I have been struck with the number of young people, young couples and young families that attend our various conferences and meetings. Frankly, each time I hear some leader from various parts of the grace establishment lament the "aging" of their networks, it sounds strange to me. Oh, I understand; the older networks versus the newer life/growth we represent is obvious. When they invited us to not be a part of their endeavors decades ago, we realized that the future was ours. We embraced it. We have grown with it and into it as only "new growth" can. We are glad for the past; but we have looked to the future--and it is now!
One illustration of this came from an email forwarded to me by Edward Yarber, a key coordinator of last weekend's Ohio Grace Conference. Perhaps it will give you a dad's perspective--and encourage you, too.
"As a Dad, I often find myself measuring the success of my parenting abilities by the feedback and reactions I get from my kids. I know that is not always the barometer to use, but in some instances, I just can't help but smile and know that "We done good". In this case, both my daughters expressed a hardy "Great Weekend" when I asked them about their thoughts/impressions about the trip to the conference. That then, is a true testament to the work you, David, Ted, and all the rest (especially the wives) did to pull off yet again another fantastic weekend around God's word.
"As a parent, I am always encouraged when I see young children willing to learn and grow in God's Grace. I know that will set the foundation for the rest of their lives. It is not always easy for youngsters to embrace the desires of the parents, and in this case, when that desire is to be among Saints for three days spending most of that time in Bible Study hearing preaching and teaching, and to realize that there were quite a few young adults willing to participate in the conference, must have brought a smile to our Heavenly Father for sure!
"Please be sure to pass on the thanks of my two daughters (as well as from me and Linda!!) to all involved in this conference, and we all look forward to attending again next year.... Cathy with her new husband as well!!"
To that I can only add: Amen!
Maranatha!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Just A Thought
I thought when the new flooring was finished we would be able to reoccupy our up stairs, but it hasn't happened yet. The floor is beautiful and so is the kitchen. Its our 40 Anniversary present to ourselves (June 20th, so its a bit early!). Going to Ohio this weekend, so maybe next week we will be able to get moved back in. Just a thought!
Charlie McQuillan will be spending the night with us Thursday. He'll have to sleep on the couch in the family room since our guest rooms are still full of kitchen stuff. Cynthia ain't happy about that! She is so determined to offer only the best in hospitality, its a good things he's still young enough to think a couch is better than the floor!
As I have been teaching the book of John--and thus reading it over and over, most of the time at one setting--I am reminded of its parallel with the Tabernacle. Since John presents the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us--and since the purpose of the Tab was for God to dwell among Israel--that isn't a surprise. Just a blessing! The more you study the details, the more you see the wonder of it. And most of all, that the One who gave the pattern for the Tab knew what was going to happen when He became flesh and dwelt among us. Only God Himself could be the author of the Book!
We have reworked some of the artwork on our Rightly Dividing the Word chart and it is at the printer. Doing 100,000 this time. We thank God for the generous help in making this possible. It is all paid for! That in itself is a wonderful blessing.
I've been on FaceBook and doing a bit of Twittering. FaceBook has turned out to be interesting. Twitter is useless--can't say much in 140 characters! and who needs to know every detail of your day anyway?! Ain't that much that interesting going on. But it is nice to hear from folks directly. Amazing how much hunger there is for fellowship among grace folks there is out there. That is a great thing! Don't worry, however. I don't spend but a very few minutes on either. I check email four or five times a day (I average about 60 per day--plus spam) and look at fb once or twice when I'm doing this. Cynthia watches to see if I pray as much as I'm on it! If you want to say hi via fb, my handle is RJordanGSB.
Maranatha!
Charlie McQuillan will be spending the night with us Thursday. He'll have to sleep on the couch in the family room since our guest rooms are still full of kitchen stuff. Cynthia ain't happy about that! She is so determined to offer only the best in hospitality, its a good things he's still young enough to think a couch is better than the floor!
As I have been teaching the book of John--and thus reading it over and over, most of the time at one setting--I am reminded of its parallel with the Tabernacle. Since John presents the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us--and since the purpose of the Tab was for God to dwell among Israel--that isn't a surprise. Just a blessing! The more you study the details, the more you see the wonder of it. And most of all, that the One who gave the pattern for the Tab knew what was going to happen when He became flesh and dwelt among us. Only God Himself could be the author of the Book!
We have reworked some of the artwork on our Rightly Dividing the Word chart and it is at the printer. Doing 100,000 this time. We thank God for the generous help in making this possible. It is all paid for! That in itself is a wonderful blessing.
I've been on FaceBook and doing a bit of Twittering. FaceBook has turned out to be interesting. Twitter is useless--can't say much in 140 characters! and who needs to know every detail of your day anyway?! Ain't that much that interesting going on. But it is nice to hear from folks directly. Amazing how much hunger there is for fellowship among grace folks there is out there. That is a great thing! Don't worry, however. I don't spend but a very few minutes on either. I check email four or five times a day (I average about 60 per day--plus spam) and look at fb once or twice when I'm doing this. Cynthia watches to see if I pray as much as I'm on it! If you want to say hi via fb, my handle is RJordanGSB.
Maranatha!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
A Good Report
I just got back from the doctor and my PSA numbers have gone down again--they went up on the last check up. They now at their lowest level since the cancer was detected. So, that is very good news and we are very grateful.
Just a reminder: If you are a male (or have one you care about) who is over 50 years old, make it a habit to have an annual PSA test. It is a simple blood test--only takes a few minutes. I have had them since I was 50 and it was that annual habit that allowed us to catch the Prostrate Cancer at an early stage. Prostrate cancer is deadly, but it usually is slow acting (generally takes 10-12 years to be fatal if undetected/untreated). You have no symptoms until it has progressed into the really dangerous stages, and that's why you need the annual tests. So, get 'r done!
Maranatha!
Just a reminder: If you are a male (or have one you care about) who is over 50 years old, make it a habit to have an annual PSA test. It is a simple blood test--only takes a few minutes. I have had them since I was 50 and it was that annual habit that allowed us to catch the Prostrate Cancer at an early stage. Prostrate cancer is deadly, but it usually is slow acting (generally takes 10-12 years to be fatal if undetected/untreated). You have no symptoms until it has progressed into the really dangerous stages, and that's why you need the annual tests. So, get 'r done!
Maranatha!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
A Really Great Time
We spent last night at the Holiday Inn in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. This will be the site of our summer family Bible conference, July 18-23. We were giving it a break-in visit.
Mike and Joe Wolke stained our floors Friday and this meant we were unable to stay in the house over night due to the strong fumes from the sealer. We had Hanna and Kayla with us so we took off to the hotel. The girls worn themselves out swimming in the pool (till almost 11:00 p.m.!) and got in another hour and a half this morning before we checked out! The hotel is a really nice place. It will be a great locaton for the conference.
This afternoon we attended a musical recital for several young people from our church family. They were excellent! It is a special blessing to see young couples raising their families in such a way that their children trust Christ at a early age, learn the grace message as a natural part of their spiritual growth and focus on godliness and excellence in their lives.
One of my personal goals has been to lead one local church for a long time--to be able to see godly generations developed. It has been my privilege to lead our assembly for three decades and I rejoice that, by the grace of God, this goal has been achieved.
Today we had a really great time. Tomorrow is Mother's Day (thanks to Hallmark!), so it will be even better!
Maranatha!
P. S. The recital was held in the chapel of Judson College, Elgin, Illinois--where we held our summer conferences during the late 80s and early 90s. We had lots of wonderful and interesting experiences there! It was the site where a fella threw a fire bomb at me while I was preaching (sort of broke up the meeting!). It was also where a number of folks got saved, some of our men dedicated their lives to preach, several couples met their life mates (including one of my sons), scores of folks came to understand the message of grace and lots of turly great teaching/preaching took place. For those who remember, you'll be interested to know the chapel is now airconditioned! There were lots of memories of Cynthia and me as we enjoyed to recital.
Mike and Joe Wolke stained our floors Friday and this meant we were unable to stay in the house over night due to the strong fumes from the sealer. We had Hanna and Kayla with us so we took off to the hotel. The girls worn themselves out swimming in the pool (till almost 11:00 p.m.!) and got in another hour and a half this morning before we checked out! The hotel is a really nice place. It will be a great locaton for the conference.
This afternoon we attended a musical recital for several young people from our church family. They were excellent! It is a special blessing to see young couples raising their families in such a way that their children trust Christ at a early age, learn the grace message as a natural part of their spiritual growth and focus on godliness and excellence in their lives.
One of my personal goals has been to lead one local church for a long time--to be able to see godly generations developed. It has been my privilege to lead our assembly for three decades and I rejoice that, by the grace of God, this goal has been achieved.
Today we had a really great time. Tomorrow is Mother's Day (thanks to Hallmark!), so it will be even better!
Maranatha!
P. S. The recital was held in the chapel of Judson College, Elgin, Illinois--where we held our summer conferences during the late 80s and early 90s. We had lots of wonderful and interesting experiences there! It was the site where a fella threw a fire bomb at me while I was preaching (sort of broke up the meeting!). It was also where a number of folks got saved, some of our men dedicated their lives to preach, several couples met their life mates (including one of my sons), scores of folks came to understand the message of grace and lots of turly great teaching/preaching took place. For those who remember, you'll be interested to know the chapel is now airconditioned! There were lots of memories of Cynthia and me as we enjoyed to recital.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Odd Day Today
Today is one of those "odd date days:" 05-07-09. Such sequences don't happen often and when they do folks like to make a lot of them. So, today is another odd one!
But then it was a good one too! I did radio for Sunday this morning. Did the school programs earlier in the week for next month. I do the Chicago program each week (unless I'm going to be gone) so as to keep it fresh and up-to-date. We then "recycle" it about two months later for the out of town stations. Lots of work, but its is a tremendous ministry opportunity.
It was good to see Alex back in the office. He has been down with the flu (missed last Sunday and Wednesday) but looked like he is on the mend.
Cynthia is spending the night with our grand daughters at their house tonight so she can get them off to school in the morning--their dad is out of town today through Sunday and mom has to be at work at 5:30 a.m. She'll bring the girls home tomorrow and they'll be with us till Sunday. Our kitchen isn't finished, so their bedroom is still full of furniture, et al, which means they will have to sleep in our bedroom closet again. They seem to think it is a great adventure. Oh, yea. It means I'm home alone again. I should write a song!
Living in the land of Lincoln (at least that's what our car tags say), we are often reminded about things he did/said. During the Civil War Lincoln often drew on his faith--sometimes to comfort, sometimes to challenge his countrymen.
I've read that during the early days of the war, at a moment when there was no news from the front and many feared the worst, Lincoln reassured a fearful nation that even when things seemed to be going badly:
"Sometimes it seems necessary that we should be confronted with perils which threaten us with disaster in order that we may not get puffed up and forget Him who has much work for us yet to do."
"Much work for us yet to do"--I like that! Makes even an odd day worth the effort!
Maranatha!
But then it was a good one too! I did radio for Sunday this morning. Did the school programs earlier in the week for next month. I do the Chicago program each week (unless I'm going to be gone) so as to keep it fresh and up-to-date. We then "recycle" it about two months later for the out of town stations. Lots of work, but its is a tremendous ministry opportunity.
It was good to see Alex back in the office. He has been down with the flu (missed last Sunday and Wednesday) but looked like he is on the mend.
Cynthia is spending the night with our grand daughters at their house tonight so she can get them off to school in the morning--their dad is out of town today through Sunday and mom has to be at work at 5:30 a.m. She'll bring the girls home tomorrow and they'll be with us till Sunday. Our kitchen isn't finished, so their bedroom is still full of furniture, et al, which means they will have to sleep in our bedroom closet again. They seem to think it is a great adventure. Oh, yea. It means I'm home alone again. I should write a song!
Living in the land of Lincoln (at least that's what our car tags say), we are often reminded about things he did/said. During the Civil War Lincoln often drew on his faith--sometimes to comfort, sometimes to challenge his countrymen.
I've read that during the early days of the war, at a moment when there was no news from the front and many feared the worst, Lincoln reassured a fearful nation that even when things seemed to be going badly:
"Sometimes it seems necessary that we should be confronted with perils which threaten us with disaster in order that we may not get puffed up and forget Him who has much work for us yet to do."
"Much work for us yet to do"--I like that! Makes even an odd day worth the effort!
Maranatha!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Over the Top!
We went over the top on the chart challenge yesterday. The offer to match gifts up to $1K has actually been exceeded already. It's amazing to realize that over 600,000 of the Rightly Dividing the Word charts are in circulation. And that just the number we have a record of--there were several printings that we don't have the actually number of copies printed in our files.
Interestingly I had two unrelated emails today from two different people--in two different parts of the world--telling how they came to see right division through the chart and the booklet, The Key To Understanding the Bible (which teaches the chart in short-hand style). So it will soon be back on the shelf--another 100,000 strong!
Life goes on: this morning Cynthia got a call from Nathan (our 4 year old grandson in FL) telling her he wants to move to Chicago and marry grandma. Sort of leaves me out in the cold! She has been longing to go back to Florida to see the boys, but is shut up to enduring life with me. We look forward to seeing the FL and AZ kids in July. Their parents are optional.
I made school radio today and prepared for the trip to Detroit tomorrow to do five TV programs. Cynthia spent most of the day filling CD & DVD orders. She left another 25 copies of second year GSB DVDs on the duplicator when she left for home. Now she is finishing up my mail. Someone told me they notice by my posting times that we work late into the evening. Hey, what else is new!
I had the opportunity to introduce a 37 year old man to Christ this afternoon. It was thrilling to see the scales fall from his eyes as he heard the gospel for what he said was the first time. He said he had thought "Christians had two brains: one lost and the other out looking for it!" After he gave me permission to share the gospel with him, he listened intently and when asked if he would like to trust Christ, he simply said, "Yes." Now to see him grow!
What a benediction to be able to use our time in even small ways to honor the One Who loved us and gave Himself for us!
Maranatha!
Interestingly I had two unrelated emails today from two different people--in two different parts of the world--telling how they came to see right division through the chart and the booklet, The Key To Understanding the Bible (which teaches the chart in short-hand style). So it will soon be back on the shelf--another 100,000 strong!
Life goes on: this morning Cynthia got a call from Nathan (our 4 year old grandson in FL) telling her he wants to move to Chicago and marry grandma. Sort of leaves me out in the cold! She has been longing to go back to Florida to see the boys, but is shut up to enduring life with me. We look forward to seeing the FL and AZ kids in July. Their parents are optional.
I made school radio today and prepared for the trip to Detroit tomorrow to do five TV programs. Cynthia spent most of the day filling CD & DVD orders. She left another 25 copies of second year GSB DVDs on the duplicator when she left for home. Now she is finishing up my mail. Someone told me they notice by my posting times that we work late into the evening. Hey, what else is new!
I had the opportunity to introduce a 37 year old man to Christ this afternoon. It was thrilling to see the scales fall from his eyes as he heard the gospel for what he said was the first time. He said he had thought "Christians had two brains: one lost and the other out looking for it!" After he gave me permission to share the gospel with him, he listened intently and when asked if he would like to trust Christ, he simply said, "Yes." Now to see him grow!
What a benediction to be able to use our time in even small ways to honor the One Who loved us and gave Himself for us!
Maranatha!
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