Catholic

It was the first time I had been inside a Catholic church. Today at Okotoberfest in Nashville. One of the oldest Catholic churches in Nashville. Ornate. Iconic. Catholics are all into that stained glass at things like that. Plus there were knelling benches attached to the pews. Huge paintings of Jesus on one side, and Mary on the other side. I’ve always scratched my head wondering why the Catholics tend to raise Mary to God-like status.
I guess it is important for them to have beautiful churches. Whereas I had always been taught that souls were more important than beautiful church buildings. The church buildings I know are ordinary and unimportant.

God’s Electorial Vote

I’m not really concerned about the electoral vote count. Kerry has pulled ahead at the time of this entry.
The reason why I’m not concerned is that ultimately God will decide who will become president (Romans 13:1). I find it funny that the past couple of times in class, the 5th and 6th graders have requested that we pray for George Bush to become president. God Himself is not political. Not Democrat nor Republican. So don’t try to make Him that way.

Not the same.

I am not the same person I was 2 years ago. Much has happened during the past 2 years. Things have really been opened in my eyes. Am I better for it? Perhaps. But lately it seems I have been dwelling on my negatives.

Coach Holiday

I saw Coach Holiday at Walmart yesterday. My 8th grade Earth Science teacher. His class wasn’t all that great…nor difficult. Mostly it was do blue questions at the end of each chapter. Busy work as I remember it.
I thought about going up to him and introducing myself to him. But I decided not to. I’m not sure he would have remembered me or cared.
The thing I remember about his class was the 6 weeks we studied space. He draped his classroom in black garbage bags and hung planets from the ceiling. That was cool at the time. I could tell he worked a long time on it.
At the end of the semester, he’d tally up the grades and tell us what we’d have to make on the final exam to pass. Usually I’d have to make a 104 on the final exam (which I was exempt from anyways) in order to pass.

Lipscomb and Cheating

Lipscomb University tries to put checks on cheating.
In the print edition, the sub-headline read “47% at Church of Christ School admitted to cheating in survey.” I think the sub-headline puts a negative spin on the church itself, as if we’re a bunch of hypocrites.
During my experiences at Lipscomb, I never knowlingly cheated. I was very serious about doing my own work. And I never actually saw anyone cheat, such as whispering during tests and such. It could have been done easily, especially when the professor left the room during the test (they usually did). I kept to myself and tried to do my own work and didn’t worry about what others were doing.
The article goes into many other things (temptations) which I didn’t not have to face during my college years. Such as text messages in cell phones during tests. I was in college from ’94-97 when cell phones still weren’t as popular. Not everyone had them, and therefore not many people at the luxury of text messaging.
I think we as a society, and as a church, have lost many of our morals. Cheating is such a large part of life nowadays. Integrity is out the window. It is such a shame, because I feel like we could be so much better.

Mobile Homes

Why do people live in mobile homes? The easy answer is that it is cheap housing. Yet when hurricanes and tornados come through, it’s always the mobile homes that get the most news coverage since even a slight breeze seemingly rips these homes apart. Right now I’m watching MSNBC showing mobile home damage from Hurricane Frances. Florida leads the nation in number of mobile homes. People use it as a second home away from their homes up north.
Yet the danger is much too great to justify saving a little bit of money. Why make a mistake that could cost you your home and all your possessions.