Sympathy for Noah

After one of the driest Septembers on record here, New Yorkers have been introduced to a new concept... Monsoon Season. It has rained so much over the last week, we have more than made up for last month's lack of rain and have set several new records for October rainfall... and the month isn't quite half over.

The picture here was taken from New York City Newsday and shows a section of the Grand Central Parkway in Queens that has become something of a lake. The biggest question I've been asking myself over the last week is whether we should be planting a church or building an ark.

I was supposed to take a few people from the church plant out into the neighborhood last Saturday to ask people their impressions of about 10 names we've been considering for the church. Hopefully, the rain will clear up soon so we can do that. For some reason, people don't like answering a questionnaire in the rain. Go figure.

There was one ray of light this week, however, though it only fell on Mets fans. That's right, the Yankee's were eliminated from any hopes of winning the World Series by losing to a team appropriately called The Angels. I'm not sure what's more satisfying to a Mets fan, a Mets win or a Yankees loss. Both are frighteningly rare these days, but I must say that this season wasn't a complete wash as long as some other team than the Yankees wins the World Series.

After all, it wouldn't be appropriate on the 50th anneversary of the Brooklyn Dodgers' only World Series victory (over the Yankees, no less), for the Yankees to have a successful season. There's a sermon illustration here somewhere. You know, evil ultimately looses. I do need to be careful of my Yankee-bashing though, Michael, our organizing pastor is a Bomber fan, as are some of the people who are lending me financial support. I'll keep all of you in my prayers.

Our home fellowship groups are up and running and we are slightly behind schedule in our Sunday School program and Youth program, but our launch is still on track for late November.

Church Plant Prayer Reminder: We will soon be in need of storage for our equipment as the school where we will be meeting cannot provide us anything but a place to meet. Thankfully, our curriculum is free (apparently Great Commission Publications has a soft spot for church plants). We will have some additional expenses and needs as times goes by, all of which I would ask you to keep in your prayers. We are looking for a talented musician to lead our music program. I can sing, but that alone will not carry a quality music program (though we could fall back on our Presbyterian roots and sing accapella Psalms). Please pray for our music initiatives. We had been courting a musician, but he got a very good offer from another church... one that we are in no position to match. My responsibilities will be increasing as well and my ability to remain flexible will be a key factor. I am also still trying to find opportunities to raise money, though with an increasingly busy schedule, that's getting harder and harder. I still have some things in the works (two additional church visits, and a radio interview are still on the horizon). For those of you still considering financial support, my contact information can be found on several entries on this blog. To whatever extent I can, I am keeping many of you in my prayers, and ask primarily that you remember me in yours.

Hopefully, by next week's update, the rain will stop. If not, I may have some difficulty updating the blog from lifeboat.