Thank God we still have our Religious Freedom!

We are all complaining lately about how screwed up our country is right now.  Being one of the complainers, I would like to take a moment to appreciate and Thank God that we still have our Religious Freedom!

Reading an article this afternoon, I realized that there are so many people in the world who don't have this freedom.  Maybe I'm naive, but I really thought that except for a few countries, this was a thing of the past. But, it seems that Christian persecution is still wide spread even in this day and age.

The article I read was about 4 men in Iran being sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking alcohol at a communion. You can read the full article here.

http://news.yahoo.com/christians-iran-reportedly-sentenced-80-lashes-drinking-wine-122213900.html

The article goes on to say that it is against the law to drink alcohol in Iran.  Maybe if Iranians DID drink alcohol they'd be a little less "hostile".  But, I think that's a blog for another day.  On this point, I just think that if the men know it's against Iranian law to drink alcohol, they should have drank grape juice or something else like we do at our church services.  They can follow the law and still perform the service.  Although, I have a strong suspicion that they would have been arrested for something else.

The main reason I felt the need to blog about this is because of the little paragraph at the end of the article. Stuck in at the end and almost glossed over.  This paragraph has me truly upset!

"Protestant Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, has been in Iran's notorious Evin Prison for more than a year on charges of threatening national security by evangelizing in the Islamic country. His wife said in September that the pastor has been told he would be freed if he denies his Christian faith."

Why have we not heard about this?  We can hear about who the latest Kardashian is dating or what the 1st lady is wearing to dinner.  But, we don't hear about how there is a US Citizen trapped in a prison in Iran because he won't deny his Christian faith??!!  Why is our government not doing anything about this!  Why are we not demanding that he be deported back to the US? How can WE do anything about this?  I think I am most upset about this because I don't believe the government is doing anything to help a US Citizen in a foreign country and also because I know about it and I don't know what I can do to help!

If you have heard about this Pastor or know how I can help him, please share the information here!

Way to Go Texas KYA!

South Brevard County Champs

Finally a Kids Sports Program moving in the right direction!  The Keller Youth Association Football Program is doing away with Participation trophies this year.  Read the full article here.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/football-program-no-more-participation-trophies-224827133--abc-news-topstories.html?vp=1

I for one am glad to see a program that is willing to take that step to get our kids (our future society) to realize that you have to earn things in life.  They are not going to be given to you and you are not "entitled" to anything.  You want a trophy?  Put in the effort and hard work needed to win the championship!  You want a medal?  Put in the hard work and effort needed to win the race!

The only downside I see to this change is that the kids who have received trophies in the past are going to have a harsh slap of reality.  But, reality is harsh.  So, the kids are actually getting 2 lessons here.  Life doesn't hand you things and you have to suck it up and deal with harsh reality sometimes.

Upset He Didn't Earn an Award

The picture on the right is my youngest son, Aaron at the school's End of the Year Award Ceremony.  Now, no parent likes to see their child upset and neither do I.  But, I am kind of glad that he is upset that he didn't do well enough to earn the Principal's award that year.  Every other year, he has earned it.  That year he didn't.  So, it gave us the opportunity to talk with him about how he needs to consider if he truly tried hard enough that year. And what he could have done better and what he will do next year.

Unfortunately, all the years of giving kids rewards for just "showing up" or for mediocrity has given us a society of people that don't try to do their best because they think they don't need to.  It has given us a society that thinks that they are "owed" something.  This can be seen by all those EBT users and the amount of people on permanent welfare.

But, I also believe that it's never too late to make a change!  It's never too late to see that something isn't working and make it right!  I truly hope that the other sports programs around the country see this article and follow suit.  Not everyone is going to agree and there will be those parents that get upset that their coddled child isn't getting a trophy.  But, the programs just have to ignore those parents and stick to the principle. Eventually, it will become the norm.  Then, the programs will be doing what they were originally intended for....to teach kids how to work as a team and work hard for an end result.  My younger son Aaron says it best "2nd Place is just 1st Loser"!