Starting Point: North Point (Atlanta) puts out a slightly outdated but excellend small group resource called Starting Point. You can find there store by going to www.northpoint.org and snooping around. While it is a small group curriculum set it comes with audio cd's that can be listened to that are worth the price alone so you need not feel obligated to use it as curriculum if that's just not you. It covers simple foundational truths in scripture like the authenticity and authority of the Bible, Jesus Christ and our relationship with him.

Ecclesiastes: Solomon was really depressed when he wrote this. I guess I've never really paused to comprehend the gravity of the words or perhaps as I get older the words mean more to me. The first 5 chapters are simply all the things Solomon has put his hand to all his life and worked so hard to achieve and he is calling them all worthless. How sad- how insightful.

Everyone is Equal: I've been having a continued DIALOGUE with a parent of a player on my team. Her main complaint is that her son isn't playing the whole game. For this I am truly sorry, it must stink having to sit the bench but as a coach I feel I'm obligated to help the kids have fun and having fun generally revolves around winning. There are people that will argue this but in team organized sports there is little else that is more fun that winning and right now at 3-4 we are having a fair amout of fun.

So this mother wants her kid to play all 6 innings of every game but the fact is he's not very good so that's not going to happen. Yesterday she was tell me that her son's high intellect is actually his greatest weakness. He's so smart that he doesn't need to pay attention to his teachers or coaches. He is also so smart that he kind of always does his own thing...he changing. :Complete Truth: as she is telling me about the supreme intellect of her son he is playing in the field where we are about to practice. I can hear him talking to a bug that he had caught, then suddenly he starts frolicking with this grasshopper. Now I'm no child specialist but I can assure you one thing...that is not the sign of a genious.