Thursday, October 2, 2003

9:01 PM Yesterday John Piper posted an article called What Unites Us in Worship at Bethlehem. I’ve come back to his list of ten elements of public worship more than once because I find it so helpful and challenging. My heart resonates strongly with his vision. 3:55 Just received this from my friend Bob Johnsen:

Rick Warren wrote that the average man has a life span of 25.500 days. I had not ever thought about life in that way. That’s 70 years,840 months, 3640 weeks. At 74 I’ve already used my allotment. Im llving on overtime. Cliff is a ways ahead of me Ponder this: You have used up 5/7th of your allotment. We all live by Grace and indeed – God has been exceptionally good to us in enabling us to have you as our Pastor as long as He has. Isn’t it magnificent how the Lord has been Honored mightily in helping us meet our financial goal.

Thanks, Bob. I agree on all counts. God has been good to us, certainly far more than we deserve. “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10). 3:47 PM Just back from my bike ride. Total miles so far this year: 2811. 3:45 PM A few weeks ago I asked for help in finding evangelistic literature in Italian for a friend who wants to witness to his father. Special thanks to Esther Weasenforth for helping me find something I could pass along to my friend. 12:29 PM It’s cold in the church this AM. John Sredl told me that the workers have started the process of insulating our two large boilers. By working all day today and tomorrow and perhaps into Saturday, they hope to have one boiler ready to use by Sunday… . . Meanwhile, the OPCA teachers are at our house today on a one-day in-service retreat. Kevin Thames told me they had a very lively discussion about the Christian response to the impact of secular humanismin the classroom. When I came home at lunchtime, they were enjoying Baked Potato soup amid laughter and lots of chatter. The teachers truly enjoy getting together. 9:31 AM Bill and Christy Daniel won’t be in my Wednesday night class when it starts up again in January. They have graduated to a higher assignment: “Christy and I have entered the realm of being AWANA leaders. Therefore, don’t fret when you don’t see our smiling faces in your bible study class in January. We had a strong calling from the LORD to accept the challenge of becoming leaders. The first night was great. The energy was intense with all the kids saying verses and running about. Well enough for now, Bill” 9:29 AM Andy replies:

You may be right.For the first time in memory the Cubs 3 starters are better than the Braves.The Braves front office does not get enough credit for retooling the team each year to keep them competitive.They lost 66% of their victories during the offseason when salary cap rules forced them to give up pitchers.Kevin Millwood would have helped and certainly Jason Schmidt who now pitches for San Fran.Nevertheless they are back again.It shows you how good their management is and how terrible the management has typically been for most teams that are only rarely competitive.If the Cubs beat the Braves I’m rooting for the Red Sox and Cubs to be in the Series.

My only comment: The cold weather in Chicago is a wild card for the weekend games. Looks like it may rain tomorrow with temps around 40 degrees by gametime. 8:55 AM Check out the latest issue of the LifeCARE webzine, featuring articles on the theme “Walking in the Light” by Cynthia Nordberg, Lynette Hoy, Adrian Rogers, Ted Griffin and Charles Spurgeon. 8:29 AM Cal Thomas explains why churches need to emphasize doctrine more than they do. We intend to address this issue at Calvary in a big way in 2004. 7:16 AM My brother Andy called from Florence, AL, last night after the Braves beat the Cubs 5-3. I wasn’t home so he asked Marlene how I liked the game because he liked it just fine. I love my older brother and usually follow his lead but this time I have to follow my heart and go with the Cubbies. I am glad he enjoyed the game but that’s all the smiling Braves fans will do this week. By Saturday night, there will be great rejoicing in Chicago as the Cubs win their first playoff series in 95 years.