One thing I really get tired of…involves my religion. Yes, I’m a member of the church of Christ. For the most part we’re known as those people who don’t have musical instruments in their worship services. For alot of ignorant people, this means that all church of Christ members hate music. This is simply not true. I love music. It takes a close minded person to make assumptions on other people’s religion in conjuction with their everyday practices.

Jeffrey’s Corollary: Within Church of Christ circles, when discussing grace, salvation, and sin, as the discussion grows longer, the probability of mentioning of Jeffrey Dahmer approaches one.
There. I coined a new phrase. Church of Christ folks love to bring up the argument that God’s Salvation is for all, even Jeffrey Dahmer. Apparently Jeffrey Dahmer repented of his sins and was baptized by a minister of the church of Christ.
The church of Christ likes to claim some famous members. Here’s a rundown that I know of:

• Jeffrey Dahmer
• Marty Roe, Lead Singer of Diamond Rio
• Jim Jinkins….the Guy Who Draws the Doug Cartoon
• U-Turn Lavergne, radio personality
• Weird Al Yankovic
• John Dancy, former NBC News Correspondent
• Paula Barbieri…OJ Simpon’s former girlfriend
• Pat Boone (before he got all Pentecostal)
• Don Henely (?)
• Ken Starr

Churches are funny. They actually hire people to babysit the teenagers….to take them to amusement parks, weekend camping retreats, and other fun activities. These babysitters are also known as Youth Ministers. Sure, these youth workers might occassionally have a teen pregnancy or other crisis that pops up, but for the most part everything is smooth sailing. Imagine being paid to have fun? Boggles the mind. It’s not that have have some type of resentment toward youth ministers. They’ve choosen their field because it’s something they enjoy and can easily have fun at. I might have chosen it if the pay was better and I had better speaking ability. For the most part, youth ministry is not a full time job. Teaching a class on Sundays and Wednesday nights accounts for 2 hours. Then there the weekend road trips which could account for maybe 20 hours. I’d imagine at the very most it would be a part time job of 24 hours a week.
Why has youth ministers become the cool thing to have a church? Mostly its because parents refuse to be parents….to get involved with their child’s spiritual well-being. Instead we let youth ministers carry the brunt of a kid’s spiritual well-being. You see, “Deacon in charge of Youth” doesn’t sound cool enough for most people. Deacons have to be married and with some kids. Once they get to be that age, they are uncool in the eyes of most teenagers. The title of “Youth Minister” is hip right now.

It’s always refreshing to see the youth involved at church. Case in point: For the evening church services they’re having the young boys from the “Young Soldiers Serving Christ” read scripture before the sermon. This YSSC is a special training class that seemingly goes on constantly for young boys who want to get involved in church services. I never had this type of class growing up in the church. I had to pretty much wing it when reading scripture or praying publicly. This class, which they have on Sunday afternoons, helps the kids get over fears of speaking in public.
Also I’ve placed some Real Audio Sermons on the church webpage. It was pretty easy to do. Just getting the equipment ready logistically was a bit of a challenge. Once everything was setup, it is going smoothly.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Growing up Church of Christ means never celebrating Lent. Honestly for much of my life I only knew “Lent” as that stuff that accumulates in one’s navel or in the dryer. It was only when I got to high school and talked to some Methodist friends of mine, who told me what Lent was. The idea about Lent is an interesting concept. It means giving up something for 40 days until Easter. However I really can’t subscribe to it. I mean here’s how I see it: Jesus died on the cross for my sins……and to say “thank you” I give up Cheetos for 40 days(?) It just doesn’t make any sense. There is no way I could repay my God for salvation, so why even do something as meager as giving up chocolate? I’d say if you are going to do it right, then you should do some fasting. In a biblical sense “fasting” is going without any food, not just chocolate or Cheetos. Fasting also makes use of prayer and bible study.
I’d say if the people who celebrate Lent feel closer to God by giving up a particular food, then it is probably a good thing. However subscribers to Lent need to understand that Lent itself is not a Biblical concept. Lent is a celebration which developed over time with the traditions of the Catholic church. Sometimes traditions can get in the way of serving God, especially when we start subscribing to traditions without taking into account Biblical examples.

I finally figured out how to stats on the church webpage. Apparently we are getting 120 visitors per weekday on it. Surprising. Pretty much blows my theory that no one is visiting the webpage. On the other hand, I have no idea how many people are viewing this page. I’d imagine I’m the most frequent visitor to it. Maybe a few other people visit it ever so often.
Well we did get some more snow today, but the roads were all clear by late afternoon. Just like I was saying before. We just don’t get any good snows anymore.

Growing up Church of Christ means never seeing the entire Super Bowl. All the years of my life I have never watched the entire Super Bowl live. I usually saw the kickoff then I had to go to church only to return sometime in the 3rd quarter. This year it will be like before. I’ve never really been disappointed. I don’t care for football and rarely watch an entire game anyways. I think those people who watch the Super Bowl just for the commericals need to get a life. They’re bound to see the commericials later on at one time or another.
He saw his shadow yesterday. Six more weeks of winter. But who are we to believe a groundhog?

New additions to the Misc section of my website: That Chorus Picture. Maybe my resentment toward this picture comes from me having to practice in band class, while the chorus slackers got basically a free ride with their chorus class. I might expand this idea later on.
What I am going to say, some people might deem inappropriate. But it is my opinion, and what’s the use of a weblog if you cannot express your own opinions? We have a group of people at church who go to Central America each year on a mission trip. By coincidence, they are leaving on another mission trip tomorrow. While I admire these people’s mission effort, part of me is somewhat dissatisfied. The group seems a bit cliquish at times. Webster’s defines a clique as “a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially one held together by common interests, views, or purposes.” Certainly this group is made up of people with common interests: missions to Central America. Are they exclusive? At times, yes. I’ve tried talking to some of the people in the group and sometimes they seem to give much more attention to people within their own mission group clique. I’ve attempted to get mission trip pictures from them to put on the church webpage, but it has been like pulling teeth. Sometimes they seem unwilling to share information. We don’t get to read bulletin articles from them in the church bulletin. Rarely do I even know what they are doing exactly. Is the group narrow? Sometimes they are. They made only one announcement at church about a special meeting for people who wanted to go on a mission trip. They don’t seem to want to gain new members to their group. Other mission efforts are very well publicized. I have been asked several times to participate in stateside door knocking campaigns. Yet, I have never been asked to go to Central America. They seem to have plenty of people going as it is. The bottom line is that we need to try to work together for the gospel’s sake instead of getting into our little cliques of people who might deem certain people unworthy because they haven’t participated in a certain mission trip.
What’s the use of going to Central America to do a few head scrubs for lice to the natives and then return to America? Then a few weeks later the lice has returned and those people are no better off than before the missionaries came. Have the missionaries made a lasting impact? Sometimes. I’ve seen a few photographs of church buildings and orphanages being built in that area. Please note that I’m not trying to talk poorly about the mission effort. I know that missions is a tough job. I just wish our mission group would be a little more inclusive toward the whole of their activities.

Last night I was watching Tim Russert, host of “Meet the Press” on Letterman. Tim said something very alarming on the show. He said we are in a race with the Islamic extremists. The race is whether or not the terrorists will be able to detonate a nuclear device within the borders of America. I wake up everyday wondering if any acts of mass destruction have happened overnight.
What’s wrong with this picture? A couple of years ago, Lipscomb got rid of a bible professor for attending a church that has instrumental music. (Technically the professor resigned). Lipscomb said it was because instrumental music in church was against church tradition. Yet, now Lipscomb is having dc Talk perform on campus as a school sponsored event. “DC Talk” is well known as a contemporary Christian band that uses instrumental music. I find it a bit hypocritical for Lipscomb to do this.
I’m a bit surprised this hasn’t gotten much airplay. The founder of Domino’s Pizza wants to build a 250 foot tall crucifix. Seems a bit over the top if you ask me. I mean, I know people should be excited about their religion, but this is a bit much. Why not use the money to give to the poor?

One things that really annoys me….happens at church alot. After services when everyone is “fellowshipping,” I usually find myself in conversation with another person. While in conversation someone always comes up and butts in and starts a totally different conversation with the other person. It never fails. Anytime when I am talking to someone, another person comes up and hogs their time with them. I am patient with people. If someone is in conversation with another person, I try to wait until it comes to a stopping point before trying to start a new conversation.
My theory in why this happens is because church people are generally rude in nature. Rude and nosey. If you are single they want to know why you are and want to set you up on a date. Also I think that some people tend to use church primarily as a place to get business contacts. Some people come to church because it looks good politically and socially. They may come for the one hour a week on Sunday mornings, but they never do anything extra. A church could have 600 people who attend there on any given Sunday morning, but only have 100 or so that actually do any work.
Don’t get me wrong. I have met alot of genuine people from church. Mostly it is at extra-church activities outside of regular worship services….such as retreats and camps. It is ironic that you’re more likely to find people who are serious about their religion outside of Sunday morning worship. Certainly it is unfair to try to classify ALL of the people who come just on Sunday mornings as being lax in their religious habits. I realize that some people just can’t devote all of their time to church and can only come on Sunday mornings.
I have gotten my Christmas shopping done. And I didn’t have to visit the mall. From what I understand the mall traffic was terrible today. I was able to find my gifts at stores nearby.