It was a good weekend highlighted by a stimulating Vital Signs Book Brunch on Saturday morning and an inspiring Palm Sunday church service at Aksarben Village Senior Living on Sunday afternoon. The brunch event saw Diane, Mary and Christopher, Ruth, Karla, and Claire and I discussing Randy Alcorn’s terrific Lord Foulgrins’s Letters over coffee and tea — and pumpkin muffins and cream puffs and lemon tarts and chocolate chip cookies! This book, following the approach taken by C.S. Lewis in his classic The Screwtape Letters, presents remarkably enlightening and challenging theological truths in a very practical, even entertaining way. And, even though the book was originally published in 2000, its applications are remarkably relevant to today’s culture and to an individual Christian’s spiritual pilgrimage.
Randy Alcorn is a Bible-centered teacher in both his nonfiction works (Heaven; Happiness; Money, Possessions, and Eternity; Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?; Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments; The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving; If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil) as well as his also bestselling fiction (Deadline; Dominion; Deception; Edge of Eternity; The Ishbane Conspiracy; Safely Home) and I appreciate all of his work. Nevertheless, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters is special. Yes, like Randy Alcorn, I’m a big fan of C.S. Lewis and I have long cherished Screwtape. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the great value of Lord Foulgrin’s Letters and I recommend it without reservation.
And then our church service at Aksarben deserves highlight status as well. Our YouTube music selections this week were quality plus — Southern Raised doing an acappella rendering of “I Need Thee Every Hour,” The Isaacs singing “The Goodness of God,” and the Gracias Choir and Orchestra performing “Majesty.” My brief sermon covered Matthew 21: 8-15 (“The King Arrives in His City”) as we examined the difference between the expectations of the people for a “National Liberation Day” from Roman rule and what the Messiah actually offered; namely, a spiritual kingdom, forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of the Temple, and the healing of the blind and the lame. It’s an exciting passage of Scripture, indeed. And, as usual, our fellowship time afterwards was grand — enjoying drinks and treats and visiting for 30-45 minutes or so. There were 15 residents yesterday at church and there were quite a few in the Vital Signs team to help: Allen, Ruth, Tom, Pat, and Mary. Like I said, a very good weekend.
And now this week? It is starting out fabulously also as the Lord allowed me to safely drive our seriously ailing Hyundai to the dealer to see if it can finally be fixed. Thank you, Father, for getting me here without serious trouble. And now I await Claire picking me up to head down to Lincoln for our “When Swing Was King” show at Legacy Terrace and then lunch at the Engine House with good friends Harold and Mary Dee Berry.