Some beloved brother or sister posted something here a while ago about how
a little bit of dog poop can spoil an otherwise wonderful brownie. Even
though you bake it with the finest chocolate, sugar, butter, etc., if you
stir in even just a little dog poop, the smell and the germs contaminate
the whole batch. The original point was that even just a little sexual
immorality, unwholesome words, etc., totally ruin an otherwise entertaining
movie.
Currently, NTC is conducted by well-trained people with golden intentions.
Many good skills are taught. Many good brothers in Jesus Christ who are
filled with the Holy Spirit come together for the purpose of improving
their ministry to boys. Many volunteer hours are spent in the logistics and
training with the intention of serving Jesus Christ. So far, so good. Now
throw in this one idea: teach the commanders to not mistreat the boys in
certain ways by mistreating them in exactly those ways. This hypocrisy is
the germ-infested dog poop that spoils the whole batch. Get rid of it
before the camp starts, and you have a good thing. Leave it in, and you are
trying to do Jesus Christ's work using Satan's techniques.
Now, I know that some people go to NTC, and they see only the good -- and
there is much good. I don't want to steal that good from them. Some people
never had a good brownie, and the sugar and chocolate masked the taste of
the dog poop. Once you have tasted the real thing, though, it is hard to go
back to dog poop brownies.
What a waste of sugar, chocolate, butter, eggs... and commanders' time!
For what it is worth, I did make my concerns known to the appropriate
people before broadcasting them to you, as the Scripture says. If you want
gory details, please see http://www.sni.net/~mpj/fixntc.htm (a URL that I
change from time to time lest it become too easy to find by outsiders).
For you newcomers to RangerNet, this is topic is a perennial that many
people are tired of. You can check the archives for some arguments, like:
"But you don't 'get' it: the point is to teach people not to verbally abuse
boys and not to demand too much of them!"
I do, indeed get it. The point is a good one, but the ends do not justify
the means. Jesus was not afraid to openly condemn hypocrisy. Neither am I.
"If you say bad things about NTC, people won't want to go and get the
training there, some of which is really good!"
Since I believe that teaching hypocrisy by example does more harm than
good, I welcome that possible outcome. I seriously doubt that NTC
attendence is off much because of my comments, but if they are, maybe that
will help the national staff to see the need for a change.
"You aren't an obedient Royal Ranger if you disagree with anything in NTC."
I must obey God rather than men. (Would you condemn Peter for disobeying
the Sanhedren as well?) I do gladly support Royal Rangers and the
sectional, district, and national staff in other areas.
Michael Paul Johnson
aka Soaring Golden Eagle
PO Box 1151, Longmont CO 80502-1151, USA
Rocky Mountain outpost 207, New Creation Church
Jesus Christ is Lord!
_______
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Eat the hay & spit out the sticks! - A#1's mule" RTKB&G4JC!
http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
