I’ve been on the phone with Comcast alot since I can’t access this webpage, nor any other webpage on alwaysonline.net. I know that this webpage is accessible from other locations (Blogger can FTP to it and other friends can view it). Comcast doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. I am pretty sure it is Comcast’s problem. AFAIK, my computer is working perfectly. I need to test it out on my neighbor’s computer (also a Comcast customer).
I don’t consider myself a hard headed religious person who can’t seem to compromise or not be able to see the other view of things. What I am trying to get is order to the chaos. I posted yesterday when I was upset and frustrated. To some extent I still am confused about the whole matter. I really don’t want to come across as some type of wet blanket or to rain on anybody’s parade. I know that we (members of the church of Christ) don’t get excited about God. It’s always refreshing to see someone on fire for Jesus. However yesterday’s and Thursday’s VBS assemblies were just different. It was more a pep rally rather than a religious service. The main focus was being loud rather than worshipping God. My mom still doesn’t think that these VBS assemblies in the auditorium are indeed worship services. She classifies them as some kind of other service. I think that VBS assemblies are worship services since it has all the characteristics of any other worship service…..songs, closing prayer, etc…..
I cringed when the VBS song leader let the kids speak over the wireless microphones during the songs and after the worship service. This was just asking for trouble. The audio team tries to keep kids from speaking on the microphones before and after services to a bare minimum. We turn off the sound system as soon as worship is over. By letting the kids jokingly speak during VBS, they will want to use it during normal assemblies on Sundays. This is just opening a can of worms.
VBS is nothing new to me. While I was growing up, I rarely missed a day of VBS at the church I attended. I can remember singing all those VBS songs. However nothing really got out of hand. It was always a structured worship service in some form or another.
On a side note, I can remember as a 6th grader attending VBS, thinking that I myself was the coolest ever. In any situation there was a pecking order. When you’re a 6th grader at VBS, you’re at the top of food chain. Gone are the days of being picked on by the kids in the grade ahead of you.

Currently listening to The Hives – Hate to Say I Told You So. It’s got a good punk rock feel to it.
Bush to undergo colonoscopy….otherwise known as TOO MUCH INFORMATION. There is no reason why we needed to hear about his colonoscopy. He could have told us he is having some tests run. Nope, we had to hear every morbid detail of this proceedure.

Let all things be done decently and in order.
I Corinthians 14:40

Today’s VBS was bordering on mass chaos during the closing assembly. Kids shouted (not sung) words to the songs which many of them probably didn’t know what the words to the songs meant. We’re told by elders not to clap after baptisms, yet it is perfectly ok to clap throughout VBS songs. This sends mixed signals to kids. Somebody please take a stand on it.
If Mt. Juliet’s summer camp is going to be anything like VBS, then I want no part of it.

My life can’t be that interesting that you HAVE to read this EVERYDAY. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being pulled into 10 different directions. It’s been quite taxing at church tonight. We had 3 different things using 3 different forms of media (computer, overhead, and VCR) on the big screen tonight. By some act of God we were able to pull it off without a hitch tonight. Somehow I’ve become known as the computer guy at church. Everyone runs to me when they want to put stuff on the screen. They had some special presentations tonight since tonight was “open house” for VBS. They showed a video of a puppet show. It would have been better if you could understand what the puppets were saying. But there we sat, looking at the VBS equivalent of the emperor’s new clothes. No one bothering to say that you couldn’t understand a word that sheep was saying.
Ever notice how all rules seem to be bent or broken at VBS? Case in point – clapping during worship. During all other times clapping is sorta forbidden. But during VBS it is encouraged. “I’m in the Lord’s Army….” “Wise Man Built His House…..” These songs are all sung during VBS and have clapping that go along with them. Seems like a double standard. Either clapping is wrong all the time or it is right at any time.

Well I figured I’d better post something positive because the previous posts have been nothing but negative. I don’t want to come across as a negative person.
Looks like I’m going to be a 4th grade teacher on Wednesday nights at church. One of the other teachers is getting married soon and will be going to a different church. So they needed a co-teacher. I volunteered mostly because I don’t have a class to go to on Wednesday nights. So what better way to contribute than to teach the little kids. I’ve sat in on the class a couple of times. Seems like a good age. They actually won’t be rude to you and seem interested in learning. We’ll see how I like it after a few weeks.
It is really good to have friends. Some friends I’ve only known for one week at camp. Yet I keep in touch with them throughout the year.

Lately this weblog has turned into raw thoughts and feelings. It has grown since its early days of September 2001 where I’d post maybe one sentence every few days. Now it seems like I’m writing paragraphs everyday, sometimes twice a day.
You might have to excuse that last post. I was very frustrated when I wrote it. I guess I need to send out some kind of notice to all the deacons at church. Something to the effect of “Do not wait until the last minute to spring something huge on the audio visual staff.” I don’t think I would be as upset if it didn’t happen too often. The thing is that it happens all the time. Whenever there’s a special missions or other visual presentation, the audio visual workers are never notified of any type of special presentation which might require reworking on our computer.
Also out of those 150 of so pictures, only about 50 were worthy of showing on the screen. The others were less than spectacular….ie the back of people’s heads, blurry pictures, similiar pictures already shown, etc…. Sounds like someone needs to learn how to take pictures.
Remember that Barren County Camp I went to in the Summer of 2000? Well, they’re having their camp again this year. Needless to say I won’t be visiting it for one night like I did last summer. I don’t feel a need to ruin my summer again with bad memories. When I was there for a whole week during the summer of 2000, I was treated like a 2nd class citizen. Never really considered a full staff member. Some of those people are stuck in their own little world….not oblivious to the attitudes expressed with their actions and facial expressions. I see how they treat visitors and I don’t like it. True, there were a handful of people there who I cared about. But mostly it was just a bunch of stuck up people in their own little pathetic world where the center of the universe is Glasgow, Kentucky. Good riddance.
Our youth minister Phil has come up with a theme for Mt. Juliet’s summer camp. It’s Camp Stratiotes. I don’t even know how to pronouce it. Comes from some type of Greek translations of soldier. Methinks it will take the entire week to learn how to pronouce it properly.
This got me thinking today. Baptism is very much a personal decision. If it were upto me, I’d have everyone at camp down at the creek first thing Sunday afternoon and have a mass baptism just to get things taken care of. We’d even baptize those who were already Christians just to be sure. But it doesn’t really work like that. It’s all personal. I have to wait for people to come to me about it. Some people never will. It’s just that I have to accept.