Preacher’s Pen|…just some thoughts…

As Carrie went to wake up the girls, Alexis bounded out of bed and got dressed with the speed of a lightning bolt. Emma struggled to rise out of her slumber, but she made it. As the smell of brewed coffee filled the air, Alexis and Emma made their way downstairs to breakfast. As I finally made my way to the kitchen, I was surprised to see both of them smiling and talking about how wonderful school is. They must take after their mother, because I thought school was not fun and especially the first day of school.

With grace and joy, my girls gave me a kiss and made their way out the door. These two little girls are growing up to quick and I cannot stop it. Their enjoyment for school makes any parent smile, but the wonderful start of a day is worth getting up way too early.

Alexis is making her way to the third grade and Emma is just beginning her journey in kindergarten. Thanks to a “Meet the Teacher Day” on Tuesday night, we have already met their teachers and found our way to their classroom. Not that this was necessarily needed because Carrie and I both volunteer in the school, but it was necessary to introduce our children to the new year.

Walking into the classrooms, the first thing you noticed was how they were set up for a learning experience. The chairs were in order, the room was decorated with educational material and every class is equipped with the latest technological equipment. (I love their school!) After the meet and greet, I walked the children back to the car and I could not help but think about our Bible class rooms in the major of church buildings.

Questions filled my mind:

How many of our Bible classes are neat and organized?

How many of our Bible classes are decorated with educational posters?

How many of our Bible classes use the latest technological equipment?

I would imagine the set statement is, “We only use them twice a week.” Yes, I guess we do only use our Bible classes once a week, but is that our excuse? Why do we only offer Bible classes on Sundays and Wednesdays? We send our children to school five days a week so they can prepare themselves for the physical world, yet we send our children to Bible classes two times a week because we are preparing them for eternal life? Does something seem strange?

How can we expand our classes and influence?

I need some thoughts,

Chris

10 - Things just got busy.

9 - It is Brian Nicklaus’s fault for making me play fantasy football.

8 - People keep emailing me, which causes me to lose time and thought.

7 - My wife is in PTA and she is keeping me busy.

6 - I have been trying to read books.

5 - The Olympics are pretty good. (except for China getting too many breaks in gymnastics; maybe it is the 13 year old girls they have as gymnasts)

4 - I have been sleeping.

3 - My new hobby is taking up my free time.

2 - It is still Brian Nicklaus’s fault somehow.

1 - My daughter’s are starting school, so I spent more time with them in the past two weeks. (Seriously, that is it)

Anyway, I will be back on track tomorrow, since my daughter’s start school tomorrow. Alexis progresses to third grade and Emma begins her educational journey as she enters kindergarten.

Tomorrow: Why do our Bible Classes Lack?

Just some thoughts (and excuses),

Chris

Health Insurance premiums for the self-employed STINK!

Last night, I went to see StepBrother starring Will Ferrell and John C. Rielly and realized the movie world is beginning, if it has not already, to plummet into the bottom of the trash can. Granted, there were funny parts, but overall the movie contained such trashy language, unnecessary scenes and a outrageous amount of disrespect that the funny moments were overshadowed but the sheer immoral thoughts of the writers and directors.

As I sat there, I thought, “Who in their right mind would see this movie?” Then the response was, “Oh yeah, me.” I thought this movie would be funny and still be a good movie, but my thought diminished as I sat and watched two grown men cuss and disrespect others for two hours. Honestly, it made my head hurt.

In the movie theatre, sitting around me, were groups of young people laughing and giggling and the impulsive foolishness of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. I often wonder what our young people are seeing and hearing and now I know. They are being fed a large amount of dung through the movies they watch and the people they look up too. Yes, I said dung and I will say it again — pure dung.

The trash heap America is calling entertainment is growing larger by the moment and our nation will not be better because of it. Hollywood is having an affect on our homes, because we are allowing it to. When will we stop and realize, Hollywood is not the problem — WE ARE!

The problem is our inability to say, “No!” to the dung filled entertainment we think is so richly humorous. We should be ashamed to allow such moronic emphasis to be placed on disrespect and immorality.

Many years ago, Leave it to Beaver was canceled because it showed a bathroom; not people using the bathroom, just a bathroom. Boy, how far have we come!

Just a thought,

Chris

I saw this picture without any credit given, so if you know where it is from, please let me know.

Enjoy!