I am a meteorologist and a former youth leader at church…I have a lot to say on both subjects…and then some
I guess I could be described, politically, as a somewhat “conservative” independent. I have sometimes blogged about some of the things that I support that some would say is “liberal” and other things that are “conservative.” A couple weeks ago, I listened a Mars Hill sermon where Rob Bell was describing their mission XYZ and in it he was talking about that in Jesus there is no R or D. This has been how I have been feeling for a while. Well, earlier today, I read the news out of Grand Rapids about how the state Republicans are going after the congressional representative for my area (MI D-1). I began thinking about the R versus D struggle and I think I finally have put into words what I have been feeling as of late.
So now the Republicans want to unseat a Democrat in northern Michigan. The only problem with that is that this Democrat is not your typical Democrat. If you could put a label on Bart Stupak, he would be a conservative Democrat, at least in my mind. He stands for thing like pro-life like I do, and he looks out for the little guy, from what I can surmise. So I have voted for him every election since I moved up here.
Now here is my point. I’m getting somewhat cynical about the politics of this nation in some ways. I think that most people only look at the labels and not at what someone personally stands for. That’s why I am an independent. There are some things that I identify with the Repubs on, and some with the Demos. In some ways the Repub identity has shown through on a the last few elections. However, that is due more to the positions on a few things that I felt were just wrong from the Demos. I guess I would prefer that the Repubs of this state would target other Demos that truly disagree with their positions rather than one that is more than likely to find common ground with them on. One that, in my mind, votes his conscience rather than the straight party line.
I’m probably just being naive.
I’ve been reading about this 4% thing about teenagers. I have been involved with a couple of ministries that like to quote this statistic. Knowing statistics, I see in this article how the statistics are being misused. The other thing that I have heard from other blogs, is that most ministries are using this information to scare the rest of us as if Christianity will disappear. I highly doubt that, I serve a God that is so much bigger than that. However, I wonder if we are looking at this wrong. In most cases, all of the groups say that we have to evangelize the teens. Well, that’s fine and dandy, but the problem that I have run into, over my 9 years of youth ministry, is that you can’t evangelize until they trust you. One reason that I think that our current ministry that Mary and I are involved in is being “successful,” is that the core group of kids trust us, and they bring in their friends. However, it doesn’t stop there. We have to show concern and an ability to listen. Most of the kids that are in the youth ministry are pretty good, they just have some area of their life that needs to be repaired. They just need someone to listen. I think that this generation will be ok; and I don’t worry about the 4% claim.
When it comes to the UCLA-USC game, I’ve tended to side with USC. I don’t know why, but I just have. However, this year, since I can’t stand the Bowl Championship Series(BCS), I wanted someone to knock off one of the undefeated teams to muddy the waters and create controversy, again. Well, it looks like I have my wish. Maybe the bowls will finally get there heads together and figure out a playoff system, where everyone who has a decent record, can win the championship, just like in NCAA Basketball.
The AOPA is up in arms due to the rant of Chicago’s mayor. I think that the AOPA is right!
https://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/061013enough.html
I’m not sure what to say about this without getting into trouble at work. However, if you know me and listen or read the article will know where I stand. Sorry, if I’m being cryptic. If I elaborated about this I’d probably get into trouble, since this is on the internet.
