Goofy comment of the day...
Scratchy toilet paper should be outlawed

My convo wi Thomas...

T: What's up?
A: not much
T: mumbling something about classes...I'm going to go home and get my passport today
A: really?
T: yah, I'm going to Germany over Christmas break
A: cool is your whole family over there?
T: my dad's side
A: oh
T: the kids are smarter than me... it's ridiculous
A: yes it is
T: well, I think I'm going to go study now.
A: see you
T: see yuh

I was just thinking on how ridiculous our educational system is right now. Actually, it is the combination of our pushing for a vast amount of knowledge and the culture's horrendous work ethic, which is drastically falling to zero. Then there is the fact that we see our children’s grades droping, so we make our courses easier, while the fact that they are not doing so well is more supported by the fact that their just bord! Yet, no Christian society has yet tried to combat this trend, or find something else. Why is it that Christians are so late in finding needs? Are there too many, or are we just caught up in ourselves?
What does Europe have that we don't? Work ethic? Better brains? Who knows, but American pride is becoming the downfall of American Education. I'm sick of all the luke warm living in this world, and the lack of virtue. One of these days our arrogance is going to lead to the destruction of America, which I love so much. But,No one even tries to be virtuous. Sometimes, I just want to go into every profession and show people how it's done. Fix things. Fix the ed. sys, Become a woman and dress modestly, be a commissioner and show how to enforce things, to give up on speeding and start enforcing what is important unify the church. But...I ain't no supahman. This is what I think is wrong:
We got no Jesus, our visions are too small/we have no vision, and finally, we just ain’t got no Jesus. Sorry, but I just had to stand on my soap box.

Can I leech you? If you know what the Euro's have that we don't. Email me (I wish I knew how to put in a link, but this is the best I can do). awilhelm@mvnu.edu

Leeching B.O. (one of my college professors, not body odor)...
What our youth group needs...
Tradition
Tradition will give our kids a sense of identity, that when we do things on a regular basis, they will say, "this is who we are" and they will become more devoted to it.

What's wrong with this perspective?
I am very for this, but we are missing one element that is essential to the spiritual growth of the church and also in number and in challenge. The Holy Spirit. Often it is our traditions that get in the way of the Holy Spirit, and it is only at retreats that we see the Holy Spirit move, because that is the only time when we break down tradition. This I saw in my youth group as a HS student. Of course, it is the Student and the leader themselves who need to always be in cannel with the Holy Spirit, however, sometimes, we just totally forget about who the He is and forget to let him reign. On our leadership committees and in our planning of our "traditions" we need to step back and pray. And then when they are on the calendar, let the Holy Spirit change anything that comes along. My conclusion? Simply that teens can become equally identified and committed to the works of the Holy Spirit as they can with Tradition, and the Holy Spirit is more essential to the Church. This is not to boot Tradition out.
Secondly, a youth group can also find identity in being random, and doing things on their own without any tradition (even without the Holy Spirit). But essentially, God is the one whom they need to be identified with. As Wilhoit suggests in his book "Christian Education and the Search for Meaning" that the goal of Christian education is to help believers find meaning for their lives. This goes into many levels, but essentially, if we don't have the right meaning, then the lives of our Teens are going to be no different from the world. There is only one narrow path to God, the rest is worldly and leads to death. Farewell my friends, my prayer for you is love and peace and grace in the name of Jesus. That we may turn to him all the time.

had a great talk w/ my pentecostal friend today. Well, we prayed too, and it was great. Anyway, we talked about unity in The Church. One of my enitial thoughts was me wondering "I wonder when God is going to bring the churches together?" Then I thought, "duh, when someone lets God use them?" We came to the conclusion that denominations stink. We talked about the catholic church. Anyway, our underlying presumption is that without the Spirit, there will be no unity in the Church. One last concept... Why the Azuza Street Revival worked? Unity in the Spirit!!! Have fun Leatching!

Here is a better interpretation of it

I hope that you like my knew them.

my new outlook on school
be a leech
leech onto my superior social intelectual spirituals
get veriety
leech out my readings
to do more that just get through with an A
I've been a little bit more of a casual christian than i thought that I have been.
I want to judge things on wheter or not they are going to be of value to me in the years to come

I'm sick of materialism in my life, having conversations and doiong things that will make no difference and that I will not care about next week.

I'm here to leech (knowledge) not to be leeched (out of my money) well I hope that you have been inspired and that I will have time to be me and to find knowledge of anGod and that willl help me in my ministry and also do my passions. that is what really matters. It's not God's will for me to be so casual.

C Yah