pastordale's blog

           There have been some amazing dreams through out history.  Dreams of freedom lead men like George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to defy English rule and establish what we know today as the United States of America.

           Speedy Morris, Baseball coach for LaSalle University, was shaving when his wife told him he had a call from Sports Illustrated.  He got so excited over the possibility of national recognition, that he hurriedly finished shaving and nicked himself in the process. Not wanting to delay the caller he ran out of the bathroom, lost his balance, and tumbled down the stairs.  Limping, with blood and lather on his face, he finally got to the phone. 

              “Sports Illustrated?” he panted…

When I started Boy Scouts I was in troop 61 and our troop made a point of spending at least one weekend each month camping.  I was still young and had just earned my Tenderfoot badge and was going to get to go on my first Overnight camping trip.  It was a great experience… setting up tents that were used by the Lewis and Clark expedition , eating food that tasted strangely like bug spray, standing around fires that were smoldering because of the wet wood we used.  But the highlight of the trip came Saturday Night when I was introduced to a new way to play football.  Troop 61 called it Night

“Lord help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with your power; and  little things as though they were great, since I do them in your name.”

                                                   Blaise Pascal

            Do you remember as you kids were learning to talk asking them how big they were?  It seems that kids usually have the same answer, “I’m sooooooo big!” Then they throw their arms into the air as if to say, “I’m HUGE, I’m enormous, there is just no telling how big I may be”. 

These are notes I took from an interview with Reggie McNeal I heard on 12/15/10.  Just thought they were good food for thought.

What does it mean to be Missional as a church?

What Is Forgiveness?

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  Eph. 4:32

A Working Definition: Forgiveness is a conscious decision to act toward the one who has hurt you the same way Jesus has acted toward the hurt you have caused Him. 

Theological Background:

            Have you ever stopped to consider the power of a Name.  They really do have a great deal of power to effect good will, positive feelings, or even pain and great suffering. 

In April of 1988 on the evening news there was a tragic story of a Skydiving Photographer. The story centered on a jump that had been planned with the Photographer and several of his friends.  He was filming as they jumped out of the plane and preformed several skydiving maneuvers. The big finish was to be each of the skydivers opening their chutes in turn and landing near the runway where they took off. One by one they opened their chutes until the last one discovered an almost unbelievable mistake. This last skydiver had failed to put his chute on before leaving the plane.

Let me start by sharing a brief history of the word "Pew":  Most commonly associated with a long wooden bench with both a back and ends where people sit during a church service.  The word comes from Middle English pewe, probably from Old French puie, balcony, from Latin podia, pl.