Today I was doing some research on Jim Ellifritt, one of our ministers who is also a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves. A Google search led me to a page where his son, also a reservist (while Jim Sr. was in Afghanistan, Jim Jr. was in Iraq), commented on a fellow soldier who was killed in Iraq. Army Staff Sgt. David J. Weisenburg, 26 (right) died from a roadside bomb on September 13, 2004.

On the Fallen Heroes Memorial site, people can comment on soldiers who have died serving their country. In browsing through the comments about Weisenburg, I came across one signed simply "Dad."

Today is David's birthday. He should be turning 30, I wonder on days like today what he would be like if he had made it back. What would he be doing now, where would he be working, living? How the war would have affected him? There is something special about turning 30, but maybe I feel even more strongly about that, because he never will. I will grow older, his mother will grow older, his brothers and sister, but David will forever be 26 and this changes so many things.

His brothers and sister have all met someone special, gotten married and brought more life into our family. There are 2 more sisters, another brother, a granddaughter and soon a grandson. But we will never get to embrace into our family that someone special in David's life. This is another loss that no one tells you about when they come knock on your door.

But, I think that I will change my mind, today IS David's birthday, today David IS 30. He IS, and forever will be my son whom I love with a passion that I can not explain. I walk tall and proud because I have been blessed with such a special man for a son. Time and a distance that cannot be traveled separate us for now, but I will see him again and we will celebrate together. Until then, Happy Birthday my son.

Dad

Here is a newspaper article about David's death. He served four years as a chaplain's assistant, same as my Dad in the 1950s.

Posted at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Chris Elrod, a church planter and former Christian comedian in Florida: "I could care less what the 'experts' or books say about small groups. We’ve read them…been to the conferences…and they’ve ALL been wrong for us."

Posted at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Datema, on his blog, pointed people to a post by Tim Timmons from a year ago. He said it was long, but worth reading. Yes, it was extremely long. And yes, well worth the time.

Timmons talks about we spread cultural Christianity throughout the world, more than we spread a relationship with Jesus. People are "converted to Christianity," rather than to citizenship in the Kingdom of the heart.

It's quite a thought-provoding piece, and I found myself disagreeing with nothing he said.

This from a guy who has not only spent his life serving in institutional Christianity, but serving the interests of a subspecies of Christianity called United Brethrenism. We, like all other subspecies, sometimes grow churches by stealing from other folds. People are converted to United Brethrenism from Catholicism, Church of Godism, Nazarenism, Baptistism. Because there are specific United Brethren ways of doing things, United Brethren theological nuances, United Brethren structures and practices.

How much are we teaching United Brethrenism, as opposed to the Kingdom which Jesus taught--a relationship with Jesus; a relationship that enabled a Samaritan woman and a Roman centurion to remain in their cultures, yet be transformed?

Posted at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is from my brother Rick's blog.

A couple nights ago as I was tucking him in, Cameron said he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said he wanted to be one of those "war people" that fights battles. He wanted to lead the way and be up front.

Anna told him, "Uh, you will die. Who do you think gets shot first? The person up front...DUH." Cameron thought about this for a minute then said, "Well, I guess I don't know what I want to do when I grow up."

Posted at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

George Bush inherited a $128 billion surplus. The White House now projects a record $490 billion deficit for 2009. The Bush Administration has posted a budget deficit every year since taking office. This will be his gift to Obama or McCain, both of whom, I'm sure, will be thrilled to not have the opportunities that Bush had with abundance (and squandered).

Posted at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When "The Dark Knight" hits DVD, I'll bet sales are amazing. It'll contain "previously unseen footage of Heath Ledger's last performance." Stuff that didn't make it into the theatrical release. And a few years down the road, there'll come a director's cut with even more deleted Joker scenes. Yes, they can milk this a long way. But would Hollywood do that? You betcha.

Posted at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow. Great movie. And like everyone else, I was blown away by Heath Ledger's Joker. I kept trying to see Heath Ledger, the guy from "The Patriot" and "A Knight's Tale," but he was unrecognizable. Totally disappeared into the character. The take on Two-Face was interesting, too.

Posted at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did a lot more yardwork Friday and Saturday. Placed a layer of block around a little island thing in the back yard. Got 50 blocks from Menards, and they didn't go very far--just one layer. Hauled in a couple loads of dirt and a load of mulch. Good exercise.

Jordi and Molly liked having my red pickup in the back yard. Very curious about it. Sniffed all around, climbed all over it. (Click the photo for a larger view of the cats.)

You can see Molly walking along the blocks which my nephew Logan helped us lay two weeks ago. The kids are forbidden to go along the side of the house, but they can't help themselves.

Posted at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nancy Gibbs, one of Time magazine's ace reporters, wrote a superb piece called "The Pursuit of Teen Girl Purity." It told about "purity balls," Cinderella-ish events attended by fathers and daughters that stress the role of the father in a young girl's life, and encourage abstinence and responsibility on the part of girls.

I'd never heard of purity balls, but they seem like a worthy thing. And the type of thing that the mainstream media might savage. But Nancy Gibbs wrote a very fair, positive article. She poo-pooed the criticism "dressed up in social science."

One story, about a man who was there with three of his daughters, made my eyes tear up. He had had nine children by seven women. An older daughter, now an adult, said, "It's great for girls to have a Cinderella night with Dad, but families still need a good strong father role model. I didn't have that....But my siblings do. He really stepped up to the plate. He's a great dad now. I say that with a tinge of jealousy." Her father has inoperable lung cancer. "He won't be at their wedding," she said, referring to her young siblings, "but they can look back and remember the dance they had tonight."

Gibbs's last few paragraphs are superb as she talks about the critics vs. the advocates of purity balls.

Culture war, by its nature, pours salt in wounds, finds division where there could be common purpose. "Purity" is certainly a loaded word--but is there anyone who thinks it's a good idea for 12-year-olds to have sex? Or a bad idea for fathers to be engaged in the lives of their daughters and promise to practice what they preach? Parents won't necessarily say this out loud, but isn't it better to set the bar high and miss than not even try?

There is no evidence that giving kids complete and accurate information about sex and contraception encourages promiscuity. On the other, a purity pledge basically says sex is serious. That it's not to be entered into recklessly. To deny kids information, whether about contraception or chastity, is irresponsible.

Posted at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are two thoughts from Gary Lamb, whose blog I just started following. He's a church planter in Canton, Ga., a town of 20,000. He has a heart for small towns. His church is starting a new church in a town of 7,000, and is looking at three other towns of less than 15,000.

"Why does everyone want to only go to white-collar suburbs or college towns to plant churches? We would rather plant where there are 20 others churches as opposed to going to urban and rural areas. Romans 10:14 haunts me here."

I occasionally harp about the evangelical lovefest for the suburbs (like here and here). We want to go where there is growth, and that always means those former corn fields on the city's edge being turned into tree-less housing developments for the middle class.

This ties in nicely with this next thought from Lamb:

"It can’t be all about numbers. Trust me, I am a number freak but it has to be about community impact. A church of 500 in a town of 16,000 will have a stronger community impact than a church of 5,000 in a city of 250,000."

Meanwhile, a bunch of megachurches ring the city, with multi-million-dollar facilities, well-groomed kids, amazing Sunday services, and other good things. And people drive for an hour to get there. But quite often, these churches are regional. There is no community. No town they are making better. They're still doing good work. But I wish The Church could see the value of going into poorer parts of the city, as opposed to trying to attract those people to our suburban cathedrals.

Posted at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In September, Pam and I head for Oklahoma City to attend MinistryCOM, a national conference for church communications professionals. I attended this conference the past two years (in Phoenix and Nashville), and have found it exactly what I've been thirsting for--a gathering of my peers in Christian communications.

I've worked pretty much alone for 30 years. At MinistryCOM, I discovered lots of fellow professionals who do the same stuff I do--writing, graphics, video, web--and they do it in the context of the local church. Mostly megachurches. I work from the perch of a denomination's national office, but still in the service of local churches.

This year I'm doing a workshop, and I'm jazzed about it. The title is "Writing: Different Media, Different Techniques." The idea is, you don't write something for the church newsletter, then throw the same text, unchanged, onto the website and into an email and the Sunday bulletin. Different techniques and principles apply to different communications vehicles. You need to edit your well-crafted copy to fit the needs of that particular medium.

At heart, I'm a writer. I've been doing publication layout for 30 years, computer graphic design for 20 years, web design for 10 years. Today, I spend more time in Dreamweaver and Photoshop than I do in Word. I've developed some strong competencies in graphics and web design. But when you scrape everything away, you find a writer. I miss the opportunities I once had, in editing a magazine, to write lengthy feature articles (something which, in what is now ancient history, won me a couple awards from the Evangelical Press Association).

So it'll be nice talking about writing, with a focus on how the new media affect your wordsmithing.

If you're a communications professional in the Christian world, I encourage you to consider attending MinistryCOM. And if you register by July 31, you're eligible to win a free iPod Nano!

Posted at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday, Pam and I attended church at a United Methodist retreat center/camp called Epworth something, in Ludington, Mich. Every Sunday they have speakers from across the country. It was an enjoyable service.

But as we sang one hymn, I found myself cracking a smile. It was "The Lord's My Shepherd," a hymn I hadn't heard before. It uses the text of Psalm 23, but contorts sentence structure in the an obsessive and sadly desperate search for a rhyme. It's like a Pennsylvania Dutch version of Yoda.

Here the first two verses are:

The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want;
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

My soul He doth restore again,
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
E’en for His own name’s sake.

Isn't that precious? "He makes me down to lie."

I'm sorry, but as we sang, I restrain from cracking a smile had to. Not worshipful was it. This unusual with hymns is not. Many hymns I up with grew similarly mangle sentence structure to a rhyme find.

Modern songs do that don't. They like people actually talk sound, and much prefer I that. And that's yet another reason why miss hymns I don't particularly.

Posted at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last of a generation. L-r: Marie (widow of Dad's brother Howard), Leila (Dad's sister), Dick and Ruth (Dad's other brother and his wife), Mom and Dad, and Grace (Dad's other sister). The three widows, Marie, Leila, and Grace, are all 90 or above and remain sharp and active. Click the photo for a much larger view.

I hadn't been to one of these reunions in several years. I was dismayed that so many of my cousins look old, now that they're in their 50s...like me. I'm actually one of the youngest cousins, since Dad was the youngest sibling.

My uncle Dick and Aunt Ruth flew up from Texas. Dick is one of Dad's brothers (the other, Howard, died 11 years ago). When Dick and Ruth lived in Michigan, we spent a lot of time with them and their two daughters, Nancy and Carolyn, who were a couple years older than me. That seems so long ago. Dick and Ruth had two more daughters just before moving to Texas. I've only met them once (they had strong Texan accents).

Posted at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the blogs I read regularly is "Random Reflections" by Greg Boyd. He's a former atheist, former theology professor at a Christian college, and now founder and senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church, a megachurch in St. Paul, Minn. He's an extremely intelligent guy who writes some provocative stuff, which I increasingly find myself agreeing with (except when it comes to Openness). Turns out he's also a spectacular drummer, as this Youtube video shows.

Posted at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While everyone else was going to see "The Dark Knight," Pam and I saw "Mama Mia," the musical based entirely on Abba songs. I was a huge Abba fan (particularly of Agnetha--hey, I was a college student), back when they were the biggest band in the world. "Take a Chance on Me" and "Dancing Queen" were my favorites, and both appeared in the movie. However, I didn't recognize several songs.

I suspect "Mama Mia" will do great, particularly with us folks in the older demographics who remember Abba. It was not as good a musical as "Hairspray," and certainly not as good as "Phantom of the Opera." But it was very enjoyable--fun, funny, tear-jerking in places, a happy ending.

Two observations:

• Mery Streep can really sing.
• Pierce Brosnan can't, but gets an A for effort.

Anyway, go see it. You'll enjoy it. And you'll be humming Abba songs the rest of the day.

Posted at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pastor Tim started a series on Revelation, the first time he's tackled that subject at Anchor. He's not an "End is Near" kind of guy. Neither am I. Doomsdayers and gloomsayers abound, but really, the world is in remarkable shape.

Paul Collier, in his fascinating book The Bottom Billion, notes that relief agencies used to think of the world consisting of:

• one billion rich people
• five billion poor people.

• one billion rich people
• one billion poor people
• four billion up-and-coming.

Certainly the world isn't ready to hand the reigns to one guy, the AntiChrist. Things would need to be desperate for that to happen. And right now, desperate describes Zimbabwe and a smattering of other countries (among the bottom billion), but not much else. So I think Christ's return is a long way off.

Besides, in Acts 2:17 God says, "In the last days, your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams." Is that happening?

People point to the Scripture, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars." Well, I guess that's pretty accurate--we do hear about them. We, at least in America, don't really experience them. We just hear about them on the news. The rest of Matthew 24:6, which we forget, says, "These things must take place, but the end hasn't come yet."

But even then, since World War II, the world's been a relatively peaceful place. We haven't had many nation vs. nation wars, except for the Arab-Israeli wars, Iran vs. Iraq in the 1980s, and the various wars the United States has spearheaded (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq) in its effort to promote End Times books. And we mustn't forget that Falklands dustup.

France fought and, as the French do, lost wars of independence in Indochina and Algeria. Most of the other wars since WW2 have been civil wars and guerilla conflicts. Then there are the interventions by Russia in Hungaria, Czechoslavakia, and Afghanistan, countered by our own interventions, with or without help, in Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Yugoslavia, and Haiti.

But as the graph at the start of this post shows, the latter years of the 1900s were pretty calm. When we get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and rejoin the rest of the world in focusing on economic development, things will be far calmer still.

But those End Times book will still fly off the shelves.

Posted at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth Godin ended a blog post with this line: "The value of a perk is inversely related to the expectation of that perk."

Now that's a fascinating observation. If you do something for someone, and they aren't expecting it, then it means a lot more. If I send flowers to Pam on a day that isn't Valentines Day, her birthday, or an anniversary, then it's a pleasant surprise. Otherwise, it's at least semi-anticipated.

I suppose the stimulus rebate we received is somewhat of a perk--an unexpected gift for being a tax-paying American. Whereas ongoing things like good roads, fire and police service, decent water--those are all entitlements of sorts.

How can we surprise people at church? Give them a perk, something they aren't expecting?

• A note of appreciation or affirmation that doesn't come from the pastor's office.
• A refreshing, one-time change in the service format.
• Public recognition for something they did.

Posted at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last Thursday and Friday we worked like dogs in the blazing sun, putting blocks around one side of the house. The line between the grass and the mulch kept getter more and more scraggly and uneven, with the grass continuously encroaching in. I figured blocks would put a stop to that.

So we borrowed Pam's nephew Logan, and 130 blocks later, the house looks a whole lot better. Plus we mulched the whole area. Mulched the rest of the front of the house, plus the other side (block-less), too.

Jordi views the blocks as his personal highway from the back of the house to the front (which is off-limits, and he knows it). He enjoys walking the blocks, even though, when we finally catch up to him in the front yard, it means he has to come in. A feline time-out. (You can click the photos for a larger view of Jordi who, at 18 pounds, is plenty large indeed.)

Posted at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I forgot to alert the world to the fact that Pam and I watched "No Country for Old Men." That was a strange movie. In places, it skipped over entire scenes, letting you guess or assume what happened (and it was usually at least somewhat apparent).

I was okay with it right up until the end. And then...it just ended. The Coen brothers decided, "Okay, we've filmed enough, got our two-hours' worth. Let's stop here." At that point, the movie became very unsatisfying. And that last Tommy Lee Jones scene: I have no idea what that was about, but I'm sure it was artistically relevant in some high-Hollywoodish way.

Posted at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pam and I watched Will Smith's latest July 4 blockbuster, "Hancock," this weekend. It was a pleasant surprise. Very good. Knowing Hancock was a superhero, I expected some villainous superhero to come along to do climactic battle with Hancock. That never happened. The movie was actually all about the back-story, and that made it very interesting. Good job, Hollywood, for actually pulling some punches in order to present a satisfying story.

Posted at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I always liked Sen. John Danforth. He was a humble man, an Episcopolian priest, a man of strong moral convictions. But unlike today's Republicans--self-righteous defenders of God's will as determined by the Elephant platform--Danforth was a true statesman. He prided himself on being a reconciler, a man who worked with Democrats to produce meaningful legislation, and who treated everyone with respect. His behavior emerged from deep-seated Christian character, not from the urgings of political consultants carrying the latest poll results.

So when Danforth wrote a book called Faith and Politics, I quickly snapped it up. I suggest you do the same.

Danforth presents a strong indictment of "the takeover of the Republican Party by the Christian Right." He is particularly contemptuous of "wedge" politics, the specialty of Karl Rove and the Bush Administration (and before them, Tom Delay and Newt Gingrich). Examples: abortion, gay marriage, and stem cell research. He devotes a chapter to various wedge issues, with conclusions that Dobson, Limbaugh, Gingrich, Delay, Bush, et al might not consider politically expedient for Republicans.

"In each case," Danforth writes, "the issue energizes the base by pitting the 'people of faith' against their enemies. The Christian Right's strategy of splitting apart the American people has worked." It was worked to win elections by getting conservative Christians riled up against what they view as the godless enemy (rather than merely as fellow Americans holding opposing views). It has not worked to improve our country. Rather, it has produced a more deeply polarized nation than we've seen for many decades.

Although Danforth was an Episcopal priest, and actually carried out priestly duties in a low-key manner throughout his tenure in the Senate, Danforth insists, "Because the task of government is to hold together in one country a diverse public, my interjection of religion into politics would have been a profound disservice to my state and my country. It would have sown division where there should be unity." His theology certainly shaped his views and his character, but he wouldn't take it so far as to assume he was doing God's will.

It's a wonderful books, and tracks well with my own political leanings (and my total disaffection with the Christian Right). Some other comments:

• "Christians have a choice between reconciliation and divisiveness. Those who have chosen the latter course are getting all the attention."
• We are seekers of the truth, but we do not embody the truth."'
• "At the least, Christians should make it clear that church leaders do not speak for them if they advocate exclusivity and divisiveness."
• "Does any political agenda we create warrant our claim that it is the embodiment of God's will? No, it does not."
• "There is a difference between being a Christian in politics and having a Christian agenda for politics.... For the overwhelming majority of my time in public life, I had no certainty that my side was God's side."

Posted at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There are all kinds of rules about flying the American flag. I thought my generation just didn't get the memo. Or school budget cutbacks killed the Flag 101 course.

• When displayed at night, the flag must be properly illuminated.
• When displayed over the middle of the street, the flag should be suspended vertically.
• When displayed with another flag, that flag should be on the US flag's right (meaning the viewer's left).
• When flown at half-staff, the flag should be hoisted to the top for an instant, then lowered halfway.
• When placed over a casket, the blue square should be over the dead person's left shoulder.
• The flag should never touch anything beneath it (so don't use it as a floor or table covering).
• Nothing should ever be attached to the flag--any mark, insignia, letter, word, design, etc.
• The flag should never be used as wearing apparel (like Kid Rock did at the 2004 Super Bowl).
• If you fly the US flag at half-staff, all other flags flown with it (state flags, Christian flag(?)) should be at half-staff.
• When a flag needs to be replaced, you should burn it. There is a whole flag burning ceremony.

John McCain and George Bush have both publicly autographed flags. Violation!

George and Laura Bush stood on a carpet of the American flag at Ground Zero. Violation!

The other day, Dad mentioned that when we lived in Pixley, Calif., a flag flew outside the church, but didn't have a light shining on it. There was plenty of other light around the church, but nothing shining specifically on the flag. One morning, Dad found the flag taken down and neatly folded up. He figured some veteran, who knew the rule, did that as a subtle hint.

Pam and I have a very nice all-weather flag hanging on a very nice pole outside our front door. Today we came into compliance with the illumination rule. A ground light now illuminates the flag at night. It's not a strong light, but hey, we're legal and conscientious.

Posted at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I watched Larry King interview Ingrid Betancourt about her rescue after over six years as a hostage of Columbian guerrillas. It's a fascinating story. But I was thinking about viewers in other countries who watched this, wondering what they thought of Larry King. They knew Ingrid Betancourt would be interviewed by a popular American TV personality. But then they see this shriveled up old guy with big glasses, and probably couldn't help thinking, "What's with this guy? Why is he so popular?"

That would be a first impression. Those of us who grew up with Larry King recognize him as a masterful interviewer (who gets criticized for doing softball interviews, but get over it; softball is what he's good at). I wonder how long he'll still be around, or when he'll wear out his elbows from leaning on them. I rarely watch him anymore. Almost never, in fact. But he's still The King.

Posted at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Over the weekend, Pam and I watched the entire season 2 of the TV show Jericho (which has now been cancelled). That was truly a compelling show, and I mourn its passing. But with such a large cast, I'm sure it was expensive.

The second season was just 7 episodes (2 DVDs via Netflix). Since they had to end the series early, I was wondering if it would be a satisfying ending, or just a never-to-be-resolved cliffhanger, like some other series that have been cancelled. It was satisfying. They did a good job.

The DVD included an alternate ending of the cliffhanger variety. If the show had been renewed, that would probably have been the ending aired on TV. But the one they aired was about as good as they could give viewers. Left lots of things up in the air, but told you that things were headed in the right direction.

Posted at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Took Molly to the vet to get her teeth cleaned yesterday. Or what's left of her teeth, since half of her formerly-cancerous lower jaw was removed years ago. Molly, a skinny 9 pounds, is always eating, partly because it takes her twice as long to eat as Jordi. In this case, we couldn't feed her anything after midnight Wednesday. And boy, was she begging for food!

She meowed mournfully as I drove her to the vet; she knew where we were going. I felt like a parent taking a reluctant kid to his first day of school. Or maybe like my parents when they put me on that plane in California in August 1975, knowing I wouldn't return until May, after completing a year of college. At least I was mournful. Maybe they weren't.

The vet ended up removing two bad molars, so now Molly has even fewer teeth. But as a bonus, they removed all the rats from her hair, which mats up so easily. Pam spends a lot of time (photo, right) combing her out, and Molly cooperates well most of the time.

We retrieved her at 3:00, and she seems no worse for the wear.

Posted at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday is trash pickup day in our neighborhood. Tuesday night, before going to bed, I opened the garage door and took some additional trash out to the road. Coming back in, I noticed that the door to the house, inside the garage, was ajar. I need to be careful about that, I reminded myself, because one of our cats could get out. I closed the garage door and headed to the bedroom.

Molly was on the bed. "Is Jordi in here?" I asked Pam. No, she hadn't seen Jordi.

And I realized he probably got into the garage during those few seconds when the door was open. He was probably still there, under the vehicles.

But he wasn't. Nor was he anywhere in the house--we searched up and down. Jordi had obviously escaped into the great outdoors. With just a few seconds of opportunity, he acted with swiftness and stealth.

This was 10:30. We searched the neighborhood until 1 a.m. I trekked miles, covering the same territory two or three times. I shined my flashlight into people's yards, searched through their bushes, looking for that errant yellow cat (expecting, anytime, a homeowner to emerge with a shotgun, or police cars to corner me in a culdesac).

Jordi gets into a wandering mode and just heads in a direction, oblivious. In 2.5 hours, he could be anywhere. Pam and I sat on the truck tailgate, not knowing what else to do.

Out of ideas, I decided to drive around. I backed the car down the driveway and headed north out of the addition. Then my cellphone rang. "I found him," Pam said.

Turns out that I passed Jordi on the road. He was just a few houses down, walking along the road toward our house. Pam spotted him in my headlights. The prodigal was returning.

But he was grounded. Couldn't go outside for a whole day. And he seemed to know that he did something very very wrong.

Posted at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A strange thing happened this morning. I went to the McDonalds on Illinois Road, ordered a Sausage-Egg-and-Cheese McGriddle and a Sausage Burrito...and got exactly what I ordered.

This rarely happens at that McDonalds, or the one at Village of Coventry. Last Friday, Pam and I went through the Illlnois Road place. We both got McGriddles, and neither had the egg with it, as ordered. My orange juice tasted like water with a slice of orange floating in it--very weak. And we didn't get napkins. I've ordered stuff there, and the sack didn't come anywhere near what I ordered.

But today, they got it right. So I'm wracking my brain, trying to figure out what I did right. Because I'm sure it was my fault before. Certain a multinational corporation like McDonalds, staffed by kids with upwards of six years of public education, is beyond making mistakes.

Posted at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anchor participated in the OnePrayer emphasis/initiative/thingy in June, and I thought it went well. Pastor Tim started out by preaching a message on "Lord, Make Us Courageous." We then used video sermons from these three pastors:

• Craig Groeschel, "Make Us One."
• Ed Young, "Make Us Wake Up."
• Jentezen Franklin, "Make Us Passionate."

Did your church participate? If so, what speakers did you use?

Posted at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anchor people (l-r): Tim and Alice Bauman, Pat Minch, Joanna Jacobs, and Jennifer Kirchner.

Anchor co-sponsored the seminar with five other churches in our area code: Presbyterian, Mennonite, United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, and Church of Christ. North Highlands Church of Christ hosted the event. We did a joint Vacation Bible School the past two years, but attendance wasn't all that great. So someone suggested doing a Walk Thru the Bible seminar together, with a kids' track.

Pam on the left, Pastor Tim Hallman on the right, Tim and Alice Bauman in the middle.

This Sunday, the churches are going together for a blood drive for the Red Cross. People can go to Grace Presbyterian to give blood. Unfortunately...Pam and I will be out of town. Shucks. I haven't give blood since college, when there was plenty of peer pressure and peer pressure still mattered.

Posted at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)