Proverbs Team

While I am away, Paul Duggan and Joel Garver will take on writing the "A Proverb a Day" devotionals (see side bar). Check out their postings beginning this Monday.

Leaving

I will be away for two weeks beginning Monday. Ginger and I drive to General Assemby in Chattanooga, TN. After assembly, we will vacation on Tybee Island near Savannah. I don't how much posting, if at all, that I will do during that time. I will pick up the writing again on June 27 at the latest.

Phil's Commentary

Phil's latest writing project is now published. I just received a copy of his commentary on Galatians published by P&R. It is the first commentary in the Reformed Expository Commentary series. The series two editors are Phil and Rick Phillips.

ER - The Clark Episode

After the church picnic softball game (and experiencing a hard fall heroically diving for a grounder) I experienced the expected aches and pains of sore muscles. The pain that wouldn't go away was in my left side. Finally, through urgings of Geri "Mom" Secrest, I went to the ER at Graduate. Four hours later, the diagnosis... "Nothing cracked; just be patient and take Tylenol." I am a bit crestfallen. I would have prefered to heard amazement at my pain tolerance, that if I had waited a few more hours my life would have been endangered, but that the cure was simple and convenient.

My side is painful, honest. It hurts when I cough, sit up or down, and worse of all, when I burp, one of the true pleasures of a man.

David Skeel will be glad to hear one anecdote. I used the time to finish his book Icarus in the Boardroom. When the doctor walked in a saw the book, he noted that it was on his reading list.

Staff Farewell

Geri Secrest, our Missions Assistant, is leaving in two weeks (June 22) to take the position of church secretary for her home church in Langhorne. Geri's love for missions has been evident in the support she has given not only to Bruce McDowell, but to our missionaries as well. Geri also assisted Paul Jones in music as well. We pray for the Lord's blessings on her new endeavor.

New Summer Staff

We welcome Jessie Taylor to our part-time summer staff. Jessie is the daughter of Steve and Terri Taylor and attends Calvin College (physics major). She will be covering for Dot Boersma during her vacation.

MTW Missionary Statistics

MTW (Mission to the World) is the missions arm of the PCA. Here are recently reported statistics.

We have 569 long-term missionaries.
170 missionaries are serving 2-year stints, 324 serving 2-11 months.
7,500 went out on 2-week trips.

65% of our long-term missionaries are involved in church planting.
20% of our missionaries work with other mission agencies (such as Wycliffe)

Bible Study

I am leaving now to go home and prepare for Bible study tonight. It is a new small group that meets at the Delgados in the Fairmount section the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at 7:30. The study is open to anyone. We are going through 1 Peter. Tonight the passage is 1:13ff.

Church Transitions

Grace Chapel is a PCA church on Henry Avenue in the Manayunk/Roxboro vicinity. It came out of the Episcopal Reformed denomination a few years ago. This past Sunday, the congregation, which has shrunk to a dozen worshippers, voted to merge with Pilgrim OPC Church, pending Pilgrim's joining the PCA. This coming Sunday, Pilgrim is voting on the question of joining our denomination. Please pray for that congregational meeting.

Prayer Request

A member of my former church in Gainesville, Kimberly Raybourne, requests prayer for healing for a broken hip and nerve damage. Please lift her up. These are but recent problems from a long illness.

General Assembly

General Assembly begins next week in Chattanooga, TN. There are three courts in the PCA: Session (of the church), Presbytery (a district of churches), and General Assembly (all the churches and ministers of the PCA). Phil and I will attend as Teaching Elders. The Session will be represented by Ruling Elders Pat Canavan and Fred Hill. The assembly begins Tuesday night and runs until Friday noon. You can follow the proceedings through webcast by going to the PCA site and clicking "2005 General Assembly Info." You can also see our docket for the meetings, including the overtures that we will act on. Read Overture 8, which is about forming a new Philadelphia presbytery.

Billy Graham and the Last Crusade

That is the title for Phil Ryken's Window on the World. I would be interested to hear of anyone's experiences related to Billy Graham. I walked down the aisle at a Graham crusade in Charlotte, N.C., April 9, 1972 and prayed to receive Christ with a Davidson College student.

Knowing When No Is OK

That is the title for David Apple's article in the Daily News. Check it out here: philly.com.

Tuesday Staff Meetings

I am about to go into staff meetings. A typical Tuesday schedule for the staff goes like this:
10:30 - Support Staff
11:00 - Full Staff
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 - Pastoral Staff
2:00 - Pastoral staff prayer (we go through all the prayer cards, emails, and other requests sent our way)

New Homecoming

Ralph Lingle died Saturday. Ralph was a longtime member of Tenth Church and elder, who came to faith under the ministry of Donald Barnhouse. He was a Philadelphia police officer and bodyguard for Mayor Rizzo. Catch Carroll Wynne sometime and ask him to tell the story of Ralph's conversion. His funeral will be this Friday, 2 pm., at Calvary Homes Retirement Center in Lancaster.

New Arrival!

We are excited to announce the arrival of our son. Andrew Earl LaMont Shultes was born Sunday June 5, 2005 to Paul and Judith Shultes. (stats: 8lbs 3 oz. 21” 10:26 AM)

Reformed Seminary Aix-en-Provence.

This coming Sunday, Gordon Campbell will preach ("Keeping at Keeping On": Revelation 2:18-29). Dr. Campbell is professor of New Testament and Greek at the Reformed Seminary of Aix-en-Provence. Bill Edgar, professor of Apologetics at Westminster will have a Tenth Press article about the seminary this Sunday. This is the seminary where the Huguenot Fellowship is raising funds for the James Montgomery Boice Chair of Practical Theology. To learn more about the seminary, click here: http://www.fltr.net/ (there are English pages). To learn more about the Huguenot Fellowship, click here: http://www.huguenotfellowship.org.