Disaster Relief

At Tuesday's pastoral staff meeting, Curt Moore and Arklie Hooten from MNA Disaster Relief met with us to give a report on their work in the Gulf Coast area.

a. 60-70% of families are still living in FEMA trailers
b. They need 30 interns for this summer—college students (who have completed at least one year), pastoral interns, and/or construction interns. Anyone who is interested should contact Curt at staff@lpcpca.com (www.lagniappechurch.com).
c. MNA is still scheduling short-term trips to the Gulf Coast. So far they have had 6,000 volunteers. They plan to stay in the area for as long as they can marshal people and money.

He's Back

Phil is back! And it only took two hours to get here! He left on Friday at noon and arrived 2:00 this afternoon. Must be strong tail winds, because he left here on Sunday and arrived there on Tuesday!

He promised pictures to post.

Team Trips

Remember to pray for the Liberia short-term team (see itinerary at Missions blog) that left yesterday and the Biloxi team leaving tomorrow.

The Other Side

Joe Brydges and Tina Simon passed this on:

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."

Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing... I know my Master is there and that is enough."

With the Lord

On Thursday, March 1, Enkhbeleg Samuel was born to Javkhaa and Lin. Due to development problems they knew about, he lived about an hour and a half. They had opportunity to care for him, and their pastor was even able to baptize him. Javkhaa and Lin testify that "In the past God has been giving us lots of peace and joy from Philippians 4:4-9. God of Peace was with us during every moment of the surgery (for Lin)." The funeral is being held today.

Spring Forward

by KYW's Bob Bicknell
Get ready to change your clocks. Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday morning -- three weeks early, thanks to a law passed by Congress. But some of your technology may not be ready to "spring ahead" so soon. Remember Y2K? When people feared computers would crash because older models weren't made to change to the year 2000 after 1999? Now, any computers or gadgets you have may have a problem beginning Sunday morning, when the new Daylight Saving Time begins. Microsoft, Apple, Palm and Blackberry have all released software patches that will automatically adjust your computers and smart phones. Beyond that, you may be on your own. You may have to "spring ahead" your VCR, PDAs and other cell phones yourself Sunday morning, then set them back one hour when they were preprogrammed to jump ahead the first Sunday in April.

Just don’t forget to do it all back wards when we fall back in November -- a week after your older technology thinks we will.Here are some links to the updates for major operating systems/phones affected by the Daylight Saving glitch.

Windows OS
Mac OS “Panther”
Mac OS “Tiger”
Windows Mobile
Palm
Blackberry

New Church Plant

Dave Baggett has been called by Philadelphia Metro West Presbytery to plant a multi-cultural church in the area along Baltimore Pike. Two informational meetings will be held for those interested. Friday March 9 at 7pm at the home of Gene & Beth White228 Congress Ave, Lansdowne; Monday March 12 at 7pm at the home of Thom and Anne Lehman, 39 E. Stratford Ave, Lansdowne. Dave Baggett can be contacted at 434.525.4383 or email to dbaggett@yahoo.com

Liberia Itinerary

I just posted the itinerary for the team leaving for Liberia tomorrow on the Missions blog. Check it out so you can pray with them through their journey.

Wallpaper Samples Needed for CCA Bookbinding Project

CCA students are doing a bookbinding project and need wallpaper samples and scraps (roughly 10"x12" or larger) by March 25. Please put donations on the teacher's desk in 315 S. 17th Street, 1Rear. Thanks!

Joe Sinagra

Morning Theology

The Wednesday morning theology group will begin a focus on apologetics on March 21. We'll be reading The Battle Belongs to the Lord, by K. Scott Oliphint and excerpts from The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins as an example of a current challenge to Christian faith. This would be a good time for newcomers to join our group. Please contact Steve Carter for details: carters@towers.com or by phone 856-904-8404.

With the Lord

David Apple forwarded this notice to me:

On Sunday, March 4, John Ed Robertson went to be with the Lord. John Ed was in a bicycle accident Friday afternoon resulting in severe head trauma. His wife Nancy, his daughter Renee and her daughter Sierra, his son James and his wife Valerie and their 3 children, and his his son David are doing well but will continue to need our prayers.

Initial funeral arrangements are for a memorial service celebrating John Ed's life to be held at the Church of the Saviour, (651 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne, PA 19087; 610-688-6338) at 10:30 am on Saturday, March 10.

The family requests that, instead of flowers, gifts be made to The Navigators in the name of The John Ed Robertson Memorial Fund.The following web site will provide additional and updated information for those planning to attend

http://groups.google.com/group/JohnEdmemorial?hl=en

Impact Thrift Stores Need Donations

Impact Thrift Stores—which supports Christian charities, including Children’s Jubilee Fund and Bethany Christian Services (both also supported by Tenth)—are in need of clothing, books, small electronics and appliances, as well as knick-knacks. This time of year is a perfect time for you to clean out your closets, dressers, and book shelves. We encourage you to donate now. Further information is at http://www.impactthrift.org/.

Seriously Confused

Marion,

Phil just reported in from Korea. He was seriously confused about the time! It is Wednesday noon there and 10 pm Tuesday here. He thought it was morning here and couldn't figure out why Josh was home. He is staying at a hotel that is in view of a ski resort, and though he doesn't get to ski he is enjoying the view of the slopes. He said the preaching/teaching has gone well so far and he had just finished an interview with the Korean equivalent of Christianity Today. He has two more sessions, one Wednesday and one Thursday.

He asked if anything major was going on at the church. I haven't heard anything in the last two days, so I told him everything was fine, that you have things totally under control!

Lisa

(My response to the last sentence: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!)

Full Deck

As of yesterday, I am now playing with a full deck of cards, having turned 52. Some wondered this past year if I was a card to short, and the answer is yes. But I hope in the coming years to have a few extra cards up my sleeves.

I visited the King Tutankamun exhibit with Ginger and my sister Jean. We had a pleasant supper with Sarah at The Meritage where I enjoyed roasted squab. I was actually in the church for a couple of hours and was treated to "Happy Birthday" sung by the heavenly, harmonious voices of the church staff.

Too Good to Miss

Luella Tripp sends in this movie review:

You probably know about this already, but the movie Amazing Grace is an abosulute must to see. Paul and I saw it today and were extremely touched and challenged by the story. It actually speaks to the vision of the Center City ministry in terms of God using his people to bring about cultural changes. This one is too good to miss.

WTS Bookstore

In order to accomplish some essential maintenance, the building housing the Westminster Bookstore at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside is closed to the general public until further notice. During this construction, the online store (www.wtsbooks.com) and phone order center (215-886-0999) will remain open, and orders will be shipped in the usual timely fashion. The webstore features every book in our retail store at the same low prices, and just $5 shipping for any size order!

On (or Off) Camera

Paul Tripp's morning sermon is now posted on the webcast. Click "Later" and you should be taken to the page to watch or listen. Watching is a bit fun. Whereas Aaron presents the challenge of fitting into the full picture, Paul walks off-stage. His evening sermon should be posted by Tuesday evening. We will also get the afternoon talk posted as well, though I don't have a schedule for this as yet.

Doc McFarland for 30!

This past Thursday night Dr. George K McFarland, our Clerk of Session, celebrated 30 years of service at Delaware County Christian School. Not only is "Doc" one of the beloved teachers and a discipler of young men, often having them work alongside him whether it be on the track (he is one of the track coaches) or painting homes (what he enjoys doing on the side). Officially, Doc wears many hats at DCCS: Head of the History Department, Dean of the High School Faculty and a national reader for Advance Placement examinations. Doc has also worked faithfully with accreditation of other Christian schools, as well as serving on the board of the City Center Academy/ Spruce Hill Christian Academy. In between all of this, George and Crys (who also teaches at DCCS) have reared three wonderful children.

So let's celebrate George!

Car Needed

Tenth's new daughter church - Cresheim Valley Church - employs Nick Altman, a Westminster student, to work with our high school and college students. Nick and his wife Bev live in Olney but Bev drives to Bucks County during the work week for her job. This leaves Nick without a car. Nick shared with me that his ministry and studies would be greatly helped if he had a car. I was wondering if anyone from Tenth has a well-loved but reliable set of wheels they would be willing to give to Nick. Manual or automatic transmission is fine. Interested persons can contact me at 215-248-2121 or Nick at 215-621-6136.

Thanks very much!
Craig Claudin