The Latest...

Well, it has been quite some time since I posted anything. So I figured it was time for a brief update. The following is not in any particular order of signifigance. In fact, I have no idea what I am about to write... so enjoy!

Let's see...

Well, as you can see below, my wife is cooking us up a little baby girl in her belly. We are very excited and nervous as the time approaches for her to come into the world. And actually, that level of excitement has been racheted up a notch, since yesterday we found out that she might be coming at the end of OCTOBER and not the end of November... we are NOT READY!!! But will we ever be? not so sure... It would be nice to have some diapers and such in the house however...
5 weeks of prep time becoming two weeks of prep time is never fun, no matter what you're talking about.

I am still the intern at Church of the Covenant OPC, Hackettstown NJ. Things have been going well. No one has yet decried me as a heretic, or had any real misgivings about anything I have preached about or taught in Sunday School. It's a good thing I am using the Bible and the Confession for those things... phew.. I could be in trouble otherwise. (hopefully the silly sarcasm comes across here, I'm not a heretic.) In fact, I "exhorted" the Presbytery of NJ a couple of weeks ago, and praise the Lord, they didn't think I was a heretic either. (Hehe, I should stop saying that or people are going to start asking why...) But my exhortation was well recevied (fyi - we do not "preach" in the OPC until we are licensed, until then we "exhort". Yes, it's semantics, but it is important semantics) -- It was well received and the Presbytery voted unanimously to 'receive' it. Which I suppose means that it was not heretical. (there I go again.)
My relationship with the Church is going very well. They are very happy to have me and I am more than happy to be there. I couldn't think of a better situation for me right now. I know there are still areas that I need help on however, and pending congregational approval, we have extended the internship through 2007. I am quite thankful for that for several reasons, not least of which being that I won't have to move again for another 6 months...
It does not appear that this is likely, but my hope and prayer is that this Church will eventually call me as an associate pastor and I can continue to learn under Ron Pearce and serve in what I think is a field ready for harvest in several areas.

Oh, and in case you haven't been watching any baseball this past week, this picture should sum things up nicely for you:

The Mets will continue there post season romp when St. Louis comes to town. It should actually be a pretty good series, but I see the Mets winning in Six. The big story, if it plays out this way, will be Oliver Perez facing Carpenter in game three, (an apparent throw away game for the Mets) and Perez throwing a 12 strikeout gem, winning 2-1. That, of course, is a dream that can only come true in the playoffs. I like Detroit in the ALCS, and think it will be a pretty good World Series if the Mets make it there to play against them. It appears the entire country is getting behind Detroit, and deservedly so.

Hey, guess what... It's football season! You'd never know if you lived in my head, which is pretty much 'all baseball all the time' right now. I do like football, but it's a distant second to baseball (as are most other things, unfortunately). I like the New York Giants, and have since the very first football game I watched in my whole life, the the NFC Championship game against the Redskins in 1986 when the G-men won it all. 1986 was a good year for New York sports. Anyway, the Giants are starting off a Schizophrenic 2-2, which is ok by me, as long as they pull it together once the World Series is over. Like the Mets, the Giants have all the tools to win big, but unlike the Mets, they do not seem to have the team chemistry and comradery that enables teams to overcome adversity and win together. I'm beginning to think the Giants are more like the Yankees mentality wise, and I don't really like that very much. I think they might have surprised themselves last year with how well they did, and that lent itself to more fun and team unity. But since they won the NFC East, they appear to feel as though they are already entitled to the NFC East and don't need to play that hard to win -- an assumption that is hopefully being beaten out of them early in the season. But enough about that silly sports stuff... (sometimes I wonder if I should be a sportswriter instead of a Pastor)

I guess that is as much of an update as I can muster right now. I'm all out... hopefully in the future I can begin posting things of a bit more substance, like I used to do. But I don't hold out too much hope for that. Until next time...