Saturday Smile - Hello Moon

Friday Favorites - Christopher WIlliams Concerts

Friend of the family, Christopher Williams, will be doing two performances in Minnesota a week from today. Chris is a wonderful guy and he's a terrific singer and songwriter. If you can make it to one of these shows, you'll have a good time and find yourself encouraged in your faith.

My friends in St. Paul and Minneapolis will want to get to his concert at Hamline Methodist Church. My friends south of the river will want to get to his concert in Northfield at Emmaus Baptist Church.


CLICK HERE TO VISIT HIS WEBSITE AND LISTEN TO A FEW SONGS

Here's a note Christopher sent out earlier this week...

Hey There! I'm excited to finally be returning to the Twin Cities and Northfield next weekend. It has been a long time since I've been back - a couple CDs ago! So please help spread the word about the
shows, secure a babysitter, and come on out to one of these special nights. All of the info is posted below! Thanks friends.

Happy Fall to you!

Christopher

Friday. November 6th. 7pm
Hamline Methodist Church in St Paul, MN.
1514 Englewood Avenue. St Paul, MN. Call 651.645.0667
http://www.hamlinechurch.org for more info
$10 suggested donation at the door

Sunday. November 8th. 7pm
Emmaus Baptist Church in Northfield, MN
712 North Linden Street. Northfield, MN. 55057. Call 507.645.9480
http://www.emmauschurch.org for more info
$12 suggested donation at the door


Visit Christopher's web site at http://www.christopherw.com to order CDs, get the latest concert updates, and much more.

Thursday Thinking - About Suffering and Listening

PLAY VIDEO

Do you know someone who is suffering or wounded by loss? Are you able to just listen to them––letting them speak while quietly loving, hoping, and praying for them?

Listening is an act of love.

THIS VIDEO is good practice. Notice how the story takes and important turn when Gavagan says, "She listened."

Job 13:12 "Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
    your defenses are defenses of clay."

Job 16:2 "“I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters, all of you!"

Wednesday Words - Wild Geese Alighting on a Lake

I watched them
As they neared the lake

They wheeled
In a wide arc
With beating wings
And then

They put their wings to sleep
And glided downward in a drift
Of pure abandonment

Until they touched
The surface of the lake

Composed their wings
And settled
On the rippling water
As though it were a nest.


"Wild Geese Alighting on a Lake" by Anne Porter from Living Things.
© Zoland Books, 2006.

Tuesday Tome - The Power of One

My wife just finished this book a couple of days ago and said it's one I need to read. That means it goes on my list. I wish I could get through as many novels as she does!

The Power of One
by Bryce Courtney

Set in a world torn apart, where man enslaves his fellow man and freedom remains elusive, The Power of One is the moving story of one young man's search for the love that binds friends, the passion that binds lovers, and the realization that it takes only one to change the world.

A weak and friendless boy growing up in South Africa during World War II, Peekay turns to two older men, one black and one white, to show him how to find the courage to dream, to succeed, to triumph over a world when all seems lost, and to inspire him to summon up the most irrersistible force of all: the Power of One.
– from the inside cover flap

Monday Music - Breathe a Little Deeper

Abel made a sacrifice.
Enoch somehow never died.
Noah built an ark
And left the world outside.
Abraham didn’t have a son,
But by faith he traveled far.
His children now outnumber
The stars.

Take another step,
Breathe a little deeper,
Straighten up and take a stand.
Walk another mile,
You’re headed for a better land.

Isaac blessed and prophesied.
Jacob worshipped, staff in hand.
Joseph spoke of exodus from
Egypt’s land.
Moses chose to be mistreated--
Pharoah’s pleasures he would deny.
The Red Sea parted and the ground the children walked
Was dry.

Take another step,
Breathe a little deeper,
Straighten up and take a stand.
Walk another mile,
You’re headed for a better land.
Think about the joy,
Don’t forget the promise,
Let the Spirit lead the way.
Tomorrow’s gonna come--
It’s gonna be a better day.

Gideon, Barak, and Samson--
There’s not time enough to tell
Tales of Jephthah, King David,
And Samuel.
There were those who closed the mouths of lions;
Those who quenched the fury of the flames.
They suffered this world’s hateful scorn
And shame.

Still they took another step,
Breathed a little deeper;
They weren’t afraid to take a stand.
They walked another mile,
Headed for a better land.
They thought about the joy--
Thought about the promise;
They let the Spirit lead the way.
They gave a little more,
Hopin’ for a better day.

So take another step,
Breathe a little deeper,
Straighten up and take a stand.
Walk another mile,
You’re headed for a better land.
Think about the joy,
Don’t forget the promise,
Let the Spirit lead the way.
Tomorrow’s gonna come--
It’s gonna be a better day.

"Better Day" words and music by Dave Burkum from Breathe a Little Deeper. 
© Copyright 2000 by Dave Burkum. Listen / Download / Purchase

Sunday Supplication - To Think, Speak, and Act

O God, we are so thankful for your mercy and love. We thank you for your Son, Jesus, and for the life and salvation he has made possible for us. Help us, as part of your Church, to be a living demonstration of your power to save and transform and renew. Make us a true community of grace.

Forgive us our sins. Help us to turn away from darkness and to love the light. Make us willing and able to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Help us to think, speak, and act in ways that restore lives, nurture relationships, create peace, and bring honor to you.

Thank you, O God, for Jesus, who did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and became a servant. Help us, like him, to reach across barriers, to welcome the weak, to serve, and to look to the interests of others.

It’s in His name that we pray all these things. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Yann Frisch: Crazy Sleight

CLICK HERE OR ON PICTURE

Friday Favorites - Judge John Hodgman

Thanks to my good friend Josh Wilske for introducing me to my new favorite podcast-for-fun. John Hodgman dons his virtual robes, strikes his virtual gavel, and takes on the role of fake internet judge. With great wit and wisdom, he settles personal disputes and issues for people who agree, at the beginning of each episode, to abide by his ruling. This virtual court has large doses of wry humor, quirky personality, and no small measure of common sense.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

Thursday Thinking - Explorers of the Brain

This was a fascinating program. Perfect timing for it to accompany the six-part PBS series, "The Brain with Dave Eagleman."

Wednesday Words - The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost from The Road Not Taken and Other Poems, Penguin Classics, © Copyright 2015.

Tuesday Tome - Partners in Christ

Partners in Christ: A Conservative Case for Egalitarianism
by John G. Stackhouse Jr.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of this new book from John Stackhouse Jr. I ordered it after coming across a couple of good reviews about it. This is one of several books I'm reading in the months ahead as our Valley elders are going to be studying this issue.

Publisher's Description...
The Bible says that women should keep silent in church and that they should pray and prophesy. It calls wives the weaker partner and says that men and women are equal. When it comes to understanding what Scripture says about men and women, those on both sides of the debate can and do marshal strong evidence from the Bible. Why are they able to do this?

John Stackhouse boldly contends it is because Scripture in fact says both things. Does the Bible contradict itself then? Not so. Rather, in this revised and expanded edition of Finally Feminist, Stackhouse describes the single approach in Scripture that guides us with clear direction on these important matters of relationships in the church and the family.

Are you looking for an approach that takes the whole Bible into account and not just bits and pieces of it? While treating Scripture with utmost seriousness, Stackhouse moves us all beyond the impasse in this important debate.

Monday Music - One Lord, One Body

I need you, and you need me,
That’s the way it is- in God’s family.
If you’re doing well, you’ll be my friend and guide;
If you need a hand, I’ll be at your side.

One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

And when I fall, you pick me up.
When I’m thirsty, you can fill my cup.
If you win, then it’s my gain-
If you’re hurting, I will share your pain.

One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

When you’re weighed down, I will share the load.
If you’re ever lost, I’ll help you find the road.
When I’m tempted, remind me what is right.
When I’m weary, please help me fight the fight.

One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

Together we’ll carry the light--
Shining like the stars in the heavens. (2xs)

One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

"One Lord, One Body" by Dave Burkum, from FIRESIDE,
© Copyright 2006 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday Supplication - Reach across Barriers

O God, we are so thankful for your mercy and love. We thank you for your Son, Jesus, and for the life and salvation he has made possible for us.

Help us, as part of your Church, to be a living demonstration of your power to save and transform and renew. Make us a true community of grace.

Forgive us our sins. Help us to turn away from darkness and to love the light. Make us willing and able to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Help us to think, speak, and act in ways that restore lives, nurture relationships, create peace, and bring honor to you.

Thank you, O God, for Jesus, who did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and became a servant. Help us, like him, to reach across barriers, to welcome the weak, to serve, and to look to the interests of others. It’s in His name that we pray all these things.

Amen.