Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for Tom Collins who recently was admitted to the hospital and is waiting for the results of a biopsy. Pray that God would give the doctors wisdom and that he would uphold Tom during this time.

Tenth Women Breakfast tomorrow

A great opportunity for fellowship with other women at Tenth . . .

Join us tomorrow Saturday, September 23 from 9 to 11 am at the TenthWomen’s Fall Brunch in Fellowship Hall. Debbie Langford will present our devotional “Living in the Kingdom of Light: Remembering the Gospel” (Colossians 1:12-13). Bring a friend or make a new one!

News Alert

Turn on KYW for underground cable construction accidents near City Hall.

http://kyw1060.com/pages/5289.php

http://www.nbc10.com/news/9903424/detail.html

Paul Jones Live

Quick! Check it out at 3pm: Paul Jones is being interviewed live about his book Singing and Making Music on http://www.vcyamerica.org/ Click the VCY America Live link to hear the hour-long interview. See the Ref21 review of Paul's book here.

blogging missions

I'm getting a missions-related blog underway and have started posting a few items. I'll continue to post on Marion's blog, but if you're looking for missions news and events, check out http://multiplyingministry.blogspot.com/ We do have a sizable number of workers in sensitive areas, so you will not see items related to them online.

We're gearing up for the fall World Missions Conference, November 4-12, so more announcements and opportunities for involvement will be forthcoming.

Lot's Wife

The Sunday school teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, "My Mummylooked back once while she was driving," he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole!"

Rosh Hashanah Parking Reminder

Sunday, September 24, is Rosh Hashanah. Beth Zion Beth Israel’s services coincide with our morning services. Their parking permission also overlaps ours. We ask our attenders to avoid parking on the 1800 block of Spruce or on 18th Street from Rittenhouse to Pine.

Casting Call

Looks like Christy Corbett is competing with Marion for sympathy! Christy is now sporting her very own cast on her left foot along with a lovely blue "shoe" of the open-toe variety. The pain and swelling in her foot wasn't a nerve problem after all, but rather a broken bone near her middle toe. Please pray for Christy for complete healing in her foot.

Keith Crowley Invites You to Arts Crawl

Tenth member and artist Keith Crowley writes:

I am writing to invite you all to an open studio event that is part of the Fairmount Arts Crawl. The Arts Crawl is an event that is held twice a year (autumn and spring) in which many of the local businesses and restaurants become open venues for artists and musicians. The open studio will be held 1–5 pm on Sunday, September 24. The Church Studios are located on the third floor of Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church (on the corner of 22nd and Mount Vernon St.), about one block south of Eastern State Penitentiary.

This is the first year the Church Studios at Olivet have participated. If you are curious as to what goes on in that large stone building, feel free to stop by. Most of the artists will be around to discuss their work and the artist-in-residence community. There will be plenty of other things going on around the Fairmount area in addition to the open-studio. For more info, go to www.fairmountartscrawl.org. There will be plenty of art and food.

Prayer Request

Richard Wattenbarger's mother passed away last Tuesday, September 12. Please keep the family in prayer during this time and as they are with his family for the funeral, scheduled for this Friday at 2 pm.

Vision Study Guides

Vision groups will be meeting throughout the month of October to discuss Phil’s sermon series about the vision of Tenth Church. The study guides that will be used during that month are being printed this week and will be distributed to the whole congregation on Sunday, September 24. They will be handed out at each service, but if you are not able to be there, they will also be available on October 1 and 6.

Spam Blocking

A few weeks ago we adjusted our spam blocker to be more agressive and give us relief from the hundreds of useless or offensive email messages each of us received each day. One of the drawbacks is that many people we'd like to hear from have had their messages blocked. If you are one of these people, please call the church and tell us which email address has been impacted. We can add your address to a "safe" list built into the spam blocker. That should prevent your address from being blocked in the future. I've already added about 100 addresses that the staff is aware of and so far, those people have been able to get through. We're also tweaking the spam blocker to see if we can improve the situation.

Wedding Bells

Congratulations to Craig Miller and Chelsea Fisher who are getting married at Tenth this Saturday.

Surgery

I was not in yesterday due to doctor's appointment and lab work. I am now scheduled for hand surgery this Friday, probably to have a plate inserted.

Music Needed

Would anyone have the music composition for Twila Paris' song "How Beautiful"?

A Lame Joke

Christy Corbett came into the office on crutches this morning. She had just come from the emergency room at Graduate and had learned that the pain and swelling in her foot is probably a nerve issue. Next she'll visit a podiatrist.

Anyway, Phil Ryken saw Christy in the lobby and said, "Christy, what's wrong with your foot? Did you trip a guy on a bicycle?"

So, please pray for Christy (and Phil too?).

No Phone Service

We're sorry for any inconvenience you've experienced. The church phones are down today - no incoming or outgoing calls are possible. No faxes either. Email is not affected, so contact us if you wish (first initial, last name @tenth.org). It's blissfully quiet at the front desk.

On the One Hand

Thanks, Nancy, for updating the blog. My first concern was how I would keep it up. For you medical folks, I have fractured the third metacarpal bone in my left hand. It also rotated, pushing my middle finger over my third finger. I see a specialist tomorrow and have been told to expect surgery eventually. Steve Schmidt, do you want to come back and do it?

Yes, I was wearing a helmit. No, I feel and felt little pain. But the splint is cool, like the kind you see football linemen wear.

Responding to Islam Conference

This conference is a great opportunity to learn about cross-cultural work in our own city and region . . .

Loving your Muslim Friend Across the Street and Around the World

Speakers
Bruce McDowell, Tenth Minister of Missions
Anees Zaka, founder and director, Church Without Walls
Sue Patt, US Center for World Mission
David and Julie R, former workers in Southeast Asia

Saturday, October 14, 2006
8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Wyoming Avenue Baptist Church
123 E Wyoming Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19120

Cost: $35 per person (Scholarships available)
Breakfast and lunch provided

Registration Deadline is September 30. Registration forms and information available at Tenth.

Here's an article from the PCA's ByFaith magazine about the topic.
And, here's a little something I'm working on . . . http://multiplyingministry.blogspot.com/

On the other hand . . .

Marion hasn't been posting this morning because he's having a little trouble typing one-handed. He took a spill off his bicycle yesterday afternoon and broke his left wrist. It's in a splint now with probable surgery tomorrow morning. I think he would like us to be praying for him.

Colombia report

Bruce wrote yesterday:

Things have been going well here. I´ve spoken at two graduations. The 2 hour session on baptism was very well received in Santa Marta. This morning I will be preaching at Ismael Quintero´s church. He is with the PCA and last night received his Ph.D. with MINTS.

As other times I´ve been here I saw some excitement with gunshots and police chasing a car in Santa Marta by the children´s home. The day after I left Barranquilla but Neal Hegeman was still there, a tornado went through a few blocks away from where they were and a couple hundred people were injured and some buildings damaged.

This afternoon I go to Villavicencio with the team and a couple of local pastors.

Bruce will be giving a report on Sunday evening about his time in Colombia. This Sunday at 1 pm is the monthly Missions Luncheon featuring Ken and Donna and the team that visited North Africa and France.

The Great (Flexible) Kickoff

Maranatha had a great kick-off yesterday -- because our teens are incredibly flexible. The buses never showed up to take us to Camp Sankanac. Four leaders were at Sankanac. Sixty teens were at church. Plan B (created on the spot) was to move the party to Fairmount Park. Great weather. Great games. Then the memorable moment...there was a lot of water...at Logan Circle...a short cut was devised. The food made it back from camp...including the 50' banana split (and whipped cream fight afterwards).

Yes, the pool at Sankanac would have been wonderful. Yes, we wished our speaker could have made it downtown and back out for his evening appointment. Yes, the drinking water was late arriving at the park. Yes, there was a long walk from the church to the Art Museum.

Yes...there were no complaints: We were together and had fun. Our teens are amazing!