I am a meteorologist and a former youth leader at church…I have a lot to say on both subjects…and then some
The Basics of Pro-Life Progressivism: “Do you consider yourself a progressive, yet have major difficulty with a few banner issues of the left? Do these issues make you feel like you must be a conservative, because they are so important to you everything else pales in comparison? Well, if abortion is one of those issues, I have something for you to read. A Progressive Argument Against Abortion ”
I’ve stated that there are times when I am liberal and times when I am conservative. I am declared as an independent and tend to vote Republican for the very reason that Alan at A Different Perspective talks about being a progressive except for a few banner issues. For me abortion is one of those issues. Give a read to what they say at Left Out.
Maine Rejects Federal Sex-Education Funds: “Maine becomes the third state to turn down federal funding for school-based sex education because new stricter rules mean the funds can be used only for programs that teach abstinence only. Pennsylvania and California have taken the same step.”
Many would think that with my somewhat conservative slant on things that I would be mad at Maine, Cali and my native PA, but I’m not. I applaud their efforts. To me, for sex education, it shouldn’t be abstinence only, but more comprehensive than that. I don’t subcribe to the view that if you teach safe sex, that they will do it. However, I don’t think that the liberal idea that everybody is having sex is correct either. I believe that a balanced education of the consequences (emotional, spiritual, and physical) of sex and what can be done to prevent the consequences. Of course, abstinence is the best policy (I speak from experience), but if some kids are going to experiment for themselves, let them be prepared and evaluate the risks. To me, teaching both together is better.
Torture Outlawed in Michigan: “LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The state House voted unanimously today to outlaw torture in Michigan. The legislation would make the crime of torture punishable”
At first I thought this was a no brainer, then I read the story and saw why the legislature passed this bill. For some reason, I was thinking in terms of Iraq and not Bad Axe.
Just a Quick post. The other day was the one year aniversary of me blogging. Otherwise, the busyness continues.
Yesterday, Trisha and Ben, my stepdaughter and now son-in-law got married!!! My mom and dad came up and were surprised that Trisha put them in the honored seats of being grandparents, with the rest of her grandparents. It was great service and the reception went well (I’m not much of a partier).
Congratulations you two!!! Mom and I love you both!
This will be a short post as I have to begin cleaning and preparing while Mary is at work. You see this weekend, after a great weekend in Pittsburgh, Mary’s oldest, Trisha, is getting married! We also have Kaleb and Karlie this weekend, so I took today and tomorrow off so that we can help out with the festivities. I need to get the old office cleaned up as well. We’re not quite ready to make it into a full-fledge bedroom yet, but it will work for now. Hopefully, within the next two weeks, while we finish moving Mary’s stuff out of her old apartment, I’ll get to do some regular posting about things we learned and things we can do in the future. Not to mention, just be able to relax…stay tuned.
Today was a bit slower in pace as it was the last day. I went to a Seminar about experiential worship, very cool. The End general session was good with Chris Tomlin the worship leader and the president of YS Mark O. The speaker. He was pretty good with a good outside the box message. After the end, the four of us went to eat. We said our goodbyes, although we will see each other in a couple of days and parted company.
Mary and I headed south into Mt. Lebanon where my aunt and uncle live. It was a great night to visit and relax. The only damper on the evening, was when I released my emergency brake and it didn’t seem to disengage. We have a plan for tomorrow. I’m praying that we can make this so we can get back for our Crown financial class and to see my uncle Dave. We will see.
Well, the night of Day 3 had a carry over affect. Im not sure what
that just meant, so I should explain. The only bad thing to happen at
the convention was when the Jax Jaguars came into town to play. The
hotel thought that it would be neat to kick out a bunch of youth
workers and house the visiting football team. This caused a bunch of
us to have to pack everything and check into a hotel in Monroeville
about 30 minutes away, by school bus. They made all of the necessary
arrangements and actually let us know a few weeks in advance, but it
still was an inconvience with us having to get up early to pack and
get things set up, then go all day and then leave around 1130 pm to
Monroeville, check in, pick up our stored luggage, and then get up
early the next day to do the whole thing over and go back to the
hotel that kicked us out. I think Im going to write a couple of hotel
reviews for the travel websites.
Because of the late start and no breakfast, we missed Louie Giglio, a
speaker I was looking forward to hearing. It wasnt a total loss.
Since Lisa needed to get a jacket, we all went to Burlington Coat
Factory and Mary found a dress for Trishas upcoming wedding. We then
went to lunch. We had some good conversations about what we would
like to do with the youth ministry at FUMC and even GCC and maybe on
our own.
Then we went back to the convention. I went to the talk about
Reaching the Campus for Christ one student at a time. It was pretty
good as it really helped with the fact that I have been equipped by
God to be able to reach out to kids if I allow God to direct me. The
General session speaker was pretty good, with my main take on his
talk going with the fact that everything is based on a whole
personality to reach out and form relationships with the kids to help
heal them.
We skipped the KJ-52, Starfield, and Third Day concert tonight. We
all have seen KJ and Third Day once or twice this year already and we
were pretty beat. So, we got some supper and worked out the CDs of
the seminars that we either didnt get to or wanted to hear again.
Tomorrow, we have to get up and pack, check out and go to our
seminars in the morning. Then one more general session that ends
around 1pm. Then we are done. Probably lunch with Paul and Lisa
before we part ways. Then off to my Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancys. It has
been fun, part vacation, part pilgrimage, and part learning
experience.
We have some exciting stuff to pray about over the next few weeks.
Ill be sharing that in the future.
Jeff Lutz
KC8CWI
https://www.geocities.com/jeff_s_lutz
Today was a full day with lots to see and do. As is custom with Paul,
Lisa and I, we split up to cover the maximum number of seminars. This
year we have Mary as well. I saw Reading the Bible for All its Worth with
Duffy Robbins, during the morning. A good one that was fun to review inductive
bible study.
The second one (it was a two and a half hour one) was Youth Worker as
Spiritual Guide: Nurturing a presence youth ministry. This was a
really good review of spiritual practices. The main thesis of the
presenter, Mike King, was that with the Protestant Reformation, many
spiritual practices were dropped in favor of just pure head knowledge
with bible study. While Bible study is important, being in Gods
presence is just as important. With that dropping of the spiritual
practices, the protestant church has missed out on some of the ways
to get in the presence and this is why we lose kids who were in the
church when they go off to college. There are a whole host of ways to
do this.
This one runs on a similar theme as yesterday with the guy from Dare
2 Share. In his argument, the kids dont get to practice what they
learn in evangelism or go deep enough with their theology with
discipleship. I think they both go hand in hand. If you can get the
kids into the presence of God, then they will get the strength to
evangelize their friends, and even do the missional things like
helping others not only in their town, but even over seas.
The General Sessions were by Denise VanEck from Mars Hill Bible
Church. She gave a talk about owning your problems instead of burying
them only to have them bubble up to the surface later.
The other was with Steve Fitzhugh, form defensive player for the
Denver Broncos. He spoke powerfully on passion. Passion in ministry
cant be taught, it has to be caught from Youth Pastor to youth. As I
think about that. I see now how all of the seminars and general
sessions tie together for me. Paul, Lisa, Mary, and I have some great
ideas, now for us to pray and see how God wants us to implement them.
Just a short note on my posts…I have been typing them on my
PocketPC and emailing them to my blog. This way, doesnt allow my to
add hypertext links readily. When I get home or if I get a chance
with the churchs laptop, which Paul has, Ill add them in. So if you
are interested in the people and places that I have seen, Ill have
links. I also have pictures, which will be uploaded to Flickr as
well.
Thats enough for tonight…Peace
Today was the real first day of the convention. The General sessions
started as well as the seminars. This morning Mary and I got up and
made our way to the convention center in search of the prayer
labyrinth. If you aren’t familiar with a prayer labyrinth, it is like
a maze, but there are no dead ends. Along the labyrinth, there are a
series of 11 prayer stations. It was Mary’s first time through one,
and she said that it was one of the best things of the convention,
beside the 1Life Experience that we were at last night.
Today was a couple of seminars and 2 general sessions. We both went
to one that was about Lectio Devina or sacred reading. That actually
took us through it, which gave me confirmation that I have been doing
it right all along. The second seminar that I attended was
Revolutionizing your youth ministry: Taking ancient stories into the
post-modern. Not exactly what I expected, but gave me a better idea
of how Paul, Lisa, Mary and I can train the youth group in evangelism
and discipleship.
The General sessions were pretty good, but of the two Doug Fields was
the best talking about saying no in youth ministry. Youth pastors are
notorious for saying yes to too many things and then going on into a
train wreck that either drives them out of ministry, or losing things
dear to them. A good message even if youre not a youth pastor. After
the last session, Mary and I stayed to watch the new NOOMA video. I’ve
talked about them before. I love the way Rob Bell puts things into
context. The new one is on God being the rhythm of life and how we
can love Him and be in relationship with Him. A really good analogy.
Can’t wait until I can get it for my NOOMA class at church.
Other happenings today was seeing Jars of Clay(!) and doing praise
and worship with David Crowder.
Today was a pretty laid back day as the four of us checked in at the
convention. We found place to eat shortly after (everybody was
impressed by the Pittsburgh pizza) and then did some site seeing.
We walked down to Point State Park in the Golden Triangle then to the
T to go to Station Square. There the four of us split into couples as
Mary and I purchased tickets to ride the Monogahela incline. Also,
the church gave Mary and I a gift so that we could go out to eat.
Very cool. So we walked Station Square a bit more, then up the
incline. I didnt think about it, but I might be able to upload some
of the pictures to Flickr tomorrow. Paul brought the churches laptop,
so I might be able to do it then. Im not sure that I can do it with
my PDA just yet.
Anyway, we got a lot of pictures including a panorama shot that I
will stitch together when I get home and upload later. We then
returned to the bottom of Mt. Washington and to the T. We ran into a
girl in tears who needed to use a phone, we let her use one of ours.
We talked briefly to make sure she was ok and then over the Mon to
the hotel to freshen up.
From the Hotel, (William Penn Hotel) we wlked into the Strip to
Lidias of Italy. A really nice Italian restaurant. We use the gift that the
church gave us to pay for it. It was a great meal.
Then down to the convention center, where the exhibits had opened up.
Mary and I walked through the first row looking over the materials
and things there. We then started down the end of the second row
where we went into the 1Life Revolution booth. 1Life is a program
started by World Vision to bring about change for the HIV/AIDS crisis
in Africa. The experience is you are one of 4 people and see how AIDS
has affected their lives and how the love of Christ can bring about
change. In the midst of the experience is the verse Matthew 25:34-46
[Mt 25:34] Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you
who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world. [35] For I was
hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, [36] I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after
me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
[37] Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? [38]
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes
and clothe you? [39] When did we see you sick or in prison and go to
visit you?
[40] The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
[41] Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who
are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. [42] For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, [43] I was a stranger and
you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,
I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
[44] They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or
thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and
did not help you?
[45] He will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do
for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
[46] Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous
to eternal life. NIV from the Pocket Bible
A very moving experience. There will be more. Mary and I will be
going to the Prayer Labyrinth tomorrow morning and probably celebrate
Vespers tomorrow night. I love contemplative services. Mary is
looking forward to it so she can experience what I enjoy as part of
my spiritual journey. Until tomorrow…
