...to everyday life

Weekend Message Q&A

Here are the questions from this week's message. Remember, if you have questions after a message, email questions@fiveoakschurch.org.

Q -  In light of the command to forgive unceasingly I have 2 questions: (1) When is it appropriate for the Christian to establish healthy boundaries? Thinking of the abusive situations, the cheating spouse, the parents who are dysfunctional even when their child is an adult, or even a friend at school that bring down the high schooler and starts to pull them away from staying strong in their faith when I ask this. In my situation, with many unbelieving, unrepentant family members, a parent who beat and verbally abused all of us kids at various levels and continues to deny harm.....I had to work through this with a Christian counselor. Forgiving this was the hardest thing I have ever done and, unlike God it wasn't something I could instantly do. It was a process for me to work through it. Does that fact mean the inability to instantly forgive again and again like God mean that is sin? Forgive and forget 
makes me cringe because I believe God forgets in such a way he no longer holds it against us, yet he is all-knowing and doesn't really forget where we came from and we shouldn't either. I had to surrender the revenge towards my mom to God, who knows her heart and her reasons for what all she did. (2) Do you recommend a solid book about forgiveness and how to live it out unceasingly? I know I still have a layer in my forgiveness onion to unfold, ripe off, and throw away.

A - This is precisely the type of question I hoped to get. Thanks for sending it in. It was simply impossible to deal with this topic in any kind of depth, and to broach the topics you raise would have added another 20 minutes (minimum) to the message.

Here’s my answer to part 1: Take all you stated as a question and turn it into statements and that’s the answer. I agree with everything you wrote about forgiveness, how hard it is, boundaries, forgetting, etc. And, as I’m sure you know because you’ve dealt with this personally in such depth, it is not a sin to be in the process of forgiveness as long as you don’t act on feelings of revenge and seeking to hurt the people you’re learning to forgive.

Two books I recommend on this whole topic are Boundaries: When to Say YES, When to Say NO, To Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend and The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande.

Q - Wondering about the context/scope of the message, especially when it comes to “rebuking”.   The passage mentions “brothers”, is it correct to interpret that as “fellow believers”?   If not, it seems like my approach would need to be different for a fellow believer vs a non-believer (two different frames of reference).

Also, I struggle with the line between rebuking and holding my brother accountable, and the idea that I’m judging them, when judging is not really my duty.   There are certainly times when sin is clear, but often the situations are not so clear, and a “judgment” about what’s right and what’s wrong needs to be made.

I’d appreciate any words of wisdom and direction…

A - Yes, this has to do only with fellow disciples for the reason you give—it’s between “brothers.” I also agree that the line between seeking to restore an unrepentant brother and being judgmental is hard to distinguish. I think that’s why the Bible addresses this in many places and gives so many qualifiers (e.g., gently, with patience and teaching, humbly). Humility, love, a spirit of forgiveness, a caring brotherly relationship and spiritual discernment have to be applied. It’s so tempting not to act at all, out of fear of being judgmental or off-base, not to mention how uncomfortable this can be. But if we understand what Jesus is talking about, it would be selfish to let those fears predominate in our lives.

Let me say that I’m chief of avoidance. I hate “rebuking.” But as I was answering your question it occurred to me that if I would approach these kinds of situations tentatively—leading with questions and avoiding accusation—and humbly, even admitting my fears to the “brother,” I might not only be more willing to act, I might also avoid many of the potential pitfalls.

Q - I’ve gotten a new view of verses 7-10 that I’d like to get your opinion on: Most people have interpreted this passage as you have and even my Bible publisher titles it as ‘Faith and Duty’. However, I’ve heard someone tie 7-10 more closely (I believe) to the disciples request for faith rather than assuming Christ went in a completely different direction to talk about humility and duty.

For instance, could it be that Christ was talking about the ‘unprofitable servant’ in a derogatory way and as a contrast of true faith, as Christ so often did use contrasts? Maybe this is kind of a retelling of the idea of the fearful and unfaithful servant who hid his talent; i.e., the one who has to be told every move to make and who considers the work of God as a tedious duty? The opposite of the unprofitable servant is the person who has the attitude/faith of a son and is invested in the family business (so to speak). Such an individual doesn’t need to be supervised in their every step and they understand that they've been given the keys/authority to advance the Kingdom of God on earth just as Christ had been doing…..

I really liked it when I heard this explanation of this passage so I thought I’d give it to you to kick around.

A - Very interesting, and possible. I haven’t seen this interpretation in all my research, but I think it’s possible. I’d have to look more into it, but it would tie quite closely to the whole idea of faith risking more, to the parable you mention and to the parable of the Prodigal Son from chapter 15 (especially the elder brother who “slaved” for his dad, doing his duty, but missing the boat altogether). Yes, very interesting!

The reality is that while only one of these interpretations is right, both are true in terms of what the Scriptures teach. A very important principle for biblical interpretation that was emphasized by Luther and the Reformers is that all interpretation need to jive with the rest of Scripture. It's common sense and keeps people from going off the deep end with bad interpretations. 

Thursday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

Just FOUR things I want to share with you today.

#1- I enjoyed reading Facebook posts from the weekend baptism service. One person who was baptized wrote: "Still just so excited from Sunday, I keep looking at my pictures." Another wrote: "Crazy fun day: Baptism outdoor service in Hudson this morning, followed by picnic with small group friends and at least an hour and a half in the water before capping it off with a trip to Nelson's Ice Cream." My aunt and her husband were here for the River Baptism service for the second year in a row. They're from the Chicago area, and they love coming to this service and picnic.

#2- Here are a few links that might interest you:

• Lee Strobel addresses the theater shooting here: "Why Does God Allow Tragedy and Suffering?
• You can download an audio version of the booklet, "Don't Waste Your Sports," by C.J. Mahaney, on sale for 99 cents here. It's about how to do sports for the glory of God.
• I really like the radio show, Planet Money. Three recent podcasts highlight the problem of sin in very interesting ways (without ever mentioning sin). I might use one of these in a message some time. But if any of these subjects interest you, listen and think about how sin permeates and destroys our lives and our world. The three stories are "How Good Governments Go Bad," "The Little Lie that Rocked the Banks," and "Allowance, Taxes and Potty Training." Fascinating stuff. It'll make a fan of the show.

#3- This week's passage would be a great case study on how to read the commands and demands of Jesus. What do you do when Jesus says, "If you cause a weaker believer to stumble and fall away, It would be better if you had died a gruesome death?" Sin may not be necessary when we are in Christ (we are free from its power), but it is inevitable. And our sins cause spiritual destruction, including sometimes turning people off to God. We're accustomed to the Old Testament prescribing strict punishments for failure to keep the law, but what do we do when Jesus does the same thing? How should we understand it in light of his grace? By the time I'm done editing my current message down to a tolerable length, I don't know that I'll be able to address this question in general terms, but I will be dealing with this one particular case from this week's passage (Luke 17:1-10).

#4- Most of you who knew Alex Hunt are probably aware that he died last Sunday after battling cancer for several years. Alex was our church Treasurer for six years, sang for some time on the worship team and participated in a small group with his wife Barbara until moving up to the Forest Lake area a couple of years ago. He was a wonderful, faithful man and a devoted husband and father. A quality individual that lived his faith not only at church but at work and in the community. He will be deeply missed by all that knew him. The service will be held tomorrow (Friday) at the Eagle Brook Church White Bear Lake Campus. Viewing from 9-11am and service at 11am. Please pray for his family.

God bless you all, and I hope to see you on the weekend. Pastor Henry

Tuesday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

Loved the River Baptism service! There are a few things I want to share with you about that day.

#1- We had to transition the service to the river when it started to sprinkle, so we missed taking an offering and getting most of the Communication Cards. Technically speaking, though, we still have a long-standing record of rain-free baptisms since the rain stopped before we started the baptisms.

#2- We celebrated with 40 of our brothers and sisters in Christ as they were baptized. Many had made recent decisions to follow Christ and were publicly declaring that decision. What a privilege to be a part of that day in so many people's lives.

#3- We're thankful for the set-up team's work and for all the volunteers who made the day special.

#4- My message was about three things your baptism signifies: (1) A public declaration of a personal decision to follow Christ (think about the young Indonesian seeking asylum and the judge's question); (2) You are on a journey to become more like Christ (think about the marina guy who had become like the person who trained him); and (3) You are proclaiming the amazing love and grace of Christ (think about the young laday who had not cried for 25 years until the day of her baptism but was no longer going to carry that baggage...she could look in the mirror and see someone loved by Christ). Some people asked if I cut my message short because of the rain. Nope. Got it all in...although I did hurry the last story a bit. (Yes, I am able to preach an entire message in about 20 minutes!)

#5- Loved that many new people who stayed to eat were pulled into your circles. I love to see Five Oakers engaged in reaching out and including people. Also loved seeing several celebrating with their small groups.

#6- Is it your turn to be baptized?

#7- We'll have a celebration video this coming weekend in all the services, but let me leave you with a few pictures to remember the day.

Thursday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I'm looking forward to our River Baptism Service in Hudson on Sunday. We have over 30 folks being baptized. As we talk about what these folks are expressing by being baptized, I'm going to ask everyone else to remember their baptism and the important step they took that day. I'll also put out a call for anyone else who has a personal relationship with Christ to join them if they have not been baptized as a believer.

One of our staff members who is quite recognizable around Five Oaks has come to the conclusion that he needs to be baptized as a believer. He was baptized as a baby in the Presbyterian Church, but he's become convinced that baptism should follow a profession of faith. Come see who I'm talking about!

That's all I have for many of you today, but if you're someone like this staff member, keep reading.

Here are a few things to consider if you were baptized as an infant but not after your profession of faith.

#1- Don't get baptized again if you are convinced that infant baptism is faithful to Scripture. Let the Scripture guide you. There are some great theologians that I highly respect, particularly in the Reformed tradition, that have a robust theology of infant baptism while holding solidly to salvation by grace alone through faith alone. I don't agree with them on this issue, but I respect their position.

#2- If you can't defend infant baptism scripturally, don't neglect this act of obedience to Christ because you are afraid of offending someone in your family. Remember all those passages where Jesus pits himself against family in Luke? Yeah, those passages are appropriate to apply on issues like this. You need to do what you believe is right before God. Period. "But God, it'll really upset my mom" won't cut it. Sorry.

#3- Your family may not get it, but you can honor their intent when they had you baptized by declaring your grown up faith through believer baptism.

#4- Don't get baptized if you have no idea what it means. Do your homework.

#5- Keep in mind that we don't baptize dead people.

#6- Okay, just wanted to see if I had your attention. We only baptize people who have found new life in Christ by putting their faith in what Christ did for them on the cross (see Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Roman 3:21-26). Apart from Christ we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). So that's what I mean when I say we don't baptize dead people.

#7- I had an interesting discussion with someone last weekend that brought up an issue I'd not thought of to address before. Their former church practices infant baptism and in some of that denomination's historical documents or policies, they threaten excommunication for anyone who is re-baptized. I'm not sure anyone still practices that anymore for that reason. I'm making an educated guess that it goes back hundreds of years to Europe when "free" churches (not under government control and holding to believer baptism) did "battle" with state sponsored churches (namely Lutheran, sometimes Roman Catholic) and threw a lot of that kind of stuff at each other all the time in their battle for converts. One side would claim, "If you don't get baptized by immersion, you're going to hell." And the other would respond, "If you leave the mother church and get baptized again, you are renouncing God and will be excomminicated." Yeah, people still think like this about baptism, but not many.

#8- If you sluff this off because it's not do or die, you might be missing the blessing of blessing others (think of your own kids, your family and your church family) with your public profession through baptism.

Those are some things to ponder. No hurry to decide, but who knows what horrible things will happen to you if you put it off too long........just kidding. Relax.

Blessings to you, Pastor Henry

Wednesday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have THREE things I want to share with you in today's Memo.

#1- If you're a serious runner, there's a group meeting at the Five Oaks building at 6:30am on Sunday (departing promptly at 6:45am) to run to Hudson for the River Baptism service at 10:00am. Patty Meras will be driving the support vehicle. Two water stops are planned. Here's the crew from last year. Looks like fun...if you're inclined to like pain and anguish.

#2- 24 days until our guys take off on the Miles 4 Meals ride from CA to MN (2000 miles) to raise $110,000 for 500,000 meals to feed 1,370 starving children for a full year. Like it on Facebook (here) to help get the word out and stay informed and check out the website here (you can donate on the website). 

#3- Some of you happened to see the article in the Minneapolis Tribune on "church hopping" that quoted me. I even received an email from someone I know in Michigan who read the article when another news agency picked it up. Anyway, I had a pretty extensive talk with the reporter last week and you can read the article here. One thing I talked about that didn't make the cut was while I think "church hopping" is not  a good idea in general, there have been some individual cases I know of where it made sense for that family for one reason or another. Not the ideal, but the person or family had unusual circumstances. Recently, a Five Oaks couple asked me if it was okay to "hop" between Five Oaks and one other church. After explaining the circumstances, I gave told them it made sense for now but that a day would come when they would need to choose, for their own sakes. You can read some of my other comments in the article.

Blessing, Pastor Henry

Tuesday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have a couple of things I want to share with you today:

#1- You can review this last weekend's songs, readings, and prayers here.

#2- Here are your comments from the weekend service Communication Cards.

• Loved the music! Wow! 
• Loved the songs! 
• Loved the harmony! 
• THANK YOU FOR AN AWESOME HYMNAL SERVICE! My soul was fed this Sunday! Praise God!
• ...liked hymn service – next time the praise songs from Maranatha (for Dan only). [She explained to me this was to pull Dan Lukas' leg...she's talking about all songs from the 80's and 90's for a service.]
  
• Awesome music! I probably wouldn’t want it every week, but it’s a nice change once in a while. 
• Loved this special hymn time singing – wonderful change! 
• Loved the “choir” this morning – sounded beautiful. Thanks for changing up the worship. 
• Loved the music!
• Loved the music!
• What a great message today Henry! Your energy, insight, and hard-lined message hits home. God deserves all of us –thanks for the reminder! [For the record, I went too long on Saturday. One of those days where, after working all week on my message, I rewrote the entire thing on Saturday (every word from scratch). No time to edit it down and lost track of time. Sorry, folks.]
• Great job worship team! So bummed I didn’t have a guest here to see that. Never heard hymns so beautiful!
• Love the hymns, so honest and pure! 
• Really enjoyed this style of music. 
• Great songs! 
• Love the hymns!
• Loved the hymns this morning! I agree with Dan – it connects us to believers from the past – all worshipping the same God past, present, and future. Wonderful and peace filled. Powerful message and worship! Thank you!
• Really like the fact we’re doing benediction. Could we bring back non-gluten free wafers, PLEASE (can’t stand the taste of gluten free). [Here's the basics on gluten-free: It's taxing on volunteers who prepare communion (and staff who buy it, etc.) to offer options, and it's equally taxing to communicate those options when there is so much to communicate on a weekend. Keep the comments coming, though. It might change things. We might figure out a way to do this.]
• Henry – message notes still have the “Principle of the Path” series title. [Oops.]
• Let him love you as you are without a single plea for reform… it’s about grace! When I fully absorb the significance of His grace, I am inspired to be the BEST me! Thanks, for a great message, Henry! So nice to have you back! 
• So refreshing and free to sing the beautifully penned words of the great hymns! Thank you! 
• Loved the hymns – such great words and promises. 
• Awesome words of 100’s of years ago that still minister now. This is what I need not to be entertained. Thanks. A nice mix would be great not total of either.
• I absolutely loved this worship service – what a beautiful, reverent, simple, and powerful! Came to tears singing “It Is Well”. Love what you guys do in mixing things up. So meaningful today! Fantastic, fantastic message Henry. Thanks for being used! Welcome back. Loved the hymns. 
• Singing “It Is Well With My Soul” and “Great Is My Faithfulness” was a great comfort after hearing this morning that a close friend died last night.
• Loved the music. Maybe one “old hymn” a week. [Great idea. I've had it often. Even implemented it for a while years ago. Unfortunately it didn't work. It was like someone telling me I need to have a certain kind of story illustration in my message every week. It would feel forced and would often not fit the flow of my message. All of our songs have a purpose, the flow is different week to week and there a variety of other reasons it doesn't work well to mandate it. Anyway, that's why we don't do a hymn per week. Thanks, though, and keep the ideas coming. I completely resonate with the intention of it.]
  
• Welcome back Henry! 
• Welcome back Pastor Henry – you’ve been missed! Loved the hymn sing. Thanks for doing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” Justin. 
• Loved the music. Contemporary is great but traditional hymns are beautiful. 
• Wonderful music – thank you! 
• The hymns were so powerful today. The Holy Spirit was in our midst with the simplicity of words and melodies. Please do this again – the entire congregation was singing – beautiful! 
• Loved the ladies singing and the hymns! [I also loved that three of those ladies are high schoolers (actually, two just graduated, to be exact).]
  
• Thank you for the wonderful worship songs! Hymns were beautiful. 
• Enjoy the singing today, so nice to hear the congregation singing. 
• Love the hymns. 
• Loved they hymn sing! What great messages in the song’s. 
• The music was beautiful, loved the set up of the singers they did a fabulous job. I had chills and tears in my eyes. I was just very touched. Thank you. Great message. 
• FANTASTIC music this week.  Thank you for bringing the simplicity of the hymns and the voices.  LOVED it.  Of course I love the regular band setting too, but the change was great for something different. [I get the distinct impression that people liked how Justin and the team mixed things up this week with the hymns.................but I could be wrong.]

It was GREAT to be back. I love you all and I'm blessed by you, Pastor Henry

Weekend Message Q&A

I wish we could do a Q&A after every message but hopefully this is the next best thing.

Q - I think I heard you say that there was no bias in the Bible.  Although I do believe that the bible is divinely inspired and is in its original form; God's word, I have trouble believing that any interpretation that I read is not biased.   I do believe that the King James version was slanted to fit the church of England's objectives, and not necessarily exactly what God had in mind when the original was put into human control.  I know that I also interpret many passages to fit some of my beliefs...I do believe that God created all, but I think it took more than 7 days in what our current time measurement system would count as 7 days.  Please tell me how the Bible that I am able to read is not biased.

A - Not sure I can because I agree with your analysis. All translations and interpretations (and ALL translations interpret) are biased. There is, of course, a bias of belief and a godward bias even in the original, inspired text. This is a fascinating but very complex area of study. The fact is that bias is unavoidable, yet we are able to communicate with each other and God is able to communicate his message in his Word.

Some of the people who devote their lives to this kind of thing come to such wacky conclusions that they eventually lose touch with reality. I took a directed study in my doctoral program at Boston U from a professor/scholar who believes the original meaning texts like the Bible or the Constitution are impossible to recover, and the best we can do is speak of "what it means to me." It's called a "deconstructionist" approach to understanding and has its roots in linguistics and philosophy. In spite of his position, my professor (who was actually a brilliant man) expected me to understand his book on the subject. If I had said, "I hear you saying that the original meaning of ancient texts can be recovered," he would have said, "No, that's not what I said." Precisely!

Q - You referenced hades, or a holding place.  I have heard something like this from different sermons in different denominations with different names, but am not sure where any of these references come from in the bible.  I do believe in Heaven and Hell, I'm not sure where the Bible says that you go to one or the other the second that you die is, but I do believe that believers go straight to heaven upon their completion of life in this world.  Can you give me the biblical verses that describe this "inbetween place"?

A - Key texts to look at: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Revelation 20:11-15. The idea of "hades" goes way back in Greek mythology and is not used in the Old Testament. Other conceptions of life after death are used. Jewish literature begins using the term and general ideas around the term during the period between the Old and New Testaments, and the New Testament picks up on this to some degree but reinterprets it. As I look at this I try to remember that heaven and hell are in a dimension of reality that is most likely outside of my ability to truly understand. But God provides the truth that I need to know and that I can actually grasp, and he does it using our human language and culture to communicate it. So there are some very important facts about heaven and hell that he wants me to "get" (e.g., there is a heaven and a hell, you want to go to heaven and you don't want to go to hell, your choices in this life determine your eternal destiny, etc.), but he also wants me to humbly accept there's a lot I can't and won't ever really "get."

Q - How do I address the person who wants to believe in God, but has issues with organized religion? 

A - You might offer to read the Bible together. There's an interesting resource for doing this that you can pick up here. You could also invite them to join you for our Story of God small group experience in the fall. It's amazing what happens when someone simply reads the text and understands the framework of the bigger story the Bible tells.

Q - Can you send me the paper on remarriage/divorce? 

A - Download it here: Download DivRemarPolAug07.

Thursday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have FIVE things I want to tell you about what's coming up.

#1- The worship team is really mixing it up this week: a piano, about 7-8 singers (lots of harmonies) and all hymns. I heard part of the rehearsal tonight and it's great.

#2- I'm combining this week's and next week's passages this weekend because of our River Baptism service next weekend. In this passage (Luke 16) Jesus explains how a religiously devoted person who seems to have it all together can end up in Hades, eternally separated from God. He also explains how to avoid that outcome. Really interesting passage and highly relevant to all of us.

#3- Here are some interesting posts that might interest you (btw, Eric Metaxas is the author of the recent biography of Bonhoeffer):

• Focusing on Wholeness: God's Plan for Human Sexuality (Eric Metaxas on BreakPoint)
• We Could Use Some Rest: Busyness and Angst (Eric Metaxas on BreakPoint)
• A Tale of Two Scientists: What Really Happened 'In the Beginning': How two evangelicals—one a young-earth creationist, the other an evolutionary creationist—have lived out their faith and professions. (Tim Stafford in Christianity Today)

#4- I'm resuming the Q&A experiment this weekend. If you have a question from the text or from my message, you can email it to me at questions@fiveoakschurch.org.

See you on the weekend (except for those of you in the small group that's camping, the people out of town, those of you who oversleep...), Pastor Henry

Wednesday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have FIVE things to share with you today.

#1- I listened to the podcast of Tim's message from three weeks ago. Engaging, biblical and downright meddling. Thank you, Tim.

#2- Great time at our weekly Staff Check-in yesterday. We all shared a highlight from the July 4th week and several people had been at the youth Challenge conference. Amazing stories of lives impacted and changed. Everyone who shared loved the conference--speakers and music--but the most amazing times happened outside the meetings. The workday after the conference was most impacting for some. The time of worship in a church lobby after the conference, led by Justin on a cheap guitar, was so heartfelt it matched worshipping with 6000 students. Baptizing three students in the ocean was one of Tim's highlights. Students who left here doubting God came away with a new, fresh, informed perspective. One staff member was stunned by the freedom she experienced worshipping with the students and the unbelievable vulnerability of the sharing in the small group times.

#3- Speaking of baptism, we'll be doing the river baptism in two weekends at the Hudson bandshell service. I love this yearly outdoor service. It's hot if you're sitting out there, but an umbrella pretty much fixes that. I share a short message and the music is great. Did I tell you my message will be short? But the best part is watching kids, students and adults from our church family get baptized, publicly proclaiming their faith. Bring a meal. Plan to meet up with your small group or some friends to sit and eat after the service. Go down to the beach with the family.

#4 - Here are the comments we received from first-time guests on the cards we send them:

• 6/24 - Didn’t understand the conglomerate style of ideas about worship.  Are you Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, or E Free?  Are you trying to be all? [I can understand why you might think, but no, we're not trying to be a denomination. We're just trying our best to make everything count in our service. We want every element to have a clear, biblical purpose (all killer, no filler). And we want to help people engage more deeply and personally in worship in response to God's invitation to gather for worship and to his revelation through his Word.]
  
• Will visit again when we can hear the Senior Pastor.  You have a good reputation in the community.  That’s why we’re looking around.

#5 - While I was gone on sabbatical the staff did an 80's thing for weekly Staff Check-in. (I forgot to remind them about the "no-fun rule" when I'm gone.) I'll leave you today with some pics from that event. Since many on our staff come from our membership, it might serve as a warning to you. God bless you, Pastor Henry

Tuesday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have a few things I want to share with you.

#1- It's great to be back from my four-week sabbatical. Great time with family, for refueling and for regaining some perspective on life and ministry. I even got some traction on the Story of God book revision. 

#2- I was able to visit three churches while on sabbatical. The worship songs at Hope Community in Minneapolis especially stood out. Amazing. Every song was a rearrangement of a hymn that week, and they're working on an album with their arrangements. I will definitely buy it. It was weird to look around and almost everyone was in their 20's. Fortunately for me, unless I look in the mirror I still think of myself as that young, so I felt comfortable. But you can imagine how frightening it is every time I see myself! By the way, Hope is the church that does the extended greating time with an ice breaker question. I turned around and met a teen age pastor's son visiting that weekend.

I was blessed by every visit to other churches, but Lois and I both talked about how much we missed worshipping at Five Oaks after every one. I feel spoiled by our team of worship leaders, and I missed seeing you guys in the Commons or in the service.

#3- You may have noticed I'm conducting yet another experiment. I'm going to break down the Mid-Week Memo into three or four days each week. Each one will be shorter and will focus on a separate area. The Tuesday Memo will focus on the previous weekend. I'm hoping a shorter Memo will be easier to read.

#4- You can review the songs, readings, prayers and get a snippet of the message here. Below is from the time of Confession & Assurance. I love the last line.

not the labor of my hands can fulfill thy laws demands
could my zeal no respite know, could my tears for ever flow
all for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone.
nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.
_from ‘Rock of Ages’ Traditional arranged by Brooks Ritter & Thomas Hasting

(I hate having missed a Brooks Ritter arrangement. He's a worship leader at Sojourn in Louisville where Henry Michael attends.)

#5- Here are your Communication Card comments from the service last weekend:

• Dan – loved hearing you sing this morning and the opening hymns. Great message Vince – thank you for the challenge of immovable character. [I listened to the podcast of the message and it was very good. And, yes, very challenging. The mirror story proved he's a better man than me. I may have given in and put it up at 9:30pm, but I would complained and belly-ached and tried to get out of it every minute. His wife sounds a lot like mine, though. No better time to do something like that than now for both of them.]
• Beautiful worship. Awesome word from Vince. 
• Was blessed by worship today, Dan and team! Great message, Vince!
• Great sermon from Vince, as always! [We are blessed to have Vince come from time to time and preach. Thanks, Eagle Brook, for letting us borrow him on those weekends!]
• Challenge students heard the same Dallas Willard quote on disciples this past week that Vince quoted this morning! [Willard is one of the most influential present-day writers on the subject of discipleship and spiritual formation. Unfortunately, his books are hard to follow at times. But if you want a good dose of Willard, read John Ortberg's book called The Life You Always Wanted. Ortberg refers to himself as "Dallas Willard lite" (but he's not lite by any means, just a lot easier to follow, in my opinion). You can usually purchace the book at our Resource Table.]
  
• Thank you Vince Miller! 
• Great opening – readings – and “Rock of Ages” – set-up for message! Love Vince, this message – missed not having slides/visuals to back up/add to the message. Dan – great reflection and empowerment selections. Great job!
• Vince thank you for that powerful message. I will always remember that message and the 200 lb mirror. God bless! Dan – thank you for the great performance at “We Lift Our Eyes”. It’s so relevant for my life right now.
• Refreshing service – music awesome – did not need ear plugs today. Simple deep challenge to not drift.
• Fantastic opening song. Dan Lucas did an amazing job this weekend. Thank you.
• Very nice worship set. Thank you. Great message Vince! Thanks so much for parsing that passage for us. Always confusing for me. Cool how Jesus took a reprobate to teach us how to repurpose our lives. Thanks for the wonderful closing set.

So sad to miss all that, but so happy to be back. I love our church!

Blessings to you, Pastor Henry