More Preaching Engagements

Well as of now I am not only preaching at Judson Baptist on Palm Sunday but I am now going to serve at their Maundy Thursday Service.  I found an outline for a nice service on 'Fat Pastor' which I am in the process of modifying for their use.  I'm excited to do this service since I've obviously never done a Maundy Thursday Service.  It's a brand new experience and I'm very much looking forward to it.

In addition to serving at Judson Baptist I will also be preaching on May 4th down in Louisville at the First Christian Church there.  This is a Disciples of Christ Church and is the congregation that my friend Chuck Snow from ELM belongs to.  Their Pastor has recently stepped down so please keep them in your prayers as they begin the process of looking for an Interim and going about a call process.

I took Maddie back to UNL last night, she had been home for a week as it was their Spring Break.  As always now the house feels so much emptier with her gone.  She has been really mulling over what she wants to do next year and she had been planning to transfer to UNO, but has just recently decided she wants to just take some classes at Metro Tech next year and try and figure out just what she wants to do for a career.  Much to her credit she doesn't want to spend a bunch of money and then come to the realization that she isn't in the proper field of study for what she really wants to do in life.

We went to 'Half Price Books' yesterday and she got a book on various career paths.  She immediately started reading through it when we got home and she said she was going to look at it some more last night after I dropped her off in Lincoln.  Of course while we were at 'Half Price Books' Gail and I also had to purchase some new books.  Gail picked up several books on sewing and I found a copy of the Jerusalem Bible (which is a translation I didn't have) and a book on 'Near Death Experiences'.  The book on NDE presents a case for the afterlife and is written by a secular scientist so I thought that could be interesting to read.

On Saturday Gail put up a booth at a new Artisan and Handcrafted show here in Omaha.  She did pretty well with her bags, sold several and had a great number of folks pickup business cards from her.  She's had several folks approach her about setting up her booth at other shows that are upcoming so she's very excited about that.  She has created a unique design for her bags which allows them to carry a good deal and still not be bulky.  They also are perfect for carrying files, magazines, books, laptops, Kindles, Ipads, and they have a special pocket for your phone as well.

I'll close this short update with this Communion Prayer from the Didache.

May you all be filled with joy and blessings on this beautiful day.

In Christ,
Roy

Didache 10:2
We give Thee thanks, Holy Father,
for Thy holy name,
which Thou hast made to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality,
which Thou hast made known unto us
through Thy Son Jesus;
Thine is the glory for ever and ever.

Didache 10:3
Thou, Almighty Master,
didst create all things for Thy name's sake,
and didst give food and drink unto men for enjoyment, that they might render thanks to Thee;
but didst bestow upon us spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Thy Son.

Didache 10:4
Before all things we give Thee thanks
that Thou art powerful;
Thine is the glory for ever and ever.

Didache 10:5
Remember, Lord, Thy Church
to deliver it from all evil
and to perfect it in Thy love;
and gather it together from the four winds- even the Church which has been sanctified-
into Thy kingdom which Thou hast prepared for it; for Thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever.

Didache 10:6
May grace come and may this world pass away.
Hosanna to the God of David.
If any man is holy, let him come;
if any man is not, let him repent.
Maran Atha. Amen.

Upcoming Preaching Engagement and a Dead Computer

I'm sorry that I missed posting anything last week, my laptop computer had a sudden meltdown and is not yet repaired.  I took it to two shops in town and was told two different stories as to what was wrong with it.  One of my friends from the gym has agreed to take a look at it and see if he can't get it back up and running for me.  I haven't gotten it to him yet but hopefully I'll see him at the gym in the next day or two.  In the meanwhile I've dug out an old notebook and I'm using that for now.  It gets the job done but it's very slow and is prone to freezing while online.

Unfortunately, the ELM training session I was planning to attend in Hastings last weekend was canceled at the last moment.  They just did not get enough registrations to make the event viable.

This week I was asked to preach at Judson Baptist Church on Palm Sunday.  I was happy to accept the offer and I'm really looking forward to visiting Judson as it is an ABC Church here in Omaha that I haven't had the chance to attend yet.  I'm already working in my head on the sermon but I forgot to ask if they are having a 'Maundy Thursday' service or not.  Depending on whether they are or not will affect how far into the 'Last Week' of Christ life on earth I will go in the sermon.

Judson has a bit later service time than many other local churches with a start time of 10:45 am.  If anyone is interested in attending their address is, 8517 Park View Blvd, La Vista.  I understand that there will be cake and refreshments after the service so feel free to feel bribed to attend.

Yesterday morning we went to Benson Baptist for their 8:30 am service.  I was happy to see my friend Dr. Edsel Buchanan there with his daughter and her family.  Edsel is a retired professor of physical education and in his youth he was a very accomplished trampoline gymnast and a three time NCAA champion.  Today though Edsel suffers from Alzheimer's disease and I was very glad to see that he was his happy and cheerful self.  He recognized me immediately and I sat down and had a good visit with him prior to the start of the service.

This Wednesday I am having lunch with my friend and mentor Rev. Bob Molby.  I have a couple of books I want to lend to Bob and I also want to visit with him about the sermon I'm thinking of giving at Judson.  Bob has been out of town visiting family for a number of weeks and I'm looking forward to catching up with him and to see how he's been getting along.

Yesterday Pastor Paul used the Lord's Prayer as a major illustration in his sermon.  I hit him with the trivia question of where is the third source for the Lord's Prayer.  I apologize for catching him flat footed but he didn't have an answer for me, the answer is in the "Didache" (a/k/a The Teaching of the Twelve).  I'll close this blog post with the Lord's prayer translated from 8:2 in the Didache.  

May you all be well and blessed.

In God's Love, Glory and abounding Grace,
Roy



Didache 8:2
Neither pray ye as the hypocrites, but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel,thus pray ye:
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done,
as in heaven, so also on earth;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our debt,
as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for Thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever.

Preparing for Classes and other Ramblings:

Well this Sunday we attended the 8:30 am service at Benson Baptist Church.  With the time change it was, as always, a bit more of a struggle to get everyone up and going and out the door.  But I was surprised and it looked like all of the regular attendees were there perhaps slightly less bright-eyed and somewhat less bushy tailed than normal but there none-the-less to celebrate God's love for us.

When we got back home Gail started right in on working on her 'bags' she has a show in a couple of weeks.  It's a show of local Artisans and their creations, and Gail has been working very hard to build up an inventory of her bags.  She really does a nice job with them and they are very functional.  The bags come in many different fabrics as well as various different accent pieces.

Maddie and I completed her FAFSA application and worked on her link on the University of Omaha web-site.  She has applied and been accepted to transfer to UNO next fall and she is very excited about that.  She's looking forward to being back home with us next year and maybe being able to have a part-time job again.  For her the whole being away from home in a big school just hasn't worked out as she had hoped.  I of course have no problem with my girl being back home for a few more years as the whole empty nest thing isn't to my liking anyway.

I started reading a new book yesterday, "Prodigal Christianity, Ten Signposts into the Missional Frontier" by David E. Fitch & Geoff Holsclaw.  This is the book that they will be talking about at the upcoming "Prairie Pastors Conference" (Prairie Pastors Conference Web-Page) but in reviewing it I thought it might also be beneficial for the program I am attending this coming weekend in Hastings put on by Cotner College.  This event is entitled "Ministry from the Pews" and I have decided to attend the session on "The Once & Future Church" being conducted by the Rev. Dr. James Gordon who is the current Interim Regional Ministry for the Disciples of Christ.

I've only just gotten into the book so I'll reserve comments for now but there is one chapter in particular that I am afraid I'm going to have considerable disagreement with.  The authors have a background in the 'Emergent' and 'Neo-Reformed' movements and I'll confess that I have some issues with both.  But in all fairness I will read the book and reserve all judgment until I have completely finished the text.  It is entirely possible that these authors have addressed areas that have concerned me and if so I very much look forward to reading and then listening to David Fitch speak at the conference.

Book 'Prodigal Christianity' on Amazon

I am very much looking forward to the program this weekend, and I also look forward to visiting with Jim about any opportunities that might be coming up for ministry with the DOC.  Jim is a fantastic individual and a very close friend of my good friend Dustin who is the Pastor at the DOC Church in Hastings.  Actually Dustin's Church is hosting this event and I told him I was going to bring him a large box of books for his personal library.

Misc. Ramblings:

The last couple weeks have been a bit wild.  I ran into a bit of an issue with my health which I think I have now gotten sorted out.  I noticed in the morning on the Thursday before last that I had broken out in a pretty good rash.  It was over my face, neck, shoulders and part of my chest and back.  So I dropped out pretty much all of my supplements and started taking Benadryl.  It slowly died down and I started adding back in my supplements slowly to see what had caused the reaction.  Well by the next Wednesday I had gotten about half of my supplement regiment back in force and nothing had caused an issue.  So I went into the gym and did my leg routine again.  When I got home and as I was changing I noticed that I had broken out once again.  Apparently, when I'm doing legs my blood pressure is spiking very high and I'm causing capillaries to burst.

I checked my blood pressure the next morning and it was at 142/85 which my wife tells me is not considered to be hypertension.  BUT, that is high for me as historically my blood pressure has sat around 115/70.  On my way into work I stopped to see my buddy Brandon at 'New Dawn Nutrition' and picked up a bottle of his supplement for blood pressure control.  It seems to have helped as my blood pressure was down on Saturday to 128/75.  I'll keep an eye on it to see if it won't come down a bit farther.

Brandon also gave me the name of a local Doctor who sees several other lifters here in town.  I called and talked to his Nurse, she then faxed me a form to have my old Doctor release my records to them. Once they have the records and the Doctor has reviewed them she said she would call me to set up an appointment.  Honestly, I am due for a general check up and I need to make sure there isn't anything more serious that is affecting my blood pressure spikes. It is past time for me to start dropping some body weight and personally I think that is a part of the reason for the elevated blood pressure.  So as of Friday I started cutting and completely switched not only my supplement routine but my lifting routine.

Gail will be happy that I'm switching to higher repetitions and lighter weight for leg training from low repetitions and heavy weight.  My legs have never been large in size but my legs and hips are very strong for my size and on leg presses I was hoisting weight that I've only seen two other lifters in the gym match, and both of them are a good 25 pounds heavier in body weight than I, and I know that if you add their ages together I'm still six years older than they are combined.  Both are great guys and we all give each other a lot of grief (in a good way) at the gym.

In closing I will leave you with this wonderful poem that I came across the other day.  May this day find you all well and blessed.

In His All Abundant Grace,

Roy

 Little Country Church

Wooden, white, weathered and worn,
surrounded by hard pack, thistle and thorn.
Whitewash fades from warping walls.
The steeple bell no longer calls
the faithful in to find their pews
and be inspired by God’s Good News.
Stained glass memories of better days
create a multi colored haze
on unused pulpit, dust-caked floors,
a broken chair and open doors.

Tractor tracks gouge the gravel drive
where farming families once arrived
on Sunday morning and Wednesday night.
But now, the economic plight
has forced those families off the land
and into lives they never planned.
Weeds grow through the picket fence
that surrounds the congregants
who lay beneath once well kept sod.
Headstones proclaim their faith in God
and say they have gone on to Glory.
But, no one’s here to read their story.

The scene is quaint and some say, sad.
An empty church. But it’s not bad
because the seeds of faith they grew
have been transplanted someplace new.
The good news soon to be revealed
is of the increased harvest yield.
God’s field hands have been moved to where
they can witness, love and care
for those whose lives are in the lurch.
See, that building’s just a building.
God’s people are The Church.

Poem by, Jeff Hildebrandt