Feelings on new gun laws in NY

The winner of our nation's newest arms race is officially New York State.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/15/16515653-new-york-poised-to-pass-major-gun-law-first-since-newtown-massacre?lite
New York looks to be the first state to pass a major gun law since the Connecticut Massacre.
The amazing thing; Democrats do not have the majority in the New York Senate, yet the measure passed 43-18.  It seems to me that one of the biggest criticisms of Democrats is, "They want to take away are guns."  Yet no Democrat has ever tried to take away my hunting weapons.  Nor has any Democrat tried to take away handguns from law abiding citizens.
New York is doing the right thing.  They are refining the laws to make it difficult for evil or unbalanced individuals to get assault rifles and concealed weapons permits.  I have worked in some sort of mental health vocation for nearly a decade.  I have worked with many individuals who, although they may be wonderful people, are not stable.  I would not trust some of these people with a butter knife or sharp pencil, much less an assault rifle.  Some people just don't need to have guns.
I'm glad to see that at least one state in our Union can ignore party lines to address an issue that impacts the safety of everyone.  It is time for other states to follow suit.
I welcome comments...

Math Problem

I have a Math problem for anyone to try. It is harder than it appears. Likely, your initial answer will be incorrect.
You have a 100 pound bag of potatoes. 99% of the potatoes is water weight. You leave the potatoes outside for a few hours and some of the water evaporates. Now, 98% of the potatoes is water weight. What is the new total weight of the bag of potatoes.
Hint: The answer is below 90.

Favorite Christmas Carol

I love to read the small town newspapers. I like to look for grammatical errors. Most of the time, you can find about 5 pretty easily on every page. I also love hearing some of the stories. The Angier Independent had a story on the front page about a man who found an emu. An emu had been found and he was trying to find the owner. It is amazing what you find in these small town newspapers.
My favorite thing I read in the Angier Independent last night was the question and answer section. They were asking kids what their favorite Christmas Carols were. This one kid's answer was Old MacDonald Had a Farm. I thought it was hilarious. I did not know this was a Christmas Carol.
It is sad though. How much can this kid understand the true meaning of Christmas if this was his answer. I don't know. I don't want to read much into some six year old's answer in a small town newspaper. I do know, however, that there are alot of kids out there who don't understand what Christmas is all about. I just hope we don't forget the meaning of Christmas in all of the hustle and bustle of commercialism.

Christmas Tree

Its that time of year. Two days after Thanksgiving Dinner, Allison and I went Christmas tree shopping. We were up in the mountains with my family. Allison and I had a great breakfast at Shatley Springs; an out of the way, home cooking place near the Virginia border. On the way back, we found an older man selling Christmas Trees cheap. We found the right one (a 10 foot Frazier Fir), cut it down, gave the man fifty bucks, and put it in the truck.
The real fun was yet to begin. The larger the tree, the tougher it is to put up. We spent over two hours trying to get it to stay put. Allison was getting frustrated and we were both getting tired. All four legs of the tree stand just did not want to be on the floor at the same time. We finally had a great idea. We put a large floor pillow under the most difficult of the legs. Finally the tree stayed put.
This experience reminded me that getting frustrated does not help anything. You see it in sports all of the time. A team is doing great until they get frustrated, then nothing seems to go right. However, if we'll just calm down and collect our thoughts, we can get the job done.

Giving till it hurts

Our text for Sunday School this Sunday was Mark 12:35-44. The passage talks about a widow who gave all of the money she had as an offering. Jesus praises the woman's generosity because she gave out of her poverty. He criticizes those who are rich and give out of their abundance, because of the pride they take in their giving.
This has a lot to do with why Jesus was killed. He criticized the powers to be. Those that have the most money, have the most power. You criticize these, and you are in trouble. It is this way in the church. Those who contribute the most to the budget have the most power in the church. If you cross them, you are not going to be successful as a minister because they will strong-arm you out of their church. Jesus is speaking against this in the passage, however.
You see it with talents as well. We talked about the text as a stewardship issue, but I see it as a service issue as well. Those who have the most visual talents, get the most praise in the church. Others are doing just as worthy of work, but they do not get the credit because they work behind the scenes. Credit is not what we should seek for, however. The widow received no credit from the people in the Temple, but she received credit from Jesus. I have to remember this in my own service. We may not have the money to be a huge contributor in the church. We may not have the talents to be a visible contributor in the church. But if we are doing the best we can with what God has given us, we will get all of the credit we deserve when we get to heaven.

Glad not to attend

I had the opportunity to attend the North Carolina Baptist Convention this year, but I chose not too. My excuse was that I couldn't take the time off from work. Truthfully, if I had wanted to get off work, I could have. The past two years, I have attended the convention. I appreciate the experience, but I imagined there would be nothing new to experience. I was correct. New issues arise every year, but if one is truly honest, there is nothing truly new. The treatment of the Nursing Homes last year was my last straw. I gave up on the Convention after this. When they actually used the word "leverage" when talking about 80 and 90 year-old men and women.
I feel the same way many other mainstream Baptist feel. I feel pushed out. I attended the CBF National Convention this summer. The difference, to me, was night and day. I felt welcomed. I felt as if we were all one big family. This is what I look for in a Church and in a Convention. I know for many people it is a theological issue. It is not for me. I am probably more conservative than many of the people I met at the CBF convention. Yet, I would be deemed a "liberal" by those in the NCBC. My issue is freedom. I merely want the freedom to believe and practice the way I choose. There are plenty of churches around. It should not be hard for everybody in North Carolina to find a church that fits them and their theology. I think we should all go to the church that best fits us, and let the rest of the churches be autonomous.
I was glad not to attend the convention. If I am not welcome somewhere, and I don't really want to be there, than there is no need for me to go. For now, I say maybe I'll go next year, but probably not. One thing is for sure, however. I am looking forward to Memphis.