The Scroll
A Periodic newsletter
for SAM's Lambs
http://www.samslambs.org

Why God Will Never Get Tenure at Any University

1. Only published one book.
2. It was in Hebrew.
3. It had no references.
4. He did not publish it in referenced journals.
5. Some doubt He even wrote it Himself.
6. He is not known for his cooperative work.
7. Sure. He created the world, but what has He done lately?
8. He did not get permission from any review board to work on human subjects.
9. When one of His experiments went awry, He tried to cover it up by drowning all the subjects.
10. When sample subjects do not behave as predicted, He deletes the whole sample.
11. He rarely comes to class. He just tells His students to read the Book.
12. It is rumored that He sometimes lets His Son teach the class.
13. Although He only has 10 requirements, His students often fail His tests.
14. He expelled His first two students for learning.
15. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountain top.

(From faculty members at Kansas State University and instructors at Allen County Community College)

Internet References:

Singles in the Church: Is There Seating For One In The Church?

From The Rev:  Pentecost - the Fiftieth Day

by Reverend Lance Robbins
Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd

Dear Friends in Christ;

It's hard to believe, but Easter has already come and gone. In May, most is in the Christian community will look ahead to the celebration of Pentecost. The word "Pentecost" means "fiftieth day" and the celebration marks the end of the fifty days following Easter. For our churches, Pentecost commemorates descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, and marks the birth of the church, the community of believers empowered and sent forth by the Spirit of the risen Christ.

However, a note of caution! Pentecost carries a risk. Our celebration is not simply of remembrance, a vague not to a shadowy notion of a spirit, or lip service to gifts we are not sure we possess.

Anne Dillard in her marvelous book Teaching A Stone To Talk, writes these words: "On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? The churches are children playing on the floor with chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews"

Unreal? Facetious? Perhaps. But we all should be ever more aware of the power and love in our midst. The Spirit we celebrate is ever so powerful, so real, so subtle, so down to earth. Every day through small events to grand and momentous moments, the same Spirit is here - the same Spirit that came down on that original Pentecost.

That same Spirit commemorated so long ago is still in our midst, no matter who we are, what we have done, what we hope to become. On this Pentecost no matter what life situation we are in, let's remember how gifted and incredibly important everyone is. Believe me, it's worth the risk.

Faithfully,
The Rev. Lance D. Robbins
Rector, Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd
Webster NY

The Reverend Lance Robbins is Rector for the growing flock at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 1130 Webster Rd., Webster NY 14580. (585) 872-2281 and co-founder and leader of SAM's Lambs Singles Ministry