**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
Author: Lynn Green
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When Your Leaders Move On
**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
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Stopping the Illegal Cannabis Trade
**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
I mentioned in a blog last year that I was watching the consequences of legalizing pot in my home state of Colorado. So I was back there last week with a chance to see how it is working out.
There was a strong argument that changing the law to allow cannabis to be sold openly would stop the illegal trade. That would make everyone safer because the strength and purity of pot could be openly verified.
While I was there, the local paper ran a headline that the police had raided 247 properties where illegal marijuana was being grown. WHY? I thought legalizing would put an end to all that! At least that was the argument.
I stopped to imagine that I had been growing and selling marijuana products illegally before the state made it legal. Would I be happy to register, submit to the regulators and pay taxes on my products? If I had been making a good profit, what would convince me to go to the authorities, register as a grower, welcome the inspectors and pay a good portion of my profits to the state? Would the change of law transform me into a law-abiding citizen? Not likely!
If the police are still busy trying to stop the illegal and unregistered trade in cannabis, what has changed? Well, a lot of pot is being sold legally too and that produces revenue for the State of Colorado.
So, what is the argument for making it legal to sell and use cannabis? Money.
There’s nothing new under the sun.
Lynn Green.
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What are you reading; who are you watching or listening to?
**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
I am always grateful when people recommend good sources for learning. Sometimes others ask me what I am reading or watching or listening to, so I thought I would begin posting some of those resources. Some of these will be current and others will be the ones that stand out from all the others over the years.
BOOKS
This biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a classic. I couldn’t put it down! Though it is a long book, every page is important and inspirational. It’s one of those books that is inspiring to the mind and feeds the spirit.
Bonhoeffer’s great book on the true nature of following Jesus stands as a signpost to any who take the Christian faith seriously. He practiced discipleship and articulated the joys and the demands as clearly as anyone has ever done.
Are you feeling like a “victim of the urgent”? Do you wish you could spend more time on the things that are really important? Do you sometimes feel harassed by all the demands on you? Do you often go to bed wondering if you did anything of value today?
I recommend a book that was published many years ago. I read it in the afternoons while I was speaking at a DTS in Aqaba, Jordan. It was one of a few books that immediately changed my life. I devoured it and put it into practice during that week.
Stephen Covey wrote a Number One Bestseller, “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”, then he wrote this one that was popular but didn’t get the attention that Seven habits got. For me, though, the practical ideas for how to live for those really important things, was priceless. At the time, digital calendars and seamless communication between devices and other electronic helps were not well developed. I started with a paper diary notebook and about half a dozen projects that were important to me. Then I listed all the other priorities for my life, thought about them deeply, prayed for wisdom and began to prioritize my time.
When the better electronic tools came along, it was easy to make the change to digital planning because I had the foundational thinking in place. It has been a huge help! Used copies of this book are available for very little cost.
VIDEOS
For more than a year, I have enjoyed the videos produced by Jordan Peterson. He has become known as the most famous intellectual today, with millions of viewers. My son, Michael, recommended the 30 minute video where Cathy Newman of Channel 4 in the UK interviews him and I watched it when Marti and I were on holiday last year. I was hooked.Of his many videos, one from this past week is outstanding:
PODCASTS
There is so much debate about the Bible and what it teaches about sexuality, sexual identity, same-sex relationship, transsexuality, etc. There is a great series of podcasts from Bridgetown Church, Portland Oregon that was a great help to me and to Marti. We listened to them as we were driving and they made the journey seem too short!
Lynn Green 