Friday, May 23, 2008

Looking for Apartment in Manhattan, NY

Moving to NY! Tenth member (Christian Female) needs to find apartment to share with other CF(s) in or near Manhattan for 6 months maybe more. Contact Kelly.

Winning Essay

Justin Slater sent me this notice of an essay contest won by Peter Lillback, who donated his winnings to the James Montgomery Boice Chair of Practical Theology in Aix-en-Provence.

Wedding Bells

Congratulations to Joshua Christman and Sajini Jacobs who are being married on Saturday by Carroll Wynne.

North Broad Closing

North Broad, from JFK Boulevard to Race Street will be closed for the next nine days. This article gives further information.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Christiana Back

Christiana Fitzpatrick walked into the lobby this afternoon. She is traveling through on her way to Belgium for summer work with MTW. She reports that she enjoys Covenant and had a good first year. The Messners are doing well and have a baby on the way in June.

Campaign Milestone

We have crossed the $4 million mark in our Capital Campaign! For the past three weeks since Commitment Sunday, we have averaged 23 new commitments per week and the latest total is $4,018,629, 91% of our $4.4 million goal. If you have still to turn your commitment in, please do so now. You can mail your form in or drop in the offering plate or oak box and Capital Campaign marked boxes in the lobbies.

We are now moving forward with the projects of the campaign. The organ is on schedule to be installed in the fall. A steering committee is forming the manage the projects, headed by Frank Harder. I am on the Church Planting Committee and we have begun to distribution information about the ethnic church planting fund, and soon will have our materials together for the church planting apprentice position.

So, the funds are coming in and the projects are being prepared. Pray for the remaining funds to be committed and for the many people working to carry out the projects.

Aljazeera's Good News

A friend in North Africa writes: "The other night, while I was searching the web, I was surprised to see on Aljazeera TV (the Arabic news channel from Qatar) that in Africa, 6 million Muslim people come to Christ every year and most of them are from Arabic speaking countries (i.e. people from North Africa)! Sheikh Ahmad Katani (a Muslim scholar in Libya) added the churches in Africa now [have] congregations totaling 46 million Christians. Most of the pastors of these new churches had been imams in mosques and leaders of fanatic groups: now they are preaching the word of God in church!"

This is great news although a little web checking shows Aljazeera's numbers are inflated. Other sources quote the 6 million number as worldwide conversions, not just Africa. Are they inflated to stoke Muslim outrage at Christian outreach? Perhaps we should view this not just as a call for thanksgiving but for intercession for the safety of our brothers in Africa.

Spacious One Bedroom in a Nice Neighborhood (Lansdowne PA)

Located just outside of the city of Philadelphia in Lansdowne, PA, on a quiet tree-lined street, its features include an eat-in kitchen, bright living room and bedroom, and two multi-purpose rooms; hardwood floors; large, new windows throughout unit; and ceiling fans. Sunny front porch and large, long driveway for parking.

This first floor apartment is within walking distance to downtown Lansdowne, shopping, restaurants, banks, churches, and transportation. It’s an easy commute to Center City Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, Broomall, Springfield, Swarthmore & Media! Just a few blocks from the R3 Regional Rail Line. Twenty minutes from Tenth.
You pay for Gas and Electric. This is a Smoke-Free Environment. Credit Check & Application Fee. Available Now. No Pets Please. $1000. For Photos (www.markethillone.com)

Wedding Bells

The wedding of Andrew Canavan and Rebecca Williams is this Saturday in Palm Springs, CA. Phil flies out to officiate.

Thanks, Dora!

Yesterday was Dora McFarland's last official day with us on staff. She has done a great job primarily serving as assistant to Anne Davies.

Congratulations, Graduates!

Westminster's commencement services are today. Three of our church members are graduating: Melissa Clemens, Robert Polen, and Mike Robison.

And, this notice came in, add Chris Spiker to the list. He's married to Jill (Rogers) who is a member; so we'll count him in the church family!

Services for Jane MacMoran

The memorial service for Jane MacMoran is scheduled for June 14, 2:00, at Tenth. The funeral service is tomorrow, 11:00, at the Beaumont Residence center in Bryn Mawr.

The family has asked the gifts in memory of Jane be sent either to:

Interserve
Attn: Finance Clerk
PO Box 418
Upper Darby, PA 19082-0418

or

Tenth Presbyterian Church
1701 Delancey Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Maranatha Blog

Maranatha now has its own blogsite. They are hoping to use it to keep people informed of events, missions, and perhaps some occasional musings from Chewy (otherwise known as Carroll Wynne) or other leaders, as well. Parents might be interested in knowing about the blog particularly this summer as they are hoping to use it to keep people up to date on what is happening on their many missions trips. They are thinking of having 2-3 kids from each trip blog about what is going on during the week. This will allow parents and supporters to understand a little better what the kids are doing and how they can best keep the group in their prayers.

Prayer for Maya

Jesse and Sue Hubley sent this in:

Our daughter Maya has been back in the hospital again since Monday, this time with pneumonia. This is not as serious as the last time she was admitted, but she continues to have recurring respiratory problems. Please pray for her recovery, discussions with doctors about future preventative treatments, and various tests that they are recommending.

Thanks,
Jesse (& Sue)

Jane MacMoran

Jane MacMoran passed away this morning (1:30 a.m.) from a stroke. A funeral is planned for this Friday, 11:00 a.m. at the Beaumont Retirement Home in Bryn Mawr. A memorial service is also being planned to be held at Tenth. I will let you know when the date and time is settled.

Please keep Jay and the family in your prayers.

Apartment available in University City

4207 Pine Street, Philadelphia
One bedroom$995.00, includes utilities
available June 1

Contact Berzinskys

Sunday Sermon

This Sunday I will be preaching, "As to the Lord." The text will be Ephesians 5:22-24, which addresses the subject of wives being submissive to their husbands "as to the Lord." This is the reverse sequel to the sermon I preached last August, "As Christ Loves the Church," on verses 25-33. You may want to prepare by reading or listening to that sermon.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Headmaster Sought

Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg is looking for a headmaster. They are looking for "someone who has a heart for the Lord and for training children in the Lord; experience in being (or is skilled as) an entrepreneur, executive, and an educator; Reformed in their theology and understands classical education.

Looking for Rental

Wanted to rent, affordable minimum 2 BR/1BA apt/duplex/or small house for our daughter & grandkids—close to West Chester or between Philly and West Chester. Daughter will be junior at WCU in the fall. Please call Mike or Celia Rooney, his cell 215.275.6430 or home 215.732.2440 if you can help or have suggestions. Thank you.

Commission Night

Tonight is Commission Night. On the third Tuesday of the month the three commissions - Kingdom Discipleship, City Outreach, and Global Outreach - plus the Trustees meet. We first gather together for devotions and to review what each group is doing; then we split up into our individual meetings. Finally, the leaders of each group come back together for updates.

Adam Brice's New Ministry

Adam Brice, pastor of Tenth's daughter church in Conshohocken, has accepted a call to plant another church in Lafayette/West Lafayette, Indiana. There are also plans to establish a Reformed University Fellowship ministry at Purdue University which is located there. Adam would like to speak with anyone who has an interest in praying for or making a short-term financial commitment to this work. Please contact him at (610) 828-2415 or adambrice@verizon.net.

Room Available

Two Christian men are looking for a housemate to share a large 3-story row house in South Philadelphia. It is in a nice neighborhood in the 1400 block of S. 13th St, near stores and a park. Cost is $450 per month plus 1/3 of utilities. Available June 15. Contact Joe German at 215 271-8787 or JLG950@verizon.net for more information.

IRS? I Don't Think So!

I received this notice this morning at my work email address. Another example of fraudalent email.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
United States Department of the Treasury

Dear Taxpayer,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible
to receive a tax refund of $184.80. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it. A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To access the form for your tax refund, use the following personalized link: (I deleted the link)

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

Document Reference: (0x7C.0xDB11D1).

Monday, May 19, 2008

Boyd Theatre Rally

May 22 Friends of the Boyd need YOU to join us at a RALLY to save the historic Boyd Theatre, in front of the theater, on 1908 Chestnut Street on Thursday May 22 at LUNCHTIME, starting at 11:30 AM. Howard Haas, President of the Friends of the Boyd, will summarize the ever-evolving status of the stalled restoration effort and explain how Philadelphia’s last movie palace finds itself in jeopardy of demolition again. John Gallery, Director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia will speak on why the Alliance included the Boyd Theatre in their 2008 Endangered Property List. Babette Josephs, State Representative, will speak on why the community deserves a reopened Boyd Theatre. Adrian Fine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation will speak on the national plight of movie palaces.

Messages on the City

David Apple passed on this website resource of messages about the city and urban ministry.

Memorial Service

A Memorial Service for Bill Bauersfeld (Diane Kearney's father) will take place on Tuesday, June 3, at 7 pm, at the Wyncote Church Home, 208 Fernbrook Ave., Wyncote, PA. Rev. Michael Kearney (grandson) will preach.

Phishing

Joe Brydges passed this on to me. I have gotten the Paypal emai referred to.

In the past several days, we have received more viruses, and 'phishing' emails, than we have in the past several months, over 100 a day. There are two kinds: One type claims to be from Chase Bank, and the other type is Paypal Account Suspension notices.
Phishing refers to fake / fraudulent requests for account information, with messages that look just like the real thing. Clicking on the links in those messages takes the viewer to a website that also looks like the real thing. This fake website's only purpose is to trick the visitor into entering their account information, which is then used to drain the visitor's bank, Paypal, etc., account in short order.
A new trick that virus writers are using is to not actually send the virus itself, but only send a fraudulent message containing something that effectively encourages the recipient to 'visit this website, and install this new bank security software'. The virus is hosted on the hacked / compromised web servers of companies who do not know that this has been done to their web server(s).
Should you get a message from your bank, Paypal, credit card company, etc., do not click on the links within those messages, but open a new Internet Explorer window, and type the company's web site name in manually, instead. Though the link addresses given are legitimate, they are actually formatted to go to a different address.
If you should by chance see one of these, especially at home, do not click on the links contained within them. Anything that asks for account information will more than probably be fraudulent, just delete it. Credit card companies all place toll-free phone numbers on the backs of their cards, in you ever have a question about an email message from the card provider, call that number first.

At the Movies

I saw Prince Caspian Saturday night. It is an intense movie, and I would caution taking young children. The little girl and her mother sitting beside me left halfway through the movie. (It might have been because I grabbed her arm during a scary scene, who knows?) I did like it as an adventure movie, and though it takes liberties as movies do with books, it has a message about faith and trust.