17 Oct 05 112955531014776448
Apparently the word NLCSCAB does not mean the California Angels will Be the opponent of the winner of the NLCS! It appears I am a false prophet of baseball. I blame it on faulty reception. I know you will all join me in a moment of silence for Brother Steve.
(PLEASE CONTINUE READING AFTER AN APPROPRIATE MOMENT OF SILENCE)
Madison has a school friend whose dad is a minister of a church here in town. They have been praying for and discussing ways to do a better job in their worship assemblies. A few of us met with their worship team last night and enjoyed a refreshing time of encouragement and praise. I was personally uplifted by their gracious spirit and willingness to cross some lines to collaborate on this project. We are praying and planning on having two praise night outreach events - one at our place and one at their place - the first part of December.
For a variety of reasons we won’t ever merge. The two groups will never meet as one church in one building. And that’s okay. We can have our differences in practice and still be united by the blood of Christ. Through this project, a small step, we are taking a great leap towards the unity that Jesus desires for all believers.
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For Steve, ———————————————————–I honor Steve with 2 lines of silence.
Randy, I‚Äôm encouraged by your spirit, your never quit attitude, and your heart for the Lord. May God bless your efforts between your 2 churches. Its efforts like yours‚Äô that will make it possible for the world to believe our message of love. Of course, the Lord said it best: John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Randy, if you get a chance could you send that information / suggestions concerning praise teams to this email address:
Walkerc2@brevard.k12.fl.us
Thanks Brother.
“Angels affect us oft, and worship’d be…”
Thanks for thinking of me, everyone.
Randy, I can’t tell you how excited I am about this collaboration you’re writing about. And I happen to think that it IS a big step. Anytime we can cross lines of denomination, we are taking a big step. My neighbor is the minister at University Presbyterian which, as you know, is right around the corner from College. Nothing would make me happier than to have a relationship with that church so that we could all worship together.
I believe that God swells with joy and pride when He looks down upon His children and sees them all playing nicely together.
Did finally get the bass player you needed?
I have a feeling you guys are going to be holding a moment of silence for me and my wish for the Cardinals to go to the World Series, as well. Steve, I feel your pain!
On the spiritual side of this blog, I admit to being what some would call a “mainliner.” On one side, I have a brother who writes to me that “the Bible teaches that only members of the CofC are going to heaven,” and in his opinion only about 10% of those will make it! Then I have my background and upbringing and what I’ve gleaned from my own studies. Then I have the tremendous love and respect I have developed for you guys and your belief about what the Bible teaches. I’m having trouble reconciling all of it. I share my faith with others, and we pray together. My brother-in-law died 3 years ago, and I have not spent one sleepless night regarding his eternal destiny, even though he was not a member of the CofC and led my sister away from it early in their marriage. I have a preacher friend who recently wrote in his bulletin that he stands for the “old paths.” And I’m, like, okay, the old paths are great IF THEY ARE RIGHT. Still, I’m not where you guys are yet. Do you still love me?
You are doing amazing things, Randy, just by being.
I’m proud of you. I’m so grateful to have you as a friend.
Meowmix - by virture of the fact that you are still searching, studying, and have a “pilgrim attitude” about your walk with the Lord, you are already “there” with us. We love you.
I was thrilled to read your blog after our discussing this possibility in Nashville! Any time we can set aside our differences and focus on Jesus, it has to have a positive effect.
The kingdom of God is always so much larger than the boundaries we attempt to place around it. Anytime we try to define the kingdom, God comes along and surprises us … which is nothing new. Jesus never tried to define the kingdom because it escapes definition. He did tell us over and over, “It’s like ….” because the best definition we can give the kingdom of God is that it is always a surprise!
How could we not love you meowmix? You are a honest and sincere believer trying to follow and serve God in the best way you know how. What’s not to love about that?
Thanks for your encouragement, guys. You are all very special to me.
Now let me interject something that I’ve already shared with Greg via e-mail. This week is going to be a struggle for Doris and me. As I’ve mentioned before, our kitty, Muffin, is 18 years old. However, she will never be 19. She has kidney failure, and in the next day or two, we are going to have to arrive at a decision for her. It will be among the hardest decisions either of us have ever had to make, aside from four years ago when we had to do the same thing with our Doberman, who was 14. Our prayer (yes, prayer) is that she will quietly go to sleep at home with us.
Meowmix - having lost a number of cats, I know how difficult this time can be. It’s like losing a member of the family in some ways. My prayers are with you. We have 2 cats and love them dearly.
I must throw some “props” to my home church in this department. We co-sponsor a missionary in Venezuela with a Christian Church on Merritt Island. We‚Äôve actually received letters from area churches of Christ informing us (as if we didn‚Äôt already know) that this particular work (in their words) ‚Äúhad been compromised!‚Äù Of course this slam was directed at our association with a Christian Church. Why they would send us a copy of the letter is beyond me.
Also, our ladies went on a winter retreat with the ladies of this same Christian Church. You want to get the church moving, get the ladies involved! And finally, our respective ministers have spoken at each others’ churches this past summer. I know we have a long way to go but I’m proud of our church for taking baby steps to throw off the chains of sectarianism.
Regarding meowmix’s comments …
Ditto to Randy’s comment about our loving you! We certainly don’t have to agree on everything to love one another. Jesus said his disciples would be known by their love … not their doctrinal purity nor their concensus (sp?).
Several years ago, an hispanic pentecostal group was looking for a place to worship and our elders gave approval for them to use our building for about a year. Since they were small in number, they used a classroom rather than the auditorium / sanctuary. The classroom was overlooking our backyard and we enjoyed their enthusiasm on Sunday evenings for months! I never believed Jesus looked down on us for sharing what belongs (or should) to Him!
Again … I’m sorry you’re having to go through this present grief with Muffin. Our hearts sure get wrapped around our pets. Seeing so many animals that aren’t given good homes, be grateful that you were able to give Muffin a loving family for all those years!
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I knew of a church here in Memphis that fell on hard times, number-wise, and a majority moved out into the county and formed a new congregation. Those left behind shared, and may still do so, a building with a Presbyterian church, I believe. Both signs were out front. They just worshipped at different times. Some thought that was really wierd, but I thought it was pretty neat! I guess I may be, at least partially, out of the box……
Thanks for the warm thoughts regarding my baby! I am immensely thankful to have had her in our lives for such a long time. If I drop out of blog-site for a few days, you will know that it happened, and I’m trying to maintain some kind of decorum in the office and, therefore, am unable to write anything!
I’m in the computer room at home. My wife is on hers, I’m on mine. James is playing Hot Wheels on the ground in between us.
Our cat, Tabby, just came strolling out of the closet, stretching. Lisa said, “Hey, look. The whole family’s in this room.”
Pets are part of the family. No argument here.
One of the toughest aspects of the 3 hurricanes we experienced last year was having to leave our 2 cats at home. We rode out 2 of the 3 storms at our church building. We made the decision that due to health concerns as well as sanitary aspects, we didn’t allow pets. We couldn’t wait to get home to not only check on our house but to check on two dear members of our family, our cats Buddy and Chloe.