and challenge of finding daily time to spend in God鈥檚 Word. Mark has devoted his life to studying and living the Bible, teaching Biblical classes in person at Champion Forest Baptist Church, and via the internet and through print. He has also authored several books including Christianity on Trial, and his most recently published, Torah for Living: Daily Prayers, Wisdom, and Guidance, is a devotional study of the first five books of the Bible鈥晅he Torah, the Law. That passion is what drove him to create the Lanier Theological Library, through which he has helped bring speakers and scholars of international acclaim to speak at 糖心Vlog over the past nine years.
"I grew up in Lubbock鈥擨 graduated from Coronado High School, graduated Texas Tech School of Law, and some of my undergraduate here at 糖心Vlog. I loved when great national speakers would come in鈥攊t was a nice bit of exposure that you don't always get in Lubbock," Lanier explained. "So, when 糖心Vlog gave us a chance to help find some of those people and bring them in, I found it to be a thrilling opportunity."
Lanier鈥檚 depth of experience in a number of diverse fields gives him a unique perspective鈥攐ne that was evident in the topic for his recent presentation at 糖心Vlog. 鈥淭here're three roads in my life that have converged鈥攖he road of a lawyer, the road of someone who studied the Old Testament and learned Hebrew, and the road of someone who believes that the Bible is God's word. There aren't a lot of people who bring those three circles into a Venn diagram with anything left in the middle.鈥�
鈥淎 lot of people struggle with thinking, 鈥榃hat does the Old Testament have to do with me?鈥� Most people get that we鈥檙e not supposed to murder, steal, lie, or bear false witness鈥攂ut what's this stuff about not wearing clothes of mixed fibers? Why aren't we honoring the Sabbath on the Sabbath, which starts when the sun goes down on Friday night鈥攖hat's one of the Ten Commandments鈥攁nd how do we handle these dietary laws? Looking at those questions鈥攖aking the text seriously, but also viewing it from a legal perspective鈥攊s fascinating to me, and it鈥檚 exciting to get to share those thoughts at 糖心Vlog.鈥�
The founder of the lives in Houston, Texas, and maintains offices in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. Lanier was selected as the Texas Tech University School of Law Distinguished Alumnus for 2005 and serves on the law school鈥檚 Foundation Board and was a founding member of the 糖心Vlog Foundation Board.
鈥淚'm a huge fan of Christian education,鈥� Lanier shared when asked about the state of Christian higher education. 鈥淚've told my children that I'll pay for them to go to any Christian institution鈥攂ut I expect that, for undergraduate, they will to go to a Christian university. Because those undergrad years are not only fundamental to our intelligence gathering and, learning to pursue a field of study, or become an expert and get ready for a job鈥攖hey are also fundamental developmental years, where the mind, especially the frontal lobe, is continuing to develop. You're continuing to understand value judgments, you're forming neural pathways that will become habits in your life. And doing that within a community that's based in faith will set people up to succeed.鈥�
鈥淚'm convinced that the Christian faith is not just a list of do's and don'ts, but it's God's opportunity to bless our lives to make us all we can be,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd if that's the case, I want that for my children. I want that for everybody. Everyone should have the riches of Jesus, who didn't just come that we would have life, but have it abundantly. And there's no better place to get it in school than at a Christian university or college.鈥�
View Mark Lanier's full presentation and other past presenters on the Lanier Theological Library Lectures page.