Yesterday, Gloria's family visited our church.  Her older brother is getting married at the end of the week and the family is here to get things ready.  It was nice to have them with us.  Another part of the blessing was that it was Gloria's dad's 96th birthday.  We were able to spend the day with him and celebrate.  The church even sang to him.

That is all fitting because yesterday's sermon was about examples, specifically examples of faithfulness.  There are only good examples: good examples of what to do and good examples of what not to do.  Part of our growing spiritually, I think, is recognizing people who have been examples to us, and caring about the example we give. 

Gloria's dad has been a great example to me.  What about you?  Who are the people who have served as examples of faithfulness to you? 

++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to listen to the sermon.++

I have had to put our church newsletter aside. BOOOOOO!

It was a lot of work, and, even though I enjoyed the work, there have been so many other things I must get done--people actually expect me to say stuff on Sunday mornings! Before the first of December, I MUST submit all my paperwork for my, hopefully, commissioning in June. There is no way around that. Of course, sermons are a must, too. I also have reflection papers related to my internship that must be turned in. That is a lot of MUSTs. Add to all that meetings, Bible studies and other events and you can see how something had to give.

The newsletter was the only thing that was not a must. So, for now, we have stopped the press on our newsletter. We are expecting (Praying) someone(s) to step up and keep it going. In the mean time, I do have a newsletter to share. It is not from our church. Our church, however, is associated with the organization. The Family Promise Network is a wonderful ways churches work together to help families in need.

In particular, city networks are set up to help families with children who are homeless. In a nutshell, churches open their facilities for one week at a time so that families can have a place to sleep. During the day families go to a day center where they are able to continue to search for more permanent housing. The churches also provide meals for the families. Essentially, each church offers a safe, stable place to sleep, one week at a time.

There are many other details I have not touched on. If you would like more information just let me know. For now, you can view the Irving network's latest newsletter.

++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to view the newsletter.++ Have you had any experience with Family Promise? God is doing some great things.

The question: Who and what do we love? The answer is simple: Who does God love? Everyone. What does God love? Righteousness, mercy, forgiveness, etc. So, love what God loves.

Raise your hand if you have ever been scared on Halloween.  It happens.  You needn't be ashamed.  At least your scary moments don't end up on YouTube like Steve Harvey's.  I am amazed at how many funny clips I have seen from The Ellen Degeneres Show.
Enjoy.

I am choosing hymns for this Sunday's service, and thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed this as I did.  Now, it is your turn--just a little music humor.  If you get it, you do.  If not, don't worry. 

Music often expresses some of our most deepest emotions.  People look to music to say what they feel they cannot.  Think about some of your most favorite music.  What do those songs say for you?

Well, maybe you thought too much of yourself and never imagined that Weird Al could say for you what you have wanted to for so long.  Really, though, what else would you expect from someone who gave us inspirational hits like Eat It, Amish Paradise and Party in the C.I.A.?

So, without further ado, I offer to you Al's most inspired song ever:

++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to view the video.++

How many forwards have you received today? That's too many. Maybe this is the video you need to forward.

We were a small church, always trying to do the best we could.  Anytime we could get a little help, that was appreciated.

Once someone gave us a new piano.  Well, it was old to them, but new to us.  I'm sure the giver said something like, "I would love to give this to the church."  While I would never want to dishonor someone's love for their church, somehow I think we ended up doing them more a favor than anything.

The piano was ours.  All we had to do was pick it up.  Now, when does "piano" and "pick up" sound like fun to you?  Exactly.

Still, we were young and buff.  So, we went and picked it up.  Lord, you do keep some record of our doings, right?

It was only a quick trip to the church, once the piano was loaded.  It seems like I remember part of the piano hanging over a side--someone might recall better.  A couple of us stayed with the piano to make sure it did not end up as road kill.  And as we traveled, we played.  It was fun playing the piano on the move like that.  You see, there are some things you big fancy churches could never understand.  Small churches can rock, too!

I thought of that day when I saw the next video. 


++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to view the video.++



Are you a part of a small church?  What kind of stories do you have?

Have you heard of The Prayer Dare?  It is a 40-day dare that is designed to encourage people to become more acquainted with prayer.  The days' reading are pretty simple and straight forward.  What I appreciate about the book is that each day has a specific dare attached to it, something you do after reading.  We talk a lot, and think a lot, too.  I want to offer ways for people to act upon what, for example, a sermon is about.  And, likewise, don't just talk about praying or wanting to pray more; learn how to pray more and do it!

That is where this book comes in.  It has some weak theological points about it, but, overall, those can be overlooked when you consider that you are being led to learn to pray more.

If I think about the churches we have served, I can remember those people who I and others knew were people who prayed.  I want those people close to me as I minister with a church.  And, I want more people to be considered as those kinds of people.  Thus, The Prayer Dare.

Our church began The Prayer Dare this week. Something we discussed at our first session was Richard Foster's term The Simple Prayer.  The thought is that with prayer you begin with who you are and where you are.  Have you ever heard someone say they don't know how to pray, or don't know what to say?  What most people who feel that way do is decide not to pray, to leave it to the experts.  The Simple Prayer reminds us that we just pray with whatever words we have and for whatever comes to our mind.  We learn to pray by praying.  Don't worry if you don't sound like someone else--that is not the point.  Just pray.

Your prayer, perhaps, may not include words.  God is big enough to hear our prayer even if we are unable to use words.  I came across this next video that reminded me of that.  The musicians share very familiar lyrics that are not really lyrics at all.  They are, however, music, just as our inability to use words can be prayer.

++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to view the video.++

So, what do you want to pray for today? Make it simple, and make it mean something to you. Is there anything I can pray with you about?

Someone emailed this video to me.  I had never heard of the Late Nite Catechism.  It is pretty funny.

I think I received it because of the Methodist reference.  The nun knows where the UM room is in heaven!  Now, I think it was the Methodist reference, but it might have been another bit of wisdom.  The nun has a small piece of advice for ugly people at the very end.  You watch and decide.  Enjoy.

++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to view the video.++



Thanks, Steve.

You picked them--well, at least some of you did. These were the five posts you viewed the most in September. I hope you are proud of yourself.


5) So many people are mad at Netflix for hiking up their monthly subscription. I suppose Netflix got googled quite a bit this month, and that is partly why this old Netflix Queue came in as our 5th highest viewed post.

4) Brittani really likes one of her teachers who encourages nontraditional learning styles. One of the things he encourages is listening to audio books. Although I prefer reading pages, every now and then I can have time to hear one. It looks like some took some time to listen to Jon Acuff's audio book.

3) The third post this month is a sermon. Whew! Sermons are still big around here. Here is Blessed to Bless.

2) Eventually, one of us is going to have to break down and buy this lamp. It keeps showing up on our top 5 lists. Maybe we all know the feeling of spilling milk.

1) Drumroll... Our top post this month introduces us to a game show winning pastor who did an incredible thing with his prize money.