Moe and the Big Exit

We have a new Movie Event coming up on February 25: Moe and the Big Exit. This is the upcoming VeggieTales release. Go to the "Movie Events" page of our website for more information.

New Calendar Up and Running

We have a new calendar up and running over at our website. You can see scheduled events for months to come.

Wednesday NIght Taize Service

Tomorrow evening we will be having a Taize service for our Wednesday night Gathering. A Taize service is one of prayer, meditative singing and silence that includes candles and dimmed lights to add to the meditative mood. I invite you to come and experience this different style of worship. The service begins at 7:15 p.m. in the chapel. Childcare will be provided.

Sunday's Sermon

In case anyone's interested in reading ahead, I plan on preaching on Isaiah 6.1-8 this Sunday.

Addition: I may go with the extended lectionary passage which also includes verses 9-13.

Anger

Lately, I've been dealing with some anger. When I need motivation to try and put my anger away, to forgive as I have been forgiven, I find this reminder of the true nature of anger from Frederick Buechner is extremely helpful. This comes from his book Beyond Words, it's a book that has become a key part of my devotional life, and one I heartily recommend.

Anger: Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.

Good to Be Back

It was good to be back in worship this morning. I don't know about all of you, but I really got a lot out of this morning's services. Grace and peace to you all.

God doesn't need lies to establish credibility

Jenny and I got the chance to hear Tony Campolo speak at a Kansas Area pastor's conference earlier this month. I'm now reading his book, Letters to a Young Evangelical. He makes this important point about those who exaggerate healings to "aggrandize their ministries":

Don't get me wrong! I believe in healings. Miracles are not a thing of the past. They are happening today. But I have heard too many stories of supposed miracles that, upon investigation, are revealed as gross exaggerations of reality. God doesn't need lies to establish credibility. Where false claims about miracles are exposed, as they often are, cynicism about Christianity grows [emphasis mine].

This is my thought about a lot of the forwarded emails making the rounds.

Insurance adjuster here Friday

I just got a call from the insurance adjuster and he will be here Friday.

Phone Calls

I'm really impressed. At 8:30 this morning, I received a phone call from our insurance broker that the insurance company would be calling (they are two seperate entitities under our set-up). At 9:30 I got a call from the insurance company that they were starting the claim process and that a local adjuster would be getting in contact with us today.

In case you're wondering ...

In case you're wondering, our property insurance deductible is a $1,000 and because we're in a group plan with the rest of the conference our rates won't get jacked up.

Ice Damage

Yesterday a large piece of ice fell from the sanctuary roof and broke the skylight in my office. Smaller pieces of ice fell through the skylight. Thankfully, I was home sick and so only inanimate objects were damaged.

More significantly, the falling ice also damaged the structural integrity of the old roof over my inner office. For this reason, Dave Larimore advised removing it's contents and abandoning the inner room of my office. There is also a large pile of sleet, about shoulder high, sitting over the hallway the southeast corner of my inner office and the hallway between my inner office and the sanctuary. The outer room of my office (with the coffee table, etc.) is under the roof of the new addition, separated by a large steel girder and a brick wall, undamaged and not threatened.

Jenny's office and Linda's office are also unharmed and completely safe. For the time being I'll be officing from the parsonage.

Conference Unveils Redesigned Website

The Kansas East Conference (our conference, headquartered in Topeka, Kansas) has unveiled a redesigned website. There seem to be a few kinks, but all in all, I am very impressed. You can visit at www.kansaseast.org.

Buechner on Repentance

I came across a great partial explanation of "Repentance" in Beyond Words by Frederick Buechner: "To repent is to come to your senses." It seems to me that this is exactly what happened to the prodigal son. In the far country, after losing all his money, and being stuck with the lowly job of caring for hogs, he came to his senses and returned to his father. The NRSV backs this up, translating the key passage from the gospel of Luke as: "when he came to himself."

Meetings on for Tonight

I drove over for the Men's prayer breakfast this morning and it looks like the city crews have really been working, the roads are much improved. For that reason, the plan is to go ahead with the committee meetings previously scheduled for tonight: Evangelism at 6:00 and Missions at 7:00.

Recommended Reading

I just finished Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar. It tells the story of how during World War II, within the sphere of Nazi occupied Europe, not one of Bulgaria's 50,000 Jews was deported to a concentration camp. Indeed, Bulgaria was the only country under the Nazi control where the Jewish population increased during the war. What I found most fascinating (an inspiring for my own faith) about this book was the key role played by the Pravoslav (Orthodox) church within Bulgaria in preserving the lives of 50,000 people who would otherwise been sent to concentration camps and certain death. The church in Bulgaria stood by their principles and took great risks to do so, and they were successful. The book seems to be out of print, but you are more than welcome to borrow my copy.

Here at the Church

We found out this morning about 8:45 that not everyone had gotten the word that worship services were cancelled this morning. So Jenny and I agreed that it might be best if I came in. Brian Foreman was good enough to pick me up in his four-wheel drive and bring me here. Our sidewalks and our parking lot are still clear, overall the streets were in much better condition than last night, but 10th Street here in front of the church is still a total mess. Hopefully a full day of above freezing temperatures will get rid of the snow, ice, and slush.

We're not alone in cancelling, we joined the ranks of First Baptist, First Assembly of God, and St. Paul's Episcopal. First Southern Baptist is going with what had been our original plan and is holding only their late service.

All Sunday Activities Cancelled

I just went out to check the roads. I was driving our Chrysler Concorde which has a wide wheel base, four-wheel anti-lock brakes, and traction control. I noticed right away that the anti-lock brakes were kicking in on almost every stop. As I went past Cline in front of the school, I noticed a truck spin out and end up perpendicular to the road. My thought was that some people just don't know how to drive in winter conditions. I went down fifth street and turned onto Elm. Again anti-lock brakes at almost every stop. When I turned from Elm onto tenth in front of the church, I went from the deep ruts to a very rugged surface and the traction control kicked in for about half a block. I decided to go home via 11th Street. In front of the college I saw someone in a four-wheel drive vehicle attempt to turn into the parking lot for the gym. They missed the turn and plowed into a snowdrift. I again thought to myself "some people just don't know how to drive in snow." When I turned from 11th onto Buckeye I slid out of control and into the oncoming lane. Fortunately there were no cars headed in my direction, but I did consider what had happened to the truck and the four-wheel drive vehicle more charitably.

In addition to my harrowing drive tonight, we've already had three people have substantial injuries due to falls this week. Including one broken wrist and one broken ankle.

I have no doubt that we could get the sidewalks in front of the church clear and salted in time for the 10:50 worship service tomorrow. But I don't think that's the issue, the real issue is the condition of the roads and I don't think the city is going to be able to get those cleared. Therefore for safety's sake, we're calling off all worship services (including the Asbury service) and activities tomorrow. I encourage everyone to join us for the Wednesday Gathering at 7:15 p.m.

Weather/Road/Sidewalk Update

I just got back from a drive over to the church to check road conditions. I have to say that right now the roads are in better shape then they have been all week. The sidewalks at the church are clear. But both the sidewalks and the roads are covered with water, and if it freezes the situation will be another matter entirely.

Alive in Baghdad

Interesting video blog about the lives of Christians in Baghdad:
http://aliveinbaghdad.org

No Yoga Tonight

No yoga tonight because of the weather.

Stay Home if You Can

I just went to the Budget Inn to put some needy people up for the night. I nearly got stuck three times. The third time (thankfully, not far from the house), I had to literally dig my way out. Our Chrysler Concorde has traction control and usually doesn't have any trouble, but the snow in the streets is soft and there wasn't much traction to be had.

Church and Youth Group Canceled Tomorrow

Morning worship and evening youth group have been canceled tomorrow. I slipped twice getting out and going into church this morning and conditions aren't getting any better. I will try to make it to greet anyone who doesn't get the word.

No Yoga Tomorrow

Because of the bad weather, there will be no yoga tomorrow.

Guilt of Sodom

One of our speakers today, Dr. Tony Campolo pointed out that Ezekiel 16.49 quotes God as saying the following about the sins of the city of Sodom:

This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. (NRSV)

At Lawrence for KASPM

Jenny and I are at Lawrence for KASPM (the Kansas Area Seminar on Professional Ministry). We're having a great time. We'll be back Thursday evening.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade Entry

We'll be marching in the Martin Luther King, Jr. parade this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Anyone interested should meet at the corner of 9th street just south of Saint Paul's Luthern Church. Everyone in the parade will be meeting there, so you'll have to look for us. We'll try and have the church banner unfurled.

SPRC Meeting Wednesday

This is short notice, but there is an important form that needs to be turned in to the District Office. There will be a SPRC meeting Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. in room 102.

Yoga on Monday, but not Tuesday

April Foreman, our yoga instructor will be unavailable for yoga Tuesday evening. So we'll be having a special session at 9:00 a.m. Monday for anyone who can make it.

Multi-media Fund Balance

The balance for the multi-media fund is now at $12,229.29. The board of trustees voted last night to take the rest out of memorials.

A Simple Gospel?

I've long asserted that the Bible is the most complicated book in the western canon. Today, I found Frederick Buechner agreeing with me, at least as far as the gospel that Jesus preached is concerned.

"Anybody who thinks the gospel of Jesus is simple should go back and take a look at it. 'Love your neighbor.' 'Be ye perfect.' 'Resist not evil.' 'I and the Father are one.' 'Follow me.' The only thing that's simple about the gospel is the language."

Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words, 306.

It's Still Christmas

Yesterday, at the 8:10, but not the 10:50 service, I explained that for the church's liturgical calendar, the twelve days of Christmas is more than just a song. According to the liturgical year, Christmas begins December 25 and continues for twelve days ending with Epiphany on January 6. (Easter lasts for fifty days, the basic understanding is that some events are too important to confine their celebration to only one day.) If you have unsent Christmas letters you still have time. More importantly with Christmas being over according to the secular calendar, we have time to celebrate the true meaning of the season.