“Aw, Pudge, come on….that’s disgusting!”

This is Ray Wetzel.  He is my maternal grandfather.  He was a good man.  A man of integrity.  He was a hard worker.  He was a gifted carpenter.

Even though he died when I was a young boy I have fond memories of him.  We would play checkers as he smoked his cigar.  He did not let me win, so when I did win it really meant something.  I remember riding in his '38 Olds.  I can still remember how that old car smelled and the noise it made as it started.  I remember the last house he built.  It was the one he and grandma lived in.  They lived in a very small camping trailer while the house was being built.

Grandpa Wetzel left a legacy, even though I'm certain he was not trying.  My grandpa will live in my heart always.  I hope my kids will come to know him through me too.  In fact we will all leave a legacy.  The only question is, what will it be?  What will I leave for my children and grandchildren?  What will you leave?  I hope it will be something much more special than material things, even though those can be important.  I have my grandpa's toolbox, tape measure and other carpenter tools.

Begin your legacy living today!

What a great time last night!  Playing softball with Christian men!  I had retired from softball for 2 years due to concerns about getting hurt.  Then one day, while working in my garage, I thought, the heck with it….I miss playing ball!  So, I asked the coach and he gave me a shot. 

I love pitching.  I especially love pitching when I'm in a groove.  I felt like I could place that ball on a dime if I wanted to.  All the guys were playing great "D" on top of that.  We played a super Tecumseh Church of the Nazarene team.  They are not just good ball players….they are good guys too!  We have a great team of men who love working together.  I am so happy to be hanging out with these men.  Oh, and the weather was super too.

I was inspired by all the other guys who were playing last night, even though one had torn a muscle in his shoulder, another had worked all day, was moving furniture and dead tired, another had a hurt hand, etc. 

Everyone on the team truly cares about the other players on both our team and the other team. 

We had a great fan club too!

I can't wait until next Thursday!  Come on out and cheer your team on!  This is a wonderful family time.

Man, I love a good storm!  I mean a rip roaring, wind blowing, hail stomping, lighting striking, thunder booming, rain poring storm!  We had a pretty decent one last night.  I've yet to go out and survey the damage.  I imagine there will be some.

I was wondering this morning, what is it about the storm that I love so much?  I think there are several reasons:

  The storm immediately propels me into fellowship with God.  I sense God so strongly in the storm.  Not as the cause of the storm, rather the comfort in the storm.  When all is well in the sun, we all have a tendency to forget God and be consumed with whatever we are doing at the time.  You can't forget God in the storm!

  The storm reminds me of how small I am and how big our God is.  At anytime, the forces of this planet can sweep thousands of us away in minutes.  So, just when we may feel we are pretty important….the storm comes and humbles us.  The storm gives us a small sample of the power of God!

  The storm makes me so thankful for shelter, food and the multitudes of provisions God has blessed us with to be comfortable in the storm.

  The storm causes me to think of loved ones and how they are doing in the storm.  I'll never forget a huge spring storm in 1966.  My mother and brothers were all huddled up in the basement with no lights and praying for dad who was out on the golf course.

  The storm brings families and friends together.  Things that at the time seem important become trivial…and the really important rises to the surface.  What a precious memory I have of the time we had 14" of snow on a Saturday night.  The car was stuck in the driveway.  We were snowed in!  The whole family gathered in the kitchen and had church.  We played games, watched t.v., shoveled snow, and took a hike to the nearest store for supplies.

  A couple of years ago, we all lost electrical power for 3 days.  It was super.  People came out of their houses and talked to their neighbors.  Those who had generators helped those who did not.  People were seen out on their porches visiting with neighbors they barely talked to in the past.  Kids were playing.  It was great!  It reminded me of the neighborhoods I grew up in, instead of these vacant dwellings we typically see on a daily basis, we call homes.

Oh, yeah, I love a good storm.  I hear there may be a repeat performance tonight.  I can hardly wait! 

District pulls plug on speech (Valedictorian's speech unwelcome by ACLU)
Las Vegas Review-Journal ^ | Jun. 17, 2006 | ANTONIO PLANAS
Posted on 06/19/2006 3:08:08 PM PDT by FerdieMurphy
Foothill valedictorian criticizes decision to censor her proclamation of faith

She knew her speech as valedictorian of Foothill High School would be cut short, but Brittany McComb was determined to tell her fellow graduates what was on her mind and in her heart.

But before she could get to the word in her speech that meant the most to her — Christ — her microphone went dead.

The decision to cut short McComb's commencement speech Thursday at The Orleans drew jeers from the nearly 400 graduates and their families that went on for several minutes.

However, Clark County School District officials and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday that cutting McComb's mic was the right call. Graduation ceremonies are school-sponsored events, a stance supported by federal court rulings, and as such may include religious references but not proselytizing, they said.

They said McComb's speech amounted to proselytizing and that her commentary could have been perceived as school-sponsored.

Before she delivered her commencement speech, McComb met with Foothill administrators, who edited her remarks. It's standard district practice to have graduation speeches vetted before they are read publicly.

School officials removed from McComb's speech some biblical references and the only reference to Christ.

But even though administrators warned McComb that her speech would get cut short if she deviated from the language approved by the school, she said it all boiled down to her fundamental right to free speech.

That's why, for what she said was the first time in her life, the valedictorian who graduated with a 4.7 GPA rebelled against authority.

"I went through four years of school at Foothill and they taught me logic and they taught me freedom of speech," McComb said. "God's the biggest part of my life. Just like other valedictorians thank their parents, I wanted to thank my lord and savior."

In the 750-word unedited version of McComb's speech, she made two references to the lord, nine mentions of God and one mention of Christ.

In the version approved by school officials, six of those words were omitted along with two biblical references. Also deleted from her speech was a reference to God's love being so great that he gave his only son to suffer an excruciated death in order to cover everyone's shortcomings and forge a path to heaven.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the ACLU of Nevada, had read the unedited version of McComb's speech and said district officials did the right thing by cutting McComb's speech short because her commentary promoted religion.

"There should be no controversy here," Lichtenstein said. "It's important for people to understand that a student was given a school-sponsored forum by a school and therefore, in essence, it was a school-sponsored speech."

Lichtenstein said that position was supported by two decisions by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2000 and 2003.

Both cases involved graduation ceremonies and religious speeches given by commencement speakers. In the 2003 case, Lichtenstein said, the plaintiff even petitioned the Supreme Court to have the decision reversed, but the request was denied.

In 2003, the Clark County School Board amended district regulations on religious free speech, prohibiting district officials from organizing a prayer at graduation or selecting speakers for such events in a manner that favors religious speech or a prayer.

The remainder of the amendment allows for religious expression during school ceremonies.

Where students or other private graduation speakers are selected on the basis of genuinely neutral, evenhanded criteria and retain primary control over the content of their expression, however, that expression is not attributable to the school and, therefore, may not be restricted because of its religious (or anti-religious) content," it states.

"To avoid any mistaken perception that a school endorses student or other private speech that is not in fact attributable to the school, school officials may make appropriate neutral disclaimers to clarify that such speech is not school sponsored."

District legal counsel Bill Hoffman said the regulation allows students to talk about religion, but speeches can't cross into the realm of preaching.

"We review the speeches and tell them they may not proselytize," Hoffman said. "We encourage people to talk about religion and the impact on their lives. But when that discussion crosses over to become proselytizing, then we to tell students they can't do that."

McComb, who will study journalism at Biola University, a private Christian school in La Mirada, Calif., doesn't believe she was preaching. She said although some people might not like the message of her speech, it was just that, her speech.

"People aren't stupid and they know we have freedom of speech and the district wasn't advocating my ideas," McComb said. "Those are my opinions.

"It's what I believe."

Good question?  People are looking for God.  They really do want to find Him.  How will you find God?  Where do you look for God?  If you were looking for someone, you would need to know what he or she looked like to find them.  What is the character and nature of God?  What does He look like?  The bible tells us that God is love.  Keep an eye out for genuine love and it is certain you will find God there. 

The whole idea is much like the scene in the movie Patch Adams when the older man keeps asking the question “how many fingers do you see”  What are you looking for?

God is revealing Himself all the time.  The question is, are you looking for Him?

God was seen a couple of weeks ago riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  He got together some other motorcycle riders from a group that calls themselves the Christian Motorcycle Association. 

He led them all to the house of a man who just found out he has cancer.  God spoke to the man words of comfort, assurance, faith and courage.  He hugged this man several times and made sure the man knew, no matter what happens, that he was loved dearly.  God even made a cake and shared various special gifts with the man.

I know to many in this world it looked like a man on a Harley Davidson motorcycle….but it was God! 

What is a wingman?  A wingman is a trusted, reliable, loyal friend that will cover your back before, during and after every attack of the enemy. 

Every man needs a wingman.  Be careful in choosing your wingman though - it is a terrible thing to be in a firefight and your wingman heads for the hills!  Or worse yet, turns around and shoots you!

Your wingman must be focused on the same mission you are focused on. 

Your wingman must live and breathe your values. 

The battle is real.  The bullets are real.  Don't settle for a pretend wingman!

Every David needs a Jonathan.  Pray that God will reveal yours to you this day

How good and pleasant it is
       when brothers live together in unity!

 It is like precious oil poured on the head, 
 running down on the beard, 
 running down on Aaron's beard, 
 down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew of Hermon 
were falling on Mount Zion. 
For there the LORD bestows his blessing, 
even life forevermore.

 "You are the light of the world."  Matt. 5:14 

You never know when someone is watching you.  You may not like it…it is simply the truth.  Some people watch you to see you make a mistake.  They are small insecure people, don't be concerned about them.  They don't like the light.  It hurts their eyes.

Others simply watch for that is what people do.  It is impossible to not influence others…for good and for bad.  Jesus told us that we should let His goodness shine all the time…not just in certain places and at certain times for certain people. Light serves others, it is not self serving.

Saturday was my quarterly junk day.  I and 6 other guys collected junk metal for Raisin Township.  It was alot of fun, we got to meet some new people and we made a little money.

I was so proud to hear from the Township Supervisor that several people commented on how friendly and nice our crew was to them.  He would love to see our crew doing this job next year too.

Thanks Chris, Joe, Nate, Ron, Tommy, and Bruce for letting the light of Jesus shine through you.  Your example is so much more powerful than 100's of sermons.  Some people like to talk about faith - you live it!  I hope and pray that it is this sort of character that will come to mind when people ask, "what's NewSong?"  Oh, it's just a group of people that love all people, all the time, in every way…because Jesus lives in them.

Shine NewSong! Shine!

Anthony Lane, a film critic for the New Yorker, has captured my feelings exactly in his recent review of the Da Vinci code: 

"Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, except at Columbia Pictures, where the power lunches won’t even be half-started. The Catholic Church has nothing to fear from this film. It is not just tripe. It is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith. Meanwhile, art historians can sleep easy once more, while fans of the book, which has finally been exposed for the pompous fraud that it is, will be shaken from their trance. In fact, the sole beneficiaries of the entire fiasco will be members of Opus Dei, some of whom practice mortification of the flesh. From now on, such penance will be simple—no lashings, no spiked cuff around the thigh. Just the price of a movie ticket, and two and a half hours of pain."