If it weren't for marriage men would spend their lives thinking they had no faults.

Aw, come on. It's Sunday night. Doesn't that call for some Junior High humor?

And if it's Monday as you read this post you'll need something to distract you from the real work you're supposed to be doing. Ever at your service I offer the following:

You have someone on your list who needs this gift from you, one person who will truly appreciate both the practicality and creativity of...
The Soap Dispenser

I have no idea what, if any practical use can be made of this piece of information, but it's pretty cool:
The Chicken's Head

The more you know about the internal combustion engine - what's under the hood of your car or truck - the more you'll appreciate what this guy has done. Mind boggling.
Chevy V-8

That should be enough to waste a reasonable amount of time.

This morning Team Pathway compared notes and stories from Thursday's triathlon. Everybody agrees the pool was a crowded disaster. Those who rode mountain bikes for that segment of the race have decided road bikes are the answer. Ryann took turn 11 too fast, took out a cone as he slid across the pavement, and is thankful no cars were coming right then. Teri is working harder that the rest of us to scrub her magic marker race number off her arm, thigh and calf; she was assigned 666. And everyone is going to sign up for the spring version of this event which is held on March 8, '09. We can all think of ways to shave time off this performance and want to do better. Hey, if I learn to swim I should be able to take at least 5 minutes off my total time!

Do you pay any attention to sports? Plaxico Burress is a running back for the NY Giants and a major star in the NFL. He and a teammate went to a club Friday night but were turned away because Burress was carrying a gun. Later that night they somehow got into the club. At some point the gun started falling down Burress' pants leg, he instinctively grabbed at it to keep it from falling, and...you guessed it...the gun went off. Through-and-through on his upper right leg, the same leg with the bad hamstring that has kept him out the last two weeks.
The teammate, Antonio Pierce, worked to stop the bleeding, then took the gun and dumped it in the Jersey River. Plaxico went home but his wife took him to the hospital, where they seemed to think it necessary (or required) to report a gun shot wound to the cops. So much for keeping this just between us.
Burress will be arraigned tomorrow for carrying a gun without a permit. His lawyer says Plaxico will plead innocent. By what stretch of the imagination or the law can he plead innocent to gun possession? Dude, eat the penalty and be thankful you shot yourself in the thigh!

We had visitors again this morning, including a couple who returned from last Sunday. Encouraging.

While I was at the gym this afternoon I tried to think of a parallel for what happened this morning.
The chef who watches diners enjoying his creations?
A coach who watches his players work flawlessly as a team and pull off a big victory?

I don't know, since I don't cook and never played team sports, never mind coach.
In our adult class, aka Foundations, we're doing an OT survey. It's a Reader's Digest version of what I taught in OT Intro to the freshmen at college, and the first year of Confirmation.
Each week we start with a review. I ask a question, calling on someone to answer. We started with Genesis and are now into the reign of David, which means we've already covered a lot of ground that I quiz them on.
The outline for Genesis?
The three sections of the Mosaic Law?
The geographical movements in Numbers?
The three sections of Moses' life?
The six-stage cycle of Judges?
The difference between Priests and Levites?

They're all over it. At one point, while I was asking questions and they were answering, I had to stop and just revel in the moment. This is a group of adults who, with very few exceptions, didn't know much of anything about the OT. Now they have a solid grasp, not just of the flow of OT events, but also the significant people and places, and can give an outline for each book from Genesis through 1 Samuel.
I cannot explain how gratifying that is. I love teaching; I am a teacher. And I can't think of any material more worth teaching than Scripture. To listen to them answer my questions - significant questions - like they did this morning gives me a sense of satisfaction, of fulfillment and of joy that I can't describe.
THIS is why we started Pathway Bible Church. We believe Christians have a God-given appetite for his Word. If you feed them, they will come. And they will grow spiritually. As we learn the Bible we learn about God, who he is and how he works. With this survey of the OT we're laying a foundation of knowledge that will open up the OT for further study, sermons and reading. This foundation will also protect against some of the perversions that come along, fueled by an ignorance of basic biblical information. (Mormonism, as we'll see in the weeks ahead, is an example of that.)

It's Sunday night and I'm in my normal Sunday night crash mode. But I'm also feeling good on the inside. I can't come up with an adequate analogy, but this is a very good feeling. I think you need to come some Sunday and see for yourself, see Christians gobbling up the Bible and growing from week to week.

Now consider this: almost all of those adults have children - most of them preschoolers. Parents schooled in God's Word pass that value on to their children. We're affecting this generation and the next.
I am humbled by the privilege it is to be a part of this powerful process. This is my blessing from God.