Thanks for sharing your hymn stories yesterday. Frankly, I'm just not sure most of us incorporate singing into our daily "quiet" time.
In that vein, Larry Parker shared with us on Wednesday night how that, on a drive from Newport Beach to Fresno several years ago, he decided to turn off the radio and just sing hymns. His plan was to see how long he could sing hymns from memory without repeating a hymn.
The result? Larry made the seven-hour drive without ever turning on the radio while continuously singing hymns from memory.
If singing is not a part of your daily relationship routine with God, why not incorporate it today. It might be just the faith-lift you need for "just a closer walk with Thee."
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No softball tonight. The post-season tourney starts next Friday. #1 seed Woodward Park Church of Christ will play Clovis Hills beginning at 7:00.
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So Barry Bonds is now two away from tying Hank Aaron. Should he hit a homer in his first at-bat in Milwaukee tonight, does Bruce Bochy leave in Bonds with the chance of tying the record on the road?
Something tells me Peter Magowan and crew didn't break the aging Bonds back to the City by the Bay in '07 for him to tie or potentially break the all-time home run record on the road. It'll be very interesting to see how that all plays out should Bonds hit a homer early in the weekend series at Milwaukee (the Giants return to SF on Monday to play the Braves).
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Tomorrow morning, we leave at 8:00 a.m. for the Tahoe Family Encampment. This will mark my sixth consecutive year to speak on the program at Tahoe but the first time our entire family has been able to attend. In past years, the cross-country flight and its cost was prohibitive for us to come as a family.
But that all changes this year. I am excited about sharing a week of fellowship and deeper faith with my family. It should offer a whole host of new experiences taking in Tahoe as a family!
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Here's a message of hope and redemption for your weekend. It comes from John Mark Hicks in chapter devoted to "What Did God do to Sin and Death through Jesus Christ" in Theology Matters: Answers for the Church Today.
"Just as the death of Christ is the culmination and representation of all that is fallen in the world, so the resurrection is God's pledge to restore the world to its original goodness. God decisively reversed the effects of Good Friday. The resurrection is God's pledge of an eschatological reversal in a new heaven and a new earth. The resurrection is a new day of creation/redemption and signals the defeat of God's enemies, especially the last enemy which is death.
The death and resurrection of Jesus are God's two mighty acts of reconciliation. The cross is God's self-humiliating participation in human suffering in order to substitute himself for the sake of his own self-satisfaction. The resurrection is God's justification of Jesus through which we presently experience the power of a sanctified life, live with hope in the face of death, and expect our full sanctification by God's Spirit in the eschaton" (62-3).
