RSVP

The Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) engages volunteers who are 55 years and older in community service opportunities. Currently RSVP has the following Center City volunteer openings: friendly visitor for homebound seniors, tutoring in schools, job coaching, cooking groups, gardeners, friendly callers, school library assistance and much more. RSVP staff members are ready, willing and able to help guide you through the volunteer process! Contact Sandi Friedman, RSVP Program Coordinator at 267-345-7787 or via email at sfriedman(AT)kleinjcc.org.

CCRA House Tour

The 55th annual CCRA House Tour features eleven spectacular homes including Philadelphia's most storied residence on Rittenhouse Square - the McIlhenny Mansion. The center of Philadelphia's social activity, guests included Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, the Mansion, after having been vacant for nearly 30 years, is undergoing a two year renovation.
Read more »

Townhouse for Rent

Rittenhouse Square townhouse (4 blocks away) for rent. Living Room/Dining Room, fireplace,fully equipped kitchen plus private patio. 2nd floor -bath with window, bedroom. 3rd floor - large bedroom. Newer mechanicals, bamboo floors. Close to everything! Interested call 201-819-2915

Boko Haram

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid, has just posted an article about  Boko Haram and its goals in Nigeria. As he notes, it's the kind of news that never makes our new media. Reading it underscores our need to pray faithfully for our brothers and sisters.

No Escape

Proverbs 19:5

A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who breathes out lies will not escape.

The irony in this proverb is that people lie for the express purpose of escaping punishment. We lie to cover up other sins. We fudge the truth so that our spouses will not get upset; so that our bosses will not blow up at us, etc. We will lie so that suspicion is passed on to others. Our lying so that we can get ahead is a form of escape. We think that our present status, our present financial state, our present job and position is life is not as good as it should be. We want to escape it and climb higher. We lie on our tax forms to escape more taxes to pay.
Read more »

Sunday Services 10/6/2013

Join us this Sunday for our services.
AM (9 & 11): Dr. Liam Goligher preaching, “The Gospel According to Isaiah: The Day of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:5–21). Hymns: Now Thank We All Our God; Great God, What Do I See and Hear!; Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending; Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face
The service will include communion.
Parish 5 will worship together in the Catacombs during the 11:00 service.
PM (Soli Deo Gloria 6:15): Timothy Gonzalez, baritone
(6:30): Dr. Liam Goligher preaching, “That You May Believe… Meeting Jesus” (John 1:35–42). Hymns: Come, Thou Almighty King; I Will Sing the Wondrous Story; Not All the Blood of Beasts

True Friendship

Proverbs 19:4

Wealth brings many new friends, 
But a poor man is deserted by his friend.

If the writer of this proverb had access to quotation marks in his day, he would have added them around “friends” and “friend.” In each instance the friends are nothing of the sort. The friends of the wealthy person hang about to get what they can. The poor person has but one other person willing to “be a friend.” Such a friend is obviously not hanging about to share in the wealth, but he is a “fair-weather” friend, the kind of person who will not be dependable. Indeed, he will desert his poor friend as soon as he thinks the poor man wants something from him.
Read more »

Gmail Troubles Resolved

It appears that the problem below has been solved.

Uh-oh...Just got this alert from Christy Corbett. I will post again when the problem is resolved.

Read more »

Why, God?

Proverbs 19:3

When a man's folly brings his way to ruin,
his heart rages against the Lord.

This is so true of Christians! Why can't I get a job? Why are my workplaces always so difficult? Why is this ministry by which I serve God filled with so much trouble? Why, when I am devoted to God, am I having so much trouble in my marriage, in my family, with my health, in my church, etc., etc., etc. Doesn't God keep his promises to bless his children? Doesn't he reward those who serve him and make sacrifices for him? Why won't he/can't he control the behavior of others (especially other believers) who are making my life so difficult? Doesn't God care? Doesn't he see what my troubles are? Can't he be merciful to me? What have I done so wrong?
Read more »

A Maranatha Moment

When I was in junior and senior high, every day my parents would inevitably ask "What happened at school today?" and I would in consistent fashion rejoin: "Nothin'."  Perhaps you've had the pleasure of experiencing this dynamic interchange with your children. And if you've ever happened asked "What happened at Maranatha tonight?" and gotten that response, know that it's not the case.

In fact, a lot happens at Maranatha - and a lot of it is stuff that parents should know about. We understand that your kids might not be the best sources to glean updates from, so we've scheduled a Parent/Teen Meeting this Sunday at 5 in Fellowship Hall for you! Please make this a priority. You will get to learn about important upcoming dates and events, a little about what goes on with your teens each Sunday night, what we are working towards, and you will of course get to ask any questions you may have. 

It will hopefully be very informative for you, so when your kids ask what you learned at the meeting you won't be able to say "Nothin'."

Desire Without Knowledge

Proverbs 19:2

Desire without knowledge is not good,
and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

Is this not the cause of our troubles? We desire without knowledge. The young man desires the Forbidden Woman, not knowing that she leads to death. The fool desires fortune and fame, not knowing that he chooses ignominy and destruction. The wicked desire to take advantage of others, not knowing that they are entrapping themselves. Man desires to exalt himself, not knowing that he is debasing himself. Pride, greed, ambition all serve to make us ignorant.
Read more »

A Honking Tribute

This musical tribute to Great Britain's Olympics is entertaining, but why would they play "My Country, T'is of Thee"?


http://www.youtube.com/embed/ik9AtJQXaHQ?rel=0

Sunday's Picnic in Fairmount Park! Students from Temple, Penn, Drexel, UArts, Rutgers, Widener, and Jefferson along with TCF Staff and volunteer leaders!

Missionopoly 2013

Save the date for Missionopoly on Saturday, November 2!
Join the fun game of one-on-one interaction with our global partners as teams traverse the giant monopoly board. Try ethnic foods, get your passport photo taken, learn about the least-reached people groups, and experience the cultural implications of tea! Teams of five or six will visit partner spaces and earn stickers. The teams collecting the most stickers will be entered to win prizes. Registration coming soon.
See how God is building His kingdom throughout the world!

The City School: Excellence and Accessibility

The following article appeared in the fall edition of the Center City Quarterly, a publication of the Center City Residents' Association.

In her groundbreaking autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou writes, “The city became for me the ideal of what I wanted to be . . . friendly, but never gushing, cool but not frigid or distant, distinguished without the awful stiffness.” With a poet’s mind and activist’s heart, Maya Angelou was uniquely able to understand, and even celebrate, the tension of the city...

The city is a place of tension. The City School embraces this, holding tension even in our core commitments to excellence and accessibility. Click here to read more about our mission. 

Better to Be Poor

Proverbs 19:1

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

There is too high a price to pay for crookedness. The lost of integrity is worse than the loss of money and position. The world considers a person not willing to compromise the truth to achieve a goal to be a fool. So be it. God, through his Word, declares a person who compromises integrity to be a fool. Whose judgment is more likely to be correct? In the end, who more likely will see that his judgment is vindicated?
Read more »