The President and the Students

Well, for over a week now there has been anxt and hand wringing over the idea that the President of the United States wanted to address the students of the nation. Supposed devious motives were extrapolated, school principles were called, and parents vowed to keep thier kids out of school... all because the President wanted to encourage the kids to stay in school.

So, I was lucky enough to be home today when the POTUS addressed the students. I listened in as he told them that, no matter what their circumstances were, they should not quit. He told them that it was thier patriotic duty to stay in school.

Really? That is what parents called about? That is what got so much airplay on conservative TV and radio?

Come on!

I hope that every parent that kept thier kid from watching the message sits down with their kids tonight and watches the speech. I thought it was inspiring to hear the stories about those that have overcome thier circumstances. Kids need to hear the positive and see the positive. Good on ya Barak.

Well, that was different!

Well, this weekend I experienced something that was very controversial during our worship service. When it happened, I looked around the room and saw the reaction of several people around me. There were some looks of disbelief and anger. One individual even refused to participate in the remainder of the activities. This action and reaction really stuck with me as I went through the day and has been on my mind for much of today. Strangely enough, it wasn't what happened (the scripturally debatable action) that bothered me the most. It was the question of, why would someone do something that they knew would be controversial and divisive? Even more importantly, it's the question of, what will happen now? How will this affect the unity of our congregation?

We are called to unity in Christ. Of all the things we argue and bicker about, we can't deny the call to unity. It is probably one of the most clearly articulated things in the New Testament. Christ specifically speaks about it, the writer of the book of Acts talks about it, and almost every letter in the N.T. has some passage about "oneness" or "unity" among believers. Through unity we are able to gather all of our talents together to do God's work. Without unity we are very ineffective. Things that threaten unity should be avoided.

I am not saying that ministers and leaders in the church should not ever take us out of our comfort zones. We need to grow, and growing means leaving our comfort zones. We need to constantly challenge our way of doing things to make sure that we are not allowing tradition to overshadow what the bible says. However, when such a confrontational action occurs, it tends to stunt growth rather than allow growth. people (being human) tend to just put up walls and hold there ground, no matter who's right or wrong.

There is a time to bring up controversial things and have open, honest discussions. That is the place where the more mature can support those who are less mature. That is the time where we can dig deep and walk away with a better understanding, a stronger relationship with each other, and a stronger relationship with God.

As always, just some thoughts...

Just Thinkin'

Tell me, do you think there are miracles that happen today? I mean miracles in the sense of "devine intervention/break the laws of nature" type miracles like we see in the bible... you know, healing the sick, raising the dead, that kind of stuff.

I hear people talk about someone being cured from cancer and calling it a miracle. I hear people describing someone surviving an acident and calling it a miracle. But I am sceptical.

TMS Race Results

Well, I guess it wasn't the Biff's day (although a 3rd place finish ain't that bad). Even though I'm not a fan, Gordon worked hard for that win.

Biffle in the lead!

He's in the lead right now! I'd settle for a top 5 finish today, but a win would be good... Go Biff, go!

After a short break

I've taken a bit of a break from blogging. Sometimes you just feel too busy to share or you don't have that much to say. More to come...

Auto Racing... "Not a real sport"?

From ESPN to local sports radio, I keep hearing that NASCAR is not a "real" sport. You know, Football, Baseball, Basketball... that's where its at! Or so many in the media would say. These talking heads are quick to point out the long history of each sport and the physical challenges that these so called athletes (I guess the ones that aren't juiced up) have to overcome.

When it comes to history, the sport of racing (other than running) has been around for centuries before the first ball and bat, net, or football were created. Chariot races were part of the ancient olympic games. Horses were raced in ancient times. The only other sports that can truely trace roots back as far as racing are soccer and field and track type games. NASCAR comes from this long history of racing and should be held up as the sport it is.