I’m finally caught up on podcasts. Woo hoo! The first four messages in the Real Life series are uploaded.
You can access the CrossWay Church Sermon Podcast by subscribing through iTunes or listening/downloading directly from Feedburner.
Sorry to State the Obvious, But….
Has anyone noticed that our terribly underfunded education system has been in crisis for years?
How ’bout a stinkin’ 700 billion dollar bailout?
In the Bible, when David wrote, “All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3), I think he’d been reading the newspaper.
Makes me grateful that Jesus paid the highest price ever for our bailout!
The Glory of Their Times
Last year I was in Cooperstown, New York with my dad and two brothers. My younger brother, Dylan, suggested I read The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence S. Ritter. He said it was the best baseball book he’d ever read.
It took me awhile to get to it, but I finally finished reading it yesterday, and I must say that Dylan was right.
In researching The Glory of Their Times, Ritter traveled all over the country in the mid-1960s interviewing former major leaguers who’d played as long ago as the late 1800s. The story that these men share in their own words is fascinating! As a baseball fan I was captivated, but equally interesting was the fact that these are first-hand accounts of a historical era whose witnesses have all but died out. One player, Smokey Joe Wood, even shares his recollection of growing up in a wild west town!
The players who tell their stories in The Glory in Their Times bear names that filled headlines 80 to 100 years ago, but would be unfamiliar to most people today–even though several of them are Hall of Famers, such as Edd Roush, Stan Coveleski, Goose Goslin, Rube Marquard, and Sam Crawford. Even so, they tell story after story of names that are still known even by non-fans, names like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ty Cobb.
If you have even a casual interest in baseball, history, or just biography in general, this book is definitely one I’d highly recommend.
Living the Word
We were in the fourth week of the Real Life series yesterday at CrossWay Church. The message was “Living the Word,” from 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16.
We looked at several basic truths:
- God gives us Scripture for personal transformation.
- We must receive Scripture as the Word of God.
- We must let Scripture work in us.
- The Word of God changes us.
- The Word of God helps us endure suffering.
That’s a very concise summary, but if you want to know more, you can check out the podcast. I’ve gotten behind in uploading them, but I’m planning to get the whole series to this point uploaded this week.
Waiting for This Headline
With everything that’s happening in our nation’s economy, I keep checking the news websites but I haven’t yet seen the headline I’m expecting any moment, along with its ensuing story. It would look something like this:
Distressed Economy Has Surprise Effect On Fight for the White House
McCain Campaigns for Obama While Obama Pledges to Vote for McCain
Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama met this afternoon to debate their merits as candidates for the highest office in the land. After months of intense campaigning for the presidency, both men now claim that the other is better suited for the job.
An anonymous source close to Obama was overheard saying, “A person would have to be out of his mind to actually want to take the helm at this point in our nation’s history.” The senator himself declined to verify or refute the quote. He said simply, “Our country is at a point where we need a man who understands the intrinsic value of money, a man who is not quite sure just how many houses he owns. In this kind of housing market, after all, ignorance is bliss.”
Obama’s comments were not kindly received by his supporters, as evidenced by his monthly campaign contributions slowing to a trickle of a mere 65 million dollars for the month of September.
For McCain’s part, the senator told Associated Press reporters, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The economy is just not my strong point. I even stated publicly just a short time ago that our economy was sound, healthy and strong. You know the rest. What our country needs at this critical junction is a leader who can inspire people to believe, ‘Yes we can’–even when they can’t.”
Both senators said that if elected, their first move would be to offer government-subsidized salary increases to the CEOs of the country’s largest and wealthiest corporations. Representatives from both camps stated that if elected, their candidate would add pork to the first legislative bill that landed on his desk, aimed at eliminating all federal spending on education and diverting it instead to fund banks who specialize in mortgage refinancing for homeowners with bad credit.
The two men will lock horns on the debate floor tomorrow night, but the subject–scheduled to be national security–is expected to change. The new topic? Why the other candidate is the one best suited for the job.
– with reporting from Butch Erdeconomy in Washington and Denny Seeitcoming on Wall Street
Nevermind
Turns out I’m not visiting the kindergartners today after all–they have an assembly at the time I would’ve been there.
Maybe next week.
Coming Soon…
Today I have an appointment in Princess Anne, so while I’m out that way I’m going to stop by Carolyn’s classroom to meet her students. It’ll be my first time out there this year. So there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be posting later with some funny kindergarten stories!
Double Whammy
Don’t you just love those spoonfuls of Spaghettios where you get not one but two meatballs?!?
Living as Witnesses
At CrossWay yesterday we continued with the Real Life series. This third week was “Living as Witnesses.” We read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 17-20; 4:11-12 and talked about what it means to live as witnesses for Jesus Christ.
To be a witness simply means to truthfully share with others what we have seen and heard.
This passage teaches two ways to be witnesses: First, through our actions. This is done through our lifestyle and our relationships. Second, through our words. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” This quote captures the basic idea of this passage: sharing the gospel requires both word and action.
I’m still trying to catch up on the podcasts–hopefully it’ll be up soon.
We were also blessed yesterday to have the youth praise band from Stevenson United Methodist Church in Berlin as our guests. They led us in worship through music and did an excellent job!
Game Night at CrossWay!
Tonight at CrossWay Church we’re having a game night. If you read this in time and live nearby, feel free to swing by the church starting at 6:30 for some food and games!
Surfing the Inner N8 