At 5:45 it's 111 degrees. Yeah, I'm complaining.
Today I went to my second monthly pastors' lunch hosted by one of the larger churches in the west valley. About a dozen guys there represent everything from a mega church to a start-up that hasn't had it's first official services yet. After informal conversation while we eat we go around the circle and give a brief update on what's going on at our church. I find it extremely stimulating to listen to what others say and the interaction between them. As the newbie I mostly listen and learn, but today I asked a question prompted by a comment one of the guys made in passing about summer giving at his church.
I asked, "How many of you use online giving?"
Four of the 10-12 hands went up.
The host pastor pointed out that nobody carries cash anymore and most rarely write checks - and don't carry a checkbook with them.
One of the mega-church guys said they installed a kiosk in their lobby for giving via debit or credit card. They've rec'd no complaints but lots of compliments on the convenience.
The times, they are a'changing.
I asked a follow-up. "What are the downsides."
The companies that offer the software take 1.5%. But there are freeware versions, and some banks offer the service.
I can see us going to online giving in the near future. Why not?
I'm working a couple of hours each morning cleaning up parts that will go back on the engine when I get it from the machine shop. Some just get the drill/wire brush treatment while some get that plus a trip to the metal shop for media blasting. As I work I'm discovering some parts I'll need to order, either because these are too far gone or are missing altogether.
Tomorrow the engine gasket set I ordered is supposed to be delivered so I'll find out if I have to order a timing cover seal or if it's included with this set.
And the factory correct blue high-heat paint should also arrive in the next day or two.
I don't like President-bashing. First, it's unbiblical. Second, which of us could do better? But he does seem to have trouble with international crises, to be overmatched by the multiple complex trouble spots the U.S. is facing. His statements are unclear, sometimes contradictory, and occasionally just weak. ("We don't have a strategy....")
Presidents Reagan and Bush were considered by some to be cowboys, but nobody questioned their resolve or readiness to take action.
Teddy Roosevelt.
In the current situation we seem to have soft and ambiguous talk and no stick.
What if it isn't strictly biblical but preaches really good? (incorrect grammar intended)
I just finished a book where the guy uses a biblical word (oikos, the Greek for household) in a way that doesn't conform to its first century meaning but fits really well the overall NT teaching. And that teaching isn't expressed in any single Greek word, so it's not like he had an option.
He wrote this whole book, some of it really good stuff, misusing that word as central to his thesis.
Yeah, I can't go there.
No comments:
Post a Comment