Summer 1997

Volume XII, Number 2

In This Issue

• The Service with an Introduction by David Hawkinson

  It is important that our children are with us in all of these ventures.

• A Confirmation Homily — Pentecost 1997 by Glen Wiberg

  I propose that when Gretchen, Scott, and Adam look back ten or twenty years from now and reflect on their inheritance of Faith, being God's people, they will think about special moments like today and they will also reflect on the Passover meals we have celebrated together just before Easter.

• A Parent Reflects by Kathie Frank

  he opportunity to affirm our children's Confirmation in this old, historical way is wonderful.

• Confirming Faith by Elder M. Lindahl

  The ideal time for serious discussion of evolution is, in my judgment, during confirmation.

• Walker Percy Musings In Search of the Self and Percy's Last Self-Help Book by Carl Blomgren

  He provided a preliminary quiz designed to let me know whether or not I should even buy the book, even though he assured me that the book would not make me wealthier nor more sexy

• China Remembered by James Nelson

  A Muslim owned a cow and lived by selling milk. Japanese soldiers commandeered that cow for their provender. Dad intervened with the highest Japanese officer he could find. The Muslim kept his cow and could continue to sell his milk.

• The Flood of 1997: A Personal Glimpse by Ron Burris

  Though it was dark and much had died, love was shared… Darkness did not reign, it only seemed that way in my own grief. The human spirit is amazingly resilient. This truth is being proven again and again in one small community in North Dakota.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo — Three Views By Kenneth Satterberg, Eduardo Machado, and Robert Thompson

  Three reports from Congo: One is from Kenneth Satterberg, a Covenant missionary (pictured below with his Congolese literacy colleagues, Ndepe Manga and Gbianu Amttnu). His is an "on the ground report" and he is currently watching developments while working in Cameroon. Another view is from an interview with Eduardo Machado, who is from neighboring Angola; a third is from Robert Thompson, of the United Nations peace mission in Angola.

• A Chilean Adventure by Ruth Koontz

  The best part of the trip were the two days I spent with a family who wanted to show me the sights of Concepcion, the neighboring towns, and the harbors.

• Deep Waters by Sandy Johnson

  Let me tell you a story. It is a story about deep waters. It is, for me, an experience of Grace.

• We All Called her "Ma" by Arnold R. Bolin

  "Well, I think God is like a great big tree stump in the woods. You can sit there and rest, and you can say whatever you think."

• Tributes Ethel Victoria Palmberg by David Hawkinson

  Like the Dakota soil, she persisted without water or food far longer than one could expect — a tenacious life, formidable, enduring, rich, and deep.

Regular Features

• On the Aisle by Max Carlson

  No matter how tired you are, you will not fall asleep during Rent…This is one great show.

• Books Review: Swimming in the Congo by Margaret Myers by Phil Johnson

  "How many times have you been saved, Grace?" The answer was eleven. "'Is that all?' Carrie tossed her head with an air of virtuous suffering. 'I've been saved twenty-four times.'"

• Books Review: Worshiping Present and Future Hope: A Critique and Proposal by Warren Dahlstrom

  In the Preface, the author writes that this book is about replacing the presider notion of leading worship with "artistic creativity in the performance of Christian worship."

• Dad's Day, 1997 by Arthur W. Anderson

  In recent years I have experienced a new love affair with this Book. I take its words — its texts — more seriously. I ask more probing questions and refuse to take meanings off the top.

• Practical, Therapeutic, Theological Thought by Penrod

  Responsibility, Commitment, and Authority are three of the stones that David took when he went to face Goliath. With these three stones, pilgrims slay giants daily. Strength to your slingshot arm!

• Poetry on cutting down that norway pine by Vernoy Johnson
• Out and About National Crises: King David and Abraham Lincoln by Phil Johnson

  If you have taken part in a study led by David Hawkinson, you know what a special experience it is. If you have taken a class or heard lectures by Zenos Hawkinson…, you know how imaginative and gripping his teaching is.

• Out and About Spring Wedding Ushers in Summer by Nels Elde

  April showers fell from the eyes of both newlyweds-elect, but underneath the tears was a glow as strong as the summer sun.

• Post: Readers Respond