Constitution? What Constitution?

I just watched some of the testimony of Tim Geithner and Ben Bernake to a congressional panel that troubled me greatly. Geithner was asked my a congresswoman under what constitutional authority he had to expand the powers of the Treasury department. Geithner's answer was that he was given the authority to do so by the Congress.

But that wasn't the question.

The question was what CONSTITUTIONAL authority (since we are a nation ruled by law not by consensus) not Congressional authority gave him the power to expand the powers of the government. He kept responding to the question by saying that his authority was granted by Congress.

The problem is that...how far could this go? Does this mean that if the Congress decides to give the Federal Govt power over all private industry, that they can do that? If Congress decides to ban all guns except by the military, can they do that? If Congress decides that Communism is a better way for us to handle our country's future, they can do that?

According to Mr. Geithner, since the Constitution isn't relevant for what the government can or cannot do, then these, as well as other anti-freedom decisions are definitely plausible as a part of our future as a country.

New Format on a Rainy Atlanta Day

I decided to take a quick break from building powerpoint slides and excel spreadsheets to monkey around with my blog a bit. It's been a while since I started this, and am trying out a new format (ooohh...pretty) and generally editing some areas that had gotten a bit stale.

Does this look better, or does it look very cheesy?

Passion City Church - A Great Night!

The family and I went to the Passion City Church gathering last night in Norcross. Chris Tomlin led music worship and there was also a song done by Matt Redman. I'd never seen these two in person before, but had led worship at church using songs from both of them. So that was cool.

Additionally, the giving part of the night was focused on human trafficking. I was shocked to hear that Atlanta is the number 1 city for human trafficking (I read earlier last week that Atlanta is also number 1 for drug trafficking...sheesh, what's going on here?). Chris talked about the Sari Bari project that they were raising money for that night. It's basically a program to help young women get off the streets in India after being tricked or forced into sex slavery. The focus on the offering last night was on this cause, as well as helping one girl in Atlanta who is trying to get out of the sex trade and get counseling.

I post about this because I've been part of churches before that were focused on having programs and having buildings and having all kinds of nice little things. Passion City has chosen to not focus on a facility right now, not focus on lots of programs right now, but rather to gather people in the city of Atlanta together to further the passion of Christ - that everyone will know Him and receive His blessings. I was encouraged by their willingness to focus on outward ministry first, and worry about the inward infrastructure second.

Now, I think this will work for them because they aren't trying to displace people going to other churches. In fact, my family and I will continue to go to Buckhead Church every week. Andy Stanley's teaching and the programs that BC invests in are making a difference in the lives of many around the city. However, we will still attend Passion City Church on occasion. I firmly believe that if you are going to seek to bring people together and invest in them for the long-term, some level of programming and structure is needed, and Passion City may need to move in that direction at some point. But for now, in their infancy, their "passion" is refreshing to see.

Auto Show 2009

Had a chance to go to the Atlanta Auto Show yesterday with the family. Overall, it was a much smaller show from years prior, and since I've put my car buying itch on hiatus for the time being, it was generally a more depressing visit. But it was good to see some of the new models.

But the highlight for me was running into John Davis, the host of Motorweek, in the hallway. I've been watching Motorweek since it first aired in the early 1980s. Had a good conversation with him, and then got a picture taken. This was overall the highlight of my visit.