How to waste time

When I started up here at the church over two years ago, I started doing little things to see if people liked them. They did, so I kept doing them. And that has become the problem.

I kept doing them. Instead of moving these things of my plate as quickly as possible, I took the ownership of them too seriously. And as theses various "small" things multiplied, they started eating up more of my weekly time.

So, I'm divesting myself of anything that I specifically don't have to do. That will free mw up to do more of what I really want to do.

The recent introduction of a third worship service (monthly for now) has been a success story. I've been working with a team of people who wanted to do this, and I am already working to transition my planning role to the team. Now I just have to figure out how to do that in other areas.

Two guys from church came over this afternoon and helped me remove the fallen tree next to the house. It came down, but not quite how we'd hoped it would. Fortunately, no windows were broken, just some loose paint "scraped" from the clapboard siding.

My daughter came home from her ethics class all "hot and bothered" because the topic of the day was abortion. Apparently, one person i nthe class was very vocal in her opposition to anyone in the class who did not support the practice. And the professor kept challenging anyone who cited religious beliefs to justify their position without using religion.

This is another example of the delusion of our culture that continues to believe we can lobotomize ourselves, effectively separating out mind and souls. The other problem with this trend is that it always places intellect above religion (aka spiritual) matters. The human mind becomes the measure. If we can't understand it or rationalize it, it is not worthy of consideration.

A smattering of observations

Filed our tax return two weeks ago. We actually get a refund this year (been several years since that happened). I guess there's one benefit to getting paid half what I used to get in the corporate world. 'Course the refund will maybe cover our cable bill, but any accountant will tell us we made out perfectly: not owing and not getting too much back so Uncle Sam hasn't had free use of our hard-earned dough.

Nor'easter blew through over the weekend. Lost two trees. And we saw God's providence in it. Last fall I started clearing brush and trees but ran out of light and warm temperatures. I had to leave a tree trunk with no limbs for spring. Yesterday, a neighboring tree split and fell...right into the crook of the tree trunk I'd left. Otherwise we would hae lost at least two windows, and likely sustained damage to the siding of the house.

I had no idea why I left the truck: it would have taken me two more minutes to fell it, but I didn't. But God knoew that trunk had to be there yesterday.

I satisfied my curiosity

I've known of Ann Coulter for some time, but after the recent flap about a comment she made (see March 5 post), I thought I'd grab one of her books and discover what her writing is like. Wow!

Her writing appears to be well researched...at least documented. And although she does get very sarcastic at times, Coulter does a good job of directing a spotlight on the absurdity of left-wing, liberal policies. Some of the quotes, if true and in their entirety, make some of our current legislators and presidential hopefuls look absolutely ridiculous.

BTW: the book I read? Treason.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised

While killing time in the hospital ER waiting room (an elderly church member fell in his garage and whacked his head ans was getting checked out), I watched Fox News, which aired a spot on the "outrage" spawned by a remark by Ann Coulter. She apparently had the audacity to use a word that centuries ago referred to a bound bundle of firewood, and her comment was apparently taken out of its larger context to generate the "outrage" the news was now reporting.

The same segment contrasted the liberal left-wing brouhaha--which apparently originated with John Edwards' preseidential campaign committee which used the opportunity to kick-off a fundraiser for Edwards' campaign--with the stunning silence from these same camps regarding Bill Maher's alleged wish that someone assasinate Vice President Dick Cheney!

I checked several online news sites--CNN, MSNBC, USAToday, Washington Post--and none carried one word about Bill Maher's comment, but all except the Post carried at least one article that touted the apparent "universal outrage" with Ms. Coulter.

So it seems okay for Democrats to lob serious armament against the Republicans (free press and free speech is guaranteed by the Constitution, after all); but just let someone from the Republican camp toss a grenade that spotlights the absurdity of "politically correctness," watch out!

Okay, so it's been a month...

I've been reading The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do, by Mark Attebery. Just finished Dumb Move #5: Hopping from Church to Church. The chapter reminded me of a conversation I recently had with a former attendee (never joined the church so I can't call the person a "member").

I can count on one hand the number of Sundays this person was in church in the last year. The couple recently decided to attend another church, admittedly closer to their denominational heritage, but the person remarked that one reason they left was because they "missed solid preaching on holiness and right Christian living."

I wanted to say, "If you'd showed up in church once in a while, you wouldn't miss it! And we've just finished a month-long series entitled 'Returning to Holiness.'" But I didn't. I just smiled, and wished them well.

They're a classic example of people who complain about not feeling connected. And they don't fell connected because they don't connect.

Not really ministry related

This is now the third time I've stood in line at MacDonald's and noticed this...

Don't usually eat at Mickey Dees, but occasionally we like to get a shake or some fries. Tonight was a shake. While I was waiting I noticed the register display: "Avg svc time: 42 secs." So I watched the clock as the cashier filled the order for the couple in front of me. Three minutes. 180 seconds. Well, there went the average. So I was curious what would happen when I ordered my shake. From the time I was greeted to the time I received my shake, two minutes passed. 120 seconds. And the display read: "Avg svc time: 38 secs."

The last two times I was in MacDonald's, I waited seven and 10 minutes.

So this measurement has NOTHING to do with customer satisfaction or service. It DOES measure how efficient the cashier in getting the customer's money.

Next time I go in, I think I'll stutter and change my mind a few times and really messup their average. Or better yet, I'll go in with a stopwatch. Let them know I plan to check the accuracy of their published service times.

I'll probably have to wait an hour for my fries.