seminarygal

Overwintering 101

September 9, 2012 No Comments

It’s September, official My Summer Garden is Past its Prime Month. With the decreasing amounts of sunlight and the wear and tear of the summer’s heat and typical drought/deluge watering of Illinois summers, the plants in my garden start to look a little…oh…shabby. With the first crisp nights dropping into the 50s, I start to think about overwintering plants.

Why overwinter? Well, these plants have a few things to say about it:

There are several different things I do to overwinter plants.

Some (like coleus, marine heliotrope, begonias, lantana, geraniums, and polka dot plants) respond well to cuttings for bringing inside. I spray the plants with a systemic insecticide at 7 day intervals for 3 weeks while they are still outdoors so that by the time I take cuttings, I won’t be bringing any insects in with me. I also do not spray insecticides in the house, so if it’s going to get done, it will be done outside. Many of the cuttings root in water very easily. I have a heating mat that I use for the cuttings of polka dot plants and geraniums (rooted in vermiculite) since it seems to help in both instances. If I’m rooting something in either sand or vermiculite, I use rooting hormone which helps to give the cuttings a good jump start. I haven’t bought a coleus (except to increase my collection) in years. Easy to root. Cheerful in my kitchen window all winter.

Some plants go into a warmer place. I have a garage named Arkansas and a basement named Florida. The Crape Myrtle goes into the garage because it’s WAY too heavy to haul down the basement stairs. It snuggles next to the interior wall of the garage and I water it with a tiny bit of cold water periodically. Keeping it dry and using cold water when I do water ensures it will not break dormancy. The amazing Mandevilla vine that was a 6″ pot last year (because I’m cheap and don’t want to buy the biggest plant I can find) overwintered last year in the basement and this year it’s taller than I am and growing on an obelisk. I will do this year what I did last year by letting it go dormant. I kept it quite dry, in the basement near a window, with supplemental lighting. As the day lengths begin to increase, I increased the hours of fluorescent lighting and began to water it a bit more. When the weather got warm enough to put it outside, then fertilizing it began in earnest. I think I’m going to try the same thing with the gloriosa lily that hasn’t been the happiest camper on the block. It’s much better than it was last year at this time, so we’re going to give it a shot and see if it just needed to mature.

Some plants will be snuggled next to the foundation of the house. Last year, I overwintered a river birch in a pot by covering the whole pot with frost cloth and putting it in a warm little corner outside near the chimney. Of course, I needed to shovel snow on it periodically so that the pot could stay watered. Again the key is to keep it from breaking dormancy before the weather improves. I’ll try that technique again this winter since previously I’ve only been able to keep Dwarf Alberta Spruces through the winter in pots. Last winter was unseasonably mild, but hey! I got two years out of a tree I bought for portable shade for a hydrangea that outgrew its partly shady zone. Definitely worth trying again!

Other plants that are semi-hardy will be treated the same way. Crocosmia wintered well that way last winter and were an amazing show of brilliant scarlet flowers for months! The gladiolus have been dug and will die back down to their corms. I will tuck them in a window box buried next to the foundation and cover them with frost cloth.

The roses and the hydrangea will not be overwintered until they’ve gone completely dormant since they fight to grow until the killing frost has come a time or two. Trying to overwinter these too soon will mean their death. They will refuse to go dormant and chew through their stored up food or send out new growth to get zapped by the nearest cold snap. I overwinter my potted roses in my compost pile. I have pictures from last year and will do a separate post on overwintering these two rather particular flowering plants. Roses, Hydrangeas are described separately (click links).

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

I just try to bend it a little.

News and Chapel worship

Chapel Worship Guide 9.9.2012

September 9, 2012 No Comments

Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Prelude—Allan Koetz

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Songs of Praise—Allan Koetz

Reading of Scripture: Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. … 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age– and Sarah herself was barren– was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country– a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Prayer—Barbara Shafer

Message—“Promise as an Everlasting Covenant” by Barbara Shafer

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” … 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Songs of Response—Allan Koetz

Benediction—Barbara Shafer

Postlude—Allan Koetz

Articles, Articles and Devotionals

Asking All the Wrong Questions about Abortion

September 5, 2012 No Comments

I’m coming off a long stretch of women confessing abortions to me. They are confessing because they are scared…and looking for hope.

I know some of you may be thinking that I’m hitting on a bunch of political topics these days. Yes, I am. But in this article you will not find photos of unborn children or the usual pro-life message. My thoughts go soul deep. You will not find guilt-tripping or politics-as-usual because it’s not just usual politics in the lives of women I meet. It’s personal to them. They’re frightened because it’s their story and they’re looking for answers to questions. They’re looking for hope.

I’m writing about this today because good politics arise out of good theology. If one’s worldview is to be consistent, that is. Whether your worldview is one that includes God or not, it’s not a cafeteria where you choose some from each group, a knife and a fork, and head to the cashier.

Presently, the Democratic National Convention is underway in the United States. Numerous women are scheduled to speak, ostensibly on behalf of American women.

*** * ***

They do not speak for me.

They do not speak for me because I hold a well-developed theology on the Image of God. These women, because of their views, simply cannot speak life to any woman who thinks theologically as I do.

In the previous article, Asking All the Wrong Questions about Discrimination, I outlined the necessity of holding a high view of the Image of God and asserted that this is our way to solving the racial divide. Likewise, a well-developed understanding of the Image of God ought to inform our views on abortion.

There is a wrong question out there: Should there be limits on a woman’s right to choose?

There are many reasons this is a wrong question.

The first one is grammatical. “To choose” –a verb—typically needs an object for the sentence or question to make sense. One needs “to choose” something whether it is a choice to do or not to do, or a choice among alternatives. The implied object in the question above is abortion. If the object were different (substitute anything you choose and see for yourself), the whole question changes. As does the answer. The meaning and the value given to the object are what determine the rightness of the choice.
Sometimes the word choice just reflects a manner of choice as in “Choose wisely.” But even Indiana Jones knows the choice is among alternatives (e.g. to drink from the Holy Grail or select a different cup). The alternatives have consequences, if the choice truly makes any difference. What are the implied options in the question above? Choose what? You know the two answers. There is no half-life or anything in between.
Then, there’s the issue of whether it’s any person’s right to choose. At present, Roe v Wade has been a turning point, giving a woman a right to choose an abortion because it’s her body in which the baby is formed. This is the legal premise on which a woman has a choice. What our wrong question presumes is that we can discriminate in favor of one party. No wonder it’s a coveted “right” for so many women. I know some of you will find this offensive, but it’s the same selfishness behind slave owners having liked the choice–the right–to have Negro slaves, even though it would have not been the choice of the person enslaved nor those who sought emancipation for them. If the object of the question were “to choose gradual eradication of black Americans,” a woman’s right to choose seems significantly less noble and far more horrific, does it not? Consider this: “Abortion kills more black Americans than the seven leading causes of death combined, says Centers for Disease Control data,” according to published news reports. BlackDignity.org writes:

In America today, almost as many African-American children are aborted as are born. A black baby is three times more likely to be aborted as a white baby.

“Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent. Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined.”

“80 percent of abortion facilities are located in minority neighborhoods. About 13 percent of American women are black, but they receive over 35 percent of the abortions.”

4. A fourth reason (and there are many others) that this is a wrong question is that a society without limits, by definition, exhibits anarchy. There must certainly be limits and laws to keep our society from becoming a lawless place where one person’s right to choose results in the extermination of other people.

Let me say this differently: When a choice involves one class of people’s “right to choose” and results in selective and intentional elimination of another class of people because the powerful choosers have determined that the vulnerable have little or no utility, this is not a social good.

In China, the death toll among girl babies has been astronomical. According to researchers, this year alone perhaps a million have been aborted and tens of thousands abandoned. As the BBC captions this photo of a boy, “Boys are considered much more useful than girls” and quoting a Chinese mother, “Boys are best, because they can work.”

Boys have utility. Girls don’t.

In America we might do fewer gender-selective abortions, but perceived utility for the chooser is the driving factor nonetheless.

So the debate becomes focused on when life begins.

If the embryo has fullness of life and a woman were to choose to abort it; if she doesn’t want it to live or be a burden to her, this is no mere choice. It’s like what’s happening in China. But if it’s not life, then it’s like removing a wart. A choice between a woman and her doctor. It explains why the Supreme Court doesn’t want to weigh in on when life begins because then another person’s choice might come into play. These people are judges not biologists and sadly, everyone has their own political interests.

I want to tell you my personal journey. Please consider joining me on the next page to read how it applies to the Right Question about Abortion:

How well do we see the Image of God in the unborn?”

Articles, Articles and Devotionals

Asking All the Wrong Questions about Discrimination

September 3, 2012 No Comments

I can’t tell: am I angry or grieved? Maybe both. Both, I suppose, are suitable responses to Discrimination. In my recent series of Asking All the Wrong Questions, I’ve stated that Good Theology Must Answer Hard Issues…and it does so with the redemption of the Gospel. It does so with Truth and Love.

In the last few weeks I’ve seen television coverage of the shootings at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin, the carnage at a movie theater in Colorado, Trayvon Martin’s death, Chicago gang shootings, and even an act of violence against the American Family Institute.

I’ve been comparing and contrasting what drives the American curiosity and concern. It’s not good. And I’m appalled.

On top of that, out of the blue I’ve encountered people who are unabashed segregationists and separatists who believe that desegregation has only contributed to problems. Furthermore on TV, we have witnessed an increasing number of self-proclaimed supremacists—and that makes me angry.

What happened to the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

(Click here to listen to the full audio of this powerful speech, excerpted below)

“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Regarding that dream, there are those who say, “We’re already there. We are completely desegregated. Racial discrimination is a thing of the past.”

I would disagree. Rather, I’d say that over and over again, we’ve traded one form of discrimination for another and yet in America, we haven’t really dispensed with any.

It’s why—in a shameless act of indifference—the news media gave a giant yawn over the Sikhs and don’t even blink an eye at the ongoing violence in the City of Chicago, but can’t get enough of Trayvon Martin, the issue of amnesty for illegal immigrants, or throwing down “the race card” whenever it might possibly deflect responsibility from those who don’t want to accept legitimate criticism or when racial guilt or fears of being called the epithet racist might fill in the gap for insufficient qualifications. No person of color I know wants lower or higher standards set for someone basis skin color alone. This is at the heart of racial discrimination and it is not good.

Diversity, however, is good! We see the beauty of human diversity throughout Scripture.

Plenty of people purportedly want a “color-blind society.” I want a “color-full society” in which each person’s beauty shines in a biblical kind of diversity. Yes, with every skin tone, a “color-full” display of moral excellence and accomplishment in advancing truth, love, knowledge, and faith.

But for far too many Americans, this diversity has become diminished in quality, filtered through the lens of racism. It’s a thin diversity. And it only goes skin deep.

If so many people want discrimination to end, why is it still an issue?

Because racism and discrimination sell–that’s my guess. Perpetuating division sells newspapers, gains fundraisers, secures votes, increases viewership, and employs special interests. Do we see it in the unwillingness of certain television networks to show political convention speeches—even little soundbytes from these quite eloquent speakers—because they are people of color who believe differently than the stereotype?

That’s discrimination, is it not?

What would Martin Luther King Jr. say about the ongoing trumpeting of our President’s being the “first black President?” I can only imagine both he and our President would want his legacy to reflect better things than just being born of a darker skin color, as if melanin might constitute his highest and greatest achievement on behalf of the American people. Celebrate a milestone, yes! But as one who had a milestone event of my own, rather than rest on that rock forever, I pray for God to use me to change our culture in the best possible ways: stopping evil’s insidious creep, and seeking God’s favor to advance truth and love. A turning point, not a journey’s end.

Discrimination—whether in favor of one or against another—is wrong. It matters little whether it’s racial or gender discrimination. If it grieves the heart of God who created this glorious diversity, shouldn’t I be angry or grieved, or both?

If civil rights marches and media coverage can’t change this problem, how can it be changed? Good Theology Answers Hard Issues when we see each other through the Gospel’s truth and love.

The wrong question for our culture is, “Has Racial Discrimination Disappeared from America?”

It clearly has not. Skin color, race, or ethnicity trumps character in so many ways. Polls, crime statistics, educational standards, affirmative action, the Census, and an administration that “looks like America”: these determinations are almost always basis characteristics that are skin deep.

That’s why the Right Question—for changing a culture—is, “How well do we see the Image of God in our fellow man?”

Or as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreams, have we ceased judging others—favorably or negatively—by skin color and are we free at last to judge by “the content of their character?”

A deep understanding of the Image of God ought to inform our judgments. Seeing the Image of God in our fellow man ought to make issues of race disappear. Let’s go beyond skin deep on the next page.

News and Chapel worship

Chapel Worship Guide 9.2.2012

September 2, 2012 No Comments

Service Order for 9:00 AM Sunday, September 2, 2012

Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Prelude—Allan Koetz

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Songs of Praise—Allan Koetz

Reading of Scripture

Revelation 5: 1 I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. 4 Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; 5 and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped. (NASB)

Prayer—Shane Burns, Crossroads Church, Grayslake

Message— Shane Burns

Promises of a Messiah–the Protoevangelion Genesis 3:15

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (NASB)

Song of Response— Allan Koetz

Benediction—Shane Burns

Postlude—Allan Koetz

News and Chapel worship

Chapel Worship Guide 8.26.2012

August 26, 2012 No Comments

Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Prelude—Allan Koetz

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Songs of Praise—Allan Koetz

Reading of Scripture: (NIV) Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Prayer—Barbara Shafer

Message—“Who is this King of Glory? He is faithful!” by Barbara Shafer

In today’s passage, we see 5 aspects of God’s faithfulness:

Its duration is eternal
Its magnitude is greatness
Its focus is the Kingdom
Its proof is in God’s provision
Its final result is justice

(NIV) Psalm 145:1 A psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. 4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. 7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. 9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. 10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. 11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, 12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

Songs of Response—Allan Koetz

Benediction—Barbara Shafer

Postlude—Allan Koetz

News and Chapel worship

Chapel Worship Guide 8.19.2012

August 19, 2012 No Comments

Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Songs of Praise—Allan Koetz

Reading of Scripture: Luke 20:27-38 (NIV)

²⁷Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. ²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. ³⁰The second ³¹and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. ³²Finally, the woman died too. ³³Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, ³⁶and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. ³⁷But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

Prayer—Campus Pastor Nathan LeMahieu, Christ Church Highland Park

Message— Campus Pastor Nathan LeMahieu

“Who is this King of Glory? He is the Living Redeemer!”

Job 19:21-27 (HCSB)

²¹Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for God’s hand has struck me.
²²Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
²⁴or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
²⁵But I know my living Redeemer,
and He will stand on the dust at last.
²⁶Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.
²⁷I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.
My heart longs within me.

Songs of Response and Choral Benediction— Allan Koetz

News and Chapel worship

Chapel Worship Guide 8.12.2012

August 12, 2012 No Comments

Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Songs of Praise—Allan Koetz

Reading of Scripture:

Isaiah 49:6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 This is what the LORD says– the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel– to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” 8 This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, 9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. 11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. 12 See, they will come from afar– some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.” 13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones (NIV)

2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (NIV)

Prayer—Barbara Shafer

Message— Barbara Shafer

“Who is this King of Glory? He is the God who comforts us.”

God condescends to us in our suffering and offers us comfort. He brings Himself to us eye-to-eye and face-to-face in our suffering. He came to us this way in Christ who took on flesh, who took on the role of Suffering Servant, and who took our punishment so that we could have the blessed hope of eternal life.

By looking at us in this way, God comforts us and in so doing, He shows us that:

(1) Our suffering has purpose—to learn how to comfort others. To share comfort and learn compassion.

(2) Our suffering has meaning—to share in what Christ shared in leaving His heavenly home and adding humanity, being God with Us. We share in His suffering (in part) and we share in His comfort (in abundance).

(3) Our suffering has an effect: perseverance! Christ learned obedience to what He suffered.

(4) Our suffering has hope—Christ has overcome the world. We must rely on God and not on ourselves.

Song of Response— Allan Koetz

Benediction—Barbara Shafer

News and Chapel worship

Chapel Worship Guide 8.5.2012

August 5, 2012 No Comments

Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Songs of Praise—Allan Koetz

Reading of Scripture Colossians 2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. (NASB)

Prayer—Shane Burns, Crossroads Church, Grayslake

Message— Shane Burns

“Who is this King of Glory? He is the God who carries us.” (Isaiah 46)

Isaiah 46: 1 Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle. The things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary beast. 2 They stooped over, they have bowed down together; They could not rescue the burden, But have themselves gone into captivity. 3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth, And have been carried from the womb; 4 Even to your old age, I shall be the same, And even to your graying years I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; And I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you. 5 “To whom would you liken Me, And make Me equal and compare Me, That we should be alike? 6 “Those who lavish gold from the purse And weigh silver on the scale Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it. 7 “They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it; They set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; It cannot deliver him from his distress. 8 “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. 9 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. 12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, Who are far from righteousness. 13 “I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel. (NASB)

Song of Response— Allan Koetz

Benediction—Shane Burns

In the Garden, Inspiration

Bee-Loved

August 3, 2012 No Comments

Unlike Jesus who loves all of us equally, bees love some plants more than others.

In this short post, I’d like to outline a few flowers that bees particularly love.

This is important for attracting bees, if you’re thinking of bee-keeping. But plant placement is also important because you really don’t want these plants within 3 feet of your entry doors. This is also helpful information for the two out of every 1000 people who are allergic to bee stings. You will want to avoid planting these near walkways, doorways, and traffic areas of your yard.

While most of these plants are favored by butterflies and honey bees–both of which are welcome visitors to the garden, occasionally a honey bee can sting passersby instead of just sticking to its work of gathering nectar for making honey.

Some of the most bee-loved plants include:

Asclepias

(Butterfly weed)

Aster

Crocus

Echinacea (Coneflower)

Erica (Heath, Heather)

Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed)

Helianthus (Sunflower)

Lavender

Monarda (Bee-balm)

Nepeta (Catmint)

Sedum

I personally love seeing honey bees in my yard.

They are much more of a rarity these days.

Why honey bees have been disappearing is a bit of a mystery.

It’s been happening all over the world.

Some say it’s over use of pesticides. Some say it may be a fungus or a virus.

Some suspect electromagnetic radiation from cell phone towers. Scientists just don’t know for sure.

I certainly don’t have an answer, but I do make it a policy not to spray or use pesticides of any type on or anywhere near the plants that I know honey bees favor.

For this reason and so many others, it helps to know which flowers are Bee-Loved.

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