Have a moment? Say a prayer!

Please pray for the Johnson family. They are currently serving as missionaries in Burkino Faso (Africa). Want to know more? Check out the link to the left with the word "Ergatai" in it.

Do I like handbells?

Yes I do.  And if you're local and you like handbells, there's a concert coming up this weekend that you may be interested in.  The Grantham Church is having a handbell concert this Sunday, March 30th at 6:30pm.  There will be several choirs ringing in this concert, including a non-Grantham choir (I'm not quite sure where they're from).  I'm not certain, but this may be the first handbell-only concert they've had at Grantham.  I have had the opportunity to hear the Grantham choirs on several occasions and I enjoy their work.  So if you're around and available, you may want to check it out.

Something from Anne Rice

If you have a moment, Rice wrote an interesting piece about her faith. You can read it here.

Various thoughts on the Resurrection

So as we head into the most important holiday of them all, I thought I would give you some quotes that I found in a book entitled "Vintage Jesus." These thoughts represent the various views of Christ. All of the following quotes are reflecting on the resurrection.

"His death on the cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it, my heart could not accept."
-Gandhi

"Jesus dies to save men-a small thing for an immortal to do - and didn't save many, anyway. But if he had been damned for the race, that would have been [an} act of a size proper to a god, and would have saved the whole race."
-Mark Twain

"Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his doctrine."
-Friederich Nietzsche

"To remember Jesus is to remember first of all his Cross."
-John Knox

"There is no death of sin with the death of Christ."
-John Owen

"In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all there were crucified for the same reason - the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

anxiety

My preferred method of travel is flying.  I do it a lot for work, and I also do it for fun.  Flying is very routine and I am seldom concerned about my safety.  That is, until Monday evening.

 

I was on my way home from Philly and we were boarding a prop (propeller) plane.  I've flown these types of planes more times than I care to count.  The flight attendant does her safety spiel and takes her seat.  The captain fires up the right prop and it starts turning.  And then stops.  I know that's not right.  We're all sitting there waiting for something to happen.  They re-open the outside door and the captain and first officer exit the plane to examine the engine.  This is not something I've ever experienced and I immediately come to the conclusion that this is not a good thing.  They come back to the plane and try it again.  A few slow revolutions, and the prop stops again.  They call a mechanic.  He opens up an access door, walks back to his van and pulls out some towels.  Then he proceeds to wipe down the inside of the access door.  I'm trying to process all these things in my head and what I figure is that it's a problem with hydraulics.  The prop wasn't turning and there was some residue that needed to be wiped off in the engine compartment.  Generally, hydraulics are something that you like to have fully functional when you fly.  At this point, the captain informed us that we would be deplaning until they figured out the problem.  I am rather concerned about flying in this metal cylinder, but I try to console myself with the fact that they wouldn't fly a broken airplane.  Would they?

 

One of my best Christmas gifts was a subcription to Discipleship Journal.  Last week I was reading an article that asked the question "Is anxiety a sin?"  A very interesting question, when you consider that if we are anxious or worried, we distrust God.  It's sometimes easy to consider just anxiety by itself.  But when you look at the flip-side and what that entails, you begin to wonder "How did I get here?"  When I was sitting on that plane, at what point did I let my faith and trust in God slip, and allow the worry to creep in?  I'm not certain.  It may have had something to do with the fact that it was a very long day and I was not feeling well.  Regardless, I let the enemy get the best of me that night.  But I've learned a valuable lesson, that worry is an absence of trust.

 

Have you worried lately?

new post coming soon...

promise.

The Circus May or May Not Be Coming to Town

Messiah to host forum for Presidential candidates

A Scene from Tonight

Best Road Trips Ever

So as I was perusing various baseball websites a few days ago, I harkened back to some baseball roadtrip adventures that I experienced and that got me thinking about memorable roadtrips in general.  So for your amusment (and for some of you, refreshment), I bring you the top five road trip experiences (in no particular order).  There are two qualifiers for this top five list.  One, is that it could not have occurred with any family members.  Two, it has to have occurred with at least one other person (I am prone to wander alone if necessary).  So without further ado......

 

Top Five Roadtrip Experiences..

 

1.  Disney World (1997) - Two of my roommates and I eschewed the rest of our senior class and headed down to Disney World for our own little trip.  It took us 16 hours to get there with two of us driving (the third roommate chose to sleep).  And we got our pictures taken with that red-haired girl....

 

2.  Chicago (1999?) - One of my old roommates and I flew out to the windy city to take in a reunion show of one of our favorite bands, The Prayer Chain.  Also, this was the weekend when I learned to hate cats.

 

3.  Cedar Point (2005?) - Three friends and I drove out to Sandusky, Ohio to take on the roller coaster capital of the USA, Cedar Point.  I cried and we got stuck in a lovely traffic jam.  And we ate dinner at Applebee's.

 

4.  Greensboro (2002?) - My dad and I trooped down to Greensboro, NC for the first round of the Men's NCAA Basketball tournament.  We had great seats about seven or eight rows from the court.  And we got to eat at Biscuitville.

 

5.  San Francisco (2007) - A friend and I winged it out to San Fran for approx. 25 hours in the city.  I had a crepe for the first time and spent some serious time on the cable cars.