Sunday Notes

• Mark Senechal has discerned God's voice calling him to remain at CTK. All of us are thankful.

• The Dateline NBC filming went well on Friday night. Watch for it on Monday evening. There was a follow up to the content of the Friday night interview, which I am sure will be aired along with it - it's a happy ending and we all need to hear one of those.

• The brother of Darryl, who is part of the family interviewed by Dateline, has a houseful of displaced friends. Danny and his wife moved here from NOLA only 2 months ago. There are 17 under their roof. 3 of those families decided to rent the house across the street. So yesterday was a day of helping them connect with people who have beds, appliances and furniture.

• I am taking to heart the wise counsel of my friend Paul Knight, pastor of Hope Covenant in Grand Forks, ND, where floods and fire ravaged the town back in 1997. Paul wrote:

I would also encourage you all to pray for the relief workers and pastors. I absolutely loved the ministry going on during the flood and afterward. I was reveling in the adrenaline and hopefully some the power of the Holy Spirit. God was clearly giving us opportunity. However, about 1 1/2 later I nearly crashed my ministry and spiritual life -- I did not take care of my heart or spirit. A fatique so deep set into my life that I didn't care about anything........... My counselor walked me through deep waters. A disaster of this magnitude is a long-term opportunity for recovery -- where the pastors and workers will need to drink deeply from the fresh waters of the Holy Spirit.

Good Words. Thanks, Paul. As I said to him in a note yesterday:

You probably remember the addictive rush that one gets when in the thick of this kind of ministry. Friday and Saturday are my days off and between them I worked more hours than I want to admit. At CTK we track our hours and are careful to take comp days, but still, it is important to be reminded of how we sometimes try to save the world and lose our soul. Thanks for calling me back.