Congregations Walking Together in Mission as They Elect President and First Vice-President To Elect the Synod President

RESOLUTION 8-17

TF Report (CW TFR, pp. 34–35); Overture 8-63 (CW, pp. 242–243)

WHEREAS, The President serves the whole Synod; and

WHEREAS, Technology has made it possible for every congregation, through its duly elected delegates to the district convention, to participate in the nomination and election process; therefore be it

Resolved, That information concerning the three candidates receiving the highest number of nominations and consenting to serve, including biographical information and further information outlining each candidate’s vision and direction for the Synod, be shared with all congregations of the Synod; and be it further

Resolved, That four weeks prior to the start of the convention, two of the delegates to the previous district convention from each congregation be provided opportunity to cast votes in a secure fashion for the office of President; and be it further

Resolved, That if no candidate receives a majority, a second ballot for the top two candidates be cast in a similar fashion; and be it further

Resolved, That the results of the balloting be announced to the Synod two weeks prior to the start of the convention; and be it finally

Resolved, That Bylaws 3.12.1–3.12.1.4 be amended accordingly, as shown (“2007 Handbook Convention Version,” TB, pp. 303–305).

Summary of Resolveds. Have the congregations elect the president more directly.

I don’t know if this is good or bad. I would still rather see the roots of our division addressed rather than trying to evoke some feeling of congregational bias.

Preliminary Vote: No

On my JoyfulGames blog, I began reviewing some online ministries. Check out the first one here.

macZOT!, in case you didn’t know, is a “deal of the day” site for Mac software. Today they are running BLOGZOT 2.0 on MacZOT.com. It’s a promotion where they drop the price of the special by $0.05 for every blog entry that promotes it. Today’s deal is SubEthaEdit from CodingMonkeys. SubEthaEdit is a very popular collaborative text editing program. It’s been highlighted on Apple’s site and is a past winner of an Apple Design Award. MacZOT and TheCodingMonkeys will award $105,000 in Mac software, so go over to macZot! and check it out.

No, not Brian Yamabe, but Bryant Young. He won his sixth Len Eshmont award which is voted on by 49er players for the most outstanding and inspirational player. He’s been my favorite 49er for a long time because of his excellent play and high character. And over the past couple of months, Erin has come to be friends with his wife, Kristin so I’m doubly glad that the 49ers will be keeping him on at least through next year. I know the 49ers could use someone as exciting as Reggie Bush, but a strong, successful team is built around someone Bryant Young.

Squidoo is another new way to develop user created content. It has the notion of lenses, which are a person’s view on a particular subject. The service just started, so there is a virtual land grab on popular subjects like “computers” and “video games” etc. I’m not sure what problem is being solved, so I’m not sure how successful it will be. I grabbed a few subjects, Educational Games (http://www.squidoo.com/educationalgames) and Casual Games (http://www.squidoo.com/casualgames) to name two that I’ve actually added to.

It’s a cross between a blog and a wiki. It gives you some templates to assist you in developing your content in the form of linked list, RSS feeds, text areas, Amazon.com links, to name a few of the content types which will presumably expand as the service grows. Google Ads are automatically incorporated for you. When I signed up, I was given the option to donate or collect any proceeds. I guess they have a way to associate the Google Ads and Amazon.com links to your lense and they share some of that link profit with you. Probably the reason for the virtual land grab.

Robert C. Martin, an author and software engineering guru, has kicked a hornet’s nest with his posting entitled Terrorist Trap. In the posting, he posits that the war in Iraq is a trap to attract terroists away from the U.S. and to eliminate them. One of the many rebutals is that this has actually created more terrorists citing an article by a PhD. at Stanford about the situation molding a man.

I don’t know if the war in Iraq was meant as a trap for terrorist, but I do believe that Sadam Hussein sponsored terrorist and was creating or seeking to create Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which he would have used on his neighbors and/or sold to terrorist groups. I hear the Left screaming, “The 911 commission said Hussein wasn’t involved!” True, it also said that he was involved in other terrorist activities. Officials in his government met with leaders of Al Qaeda. He gave money to Palestinian homicide bombers. Also the 911 commission is another beauracratic farce. They didn’t call a group to testify that identified the 9/11 leader a year before the incident. Then the Left screams, “But there were no WMDs!” Well, he did gas Kurds in 1989. And artillery was found with nerve gas. Was Iraq an “eminent threat?” Yes! Eminent means outstanding or high ranking, not immediate as many on the Left seem to define it.

As for the notion that by going to Iraq the U.S. has created terrorists, I wouldn’t doubt that there are a few people who became terrorists because of U.S. actions but that’s hardly a justification for not going. Those few people who turn into threats are outweighed by an entire nation that is becoming a democracy in a region sorely in need of an example of what prosperity a democracy can bring. Further, saying that fighting terrorsim breeds terrorism so we shouldn’t do it is like saying police shouldn’t fight crime because average people will get mad at the police and become criminals.

Don’t get me wrong, I support the notion of a repository for knowledge and access to information that might not otherwise be available to people. But for several years now, the onlymention of libraries I hear/read are in the context of the great DVDs, videos, and CDs that you can get there for free. I could understand a collection of PBS and National Geographic titles, but commercial titles in the library offend me. Why? Because I don’t feel it is my responsibility to see that others get their entertainment for free. Those are tax dollars that being spent on those DVDs. Tax dollars that could be going to fix roads or name your pet cause.

My hope is that libraries will disappear or just become a place with a bunch of internet PCs. Libraries were meant to be a repository for knowledge accessible by the public. As knowledge moves to the internet, the library and those building that have great DVDs and CDs for free are becoming obsolete.

zzz

Our garbage disposal stopped working over the weekend. I was dreading doing the work to replace the thing. I went online last night to see what it would take to do the install and to check prices. The install wouldn’t be too tough if the pipe sizes and placements were relatively close in the new unit. I’m thinking that isn’t going to happen. While I’m cruising around, I see someone asking about their broken disposal and that it would cost $90 bucks to just have a plumber look at it! In the response it mentioned to check the electrical connection and look for a cutoff switch. I jumped right out of bed. I checked the electrical switch and it was working fine. I then started digging around the disposal unit. I found a red button at the bottom. I pushed it in and “yessss” it worked! Thanks, Internet, you saved me at least $100 and a bunch of hard work.

I like personal development. I like to find new insights and learn. I started subscribing to The Lazy Way to Success blog for just this reason. The author’s philosophy is that it is not hard work that leads to success it’s working smart. I agree with this, but like anything else, this notion can be taken too far, and this guy has gone way over the edge.

In one post, he opines that Andy Roddick was defeated in the first round of the U.S. Open because hard work failed. He says Roddick was more successful last year because he didn’t work hard. He even bastardizes a quote from Andy Roddick: “Last year I didn’t work hard. I didn’t even step up. I wasn’t training hardly and somehow sneaking out big points.”

He then starts analyzing various comments from successful athletes who were asked how they were successful and replied that they had “no idea.” He then attributes the concept of “no idea” to a “play ethic” vs. a “work ethic.” This guy doesn’t understand athletics in the least. Why do these great athletes have “no idea?” Because they’ve done it thousands, if not millions of times. Every athlete knows you can’t perform if you’re thinking about what you have to do.

I posted a comment where I expressed that Jordan and Rice ran hills, lifted weights, etc. to become as great as they were. His response, “Athletes are driven to get stronger and faster so they can derive even greater joy from their ‘play.’” Yeah, but that doesn’t entail hard work? Even if you love something or know something will make you better at what you love doesn’t make it doing it “play.” I love this little bit of condescension, “Athletes call it hard work because they feel the need to justify their success by calling it work.” Yeah, guys who are running hills and lifting weights while other guys are hanging out with buddies call what they are doing work to justify their success. What crap. What kind of arrogant ass presumes that these guys are justifying anything?

His final flurry is:

I fully realize that I am introducing a new paradigm here and that there will be squawks from those indoctrinated by society’s deluded infatuation with the work ethic…

This is the classic debating style of those arguing without substance. I don’t understand his “new paradigm” and I’m deluded by society. His argument centers around successful athletes having “no idea” and not thinking. He seems to propose that having “no idea” and not thinking is how you become successful. The fact is that you can’t get to “no idea” and not thinking without practice and preparation. If you don’t want to call it “hard work”, fine. But don’t give me some BS about a new paradigm.