The common – and too easy – line is that the joke was on the church…or us.

It was eighteen years ago today that Trudi and I came to Faith Assembly. We had no idea we would be here this long or that our children would grow up here. We had hoped to make it 5 or 6 years before God moved us on.

An interesting 18 years, full of memories and people and experiences.

This will obviously be used again in a more public place. You’ll have to provide your own punchline.

Tomorrow morning I will be posting a short story. It was an illustration that I originally wrote for the sermon last night. I am doing a series on the book of Numbers and last night we were in Numbers 9:1-14.

The illustration turned out to be quite long, turning into a short story, which I’ve decided to post here.

The basic idea I was trying to illustrate was this: what is it like when someone says, I like God, I just don’t like the church? Or, I’m a Christian, but I don’t have to go to church for that.

In Numbers 9, God makes it clear to the Israelites, if you don’t partake in Passover, you have no place in the congregation, and if you have no place in the congregation, you have no part in me.

Check back tomorrow.

BUSY weekend. Here are some pictures from our annual All Church Picnic, the one that happens to always fall on the same day as some big football game. Of course, because of the picnic, we have to cancel the evening service.

Really. It’s the picnic’s fault.

But we always have a TON of people. The free hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts, and soda probably has something to do with that. And people bring a lot of other food, too.

I’m in at 6:30am – Jack, our breakfast chef, always beats me in – and I’m last out, about 5pm. It’s a long day, with a lot of work in between.

But everyone has a great time. Glad it’s over.

Picture #1: The guys wait to test their muscle.

Picture #2: Sam gives his “Of COURSE I’m going to hit the bell” look.

Picture #3: Pastor Pete, master of the fun.

Picture #4: Dalton is SO STRONG, he bends the handle! Or my iPhone doesn’t do action photography. One or the other.

Picture #5: Sam hits one out of the park. Or to the cat. Again. But not the bell. At least he was happy about it.