Since you’ll be reading this after October 31, let me just wish you a very Happy Reformation Day!  People tend to get the wrong idea when I say that to them.  For instance, some people think that I’m joking -- that I’m making a big deal about something trivial just to be funny (but that couldn’t be further from the truth).  Others think that I’m just trying to find something other than Hallowe’en to celebrate on that day (which I explained a bit more in detail in the podcast interview that I had last week with Aletheia Classical Christian School headmaster Chris Marchand, where we discussed the nature of evil and the history of the Church’s response to Hallowe’en... as well as Darth Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber...).  Still others take that as some sort of passive-aggressive attack on the Catholic Church (which comes out of some understandable over-sensitivity, but ignores the fact that pretty much all of the original Reformers were active, Catholic clergy)...

I just shared something with someone yesterday that I’ve shared with various others over the years -- that sometimes, whole weeks go by where I feel shocked that I get paid to do something that’s this rewarding and this much fun... and then other weeks come by where I remind myself that it’s times like this when I earn all of that back pay...

So it was hot.  Then it was rainy, overcast, and actually cold -- Alex even wore a sweater.  And now it’s sunny and hot again.  I am remarkably confused.  Either that, or the weather is....

We had another wonderful day in the Lord this Sunday morning here at First Covenant! Thank you in particular to everyone who’s been praying for the outreach to Peoria Heights High School that we took part in, in connection with Stand for Truth Ministries’ outreach team -- the Christian band, Attaboy.   We hosted Attaboy as our Worship Team on October 1, and then they held an assembly at PHHS last Wednesday, followed by a free concert that night at the Lakeview Community Center, where they shared the Gospel message with teens...

I am a huge fan of Albert Einstein’s maxim, “Everything should be made as simple as possible... but not more so...”  But nowadays, people seem to be committed to finding overly-simple answers to complicated questions...

Peoria is hurting right now, after police shot and killed an armed robbery suspect this week... Let’s all be in prayer for the man’s family, for the police department, for our community, and for our country in general.  Pray for wisdom, pray for strength (moral strength, physical endurance, and strength of character throughout this whole situation), and pray for peace for everyone.  Whatever else we may find out about who did what, the undeniable truth is that a man is dead now because of violence that should never have happened...

First Covenant Church has grown by two little sets of feet!  Addison Diemer was born to Sara and Eric on Wednesday, and Zane Doremus was born to Kim and Cody on Friday.  Please keep both families in your prayers as babies, parents, and siblings all get used to the “new normal” in their homes...

Stress is a funny thing.  It can give you headaches, it can raise your blood pressure, it can precipitate heart attacks and strokes, and it can even make you gain weight.  It can make you snap at the people who love you, it can make you jump to conclusions that you shouldn’t, and it can make you stare up at the ceiling when what you really need to do is sleep so that you’re at your best when you need to be...

I realize that several of you are already bemoaning the cooler weather, but please understand that, for a lot of us, Autumn is our favorite time of year.  So basically, I’m loving the dropping temperatures.  I will, however, miss the regular crop of fresh tomatoes from our garden...

We had a great day in the Lord this Sunday!  Working backwards, a number of us went out to lunch and had a wonderful time interacting over a meal together, enjoying good fellowship.  Let me encourage everyone to join us this coming Sunday for our monthly Brown-Bag-It lunch in the Fellowship Hall downstairs after the service, because it’s so important to be able to spend quality time together as a family -- even a church family...

Thank you so much for the time off for our family vacation -- we had a great time of fun, rest, and relaxation, but it’s also good to be back home with everyone that we love.  We made it a point to kind of drop off the face of the planet for two weeks and enjoy swimming, caving, and snuggling in large chunks of time...

Man, everyone is still more or less fried from VBS, but it was totally worth it.  But my family is going on vacation for the next two weeks, so we should have plenty of time to rest up and recuperate from all of the fun and excitement...

We had a wonderful week at our Vacation Bible School here at First Covenant Church!  We had the most volunteer workers that we’ve ever had for a VBS -- which turned out to be crucially important, since A) we also ended up with a record number of children in attendance, and B) several of our VBS workers developed major issues at the last minute...