Gambling at Saratoga Springs.

This time of year around here is like a circus. One would think that the only reason this entire region exists is because of the Saratoga racetrack! All the news agencies are reporting “Live from the Track”

Many people I know go there at least once or twice a year, and some of those are Church going folks. Is this right I ask?

Should we as Christians be going to a place of gamming and gambling? Many say, they only bet small bets, I have no idea what they mean, but I guess there are levels of betting there. But, small or big, should we be there?

The news pushes very hard, how family friendly they are, family fun days, open house days, give a ways, picnics so on and so on. Making it seem that unless you are there you are the odd person. What, you mean you don’t go to the track, man you don’t know what you are missing!

No, we should not be there is the only answer. Listening to Dr David Jeremiah, it is clear our mission. Are we serving the Lord through our faith as well as our works, and are the works in line with the level of our faith?

Unless we are at the track passing out food or literature or witnessing, I can not see how w can justify being there, other that trying to say” it’s just innocent fun” Is it? No different that the Bingo Hall many say.

Well, we certainly have the ability to fit anything into our perception and justify any behavior we want. But that still does not make it right. We know this, yet we seem to fall away just the same.

Do School sports help our kids?

Really, can someone point to any specific data that can demonstrate how School sports helps today’s youth? Seriously, I want your feedback.

Here is one argument for sports "They learn to work within a team environment, get positive reinforcement from their peers, have fun, set goals and build confidence" sorry I don't buy it. Not one word of it here. They can learn to work in a team environment in a class setting, learn to work cohesively as a team to complete projects, and those projects can be fun.

They get the same reinforcement through classroom work, and can even take the classrooms outside to make them more active and appealing. The can set goals and build confidence by doing good work and having that work reviewed by peers for confidence building.

As I have demonstrated all the same goals can be achieved in classroom work as it can by sports. The one component missing would be the physical side, but who says there aren’t activities that can be done in gym class or otherwise that achieve that same end as well.

No I was not an athlete in School, nor did I play any sports. This obviously colors my view. One could go so far as to say the athletes in School and I had a less than amicable relationship in most cases. I saw no benefit save the best sports players were typically pampered and treated as mini Gods in most High Schools. Is that a good thing? I think not. A select few get rewarded and praised while the rest have to try to find room in the wings. It is an unbalanced system.

This post comes about as one of our local Schools did not pass the School budget so Sports are out this year unless the kids can raise some 80,000 dollars themselves. So we get barraged with plea’s of help to give them money for their sports program this year.

Instead of listening to the voters, aka tax payers, they are going about and pleading, begging for money for a program that the tax payers decided was not warranted.

Listen to the message folks; find a better venue for building a child’s self esteem and confidence. How about going to Church on Sunday instead of a sports game. How about some camping trips or hiking trips instead of sitting on a hard bleacher. How about rooting for your teachers, and doing more creative assignments instead of rooting for a football hero.

How about volunteering at the local food pantry or mission instead of the prom or homecoming event. What is wrong with serving your community instead of taking from it. Spots consumes funds without a serious benefit.

As the Bible states, we cannot serve two masters.

Kids today!

Last weekend I went to see the new home my daughter is building. It is supposed to be a 5500 sq ft house! That's not a house in my book, it's a mansion.

Barely over a year ago I was buying groceries for her to feed her three children, and now this year she is building such a house. I don't get it. She seems happy, her boyfriend, no they are not married, yet have a child together, anyway, her boyfriend seems to be making some money as an electrician.

My wife says he was born on a Monday, meaning he seems to have a certain touch. Business literally walks up to him and asks for him. He walks from one big deal to the next, so in addition to being an electrician he is building buildings, and many more skills. i don't know how he does it.

However, she is still a baby at 26 and still does not know much about being a mom for her three children. She still likes to "go out" as she says and the children get dispersed among people who will take them. She isn’t too picky about who takes them either.

this is being a bit critical but then again it is intended to be. I try to tell her what I see, and let her know that she is making certain mistakes that she should learn from me about, but she seems bent on learning them herself as she always has been.

I do hope it works out for her, but I worry that when and if the bubble bursts how they will cope. Their mortgage payment will be high even with him building most of the house himself. Their mortgage will be largest than mine and I know how hard mine hits each month. Banks are not too forgiving on many late payments.

Time will tell how it plays out for her, but I will do what I can, as long as she asks. I have discovered my input is not usually wanted unless specifically asked for, so I don’t input.