The HIGH Cost of HIGH School

Well the early numbers are in and it appears that since the legalization of marijuana in Colorado . . . wait for it . . . MORE KIDS ARE GETTING HIGH! 

Read the news report here from Denver's CBS4:  http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/03/06/drug-testing-company-sees-spike-in-children-using-marijuana/

Of course. Who could possibly be surprised? Let's make it easier to access pot and then pretend that usage will not increase?

Here's the problem. #1--If kids are high while in school, then they are not learning anything. #2--If these kids are driving themselves to and from school, then they are driving while impaired and risk a DUI or worse, a fatality--theirs or someone else's.  Have you seen the car accident stats for teens? It ain't great!  Let's add pot to the mix and see what happens.  #3--We already had a drug problem in our schools and it's not getting any better.

Anyone have a thought on a solution?

Write!

I'm not a writer.  I don't like to write.  I don't ever like to write. I would rather do almost anything to keep from writing.  I'm a speaker, a teacher, a preacher . . . but not a writer.  The problem is that I've got ideas, and some of them are good.  One of the best ways to communicate ideas, beyond my little world, is to write them down and send them out.  And so I write. And I don't much like it.  You would laugh to see me write. I speak out loud and then write it down.  I read out loud back to myself and then edit whatever I've written.  That's another obstacle to good writing. I spend too much time editing and not enough time writing.  I wouldn't bring it up except that Tina and I are working on a book together and books require writing.--lots of writing.  Tina is a writer. She loves to write. She writes and then says whatever she wrote. That's very different from me.  I write what I speak. She speaks what she writes. We couldn't be more different.  lol  Someday, you may own a copy of my book. It will likely be available in the discount bin. When you read it, do me a favor and read it out loud, because that's how it will have been written.

Stuff...

Has anyone else been sick? I guess I've had the flu...not sure.  I came down with something a little over a week ago and I'm still not 100%.  This stuff is bad!  I ended up missing church last Sunday and everything else scheduled for the week.

I'm rereading the Hobbit--first read it in high school.  I love the story and have quckly gotten lost in the adventure.  I guess I'll read the trilogy next (again) and experience the adventure.

Good News concerning Tina's upcoming book, WOUNDED WOMEN OF THE BIBLE. A release date has been announce by the publisher (Kregel Publishing) for July 1, 2013. Presales should begin in April.  We're very excited to have this very first book released.

Zach has been accepted into Grand Canyon University in Phoenix for the Fall.  We're praying for mucho scholarships to pay for it.

My dad was supposed to be here to visit this weekend but we had to postpone because illness both in our house and in his own.  As it turns out, he had a minor accident yesterday and was hit by a drunk driver. He wasn't hurt but his vehicle will take a few weeks of repair.

Blessings!

Daily Grace

Did you know that I write a daily devotion? It's called Daily Grace and you can read it here: http://dailygracedevotion.blogspot.com/

Zombies in the Bible

I'm teaching a Men's Bible Study tonight on the topic of ZOMBIES IN THE BIBLE.    I'm teaching from the following ZOMBIE passages about the living dead and about the true resurrection life that is given to us through Jesus Christ.

Zecheriah 14:12 - "And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem.  Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will shrivel in their sockets, and their tongues will decay in their mouths. On that day they will be terified, stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will fight against each other in hand-to-hand combat." (NLT)

Revelation 11:3-13 - "And their dead bodies will lie in the street...but after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet" (NASB)

Revelation 20:11-15 - "And I saw the dead, the grat and the small, standing before the throne..."

Matthew 27:50-53 - "The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many."

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - "There was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them . . . and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army"

Ephesians 2:1-10 - "And you were dead..."

Videos of Interest:

http://www.undeadreport.com/2013/01/zombie-threat-continues-from-abusers-of-strange-drugs/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Q4dRzECUs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UGioSKYsCY

What We Do Together

Grace River Members . . .

M-eet together weekly

E-xperience prayer daily

M-inister with our gifts

B-ask, bathe, and bury ourselves in the Bible

E-xtend God's kingdom by bringing friends and family

R-esource God's church with our tithes and offerings

S-ense the supernatural activity of God

A Word About the Connecticut School Shooting

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." --Jesus (John 16:33)

There are a great many things that happen on this planet and in this country that defy human explanation. We are living through yet another one. We are hardly past the theatre shooting in Aurora and once again we are asking, "Why?". Why would anyone go into an elementary school and kill twenty children and five teachers? Why would anyone do this? Why? Why? Why? In time, those who investigate such things will bring us an explanation--at least to give us some sense of what happened. The bigger "why" that I'm asking is, why do we seem to see an increase in violence against our young adults and our children. Let me share four thoughts that will likely prove less than satisfying to us in this moment of pain, and yet I believe each of them to be truth.

#1--Our world is filled with trouble, as Jesus said in John 6:33. There is a heaven (a place with no sin) but we're not there yet. Sinful people do sinful things and we are sinners living among a world filled with sinners. Each sin ripples across the lake of time effecting the world in sometimes catastrophic ways. Without providing excuses for him, we can make an assumption that today's shooter was likely (at least in his mind) paying back somebody or something for whatever has gone terribly wrong in his own world. Somehow this small school got in the way of this man's chaotic self-destruction.

#2--What we describe as mental illness, God's word often describes as demonic oppression or possession. Great evil can flow through men and women sometimes because they are being used as a tool by the forces of evil that move throughout our world. Revelation 9:11 says that one of the names for Satan is in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon--meaning "the Destroyer".

#3--Our culture for years has been diminishing the value of human life through the acceptance of things like abortion, euthanasia, and suicide. We can't look the other way when life is cheapened without experiencing the consequences. Remember, sin ripples across the lake of time.

#4--Humans, all humans, are created in the image and likeness of God. The least scarred and least hardened by sin are the youngest among us--our children. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is composed of children and that entrance to the kingdom comes as we become childlike in our faith. Throughout history, Satan has waged war on the children (those who most resemble the image of God). Think of Pharaoh killing the infant Hebrews as well as Herod killing the small children of Bethlehem. Satan has always been seeking to destroy the children

As I said in the beginning, likely, none of this will be too comforting. With that in mind, let me end where I began, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (JN 16:33). My response and our response to this tragedy should be to bring people to Jesus--the only one to ever overcome the world! Take heart--the evil that we see and experience everyday--is overcome through Jesus resurrection! He lives--we live--these children in Connecticut live!

 

As has been said, we will all hug our kids a little tighter tonight. When you do, remind them of the good news...because He lives, I can face tomorrow...