Longing to be better...

One month. Well, not quite. Two days shy of one month. That is how long it has been since a post on this site. How can we expect people to read it for the most up to date info and happening of CwSM if we don't give it to them? That is what went on in my head when ever I opened the internet and this blog came up as the home page. So I want to tell you the reader (yes, you the only reader) that Scott and I long to be better bloggers. We owe it to you. We are sorry.

So, we are recommited to the new way to get info out there. We will post reminders, updates, and little things that God is teaching us in our lives. Look for it, read it, and comment on it if you like. :)

Thanks for your patience,
much Love,
Johnny

Project Serve Squared Before

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to serve lately. And we were talking about it a lot this week at church and I think that sometimes we get so consumed with this attitude that I need to serve other people that we forget to serve God. Another question that came up as I was studying this is who do I allow to serve me?

I think that we are so use to serving other people that we don't remember that sometimes we need people to help us or serve us. If I can be honest this question makes me uncomfortable. I don't like being served I like to do the serving. It makes me "feel" better to serve than to be served.

How do I let people serve me? I'm not talking about a person at a hotel serving us or having a server. I'm talking about really reaching out to someone and telling them what is going on and why I need help.

I think that serving becomes something that we can easily get addicted to. These are a couple of thoughts that are entering my mind as we are heading into project serve.

One thing that I want student to walk away with is knowing that they are not the only people in this world. That people are in need all around them. But, it takes us asking those tough questions to find the need.

I don't know some of these answers and I feel like these are questions that have been wrestling in my spirit for a while. So, I'm left just thinking which is a good place to start

Peace,
Scott

Sunday ReCap, high school

What does Back to the Future and Leviticus have in common? Not much to be honest. Back to the future is about a time machine, which runs on electricity, but needs a nuclear reaction to create the 1.21 gigawatts of power to achieve time travel.

Leviticus is a bunch of details about how to properly sacrifice when performing different offerings, what is clean and unclean, various laws about sideburns and tattoos, and which feasts the people of Israel are supposed to keep.

However, consider this. Time travel can be dangerous...mainly because of the hazards that are involved with nuclear technology and stolen plutonium. If you notice all the precautions people take when dealing with the stuff (plutonium, not time travel) then you can see some similarities on how the priests of Israel were to approach God. Very Carefully. Special clothes, special cleansing (before and after), special rules. God can be dangerous if not approached properly. Check out Leviticus Ten to see how dangerous...

Se what we get in Leviticus is that we have a very Holy God that can not look upon sin. That is why He demands the sacrifices for the forgiveness of our sins. So if we have a mighty and holy God who we can't approach because we are sinners, what do we do today when we don't have priests making offerings on our behalf all the time? What do we do today to approach this mighty and holy God?

I am glad you asked! Today, we don't do all those offerings. Today we don't have priests go in on our behalf to sacrifice to the Lord. Today we don't have to fear coming into the presence of God. Today things are different. Today we have a great high priest. That man is Jesus. Check out what Hebrews says about our great high priest, and how different it is today!

Hebrews 4:14-16 "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who as been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Memorize it. Seriously. Do it. It will do wonders for you.

When you are going through rough times, it will help you. Believe me. When you don't think you can go to God because of what you have done, remember that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence because of what Jesus did for us!

much Love,
johnny

Generosity when you need it the most

This is a personal post about something that God taught me recently. In early October it was Carina's birthday and we went out to celebrate. When we were out to eat someone thought that it would be cool to break into our car and steal my backpack which had a laptop, a camera and the Bible that Carina got me for our wedding. When it happened I was really upset. I did not know why someone would do that to us. I definitely played the role of the victim. I did not know how we were going to regain the stuff that I had lost. It's funny how you feel like you can't live without something until you live without something.
Anyways, Carina and I started the process of finding a new laptop. The great thing about my old laptop is it was a Macbook and if you have ever used a Mac you know how awesome it is. We had a little bit saved so we could look at computer that were cheap but when we were going through the process of looking for a new laptop I got really frustrated again. I told Carina I did not want a laptop I wanted my laptop. We decided that we wouldn't talk about it right now and we would continue to save for a while. I know that this wasn't the worst thing ever but it just felt frustrating at the time. I finally sat before God and just said that we don't need it.
The next day I got a phone call from my dad who called to tell me that my Grandma who lives in San Fransisco had heard about our laptop situation and said that she wanted to buy us a new laptop. She said that she wanted us to get a new MacBook. I'm not writing this because I feel like if you pray for a new computer than you will get a new computer I am writing because I am blown away by my Grandma's generosity. I am blown away at how much she gives. The amazing thing about my grandma is she doesn't care how much it is just that she is able to help provide.
So I guess the challenge for me now is how do I give. Do I give generously or do I not even care? Do I see those who are in need and don't even care? Do I give my time to help those that are hurting? Do I give a care to those seeking justice? Do I give generously to those who need it the most? Well, if I were to answer that today I would say no. If I was to answer this question in a month I hope that would change. Join with me in giving generously not just in this season but make it a continual practice.

Peace,
Scott

Sunday ReCap, high school

Crosstalk High School continued their series on "The Bible Jesus read," which is essentially an overview of the Old Testament. We covered Exodus last week, which is a wildly popular story on how God delivers us...ie. the story of Moses.

Since it is such a popular story, that of which we already know the overview, we decided to look a little deeper at the calling of Moses and the assuring of his call.

We have a God who calls us and assures us of that call.

In Exodus 3 we saw how God calls us. It goes something like God:us:God. God draws us near (say for example with a bush that is on fire, yet is not consumed), then we take a step of faith toward God (like Moses saying to himself "I will go see this site"), then God giving us a clear Call and direction He wants to take us (the rest of chapter 3). Take note of the God:us:God format. We are all in the process of God:us:God. Whether He is drawing us closer, we are stepping out in faith, or we are getting a clear calling.

We have a God who calls us and assures us of that call.

Moses gets assured of his calling in chapter four when he starts to doubt his ability. In verse nine he's like (paraphrase warning) "Dang, God, You can do this without me! I can't do it, I am crappy at talking good."

The next verse rocks! God is like, "Who do you think gave man speech? Who makes man to talk and hear, and dumb and deaf?"

God assures Moses of his calling, regardless of the weakness he thinks he has.

Paul summed it up nicely for us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"But He said to me 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my grace is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Read it again.

No, really, read it again.

His grace is sufficient for you! When you are weak you are strong, because there is less of you and more of Him!

We have a God who calls us and assures us of that call.

much Love,
Johnny

Here's the cat...heres the bag

If you have been on the edge of your seat wondering where this years' student mission trips are going to be, you had to wait no longer than yesterday! I was so pleased to see the parents' interest in taking part in the meeting and getting the information first hand, a big thank you from Scott and myself!

So, after much prayer and consideration, we are staying close to home; relatively.

Vancouver, BC, Canada is relatively close to us, yet it seems like another country. That is where Scott is headed for his 7th and 8th grade missions trip (he prefers the "s" on the end). He is excited to lead the trip and watch how God can grow in the hearts of the middle schoolers. The dates for this trip are March 30th to April 2nd. You do need a passport, so get started on that soon!

As for the High Schoolers, our mission trip (no "s") is relatively close. Meaning a 10 hour drive to beautiful Glacier Park, Montana; where we will be working on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation bringing the hope of Jesus to a community that has been struggling to regain their hope for a hundred years. This trip is scheduled for early or mid July, depending on how many spots are available, we will know the dates for sure by December.

So there you have it. The cat is officially out of the bag, mostly.


IMPORTANT NOTE!
We had the Crosswalk Gala Auction meeting as well. Remember, remember, remember, that if you want to go on either trip you must participate in the auction. Please start to collect your items now, for the gala on February 7th.

much Love,
johnny

Upcoming event: Desperate People

We have an event this Saturday! It is called desperate people. Are you desperate to give back instead of take? Are you desperate to serve God? How about desperate to worship Him? You can do all that this Saturday!

This is an area wide event where we are getting together with other churches in the area to serve our community and worship God. The cost it ten dollars, but that includes three meals, serving all day, and amazing worship at night. We will meet at 8am at Chapel Hill, and in the evening at Believers Fellowship with dinner and worship.

This is a great opportunity to serve God and meet others who desire to serve Him too!

much Love,
johnny

Sundy ReCap, high school

We are back in our series "The Bible Jesus Read" which is a basic overview of the Old Testament. This week we looked at the Patriarchs, with a focus on Abraham. We see in the story of "Father Abraham" that he was an amazingly faithful guy. Picking up and leaving his comfortable known surroundings of his hometown and going to the place that God would show him. Very faithful. Trusting God to give him a son in his old age. Also very faithful. I love that it says Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Yes, he had faith in God, and it put him in right standing in God's eyes. Abraham must of been practically perfect to have faith in God and be in right standing with Him.

WRONG!

Yes, I said wrong. Abraham was faithful. I am not taking that away from him. But to put things on the realistic side, he was human. Just like you, and just like me. He made mistakes. Just like you and just like me.

Take for example Genesis 12. He had faith in God because he went to the new place...but when it got hard (a famine coming into the land) he high tailed it down to Egypt. It gets worse, he then lied to Pharoah about being married to Sarah. They took Sarah, because she was a very beautiful women (even as a senior citizen). Abe got paid off the dowry and all was looking pretty good. But God had plans for Abe and Sarah and would not let his sin get in the way of those plans. He rebuked Pharoah, Sarah went back with Abe, and they went back to Canaan.

This was just one example we looked at...but we see that God still forgave Abe and used him for His plans. Do you realize what this means? We can still be used by God! Even when we make a mistake, we humble ourselves, seek God's forgiveness, and move on. How refreshing grace is!

We also talked a lot about spinny rides vs. roller coasters. But that is the stuff you had to be there for.

Much Love,
Johnny

Sunday ReCap, experience God:Wisdom

We had a great Experience God Sunday yesterday, if you missed it, I feel for you. I literally feel for you. And I have no idea what that means...I suppose it means I am sad that you missed it for a number of reasons.

Reason number four. I "feel" that you had a great opportunity to be with the whole group. If you are a middle Schooler then you missed out hanging with the high schoolers. If you're the opposite, then you missed out setting an example for the younger ones (and their are some really cool middle schoolers this year!).

Reason number three. I "feel" that you missed a rare opportunity to do something different on Sunday morning. If you are tired of me or Scott (or Scott!?, yeah right) giving messages every Sunday then you missed out on hearing some wise people answer your life questions.

Reason number two. I "feel" for you because wiser people than me had some great Godly answers to your very unGodly questions. Just kidding about that last part, but we had some great questions from the heart of where you (teenagers) are today. Questions like "Do you ever feel like you can't do it anymore?" and "What did you do when you feel like God is trying to tell you something but you don't know what?" and "Can we have chairs hanging from the cieling?"

The number one reason why I feel for you is...boy, a lot of suspense for this one. If you missed this Experience God Sunday where you could have had wise people like Jim Ramsey, Kevin and Dana McClain, Kelley DeMoss, Matt and Brooke Edwards, and Carina Schubert answer some very tough questions (yes, tougher than the silly hanging chair one) then you will never be wise. Well, you can. It just takes some trial and error on your part, and it would have been easier for you to hear how older and smarter people than you went through the same problems and questions that you went through. So for that, I feel for you.

much Love,
johnny

Sunday ReCap

In case you missed it, Crosstalk combined Middle School and High School last Sunday. They did so because most of the workers were down in Cali soaking up the sun on a youth worker convention. But if you did miss Sunday school, here is what went down. My great friend (funny how you can have great friends you have never met) Louie Giglio taught on how great our God is. It was all about Creation. Creation of the stars, but also creation of us...human beings. I have heard from a number of people that the video was amazing! It totally rocked their world with statistics and the like about how small we as humans really are, and then how intricate we really are. That picture of Louie is him explaining that in the center of a giant star is a black hole, and the hubble telescope looked in a took a picture of it...and there was that cross right in the center of the black hole. Wild! I don't really know what that means, but it is still pretty wild!

So if you want to see the video, maybe because you missed it, or maybe because you want to see it again...I have it. You can borrow it. Keep in mind that you want to set aside about forty minutes, and then another forty minutes to get your mind back together after it blows up. Just kidding, it won't blow up. Just kidding it will. Just kidding though, it is a figure of speach.

much Love,
Johnny

What a busy week!

It's Thursday. Last Thursday I remember getting ready to go down to California for the National Youth Workers Convention. We had a blast! After a 12 hour drive down through the middle of the night, we saw a handful of great speakers, were led in worship six times by Lincoln Brewster and Starfield, went to some great seminars on a plethora topics, and almost got kicked out of the hotel room. Good times! Most of the middle school team went and a few of the high school team. We got back Monday night and both Scott and I had to hit the ground running on finalizing the details for the normal weekly events (Connections and Transit), not to mention iron out some wrinkles in the Midnight Madness schedule.

Oh yeah, Midnight Madness. That will be fun...a little different, but fun. That reminds me, its Thursday and I better take a nap if I want to stay up all night for the madness fun. Get some sleep and I will see you there...7pm to 7am.

much Love,
Johnny

The Great Pumpkin Chase

I was sitting down and planning out some things for the Great Pumpkin Chase and I am so excited to see what happens. This is my first year planning this amazing event and it is going to be madness. The idea behind the Chase is that you are going around to different locations within the Harbor and you have to solve the clues in order to find out where the great pumpkin is hiding. This year we are going with a secret agent theme. All the students will need to follow each clue in order to find the pumpkins Kins or baby pumpkins. We will have some cool prizes for which ever team finds all the kins and also for the most creative pictures. We will be showing the slide show the following week at Transit. So parents beware that your students will be on the hunt on October 30th. We will be starting right at 6:30pm sharp. So don't be late. If you have any questions about this incredible event please let me know.

Peace,
Scott

Sunday ReCap

Okay, for those of you who were out of town, or slept in, or were watching the Seahawks lose; here is a reCap of Sunday's lessons for High School Crosstalk and Middle School Crosstalk.

In Middle School, Scott continued teaching on worship. This week was worship through prayer. I love how all of the students dove right in and prayed for nearly forty minutes! It was great to hear how you realized that prayer can be creative. Scott had nine different prayer stations set up through out the Cabana and the Middle School room. The stations ranged from praying through art, through rewriting the Lords prayer in your own words, and even through praying for the world over a map. It was neat to see that there are all sorts of ways we can worship God through prayer, not just the traditional close your eyes and hold hands till they get sweaty while thinking about what you will eat for lunch. Hopefully you can continue to practice these creative ways to talk to God, and they will freshen up your prayer life.

In High School, we started a new series! Our new series is called "the Bible Jesus read" and it is going to be an overview of the Old Testament. We learned that there are a couple of main reasons (among many I am sure) that keep us from studying and enjoying the Old Testament. Mainly because it can be boring to our suburban western culture. We don't get it because we don't have land wars, and water wars, and arranged marriages. The other main reason is because it seems like the God of the Old Testament (which is the same God as the New) can be mean and offensive. He cares so much about the perfect sacrifice (no bent winged doves or limping lambs) but seems to not care about a whole human ethnic group like the Amelikites (God told Saul to obliterate the Amelikites; man, woman, child, baby, camel, goat, cow, all of it). These are two fairly legitimate reason why we don't study the Old Testament; its boring and offensive.

But we countered those two points with three. We need to study the Old Testament for these three (and many more) reasons.
1. The New Testament authors treated it like it was important. All the books except Philemon, 2 John and 3 John quote or allude back to the Old Testament.
2. The Old Testament is still applicable to our lives today. We find our selves in the pages! When we get more familiar with the culture and the weird words, we start to enjoy it because we resonate with the people who wrestled with walking with God.
3. It is the Bible that Jesus read. It is the prayers he prayed. The stories he heard at bedtime. The songs that he sang. The more we comprehend the Old Testament, the more we comprehend Jesus.

Thats what we did Sunday! It was a blast, because we ended it all with coffee cookie fellowship downstairs! And in my opinion, that was better than watching a poor performance by the home town team (by watching I mean by skipping church) (and by poor I mean really really really ridiculously bad playing) (and by home town team I mean the Seattle Seahawks).

much Love,
Johnny

Youth Ministry (2 month)

So I just celebrated my second month of being at Believers. There are a couple things that I have learned and am really excited about so I wanted to share them with you.

1. I've learned that at BF parents really do care about what is going on in the life of their students. In youth ministry that is not always the case. Here it seems a lot different. The parents are interested and truly do love and care about their children. It really became evident through our Parent/Student Transit night.

2. I've learned that Middle School Students get it. By "get it" I mean they are hungry for God's word. Through Transit I have seen so many students ask questions like "what was Jesus doing until the age of 30" and "why is the genealogy of Jesus important?" It is awesome to see a student ask a question like that and find hope in the Bible through wrestling through the text.

3. I've learned how to truly rely on the Holy Spirit more than ever before. I think for people who are doing God's work a lot of times we forget this. We forget that God is in charge and no matter how awesome these events look and how much I plan, I still need to rely fully on God. It's amazing how when you step back and let God do God's thing it turns out so much better than you could have imagined. I have been blown away at how God works. God is doing something in the life of the Middle School ministry and it has been fun to see how God cares about these students so much.

4. I have learned what a great church Believers Fellowship is. Walking into this new situation can be very intimidating but everyone at BF has welcomed Carina and me with open arms. It has been so great to get to know your students and to see how God is very much alive and active in their lives. We have felt so much love from everyone at church during this transition phase. We are so blessed to be in this community and to see what God is doing in Gig Harbor.

I have learned a lot more and can't wait to share some more stories with you soon.

Peace,
Scott

I love Connections!

We had Connections again last night. Yes, every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 we will meet and do a number of things. Last night was great. We talked about the Bible being trustworthy and reliable. Indeed it is. I love connections. I really really like it. Here are a couple of reasons...

I love Connections because...

• I get to eat a good meal
• I get to see people I like
• I get to work on relationships with people that don't like me
• I get to worship God
• I get to spend time with adults who care about students
• I get to spend time with students who care about God
• I get to spend time with students who don't know God
  
• I get to study the Bible
• I get to meet in a small group
• I get to make memories

These are some of the reasons I love connections, how about you? What do you love about Connections? Feel free to share your comments!

much Love
johnny

Experience God Sundays

Yesterday we had our first "Experience God" Sunday at CrossTalk (our catchy name for sunday school). Scott and I thought it would be cool to bring the students together once a month to experience God in a new and unique way.

I thought yesterday was great. We wanted to experience God through Worshiping Him with singing. Sounds unique doesn't it? Well, we did it a little different than you might be thinking. It was set up as a "Worship through the Ages" and we looked at how people praised God through song in Jesus' day (or how we think the chant sounded), we then looked at what singing praises to God looked like for the monks. Thanks to Nate Cripps for showing us how Gregorian Chant would have sounded like, and even explaining the latin you were chanting.

We then moved on to more familiar territory. We sang old hymns. Starting back in 1707 we sang a song that has been praising God for over three hundred years. Very cool! We moved from hymns to the spiritual songs/hymns of the 19th century, then went right into the awesome 80's! Shine Jesus Shine still has a special place in my heart, a place that I don't like to think of very often...which takes us to the point of the day. God can be praised, even if we don't like the style of song we are singing.

Let me say it again. God can be praised, even if we don't like the style of music.

That is something that plagues our churches here in America! That is something that plagues our church at Believers Fellowship, starting with me. I need to remember that when I sing to God, it is about Him. It is about praising Him, and not about pleasing me or my favorite style (which is early 90's white Christian rap ie. DC Talk style).

So next time you go to church, and there is worship through singing, try to praise God even if you don't like that music.

Look for more "Experience God" Sundays on the last Sunday of every month. It will bring a fresh view of God as we experience Him in a different way every month.

much Love,
Johnny

Back from retirement

Remember those cool Michael Jordan commercials where everyone would sing..."I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be like Mike!" Well, Michael Jordan retired from basketball to go play baseball. He didn't quite make the cut, and went back to basketball. Then he retired again because he was getting old...but he came back.

That is sort of like this blog. We didn't exactly retire, but we certainly seemed to. But on the flip side, I don't think anyone read those first two blogs to begin with. Hopefully that will change. And hopefully this blog will serve it's purpose.

A place to get the most up to date info on Crosswalk Student Ministries. For instance, we now have a purpose statement. It is...

We are a community striving to glorify God by growing in the Lord, living the grace of Jesus Christ, & sharing the truth to the people we encounter.

So look for all that we do as a ministry to reflect at least a portion of that.

This blog will also be a great place to hear the heart of what God is teaching Johnny and Scott. We will be candid and honest with you. We promise.

Oh, by the way! We had to say good bye to our awesome Middle School staff over the summer. We want to pray for Reid as he starts his career at Denver Seminary, where he will pursue a Master in Counseling. You can check what he's up to by going to his blog www.reidintoit.blogspot.com. Laura also stepped down from youth staff after graduating from the University of Washington Tacoma. She is still helping out on a volunteer level though, which we are very grateful for.

And with that team leaving, we say hello to our newest hire...Scott Schubert! He comes to us from Colorado via California. He is a really neat guy, and you should get to know him. He has a huge heart for training up students to love God with all thier might, and love thier neighbor as themselves. Look for future posts from him, as he will be sharing the blog with me.

And that does it. We are back from retirement...sort of. Look for info about midnight madness soon! It is going to be rad.

much Love,
Johnny

Small Vision for the future...

I am now entering another world. I have read a lot of blogs...and they can get pretty intense. I am pretty sure that our blog won't have any controversial topics like injustice missions raiding abortion clinics, or emerging church vs. emergent church, or even if the roll should go over the top or underneath.

This blog was created because we as CWSM just wanted a way that we can communicate with you, let you know our hearts, and to keep you updated with the happenings around the church. For starters...we (the CWSM staff) are starting to toss around new ideas of why we do what we do...

Not that what we are doing is bad, in fact I have loved getting to know you as a group and as individuals. It's just that we don't have any clear picture of where we want to see students be in their walk with God by the time they graduate high school. We are working hard trying to understand YOUR needs. We are piling over adjectives to describe the young adolescent mind. We are racking our brains for the proper wording of a purpose statement that you can be proud of. We are discussing and deliberating over the proper usage of adverbs. All things that are very important when trying to create a new purpose statement.

As a sneak peak for all of you who are just dying to know what we are all about as a ministry (hundreds I'm sure) I will tell you this. Where we are going is not flashy. We are not going to train squirrels to duel with lightsabers in order to get you to come out. What we want to do is provide an opportunity for you to be able to connect with God, connect with other students, and connect with caring adults who are smarter than you and have all the answers. Wait, that last one should just read caring adults. Sorry.

It's as simple as that. What that looks like may be similar to what we are doing. There may be small changes in the coming summer and following year. Know this, we are praying for you, and for the ministry that God has called us to be a part of.
We love you (phileo that is) and we can't wait to see what God has planned for CWSM.

Johnny

Ladies and Gentlemen

We'd like to greet you all with a warm welcome to Crosswalk Student Ministries' BLOG. All of us here on the CWSM staff is excited to be able to communicate with you all in a new format.

Our desire is that this blog might serve as a home base for CWSM on the internet. I know this is a little overwhelming and there are a host of emotions boiling up inside of you, but let me calm some of your developing anxieties by approaching some of the common questions.

Where are all of the amazing theological, cultural, and comical articles here that I can use to gauge everything in my life by?

Well, that does seem like an overstatement on the influence we have here, but
what is a rose by any other name? The truth is, since the creation of this
website there have not been any new amazing, theological, cultural, or comical
articles that have been produced. We, as CWSM staff, will be sifting through our
databases looking for such articles, but until we find them. Further, amazing
blogs are YTC (Yet To Come).

I go to this youth group! Where are all of the pictures of me?

Again, the pictures are on their way, YTC.

Is there a way I can figure out when the next event is?

Yes, as soon as we figure out how to work a blog, we
will upload any pertinent information.

Is this a blog where I can complain about everything I don't like?

No, please send the complaints to Reid's email with the subject "complaint," so he can to delete it. Haha.. Ahh, just kidding. If you are experiencing some sort of conflict involving the ministry please communicate that to us. This public forum might not be the best place, and I don't anticipate this blog functioning as such, that is just the modern assumption with blogs: Blogs are places where people without any creditials can polute even weaker minds with thoughts that aren't worthy to be put in any other type of communication medium (i.e. books, magazines, or newspapers).

So, this is it! Come, enjoy, interact as we dive into the wonderful world of blogging!

- CWSM Staff