Consider Including Others

     Some time ago I sent this letter to Pastor Scott of  TV fame. I just found it again so I am sharing it because I think the Idea is important.

Pastor Scott


I watched your message about the "Christ-Centered Life" several days ago. I got a lot out of it. At the end of the message you talked about the gifts God gives us to carry on His work. You imply that some are ready to serve and some are not. Some people come to church asking to serve out of less than pure motives. I agree with the basic facts, but I disagree with the way God wants us to handle these people. I believe he wants us to give them a chance to help in a way that does not endanger the church or its followers, but puts some responsibility on them. Many people will rise to the occasion if we expect something of them. I belong to a worship group that allows and welcomes all. We learn to work with the retarded, ex-addicts, the poor and anybody who wishes to attend.

Stating the battle between good and evil in the way you did just troubles people for no reason. By God's grace, we have already won the battle because we have no need to be sinless and 100% perfect. We can and should always work toward perfecting ourselves. However, worrying about the topic and endlessly struggling with it in our minds wastes time and energy that could be used to help other people on their terms.

So many people are homeless and need feeding and trips to the doctor or other basic services, that we could all spend our whole lives in service to others in Christ's name. Just short trips to shut-ins could fill a person's life. Let us enjoy being saved and enjoy serving others.

                                                                                             Just Me
PS I have included an article by Rev. Henry Idema supporting my ideas.

Sara Bareilles

I discovered Sara because I was researching the acts coming to Meijer Gardens for the summer season. When I went to her website I watched "The Making of Kaleidoscope Heart" webisode parts 1, 2, 3, etc. Her playing was good and her voice was clear. I bought the tickets thinking that the show would sound pretty much like the video.
When we saw the show she did sing some softer songs much like video but most of her work had a strong rock and roll drum behind a Jerry Lee Louis piano which she played while belting out the strong vocals. Everyone got in a party mood and sang along when asked.
The point I want to make is that this is only her 2nd CD, she is young,she looks and acts like a normal person not a big star when she is off stage but when she puts her hair up (see the "Let the Rain .." webisode) and gets on stage she is a powerfull and impressive performer.
I think Sara Bareilles could be a good role model for anyone interested in the entertainment bussiness.
Her website is www.sarabmusic.com/us/home

Boaters unhappy in Grand Haven

　
This is what someone wrote on the internet recently. I found it about a week ago. It is not that one person felt this way but a dozen other people had the same experiance and said so in their comments. Others may not have wanted to enter a comment or may have thought they did not need to repeat the ideas already expressed by others. Make of it what you will.

Grand Haven, MI-Boaters not welcome!
While staying at the City Marina this weekend we have been able to watch Grand haven's finest. No less then 2 Sheriff boats and one Coast Guard boat with 5 Coastie's on board doing patrol! They have been pulling boats over for "safety checks" and writing tickets for what ever they can.

They pull a boat over and then immediately pull the next one over at a rate of at least 6-7 boats an hour! These boaters are doing no wrong when being pulled over either.

This is the same thing the city did years ago with cars on the strip. People from all over came to GH to cruise in their car for a huge rolling car show on Friday and Saturday night. There was no drug trouble, no drunk drivers, no fights, and no burnouts. It was good clean fun but the GH officers had run them right out writing tickets for anything they could. I watched a person get 5 tickets when he appeared to be doing nothing wrong. Loose license plate being one of them.

Is it just me that thinks this revenue collection getting out of control?

Tripadvisor Ramada of Ludington

     Don't bother with filling out a report at Trip Advisor because at the end of the whole thing they want you to sign in to Facebook and allow their app to read all your info like a friend would, send you emails, read your friends info etc. If you say no it leaves you signed in at Facebook and takes you back a page where you have to join their website. I, of course was not going to join a site that tried to make me sign up for an app because I know that doing that would bypass all safeguards that I may have set up on my Facebook page.
      Screw you Trip Adviser.

  Ramada of Ludington ($179 / night for 2 queens) is a dump. Enough said.

Some Ideas

Some ideas to get the country moving.

　
Restore all veterans educational funds lost due to the 10 year limit being up. If dead, the vet's money goes to wife or child. A big boost to the school system and money stays in the US.

 Support road repair by states. Saves auto repair costs and ends up being no expense to tax payers in the long run.

Send most western coal to China for now to raise cash. End mountain top removal. Ban coal tailings or ash behind dams. Ash goes into concrete or bricks(as done in the UK).

Build a small city at the atomic test area to remelt all radioactive metal from our power plants for reuse in new plants or to repair old ones. Build 4 or so reactors at the same location or area to burn up the cores of both our bombs and the extra U and Pu from the old USSR.

Build a big desalting and co-generation plant on the texas coast (atomic powered) and pump hugh amounts of water into the desert. The water will evaporate from the crops and and rain elsewhere.

The Poor

The poor are not hungery because they are stupid. They are hungery because you are.
  Vote

Feed the poor. Starve the war.

Wisdom for Today

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. —Henry David Thoreau

All you have to learn is how to love and be loved in return.

Walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.   George Fox
　
　
　
　

Commentary by Paul Watson

I found Capt Paul Watson's commentary "The Moral Depravity of the Japanese Government" to be really interesting. It is not about waling, but rather about coverups of problems in the nuclear power industry of Japan. What happened to them is exactly what happened to us with the Gulf oil spill. We had a smaller spill and fire 10 years ago but did nothing, They had a smaller problem in June of 2010 and made no changes.

We have also been slow to learn from their mistakes and resistant to learn from our own. The whole piece is at www.seashepherd.org .