My Friend Brent Corbin

For those of you who do not know Brent Corbin, you are surely unfortunate. Brent is the most intriguing, most interesting, most puzzling person I think I have ever met. One day I want to write a book about him. But for now, a blog will suffice.

Corbs is from small town Duncan, Oklahoma, where he was indoctrinated early on with the teachings of a local Bible Church. This is where he learned to close his eyes and lift his hands to such songs as "Brokenness, Brokenness is what I long for; Brokenness is what I need." He also sang other Christian classics like Heart of Worship, Shout to the Lord, and Sanctuary. He was indeed going back to the heart of worship and it's all about You, it's all about You Jesus.

Brent Corbin is physically attractive, personally disarming, fun to be around, and incredibly bright. To list a few of his accomplishments, he has been in the Presidents Leadership Class, Sooner Scouts, the Mortar Board, the Crimson Club, Campus Activities Council, Student Alumni Board, and the Beta Gamm Sigma Honor Society. He is a ConocoPhillips Scholar, a Kenneth and Juliet Woodward Memorial Scholar, a Valedictorians Scholar, an Oklahoma Scholar, and was voted by his peers into the Top Ten for his Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior year. Think about it. He was one of the top ten, which was taken from a pool of thousands of other contestants. I'm not sure what qualifies one as being a "Top Ten" but he received it. Three times. He was the Vice President of his fraternity, Brothers Under Christ. (BYX was his second fraternity experience. He dropped out of Pi Kappa Phi after his freshman year. Reasons are still pending.)

He is muscular in his build and he cares about his appearance. In college he shaved his chest. He might have even shaved his legs, I can't remember. I wouldn't suprise me if he did. He owns products for his face and hair that I have never heard of, nor could ever afford. And he's gone tanning.

And of course, the ladies love him. But not more than he loves them. With his looks and personality, he had his pick of the litter in small town Duncan. Going out with girls was like taking out the trash, you need to do it a few times a week. The pattern continued into college and beyond.

The stats alone are mind boggling. How does one not develop a sense of pride with that report card? How does one not drown in self-absorption with those credentials? I'm not suggesting that he suffers from such vices. I'm simply alerting my reading audience to its hightened potential with such statistics.

His thoughts shifted in college from the dispensational sensationalism of the nondenominational Bible Church to the theologically rigorous Calvinism of the Presbyterian Church. And so shifted his targets for relationships. But this also provided new and interesting reasons to break up with girls. In the past, a common reason he would break up would be "God told me we shouldn't be together" or "I just feel like I can grow more spiritually on my own." Now, his break up reasons are "because you don't affirm paedobaptism" or "because you want to be something other than a mother of 8 children."

Brent Corbin is an amazing walking paradox. Seriously. He is the funniest person I know. And he frustrates me more than anyone else. He has all the reasons to be prideful and self-absorbed and he is constantly acknowledging his insecurities and failures. He lives out the synthesis of Romans 7 and 8 fully and honestly, tiptoing on the tight rope of his own sin and the assurance of God's forgiveness. People are attracted to him for a reason. He is a screw up. But he knows it. And God's glory is trumpeted as a result.

I have no doubt ragged on Corbin through this blog more than was probably appropriate. And there is more to rag on that will be left unmentioned. But as I close, allow me to reinforce my absolute adoration of him. He is a walking reminder to me of God's grace, that God is kind to those who distort and ruin life. He shows me this because he understands his ability to sin and he knows the free grace of a King who pardons him despite him. He tells the greatest and funniest stories because they are usually at his expense. He is the easiest person to laugh with because he knows how to laugh at himself. He is indeed a clay pot that the Great Potter is sculpting; dry and cracked and seemingly falling apart and yet being shaped into someone who exalts God's work because of his awareness of what God is actually working with.

He is a screwed up, corrupted, perverted, arrogant, beautiful, humble, faithful, faithless, pure, manipulative, honest person who has been redeemed and is being redeemed by grace. He is my dear friend Brent Corbin. And you should get to know him.