WEEKEND WORDS

First of all, I posted this yesterday on Facebook:

"Several weeks ago a college room-mate of mine found a cassette tape of me preaching, circa 1977 or 78, and sent it to me...I finally listened to a little of it (had to find a cassette tape player) and...wow...was that ever disturbing! My sincere apologies to anyone who had to endure hearing me back then...I mean, yikes! Seriously...I guess we all have to start somewhere...thank God for growth..."



I got some very good (and funny) feedback on my statement...thanks, everyone...



The shipment of the first printing of The Gospels In The Now came in last night, and I'm happy to say that I'm really very pleased with (and proud of) the way the whole project turned out. The books are in the Media Center, ready to go, and ready for the signing that I will do after the 11:00 service this coming Sunday. I'll also sign the ones that have been pre-ordered ASAP, and get them in the mail. I'm going to start teaching out of it on Wednesday nights, going verse by verse through all four Gospels, so those of you who are a regular part of the mid-week service experience will want to get a copy.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to my staff for all their input and help with GITN...Debye, Rene' Babcock, Robyn Wells, Jane Conyers, and Pastor Avery Rogers (if I left anyone out, someone please tell me and I'll add their name)...you all did an excellent job!

Speaking of this coming Sunday...more chairs have been set up in the Narthex, and the sofas and bistro tables have been moved out of the way so that the 9:00 A.M. service will be more comfortable for everyone, and can accommodate more people. The area was already full to capacity last Sunday, and I anticipate that the number of attendees will be growing, but I want to put off having to move it back into the Sanctuary for as long as possible, because I like the intimacy and atmosphere that we experienced last week.

One other thing concerning this Sunday...I have some serious and very important matters to discuss with the congregation and cyber-congregation in both services that will affect the future of CITN, so I need to make a demand on all of you to be there if at all possible...


Love you all...

Thursday Thoughts

Hey bloggers...The Communion of Christ-Consciousness conference was excellent...thanks to pastor D.E. and Pastor Jon Scott for hosting it...and thanks to my dad for preaching last night at CITN in my absence...I heard he had a great word...

The first copies of The Gospels In The Now are supposed to arrive today!

Peace...

"I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ to me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment."

- Mother Teresa

The Kingdom of God

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference?

Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Matthew 6:26-34, The Message

Just Checking In...

The Tree of Life vs. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil...thanks for hearing the word concerning these concepts again this morning...revelation is manifesting, line upon line, precept upon precept...the nine o'clock service was fun and excellent ("It's Showtime!")...loved the on-the-spot feedback...crowd was bigger than expected...don't know how long we can keep it in the Narthex...we'll see...I am grateful for you all...