Kennel Club management contends that opening the facility to gaming will bring 135 new jobs that pay over $50,000 per year. Their gross revenue projections seem to indicate some $7,000,000 plus per year financial impact could come into our community. If the numbers proposed are true, there is no doubt this could potentially pose significant economic development for our county. But it does beg the question at what cost? We have heard commissioners, the chamber, and other talk a great deal in recent years about the right kinds of economic development. I for one contend that this is not the right kind of economic development.

What looks good on the surface isn’t always good when you lift up the hood. It doesn’t take a hard look to reveal that there might be great economic benefit to a few, but certainly this will come at the expense of many. If  the number above is correct, that is $7 million in dollars that might have been spent in area restaurants, shopping establishments, or possibly even saved. A deeper look at their job figures also seems to reveal that 50% or more of the jobs are part time. So those numbers might also be a bit misleading.

What about the social cost? It is said that those most likely to gamble are college aged or retired. About.com says that recent statistics from Gamblers Anonymous suggest that four to six percent of gamblers eventually become problem gamblers or pathological (compulsive) gamblers. While this is a small percentage of the total number of people gambling, when you consider the millions of people who gamble each year the raw numbers of problem gamblers are significant.

Do people have a free will? Of course, but in my own family I have seen the damage that gambling can do as some relatives fell into gambling addiction and ended up in dire straights financially and relationally.

This past week I had the opportunity to return to South Florida. For years in Ft. Lauderdale off of 441 was a Seminole Indian Gaming bingo hall. 5+ years ago they approved small time casino gambling. If you visit there today you find a Hard Rock Casino and one of the most opulent looking gaming facilities you will ever see. Unfortunately if you look right across the street in a 2 block area you will find in excess of 6 pawn shops and a number of adult video establishments.

Do I expect that to happen on 17? Maybe not. The leaders in Orange Park and at the county level might try preventing it. It does strike me as interesting though that one of the primary motivators of the Kennel Club is to find new income sources because their average attendance for the dog races has been cut almost in half since 1991. It seems that right now Poker Rooms are the rage. If poker fades will they ask for Slots? Full casino gambling?

It’s worth thinking about. If you have an opinion on this matter I would encourage you to contact the board of county commissioners.

The phone number for the commissioners is:      904-284-6376

Their bulk email account is: commissioners@co.clay.fl.us

Sincerely,

Eric C Jaffe
www.ericjaffe.org

Citation: http://sportsgambling.about.com/od/gamblingaddiction/a/Addiction_Facts.htm

Thursday’s Lunch was incredible. We had 120 rsvp’s but 172 people showed up. We had many county officials there, area non-profits, and around 50 pastors. It was simply amazing.

Keep praying. God is up to something and the work is off to a good start. We are believing God for continued funding, so please pray that we can get the finances to accomplish all the goals we are shooting for for. For more information visit www.impactclay.org

Congressman Stearns who has been a champion for victims rights in Washington was on hand to open up the cerimony, assist with the ribbon cutting and cheer on those who helped make the day possible. Assistant State attorney Sam Garrison oversaw the proceedings and was instrumental in leading the way to get this cause on the radar.

Comissioner Rutledge was also on hand to speak about the BCC’s role in this cause. As a former police officer he was also touched by the fact that he had previously taken people to that same building to get help when it was previously opened for similar services. Mr. Rutledge has helped champion the cause with the BCC and pledged that it would continue to receive funding as long as he was a commissioner.

All in all it is a great but sad day for the county. Sad that a service like this is even necessary, but great that we now have a place to help those at their time of deepest need.

If you want to help by contributing financially to this cause, get in touch with me and I will tell you how you can make a difference in the lives of others through serving or giving to this great cause.

Show up for Family Fun Fest on Tuesday night as well. All proceeds from the event will benefit the cause as well. Everything is free that night except for food, donations will be accepted.

I was more than appreciative of him taking the time to hear my heart on various issues of the day, and it was once again good to hear his heart on the issues facing the County in the years ahead. We touched on topics of Economic Development, transportation, homelessness, social issues of the day, and even how the faith based community might partner with the BCC to help make our community a better place in the years ahead.

He seemed to have a very good head on his shoulders and was certianly very likeable. He took the time to tour the church and may even show up during the upcoming Family Fun Fest event. He was admitedly a little tired as he approaches the final stretch of the campaign season so I would encourage everyone to be praying for him as well as the other candidates as they enter the home stretch.

A word to those reading. I just want to take a moment to encourage you to get out and vote during the election. Educate yourselft to the best of your ability on the candidates, the issues of the day, etc. Every vote counts and as believers it is important that we have a voice in what goes on.

The bible teaches that it is God who puts people in places of leadership and it is God who brings them down as well when needed. God desperately wants our cities to prosper. As we continue to believer God for a better Clay County, a better NE FL, and a better US. Lets be sure to pray for those in positions of authority, and lets put action to those prayers by being involved in making a difference in the lives of others in whatever way God has positioned us.

Disclaimer: Please note that this post is neither and endorsement or an opposition to any political candidate on behalf or myself or Celebration Church. It is simply a sharing of my interactions with those who I have been privelaged to meet with.

We started the day by meeting James Jett, the counties "Clerk of the Court." I was impressed with James and his enthusiasm as well as his desire to serve the people of the county. He helped promo more electronic records for the county as well as a transition into the internet age by allowing things like title renewals, drivers license stuff etc to all be done online through the counties site.

Following that we met with members of the judical branch of government including one of the lead prosecutors, public defenders, and Judge Wilkes who is the Lead Justice of Clay County. I found all to be humorous and passionate about their jobs, especially in light of the low pay for people of their stature. I still don’t get the whole election for judges thing as I think most people are clueless to what judges stand for and basically Christmas tree that section of their ballot.

We had lunch at Ronnie’s and I had the unfortunate position of sitting with Greg Voss from the Chamber. This guy is a real pain in the neck and I will not miss seeing him every Tuesday one bit. Gotcha Greg!   Just kidding. Greg is an awesome guy and I look forward to serving with him on the Business Development committee starting next week.

We went on to get a tour of the sheriff’s office where we spent about 30 minutes with Sheriff Rick Beseler who I also found to be a great guy with a great heart seeking to make sure this city is well protected and cared for. We spent a considerable amount of time in their communications hub for 911 calls. It was really cool to see how all that works. I still think they should get GPS for all the police cars to see where the guys are at.

We concluded the day with a 90 minute tour of the Clay County Jail. Which was a rather incredible facility to say the least. I have had the misfortune of spending one evening in the Juvenile detention center back in Miami Dade some 19 or 20 years ago, and believe me, I would never want to go back or even consider having to stay in a place like that again. Although clean and incredibly respectful at every turn there was no lack of privacy what so ever and man, just what a bummer to have one find themselves in that place.

To give you the lowlight of the day, I ran home and told Mary Jo – I saw a naked lady today. It barely got a rise out of her, then she finally got it and said what are you talking about. Like I said, there was no privacy there and the inmates couldn’t see inside of the security area we were in, but the guards can see out. There we were a group of about 13 people from the county and one of the ladies dropped her drawers right and front of us and sat on the John. Luckily not everyone was paying attention, it was a scary site to say the least.  That being said, the captain summarily warned us before entering the mens area that there is no privacy there either, so we used a bit more caution when approaching that POD..

The scariest part of the day was the solitary confinement area.. wow.. sad sad sad..
An interesting part was that the majority of the people in jail were white males and many of the people in jail were not from our county, but snuck in from Duval to do their crimes and got caught. We import more crime from neighboring counties than from within.

It gave me a huge desire to pray more for those folks who find themselves in that kind of a place because of their choices. Some families where there, mothers, sons, etc. Generational curses.

May God use us to help make a difference in our area for His Glory!

To be honest, it wasn’t the most interesting day to date, but it was useful to gain insight into the various educational opportunities that exist within our county.

The day started at Sylvan Learning, of which I am intimately aquainted as our son got help from them a couple of years ago. They did a great job in getting him up to speed. I would highly recommend them, but they are not cheap.

School Superintendent David Owens kicked off the day for us sharing about the school system from his perspective. I have been pleased to have heard his heart on a number of occasions. He is a faithful believer in Jesus Christ and he seems to have a great vision for the school system. I like his non-top down leadership style, and have heard great things about our school system. Every year since grading has begun the school district has scored an A and Fleming Island Elementary school where my kids attended has consistently been in the top 5 in the state – wow!

We continued on to Center Academy with Jerry Stigliano. I love Jerry and have known him for a few years. He and his wife are awesome and are also believers.. Go Jesus! Center Academy is for learning challenged young kids. They offer 1 on 1 instruction to help make them successful!

We also had the opportunity to visit Annuciation Catholic School. Another great place.. and guess what Christian! wow.. a 3 for 1 deal.

We concluded the day at Saint Johns River Community College, our only post graduate school in the county. I have been mildly impressed with them, yet continue to hold a grudge that they have never let a church meet at their facility. I don’t get it. But the new Thrasher Horne Center is amazing and is a must see!

Carol Studdard from the School Board closed out our day. She is a wonderful servant of God who is praying for and believing God for a better future for our children.

The setting for the event was the wonderful Club Continental on the river. Our wonderful team of volunteers and staff worked tirelessly last night and this morning to get everything set up by 11:00am. People began arriving on time at 11:30. We began introductions around 11:45 and everyone sat down for a great meal by the clubs staff.

Eddie, Angel, Brian, Renee, Diane, Craig, and Rick stepped up and played 2 wonderful songs to get people into worship. Most everyone seemed well engaged and seemed to enjoy the experience.

I was then given the blessed opportunity to share the vision for the churches to come together primarily around 5 points. (see other post with podcast of message!). Here are the 5 points. Here are 5 things they did:

1) They focused on the absolutes of scripture.
   a) They stopped looking at the ways they were different and started to function in the ways they were alike.
2) They encouraged the leaders and individual Christians in town to promote Christ and His Word above their particular church or way of doing things.
3) They prayed to raise the water level of the Holy Spirit in their city.
4) They appreciated one another’s respected interpretations of scripture.
5) They practiced supportive speech and actions towards others.

Here were some opportunities that were highlighted:
1.    Networking–
a.    Get to know one another,
b.    Events like this
c.    To start a dialogue,
d.    To begin to learn about each other
i.    personally and our churches corporately.

2.    Prayer –
a.    gather together periodically to pray for
i.    our city,
ii.    our churches,
iii.    our communities,
iv.    our government, etc. –
b.    Maybe even dream about a world prayer center.

3.    Benevolence –
a.    I’ve heard of other church alliances that collaborated to centralize benevolence in their area so that people couldn’t work the system and so that they could more effectively steward their resources in this area.
b.    Today there is no catalogue of available resources or needs in our community on issues such as:
Addiction
Elder care, clothing, finances, etc.
What if we cataloged that and leveraged it so that we all knew what resources and needs were out there to meet them together?

By not working together we might be actually wasting kingdom resources that could help more people because of our inefficiencies.

4.    Collaborate on important social issues of the day.
a.    Example for you today.
b.    CCVCS – Assistant State Attorney Sam Garrison here today.
i.    <Bring Sam Up>
c.    Diane Hutchings here today –
i.    Through the American Family Forum they polled all of our local candidates on issues pertaining to church and family to hear how they stand in an effort to better educate church goers without bias..
d.    Fred Meiners – Sea Mark Ranch
e.    Many more of these exist, yet lie uncovered,
i.    What if churches worked together to address these social issues?
ii.    What kind of impact might we have on our community?

5.    Evangelistic Events –
a.    Serve Tampa Bay-
i.    series of simple acts of Christian kindness that culminated in a worship event where 1500+ got saved and then directed into local churches.
b.    Family Fun Fest
i.    Pastor Wayne – Come share for just a few minutes.

Pastors were then given an opportunity to fill out a connection card if they wanted to engage in any of those areas. Which many did.

I stand in awe of God for giving me the opportunity to share with this fine group of Godly men and women. I continue to join with others to believe God that amazing things will happen as a result.

A special thanks to my loving wife Mary Jo for supporting me in this, my awesome friends Amery, Pam, Erin, Eddie, Angel, Brian, Renee, Diane, Craig, and Rick who worked so hard to make this happen. I love you all dearly and couldn’t think of doing life without you!

Here is what was published.

Relationships Matter

There are many different types of people you will meet in life. There are those who always seem to be the life of the party. They are very charismatic and have networks of friends and associates. Others are more subdued, but value relationships that add meaning to their lives. A few are grumpy and maybe even a little like a porcupine sticking those who come too close.

If you ask most people on the streets they will probably tell you that relationships matter. Positive relationships are part of the fabric that makes life really worth living. Good relationships can make or break a business deal, a marriage, a church, or a friendship. Bad relationships can drain our lives causing a great deal of hurt that can sometimes lead to depression. That being said, few people ever take the time to learn the skills of building healthier relationships.

Relational skills can be learned and like our mothers taught us, first impressions do matter. Every interaction we have with others leaves the person with either a negative, neutral, or positive reaction towards us. Whether it’s a job interview, a sales call, or an opportunity to ask someone out on a first date – relationships matter. How they feel about their experience with us can affect us in big ways. That interaction might be the difference between getting that second interview, big sale, or first date.

There are many books on the market that teach us about building effective relationships in various circles. One of the most famous was Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” In church circles there is Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages”. More recently Jerry Acuff and Wally Wood wrote, “The Relationship Edge in Business”. These titles are but a few that fill bookstore shelves.

Various motives exist and are highlighted in the above works regarding building relationships. The motives range from personal advancement to profit, but the best motive is to express a genuine interest in the person with whom you are interacting. Having a desire to really get to know those you come into contact with throughout the course of your day.  When you are genuinely interested in another person, they sense it, and it opens up doors for relationships that you never thought could have existed.

The book, “The Relationship Edge in Business” highlights five relational levels you can have with another human being using the form of a pyramid. They start at the bottom with people who know your name, people who like you, people who are friendly with you, people who respect you, and at the peak are people who value relationship with you.

In reality, it would be hard to have a great deal of people at the top of the pyramid because relationships take work to start, build, and maintain. Relational capital is built over time through predictable and consistent actions that put deposits into another persons relationship bank. If your always taking from a relationship eventually the relationship will become bankrupt.

Here are a few basic skills needed to jump-start a rise up the relational pyramid.

1) The best word of advice an old pastor gave me was, “You have to be friendly to make friends.” – It was a real revelation at that time in my life, but also proof positive that a person can turn around and learn the skills needed to enjoy the meaningful relational opportunities that life presents.

2) Listen – This demonstrates that you care about what the other person is interested in.

3) Simple Acts of Kindness – Send a note or a small inexpensive gift. Something thoughtful regarding your conversation that makes you stand out in the other persons mind.

4) Finally, learn to use names – This is a tough one for many, but people love to hear their own name. If you browse the Internet you can find many tricks and tips for name recognition.

It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. When at work it’s easy to focus on the tasks at hand and our workloads without ever really getting to know those whom we spend so much time with. In the malls, at church, on the soccer field, or waiting in line at the grocery store we can be keep to ourselves or take a risk and strike up a conversation. You never know where that next friendship will come from. Begin to expect it. Take an interest in the lives of others and how you might make a positive difference in the lives of those you encounter. If you do, you will end up with more meaningful relationships in your life than you could have ever imagined. You will be living the life you have always dreamed of!

Eric Jaffe
http://www.ericjaffe.org
ejaffe@celebration.org

This morning the Clay County Victims Advocacy Task force officially turned over it’s recommendations to the Clay County Victims Advocacy Center for which I was selected as a board member. We need a great deal of prayer, and at some time in the future potentially even financial support. We have tentative approval from the Clay County Government of which we are believing for official support to fund an Advocacy Center which would assist victims of physical or sexual abuse in Clay County by providing a local place of examination and care so that they don’t have to leave the county for examinations which are forensic in nature, but also at a time in a persons life where they really need a loving caring environment. Full details will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead, but none the less, I encourage everyone to pray that we continue to see the support of the county and other private entities to fund this project in such a way that the hurting people in our county have a place of hope to turn to in their time of need.

Also, Stovall and I attended the Seamark Ranch golf tournament today. What an awesome turnout for the ministry and what an awesome group that is coming to Clay County to provide help and support to young people in serious need. Listen to this statement from thier homepage: Seamark Ranch exists to provide a Christ-centered, non-denominational
children’s home committed to sharing the Gospel, hope, healing and a
brighter future with abused, neglected, abandoned, orphaned and
homeless children. We are dedicated to an environment filled with
grace, love and service which fosters emotional healing in reclaiming
the lives of children who have suffered unimaginable abuse, neglect or
tragedy.

Would you pray for them as well as they continue to move forward in developing their property just East of Penny Farms. They are looking to open up sometime in the Spring of ’07.

I think you will find that both of these things flow right with the heart of Celebration Church – The Lost, the hurting, and the next generation. Might we continue to reach out to them with all our hearts that our area might be changed for Christ.

If I can get you further details about either of these initiatives, or how you might get involved, don’t hesitate to contact me.