This Lawrence v. Texas decision (pdf of majority opinion) has got to be one of the worst in US Constitutional history. I'd say it's up there with Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade. Effectively, the court decided that laws based purely on moral principles are irrational and therefore invalid. So Santorum was right. Not surprising. As Scalia pointed out in his blistering dissent, the majority's decision is completely based on support for the homosexual agenda and not based on any good reasoning or constitutional jurisprudence. What a sad day it is.

The opinion lacks even a hint of original intent analysis, at least that I can see. And the worst part is that only three justices dissented. Bush is going to have to successfully appoint two good judges to the bench before the country will be released from the tyrannical whims of the majority. Wow, is next year's election important!

Part 3 - Northern Arizona University

After camp was over on Friday the 13th, we packed up the vans. Half of us headed west while the other half went east. Randy and Bill drove the two vans going west and we made it to Amarillo by about midnight. We stayed in a motel that night which had a fairly good continental breakfast in the morning. We drove all day Saturday and made it to NAU late that evening. Everyone got settled in the dorms and went straight to bed.

Sunday morning the 15th, we had a church service and then I helped set up the meeting room. During registration in the afternoon, I directed traffic to the guys and girls dorms. Sunday evening I met with the guys in my small group, who were 13 and 14 years old. Unfortunately, by Sunday night I was feeling pretty badly. I had major sinus pressure and a cough which I'm still getting over right now. Despite my health, however, the Arizona camp went very well. I played a lot of Mafia during free time and enjoyed discussions with the guys in my small group. Witnessing on Wednesday was another miraculous experience for the camp. God saved at least 5 or 6 people, using the kids to communicate the message. Two campers were saved as well! A good time was had by all throughout the week. A highlight for me was when the staff beat the students in ultimate frisbee. I'm glad I felt good enough to play. I think that the guys in my small group were impacted by the Lord and will apply what they learned to some extent. That is my prayer. Most of them are coming back next year, so I look forward to then.

My heart is still, in a sense, at WVA. It was difficult to leave the staff last Friday, and when I staff next year I definitely want to do the whole summer. What I came away with was the experience of leading a small group, a better understanding of what it means to think God's thoughts after Him, and a desire to maintain an attitude of gratitude to God in all that I do. May these and other nuggets of wisdom I received not be lost or wasted.

Part 2 - Baylor University

Monday night the 2nd, Staff Training began. Throughout that week we 40 or so staff members were trained in the WVA curriculum, youth protection, witnessing, how to lead a small group, and ultimate frisbee. :) We also did a lot of packing/inventory work for the products that WVA sells. The highlight of the week for me, and probably for most of the staff was the Galatians study each night. As Brandon led us through the book, he beautifully explained how it was relevant to us today. He showed us how to communicate the essence of the gospel, which is the primary message WVA tries to spread. It was very enlightening and encouraging. Staff training as a whole was a successful week of gearing up for camp and getting to know each other.

On Sunday the 8th, 200 students from all over (mostly) Texas arrived at Baylor for camp. During registration, I assisted with luggage at the girls' dorm. At about 5, everyone got together and after the opening competition, the students split up into small groups. I co-lead a group of 15/16 year old guys with another staff member named Rick. The guys in our group were each unique but they all sought to be godly men and grew during the week. As staff, one of our primary goals was to get to know the guys by hanging out with them during free time. So I spent a lot of time playing billiards and bowling with the guys. It was fu...joyful. ;) Rick led the small group times in the evenings in which the guys shared stories from their lives and discussed Biblical manhood. The lectures by Bill Jack, Jeff Baldwin, Randy Sims, and Mike Schutt were dynamite as always. On Wednesday, the kids went witnessing and I ended up talking with a liberal Vietnam veteran for around 30 minutes. It was a somewhat depressing, but interesting conversation. God did save a few people on campus through the witnessing efforts of the students and Wednesday evening one of the campers trusted Christ. PTL!  The food at Baylor was fairly good; I ate a lot of bean tacos, pizza, and pasta. The campus at Baylor was beautiful and I especially enjoyed the "echo chamber" and the bears.

To be continued...

For the last three weeks I have been away from work, away from home, away from the internet. But now I'm back, so I'd like to tell you where I've been and what I've been doing.

The short story:
I went to Worldview Academy Staff Training, staffed the Baylor camp, and staffed the NAU camp.

The long story:
On Sunday June 1st, I took a flight from Phoenix to San Antonio along with Andrea Lambros. It was a pretty short trip and I didn't do much on the plane. After we arrived and got our luggage, we met Liv Booth, Brandon's wife. She took us to the curb. Brandon drove up with a 15-passenger van and we all got in. We drove from San Antonio to New Braunfels and I saw signs for Boerne which was exciting after studying the Boerne v. Flores case in ConLaw. We got to the home of Randy Sims and I met their family, along with some other staff members that had come in early. Randy took us all on a tour of New Braunfels and we saw the new WVA headquarters as well as Schlitterbahn. As an aside, I just went to http://www.schlitterbahn.com/ and I am sure that I see nearly all of Randy Sims's family on the main homepage picture. Anyway, we got drinks at Sonic and went back to the Sims home. I was the only male staff member there so far, so I hung out with Brian and Travis for the rest of the afternoon. Mrs. Sims prepared a delicious meal of lasagna for all of us and we had a great time playing silly games in the back yard. Some of the girls and the Sims kids went swimming in the neighborhood pool, while the rest of us just watched and talked. Around 9pm, Randy, Brian, and I drove back to San Antonio and picked up Ben Applewhite at the airport. When we got back to the Sims home, the girls were watching "First Knight" so we saw the end. I slept in Travis's room that night and early Monday morning (like 2am) the crew from Oregon State came in.

I woke up and after eating a good breakfast (thanks to Mrs. Sims), I woke up the other guys. Needless to say, they were not ready to get up. But we loaded up two vans around 9 and drove over to the Sims's church. For most of the morning, I went with a crew to clean one of the vans inside and out and get its oil changed. We came back to the church and ate pizza for lunch. A few other staff members from Texas had arrived and it was about 1pm when we prayed together and left for Waco. It was a pretty long drive, but sometime Monday evening we drove into Baylor University in Waco, TX, my home for the next two weeks. We ate dinner at Pizza Hut that night and the rest of the staff met us there (they had flown into Dallas). We all got to know each other and checked into the Alexander dormatory.

To be continued...