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 reality check - the sequel
For those of you new to us, my [Mark's] daughter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in March. Well... April 1 (a day I would think would be perfect for me to get an operation) Arielle went in and had her thyroid removed. To our great relief and joy, the doctor's think they got it all. Just for good measure they are treating her also with Iodine-131 to get whatever they may have missed. That in itself was great news, to be sure. Two weeks after surgery she was already back at dance classes with just a thin disappearing scar to show for it.
What was really a blessing, as well, for my whole family was how you people out there responded. For the last years I've become pretty put off by Christians in general for a variety of reasons, some good, many not well-founded. So the response for Arielle from people who have never met her, sending prayers and putting her on prayer lists and writing the kindest words to us, was overwhelming. Sorta brings tears to the eyes I don't mind saying.
To all of you who wrote or prayed or were involved in any way in our predicament and in my revelation - thank you.
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spirit west coast Well, we're off again to change the world. For the one billionth consecutive year we are going to some Christian music fest - this year Spirit West Coast at Del Mar, California this weekend - to try and preach to the choir. And we are absolutely determined to reach someone with our message of leaving the subculture and reaching a dying world. The irony, and probably the kiss of death, is that we are going to an event that is practically the definition of Christian Ghetto, to convince people that we shouldn't have one.
We will not be cynical.
We will not be cynical.
We will not be cynical.
If we actually convince no one in those three crowded days, we will be forced to physically tie down some random innocent passerby and read to them Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live? Neither of us has been trained in the latest Army torture techniques so you need not fear pictures of us popping up on 60 Minutes or at Senate hearings. [But Mark has taught high school science for 20 years and Dan is a probation officer, so we do know a little something about forcing people to see a particular point of view. OURS!!! Bwa ha ha!]
Would you please pray 1) that we have a good attitude about being amongst people, the majority of whom seem more determined to spend exorbitant money on inflated prices for a truckload of Jesus Junk than to learn about defending the faith for free, 2) that we can give a lot of stuff away and that it will be used for reading purposes and not for wrapping fish, 3) that we continue our desire to change the world, a tall order if there ever was one, but one that is necessary in order to achieve world domination. We'll have the usual slew of pix and satirical comments in our next noozletter, whenever that's coming out.
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 ta-da!!! new shirts! Finally we have the (un)orthodox Tshirt ready!!! What? you may ask. I thought there already was one. Ha! Are you out of touch!
Now we have one with a pithy saying on the back explaining the whole unorthodox goodiness of it all. Written mostly by modern-day Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charlie LeHardy of Anotherthink.com, we think it fits us perfectly. And we hope the shirt fits you perfectly. On the back is written:
God is truth.
Faith and reason are fused in Him.
I question. I listen.
I use my mind.
Jesus gave his life for sinners.
I won't spend my life in a Christian ghetto.
I care. I pray.
I use my heart.
I won't speak Christian, dress Christian,
or act Christian.
I'll just be Christian.
We have it in dark green, dark blue, and dark black… err… or just plain black, or… whatever! Go here!
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 stickie bumpers I know what you're thinking! You guys hate all the Jesus junk out there that drags our faith into the pit of capitalism and mediocrity and yet you guys have all this paraphernalia and and and!!! Cool the jets, Captain. We do hate all the Jesus Junk out there, but we don't see our stuff as such. With our shirts and bumper stickers we are trying to be creative, trying to show the world we aren't acting some part, trying to show them we aren't trying to make a buck on our faith or on Jesus' blessed name. (We aren't charging for this, mind you, just asking for a donation to come within one light year of breaking even.) We aren't ripping off some secular logo. We really have a message that we feel strongly about and we really want to use these means to change the world.
If you don't already see that we are right, some day you will, and then you'll be feeling all bad and have to write us a long old whiney letter of apology. So just give it up now and get it over with. You'll sleep better.
As such we have these bumper and window stickers that we think can actually be a constant reminder for us that we are here to be creative and helpful and honest and do things with integrity - that we are orthodox in our beliefs but unorthodox in our ways.
So there.
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room addition! So with all that, we have an announcement! We're expecting! Well, kinda, kinda not. Then how about We are evolving! No, not in the random hyper-rare beneficial mutations over a long periods time with a little natural selection thrown in for good measure do-do that we have come to know and reject.
We are, over the summer, changing to a ministry that is not just appealing to those who want to grow their minds, but who want to grow their hearts, as well. We are in search of a way to be a resource for the complete Christian. No longer will our little caption subtitle be Christian Apologetics With an Edge. Starting in the summer, it will be Christianity on the Edge.
We will be adding on to our ministry's house. We have already the Frontdoor, and the Study, and Upstairs, and the Servant's Quarters. Now we'll be adding a spacious Living Room.
Here is where we will showcase other ministries that are devoted to helping and serving. We plan on having a place where you can share your own ideas of how to be servants in your own community. We want a list of groups like Samaritan's Purse and Compassion International and even - dare I write it? - Amnesty International; places that, whether we agree fully with them or not, can plant seeds, give us ideas, expand us as believers.
Want to help? Great! Give us ideas of things you'd like to see as we rebuild the house from scratch. We have in mind a theme in which a small group of people renevate a house with a little money and a lot of imagination. The hosts are perky and cute, and…. naaaaaah.
Please pray 1) that our Lord is blessed, absolutely blessed, by the efforts of all involved, 2) that people of God will be encouraged to love and serve the Lord with the minds and hearts, 3) that we will all see the world through new eyes, unencumbered with our own preconceived ideas of what Christians are supposed to be, more by what we ought to be.
Now, we're outta here. Love you all!
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| Thanks for your kind words of support and encouragement. We don't expect to please everyone with what we say and how we do it. So prayer and encouragement are always welcome. Thanks very much from the three of us! |
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