11:20 PM Among the visitors Sunday morning, I met Jim and Sue Nicodem and their children Emily, Rachel and Andrew. Jim is the pastor of Christ Community Church in St. Charles, one of the most dynamic churches in the Midwest. Jim told me that he and Pastor Bob Boerman go back a long way together. 11:15 PM Quick Renovation Up…
THE KEYS TO THE CELL by Ray Pritchard The man hugged me and wouldn’t let go. “For the first time in a long time, I listened today and I heard what you said.” He told me that some friends came to see him and told him the truth. They were taking a big risk because they didn’t know how he would respond. It wasn’t goo…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 20033:13 PM Speaking of “Lord of the Rings,” Vox Day shows how the third installment speaks to the current world crisis. 2:47 PM Last night Mark, Nick and Caleb Fields watched “Fellowship of the Rings” on DVD. They finished at 1 AM. At this moment they are watching “The Two Towers.” Right now they are watching the b…
9:47 PM Christmas Day is a good time for a bike ride because the streets are almost empty. My current total for the year is 3584 miles. I am often asked where I ride. The answer is, on the streets of Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, and sometimes Chicago. I suppose that 95% of the time I follow the same route—an 1…
11:56 PM Time to go to bed. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. 11:55 PM I just re-read the e-mail from Judith Roberts (see below) and liked it so much I thought I should share part of it: EN1 John “Chris” Lindsey’s ship set to sea this morning from Iraq for the last time. The official notification said he’…
3:32 PM The video presentation of Two From Galilee is now online and ready for viewing. 10:37 AM We received $44,000 in the Legacy Campaign Building Fund on Sunday. 10:35 AM More renovation news … It looks like they are nearly finished installing the glass in the portico archways. Roof almost completed. The gym has b…
10:33 PM The “Pastor’s Roundtable” turned out to be three-way discussion that included Roy Schwarcz of Middle East Ministries in Buffalo Grove and a Muslim cleric who teaches religion and Arabic at a college prep school in the Chicago suburbs. We had a frank and civil exchange of views. Most amazing revelation: The Musl…
7:08 AM When I got to my office, I found a bag on my desk with two of my books inside—The God You Can Trust and He’s God and We’re Not. There was a note attached from someone in the congregation asking if I would sign them for her nephew: “Jeff, my niece’s husband & my new nephew, will be going to Iraq in Jan. We ho…
MYSTERY & WONDER AT CHRISTMASTIME by Ray Pritchard Christmas has been slow in coming this year. Maybe that’s a statement about me personally, but I think it’s more than that. It’s almost as if the whole nation has been busy and distracted and we almost forgot that a special occasion is just around the corner. But now, at la…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 20038:09 PM Meghan Keating writes from Ireland where she has recently gone to spend a year as a nanny with an Irish family. It wasn’t that many days ago that we prayed together before she left. She is off to a good start: Tonight I’m proud to report that I’ve successfully survived my first week in Ireland. Quite nicely in fact….