2 Stories and an Update

For those of you who are following the ministry saga at my church we had 31 in worship on Sunday. At 10:30 am we had just 15 adults in the room. That's tough! I'm still not sure what God's up to, but I'm just along for the ride (trying not to fall out of the boat at times). I appreciate the words from track #9 on Steven Curtis Chapman's CD "All Things New." He talks about the tendency to look all the way to the other side for the answer to the storm on the sea, when God may want to bring an unexpected (both in time and fashion) answer right in the middle. In looking for the answer t0 the storm we're currently weathering, I know all of the answers I see as options are "other side" options. My prayer is that I don't miss God's answer because I'm so busy looking beyond the here and now.

Here's a funny story or two...

1.)
I got a call from another church saying that they had received a call from the local newspaper concerning a complaint that a local pastor had posted a political sign in the yard of his church owned parsonage. This person claimed that the pastor was in violation of a nonprofit law that forbids a church from endorsing a candidate. For starters, what kind of a hemorrhoid goes to that much trouble over an election sign? After contacting the Secretary of State's office and my District Superintendent, it was determined that the sign was ok. I immediately wanted to go out and get six more signs, but my wife talked me into getting some bumper stickers and leaving our cars in the driveway. I'm still considering a 4x6 banner to hang on the front of my house. People?

2.)
My second story involves a gentleman in my congregation who arrived at Bible study this morning sharing about the bruising he suffered as a result of the hard time nurses had inserting a catheter while he was in the hospital this past week. I could not stop crying I was laughing so hard. I apologize for the traumatic mental image.