This morning, the container arrived and the 252,000+ meals were loaded up and driven away. They will be shipped our of Newark, NJ on route to Kenya. Praise God!
And Off They Go!
February 1st, 2012Off to CHINA!
January 30th, 2012I’m a little “blitzed” today, because we received notification of our travel dates to China. We are adopting our second daughter from China and will leave NEXT WEEK! Much of today has been spent between regularly scheduled “pastor” duties, travel arrangements, and preparation for “church things” for when I’m gone. More details to come.
If you are interested, you can follow our adoption journey by following our family blog, here. We plan to post pictures and reflections on the journey from China as we go. You are welcome to follow along.
A Great Day
January 30th, 2012Yesterday was simply fantastic. Our “OSL On the Move Event” was a wonderful experience in which over 500 people from our congregation and the greater community worked together to pack and ship over 252,000 meals off to orphanages in Kenya, Africa. More thoughts and pictures to come!
Getting Ready to Pack
January 29th, 2012
250,000
January 29th, 2012250,000 meals. That’s what we’re packing up in the morning. Today we got our community room ready, moving thousands of pounds of rice, lentils, salt, and dehydrated vegetables into position. Tomorrow our Church community + invited friends and neighbors will pack up all of this food into meals to be shipped to Kenya, Africa. It’s a big deal and very exciting.
Why do we do this? Because Jesus gave everything for us, that we may belong to Him forever.
Why do we do this? Because people have need of this food and God has given us the resources to share it.
St. Louis And Back Again
January 26th, 2012I was in St. Louis for the past two days with three other friends from our congregation. Our congregation has voted to seek to Call an Associate Pastor to serve with us at OSL, and we were at the Seminary interviewing candidates. It was a fantastic trip! We got to know some wonderful Seminarians and some of their wives. I got to catch up with a friend and classmate who is now a professor at the Sem. And the team of four of us had a wonderful time together. It was exhausting but well worth it. Please join us in praying for God’s will to be clear to all in this process.
“What I’m Reading”
January 23rd, 2012I have been woefully behind on updates to the “What I’m reading” pages on the right side-bar. I just did a massive update including almost every category. Here are a few comments/Disclaimers on these lists:
- I started this list in 2008. There are a whole lot of wonderful books that I read prior to 2008 that are not included in these lists.
- Just because I read it, doesn’t mean you (or anyone, for that matter) should read it. Other than the bible, some confessional and devotional resources, and some classics, there aren’t many that EVERYone HAS to read. (But a whole lot you should. And even more that would be better left alone.)
- Even books I recommend will have flaws and things I disagree with. That’s the nature of books written by people and not inspired by God.
- As you can see, I have a lot of books going all at once. That’s just how I read. Sometimes I just go right through something. Often I start and stop and take it up again later.
- Clearly, I love to read. I learn so much through reading and find such enjoyment in the thoughts, worlds, (as in far away places both real and imaginary) feelings etc. to which the authors move and take me.
- I hope you’ll challenge yourself to become more and more of a reader.
- I’d love to hear what YOU are reading.
Sermon 1-22
January 23rd, 2012The sermon from 1-22 is available on line here.
It’s a copy of the message preached at the late service. Sadly, the very beginning is spliced out. I had asked those present to pay special attention as they read/listened to the readings for the day to note the connections between the Old Testament and Gospel readings. [Jonah 3:1-10 and Mark 1:14-20] At the beginning of the message, I asked them what connections they observed. Here are some of the responses I recall:
- People dropped what they were doing. (Ninevites at the preaching of Jonah; Fishermen at the Call of Jesus)
- God initiated the events. (Sent Jonah to preach; Sent Jesus to preach)
- People were responding to the Word of God (Spoken through Jonah; Spoken through and embodied in Jesus)
- Repentance (The response of the Nivevites; The message of Jesus)
- Obedience (to God’s Word)
- God’s desire for others to hear his Word
Sermons On Line
January 19th, 2012The Christmas Eve sermon has finally been added to the on-line audio file list. The message from 1/15 is also up.
(The sound quality needs some work.)
Blog is Back
January 19th, 2012Hi. The blog has been down for a week and a half due to technical difficulties. As you can see, it’s back. Please check back soon for some new posts–I’m behind!