Solo piloted the 5th and 6th grade Wednesday night class tonight. My co-teacher was out. Tonights topic was demon possession. I’m not sure if I was able to get my points across. I tried to pick a topic which they’d be somewhat interested in. Demons and stuff like that. So you can try to teach and hope they learn something out of it. I’ll admit that I’m not much of a disciplinarian, which may be my Achilles� heel.
On Wednesday nights we’re doing a topical study. It’s kinda good not to be stuck on a book like we were earlier. But sometimes its difficult to come up with topics, especially the ones that will provoke interest.
Tomorrow: Holiday World with Scottsville church of Christ. Sorta a spur of the moment thing. Hope it’ll be good.

I probably need to print a retraction on this entry. In it I said this:

Anyways they asked me to do the opening prayer, which I royally messed up (I felt) but the rest of the congregation either wasn’t listening or didn’t care.

That could be misconstrued as a slam against the people at church.
I didn’t mean for it to come across like that. Most people at my church probably do listen to the prayers. My gripe was about my inability to pray, not for the lack of listening. Plus, if you’re like me, your mind usually wanders during prayers anyways. I did receive compliments about my prayer afterwards, which made me think that these people aren’t listening and are just being nice to me.
So if there was any potential church members who are looking over this site, thinking that most people don’t listen to prayers, then they are very much mistaken.
I would like to point out that I wrote this retraction on my own after judging it for myself. Not due to anyone else’s judgements.
I would like to also point out that this is not the official homepage for my church. Opinions expressed here are not those of any official at church. Do not take anything written here as the gospel truth. It could just be me ranting again.
I do like church. I really do. Its just sometimes I get extremely frustrated at it because of imperfections…something that all churches have because they are run by imperfect people.
I’ll have more to write about later on. It’s just getting late and I need to get some sleep.

Disaster Relief again today. I taped boxes this time. I wasn’t good to begin with, but I got better by the very end. So maybe I’ll be able to do it better next time. Mom went too. She bagged up paper plates. Time seemed to go by faster, since I was busier than before.
I have an opportunity to go on a 18 wheeler truck to Oklahoma on Monday to deliver relief supplies to tornado victims. I may go; I haven’t decided yet. It would be fun, but probably a little boring. Who knows. I’d be helping people, so that’s probably a good thing. And it’d be a interesting way to experience the highways on a 18 wheeler. So maybe I might go. Who knows.

“15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

I volunteered at the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief project today ( www.disasterreliefeffort.org ). Basically my job was to punch the hand holds through the boxes. Does that make sense? On the side of the boxes there are hand holds which help when you carry it.
We boxed 1200 cases of food and supplies for tornado victims in Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. At that particular time…when I was actually doing the boxing…I didn’t feel as though I was making a difference. However when I went by the office…to read through some of the thank you notes which had been sent, I could tell that we were making a difference in people’s lives. When someone’s house gets hit by a tornado and they have nothing but the clothes on their back…it’s very devestating. Then when they get a box full of food which says “Churches of Christ Disaster Relief” on it, it’s very heartwarming. I’m sure I will never meet any of the families which receive the boxes which I punched hand holds in. But somehow that doesn’t make a difference in my mind. Just the fact that its getting done.
I was probably the youngest person there. The boxing is done mostly by retired people. I guess it gives them something to do. When I retire I might like to help deliver the supplies to victims. Good way to see the country and help people along the way.

Most of what I learned before about 18 wheeler trucks were from movies and TV shows. BJ and the Bear. Smokey and the Bandit. I remember that episode of Alice where the brakes went out on the truck and Flo had to handle the truck around those hills. Or was that the Dukes of Hazzard. I don’t know.
Anyways we had that CDL (commerical drivers license) school at Antioch Church of Christ today. Most students were from Mt. Juliet. We are having to get class C drivers licenses if we want to drive the church van. New law comes into effect in 2 years.
The class itself was kinda long, but thorough. I thought they might have us out driving the van around in the church parking lot. Not so. We learned all about air brakes. Emergency brakes. How you can have seats in the aisles of buses as long as your transporting farm workers. I know all about driving 18 wheelers now.
I never knew so much material could be covered. There is apparently alot to driving trucks and buses.
I did notice something sorta strange in the church directory. In the formal picture…some lady was holding a picture of (apparently) her dead husband. He’s with her in spirit…and apparently on photographic paper. Just not in person. Maybe he died just a few weeks before the picture was taken and the lady was still grieving over it. Still, it appeared to me to be over the top…per say.

There is a camp meeting at Corinth church in Portland this Sunday afternoon. I’ll be going to the meeting, and possibly church somewhere in the area. Definitely church in Scottsville for the PM service since a friend of mine will be speaking.
As far as the AM service, who knows? I’d like to go to Corinth, but if I go there, the kids will automatically insist on being taken out to lunch, something which I hope not to get in the habit of doing. So it’ll either be Fountain Head or Scottsville. Most likely Scottsville for the AM service too.
Anytime I have an excuse to get away from my home church, I usually take advantage of it. I have my reasons. Maybe its me not wanting to have things too monotonious with the same thing over and over again. Or maybe its me wanting to visit friends whenever I can. Or maybe its not wanting to carry around the extra baggage of old folks’ memories of how I’ve been attending the same church since I was 2. People remember me and have their own built up prejudices or admiration of me before I even say one word to them on Sundays.
And those people who keep tabs on me wondering where I am on certain Sundays? Well apparently they have too much time on their hands. Anytime I am out on Sundays, I am worshipping with God’s people somewhere on the planet. I hold no official office at church, which gives me the freedom not to stick around 52 Sundays a year.
Many many times I have thought about moving my membership over to a different church in the area. I’ve visited them, but I don’t feel as though I am a good fit for them. People know me at Mt. Juliet, which can be good or bad in a way. I’m comfortable there. Some people like me there. I have my friends there. So I guess I’ll stay there for now.
And I’m not bad mouthing my church. It is a wonderful place for some people. My gripe involves several levels, many of which you will find at other churches, just on smaller levels. So don’t read this the wrong way. I’m just saying my own church may not be for me.
By the way, I did find out today that there is at least one person down the the unemployement office whose job is to make people feel stupid. Yep. Just make me feel stupid after having lost my job just a few months ago.

I was feeling a bit anti-social following the worship service, so I left without going for the soup and sandwiches fellowship meal. Schlotzsky’s was my best friend today. I guess it was me not wanting to wait in line and then find a place to sit with people I know. I hate alkward moments. So I avoid them if at all possible.
I know I’m supposed to try to be friendly toward new people, yet I’m just not good at meeting people. Public relations would not be my strong point. It’s not that I’m trying to be arrogant toward anyone. Its that it takes me a while to warm up to people. Most people who know me know that I am friendly. It helps if there’s something in common with initually. Computers. Music. Humor. Something like that.
And please note: “Anti-social” isn’t meant as some kind of deviant behavior. More of “I needed time alone.”
So I’m wondering about this war. I’m trying to find some moral justification for this war. I keep telling myself we’re the good guys in this war. Can we somehow convince the Iraqis that we are there to help instead of instituting our colonization? The media over there is pretty biased. They’re calling American soldiers “the invaders.” So somehow the whole society is precipitating suicide bombers and hatred toward America.

Tomorrow is Friends’ Day at church. I guess I should be excited about it, but somehow I’m not, or at least not excited as I should be. I invited a handful of people, all of which seemed either disinterested or had a reasonable excuse not to join me or both. I guess I don’t like crowds. Or to be more specific, I don’t like crowds in places which weren’t built for crowds. This is the same reason I avoid the Hermitage Walmart on Saturday afternoons.
Still I remain upbeat about it. Jesus can’t be put into a box. We’re supposed to share with everybody. Friends Day is just those bicycle training wheels that reminds us to invite our friends to church, something we should be doing anyways.
Anyways I hope things go well tomorrow. Whenever you bring alot of new people into worship services you stand a chance of offending someone….or having someone act against social mores. Once at a church of Christ in East Tennessee during the quiet part of the Lord’s Supper someone yelled out “This is not making me grow closer to God!” or something like that. Strange indeed. So some people may not know to be quiet during certain parts of the service. Others might get offended at what the minister has to say and walk out of the service. I suppose there’s a small chance of this happening, but I doubt that it will.
Oh yeah. Scott finally updated his weblog. So be sure to read it.
Anyways here’s some war links:
WTC Mural Found in Iraqi Barber Shop – Bizarre indeed. Quite a different view compared to this.
Statue of Liberty Replica gets the French treatment. What a shame. Wasn’t this a scene in Planet of the Apes?
ALWAYS wear your helmet

We found out tonight how much Phil is missed when an amature like me leads singing at the youth devotional. I was drafted….to be song leader. I never know if I’m pacing it too high or low. No melody. Anything like that. I’m lost sometimes. Especially when the kids request songs like “The Greatest Commandment” or “Someday.” Both songs require a broad range of voice tones, which we just didn’t have. Plus they’re pretty difficult songs to lead. Not necessarily my favorite songs. My favorite songs being “Amazing Grace,” “Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?” You know. Old school stuff. None of this flashy new stuff that Acapella came out with last year. Give me that old time religion.
I was in high school band. I know how to read music. It’s just difficult sometimes in a small group like that. Usually I can pick a relatively well-known song and just let autopilot take over. The kids were pretty adament about getting their requested songs led. So I didn’t have time to pick out my own.
I have recently discovered (or reminded) that war is very very bad. Iraq is a brutal regime. What were they trying to accomplish by showing beaten American P.O.W.’s on television? Were they trying to garner more support from other Arab nations? Were they trying to shock the homebound Americans into pulling out of the war? What they really did was to show their true colors. Pull out? Nope. Not until we get back out P.O.W.’s and bring to justice those monsters who did this.
I guess I’ll be inundated with Oscar reports tomorrow. Celebrities giving each other gold statues for making movies I haven’t heard of. All the while making misinformed political statements everyone else doesn’t care about. The vast majority of the time the Best Picture nominations I’ve never heard of. But somehow fickle shows like the Today Show covers it for some odd reason.
Not much else to say….except I’ve been listening to Goldfinger’s version of “99 Red Balloons.” Pretty good song in times like these.