Pastor’s Pen: [ August 6 ] Watermelon & Worship 7:30pm, Memorial Pool
[ August 16 ] Wednesday Night Fellowship Meal Resumes 5:00pm, Fellowship Hall 5:45pm, Bible Study (Children & Youth activities begin September 6)
[ August 30 ] Quarterly Business Meeting 5:45pm, Fellowship Hall
BOOKWORMS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! At least once a year, I like to visit with you about summer reading. Each summer, I try to read fiction, since the other nine months of the year keep me otherwise occupied. Two very moving novels-Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger and We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates—beautifully describe family secrets and spiritual longing. By the way, if you were the one who loaned me the Mulvaneys, I’m finished with it, and next time, be sure to put your name in the front! I enjoyed reading Shadowlands by Leanore Fleischer, a retelling in novel form of the actual (though highly unusual) romance between C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. I had seen the movie years ago, starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. The book is well written. I’ve enjoyed dabbling in the short stories of John Cheever. His gift with language paints raw and troubling pictures of the emptiness of social status. He holds up a mirror to us, exploring the lengths to which we will go to maintain appearances. Moving on to non-fiction, I just completed Founding Rivals by Chris DeRose. He recounts the drama of how the Bill of Rights came to be included in our U.S. Constitution. He tells the amazing story through the work of James Madison and James Monroe. The narrative is replete with references to early Baptists and our contribution to the principle of religious liberty for all, not just for those who agree with us.
@fbcjcmo
Brian McLaren’s The Great Spiritual Migration challenges many of our comfortable assumptions about faith. But as usual, the shaking drives us deeper into a more mature relationship with Christ. A bonus is that right after I read this book, I was privileged to hear McLaren speak three times at CBF’s General Assembly.
FBCJC
Happy reading!
@fbcjc
FBCJC
Grace,