Redirection in the face of...

Do you ever find yourself wanting to change things? As a result of so much change in my life, I find it time to go a different way at church. Pastor and I have been talking, I have been praying, and because so much work time is down time (sorry taxpayers) I have decided to try my hand at writing curriculum. Now I dont expect Nazarene Publishing to see it, and decide to actually update their material into something reasonably 2009ish, but I know what I see does not seem to be releavant to our kids today. We have been using "Good Book" by David Plotz as our research in Sunday School, and I personally like how it is going. It is a book about the Old Testament from a Jewish man's view. And so far, so good. And why not use resources other than dated material (like Matthew Henry or Vine's). So, tonight at the board meeting ( I love these times) I will see what the church board thinks. Hopefully, they wont even notice.

September 11, 2001

What I remember...
Gary Condit and the missing intern, shark attacks, and would Michael Jordan return to basketball. that was it on the morning news.
Then things changed.
By the end of the day I was happy to have family and friends and everyone safe.
I grieved for the lost.
I watched a special on CBS, with people falling out the towers.
I grieved for the world.
I slowly watched us forget about compassion, again.
But I still remember, every year. When I see stupid advertisments that seem to believe that it is okay to use 9-11 to sell their product.
It will never be okay.
Would we joke about Pearl Harbor?
Or Omaha Beach? Or Gettysburg?
Or anyplace where blood was spilled?
I miss the towers.
I still see them in movies and it makes me sad.
I dont think I will every understand the point that the hijackers were trying to make.
I never understand how death can prove a point.
Simple words would have been just as effective.
I would hope we have learned something.
I doubt it.
To those who lost someone that day...
I am sad for you.
For us.
For this world.
I wish that some lesson could be learned.

It has been a long time. I am adding this to the First Church of the Nazarene in Pana website starting today. I want it to be understood. Anything written on here in no way, shape, of form, reflects the beliefs of the Nazarene Church of North America, and definitely not the one in Pana, Illinois. If you have problems, concerns, questions, or anything please direct your correspondence to me via the web response in this blog. Don't stop by the house, where I work, or call me.
I will occassionally write about the political happenings in the great state of Illinois (sarcasm sign). Once again, my opinions, not the churches, the pastors, or the congregations. As we attempt to make this website more viable, I hope that others will add blog sites to it and it becomes as "cool" as the one that Decatur First has.
Come on people, we have a steeple now. We can move into the 21st century with a cool website as well.