What's the score?

The New Hampshire results are in and the pundits should have it all figured out by tomorrow morning's news shows. I sure don't understand it.
I'm old enough to remember when the candidates were chosen at each party's convention after a series of delegate votes and back room dealing. The conventions were televised from beginning to end and watched with interest to see who would emerge as the party nominee and VP candidate.
I'm not sure why that system died, but now those conventions are PR shows that don't really make any difference.
Instead we have caucuses and primaries in a handful of states - enough that by the time they get to the convention a majority of delegates are already wrapped up by one of the candidates. In an effort to have greater influence in this process, several of those states - Florida and Michigan among them - have moved their primaries up. No state's political party wants to be little more than an afterthought, with a primary held after the issue is already decided. The result of that jockeying is squabbling between the states and a national party organization trying their best to keep the states in line.
This system does not choose the next president; the general election will do that. But it chooses one of the two individuals who have the chance to be president. So if I have this right, a minority of states hold primaries governed by widely differing rules (in AZ you can't participate in the primary voting if you're not a member of one of the parties) with the result that the two individuals with a shot to be president are determined.
This doesn't make sense to me. You?

Next week my brothers are coming down, one from Spokane and the other from Seattle. We did this last year, too. We'll go to the Barrett-Jackson auto auction on Thursday. Either Wednesday or Friday we'll go to the Russo & Steele auto auction, also held in Scottsdale and running concurrently. There's something primal about three men going to auto auctions where the lowest priced cars will exceed the annual income of the average American.
One of the cool things is that though we can't touch them we can walk right up to the cars, all of which are on display before and after they cross the auction platform.
You can take a look at what we'll see at
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/search/default.aspx
and
http://www.russoandsteele.com/featured_automobiles.html
Some very cool cars. Guys, you may want to put some plastic over your keyboard to protect it from drool.

I went to my primary care doctor this afternoon as a follow-up to my episode on the plane last month. He's convinced it was vasal vagal syncope. He also does not think I had a seizure. Apparently VVS can produce some of the same effects as a seizure. So apart from the final follow-up with the neurologist on Thursday he considers the issue closed. I told him I had another trip coming up and he suggested I be very careful with my head position. I told Pam I may get one of those foam collars people wear after an accident so that if I fall asleep again my head doesn't droop. Alternatively, I could tell the people next to me to wake me up if they see my head droop or plan an unscheduled stop in Des Moines. But will my family drive to Iowa to get me?

I can see several changes in my ministry as it has progressed through portions of four decades. I used to care a lot about organizational structure and growth. I still care, but I value people above those issues by a very wide margin. I enjoy building the relationships, ministering to their needs, and just working with them in general.
I once heard a pastor say, from the pulpit, "The ministry would be great if it weren't for the people." Aside from my shock at the horrible message that sent to his flock, I was sad for him. He was (is?) missing the greatest joy of the ministry.
And this early in our endeavor I'm already having fun being back into the people part of the ministry.