Saturday Stretch

A Family article with View Comments posted 26 June 2010.
Tags: saturdaystretch

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…” – Hebrews 12.1-2a

The Week Behind

Another busy one! On top of the normal pace of life and ministry, I had a memorial service on Thursday. I also finally got the computers for my Guyana computer lab project ordered!

On Wednesday our council president gave the sermon, and she quoted this spoof of the popular “Footprints in the Sand” poem. Without further ado, I reproduce it here:

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some strange prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
Those prints are large and round and neat,
“But Lord, they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you along.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.”

“Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.”

Input

I finished both On Writing by Steven King and The Sacred Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, Vol 2 of the Selected Writings of Arthur Carl Piepkorn, Philip J. Secker, ed. this week.

I’m not really into writing book reviews, but I recommend them both very highly. On Writing was originally assigned as part of a preaching class at Wartburg, and it’s full of interesting stories and tips on making your writing better. The Sacred Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions is a fascinating survey of Arthur Carl Piepkorn’s writings on the catholicity of the Lutheran Confessions. He maintains a very high view of Scripture and the Confessions without falling into fundamentalist literalism.

Output

Much of my office time this week has been spent putting the finishing touches on a 16 page booklet on the symbolism in St. John’s sanctuary. I’ll write a separate post and make it available for download later in the week.

St. John’s website is now running WordPress 3.0, including the shiny new menu system. I’ve also made some significant design changes, so take a look!

The Week Ahead

I was stunned when Jennifer told me that there are only three weeks until July 18, my last Sunday at St. John’s! This week I’ll be packing my library, beginning to make goodbye visits, and scheduling some transition meetings with key leaders. Tomorrow morning is going to be great – not only do we have Pr. Chris Stienstra, assistant to Bp. Wollerscheim, coming to preach at St. John’s, but I’m also finishing my Sunday School series on Symbols in the Sanctuary.

I hope you have a great week too!

(Photo Credit)