A nice day...

I've been too slow to get this picture on the blog! We are excited to have Anna Jones on board as our new Minister to Children. This Sunday is her first official Sunday on staff. Welcome, Anna! Ryan and I are looking forward to working alongside you.

I didn't see Anna yesterday because I finally got to take a real ride on what may have been THE perfect day to ride a motorcycle. There was a slight chill in the clean, Spring air. The sun was warm, without being hot. The leaves on the trees are still a greening, while some of the trees have the bright, early Spring, pink flowers.

Riding a motorcycle is a great way to spend a day off. I decided to ride to Mountain City because I wanted to enjoy the views of Lake Watauga.


After Mountain City I took a right turn and cruised over to a burger joint in Boone, NC. It really was a nice, nice day.

Meet Sandwich

Tomorrow's sermon isn't completed, but it's getting close (in between meetings!)

This week has been a busy one in terms of meetings. We opened with the Emmanuel trustees meetings, which included a nice supper where we got to hear from Emmanuel students from Haiti and Chile.

Then we sat in this room and talked.

Then the European Evangelistic Society met in the same room, but we had a nice lunch at Frieberg's German Restaurant. It was great to eat lunch with Beth Smith, Ethan Magness, and Ben Cachiaras all at once. That's a rare treat.

Then, on Friday night, I got to hear Cora in the choir concert that was a joint effort between the ETSU Chorus and the East Tennessee Children's Choir. They were fantastic.

Fire

Some of you saw the house across from the church this past Sunday. It burned about 3am on Sunday morning and I've been unable to make contact with the residents (we have talked in the past, but not very much). I haven't heard what caused the fire.

Not much is happening to begin the clean-up and things from the house are beginning to blow around the neighborhood.

The irony of the scattering litter is this Contents Page I found in our parking lot yesterday.

Chapter 1: When Loss Saddens Your Life
Chapter 2: When All Is Not Well
Chapter 3: When the Darkness Won't Lift

Very sad. We'll keep trying to make contact. I don't know if the residents rented or owned. We may not see them again.

In other news, Cora's friend, Nora, broke her arm at the BRAT PAC event last weekend. She gave new meaning to Spring Break. We went over last night, gave her a little gift, signed her cast and told her how sorry we are. As you can see, she's in good spirits.

The McGospel

Due to popular demand (okay, it was two people) I decided to post the McGospel from yesterday's sermon. The background on this is that I wanted to highlight the need for the church to preserve the language we have been given that allows us to discuss truths in rich and nuanced ways. I decided to use a place mat from McDonald's (the big piece of paper they put on their trays) as my lexicon for trying to convey the gospel. The exercise was more fun, and more difficult, than I imagined. I really liked how it came out, though:

The McGospel

Information found for you is from the 1 derived from none before. The 1 derived from none is the suppliers of resources of nutrition for each of you. The 1 publishes: I’m lovin’ you. The 1 publishes: I’m serving you. The 1 publishes: I’m not snack size lovin’ you. I’m large, ranch size lovin’ you. I’m deluxe, premium, Big-N-Tasty, triple thick shake lovin’ you. The 1 wrap you in lovin’!

How about lovin’ the 1? In seasonal the 1 saturated the 1 in “you” packaging. The 1 is derived from pre-consumer materials, and change formulations for you.

The 1 whipped for you. The 1 on hot McGriddles for you, in hot McSkillet for you throughout.
The 1 iced for you.

The 1 Reverse it! The 1 recycled for you. Learn it! The 1 appear for you. The 1 publishes: I’m not cooking you in oil.

The Powerade found from the 1 recommended for you.