Monday, September 11, 2006

Another year older...

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. Yes the day before 9/11. We started the day off with worship at Crossroads Church in Cottage Grove, MN. Pastor Phil Print gave one of the best messages I have heard in a long time. My wife was also enormously impressed, enough so that we are going to get a copy on DVD to give to a man we know. God is working in some great ways in this church, and it is exciting to see the fruit of many years labor. They are impacting their community in large God-honoring ways. I spend the rest of the afternoon watching football. I rarely get to watch football, so since it was my birthday I thought I would take advantage of it. We stopped at the store on the way home and got some good football watching food (pizza, sliced meats and cheeses for crackers). I have made my wife a lover of Freschetta's Brick Oven Pizza. If you haven't tried them (especially pepperoni) then you are missing out. I always add a bit of extra cheese to make it completely perfect. Home pizza cooking secret: If you want the golden brown on top without burning your crust, cut short your cooking time by about a minute. Turn your broiler on high (if you have a top broiler element in your oven) and let that finish the pizza for the last minute. You have to watch it, but it'll turn the cheese a delightful golden brown.

Last night my in-laws came over to our house for some cake and ice cream. My wife cooked a delicious lemon cake and hand made a cream cheese frosting. Yummy!

Later this week I am meeting with Pastor Phil Print about some ministry opportunities. I'm really looking forward to it, and am looking forward to getting to know Phil better. I was his teaching assistant for parts of two different school years, but that only gives me a limited window into him and his world. Phil is an enormously gifted communicator. He is one of the better sermon writers that I am aware of. I think he has a lot of experience that he could share with me to make me a far greater sermon writer.

On this day, 5 years ago, I was in Mitchell, SD going classroom to classroom in Mitchell Christian School's elementary building talking to boys about joining Cub Scouts. In spite of what was going on around the world, I kept going classroom to classroom doing my job. I actually visited a second school that afternoon, but was home while the buildings both came down and when the Pentagon was hit. My prayers are with those who lost family members that day. It is my hope that this day brings a renewed dedication by our country to the eradication of terrorism. I also hope that you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, as you never know when your time will come.


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