Blessings!

We had a wonderful day of celebration yesterday, at worship and then at our annual Reformation party. We have been blessed to have been able to host parties here on the property through the years. Alas, we may be moving within the next year. One thing we are praying about for when the time comes for us to re-locate is having a new home where we could continue to use the gift of hospitality......please add that onto your prayer lists when you think about us!

Enthusiasm alone.......

Late one afternoon, a medieval knight was returning to the castle, and he was a pitiful sight to see. His horse was limping and he was skewgee in the saddle. His armor was dented, his lance was broken and the proud plume on his helmet was crumpled and hung down over his face. The Lord of the castle saw him coming and rushed out to meet him. “What terrible thing has befallen you, Sir Percy?” he asked. “Oh, sire,” he said, “I have been laboring all day in your service, robbing and pillaging your enemies to the West. “You’ve been doing what!!” exclaimed the nobleman. Thinking he was hard of hearing, the knight replied, much louder, “I have been robbing and pillaging your enemies to the West.” “But I haven’t any enemies to the West,” was the horrified reply. “Oh!” said the knight. And then, “Well, I think you do now.” ooooops........pray that we will all have zeal "according to knowledge" (Ro 10:1-5) and be pleasing to the Lord!

ECCLESIA SEMPER REFORMATA

YOU’RE INVITED TO JOIN
TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
CELEBRATING
OUR REFORMED HERITAGE

ECCLESIA SEMPER REFORMATA --the Church is always reforming



THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2007, 4:00 PM
1868 PATTON CHAPEL ROAD, HOOVER

Gilbert’s Famous Beer-Can Chicken provided!
Bring your lawn chairs, and a side dish, drink or dessert
Children’s Moon Walk, Games, Tug of War, Bon Fire, Special Music
FUN and FELLOWSHIP for ALL Ages

On the Eve of All Saints, Day, October 31, 1517, Augustinian Father Doctor Martin Luther, professor of scripture at the University of Wittenberg, Germany posted an invitation to debate on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. The invitation to debate contained ninety-five points, or theses, concerning the sale of indulgences. Luther chose this date for posting his theses because the coming holyday would bring many of the community to services, ensuring that his statements would receive wide exposure.

The Church is in constant need of ongoing renewal. Jeremiah 31:31-34 tells of the coming New Covenant where God will write His law on every human heart. Romans 3:19-28 declares the central tenet of the Reformation, that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. John 8:31-36 enjoins us to be constant in the Word in order to be freed by the One who is Truth.

And since the law is not yet perfectly inscribed on every heart and all are not yet fully devoted to the Word, the task of Reformation is not yet complete. Ecclesia semper Reformata--the Church is always reforming.

Fall at VMI

We went to Lexington, Virginia this past weekend where we attended parent's weeend at VMI...John is a 1st Classman now. This was our last parent's weekend and I admit, I will really miss the trip and event in the future! It has been a lot of fun and has been a blessing to see how the Lord has been maturing our son through the years! Overall, he has had many positive experiences at VMI. We have made good friends with a number of parents of John's classmates and have enjoyed unbelievably good food at the tailgate parties. On Friday, we had a picnic at Goshen's Pass, a lovely place nearby in the Shenandoah Valley. The fall colors were beautiful and we enjoyed climbing on the rocks in the riverbed of the Maury River. Wish you all could have been with us!

..there are no tricks to prayer

Here are some encouraging remarks on prayer: http://www.leithart.com/archives/003369.php This week's Daily Devotional Guide begins with The Gothic Missal: "We beseech Thee, O Lord, mercifully to correct our wanderings, and by the guiding radiance of Thy compassion to bring us to the salutary vision of Thy truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Cultural commentaries....

...I think this book about Alabama football fanmania might rival the NC/Dukie book PJL writes about as a cultural commentary!!! Roll Tide!

NC Rivalry
Peter J. Leithart, October 15, 2007
Over at the Books & Culture online magazine, Jason Byassee of the Christian Century - and a Duke PhD - lists some of the best lines from Will Blythe's To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever: A Thoroughly Obsessive, Intermittently Uplifting, and Occasionally Unbiased Account of the Duke-North Carolina Basketball Rivalry (HarperCollins, 2006):
"The delight in the book is Blythe's hand as a wordsmith. Interestingly (from this Dukie’s perspective) some of his greatest phrases come in begrudging praise of Duke players past and present. A crucial three-pointer fired in crunch time by Ichabod Crane lookalike Mike Dunleavy brought this delightful curse: 'If the shot didn't fall cleanly through the hoop and stab me in the heart like the sneakiest cheatin’ girlfriend.' Bobby Hurley was a 'New Jersey white kid' who used to 'blaze up and down the court like a Chevy Camaro about to throw a rod.' And more recent Duke great J.J. Redick would weave his 'ceaseless figure eights around the court, rubbing defenders off big men down low, darting for the cover of successive screens like a roach desperately seeking a hiding place' . . . "But Blythe wields a powerful pen praising the Tar Heels as well. Shooter Joe Forte could launch jumpshots that fell 'into the net like groceries plopped into a bag by a pimply checkout boy.' When all-time great Michael Jordan dunked the ball, he would 'throw it down as if punishing it for insubordination.' And when Sean May almost single-handedly defeated Illinois for the national title, he did so by 'fouling out every big man in the state of Illinois, including ones not yet born.' The gentle giant had magnificent hands: 'Watching him shoot was akin to watching a bear dine on salmon with a knife and fork—such unexpected refinement captured one's notice.'"

If there is....

If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world .....So let it be. —Scottish Blessing

Trinity Presbyterian

Did you know today is the 20th Lord's day of Trinity season? Our church is named Trinity Presbyterian.

Our pastor says:
Understanding the Trinity is the key to understanding ourselves. God’s Triune existence is a model for humanity, made in the image of the God who is three-in-one. Because God is a communal being, we know we were made to live in community as well, indwelling one another’s lives as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all indwell one another. The Trinity is our pattern: As God is, so the church should be – a holy family, sharing a common life. As God lives, so we should live – in mutual love and fellowship. As God does, so we should do – giving ourselves to one another in humble service and sacrifice. Our church desires to be a place where the Trinity is not just a doctrine, but a way of life.

“Church” comes from the Greek term ekklesia, meaning “the called out ones.” As a community of God’s people, we have been called out of the world in order to serve the world. We are against the world as it is, so we can be for the world, reshaping it by God’s grace into what it should be. Biblically, the church is defined as God’s temple and kingdom, as well as Christ’s body and bride. It is a royal priesthood, the City of God, and the new Israel. The church is the place of salvation and the one institution that will endure for all eternity. When family and state have disappeared, the church will still stand. Not even the gates of hell can prevail against her.

.....AND about being Presbyterian,
We are “Presbyterian,” in that we trace our lineage back through the great Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries. This is our theological and ecclesiastical heritage. While we believe the church is always in need of reformation – and hence view “Reformation” as a continuing “project” rather than a finished “product” – we are greatly thankful for the renewal God gave to his church during that crucial period of history. Reformed hallmarks include the sovereignty of God in saving his people from sin, an aspiration to glorify God in all of life and culture, a focus on the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as incarnate Son of God and only Savior, justification by a living faith, and the ultimate authority of the Scriptures as God’s perfect and final revelation. We desire to learn from our brethren in other branches of the church and we do not believe the Reformed tradition is flawless. But we also believe Presbyterian faith and practice best exemplifies the biblical pattern for the church in the present time, and this historical connection is a major feature of our church’s identity.

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor 13 October 1066 Edward was born in 1003. He was the last Saxon king to rule (for more than a few months) in England. He is called "Edward the Confessor" to distinguish him from another King of England, Edward the Martyr (c962-979), who was assassinated (presumably by someone who wished to place Edward's younger half-brother on the throne), and who came to be regarded, on doubtful grounds, as a martyr for the faith. In Christian biographies, the term "confessor" is often used to denote someone who has born witness to the faith by his life, but who did not die as a martyr. Edward was the son of King Ethelred the Unready. This does not mean that he was unprepared, but rather that he was stubborn and wilful, and would not accept "rede," meaning advice or counsel. Aethelred was followed by several Danish kings of England, during whose rule young Edward and his mother took refuge in Normandy. But the last Danish king named Edward as his successor, and he was crowned in 1042. Opinions on his success as a king vary. Some historians consider him weak and indecisive, and say that his reign paved the way for the Norman Conquest. Others say that his prudent management gave England more than twenty years of peace and prosperity, with freedom from foreign domination, at a time when powerful neighbors might well have dominated a less adroit ruler. He was diligent in public and private worship, generous to the poor, and accessible to subjects who sought redress of grievances. While in exile, he had vowed to make a pilgrimage to Rome if his family fortunes mended. However, his council told him that it was not expedient for him to be so long out of the country. Accordingly, he spent his pilgrimage money instead on the relief of the poor and the building of Westminster Abbey, which stands today (rebuilt in the thirteenth century) as one of the great churches of England, burial place of her kings and others deemed worthy of special honor. He died on 5 January 1066, leaving no offspring; and after his death, the throne was claimed by his wife's brother, Harold the Saxon, and by William, Duke of Normandy. William defeated and slew Harold at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), and thereafter the kings and upper classes of England were Norman-French rather than Anglo-Saxon. Edward is remembered, not on the day of his death, but on the anniversary of the moving ("translation") of his corpse to a new tomb, a date which is also the anniversary of the eve of the Battle of Hastings, the end of Saxon England. written by James Kiefer Prayer O God, who called your servant Edward to an an earthly throne that he might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for your Church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

prayers from BCP for today....

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Next President

This month the National Federation of Republican Women met for their convention in Palm Springs, California. Giuliani was the winner of the straw poll taken there with 50.25% of the 756 votes cast. Fred Thompson only polled 20.94%. However, Joseph Bottum, the editor of First Things predicts that Fred Thompson will win the nomination AND a slim election victory over Hillary Clinton....Is this but wishful thinking for a true social conservative??? Here's the ending paragraph to his article... Or, at least, so far. Rudy Giuliani will have to run the table on Super Tuesday, winning nearly every primary on February 5 after losing all the ones before. Maybe he can do it. But the deeper into the winter the campaign goes, the more Thompson benefits. A Fred Thompson nomination, a slim election victory over Hillary ­Clinton, a stealth pro-lifer slipped on the Supreme Court through a Democratic Senate—that weak ­scenario is about the best a social conservative can hope for today. Everything else is bad. Very bad. For the whole article as well as predictions by others, here's the link: http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6065

....caring for orphans

http://www.ethicsconference.net/ David will be a contributor at a conference next week on adoption ethics and accountability. Here's a nice bio of David which was published on the conference website: David Smolin David M. Smolin is Professor of Law at Cumberland Law School, Samford University, and Director, Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics. He works together with his wife, Desiree Smolin, on adoption reform issues. Many of Professor Smolin’s adoption-related articles are available online at http://works.bepress.com/david_smolin/ . A broader listing of his articles, including work on children’s rights and child labor, is available on his faculty web page at http://cumberland.samford.edu/cumberland_people.asp?ID=475 . Desiree Smolin’s web blog on adoption corruption issues can be found here at http://www.fleasbiting.blogspot.com/ ; her adoption-related web site can be found here at http://adoptinginternationally.com/. David and Desiree are the parents of eight children, including two adopted as older children from India.

Peace

"And let the peace of christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col 3: 15-17

This is a "peace" rose. Isn't it beautiful. It was on a bush in my mother's back yard and I picked it and made this arrangement for her.

After WWII a peace rose (the most famous and successful garden rose) was given to each of the delegates at the inauguration of the UN with the note: "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".

Jim Jordan says in "How to stop the killing in Darfur" that the world is not changed by direct human action. The world is changed when God is persuaded to change it. The Church alone has the power to come before the Throne and cause the world to be changed.....the church, not the UN! Priests are to sing psalms in the presence of God on behalf of the world (that's us...remember the priesthood of ALL believers). He says the prayers for justice and vengeance are scattered all over the book of Psalms and that it is very clear that God promises to change the world, to turn the world upside down, when His people come into His presence during worship and pray as the importunate widow "avenge me on mine adversary." (Luke 18) He says it's liturgical warfare...conquering principalities and powers in high places, and it will bring peace to the world! I'm going to try to sing (or chant) the psalms more often!

Pastor Nazareth from Tanzania

We had a nice visit with Pastor Nkumbu Nazareth Mwalyego from Mbeya, Tanzania recently. We met him through Reed Terry. He had previously attended the Birmingham Baptist Bible College but had returned to Tanzania and had been church planting there for a while. He came back to Birmingham and has visited some others cities in the US telling about his church and the Lord's work in Tanzania. He told us about how the Lord is blessing his congregation with much growth. They are in an area with many pagan people. The adults do not want to change their way, but they are willing to send their children to the local church....he said the church is growing greatly with the attendance of these children. It seems that the children are believing the gospel story, being baptized, going back into their homes and the parents are noticing changes (i.e. children obeying their parents, prayers being answered, etc) and NOW, guess what, the parents are becoming interested in the church....hallelujah, "a little child shall lead them." He said he is hoping to be able to build a larger church and he is trying to get workers to begin "children's church" ministry. We shared with him a little about liturgical worship, covenant renewal and how children can learn the responses, readings, prayers, etc and can participate in the service with adults. He took one of our TPC bulletins and was interested. Pray that Pastor Nazareth will be able to continue to win these children, that they will mature and there will continue to be rebirth, renewal and our Lord's kingdom will grow through the work of his church in Tanzania.

Don't forget to order your tickets for Bella

Check out this website: http://www.bellathemovie.com/ United For Life Foundation is working in the Birmingham area to assist in bringing the movie BELLA -- a small independent film that tells the story of a girl in a crisis pregnancy -- to our media market. Bella has the potential to bring the message of hope and love to our hurting world thru the mainstream entertainment media, but we need to sell out the two theatres in Birmingham that will be showing the film the last weekend in October and first weekend in November in order for it to be picked up in neighborhood theatres around the country. Please encourage your friends and family to see this movie. United For Life Foundation will be hosting a Premier of the movie Thursday October 25th at the Alabama Theatre at 7PM as a fundraiser for its on-going crisis pregnancy commercials which have been very effective- for every $12 in media purchase one girl has called the option crisis pregnancy hotline! You can reserve your seat by registering on-line at the website Unitedforlifefoundation.org

Remorse vs Repentance

.... from the book: Pardon and Peace. "Sorrow for sin has two aspects, two slants as it were, one backwards and one forward. Looking back, the penitent regrets and detests sin; looking forward, he determines to avoid it. Determination to avoid both sin and its occasions, in other words, firm purpose of amendment, is the crucial test of the reality of contrition. He who is determined to do his best to avoid sin, undoubtedly has true repentance, even though he feels spiritually dry as a desert and indevout as an iceberg. The proof of contrition is in the effective will to reform. It is all-important that there should be no misunderstanding about the true meaning of contrition; remorse must on no account be confused with repentance." (intro Chpt 13)

Walking uprightly

"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from thoe who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!" Ps 84: 10-12