News for the week of April 25 - May 1

Hi everyone!  Rain or shine, I hope you’re all having a good week.

Mine has been interesting. A couple days ago I learned that I’ve developed a new skill to help me multi-task and manage my time: apparently, I’m now writing emails in my sleep! What a handy skill! Who knew?!  I should have learned to do this years ago.

At least, that’s what I thought at first, when several people sent me notes about an email they “received from me” which I didn’t remember writing. Sadly, when we looked more closely at this magical, appear-out-of-nowhere correspondence, it quickly became apparent that the emails weren’t from me at all. It was just another of the many scams going around. Some enterprising person found our church website and designed a make-believe email pretending to be from me, asking people to respond as a first step toward some kind of request for money or bank account information or the title to their homes and investments.

So, I guess I don’t have that new skill after all. It’s too bad. I thought maybe it could be applied to sermon-writing—which would save me a lot of time each week. It’s also too bad because it’s a reminder that too many people in our world have left the path of honesty in pursuit of deceit. As Proverbs notes in multiple places, there really are folks out there whose whole purpose in life seems to be to take advantage of others. May God be merciful and grant them a change of heart.

Well, I tell you all this for 2 reasons.

First, it’s a warning I wish I didn’t have to give. I doubt anyone was fooled by this latest email, which didn’t actually make sense and didn’t sound like me at all. But if others out there got “my” email on Monday asking them to respond promptly, please do ignore it (and know that I’m sorry people have misused our office information in this way). Also, Tracey tells me that things like this happen on a semi-regular basis. So, if at some point in the future you get a suspicious-looking message from me or from someone else in the church office, be sure to check the return address carefully; and if you’re going to send something to us, write in the “to” address manually or use our website link rather than clicking “reply” just to be sure your information doesn’t go to the wrong place. And never, never, never give anyone information about yourself as a response to emails like this.  (Yes, I know you all know this.  But we need to keep reminding each other amid the constant barrage of scams and spams.)

Second, this struck me as a timely advertisement for our current sermon series. I can just imagine what Solomon’s assessment would be if he were around today and watching this sort of thing. I’m sure he would have added a number of clever, punchy proverbs about those who spend their time trying to trick people rather than doing productive work, and about the need for us all to be wise, and just the right amount suspicious, when we receive emails and texts—not to mention when we look at what gets passed around on social media! Certainly, the need for godly wisdom is as great today as it has ever been in history.

On that note, we’ll carry on in our study of Proverbs this week. If you’re wanting to read ahead for Sunday, our anchoring Scripture passage will be Proverbs 3:5-8, though we’ll be scanning a larger number of biblical passages than usual to provide context. Our topic is humility. It’s a really important biblical theme, and we can’t discuss it properly without casting the net wider across Scripture.

Well, that’s what came to my mind this week. And in case you’re wondering, it came to mind while I was in my office, not while I was in bed. I’ll have to keep working on that sleep-writing idea. Meanwhile, have a wonderful week, and God bless you all richly!