So Who's at the Next Table, Anyway?

"So Who's at the Next Table, Anyway?" - That is the title of a recent post by my friend and fellow bi-vocational pastor (in Scotland) Jon Gleason.

Pastor Gleason is a good thinker and a great pastor. I have really enjoyed his comments and writings in a number of areas over the last few years. He has recently begun a new blog called Mind Renewers that I have found to be very thoughtful and very pastoral. I have added his blog to my blog list on the left side of this blog and I encourage you to visit and read there often. You will challenged and you will be edified.

In the post linked to above, Pastor Gleason relates two experiences of overhearing conversations in restaurants (one serious and one humorous) and then encourages us with some piercing thoughts in conclusion:

Who is listening when we start exercising our jaw bones and wagging our tongues? Do you know who is at the next table? How would we moderate our speech if someone different were sitting next to us? What would we be saying about someone if the person at the next table is his neighbour or cousin (maybe it is)?

...

Both cases reminded me of the need to give consideration to the question: ”Who might be listening?”

Make sure you go over to his blog and read his last sentence - for it is the crux of the whole thought and one that we all ought to consider.

Just someone else's thoughts,

Frank

A Great Weekend with Hardingville Bible Church

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go up to Hardingville, New Jersey to preach the morning and evening services at Hardingville Bible Church in Monroeville. It was great to be back up at Hardingville and to spend some time with good friends and share some fellowship together.

Going back up to Hardingville is a lot like going "home" for me. The over four years that we lived in the parsonage on Whig Lane Road rank as the longest that I have ever lived anywhere consecutively in my life. (We will have equaled that amount of time in this house in August of next year.)

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to open up His Word and preach at Hardingville this weekend, for the receptive congregation, for liberty as I preached, and for fellowship that we were able to have with the Frasers (who hosted us over night) and with the Shaws and Stimpsons (who had us over for food) and with all the other folks we were able to spend some time with. It was a great and encouraging time.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Final Standings before the Final Four

Leading up to tonight's Final Four match-ups of all number 1 seeds, the scoring for A Thinking Man's Tourney has adjusted a little bit.

The current standings are:

1. Sam Knisely - 217 points
2. Matt Jury - 199 points
3. Frank Sansone - 191 points (my other entry has 190 points)
4. Andy Rupert - 182 points
5. Ron Bean - 174 points
Andy Efting is sittin at 173 points, one shy of making the top five.

Interestingly, nobody has had their Final Champion knocked out and at least three players correctly picked the entire Final Four - Sam, Matt, and Ron.

For the sake of comparison, if you had just simply picked the higher seed team for every game, you would be at 208 points with all four teams remaining.

For those who are wondering, the WhatIf Sports computer (I mentioned it on this post) is beating all of us - it has 225 points with Kansas beating Memphis in the Final on Monday.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Anger Management?

Blogger Andy Rupert has some good comments today regarding anger, wrath and stress in a post entitled, Who's The Dope?.

Just his thoughts,

Frank

A Call to Separate from Pastor Chris Anderson

Chris has committed a grevious sin - he is calling into question the legitimacy of one of the famous quotes of Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. In a post entitled, Call it a pet peeve, he is questioning the legitimacy of the quote "There is no difference between the sacred and the secular." How dare he!! I think he should turn in his Fundamentalist card or make a pilgrimage to Greenville as a sign of repentance (maybe stopping by The Wilds to throw a stick in the fire, on the way.)

Surely the questioning of such a statement shows the beginning of a pattern of liberalism and compromise. Surely it is only a matter of time before he is emergent - or even worse, Baptist!

As a member of the Real Fundamentalist Club, I think a resolution is definitely in order. Can I get an witness?


Just my very tongue-in-cheek thoughts,

Frank

BTW, Can we also question "Duties never conflict" while we are at it?

I mean, I think I understand what is attempting to be said, but isn't it true that duties often conflict - that is why we have to have priorities!