"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." - Apostle Paul

Sun City goes off road.

No post last night because we were doing our Thanksgiving. Pam had to work this afternoon/evening so we had everyone over for dinner last night. The table was set with my grandmother's china and the family silver. And yes, that's a yellow Cosco chair, the contemporary equivalent of the 50's classic. (They don't make them like they used to.)
Each place also included one of Pam's turkeys. The pic doesn't do it justice, and this one, left over from last night, seems to have lost an eye somewhere along the line.

Instead of the usual Pam made shepherd's pie, Aubri brought a fancy jello salad...and I think there was some other stuff, too. I didn't spend a lot of time paying attention; I focused on eating. For dessert we had our choice of Aubri's homemade pies. Yum!

This morning I worked on my sermon for Sunday while Pam met Steve for a 5k walk. Just before noon we met Steve & Michelle at Coco's for the standard turkey meal, and Pam went from there to the hospital. (Josh & Aubri and the kids are at her parents' for the day.) I spent the afternoon finishing up the hole in the ground. Pics tomorrow of the finished hole and the next stage in the process.
If I had known before starting how difficult digging a simple hole in the ground was going to be....

My gift to the husbands out there.
Been there, done that.

Sunday's sermon has a theological component to it, something required if justice is to be done to the passage (Rev. 3:7-13). Modern preaching doesn't spend much time on theology; it's too far removed from the immediate relevancy people expect and preachers deliver. (Which came first, the expectation or the delivery? That is, do preachers have only ourselves to blame?)
But there's a price to be paid for leaving sound theology on the altar of immediacy. Theology provides the structure, the bones of our faith. Knowing the essential doctrines of Christianity creates a mature faith that stands up when foul winds blow. (Just how many metaphors can I cram into this paragraph?) Maybe we've got wimpy Christians because we've fed them Twinkies and ice cream (add another). Then we're surprised when their faith turns out to be anemic (one more).
So, this Sunday - eschatology.

I read what used to be called a "clever turn of phrase" recently that I want to add to my vocabulary.
"pounding sand"
It describes working hard at something with no hope of making any difference.
"He tried to bring a sense of fiscal responsibility to city government, spending both his terms in office pounding sand."

I wonder if there's a way to go back and work that one into the metaphor-filled paragraph above.