February 7, 2008

Message from Lafayette UMC


I have been in contact with some of the persons responsible for the disaster response here in Lafayette. Today the community is in the process of discerning what is needed, and in what order. It is not possible to rush this process, even though there are so many persons who want to help. Please be patient and work through established channels or offers of help can become distractions for those who are trying to coordinate relief efforts.

To cite just one example of the need to be responsible: Lafayette Mayor Bill Wells, a member of Lafayette UMC, told me this morning that private parties using heavy equipment, and in a rush to help, are in danger of destroying infrastructure, such as gas and electrical connnections, that will have to be replaced at the eity’s expense. This, at a time when the city is facing a fiscal challenge with things as they are.

We are grateful for any and all help. We just need persons to make sure that they are helping in the most effective and constructive ways possible, and at the best time.

Blessings,
Michael Welch

Speaking Gigs This Weekend...

Saturday
Workshop leader for Warmth in Winter at the Nashville Convention Center

Sunday
Preaching at the Antioch United Methodist Church

Workshop leader at the Murfreesboro District Training Event in Tulluhoma 

“ We’ve elected two boomers in a row, and it would be surprising if America now jumped a generation, backward or forward. But Hillary inherits the nation’s ambivalence about boomers (at least the elitist, blue-state version) and their self-indulgence and self-absorption.
David Ignatius - Choosing Among Generations - washingtonpost.com
January 4, 2008
“ [Obama] talks about erasing old categories like red and blue (and implicitly, black and white) and replacing them with new categories, of which the most important are new and old. He seems at first more preoccupied with changing thinking than changing legislation.
The Two Earthquakes - New York Times
January 2, 2008
An update from the folks at Invisible Children
“ In all of this, we may be tempted to cynicism, because “there’s no one to check/ It’s all a stacked deck,” but surrendering to cynicism ends up empowering politics as usual. A friend of mine in college used to say that religion may be the opiate of the masses, but cynicism is surely the opiate of the intellectuals. Bona fide and enduring hope, we must remember, comes from a source both higher than politics and deeper than the best understanding of intellectuals.
Brian McLaren
“

On his most recent visit, he said, a waitress gave him and his wife’s cousin, 44-year-old Michael Borrelli, a bill for $46.40, roughly double the buffet price for two adults.

“She says, ‘Y’all fat, and y’all eat too much,’” Labit said.
‘Hearty eater’ claims buffet banned him - Yahoo! News
Christvertising
This has got to be a sendup … surely no one really is doing this for real.
July 2, 2007
My pownce page
June 28, 2007
Now that the IPhone is the hot product released, do you think it might be possible actually get some Wii’s on the shelf?