One REALLY Fun Part of my job!

I just experienced one of the the MOST fun parts of being a Pastor. Once in a while, someone will want to give a significant gift to someone else, and they want to do it anonymously.

Yesterday, someone from church came by, dropping off the keys to a donated car along with instructions that it go to a single mother in our church. I spent a few hours the last two days running it to the mechanic and sprucing it up, making sure evrything is safe and well-operational. I then called the gal she lives with and had her bring the mom over to the office.

What joy to watch her become overwhelmed at the Christmas-timed generosity of another person who would think of her in such a way! I just had to share with someone what a blessing it is sometimes to do what I do. That was a blast!!

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Step Into The Pulpit ... cont.

Remember my post on November 30 about a Pastor who was slugged during the service? Well, this one is quite sad to report, but back on October 30, Pastor Kyle Lake of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, was killed DURING service when he touched a microphone while in the baptistry. (That's why we don't do that for those that might wonder!)

Our prayers are with Pastor Kyle's family and University Baptist Church.

In Memory of Tracy Ann Fein

I know most of you will not know who Tracy Fein (pronounced "fine") is, but I want to dedicate today's post to her. I also ask that you pray for her parents, Steve & Legia, today.

The Fein's live two doors down from us and are wonderful people. A side note to what I write about today is that last April, Legia, an avid cyclist in awesome physical shape, was out riding with Steve when she accidentally tumbled and ended up with a broken neck. She spent 3-4 months on bedrest in a brace that she still has to wear today.

Steve & Legia, Tracy's sister, Jennifer, and several other family members are in a courtroom in Minden, Nevada right now as I am writing. They are there for the sentencing hearing of the young man who was driving the car Tracy was killed in.

Tracy was killed on August 27, 2005 in a single car accident in Minden, Nevada. She was a passenger in her brand new, long-waited for Scion, driven at the time by her boyfriend, Trevor Clark. Unfortunately, they had driven about 450 miles in about 7 hours. You do the math.

Mr. Clark was found to have exceeding levels of various drugs in him when the accident occurred. That's why he is in court today, after (thankfully) pleading guilty to the charges he faced.

Admitted by the Fein's is that Tracy was caught up in the drugs too. She chose to give herself to an unhealthy relationship with Mr. Clark. She was, however, slowly but surely turning her life around. She graduated from nursing school a year ago as was working. She was trying to make better decisions. This trip (they were on their way to The Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada) was obviously not one of her better choices.

For any who would like to express their regards to the Fein's, you can visit the website Steve set up for Tracy at http://www.tracyfein.com . A STRONG warning and disclaimer - For the purposes of the sentencing hearing, Steve has placed some links of audio recordings that Trevor Clark left on the Fein answering machine some years ago that are VERY graphic and filled with expletives. If you choose to listen to them, please know that you do so at your own choice. I list the website as a way to see some of Tracy's story and express condolences and prayers directly to the Fein's.

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Chronicles of Narnia

Just saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe yesterday for my youngest son's 10th birthday. I remember reading the book about 25 years ago, right after I had become a Christian. I must say I never imagined in reading the book what was depicted on screen. It was that good.

Call me underprivileged, boring, too serene, melacholy, or whatever you want. I was just very impressed with the way the book came alive on screen. I recommend it highly.

Israel, here WE come .... ?

OK everyone, get ready for this one!! How about a church-wide trip to Israel in the Summer of 2007? In July of 2007, our Annual International (never-been-done-outside-the-US) Foursquare Convention is being held in Jerusalem! WOW!

I have never been there, but have always wanted to go. What a better way to experience it than with those we worship with every week?

I had breakfast with Stan Wilson (Pastor at Sonrise) & Marty Kruse (Pastor at The River), both of whom are Foursquare, as are their churches (in case you weren't aware), a few weeks ago. We met to start planning to have all three of our churches take part in a combined Holy Land Tour.

Our hope is that any who come to Israel will also have the opportunity to take part in the Convention, which should be a pretty awesome experience given the location!

I'll keep you as posted as possible, but for now, what do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts, would you?