Cora's Comments

25th Anniversary

2007-09-20T10:42:00.001-07:00

September 1 marked my 25th anniversary o staff of Tenth Church. It's a real milestone for me, particularly since I joined staff while in graduate school with the intention of going back to Italy, where I had had a ministry to students, within three years. What a surprise to realize that my work in Italy was done, and my new field of service was in Philadelphia!

I was deeply touched and honored by the recognition given in the morning worship services, and the generous gift toward my upcoming sabbatical, which will nearly cover the airfare to Asia where I hope to spend most of this time. My hearatfelt thanks to all who contributed to this gift!

Providentially, Ken Rudy, one of our global partners, who now lives in Colorado, was in the evening service on Sunday and we met for lunch on Monday, and planned out my time. I hope to teach English in Pnom Penh for a few weeks, then visit my friends, Susan L in Hanoi and Shelagh W in Thailand while I'm in the area. I expect thatt his will be a time of challenge and growth and learning what is happening in that part of the world.

What a gracious gift from the Lord and from all of you!

Recent Adventures in the Hospital

2006-10-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow, September 25, I will be having a cardiac catheterization at Jefferson Hospital. If you find this surprising, you can well imagine that I am in a state of shock. This is totally unexpected, out of the blue. Remember, I’m the one who has been following a super healthy lifestyle these past years. How could this be happening to me?

These past few days since the cardiologist called to say that the stress test that I took last Monday was abnormal, I’ve been thinking, “This is not happening to me. This is happening to someone else.” But it is, in fact, happening to me, even though I trained on a treadmill for the stress test, after all there was nothing whatsoever wrong with my heart…

Two people have given me new perspective on this situation. My sister, Cheryl, said, “This is a proactive thing to do.” I was thinking of the procedure as a real defeat, but it isn’t, it’s a grace from the Lord. Phil Ryken noted that God was gracious in that like the cancer, they caught the situation early. I can only conclude that God is good to me.

So I ask for your prayers. I don’t know what will come of this. Either the hospital will release me a few hours after the test or they will keep me and do the next stage of treatment which could range from medication to angioplasty to a bypass. It’s one of those situations when all I can do is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing.

Two years ago when I had had a series of medical problems, including surgery three times in six weeks, the Lord reminded me that “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit.” I see this whole situation as yet another pair of pruning shears. I don’t know when the fruitfulness will come, but the pruning continues and I covet your prayers.

Sincerely in Christ,

Cora

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Last Monday as per schedule, I went to Jefferson Hospital for a cardiac catheterization. After I woke up from the procedure, they just wheeled me into a room on the tenth floor, without even asking me about being admitted. Later the cardiologist came in to tell me that I had a 90% blockage at a critical juncture in the front of my heart and that I was an excellent candidate for single bypass surgery. Thanks. Just what I wanted! How could this be happening to me anyway? I ‘m the one with the healthy diet and lifestyle!

Meanwhile, my friend, Stephanie Fuller, who is doing a fellowship in cardiothorasic surgery at Jefferson found my name on the patient list, looked up the pictures from the catheterization and came to see me. She explained the ins and outs of the surgery involved. When she finished I was ready to sign on the dotted line.

My doc consulted a wide range of cardiologists about what to do. The next day he came in with a clear explanation of alternatives. They could do bypass without even stopping my heart. They break the sternum to get to the heart, take a blood vessel from the chest and graft it onto the heart. They could try balloon angioplasty but the obstruction was in a really inconvenient part of my heart and it might not work. They would have to insert a stent which might not stay put in that location. He was very thorough in outlining all the pros and cons of each alternative. Then he said that he had asked each of the people with whom he consulted, “If this were a close relative of yours, say it was your wife, what would you do?” I thought was a great question! Evidently to a person they said, “I’d try the angioplasty.” So that’s what I chose.

The doctor that he had chosen to do the angioplasty wouldn’t be available until Thursday, so I had to wait. Meanwhile, I got visits form the surgical team who were most anxious to get me into their operating room.

I also got visits from so many friends. And I know that people were praying. I felt so supported. In fact, I felt as though I was being carried through this whole situation.

They did the procedure first thing on Thursday morning, before the surgical team began their day’s schedule. They stood by to see if the angioplasty was going to work before they went to work. I felt like a real celebrity, holding up the progress of the surgeons.

The doctor who did the actual angioplasty was fantastic. He did a very difficult and risky procedure and he did it skillfully and successfully! God is so good to me!

After the procedure you need to lie still for several hours. That was probably the hardest part. After a few hours one of the team came to pull out the tube in my thigh through which they treaded the balloon. That wasn’t fun and I bled a lot. She had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. As a result the whole lower midsection of my body is more bruised than it’s ever been before. I expect that perhaps my heart is also bruised, yet it was still the less invasive of the procedures. I’m glad to have blood flowing through my heart again. This means being on a regimen of aspirin and Plavix, which I don’t like, but I’m grateful to the Lord for His goodness to me.

I was released on Friday and I’ve been lying low ever since. This has taken more out of me than I’d expected. I’m so grateful to everyone who has prayed and who has been there for me. Thanks so much for your encouragement, your support and your prayers.

Gratefully in Him,

Cora

Cora's Comments

2006-10-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Cora's Comments

The Place of Healing

2006-04-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

As a counselor I work with people who have been deeply wounded emotionally and spiritually. As I sit with them in their pain and relive some of their traumas I pray for the Lord's healing in their lives. Listening, being there with a hurting person is an important ministry. Assuring them of God's love and sufficiency is one thing. Having a person actually reach out and grasp with both hands God's provision is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit

A number of years ago I was working with several women who had been abused in childhood and who had not only scars but emotional wounds that were still open. How much I longed to see each of them gain a measure of wholeness. I prayed with them in each session that we had together and in my devotions I pleaded with God to give me the key to their healing.

My answer came at a concert. It was Christmas time and I went to hear Handel's Messiah at the Academy of Music. I went to the concert to relax, to bask in the beauty of the music and to be blessed by the texts from Scripture. I was hardly expecting an epiphany.

It came in the chorus, "SURELY, SURELY, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." If you miss it the first time, they repeat it, "Surely, Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. And with his stripes we are healed."

Of course. When Jesus died on the cross he bore all the sins we have or will ever sin and all the sins against us. His redemption is complete!

All real healing takes place at the cross. Jesus has already done all that needed to be done to provide healing for wounded people! As we take our sorrows and griefs to him, he gives us wholeness in exchange.

God rarely zaps us and takes away all our pain at one time. He wants to make us into mature disciples, not spoiled children. We can handle only so much pain or painful memories at a time, but God meets us at every level of painful memories. He strips off that layer, like the skin of an onion. And he brings healing to that layer of pain and trauma as we bring it to the cross.

One day we will be perfectly healed and there will be no more painful layers to peel off. It's hard to imagine what it will be like to be made perfect, to be without pain or brokenness. But we will never forget the source of our healing, because we will be with our nail scarred Savior thorughout eternity.

The New Covenant

2006-04-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had an extraordinary wedding here at Tenth Church. A couple of Jewish Christians were married in a ceremony that was at the same time both Jewish and Christian. A choir of Messianic Jews sang a medly of Hebrew worship songs before the ceremony began. There was a canopy at the front of the church under which the ceremony took place. Then men wore yalmakes and both one of our pastors and a Christian rabbi performed the ceremony. The rabbi said the traditional blessings in Hebrew and then translated them into English. The couple drank from the traditional wine glass, carried down the asile during the procession by a young boy who might otherwise have been the ringbearer, and the groom broke a goblet, a traditional rememberance of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The ceremony was beautifully Jewish.

The Ceremony was also beautifully Christian. As believers in both the Old and New Testaments, we believe that all the Jewish ceremonies point forward to Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the fulfillment of those ceremonies.

To make this clear, our pastor, Marion Clark, gave a short homily on the New Covenant. The Old Covenant was the covenant between God and Israel given on Mount Sinai. God promised to be their God and their protector. The people's part was to obey God's Law. He gave them the ten commandments to obey and to guide them in their religious and moral lives. It was a good covenant. The only problem with it was that sinful human beings were incapable to keeping it. So at one of the lowest moments of Israel's history, when Jerusalem was under seige from her enemies, in the midst of famine, suffering and privation, God promised that he would make a New Covenant with his sinful people. Jeremiah records this promise in chapter 31 of the book that bears his name. This a new covenant in that it is not based on the outward keeping of the law. God promised to write His law on the people's hearts and minds. He promised to be their God and that they would know Him, from the least to the greatest of them. What makes this New Covenant so wonderful is that it is based not on our trying to keep the law but on forgiveness of sins: "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember thier sins no more."

Centuries later at what we call "the last supper" Jesus passed a cup of wine to His disciples and said, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt. 26:27-28)

What a wonderful privilege God has given us to be partakers of the New Covenant! Jesus died for our sins so that God's justice could be satisfied. God forgives our sins as we ask for forgiveness on the basis of Jesus' death in our place. And we can actually know God. We can come into His very presence to worship and praise Him, to confess our sins and to find forgiveness and cleansing, and to share with Him everything that is in our hearts. Our obedience then, comes from a new heart and a new mind, focused on our wonderful Savior and on His Word, which He has placed in our hearts.

Tenth CHurch Blood Drive December 6, 2005

2005-12-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

Cora,

The Red Cross is very pleased with the results; I was disappointed of course since being only "4" short of thea, goal is hard to face. Nevertheless I think we did the best we could under the circumstances.

Officially we collected 56 productive pints of blood on a goal of 60. Red Cross says this time of year is really tough because people have so many commitments.

I was especially pleased that many neighborhood people came in. One girl was approached on the street and she said she might be back but was "apt hunting." I wished her well, told her a little bit about the church and she returned later to donate! She said she wanted to find an apt in the neighborhood so she could attend our Church! She had never heard of us before.

This and other contacts make the whole thing worthwhile in the end. The trainer at the gym came back and donated this time. We made him feel VERY welcome! Also my Jewish dentist came and was impressed by the warm welcome. He had never donated before!

Jay, George and Ed did a fine job at the refreshment table. I believe George is the most popular person at the drive. Even the red cross wanted to know "if George would be there!" I also give hearty thanks to Danya Kellberg who is a saint at the reception table. Tom Witmer got the posters hung in the neighborhood. We should also thank the faithful in the congregation who donated, especially those that had to travel to do so. We couldn't do this without them.

The Church staff presents a fine example by being so faithful in this work. By donating and by being so enthusiastic you all really make a difference!

Many thanks all around and to you Cora for your fine support. I couldn't do it without you!

Jan

Being LIke Christ in His Death

2005-10-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

This week I’m reading in Philippians in my devotions. It’s a wonderful book, full of love and joy, exhortations to Christian unity and a real focus on Christ as our righteousness.

As I read the third chapter I was reminded of two things. First of all I recall reading Dr. Boice’s commentary some years ago, in which he stated that the whole book of Romans is summarized in Philippians 3:9, “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—a righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (NIV)

The second was an insight I got while dealing with a reluctant counselee a few years ago. I was sharing with this person the need to die to self and to allow God to have complete and total charge of his life. I found myself quoting key passages on the matter such as Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Eventually I got to Philippians 3: 10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, being like him in his death.” My friend walked out of my office rejecting the whole idea of letting God be in charge of his life.

At that point I was too wound up to do much good work, so I went home to have lunch. All that I had said in that session was running around in my head as I walked home. “How can I be like Christ in His death? What is the essence of Christ’s death that I can be conformed to it? I can’t be the atonement for the sins of the world. What does this mean, anyway?” This was all churning around inside of me.

As I was standing in my kitchen with an empty saucepan in my hand it hit me like a thunderbolt. “What is the essence of Christ’s death that I should be conformed to it? The essence of Christ’s death is, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will but Thine be done.’”

Being a very strong willed person I found this really earthshaking. It’s a matter of submitting my will to the Lord and allowing Him to have the final say. I needed to be reminded of this fully as much as my friend. I also need to re-read Philippians from time to time to remind me of this. If we are going to be like Christ we must be absolutely in tune with God and be ready to His will even if it means facing what we dread most.

I know Christ and am becoming increasingly and progressively more deeply acquainted with Him. I’ve known something of the power of His resurrection. These past years I’ve learned something about the fellowship of His sufferings. Becoming like Him in His death is definitely a “growth area”, something that I still need to work on.

Seated in the Heavenlies

2005-09-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Recengly I have been reading Ephesians in my devotions. Paul really gets excited about God's plan of salvation that takes us from being dead in trespasses and sin and resurrects us to life and eventually seats us in the heavenlies with Christ.

It reminds me of my experience parasailing several years ago in Florids. I had been visiting friends there and had seen folks hanging from parachutes being drawn along by a boat. It looked like such great fun that on my last day there my hostess took me down to the dock where I got to be the only customer on the first run of the day.

It was utterly fantastic!!! one second I was standing on the stern of this boat which was picking up speed and the next I was airborne. What a great thing it was to be up in the air. It was more than just being exciting and fun: it was also a spiritual experience for me.

As I was hanging in midair from this parachute, I thought, "This is amazing. It's only the wind that is keeping me up. It's just like the Holy Spirit, the Wind of God, who sustains me and keeps me airborne. "

Then I looked out over the surrounding countryside along the shore. What a great view it was! I could see for miles. Ashore the land is so flat that it's hard to get any perspective on the general view of things. Airborne, I could see the whole lay of the land. Airborne, I didn't have to deal with traffic or any of the other annoying things that make up daily life. I was above it all and could see the big picture. "This reminds me of being seated in the heavenlies with Christ. From this position I am above all the trivia of life, and can see the bigger purposes that God must have in mind. This is a great place to be."

I returned to Philadelphia greatly refreshed and excited by my experience. I must admit that I do get bogged down in the trivia of life and my vision is limited by the things that press in on me. How much I need to be reminded of God's bigger purposes, and of my position in Christ and remember that His purpose for me is to seat me in the heavenlies with Himself.

A Place to Live

2005-07-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

For some months now I've been house hunting. It's been a frustrating process. Rents on nice apartments are way out of my budget range and places that I can afford are small and not too nice. A friend in the real esate business has been showing me small homes to buy in South Philadelphia. I've seen two that I particularly liked but by the time we tried to make an offer, both were already under contract to someone else. I keep looking both at rental units and homes to purchase.but the frustration continues. I know that the Lord has a place for me. Finding it is just more work than I had bargained for. When I find it it will be in the right location at the right price with all the necessary amenities--or lack of them. Most certainly it will not be what I expect, but it will be the place of God's own choosing. God has, after all, promised to provide for all our needs.

I've been reflecting on the Psalmist's statement, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations." (Ps. 90:1) I've lived in various places in the world, and no matter where I've gone, I've been at home in God, no mater how great the adjustment of moving or the culture shock of being in a totally different place. I've lived in an unheated room in Paris, which had no hot water, in a story book looking chalet in Switzerland, in a room in a grand old villa on a hillside overlooking Florence, in the basement of some friends' home, in an apartment in the center of Florence in a building that I found on a town map dating from the late 1400's. I house-sat in London, shared a friend's apartment in Queens, NY, and found shelter with various people while travelling in Asia and Africa. The Lord has always provided a place to stay.

As I look back over the list of the dwellings in which I have found abode, all I can say is that there has been incredible diversity. I'm reminded of a line from an old gospel song: "A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They're building a mansion for me over there."

I guess it boils down to that. If God is our ultimate abode here on earth, then we look forward to more of same, although in a richer, fuller sense than we have ever known, in the life to come. It's more than a spiritual hope. It's a place. Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you." We have reason to believe that the dwelling that He is preparing for us far outshines anything we can imagine here on earth. The architect and builder is the Creator of the universe Himself. There will be no leaky roofs, wet basements, termites, faulty wiring, sagging walls, unstable foundations, etc. It will be perfect. It's worth looking forward to.

"Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come..the city that has foundatinons, whose designer and builder is God." (Hebrews 13:14, 11:10)

"Some through the fire...'"

2005-07-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning as I was having my devotions I heard sirens. When they died down and stopped near my building I admit that I found it hard to concerntrate on Malachi, so I put down my Bible and went out onto my balcony to see what was happening.

The fire truck was parked in front of the condos across the street and firemen in full gear were knocking on the outside doors of the various apartments, trying to rouse people, or get them to open their windows to let in some fresh air and let out the smoke, which began at one point to pour out of one of the lower apartments.

The firefighters must have brought the fire under control quickly, because within about a half hour they were gone.

All this was a very powerful trigger for my memories of nearly two years ago when the building next door to where I was then living caught fire. We were roused from sleep at about 1:00 am with the state of the art fire alarm that had been installed in our building just a few months before. What was my reaction? No, it was not fear. It was just plain annoyance at being distrubed in the middle of a sound sleep. I'd just returned from Cameroon two days before and was quite jet lagged. Sleep was a precious commodity at that point and I wanted to capture as much of it as possible. Imagine the indignity of being roused by a fire alarm at a time like that!

When I could not ignore the alarm any longer, I got up, washed my face and dressed. I grabbed my glasses and my purse and prepared to evacuate, hoping that all of this would soon be over and we could go back to sleep.

Now, for years I had a plan that if ever I had to evacuate, I would take certain treasures with me. If I were in the bedroom, I would take certain paintings off the wall and grab certain other valuables and get out. If I were in the living room, I'd grab other things. This particular night I saw the silk rug I'd bought from a Tibetan rug seller in Nepal, and I picked it up, put it over my shoulder and opened the door to my apartment. Then I thought, "Why am I taking this?" I commited my home and my belongings to the Lord saying, "Lord, I'm not going to take anything. I am commiting all my belongings to you, and I want you to watch over everything. Please preserve what I need, but it's all yours and I'm letting go of it." With that I left.

The fire turned out to be much more serious than anyone had bargained for. The building next door was completely destroyed, and the fire spread to the roof of our building. The firefighters poured an incredible amount of water on the whole thing and when I went back the next day everything was awash. I ended up spending the rest of the night in the Red Cross shelter in a nearby school. I thought about the relative value of my posessions, even thouse whtat had been passed down through generations of my family. Everyone who posessed them before me left them behind. Moreover, it occured to me that one day everything will be destroyed by fire: "The elements shall melt with fervent heat..." and I thanked God for things that abide forever.

I'm afraid that I backed into the Scriptural principle through the hymn that went through my mind, "When through firey trials thy pathway shall lie
My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply,
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the floods, they shall not overflow you; when you pass through the fire, it shall not kindle upon thee, neither shalt thou be burned." Isaiah 43:2.

Grace In Affliction

2005-07-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

GRACE IN AFFLICTION

It was a rough year. Between August 2003 and the end of July, 2004, my apartment building was destroyed in a fire, my mother died, I had major surgery and three weeks later a routine mammogram revealed a “suspicious lump” that turned out to be cancer.

The Bible tells us that no testing comes upon us that is not “common to man”, something that everyone else goes through. All my neighbors, both Christian and non Christian lost their homes in the fire. In a fallen world, most of us will someday lose our parents. I was not the only person scheduled for surgery last summer, and when I visit the oncology department, the waiting room is usually full of people. However, as a Christian, we have at least three advantages over our unbelieving friends.

First, we have the promise of God’s own presence: “When you pass through the waters I will be with you.”(Isaiah 43:1) “Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”(Psalm 23: 4)

Second, we are part of the Body of Christ, and have the ministry of all other believers. After the fire, for example, it was a family in the church who took me in, and there was a great outpouring of love from people in the church. When I went for surgery last summer, a friend from the church took me to the hospital and then sat with me in the waiting room, and waited for me during the surgery. People sent flowers and cards (I have a whole shopping bag of cards from last summer!) and most importantly, prayed for me. I felt very sustained by your prayers. Your prayers are a very precious gift to me.

When we go through times of trial, we also know that our trials have meaning and they are accomplishing something. Paul, who had his share of trials, wrote: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outward nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing for us a weight of glory beyond comparison.” (II Corinthians 4:16-17) In the midst of each of my trials, the Lord reminded me that each was a “light and momentary affliction”, no matter how big and overwhelming it seemed at the time. This life is not all that there is. We are made for eternity, and the Lord is at work in us to make us like Himself so we can dwell with Him forever. In the light of eternity, then, anything that happens to us here is by comparison, “slight and momentary.” What the Lord promises us is an amazing exchange: what is light or “slight” for something that has weight and substance; what is momentary (and in the light of eternity everything is momentary) for what is eternal; affliction for glory. This is all well worth having!

How we respond to the things that happen to us is also part of the spiritual battle. The book of Job tells us about this. We can choose to trust God or to deny Him. God is glorified when we trust Him in affliction.

In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis records the correspondence between a senior devil and a junior tempter, instructing him on how to gain possession of a human soul. In the eighth letter, he tells him that humans pass through peaks and troughs. It is, surprisingly, the troughs that the “Enemy” (God) uses to make human beings like Himself. Some of the people with whom he is most pleased have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else. He ends by saying, “Do not be deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do the Enemy’s will, looks about a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, asks why he has been abandoned, and still obeys.”

Small Groups as Family

2005-05-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

"God sets the lonely in families". (Psalm 68:6)

Sometimes this promise is fulfilled literally when a family adopts a lonely person. Other times the church becomes a person's family. In a large church, one's small group becomes one's family.

I saw this demonstrated a couple of weeks ago at a wedding that took place here. The bride comes from a somewhat chaotic family, and her small group stepped in and put on the wedding for her and her beloved. The couple who hosts this group in their home is especially gifted in all things pertaining to hospitality. At the wedding, the hostess of the Bible study served as wedding coordinator. The host, who has exquisite artistic taste, did the flowers--and what flowers they were! He turned our Fellowship Hall into a real flower garden, utterly transforming it's open, barnlike atmosphere into something really beautiful. And the rest of the group? I found them in the kitchen, preparing the reception, under the direction of a group member who is a gourmet cook. Everyone was attired in aprons, ready to set out the fabulous spread that they had worked together to prepare.

Evidently one of the bride's family was doubtful, even sarcastic about the small group doing anything that would be of reasonable quality. Evidently the cynic didn't know this group: they are quality people who do things well and beautifully to the glory of God. What the Bible study host had done with flowers, they did with food and served a very elegant collation for the wedding guests. It was a gift of love from these good people to one of their own.

It reminded me that the Lord is preparing a wedding feast for us, too. He has, after all, adopted us into His family. If we are invited, it will not be as a guest, it will be as the bride. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be the most elegant, beautiful and delicious feast that has ever been prepared. I look forward to being there, to be joined with our Heavenly Bridegroom and to participate in this wonderful feast. Will you be there?

Blood Drive Evangelism

2005-05-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

This week the pastoral staff met for our annual retreat in Cape May. It's a wonderful place to be, particularly when the weather is nice, which it was for our stay. We always work hard at this retreat, brainstorming, discussing goals and dreams and problems we need to confront. This year we discussed, among other things, how we could reach out to Center City more effectively.

When we returned home on Tuesday afternoon, the Red Cross Blood Drive at the church was in full swing. I maintain that this is one of the most effective outreaches that we do, inviting neighborhood people into the church to donate blood for the good of the community. Often some of our people have the opportunity to share our faith with our neighbors. "The Christian faith is all about blood", said one of our greeters. This year, Janice Roberts, who heads up the church blood drive, was concerned that so few of our people signed up to donate. The Red Cross had raised our goal to 60 units of blood, and Janice was certain that we needed to have 90 people signed up to get that much. Actually only about 35 Tenth Church people signed up, which left a large gap. Always the conscientious one, Janice went out to the sidewalk at 17th and Spruce and stopped passers-by and asked them to come in and donate blood. She certainly is effective! Here is her report.

Once again we have an answer to prayer! I was so unprepared in terms of the goal that all I could do was pray!

62 were signed up as of the start of the drive. I knew, and the Red Cross knew, that I needed 90 signed up to get our goal of 60 productive units.

Early in the drive it was clear that the street response on Spruce was amazing. So many people volunteered that I could hardly believe it. At 3:45 our Red Cross coordinator came out to ask that I halt the street effort because they couldn't handle the crowd! Wow!

By 4:30 the Head Nurse told me we were on our way to overachieving. Great news and we all knew that the signup numbers were now past speculation.

In the end we had 72 people "presenting;" 6 deferrals, (very low) and only 1 rejected unit of blood. In all we collected 70 productive pints of blood against our goal of 60. ( +17%!) We were also fortunate that the MCS machine gave us an extra 8 units

The Lord will provide

2005-05-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Phil Ryken preached from Luke 12: 22-34, the wonderful passage in which Jesus tells his followers not to be anxious buy rather to seek God's Kingdom and to trust Him to provide for their needs. It set off a whole series of memories for me. It is a passage of Scripture that I have held on to for many years.

Phil gave a great message on that passage and I wrote to him to express my appreciation.

Dear Phil,

Thank you for your sermon on Sunday morning. I was deeply blessed by it and the Lord used it to remind me of His priorities in my life. Among other things, I’m apartment hunting again, and am trying to keep within my current price range. Everything I’ve looked at so far has been way out of my price range, and to take a more expensive apartment would mean cutting back my giving, which would be a real skewing of priorities. Being reminded of the couple who decided against using their funds to buy a bigger house and to send the money to the Schaeffers instead was an illustration that I needed to hear at that point in time.

And the hymns that you chose were right on! The Neumark hymn was practically my theme song as I prayed in the funds to finish college and it brought back memories of my not knowing where the money would come from and God providing at just the right time. "God never yet forsook at need the soul that trusted Him indeed."

The closing hymn (Though troubles assail us and dangers affright...The Lord will provide!") was my theme song during my Florence years. I needed to sing it often and loudly in my devotions as a reminder that I was depending on God’s promises, not on my own efforts. And it was wonderful testimony. I kept an open house for students, travelers, artists and au pair girls. Most of the time people came to meals, Bible studies, or other activities and were content to be welcomed. Occasionally someone would ask, “So who pays for all this?” and I would reply:

“I’m here because God has made some wonderful promises in the Bible to people who will trust him, including to provide for all our needs. He promised to clothe us like He clothes the flowers of the field, and feed us like He feeds the birds of the air. I’m able to be here because I believe that God is true to His word. On the human level, of course, the funds come from people who know I’m here and want to support this work, but I don’t solicit funds, I pray and ask God to move people’s hearts to give. And He has always provided enough for me and enough to share with people like you.”

God does, of course, clothe us like he clothes the flowers of the field. During my Florence years, my wardrobe was a source of embarrassment to my Italian friends, who dress very elegantly. I know I looked like a ragamuffin much of the time. In spring of 1977, the Tenth missions commission invited me to come back for missions week that autumn. My one problem was what would I wear to speak at Tenth Church? At that point I didn’t even own a dress, nor could I afford one, but I prayed and reminded the Lord of His promise to clothe His children. I also went out shopping and found a wonderful dress and put a deposit on it. I came home and told my roommate about it: “But it costs more than I have ever paid for a dress.” (Said she who dressed from thrift shops or else made my own clothes) “But that’s what dresses cost, silly.” So I prayed. About a week later, a gift came from a couple at Tenth Church who had heard exaggerated reports of Cora’s wardrobe from my summer helpers from the year before. “You don’t have to live like a little sister of poverty. Please use this to buy some clothes.” And it paid for the dress. Actually, I still have that dress. It survived the fire in August 2003. I don’t ever want to let go of it, because it is tangible proof that God keeps His promises.

Cora

Why Small Group Bible Studies? Part II

2005-04-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Small groups are also the place where people grow in their faith through Bible study and prayer. Most proponents of small groups from Wesley on have made this their primary emphasis. Our groups are, after all, Bible studies. As we gather together around the Word of God we can share our insights and understanding and challenge each other to live out the things that we study--and to hold them accountable for doing so. We receive insights and ideas from our fellow group members that we might never come to on our own. The Lord has made a special promise to his followers that "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am among them." It is the Holy Spirit who opens the Scriptures to explain them to us, who opens our minds to understand the Word of God and our hearts to receive its life changing message. The Lord uses the working of the Holy Spirit working in one person to bless and challenge another. While it is important to have our own personal Bible study time daily, we are especially challenged to expand our understanding and interpretation of Scripture when we hear how our brothers and sisters in Christ have understood a given passage.

Small group Bible study is also an excellent means of evangelism. It is very threatening for people who don't go to church to attend a worship service. It is much less threatening to come into someone's living room to meet with a small group of friends and neighbors to study the Bible. Since the goal of small group Bible study is to interact with the Bible together, everyone in attendance is learning from the Bible and from one another. People can read and discuss the message of Scripture and come to terms with, "Thus saith the Lord..." Small groups are the milieu where unbelievers can see how Christians actually understand and apply the Word of God and how they share their burdens with one another, uphold one another in prayer and generally are real with one another. In short, here they see the gospel lived out in flesh and blood. In my years as a missionary working among students, au pair girls, resident artists and others in Florence, Italy, the focal point of this ministry was a weekly Bible study. The fellowship was warm and rich and the studies of Scripture challenging. Years after people left Florence, they would tell me things like, "Where can I find the same depth of fellowship that we had in our Bible study group?" or "I had never been to a Bible study until I came to the one at your place, and now I'm leading one in my own home." The people in that group who came to faith in Christ came through the study of Scripture, of the claims of Jesus Christ written down in the passages that we studied. "So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17)

An answer to prayer

2005-04-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Each Friday during lunch hour a group of us gather to pray, interceding for people that we would like to see come into the Kingdom of God. We call it the "evangelism prayer meeting". We have been doing this for some 9 years or so, and we know that God has answered many of our prayers. Occasionally someone for whom we have been praying lets us know how our prayers have been answered.

Last week we prayed for Mike Erickson's speaking engagment with CBMC on April 20. Today I received this message:

Dear Cora and Prayer Partners, I wanted to write a quick note to everyone that prayed for the CBMC outreach/speaking engagement on last Wednesday. First ,Thank you for praying for me and the event. Fifty + people attended and the fellows that run the program estimated that about 30% or 15-20 people were not Christians. They reported that three people prayed for salvation and several others asked for additional information and follow up! Praise Him ! I don't know many of you but I felt your prayers. Please pray for the fellow up team , for the new believers assurance and for these dear souls that this would be the beginning of a deep and lasting relationship to the Lord.To God be the glory. Sincerely Mike Erickson

Why Small Group BIble Studies?

2005-04-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

The other day a pastor, recently hired to oversee the development of a network of small groups in his church, called to discuss how to do this job. Since he called basically to pick my brains, he asked, "Why should we have small groups anyway?" I'm glad he asked.

First of all, for fellowship and ministry to one another. In a large congregation it is very difficult to get to know everyone. As our membership now exceeds 1700, it's quite impossible even to say "Good morning" to everyone. If people are going to develop meaningful relationshps with one another they have to be in smaller groups so that they can get to know at least a small number of people in greater depth.

The Psalmist said, "He sets the lonely in families." Sometimes a family actually adopts a lonely person and lets him or her be part of their family activities. Most often, the church becomes the lonely person's family. We can practice being the Lord's family best in family-sized groups. Here at Tenth Church over the years, members of small groups have ministered to one another in great depth, particularly as various members experienced trials, sickness, hardship even the prospect of death. At least two of our groups have ministered to their members right up until their dying moments.

Although not everyone's needs are life and death matters, the Scripture tells us to "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." It is generally in small groups that people feel freest to share their burdens and to ask for prayer and support and encouragement. Generally it is the people in one's small group that pray for a person in difficulty and ask for updates each time that they meet. They keep the person accountable for following through with his or her responsibility for their well being and their spiritual development, and in times of difficulty are there for their member who may be hurting. This is, after all, the place where the "Body Life" of the church takes place.

Small groups exist for more than just the care and nurture of members. We'll consider more aspects of small group ministry in another edition. Stay tuned!

John Stott in New York

2005-04-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

John Stott, who will be 85 this week, I believe, made what will be his last trip to New York earlier this month. On April 12 he spoke on "Toward Christian Maturiity" at a meeting sponsored by the New York Women's Bible Society. Far more people wanted to attend this meeting than the NY Fire Department allow in the allotted space. For me it was thrilling to see so many people interested in Christian Maturity.

According to his figures, some 30,000 people per day make professions of faith in Christ on the African continent and 18,000 per day on the Indian subcontinent, but few of these people actually go on to Christian maturity. Accordingly, John Stott and colleagues have founded "John Stott Minstries Internationl" to train pastors and Bible teachers in the developing world to teach the Bible in greater depth.

Why don't we have more Christian maturity? Because we have an indadequate vision of who Jesus Christ is. He is not Jesus Christ Superstar or the clown of Godspell. Where do we get an adequate vision of Christ? In the Bible. Colossians chapter one tells us

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things
were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
powers or rulers or authorities: all things were created by him and for him. He is before
all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head f the body, the church; he
is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have
the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and through him
to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making
peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

How then do we grow to Christian maturity? By reading the Bible and praying to our incomprable Savior.