#30, February 20, 2003

Pulpit Committee or Pastor's Search Committee Needs Our Help

As mentioned in that other publication, The Spire, the Pastors Search Committee (PSC), formerly the Pulpit Committee, will be sending committee representatives to each Sunday School class in an effort to gain information about the DNA of a future pastor. The SSBSC should give the following questions some thought and be prepared to counsel the PSC representatives.

What do you believe to be the strengths of our church?
What do you believe to be the challenges of our church?
What are your hopes and dreams for our church?
What suggestions or words of advice do you have for the Pastor Search Committee?

Two representative of the PSC will visit us in March and hear our thoughts on these questions. In April there will be "two intergenerational large group dialogues" in the Fellowship Hall regarding additional input from the congregation regarding the questions above. PH quoted The Spire in regard to the "intergenerational" nature of these meetings. PH would assume that the meetings will be multigenerational and not necessarily just "inter." Dialogues between the generations could lead to parent-child clashes, sibling rivalry, and acting out behavior by the older generation. Hopefully Father and Mother God will bless these various dialogues.

March 23 Is Youth Sunday.

This means that the youth of the church will run the show on that Sunday and we will have youth teaching our class. This annual experience will likely be intergenerational despite our own youthful age of twenty-nine years.

When Will We Finish John 6?

Thus, two Sundays in March will be devoted to other worthy endeavors and with good weather Teacher Bob might get us through chapter six in John by April 1 (or Teacher Bob can just say "April Fool).

The French Among Us

One Shepson was somewhat amused that church activities were canceled on Sunday and Wednesday of this past week. He/she was under the impression that someone would always be there despite the severity of the weather. PH attempted to soften this blow of divine disappointment by reminding him/her that a new administration is now making decisions and this devoted Shepson stated the following:

"Yeh, a bas, le roi. Vive le roi."

The Defining Presence Put On Ice

Reverend Barbara's sermon, "The Defining Presence" was put on ice last Sunday, but she will have another opportunity to thaw the sermon and deliver it on March 2. Barbara wrote PH the following:

"Well, the sermon on Sunday last was not to be, BUT, it is rescheduled for March 2. I am leaving the sign I put on the back of my chair here at work just to remind myself that I have prepared and will be ready. Until Wednesday of last week the sign read "Sermon in progress." On last Thursday morning, I marked through "in progress" and added "done!" We will see soon if it was "well done!"

Catacomb Lectures Are Really Shaping Up

Highly esteemed Reverend Doctors Rob James and Tom Graves have already agreed to be two of our main speakers during the summer of 2003. There is also a strong possibility that Reverend Doctor and Pastor Emeritus Jim Slatton will present "Baptist Origins and the Whitsett Controversy" one Sunday during the summer. Think about this for just a few seconds. The SSBSC will have three of the foremost Baptist theologians in the world speaking in our midst and it is totally free (unless PH can scheme up a kick back maneuver and charge admission. Maybe $3 to hear one speaker and $10 to hear all three speakers).

Reverend Doctor Rob Responds on Signs and Miracles

In the last issue of PHA, PH inquired about the use of "signs" and "miracles" in various translations of the Bible. In case you forgot, the query was as follows:

"PH did notice in Teacher Bob's reading that verse two of John 6 indicated that Jesus drew large crowds because of the "signs" he was doing for the sick. The Good News Bible and the King James Bible use the word "miracles" instead of "signs." The Jesus Seminar translation uses the term "miracles." Now which is it, signs or miracles? PH prefers miracles for the sick. Maybe Professor Emeritus Rob James can help us with this dilemma. Would not one of these words have to be inerrant?"

Professor Rob did respond to this question. He sent it out to most of the folks on the mailing list of PHA. PH will copy his response again. Here it is:

"About to shove off for Outer Banks. Hate to miss S.S. this Sunday. Don't have time to deal with your question (a few paragr.s below), but could advise that there is a handful of Heb. words in OT and a handful of Gk. in the NT for wonderful wow look at that God's involved events and acts.

No single one of these words has as its absolute-always meaning that a natural law was broken or some such. The emphasis is rather on the events' being filled with potency, disclosing something from beyond, as God's doing -- e.g. to save, transform, or judge -- whether it's a "miracle" in our law-breaking modern sense or not.

Of course, in many cases the event does involve what we'd call a "miracle." But it wasn't as easy for ancients to have the idea crystal clear in a single word because they didn't have quite as tight an idea of natural regularities' being unbreakable as we do since Galileo, Newton, etc. -- though they would certainly recognize water running uphill, etc., as "quite extraordinary" and "marvelous" or as a "miracle."

As to John, the Gk semeion is usually trans. "sign," and that's John's most usual term, but I've spotted at least two other words in John (and there are still others, at least elsewhere in NT), "terrata and dynamis." These are kind of up for grabs as to what English to use for them: "wonder", "mighty act," "miracle," etc., are all possibilities." Rob

Rob confesses that he was in a hurry to get to the Outer Banks (Did he pray for the storm to miss us, got an answer and decided to flee?) Despite the haste, his answer does provide us with a clue into the details of Bible translation. PH wonders if the King James folks and the Jesus Seminar folks agree on "miracles," then these unlikely groups being in agreement is close to inerrant? Read your Bibles and commentaries and decide for yourself.

Prayer Rounds

Kathy Wade is doing well and provided PH with a progress report. Part of her E-mail letter of 2/15/03 is below:

"I'm doing just fine except for being sore. I thought about going to work Friday until the "thought" exhausted me too much. I have a wonderful doctor and credit her with my not having as much pain as I anticipated. She was able to do everything laproscopically. Most importantly, everything is benign. So please thank everyone for praying. I'm convinced that's one reason why I astonished the nurses and was not nauseous, dizzy or writhing in pain."

The Mears Family Continues to Be in Our Prayers. Linda Mears wrote PH and the class on 2/14/03. Her E-mail reads:

"Dear Henry and class, We just spent another 4 days in the hospital. Rick had two terrible seizures, the worst I've ever seen. He had some right-sided weakness as a result. He actually stopped breathing in the ER and they were getting ready to intubate when he started back. He has an appointment with the neurosurgeon on March 3rd about the AVM fistula, and on the 4th with a vascular surgeon about the carotid aneurysm. The vascular surgeon says they are going to have to have and ear, nose, and throat doctor in the operating room to dislocate Rick's jaw to give him room to get to the aneurysm. He says it will be a difficult surgery and not one he wants to have to do on an emergency basis. Since Rick's father died at age 42 from a stroke or aneurysm, they don't want to treat it lightly. Also, another prayer request, please pray for our son, Richard. He is in the army and leaves for Kuwait sometime between March 1st and 8th. Like so many other Mom's and Dad's in this country right now, this is a very frightening thing to have our sons and daughters going off to fight. Thank you again for your love and prayers. God bless you all", Linda

Franklin Fowler continues to improve. Brenda's Aunt Helen Falls is making excellent progress since surgery,

Remember in your prayers Kathy, the Mears Family, Franklin, Brenda's Aunt Helen, Chester's father, Mel Torstrick, the Manor Bible Study Class, the Pulpit (oops, Pastor's Search Committee) Committee, the church staff and those known only to you.

Gene Damon Reaches Twenty-nine Years of Age

On Tuesday, February 25, Gene Damon will be 10,591 days old. He does not look a day older than twenty-nine……………………years.

Does Anyone Read PHA?

PH is wondering if readers have reached a saturation point in reading this missive. Last week PH wrote:

"Was Virginia represented on this Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee? Yes, Virginia had one representative. Paige Patterson appointed all of the committee members. Who did he appoint from Virginia? You can be sure that it was not Jim Slatton".

PH was surprised that not one Shepson or PHA reader provided an answer to the question raised above. Is there "fundamental" apathy in the SSBSC? The answer is General T. C. Pinckney. For more on Pinckney's brand of fundamentalism, go to the link below:

http://www.thebaptistbanner.com/Some%20Differences.htm

Pinckney is also editor of the Baptist Banner, a publication that seems more dedicated to attacking moderate and liberal Baptists and Baptist churches than any other agenda. A link to the Baptist Banner is below.

http://www.thebaptistbanner.com/

PH feels that Jesus and Paul dealt with similar critical thinking in their time. It is better to know than to hide in the sand.

Poor Henry's Archives

February 13, 2003
February 6, 2003
January 30, 2003
January 23, 2003
January 16, 2003
January 9, 2003
January 2, 2003
December 26, 2002
December 19, 2002
December 12, 2002
December 5, 2002