This morning our choir director preached; his sermon sounded kind of like advent, giving us a new hope that should arrive along with our new pastor next week. He even quoted the same hymn I quoted when I first posted an article about our new pastor.
We as a congregation are being encouraged to bring as many family and neighbors as we can. And perhaps some of our old members who have disappeared in the years past. There is definitely a new excitement in our church. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
And I get to be liturgist next week!
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Walk #167, Leaders' Meeting #3
Today was our third leaders' team meeting for Arizona Walk to Emmaus #167. Actually it was only my second (since I missed the last meeting due to S' illness).
We met at our lay director's house. All were in attendance except two of our three clergy members (we are still discerning a fourth). As of today we have two more slots to fill on the talk team, seven on the cook team, and one on the 3-Day team (I can also pick someone off of the cook team for that slot). I will also need an assistant head cook to assist me since R had to drop off of the team for personal reasons. Bad break, but we already have someone in mind who has already accepted a position on the cook team (and his wife is one of our clergy team!)
There was also a lot of planning on who would do what at the first two meetings. At the first meeting, I will be giving the devotion, giving the Servanthood talk, assigning prayer partners, and meeting seperately with just the cook team as a whole. Oh, and making sure lunch is prepared (a job I will have through most of the team formation process).
I felt we had a very productive meeting. I got to witness our music leader in action for the first time and I must say, I was impressed. I need to make sure I let him know that.
I must confess that with everything going on in my life lately (S being in the hospital, me going to camp, work pressures), I have not had my head in the game like I should. My vacation scheduling for the Emmaus weekend will not allow me Friday off unless I work my 40-hour week from Monday through Thursday. That is difficult for a head cook to handle - I will likely have to trust others to purchase the food for the weekend. Perhaps relying on others is the lesson that God is trying to teach me here. I will probably be quite tired when I arrive on the weekend, but fortunately I have the entire week off as vacation after the weekend to recover. Again, I will need to rely pretty hard on God for this weekend to go well from my position. That's a good thing - I need to do that.
Nonetheless, my prayer request today is to get myself focused and get my head back in the game. The weekend will be here before we know it.
We met at our lay director's house. All were in attendance except two of our three clergy members (we are still discerning a fourth). As of today we have two more slots to fill on the talk team, seven on the cook team, and one on the 3-Day team (I can also pick someone off of the cook team for that slot). I will also need an assistant head cook to assist me since R had to drop off of the team for personal reasons. Bad break, but we already have someone in mind who has already accepted a position on the cook team (and his wife is one of our clergy team!)
There was also a lot of planning on who would do what at the first two meetings. At the first meeting, I will be giving the devotion, giving the Servanthood talk, assigning prayer partners, and meeting seperately with just the cook team as a whole. Oh, and making sure lunch is prepared (a job I will have through most of the team formation process).
I felt we had a very productive meeting. I got to witness our music leader in action for the first time and I must say, I was impressed. I need to make sure I let him know that.
I must confess that with everything going on in my life lately (S being in the hospital, me going to camp, work pressures), I have not had my head in the game like I should. My vacation scheduling for the Emmaus weekend will not allow me Friday off unless I work my 40-hour week from Monday through Thursday. That is difficult for a head cook to handle - I will likely have to trust others to purchase the food for the weekend. Perhaps relying on others is the lesson that God is trying to teach me here. I will probably be quite tired when I arrive on the weekend, but fortunately I have the entire week off as vacation after the weekend to recover. Again, I will need to rely pretty hard on God for this weekend to go well from my position. That's a good thing - I need to do that.
Nonetheless, my prayer request today is to get myself focused and get my head back in the game. The weekend will be here before we know it.
Friday, June 23, 2006
News and Commentary
I thought I'd take time to do some commentary on various news stories of the past week.
Radical Islam - what is up with that? There were two significant stories regarding radical Islam in the past week. First involved the abduction of two U.S. soldiers (after a third was killed outright), both of whom were later found tortured, killed, and mutilated to the point where DNA was needed to identify them (although it was pretty much a sure thing it was these two guys). The responsible party? Most likely Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq after his demise at the hands of American ordinance. No doubt al-Masri has to prove his lack of manhood by violating the Geneva Convention by torturing and executing prisoners of war.
Second involved the arrest of seven men in Miami on charges they allegedly planned to blow up the FBI office in Miami and the Sears Tower in Chicago. The common denominator? They are radical Muslims.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. With so many of the Muslim faith claiming it to be a peaceful religion (and thank God most Muslims truly are peaceful), where is the outrage? Why aren't these radicals being censured? Why aren't they being rooted out and removed from society? Why are they hiding in caves and behind the skirts of women?
It's ironic that in a world in which many reject the teachings of Christ, the Quran does indeed acknowledge the existance of Christ. Yet Islam has rejected the salvation of Christ. Please pray for all of Islam to see the light - the Way, the Truth, the Life.
So-called Christians are also rejecting the teachings of Christ. During the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, the House of Deputies overwhelming refused to even consider a resolution affirming Jesus Christ as the "only name by which any person can be saved." [source article]
Excuse me? Remember John 14:6? "Jesus said him, 'I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me.'" Brothers and sisters, this is not even subject to debate. Reject this message - and you reject the messenger. Period.
Might as well go up to Sedona and grab yourself some crystals.
Speaking of Sedona, the Brins Fire has been the headline grabber here in Arizona this past week. Started by a campfire left by a careless transient, the Brins Fire has now blackened 3,256 acres north of Sedona at the edges of the scenic Oak Creek Canyon. Fire crews have made a stand along US Highway 89A in hopes that the fire won't spread throughout the canyon where some 400 homes and 40 businesses stand.
We are also experiencing the onset of the summer monsoon this weekend (I finally had to switch from our evaporative cooler to our air conditioner in the face of higher temperatures and rising humidity). This could be a blessing or a curse on this wildfire. Dry thunderstorms could produce lighting and erratic winds which would breach the still-fragile containment of the fire. A good soaking rain could bring a quicker end to the fire. Let's hope so.
Is a beer run worth someone's life? This story is the kind that just irks me. Early this morning some jackass thought he'd get some beer from a convenience store without paying for it, and took off with his friend. A police officer who saw the incident began to pursue the suspect vehicle. It wasn't a high-speed chase, and it didn't last long; the suspect vehicle ran a red light, killing the law-abiding occupant of the other vehicle. Needless to say, both suspects in the vehicle were arrested, with possible charges of first-degree murder and felony endangerment pending for the driver. No more beer for him.
On a personal note, it has been a long week recovering from camp. I still get the urge to take a nap at 1:00, the designated quiet hour at camp (although I'm not really sure why since I probably got a total of 20 minutes sleep during a whole week's worth of quiet hour. What can I say? Some of my campers totally suck at being quiet. I may have to make the rules stricter next year). There's plenty of work to do at work to be sure. But I'm getting back into my routine and looking forward to our new pastor's debut July 2.
Radical Islam - what is up with that? There were two significant stories regarding radical Islam in the past week. First involved the abduction of two U.S. soldiers (after a third was killed outright), both of whom were later found tortured, killed, and mutilated to the point where DNA was needed to identify them (although it was pretty much a sure thing it was these two guys). The responsible party? Most likely Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq after his demise at the hands of American ordinance. No doubt al-Masri has to prove his lack of manhood by violating the Geneva Convention by torturing and executing prisoners of war.
Second involved the arrest of seven men in Miami on charges they allegedly planned to blow up the FBI office in Miami and the Sears Tower in Chicago. The common denominator? They are radical Muslims.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. With so many of the Muslim faith claiming it to be a peaceful religion (and thank God most Muslims truly are peaceful), where is the outrage? Why aren't these radicals being censured? Why aren't they being rooted out and removed from society? Why are they hiding in caves and behind the skirts of women?
It's ironic that in a world in which many reject the teachings of Christ, the Quran does indeed acknowledge the existance of Christ. Yet Islam has rejected the salvation of Christ. Please pray for all of Islam to see the light - the Way, the Truth, the Life.
So-called Christians are also rejecting the teachings of Christ. During the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, the House of Deputies overwhelming refused to even consider a resolution affirming Jesus Christ as the "only name by which any person can be saved." [source article]
Excuse me? Remember John 14:6? "Jesus said him, 'I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me.'" Brothers and sisters, this is not even subject to debate. Reject this message - and you reject the messenger. Period.
Might as well go up to Sedona and grab yourself some crystals.
Speaking of Sedona, the Brins Fire has been the headline grabber here in Arizona this past week. Started by a campfire left by a careless transient, the Brins Fire has now blackened 3,256 acres north of Sedona at the edges of the scenic Oak Creek Canyon. Fire crews have made a stand along US Highway 89A in hopes that the fire won't spread throughout the canyon where some 400 homes and 40 businesses stand.We are also experiencing the onset of the summer monsoon this weekend (I finally had to switch from our evaporative cooler to our air conditioner in the face of higher temperatures and rising humidity). This could be a blessing or a curse on this wildfire. Dry thunderstorms could produce lighting and erratic winds which would breach the still-fragile containment of the fire. A good soaking rain could bring a quicker end to the fire. Let's hope so.
Is a beer run worth someone's life? This story is the kind that just irks me. Early this morning some jackass thought he'd get some beer from a convenience store without paying for it, and took off with his friend. A police officer who saw the incident began to pursue the suspect vehicle. It wasn't a high-speed chase, and it didn't last long; the suspect vehicle ran a red light, killing the law-abiding occupant of the other vehicle. Needless to say, both suspects in the vehicle were arrested, with possible charges of first-degree murder and felony endangerment pending for the driver. No more beer for him.On a personal note, it has been a long week recovering from camp. I still get the urge to take a nap at 1:00, the designated quiet hour at camp (although I'm not really sure why since I probably got a total of 20 minutes sleep during a whole week's worth of quiet hour. What can I say? Some of my campers totally suck at being quiet. I may have to make the rules stricter next year). There's plenty of work to do at work to be sure. But I'm getting back into my routine and looking forward to our new pastor's debut July 2.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Another Perspective on Camp
While up at camp, I was partnered with two wonderful men as we led our seventeen junior high boys within an entity we call a family group. Family Group 4 was composed of 13 boys from Cabin 5 and another 4 boys from Cabin 6. R and I were stationed in Cabin 5.
R has also been blogging about his experience, but since he actually had a laptop with him, he wrote his blog entries each night (and posted them when he got home). For a more detailed perspective, I've linked his first blog entry here (as you finish reading each entry, click next). His blog captures the essence of what it was like up there, as well as expresses his personal experience with his encounter with God there.
R has also been blogging about his experience, but since he actually had a laptop with him, he wrote his blog entries each night (and posted them when he got home). For a more detailed perspective, I've linked his first blog entry here (as you finish reading each entry, click next). His blog captures the essence of what it was like up there, as well as expresses his personal experience with his encounter with God there.
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