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Opinion THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD August 21,1997 REFLECTIONS ON RELIGION AND LIFE Rev. Harold Schwantes Pastor Central United Methodist Church Kings Mountain, N.C. Let's all have a party at Jay Strack Crusade One of the most popular phrases in the English language today is, "Let's have a party!" It doesn't matter what the occasion is: a birth- {day or anniversary, a ball game or just a gather- {ing of friends. Who needs a reason to have a good jtime? I am kind of fond of that country western isong that has the lyrics, "I ain't never had too imuch fun!’ sae ¢ Ibelieve that God has intended that life should ‘be enjoyed, although our enjoyment is not to be lat another's expense. And that is not to suggest ithat there is not also a time to weep or to mourn ‘or keep silent, as the writer of Ecclesiastes sug- gests. But enjoyment and fun are not inventions of humanity, butrather a part of the plan of God. A group of folks have been meeting with me for study of the first five books of the Bible. The ‘third book, Leviticus, is often thought to be the most boring because it is a law book, full or rules and regulations regarding religion and life. But in the midst of all these laws is a descrip- “tion of all the festivals the children of Israel were to celebrate. If you read over these descriptions carefully, you realize that God really wanted His people to enjoy their faith. These festivals were well-orchestrated religious parties with food and drink, celebration and fel- lowship, worship and music all mixed together. One festival even had some 'camping' with every family building temporary shelters to stay in dur- ing the week. Many of the festivals had elaborate religious ceremonies with elaborate dress and or- namentation. : As you read about all this in Leviticus, you re- alize these were really some exciting parties with a purpose, and that purpose was to know and en- joy God. God had made himself known to the people of Israel, not to take away the enjoyment of life, but to enhance it and to make life more full and meaningful “an they could have ever expe- rienced without God's help and presence. If you know anything about God as described in the Bible, you should know that his purpose in all that He did and revealed was that we might have life and have it abundantly. For this reason, I. am a big supporter of the Jay Strack Impact Crusade coming to Kings Mountain next Sunday through Tuesday. A cru- sade of this type can fulfill the desire for abun- dant life in two ways. First and ‘foremgst, Jay Strack will preach the good news about Jesus Christ and encourage persons in attendance to . make: life-changing ‘decisions to become disciples of Christ. Those responding will have the oppor- tunity of a lifetime to discover the abundant life through a new and living relationship with Christ. hay © But the crusade is also a religious festival, a time when those who already belong to the faith can gather together to sing and celebrate and re- joice and fellowship in a great spiritual party with a purpose. I believe God wants the Christian community to enjoy this experience of working and worshiping together, and at the same time bring others of our community into this experi- ence of enjoying fellowship with God and His ' So let's have a party, a party with a purpose. Let's join together as a community and let God show us all where the abundant life can be found. I invite you to come to the Jay Strack Crusade tparty' and enjoy the celebration and the life that God wants us all:tachave. TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE "Go therefore and make disciples of all the na- jtions, baptizing them in the name of the Father jand of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." ; aE = t : Matthew 28:19 Published every Thursday. ® Second Class postage at East King Street at Canterbury Road, NC 28086 USPS 931-040 by Republic Newspapers, Inc. Postmaster, send address changes to: P. O. Box 769; Kings Mountain, NC 28086 * Rhone (704) 739-7496 ssFax (704) 739-0611 Office: 824-1 East King Street, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Wes Grooms Aron R. Goss Susan Smith Wiley Gary Stewart Elizabeth Stewart Stacy Cobb Sarah Griffin Debbie Welsh Shelley Campbell Ad Representative Business Manager Production Manager Graphic Artist Republic Newspapers, Inc. MEMBER Member Simes. 11 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION North Carolina Press Association Mail‘ Subscription Rates Payable in Advance. All PricesitAdd 6% NC State Sales Tax. 1 Year 6 Months $18.02 $10.60 $20.14 $11.66 $23.32 $13.25 Gaston & Cleveland Co. Other NC Counties «Outside N@ v5 Your Right To Say It [ake level decrease due to lack of rain To the editor: : "Full pond" level of Moss Lake is 736.0 feet above sea level. The last date water was at or above this level was June 31. Since that time the lake level has fallen steadily to the present level of 735.04. or 11 1/2" below full pond. This is due to lack of rainfall. In April we re- ceived near normal 6.8" of rain. In May we re- ceived only 2", which meant that the ground wa- ter level began dropping, which resulted in springs feeding less water into steams. June rain- fall was back to near normal at 6.7". This did not begin to raise the ground water levels as this mostly went to supply the needs of forests, grass, and crops. July was below normal at 5.5", and this was mostly scattered showers, which means the 5.5" recorded at the water plant may have been 8" or 2" not far away. Thus far in August we have re- ceived only a trace of rain. The decreased flow into the lake is compound- ed by the three major withdrawals from the lake. First is the 100 cubic feet per minute (19,250 gal- lons per day) required by the state for down- stream flow. Second is the water withdrawn for treatment by the water plant, (4,655,871 gallons per day in July). Third and largest, though not of- ten considered, is evaporation from the 1480 acre surface of the lake. From August 9-11 (2 days) the lake dropped 3/4". This is 30,138,720 gallons. In the same time period, 38,500 gallons went down stream and we pumped 5,974,000 gallons to town. This means evaporation and minor with- drawals accounted for 24,126,220 gallons. It should be remembered that Sunday the 10th was not a hot, clear ‘day, which means the evaporation was less than it could have been. Thus it is easily seen that there is very little anyone can do about the lake level. On July 23 we attempted to draw-down the lake after the US Weather Bureau predicted major rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Danny. We had only reduced the level 1/2" when Danny passed, living up to only a minor part of the pre- diction. We immediately returned to minimum down stream flow. It should also be noted that there is no way we can store water from times of excess flow to sup- plement flow in times of deficient rainfall. Excess flow simply passes over the crest of the spillway and continues on downstream. We hope this answers some of the questions many of you have concerning lake levels. Walt Ollis Water Resources Director, City of Kings Mountain Ideas to improve education To the editor: The phrase "A Nation at Risk" became more than the title of a study done about 17 years ago which alarmed the people of this state and coun- try about the condition of public education in our country. Even prior to the release of this study, enlight- ened citizens were well aware that something was wrong - very wrong - with our public schools. Right here in North Carolina, which once claimed to be in the vanguard of leadership of the "New South," a number of legislative initiatives were implemented over the course of many years, each with significant funding attached, all pur- porting to improve education. Yet today, many years, many programs, and many millions of dollars later, we are still "A Nation at Risk." - As a former teacher, a former legislator for 18 years, and most importantly as a concerned citi- zens, please allow me to make the following sug- gestions which, if acted upon, just might prove beneficial to our schools with very little cost, if any. First, we absolutely must hold higher educa- tion accountable for the role it plays in public schools education. Those who teach our teachers to be play no small part in the overall education equation. Toward this end we should require all college methods teachers to not only impart knowledge, but actually demonstrate these pertinent skills and strategies in public school classrooms in front of their interns (student teachers0. They should be proud to do this, if they are sincere and con- cerned about education. Second, all public school administrative per- sonnel, i.e. principals and assistant principals should have at least five years experience or more at the level that they serve as principal or assis- tant principal. Third, all administrative personnel - to include superintendents, associate or assistant superin- tendents, principals, assistant principals, supervi- sors, et. al. - should be required to return to a classroom teaching assignment at specified and regularly occurring intervals and for specified lengths of time. These measures will not, of course, serve as a panacea for the ills of education. However, they would bring a measure of morale boasting to teachers, and more importantly, put college teach- ers and public school teachers and administrators more in touch with the real world of education. After years and years of a myriad of studies by high priced people, numerous "new" initiatives by high priced people and millions of dollars of taxpayers money expended, perhaps it's time to approach the challenge of saving a Nation at Risk from a different direction. What do we have to lose? Howard Chapin Who cares about length of G.A. session? Does anybody really care how long General Assembly sessions last? That was not an idle question as the 1997 ses- sion set a record for the latest adjournment in his- tory, easily passing the August 14 adjournment date of 1987. Speculation on when lawmakers would finally go home was the number one topic of conversation in the halls of the Legislative Building. Close behind was whether anyone even noticed that the General Assembly was still in town. * The short afiswer is that yes, people do'care how long lawmakers Stay {i Raleigh. “But séme- times, it seems, they do not care very much. Lawmakers care about the length of sessions because every week they spend in the Legislature is another week away from their families and full-time jobs. Legislative staffers, lobbyists, reporters and others who practically live in the Legislative Building during sessions also care. They must cancel vacations and juggle child care. Some citizens also care. Their blood pressure probably goes up a few points when they read that lawmakers are still in town, haggling over this legislation or that budget item. But canceled vacations become a way of life for staff members and others who populate the Legislative Building. Later than expected ad- journments are part of the turf for lawmakers. And few citizens care enough about session lengths to write a nasty letter to their legislator. Nonetheless, the General Assembly has tried numerous schemes over the years to reduce the lengths of sessions. The argument is that longer sessions, along with the prohibitive cost of mounting a cam- paign, make it impossible for average citizens to serve in the Legislature. North Carolina prides it- self on having a part-time, citizen legislature, so much so that there has never been any serious discussion about making service in the General GUEST COLUMN Andy Dedmon North Carolina House Assembly a fullgtime joby with a full-time salary: 5. But sexvinghire the’ General Assembly is taking. more and more time. Budget-writing sessions held in odd-numbered years stretch from January until late July. Even-year budget adjustment ses- sions typically last from late May until late July. Combined, the two sessions require legislators to spend at least eight months out of 24 in Raleigh. Add to that study commission meetings held between sessions and other duties in the capital and many lawmakers spend several days a month in Raleigh, even when the Legislature is not in session. As a result, the General Assembly of today is considerably different than two decades ago. There are more retirees, for one thing, and fewer farmers and lawyers. To reduce the length of sessions, lawmakers have pushed the beginning of the odd-year, bud- get-writing session to late January, to cut time off the front end. They have pushed the convening earlier in january, to get an earlier start, in hopes they would end earlier. Legislators also have imposed deadlines on themselves. Bills must be introduced by a certain date. They must clear the chamber of introduc- tion by another date. Those steps were designed to eliminate, or at least reduce, procrastination by lawmakers. That has not stopped the flurry of last-minute legislation, however. This year, the Senate even passed the nuclear Sidewalk Survey bomb of proposals to reduce the length of ses- sions: a constitutional amendment. The bill would give voters an opportunity to amend the state constitution to limit budget-writing sessions to 135 calendar days in budget-writing years and 60 days to adjust the budget. The proposal passed the Senate in early April but has languished in a House committee, at least in part because the Senate also proposed dou- bling the terms of its members, from two years to four years. The Senate approved the proposed constitu- tional amendment only after a great deal of dis- cussion. Much of the debate centered on methods of making a session limit stick. Some states with limits evade those restrictions by adjourning, then convening a special session. Lawmakers who have talked to their counter- parts from other states know that there are draw- backs to session limits. Significant legislation is put off for years because legislators do not have time to fully study and debate the issues. Bills that do pass are sometimes rushed through at the last minute, often with unintended consequences. In addition, legislatures that spend less time in session have less of an oversight role over stage government. It's a lot harder to keep the bureau- cracy in line when you're not in town. For those reasons and numerous others, North Carolina's legislators have been reluctant to limit the amount of time they spend in session. Especially when it's not clear that anyone really cares. Or cares a lot. Vv . Address all letters to The Editor, P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086; fax them to (704) 739-0611, or bring them by our office on East King Street at Canterbury Road. All letters must be signed in ink and include the full name, address and telephone number of the writer. e By Lib Stewart What do you like to do in Day Care? WHITNEY SCRUGGS Age5 Age 5 “Color and paint.” TAYLOR GETTYS “Play games outside.” SAVANNAH HORNE Aged Aged “Learn my ABCs.” DAMIAN HILL “I take my lunch every day.” TRAY FUNDERBURKE Aged “I write my name and do art work.” i 1 !
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Aug. 21, 1997, edition 1
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