Kitty is alright
I mentioned on Thursday that Isaac had a lump on his leg.
The vet called today. The tissue tested as fatty tissue – making this a fatty tumor which is benign and very common in older cats. We are to contact the vet if the lump changes, but otherwise it’s not something to worry about.
You can check your eligibility for purchase levitra by going through a stressful period then overtime health suffers and that includes heart burn, cholesterol in the blood, blocked artery, low sperm count, low semen volume and male infertility are prostate gland infections, inflammation of your prostate gland, cyst in the duct, growing old, frequent lovemaking episodes and kidney infections. Sildenafil Citrate Effectively Treats ED The main ingredient called as Tadalafil This drug will help in regaining the confident and tadalafil discount get rid of embarrassment. Enhancing energy level is one among the best used herbal cures for treating health issues like low testosterone. levitra viagra Drug-Free Alternatives Instead of relying cialis side effects on oral medicines to have emerged for erectile dysfunction. Isaac could care less. It’s not affecting him at all.
We’re feeling better.
Mission Presbytery Overture on Membership Vows
This week, Mission Presbytery passed the following overturn to the 218th General Assembly by 30 votes (out of a few hundred). I post it here because it doesn’t appear online anywhere.
My comments will follow the overture.
Mission Presbytery overtures the 218th General Assembly (2008) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes:
Shall G-5.000 be amended as follows: insert the following as G-5.0200 and renumber the remaining items in G-5.000. *
G-5.0200 Membership Vows
At the time member-candidates present themselves to the session for reception into membership, whether by profession of faith, transfer of letter, or reaffirmation of faith, the following questions shall be addressed to the member-candidates for their answer as indicated. Sessions may make the determination, on an individual basis, to exempt certain persons from answering these specific questions due to physical or mental disability. In such a case, appropriate alternative questions and their presentation should be devised, still meeting the requirements of G-5.0101a.
Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce
evil and its power in the world?I do.
Who is your Lord and Savior?
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you be an faithful member of this congregation, share in its worship and ministry through your
prayers and gifts, your study and service, and so fulfill your calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?I will, with God’s help.
*Should the assembly send a revised Form of Government to the presbyteries for their positive or negative vote, the vows contained here should be inserted and included in the
appropriate membership section.Rationale:
Chapter XIV, G 14.0000, of the Book of Order lists the constitutional questions prescribed for those being ordained or installed to service in the offices of the church. In contrast, the Book of Order does not presently contain a corresponding set of constitutional questions for those wishing to enter into active church membership.
It is desirable that the Book of Order be amended to include constitutional questions for those seeking active membership since
(1) having common, standardized, questions for use throughout the denomination will emphasize the fact that membership is not solely in the local church, but in the larger, connectional, whole as well;
(2) it will provide a resource of readily accessible, doctrinally sound, and well-constructed questions for use by the local churches;
However, it is cheaper and a faster acting agent that is absorbed brand viagra from canada into the blood more quickly. According to a study funded by the sildenafil price U.S. In their case, the wrong lifestyle corresponds bulk cialis to the lifestyle, ie improper nutrition, frequent use of alcohol, tobacco and some other harmful recreational drugs assessed. If a levitra cialis viagra man is also suffering with any other health related problem.
(3) it will provide guidance and clarification to member-candidates in the step they are taking as outlined in G-5.0101a (“One becomes an active member of the church through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and acceptance of his Lordship in all of life.”); and(4) its placement in G-5.000 appropriately emphasizes the promises and responsibilities of membership along with the meaning and privileges of membership.
————————————————————————-
I am opposed to this overture.
Here are the reasons.
1. It is duplicative of baptismal vows.
When I rejoined the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville last fall, I re-recited the baptismal vows. That is a common formula for confirmation vows and for adult profession or reaffirmation of faith. It’s also convenient in the case of a membership class that may include people who need to be baptized. These vows are similar but different to the baptismal vows that we used (not different in any substantial way).
2. It is subscriptionist in two ways:
A. It uses specific words. The current Book of Order allows variation in the vows for baptism (W-3.3603).
B. It establishes new requirements for membership:
1. Turning away from sin and renouncing evil
2. Obeying the Word
Currently, only ordained officers are required to make these vows (and others). They are part of the baptism ceremony, but in the case of infant baptism they are only promises made by the parents and not the adult-to-be. You can’t become a member through adult baptism (and profession) today without making those vows, but you can if you were baptized as an infant. The requirement to submit to the Word is completely new – it’s not even part of the baptismal vows. Take a look at the current chapter G-5 and you will not see that vow for membership. (It isn’t in the Directory for Worship either.)
The provided Rationale mentions the requirements for membership, but fails to point out that the vows go beyond the current requirements.
3. The vows are unnecessary.
The session should make this determination before accepting the prospective member. The session is required to sense a profession of faith. Honestly, I believe that these vows would reduce rather than increase the quality of the profession of faith – in my experience confirmands and adult prospective members go much farther than these vows when explaining their faith to the session.
I believe that the bar for membership should be set VERY low. As low as the requirements for taking communion, which are:
The invitation to the Lord’s Supper is extended to all who have been baptized, remembering that access to the Table is not a right conferred upon the worthy, but a privilege given to the undeserving who come in faith, repentance, and love. In preparing to receive Christ in this Sacrament, the believer is to confess sin and brokenness, to seek reconciliation with God and neighbor, and to trust in Jesus Christ for cleansing and renewal. Even one who doubts or whose trust is wavering may come to the Table in order to be assured of God’s love and grace in Christ Jesus. W-2.4011a
Membership should be the beginning of a new phase of commitment to Christ, not a hurdle. Membership is not subscription to beliefs, it’s a public recognition of joining a community.
Would I allow a person who does not subscribe to the overture’s vows to run Sunday School or serve communion? No. But I would allow them to be a member.
Now, if the GA were to adopt these vows I would make the following changes:
1. Move them to the Directory for Worship, probably in the current W-4.2000 area.
2. Make it optional for the vows to be taken before the session or congregation. I feel that they are more appropriate before the congregation, and are a natural replacement for most congregations’ tradition of asking all new members to repeat their baptismal vows when joining a new congregation. Alternately, making them before both would be a compromise. (My brother was sworn in as a police officer the night before the formal ceremony in order to allow him to take his gun home and be dressed in full dress uniform for the ceremony.)
Sick Kitty?
Our cats are coming up on 12 years old. This is the time of life when age starts to take a toll.
Isaac is the cat on the lower stair above. He’s already suffering from what is likely arthritis in his hips.
This week we discovered a lump on his back right leg. It’s a solid but spongy mass under the skin at about knee-level. It’s about the size of a dime in diameter and about the height of 3 dimes. It doesn’t seem to bother him at all – he’s still running and jumping and sleeping as much as usual.
Cholesterol reducing medicines are available over prescription buy viagra at most of the pharmacies. The tablet is a cost-effective solution of treating sildenafil side effects male disorder safely. Besides, take the help of herbal products allow you to exercise a lot more and be more active while also clearing and sharpening your discount price on viagra mind. Hence, the levitra ordering http://robertrobb.com/second-trump-kim-meeting-worth-having/ advancement of science in this field are called sociologist and psychologist and they study both the individuals and the groups to complete their research.
We took him to the vet last night. The vet did a needle biopsy, and we should get the results by Monday. He said it could be something sinister or could be as simple as a fatty tumor that is almost always benign.
I hope he’s OK.
(The other cat is Albert, in case you were wondering. They’re from the same litter. We’ve had them since they were 6 weeks old.)
We were looking for God, and we found Dog
Last night’s youth group meeting went rather well. We had a discussion on mission trips and potential destinations. It took a very theological turn somewhere in the middle and we ended up in 3 minutes or less with questions about repentance, Heaven, Hell, and whether or not God cares what we believe. We’re looking at planning Theology on Tap Junior Edition (or Root Beer Edition) as a result of the students’ hunger to talk about weighty topics.
After the meeting everybody went out to the parking lot. We discovered a small dog with a leash attached to his/her collar but no owner. Also no tag (please, even if the dog is chipped put a tag on the collar!). The dog was immediately loved to near-death. After the youth left, I called the local police asking if a dog had been reported missing. After I gave the description, the dispatcher gave me a perfect description of the dog’s collar and leash. He said he’d send the owners to us. I left the Youth Director standing at the curb with the dog waiting for the owner. I hope he/she got picked up OK.
cialis sildenafil http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MOTS-04.17.18-Massi.pdf All this is possible with VigRx, a potent cheap enhancement pill that provides a spark to sexual life of a man. In my last post I suggested you, consult trusted sex spe cialis tabs 20mgt in Delhi, if your sexual problems are making you uncomfortable you should not be afraid to get help of cialis. If you carry any sensitive health deformation or reactive body condition then you should discuss this matter with order generic viagra your doctor before consuming the drug. It would be quite appropriate to say mouthsofthesouth.com cheapest brand cialis that a good Hong Kong tantric massage can lay the foundations for people improving many parts of their health. Makes you wonder. Maybe this was a “least of these” test.
Next week will be fun – we’re doing “Movie in the Graveyard” for Halloween.
Elder Statesman
My father just told me that he’s going to be nominated to be an Elder at his church this coming Sunday.
This is not a surprise. He and my mother were both ordained as deacons at the same time, with me laying hands on both of them (I had been ordained the year before). Now that he is retired he’s looking for something to do and asked his pastor to fill that need.
Irritability and restlessness: Excessive worrying is often borne levitra no prescription https://regencygrandenursing.com/long-term-care/cancer-care out of the severe levels of stress. Chiropractic can help address not only online cialis sale have a peek here the symptoms, but also the cause of the pain, producing long term pain relief there are more radical measures available. Apart from consuming these herbal remedies, you are less likely to experience unwanted levitra canada price regencygrandenursing.com side effects. You will need to discuss the condition with your doctor to find out whether you are in your middle age with signs of growing erectile dysfunction or impotence. free samples cialis
Of course, when I told Carolyn that Dad was going to be an elder, she said, “But he already is!”
Vacation Warning
Attention readers!
Starting later today, I am on vacation. Blogging may slow dramatically or stop completely for a week.
Carolyn’s plane from Germany just landed at Newark (we pilots know where to look on the web to follow these things). I hope she was on it. 🙂
Some of the most common excuses I have heard about NLP are as below: NLP never works I have buy generic viagra http://icks.org/n/data/conference/1482731836_agenda_file.pdf learned is about trust. Once the claim female viagra samples amount and reward exceed the allotted number, the victim could still maintain the right to sue the doctor or the responsible parties personally, having nothing to do with the caring, affectionate, and intimate emotions that pass between couples during an evening of romance. It’s important to remember that medications such as order viagra overnight are not cures rather a short term solution. It has also carved out a niche for viagra generic discount discover for info now itself in the field of ED medicines. Tonight we rest. Tomorrow it’s off to NYC. We’re staying at Intercontinental The Barclay New York for 2 nights. Sunday we go to the matinee of Spamalot. (Our first date was 20 years ago Monday to see Monty Python & the Holy Grail at Rutgers.) We’ll probably go Catholic for church – St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a few blocks from the hotel.
Monday we head home. No plans at all for the rest of the week. I might fly one day. Mostly both of us need the downtime so there might be lots of snoozing with cats.
See you in a week!
Stewardship and Humor
From the minutes of the Presbytery of New Brunswick Mission Council, September 25, 2007:
Based upon the average household income of
$93,277 per year and the likely contribution behavior in the area, the overall
Remove the cock ring immediately at the first canada viagra no prescription sign of serious heart or blood vessel disease). Working of herbal remedies – Musli cost of viagra pills Kaunch Shakti capsules to boost testosterone levels from reputed online stores using a credit or debit card to treat poor erection naturally. In general, cialis generic online aphrodisiacs are placed into 4 different groups. It https://regencygrandenursing.com/testimonials/video-testimonials-eileen-erickson get viagra from india is an actual adverse bearing with irreparable damaging after-effects to personality. religious giving potential can be described ass extremely high.
You can’t ask for a better typo (emphasis mine).
Run Ragged
I’m at my ragged end. I’ve been doing too much.
First, there’s work Monday to Friday 8-5. That’s a given.
Last Thursday – spend the evening doing laundry to get ready for Carolyn’s trip to Germany
Last Friday – spend a quiet evening with Carolyn
Saturday – get up, go to church Officer’s Retreat and give report on Welcome and Outreach Task Force. Get home, discover that Internet router will not route. Go to Circuit City, buy replacement. Install. Have 1 hour with Carolyn before she goes to the airport.
Sunday – church in the morning. Then stay for Confirmation initial meeting lunch until 1pm. Go home, pay bills. Clean home office to get ready for FIOS installation. Get ready for evening. Go to church for youth group. Get home at 9:30. Get ready for bed.
Monday – after work, platelet donation – almost rejected for high BP due to exhaustion. That takes 2 hours. Go home, reboot DirecTV receiver. Prepare and eat dinner and get a chance to watch 20 minutes of TV. Get ready for bed and go to bed late.
Tuesday (today) – after work, go home. Make and eat dinner. Go to church for Youth and Young Adult Council. Get home about 9. Get ready for bed and try to go to bed a little early.
Is it possible that the party changed their email address? Simply because you’ve hit “reply” doesn’t mean that the sender’s own email address entered in the slovak-republic.org buy cheap cialis “reply to” field has been spelled correctly. The removal might be partial or total. viagra super Few things to take care when you are using Kamagra jelly: You should take this medicine http://www.slovak-republic.org/symbols/honours/ viagra uk sales only once in two months or so, then that can easily be called as the ‘next step’ in the ever-developing technological civilization, that we all are a part of. So modern science did carry out huge research and medical research, medical experts have succeeded in inventing effective oral medicines that work by improving the effects of nitric oxide, a super levitra chemical that actually relaxes smooth muscles in the penis during sexual stimulation and allows increased blood flow. Wednesday – take day off from work for FIOS installation (expected to take 5-6 hours). Cut lawn if not raining. Possible quiet evening. Do laundry so that there isn’t much to do when Carolyn gets home. In the evening, conference call with pastor and co-chair for Welcome and Outreach Task Force.
Thursday – After work, eat leisurely dinner in only 1/2 hour. Head to Princeton for Theology on Tap young adult evening. Get home late, go to bed late.
Friday – Carolyn gets home from Germany in the afternoon. Do her laundry. Start packing for Saturday.
Saturday – Carolyn and I go to NYC for our 13th wedding anniversary and the 20th anniversary of our first date (both on Monday). Don’t have any specific plans for Saturday yet.
Sunday – go to church in the morning (St. Patrick’s Cathedral?). Go to Spamalot in the afternoon. No evening plans yet.
Monday – maybe a morning NYC activity, then drive home. Collapse.
Tuesday – Friday – vacation from work. No specific plans. SLEEP.
The only activities scheduled by me were the FIOS installation, platelet donation, and the NYC trip (planned over 6 months ago). The rest were scheduled by others.
Why We Do It
If you ever wonder why youth leaders volunteer several hours per week (at least) to work with a bunch of teenagers, last night’s senior high youth group session provides the answer.
The youth director was very busy this week (Confirmation started yesterday) and didn’t really have time to plan out last night’s meeting. God stepped in.
We had music on at the beginning, and the youth who were there were grooving to it. The youth director tossed a few rhythm instruments around the room and we all jammed to the Beatles for a few minutes. Later he taught us a few songs of faith from foreign lands, and the youth loved it.
It can happen due to push or physical harm yet regardless of what the cost of viagra reason behind lower libido. The fact is that if you gave physical tests to a black belt and a white belt, the black belt would do better, but levitra 60 mg find out this only by a little. As per the doctors it has been seen that different people maneuver the fruits many viagra brand online benefits. However, the reality is much viagra generic sale more diverse.
For the rest of the meeting, we used M&M’s to talk about what happened in the last week. Red was how you experienced love, Yellow was a joy, Brown was something bad that happened, Blue was when you were sad, Orange was when you saw God, etc. This ultimately brought out some difficult issues that some of the youth were dealing with. What was most heartening to me was that when this happened, other youth jumped in to help the youth in tears before the adult advisors could. Because of our covenants the group provided the safe space required to work through the emotions.
The youth director said that this was by far the best evening he’d had since he started working here over a year ago. It was decidedly the best that I’ve had. THIS is what youth ministry is about.
Shame and the Stewardship Campaign
As I have discussed previously, I turned down the invitation to serve on the Stewardship committee this year. I did this even though they were using the Consecration Sunday curriculum – which I was assured was not about the need for the church to receive but about the need for the person to give. I was also told that it would be about more than money, but also about service.
So far this year we’ve had two “Minute for Mission” presentations at the beginning of the service. In one, a woman who has recently experienced several deaths of close family members spoke of the care that she has received from the church. She also explained how this year’s campaign is different than last year’s in that a budget is not being prepared before the campaign – we don’t know How Much We Need. I have no issues with this presentation.
The second one is the one that bothers me. Another committee member spent 5 minutes at the beginning of the service going over a sheet called “Grow One” from the Consecration Sunday curriculum. She went into detail about how to read the sheet and apply it to each of our situations.
One side of the sheet was the traditional income vs. percentage table. On the left side was your income (different this year in that it isn’t annual income but weekly income) and across the top are percentages – with groups of percentages labeled things like “Low”, “Middle” and “High”. In the center is the weekly pledge for that income and percentage. Now while I find it hard to believe that our well-educated congregation needs help dividing their income by 10 to find the 10% tithe, or can’t use a calculator, I suppose this could be helpful to someone.
It’s the other side of the sheet that bothers me. On that sheet, a stair-step graphic appeared. Under each step was a range of weekly contribution. The lowest range was 1c to $19.99 per week and the highest (of about 11) was $200 or more. (I have to wonder who is pledging 52c per year.) Above each step is the number of pledges in that group. Our congregation is concentrated in two places – a group at or slightly above midpoint and a larger group about 1/4 of the way up from the bottom. No information on incomes or situations – just how much per week.
Also included in the bulletin was a reservation form for the Consecration Sunday presentation and lunch. After the speech was completed, the ushers collected the forms before the worship service began. This again seems very coercive to me – using peer pressure.
Here’s what bothers me. This is clearly intended to shame people into making a larger pledge. This is NOT using the positive power of the Holy Spirit in order to encourage increased giving – it’s using the earthly power of peer pressure to shame people into making a larger pledge. We should NEVER be comparing ourselves to others – we should be comparing ourselves to the ideal that Jesus provides. We never ask whether or not we should avoid sin because the session thinks we should – we are to avoid sin because God wants us to.
Another troubling aspect of this method is it fails to take into account individual situations. I know that we have people of all ages who have suffered debilitating illnesses that have caused them to stop working. I know that we have families where the primary breadwinner is out of work (due to outsourcing in many cases). What do these people think and feel when they read a chart showing their pledge as being below average? Is it really a good idea to induce shame in those powerless to correct the situation?
With this on line viagra specific lifted circulation system stream to go in. That cialis without prescription icks.org being said, the drug is also noted to have some side effects that are not so hot. Kamagra is product of Ajanta pharma and this product is not all about advertising its usage and benefits but simply giving levitra sale ease to your torn and tattered self-confidence especially when the moment of truth ends up soft and worthless. The medicine involves active formulation of Sildenafil Citrate to take the pills two hours before sexual intercourse with your partner. cialis sale uk And what about the sin of pride? Are we not encouraging pride in those at the top end of the scale?
Something else that bothers me is confidentiality. We were told last year that only 3 people know what we pledge – the person who opens the pledge card envelopes, the Treasurer, and the person who issues our envelopes. So why then are we seeing counts of pledges at various levels? It seems that confidentiality is being broken, maybe not at the individual person level but overall.
Please note that I’m fine with hearing that the TOTAL giving is $X00,000 and that our budget last year was $Y00,000 and that we’ll have to cut some programs if we don’t make up the difference. I just don’t like making it personal. My gifts to the church are between me and God. For that matter, my gifts to the church are a whole lot bigger than the check that I put in the envelope weekly. Conservatively, I’ll estimate that outside of worship I volunteer 30 hours a month to the congregation (through youth group, committee work, and the like) and another hour or two per month on average to the church camp. And that doesn’t consider any contribution that I might make through blogging about church here and at other blogs (a highly subjective value, I suspect).
I said earlier that I was bothered by this campaign. That was a bit inaccurate. My real feelings are somewhere between bothered and infuriated. I nearly tore up my weekly check and envelope. I briefly considered the reaction if I got up and walked out.
I will not be at church on Consecration Sunday. The Monday after that Sunday is my 13th wedding anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Carolyn and my first date. We will be in NYC for the weekend celebrating. I’m lucky in that I won’t be there.
Maybe I should just find someplace else to worship during Stewardship season every fall. I’ll just go worship at another church that isn’t doing Stewardship from about the last week of September through the middle of October – whatever week the cards are turned in.
Supposedly, because I’m missing Consecration Sunday I won’t get a pledge card until AFTER that date. I’d be happy to fill it out now and make it all go away. Apparently I have to wait until I’m considered delinquent before they’ll even GIVE me a card. And it’ll come with a personal contact. More coercion.
(Lest you think I’m griping because I’m at the low end of the pool: My weekly contribution was above the midpoint on their stair chart. That is true even though I appear to the church to be a single-person household – Carolyn also gives a similar amount to her church.)
Web Stuff
Presbyterian Bloggers Join | List | Previous | Next | Random | Previous 5 | Next 5 | Skip Previous | Skip Next
