Thursday, November 09, 2006

Elections in Kansas

On Tuesday I voted. This was my first election as a citizen of the great State of Kansas. So here are my impressions:

I like the electronic touch screen voting machines. They are pretty cool. I don’t know if I voted correctly, but I think I won two games of solitaire. In using those machines there is no possibility for the dreaded “hanging chad” which is just fine with me. I have never liked that phrase anyway—especially since I know some really nice people named Chad and I’d never want to see them hung. (Wouldn’t you agree Brothers Armstrong, Carmichael, Doane, and Holland? If you couldn’t guess those fine men are some of our Central “Chads.”)

I don’t know if I simply picked the right time to vote, or if not many people were voting in my precinct or what, but I walked right in and voted. No lines. No hassles. Just nice election people, who seemed happy that I was there. I liked that too!

I had to show a picture ID when I voted. The man informed me that next time I vote that I will not have to show my ID. I guess he’ll remember me. He was a nice man with a really good memory since he won’t see me again for two years. (Now I could understand him remembering me if this were Chicago where voters were encouraged to “Vote early and vote often.” Maybe he thought he was in Chicago and not Olathe and that he would see me again later in the day trying to vote for Mayor Daly one more time.)

With the 2006 election over, I wonder if Laura Bush and Senator John McCain (not to mention the governor, senator and a couple of dog catcher candidates) will stop calling my house. The conversations were usually one-sided (as it was simply a tape recording of the candidate or celebrity) but it was nice of them to call. Maybe I could return the pleasantries— I could have an automated tape of me call their house during supper time. Like when they called me, I am sure that they would appreciate listening to me go on and on about immigration or some such thing while their pork chops were getting colder than an ice cube in Antarctica.

Could we have a ballot proposal that all candidates in the future need to be nice to each other? No mud slinging, no grainy black and white photos, no innuendoes of improper things. Don’t tell me how awful your opponent is—tell me how great you will be if I vote for you. Vote “No” on Mud!

I know there’s that little thing in the constitution about free speech, but while we are voting away mud, could we also vote away all the political yard signs. Think of all the trees we could save. Would the anti-yard sign people have yard signs telling people to vote “No” on yard signs? Just wondering.

I like elections. I like the fact that we can vote. I like the fact that even if I do not know every single judge running for every single office, it’s still my right to vote. Maybe your candidates got elected, maybe they didn’t but isn’t it great to live in a country where the people decide?

In a way, you’ll be voting in the next couple of weeks at Central. There will be no election boxes or political signs and hopefully no mudslinging—but you will be voting with your pledge cards and your hearts. What direction do you want Central to go in the next several years? The “Now Finish the Work” campaign is crucial for the future ministries of Central. It will greatly determine our ability to make more and better disciples.

Just to refresh your memory: Our “Now Finish the Work” campaign is an effort to raise $1,080,500 in the next 24 months (Which apparently is a bargain compared to soccer fields in Johnson county). If we raise the million dollars it will save us one million dollars in interest and knock four years off our payments. It will also open up $288,000 in monies for ministries today. That money is crucial because our payments have increased over $9,000 a month in the last two years due to rising interest rates. In other words, the success of the “Now Finish the Work” campaign is vital to the current and future ministries of Central.

Next week is our “Prayer is Central” week. As you are praying for the ministries and pastors and future of Central—pray for your involvement in the mission of making “more and better disciples” and how you can be involved in the “Now Finish the Work” campaign. If you haven’t signed up yet—you can do so on Sunday Morning or by e-mailing me or by calling the church office. PLEASE SIGN UP TO PRAY! WE NEED ALL OF CENTRAL PRAYING!!!

And remember to be at Central on November 19th. We will be celebrating 25 years in Lenexa in the morning worship services, and the PM Gathering will be an all-church reception in the fellowship hall with good music, better testimonies and great hors d’voeuvres. That’s the day we will be begin to receive the pledge cards for the “Now Finish the Work” campaign.

So like the elections we just came through-- the best scenario for America would have been if every single voter was informed and participated. The best scenario of Central through our “Now Finish the Work” campaign will be as all of us are informed and participate. So please, pray about how you might be involved in these crucial days at Central.

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