Good post Eddie. You have pretty much summed it up. I visited my old outpost last night. It is a lot different than the average 45 men and boys who were in full class B uniform. Of course in the past 10 years I have seen it go from 100 to 30 up and down but we always were in full class B on wed nights. There wasn't even a opening ceremony or pledges last night. I counted 4 boys in uniform.
My last discussion with our new Pastor about Rangers was he told me we were going to "Love them" after I asked how can we go from a 4000 dollar budget down to a 500 dollar budget. I gave my notice and stepped out of the down hill slide. It's God ministry not mine. It is just in one of those valleys right now. My work at SBC has me forced to work 7 to 7 (Unless I work my 2 days off then I can go home after 8 hours) either way all I do is work come home and sleep and go back to work. (GETS VERY OLD). In 24 years I have seen them do this before... (politics) ... This year we have worked 40% overtime. Its been like this since may. Even canceling vacations and days off. I so much wished I had a 40 hour week job and a Pastor who was pro Royal Rangers. Right now I just have to hold on and survive the valley. I agree with you Royal Rangers is a way of life. "God centered" but done right it is a way of life. If it is done as a aux wed program.. it is little more than baby sitting. Remove the heart out of the program and it just isn't the same. A luke warm program needs to be spewed out and a Hot on fire program needs to be supported. Mark Jones, Spfd. MO USA South Sectional Commander. On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 23:07:02 -0400 "Eddie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I think it mainly comes down to 2 reasons. First is the people > involved > begin to change the program at their level to do things the way they > think > they should be. They take liberties with the structure. Many have > no > council to be the base. They begin to not plan ahead and become a > "babysitting service" for a Wed. night only program. They decide > that they > will only camp when its convient and then for hardly any time at > all. They > will always cancel at the slightest hint of adverse weather. Or > they simply > make it as boring for boys as can be. They then begin to take on > the "at > least I was there, thats more than anyone else does" mindset, and > then its > as good as dead. > > The other reason is church politics. This kills a program faster > than > anything, and usually with more negative feelings than the first > reason > does. It usually leaves the once commanders with hard hearts > towards any > church based program from then on. Its a sad thing to witness and > it will > kill any passion you once had for rangers. > > I firmly believe that the Ranger program isn't just a program. I > think its > a way of life. If you have a staff with true passion for rangers > and run it > as its given, you will not only see the boys come in and be taught > and kept, > but you will get to see the boy driven leadership and adventure that > A#1 is > always looking for. It won't happen just by going thru the motions > of the > material. If you have the "fever" for rangers, your boys will catch > it as > well. They will see thats its something they can base their lives > in, that > it has merit and worth. > > Eddie Hicks > www.rangerforums.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Spirit Rider" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 9:10 PM > Subject: [RR] Rangers what's the deal? > > > > What's the big deal with Rangers? > > Why can some churches get with the "program" and others fail at > it? > > To me its sickening that one church has a working outpost and > twenty > > miles > > down the road another outpost is in complete shambles. > > I don't get it. > > > > Later, > > Noel"Spirit Rider"Bell > > > > _______ > > > > > > List host: http://eBible.org/mpj/ List info: > http://eBible.org/rangernet/faq.htm > > > > To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > or visit http://eBible.org/subscribe.htm > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.507 / Virus Database: 304 - Release Date: 8/4/03 > > _______ > > > List host: http://eBible.org/mpj/ List info: > http://eBible.org/rangernet/faq.htm > > To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > or visit http://eBible.org/subscribe.htm > > Download a Free Royal Ranger Database. It's packed with goodies and it will make record keeping fun! Over 25 related databases and 11 years of field experience. Just like Salvation it's free! http://home.classicnet.net/mjones02/index.html ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______ List host: http://eBible.org/mpj/ List info: http://eBible.org/rangernet/faq.htm To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://eBible.org/subscribe.htm
