Random Thoughts on What Church Newsletter Should Contain

--Pastor and former trustee president George the 1st were caught spreading mulch last week. Unfortunately it was spread from Rob Tennison's drive way into the back of Pastor Cosby's pick-up while it was still in the bag. Pastor Cosby acted as the getaway driver. George the 1st said it didn't look like Tennison was using it. The pastor's wife made him return it. Rob, a Shakespeare scholar, said it was "mulch a-do about nothing." --Executive Assistant (title used to be secretary but since we didn't give her a raise we changed her title) Glenna has plans to travel some over the upcoming spring break. She and Danny are going to see Uncle Al in Albuquerque, Aunt Ginger in Denver, cousin Maud in Claude, and the Tines in Turpin, OK. Well, sure, everyone knows the Turpin Tines. --As our church begins the process of finding a new minister of music we accidentally found ourselves having something in common with Italian opera lore. They have the three tenors, we have the three interims, Tom, Dwayne, and John. One of their first moves, in light of the recent attack on member's hearts, knees, prostates, lungs, hips, backs, and other body parts that has folks from chapel receiving treatment from Houston to Dallas to Cleburne to Arlington to Ft. Worth to Waco to Whitney is to adopt a new church theme song. The new church song the three interims desire all to learn by memory (in case of cataracts) is "Is There a Balm in Gilead?" You want to read a couple of books that might wind your clock? Then try Radical by David Platt or Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Radical might have been called normal Christian thinking two generations ago. It's not all that radical in concept but points out the western church's radical departure in many areas from belief to practice. Francis Chan's book was harder for me. It was tough toned but maybe I needed to hear what he had to say. Maybe you do to. I was glad to know that these young pastor's have to courage to talk tough principles to their principally young audiences. Mindsets, habits, entertainment, selfishness, spending, and devotion are called into question in these books with a view toward moving the church deeper in love and response to Jesus and away from materialism and lack of Biblical convictions. I'm not saying I enjoyed these books but I'm glad I read them. Try them yourself. Along those lines here is a quote from G. K. Chesterton... well first let me tell you a bit about Chesterton. he was an English writer, poet and professor. He was born about 1874 and lived until just before WWII. He was a big man with a bigger wit. He loved to laugh and was unorganized but brilliant. In America you may know him from the Father Brown detective series of books which were later made into a tv movies. He had some influence on someone you know better C S Lewis. Now for the quote: "Tolerance is the virtue of the man without conviction." Chesterton might not be tolerated in our post-modern, post Christian world where all truth is relative, where the supreme good is my enjoyment, and the spiritual gives way to the flesh. If we're not careful the church in America may start tolerating sexual sins, gay marriage, gambling, and spending more on fertilizer for our yards than we do on missions and evangelism. Nah, that will never happen. Would it? Anyway, read more Chesterton and Jesus who said, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Cos