Hello, old friends. I don't expect to be around much in the next 10 to 12 days (vacation and all that), so I'm just checking in for a quick note. I'm just now finishing up Steven Foster's Streams of Living Water (yes, I can be a very slow reader), and I must say that Foster simply amazes me. Rarely have I read an author at once so wise, so carefully observant of his subject, and yet so humble. Humility in an author shows itself, I think, in an insistent lack of dogmatism. Foster pulls this off with ease, or so it seems, without ever seeming to be wishy-washy or "tolerant" in the modern, relativistic sense (in which tolerance is seen as a higher value than truth). This is a rare achievement.

By the way, Foster heads up a ministry called Renovare, which looks very interesting to me. Dallas Willard, another of my favorites, is also involved.

What do I hope to accomplish in the next couple of weeks? Well, I want to continue to work on an overall plan for establishing a ministry of encouragement. This is something I've been scratching away at lately. I think I've settled on a name for the ministry: Many Sparrows. (Faithful readers will understand!)

I also want to work on a mission statement for our small group. I'm hoping to present this to the group for discussion in two weeks.

Meanwhile, a significant crisis has erupted in our household. I'm not going to go into details here, but only ask that you would pray for us.