So far i have contributed $71.64 to the youth missions fund based upon book sales alone. That’s a mere .05% of the total amount needed. My goal for this “little” fundraiser is $400. I’m 17.9% there in less than 1 month.

As all of my work is done for the week, I don’t have much to do. I am grateful for this and look forward to escaping to Kristen’s parents house tonight for a little R&R. My “evil plan” is to take Kristen out to a movie after the kids go to bed!

Other things on the horizon for the family.

Vacation plans: We’ve been talking about this a lot… Probably because I want to go now! For now we have settled that we will be going to the family cottage for 7-10 days this summer instead of renting a house. This will save us boatloads of money… Which is good considering that we don’t have a lot of money. There is some talk about Kristen and the kids going to Las Vegas while I am in Northern Ireland. I like this plan since it means that my beloved will both have something fun to do and someone to help her with the children. But Kristen’s little cheap bird is stopping her by saying, “It’s a lot of money!” nonsense! Our kids need to see their Grammy Doggie!

Mission trips: I am happy that Kristen is able to go to Chicago with us. It will mean oodles to the girls to have “Mrs. Adam” along for the ride. It’s super cool that Kristen’s family is willing to watch our kids for that long. Wow.

Grad school: I had hoped to bring Kristen with me to Huntington this term at least once. I thought it would be both a nice break for her and a chance for me to show off the cool campus. It’s not working out that way. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get this done for the Spring term.

Money crunch: Careful observers will note that I whined A LOT about money last summer. Part of that rant was that I didn’t mind it so much because I knew during the winter months we would be able to catch up. Well, that didn’t happen this year… Yet. So I am a little worried about cash flow this summer. Scary, but true. Perhaps by that time I’ll be playing golf for money on the weekends so money won’t be an issue. It’s not a worry that overwhelms me but more a mental note for myself to be careful!

This is the northern ireland mission team. What a fun bunch! “They’re magically delicious!” 

Here’s is a great moment in American history as GW bush reups for another 4 years. It was also fantastic to see Supreme Court Justice William Renquist do the honors. It’s inevitable that Bush will replace him soon. 

This is the text from my blog entry on the lightforceministries.com website.

Not everyone knows this yes, but I have been selling books online to raise money for the Northern Ireland team.

How does it work? I take a book from my bookshelf or one that someone gave me, and I simply input that I have the book as part of my sellers account with Amazon.com. When a person is looking to by that book new, and icon will pop up below the new price that says, “buy it used” for $x.

If I have the lowest price for the item, then someone will buy it. The money goes into my account immediately, I get an e-mail from Amazon and I take the book to the post office and mail. (The buyer pays for shipping too!)

When I get 2-3 items income deposited to my checking account I write a check and turn it in just like any other donation for the trip. Pretty cool, eh?

So, if you want to help us get to Northern Ireland this summer but you don’t have any cash-o-la but have a pile of unwanted books… put them in my office and I’ll list them! I promise that 100% of the $$$ I get from the booksale go directly to the fund. So far, I’ve deposited $33.33 and this weekend I’ll deposit about $25 more! It’s not much but every little bit helps.

Last night was a rockin’ Light Force. Every once in a while we manage to get it all together and have a solid night. We had at least 34 people…. It’s nice to be in the 30’s again. When the last SP left we sank as far as 18 but have steadily hovered in the 20’s. I don’t want this to be misread that I am a numbers guy and that my whole life depends on “how many” as opposed to “how good.” That’s not me at all, but having a solid number was icing on the cake.

I felt pretty good about my talk for the first time in forever. I just kept it real simple and talked took a spin off on Bruce Wilkinson’s “The 3 Chairs.” I know Kristen wasn’t 100% happy about my positive “different” twist on the cold chair but I imagine that her angst is caused more by her memories of Wilkinson’s sermon than the passage. The passage clearly does not imply negativity to “cold” in Revelation 3.

Jesus said, “I would rather your were hot or cold.” When thinking about a drink a cold drink is awful good on a hot day, but just in start contrast to a hot drink.

Whether or not my wife approved on every nuance, I could tell that students were tuned in. Several prayed with me at the end.

Nonetheless, while I arrived home last night with a lot of enthusiasm it was all sucked out by what Kristen was watching on TV when I came home. It’s sucks to have a great night and want to talk and your beloved is in the middle of watching a documentary on the holocaust. I mean, get real! (Don’t take that to mean we are insensitive about the holocaust… Both of us have studied it tons, I’m merely lamenting about the timing.) I just wanted someone to talk to and she was watching interview with German soldiers. Another case of “he wants vs. She wants.”

All in all, I think this was a good “bounce” Wednesday night as we head down deeper into Revelation.

Every once in a while the topic of Sunday School comes up among the YS brethren. When most youth workers hear the words “Sunday School” they groan. I will readily admit that there are times when I don’t like it, refuse to like it, and wish that we didn’t do it.

I feel like for a lot of us paid staff people, Sunday School is the stereotypical self-fulfilling prophesy. We don’t really like it and in order to prove to the church that it’s something we shouldn’t be doing we don’t try very hard to make the best of it… Then we tell people behind the scenes “Sunday School isn’t very effective.” Shame on we who do this. Sunday School is ineffective because of the attitude we bring to it. We allow it to become and afterthought because we don’t like it. (These are the same trolls who complain about folks who don’t like their precious music. They cry “they’ve pre-judged it and pre-decided that they hate it to destroy it” but yet do the same thing with Sunday School.)

If I were starting over a new paradigm of church I don’t know if I would create Sunday School. But it is something that I chose to do and it’s something that I chose to include in the Light Force vision. I chose to use Sunday School strategically to educate and challenge students towards the goal of their “intentionally modeling a lifestyle full devoted to becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.”

This means that I express my creativity in Sunday School. I work hard in preparing plans and lessons that have impact. I do my best to create a learning environment. I teach relevant topics. (Sunday AM is for application while Wed nite is for Bible teaching.)

I think the difference between me and “the SS whiners” who are so loud on the YS forums is that I have a different attitude. I don’t just say “yeah, I do Sunday School because it’s part of the job.” I say, “I like Sunday School because I can see how God can use it powerfully in students lives and I want it to be a valuable part of my ministry!” I believe that this attitude sets me up for success in Sunday School. My students know that I like to be there, that I am excited about what we are learning, and that I care that they learn what I am teaching. I give it my best.

I think the reality is that this reflects on these folks character. They accept a job knowing that it has a component that they don’t like. Then they allow their personal preference to become a bad attitude. Then they allow their personal preferences laced bad attitude to spread. Pretty soon they figure that since “everyone hates it” that it can’t be valuable. In fact, their sinful attitude has poisoned something that God could have used and they are in need of repenting to their students, their leadership, and most of all to God. When they reject their personal preferences for what God can do… I think they will see tremendous benefit in all that they do.

God deserves our very best. If we have been charged to lead and teach folks in our churches, chose to do it in an attitude reflecting our love and devotion to the Lord and not love and devotion to what we want.

Here is the rest of my Top 50.

26. GRamsey2 8 A solid poster whom I often agree with. Even when I disagree, it is freindly.

27. Dogfish Jones 7 Good poster. Often times has lots of good things to add to a dialogue.

28. iamnettie 3 Rarely agree with. I’m sure a nice person, but I don’t get her personality.

29. memphissound 5 I’m nuetral because I’ve never recall agreeing or disagreeing with this poster.

30. Boltman 9 I like Jerry a lot. He’s so open and obviously humble that you just want to flock to his posts.

31. caritas45 8 Rarely have a lot in common, but I have respect.

32. estall 4 I think perhaps he moves conversations his way too often. I don’t like to feel like I’m being led.

33. bonfireben 7 Usually has nice things to add.

34. antee barrett 4 I don’t know why, but I rarely read the posts.

35. Digger321 6 Pretty neutral. I’ll listen and respond when he posts.

36. angieukfan 2 Seems to be only interested in the fun and gun stuff. She posts in uge spurts!

37. kal 7 I like the posts, would like to see more.

38. uthgeek 6 Like a lot of the moderators, I think this poster lets the role get in the way of what he wants to say.

39. Charlie Tuna 5 Another “spurts” poster. I generally like general discussion posts but miss the rest.

40. tokyoev 4 A former teacher and rarely can see outside of his situation.

41. element26 7 Dave seems to be experienced but not overly cocky.

42. daveleeandrews 7 Same as above. Are these the same people?

43. renewed2day 6 I’ll read the posts. Seems to be a good discussion oriented person.

44. jmclark21 3 I don’t like 99% of what she writes. Seems like a lose cannon.

45. TLK N/A No specific recollection.

46. ytminister4life N/A No specific recollection.

47. rightwinger 6 I like this guy… he’s new but at least he isn’t overtly trying to gain cred. (Well, been around since 03… but just started to post more.)

48. PadreC 4 Not sure why, but I will scan over a lot of his posts. On the contrary, I’ve seen some excellent stuff. Probably moody like me.

49. trdconsult 6 Pretty solid, normal poster.

50. Gracesmom04 2 I think this is Angieku fans new login. A misc. post monster!

As I scan the next 50 on the list, I see a lot of names worth mentioning. But I don’t want to go all out. It is interesting that the number of posts drops off dramatically from 51-100. To make the Top 50 right now you need more than 1200 posts. To make the Top 100 it is only 650. Likewise, to make the Top 10 you need 3000! There is a gap of 7500 hundred posts between #1 and #2!

I am currently at 2762.

I’ve included the text of a nice article written for the Baptist Press.

yesterday saddened because while we reflected on how far we’ve come since Dr. King died, we still have a long way to go. I wish it were true, but I am ashamed to say that I work at a church that would not hire an African American. I long to be on equal footing in every way, but I can only hope that in Megan and Paul’s generation the church will deal with it’s segregationalist attitude from both side of the fence and heal the wounds.

The reality is that the most bigoted people I have ever met were African American. I regularly experienced reverse discrimination at Blue Cross. While no where near what others have experienced, I do have know of the shadow of what it must be like. Perhaps one day Dr. King’s dream speach will become a reality in our churches?

FIRST-PERSON: King’s dream and ours

Jan 17, 2005

By R. Albert Mohler Jr.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–“I have a dream,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared as he addressed a crowd of several hundred thousand gathered on the Mall around the Washington Monument. The date was Aug. 28, 1963, and America was a cauldron of social unrest.

Civil rights leaders had called for the March on Washington in order to force the nation to deal with the so-called “race problem.” As the event drew to a close, the crowd standing in Washington’s sweltering heat waited for the man they knew would be the “closer” of the event.

Most Americans recognized the name, face and voice of Martin Luther King Jr. He had appeared on the nation’s front pages and news broadcasts, having led major protests and movements in Montgomery, Birmingham and other cities. And yet, King was an enigma to many white Americans. What would he say?

Interestingly, the most famous words of his speech were not included in his manuscript. King had arrived in Washington the day before and had prepared his speech in a room at the famous Willard Hotel. In “The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation,” author Drew D. Hansen provides a parallel text of Dr. King’s manuscript and his actual words. When he reached the pinnacle of his oratory, King simply departed from his prepared text and launched his speech into history.”I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”Dr. King spoke of a dream “that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.” More personally, ”

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”In the midst of a nation torn by racial strife and social unrest, Dr. King painted an indelible picture of America as it could be and should be. His oratory was soaring, his imagery was vivid, and his cause was right. His cadences, inflections and biblical allusions gave the speech its memorable structure. His powerful argument gave the speech its moral weight. The speech is as much a part of our national memory as Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Speaking to a generation poised to reject the American dream as a lie, Dr. King challenged them to make it their own. He rejected claims that America could never be reformed or called to its moral senses.We do well to look back to 1963 and remember the reality. In the South, Jim Crow laws enforced segregation. Separate motels, restaurants, schools and water fountains marked the moral landscape. In the North, the absence of Jim Crow laws did not mean that the races were integrated. North and South, black and white Americans inhabited different worlds. African Americans were routinely denied access to accommodations, higher education and the voting booth.

Those standing on the nation’s Mall that day could not have known that years of struggle, frustration, violence and tragedy lay ahead. Observing America in 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “I do not imagine that the white and black race will ever live in any country upon an equal footing. But I believe the difficulty to be still greater in the United States than elsewhere.” His words proved an understatement.

Obstructionists attempted to block racial progress at every turn. Some white Americans just could not abide the idea of racial equality and full integration. On the other hand, Stanford University professor Shelby Steele traces how many of the civil rights leaders traded moral consciousness for racial consciousness, and abandoned the vision of racial equality for identity politics.Still, America is a very different nation now. Racial discrimination is prohibited by law. Statements of prejudice are now socially unthinkable and politically incorrect. Black America can now claim the nation’s Secretary of State and the world’s leading golfer. Poverty still holds many in its grip, but the majority of African Americans are in the middle class. Nevertheless, much ground remains to be recovered.

Southern conservatives bear a special burden, especially as Christians. I was not yet 4 years old on Aug. 28, 1963. I have no memory of hearing Dr. King deliver his famous address. A white boy raised in the South, I had not seen any black persons at close hand. I had seen black workers, field hands and children, but all at a distance. I had no black friends, no black neighbors, and saw no black faces at school or at church. To the best of my knowledge, I attended segregated schools until the fifth grade.

Later, living in a major metropolitan area, I attended integrated middle high schools with hundreds of black students. I came to know black teenagers at school, work, Boy Scouts and other activities. I considered several of these as friends, but I never really entered their lives. It now dawns on me that I have no idea where they may be living or what they may be doing.Now, I know many African Americans as cherished friends and treasured colleagues. I cannot imagine a world in which this is not normal, nor can our children. But honesty compels me to admit that this is more because my black friends have entered my world, than that I have entered theirs.

Christians must begin with the affirmation that all human beings are equally created in the image of God. But we also realize that we are sinners, and sin is the fundamental problem on the issue of race. Sin is so interwoven in our lives and institutional structures that we often cannot even see it. The only real remedy for the problem of racial prejudice is the transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ. His atonement for sin is the only cure, and the only real picture of true racial reconciliation is that found in Revelation 7:9-12, where we read of the redeemed people of God as “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the Lamb.” The Lamb will make us one.

There is much work to do. We struggle in a fallen world until Jesus comes. By God’s grace, we know that real progress is possible and that we are accountable. The church must show the world that the new community of Jesus is called to demonstrate His glory in calling us together.Aug. 28, 1963, seems like a very long time ago. We still do not know what to do with Martin Luther King Jr. He was a complex person, and the cracks in his personal character have become more evident over time. We admire his courage and the clarity of his conviction, even as we are troubled by his flirtations with liberal theology. We simply do not know what he may have done or how he would have led, had he not been assassinated in 1968. We cannot fully enter into the mind of any man — much less a man who died nearly four decades ago.This much is clear: When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke that day from the Lincoln Memorial, he demonstrated true moral courage and spoke as a prophet. His dream was the right dream. His dream must be our dream. Our response to that dream reveals the true content of our character.