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- General (11)
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- 27. June 2008: News
- 27. June 2008: Have you laughed today?
- 15. June 2008: News
- 15. June 2008: Have you laughed today?
- 15. June 2008: Pelle’s Thoughts
- 13. May 2008: Have you laughed today?
- 13. May 2008: Pelle's Thoughts
- 13. May 2008: News
- 6. May 2008: Smiles from the Bible
- 19. April 2008: By the way ...
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Archive for the Uncategorized Category
Have you laughed today?
27. June 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
This does sound familiar somehow:
In the year 2008, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, ‘Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.
Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans’
He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, ‘You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.’
Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.
‘Noah!’ He roared, ‘I’m about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?’
‘Forgive me, Lord,’ begged Noah, ‘but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I’ve been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I’ve violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.
Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lin es and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark’s move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.
Getting the wood was another problem. There’s a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!
When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me.
They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodations were too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.
Then the EPA ruled that I couldn’t build the Ark until they’d conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.
I’m still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I’m supposed to hire for my building crew.
Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work.
The trades unions say I can’t use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience.
To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I’m trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.
So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark.’
Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, ‘You mean you’re not going to destroy the world?’
‘No,’ said the Lord. ‘The government beat me to it.’
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News
15. June 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
Barbecue and fellowship instead of batteries and light bulbs
As you can see in the pictures: the “Power & Light” meetings in June, held by South Lyon Power & Light and All Saints Lutheran Church, didn’t have anything to do with batteries and light bulbs. But they had a lot to do with fun, fellowship and FOOD! One participant said: “I can still smell the barbecued chicken, steaks and burgers” J
And of course these meetings had also to do with exchanging information and ideas about All Saint’s South Campus: South Lyon Power & Light.
Thanks to everyone for their interest, offered help and great ideas!
South Lyon Power & Light about to secure location
South Campus pastor Pamela H. is excited and looking forward to go to South Lyon together with a “dream team” and brighten up their new place, start regular worship, bible study, Big Questions with “Fat Tuesday” - their new outreach band, and get busy in the community “with a lot of crazy outreach activities” as she says.
Everybody is waiting for the good news that South Lyon Power & Light finally has a location in South Lyon. And the question is out there: Could South Lyon Power & Light secure the neat location we introduced in last months South Campus News? The sad answer is: No.
After the planning commission of the City of South Lyon had approved a drawing of the place with all the required changes, this was presented to the landlord who didn’t agree with putting in emergency exits in a certain back area of the building. South Lyon Power & Light was forced to present another idea, but has not heard from the owner of the building since. A representative of South Lyon Power & Light mentioned that there is some other space available for lease which seems to be very intriguing: It is located in a great downtown location; although a little smaller than the other place it would provide enough room for worship services, meetings, and even for hosting a coffeehouse event; there is parking right in front of the building, public parking is close, and the cost is a significantly less. To get approval from the City of South Lyon doesn’t seem to be a problem, and the location finding team of South Lyon Power & Light is optimistic to sign the lease very soon.
During an interview with the South Campus News Pr. Pamela H. said: “When I started looking for a location in South Lyon I had no idea how difficult this would be. Being a pretty naïve German pastor I really thought: we find a place, purchase or lease it, and get started with our ministry. But the last few months taught me that this whole process isn’t that simple. For example: If you want to have worship services going on you need a permission to hold assemblies – in our case from the City of South Lyon. You only get this permission if you fulfill certain requirements. Did you know that if you can seat more than 50 people in one room you must have at least two bathrooms, one for ladies and one for gents. Emergency exit lights must be inside the rooms and visible of course. Handicap accessibility is also important. And then there is the zoning. But I must admit that I never really understood this “zoning” thing. I am only glad that I have people helping me who do know what they are doing in terms of real estate.
However, the whole South Campus process sometimes feels a lot like being in roller coaster. So many ups and downs and twists that I sometimes get dizzy with everything that is happening. Like in a roller coaster it also gets a little scary once in a while. But most of all it is extremely exciting. I find that roller coasters are a lot of fun, and so is our South Campus Ministry!”
The “South Campus News” is looking forward to report about South Lyon Power & Light’s grand opening soon.
South Lyon Power & Light about to lose location opportunity again?
We just received the information that South Lyon Power & Light is again having difficulties with securing a location for their outreach ministry. The problem this time is obviously the zoning of the area where the building is located. In this case the zoning requires more parking than is available. A speaker of the location finding team said: “We are not willing to give up. We will do all we can to come up with a solution!”
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Have you laughed today?
15. June 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
One day Jesus and Moses were on the golf course and decide to have a contest over who can make the most outstanding shot.
So, Moses goes first. He settles up for the shot and hammers it straight for the green. Unfortunately, the ball falls into a water hazard. Undaunted, Moses raises his arms to the sky, and the water parts where the ball dropped in. The ball rolls out of the water and onto dry land, only a foot away from the hole.
Jesus looks at Moses and says, “Hey, Moses, that was a pretty good shot. Now let me see what I can do.”
So Jesus settles up for his shot and sends the ball screaming toward the green. Unfortunately, Jesus has the same luck as Moses did. The ball heads straight for the water hazard. Jesus holds out one hand and, instead of dropping into the water, the ball bounces on top of it and rolls onto dry land only three inches from the hole.
Moses says, “Wow, that was an incredible shot!”
No sooner has Moses said this, than the skies grow dark. The wind starts to pick up, lightning and thunder crackle through the sky. Suddenly, a ball falls from the heavens into the same water hazard where Jesus and Moses hit theirs. A fish swims up and swallows the ball. An eagle swoops down, grabs the fish in his talons, and heads for the now darkened sky. Lightning strikes the eagle, and he drops the fish onto the green. The fish opens his mouth, the ball rolls out, and drops into the hole.
Moses turns to Jesus and says, “Man! I hate it when your dad plays!”
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Pelle’s Thoughts
15. June 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
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Do you have childhood heroes? I know that Pr. Pamela has at least one childhood hero. And no: That’s not me. I wasn’t around at that time. I became a hero in her life many years later. Pr. Pamela’s childhood hero is a little witch. This little witch is the main character in a book called “The Little Witch” by Otfried Preußler. Pr. Pamela’s mom used to read stories from this book to her as bedtime stories. And on many other occasions as well. The witch in the book is a “little” witch because she is only 127 years old – quite young for a witch. Too young to attend a witches’ dance on the Brocken mountain. But as you can imagine she goes anyway. Her plan is to arrive late and leave early so that the other witches won’t know that she was there. But her plan doesn’t work and she gets caught. The other witches threaten her with all kinds of punishments. The Head Witch finally agrees to let her attend next year’s witches’ dance if she has become a good witch within a year. What the Head Witch means by becoming a good witch is to actually become a bad witch by learning all the spells and potion ingredients, and using them to do bad things to people. But the little witch has a different idea about becoming a good witch. She studies hard and does a lot of good things to people: helping the chestnut man for example who gets a bad cold every time he is out selling roasted chestnuts in the middle of winter. She also helps a little girl who isn’t able to sell her paper flowers at the weekly market. The little girl’s family is very poor and badly needs the extra money but nobody seems to be interested in paper flowers. So the little witch makes the paper flowers smell like real flowers, and suddenly everybody wants to buy these paper flowers. And: the flowers in the little girl’s basket never come to an end. You can imagine that the other witches are not pleased about the little witches behavior. The worst is her aunt Rumpumpel, a mean storm-witch, who doesn’t like the little witch at all. She spies on the little witch all the time to find evidence against her. I must say that I admire the courage of the little witch. She does what is right, no matter what others think of her. She does what is right even if others threaten her for helping people in need. For her there is no doubt what a good witch is supposed to be doing. On one hand this is very naïve but on the other hand it is also very powerful. Naïve because she will eventually get into trouble with the other (bad) witches, and powerful because it makes her change the world a little. She makes her part of the world a better place. Only her methods in dealing with the bad people may be questionable nowadays. The little witch would probably approach the “bad guys” differently in 2008, being 178 years old by now and a lot wiser than she used to be in 1957, when the book first was published. And you know what: There are some stories in this book which remind me very much of stories in the bible. I don’t know if Pr. Pamela is aware of this (as a pastor she should be!), but I (as a highly theologically educated teddy bear!) saw the parallels right away. Take the story with the paper flowers for example. There is a miracle happening: the little girl sells the flowers and the flowers in her basket don’t come to an end. People buy and buy but the basket is still full. And: this story is not only about helping a little girl. This story is also about sharing, making sure that everybody gets some of these wonderful paper flowers. Does that ring a bell? In Matthew 14 there is this story about Jesus feeding 5000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. O.k. in case of the little witch there is definitely magic involved. In Jesus’ case the willingness of the disciples to share the little they had may have caused all the others to look closer into their bags, and share what they had. And that was eventually enough to feed all of them. Although the stories are different, there is still a common message: Miracles can happen where somebody simply does the right – GOOD - thing. There is another story that has a parallel in the bible. In Otfried Preußler’s book the little witch casts spells on a Friday to cheer up two very upset children who got lost in the woods on their way home. Casting spells on a Friday is strictly prohibited because for witches the Friday is the Sabbath day. Does that sound familiar? Matthew 12 tells us about Jesus healing on the Sabbath which in the opinion of the Pharisees is against Jewish law. But Jesus doesn’t care about the Pharisees. He simply does what’s right – what’s GOOD – in this situation. Being good, doing the right thing, is always worth it. Being a good witch leads the little witch finally to getting rid of all the bad witches. She finally wins the fight against evil simply by being who and what she is: a GOOD witch! Jesus finally overcomes death – not only his own but ours as well - simply by being who and what he is: the manifestation of God’s love! And God wants us to follow this example. God wants us to be good and to do good. God wants us to change the world. If we are willing to just do what’s right without caring what others think about us, we will be able to perform miracles in this world. It doesn’t need magic to do this. It only needs the courage to sometimes NOT do what others want us to do. It only needs the courage to do what’s right. By the way: Did I mention that Jesus is one of Pr. Pamela’s childhood heroes as well? And now as I think about it: Maybe Jesus is THE childhood hero - but the little witch is certainly not far behind J
Yours Pelle |
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News
13. May 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
We are closer than ever!
Greetings,
Pr. Pamela
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Smiles from the Bible
6. May 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
It doesn’t hurt to have a little Biblical humor to start the day …
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A. Ruthless.
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany ?
A. German Shepherds.
Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh’s daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a
little prophet.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David’s Triumph
was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles
were all in one Accord.
Q.. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden ?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Q. Which area of Middle East was especially wealthy? A. The area around Jordan. The banks were always overflowing.
Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David. He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.
Q. Why didn’t they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck. ( Groan.)
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By the way …
19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
… you can click on the pictures to enlarge them (most of them).
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News
19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
South Campus News
I wish I finally could tell you: We have a place in South Lyon. But I can’t. That is the bad news.
The good news is that we are getting very close! The location finding team is currently looking at a very nice site which meets pretty much all of the requirements for what we want to do at our south campus. We only need to clarify a few things with the city of South Lyon, and get the permission to hold assemblies at this site.
Another good news is that this place is almost affordable and things are not looking too bad concerning financing. And who knows: By the time you get hand on this article these news may be old news already, and we may have the site.
I am really looking forward to worship with you in this place, to hold bible studies and most important: to meet with you there, and make plans for reaching out to the community. Oh, and I almost forgot: I am very much looking forward to have our first party there – something like a baby shower for our newborn campus maybe!
We are also currently working hard on a business plan which is supposed to provide some material for a presentation. With the presentation we want to go out and find investors who are willing to support us financially, and help change the world by helping us to reach out to the community!
At this point I want to thank all of you who are supporting this ministry by investing their time, energy, and talents! Without you All Saints Lutheran Church wouldn’t be able to do this! One of our congregation members once mentioned that I scare him when it comes to real estate affairs. And this person was right. This is certainly not something I am very talented in. There is a reason why I am a pastor and not a realtor! You see: we need all the many talents that are out there. God has given us a great variety of gifts, and if we share them we can get a lot done as laborers in God’s vineyard.
Again: Thank you so much for sharing your gifts and talents to make this ministry happen!
Pr. Pamela
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Pelle’s Thoughts
19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.
As you can see on the picture above I recently spent some time in Arizona. I know what this looks like, but no: I was not there for vacation! (At least not entirely.) Pr. Pamela went to Tempe / Arizona, for a “Churches Starting Churches” conference. And as a very mission driven teddy bear I felt the need to accompany her . (Although, most of the time I let Pr. Pamela do the work)
The conference was held at Desert Cross Lutheran Church in Tempe. Desert Cross is a congregation with two sites, and the example of this congregation really impressed me. In one of the conference sessions the senior pastor of Desert Cross told the story of how the congregation ended up starting an additional campus:
Desert Cross had spent a lot of money for some nice buildings. If I recall it correctly they were a few million dollars in debt. But the pastor told us that this didn’t seem to worry the members of the congregation. It was not that they didn’t care but they just didn’t worry. At some point the congregation had outgrown the sanctuary. The debt was down to about one million dollars, and the decision was made to build a new and bigger sanctuary. Desert Cross took on some more debt – again –, and an architect was hired and plans were made. But when they were ready to actually build the new building the pastor sensed that something wasn’t right. He started talking to the congregational council and to the members of the church, and found out that a new sanctuary wasn’t really what the congregation wanted. What they felt called to do was to share God’s love by helping people in need in the community of Gilbert. This was when the idea of an additional campus was born. The money that was supposed to be spent for a new sanctuary should be used for reaching out into the community. But that money wasn’t enough. Desert Cross – again – took on some more debt, and started the additional campus. If my information is correct they are with two million dollars in debt right now but the congregation still doesn’t seem to be worried.
And they did not only invest a lot of money in the community outreach. They also sent their best leaders over to the new campus in Gilbert to start a successful ministry. And you know what: The result was not that the ministries at the Tempe Campus suffered because of the lack of qualified leaders. What happened was, that the leaders who left, made room for new very gifted and very qualified people. Others stepped up an brought some fresh ideas with them.
When I heard this story I remembered one of Jesus’ parables. (Yes, teddy bears do read the bible! At least I do – once in a while…)
It’s the parable about the talents in Matthew 25: 14“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
I think Desert Cross Lutheran Church is a great example of trusting in God and of trusting in doing the right thing. It is a great example of using the gifts God has given us – time, talent, and treasure - to invest them in the kingdom of God! Desert Cross is a great example of a congregation which knows that church is mainly about the people out there who are in need. It is about the people out there who are in need of help and who are in need of hearing the Gospel about God’s unconditional love!
I wanted to share this example with you because I see that we – like Desert Cross Lutheran Church - are doing good in what God is calling us to do. But although we ARE doing good, I think we can do BETTER. We can do better in investing our time, talents, and treasures. We only have to use our gifts wisely. And we have to use them not for our own sake but for the sake of the people out there. It’s for the people who otherwise may not hear the story about this awesome God!
Yours Pelle
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