About

Welcome to The Silent Holocron!  A holocron, for the non-Star Wars fans among you, is a small cube (think Rubik’s cube) into which the Jedi deposited their wisdom and lore, recording it for the training of future generations of Jedi.  This is called the “silent” holocron because, quite frankly, I am Deaf.

My name is Stephen Newell. I am the husband of Tricia (that’s her at the left) and the father of Grace Elizabeth, born on January 29, 2008. I am a May 2006 graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with an M.Div. in Pastoral Counseling.  I am the Associate Pastor of Louisville Baptist Deaf Church (under whose umbrella I have placed my counseling ministry, Salt and Light Ministries) and a part-time supervisor in the Smalls Sort at UPS.  A fledgling Deaf ministry expert-in-training, I seek to bring Deaf ministry to the awareness of the hearing ministry community.

As you might have gathered, I am a fan of all things Star Wars. I am a hard-core reader (as is my wife), and my reading interests span the genres; from theology, history, biography, fiction (historical, fantasy and science), and I am quickly garnering a taste for the classics. I love the martial arts; I am a lapsed practicioner of Isshinryu karate in need of getting back into the art. A former athlete, I have played baseball all my life, and in high school I played baseball, tennis, and golf. I still golf to this day, albeit not often enough! I have dabbled in wrestling and basketball. Recreationally, I have played racketball (or racquetball), ping pong, ultimate (frisbee), pool, softball, flag football, and even attempted water polo at one point. Currently my friends are trying to get me to start running, but I don’t know about that yet!

I pray that this blog is a place where you can be edified and learn along with me as I share my thoughts, studies, and readings. Feel free to interact in the comments!

For legal purposes, I must include the following disclaimers below:

Disclaimers

• The opinions, commentary, and Scriptural exegesis that appear on this blog are totally personal, from my own mind and study, and do not necessarily reflect the stated beliefs of Louisville Baptist Deaf Church (LBDC), nor do they reflect the policies of United Parcel Service (UPS).
• This blog is done entirely on my own time on my own computer, using internet service which I alone have paid for.  Neither LBDC nor UPS finance any part of this blog outside of the salary I draw from them for the work they have hired me to do, and no part of this blog has been written on LBDC or UPS computers.
• Any and all personal disagreements with the content of this blog should, in the spirit of Matthew 18:15-20, be directed to me alone at the e-mail address listed below.  Any violation of this specific disclaimer will bring serious doubt as to the integrity of your disagreement until you approach me personally.
• All sermons, commentary, Scriptural exegesis, etc. posted here are the intellectual property of J. Stephen Newell, Jr. or the named author thereof. You may use them as sermon or lesson preparation material only. Any who use this material without permission or word for word will have to give an account for their actions to God Almighty, who knows and sees all that we do.

You may contact the Deaf Jedi Council about any suspicious droid or clone armies by email at SNewell77{AT}gmail.com.  Just replace the {AT} with @ and you’re good to go.

I hope that you enjoy your time here at the Holocron!  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!