Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers, your cards, and meals – all the remembrances that you had given me over the past 3 to 4 weeks. I am progressing. I have to tell myself to be patient, that it will take a while. I’m ready to be up to full speed, but my body tells me I’m not full speed. Continue to pray specifically for good sleep at night, to listen to my body, and to do the rehab diligently.

You know that I like to read. I was given some books to read at the hospital or after I got home. It’s been a pleasure to read those books. One of the books given to me was by my daughter, Catherine, called The Boys in the Boat. It’s about nine Americans and their quest to row in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The book speaks a great deal about teamwork and how each oarsman depends on the other “boys in the boat”. Each rower can only see the person in front of him and trust that he is doing his very best to help the crew win the race.boat

To me it has quite an analogy to the body of Christ.
• We cannot see far ahead Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path… Psalm 119:105 It is not a search light or a flood light.

• We are dependent on the only person who sees fully – the coxswain – Jesus – the Author and Finisher of our faith.

• Though the power of the Holy Spirit we depend on each other to finish the race.

Listen to a few quotes from the book: “To be of championship caliber, a crew must have total confidence in each other, able to drive with abandon, confident that no man will get the full weight of the pull…” “Good thoughts have much to do with good rowing. It isn’t enough for the muscles of the crew to work in unison; their hearts and minds must also be as one. ” And at the end of the book one of the rowers Joe Rantz said, “He could finally abandon all doubt, trust absolutely without reservation that he and the boy in front of him and the boys behind him would all do precisely what they needed to do precisely the instant they needed to do it. He had known in that instant there could be no hesitation, no shred of indecision. He had had no choice but to throw himself into each stroke as if he were throwing himself off of a cliff into a void, with unquestioned faith that the others will be there to save him from catching the whole weight of the shell on his blade”.

What a picture of how we are to depend on our Lord Jesus Christ and on each other to fulfill His mission He has given us! I’ve seen it demonstrated this last month in how you’ve reached out to me and prayed for me. I see it demonstrated every day as we try to support, encourage and pray for one another. I see it in the small groups as men try to help each other get through crisis, or decisions, or news they didn’t want to hear. We are there for each other and we are trusting in the insurmountable greatness, sufficiency and in sovereignty of our Lord and Savior.

Continue to pray for our Summer Series in July and in August, as well as make plans for the Fall. Please pray for us as we oversee all these new small groups God has blessed us with this these past few months. And pray for wisdom as our Board makes major decisions to thrust this ministry forward.

As always I’m so grateful for you and your faithfulness to me and YBL. Let us demonstrate to each other that same commitment as “the boys in the boat”.

In our Lord,

Phil