Written Word:
John 10:1-18: 1 "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away - and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

Catechism:
The Apostles' Creed: Question 5. What does a Christian believe? All that is promised in the gospel. A summary is found in the Apostles' Creed, which affirms the main content of the Christian faith. John 20:31 "But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."

Traditional English Version
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.


Vocab:
qua \KWAH\ preposition: in the capacity or character of : as

charisma \kuh-RIZ-muh\ noun 1: a personal quality of leadership arousing popular loyalty or enthusiasm *2: a special magnetic charm or appeal

Quotations of the day:
"The end game is the end of the regime, and that's a lot closer now than it was." - MAJ. GEN. STANLEY A. McCHRYSTAL

"The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance." (Laurence J. Peter)

News:
Thirty-one antiwar protesters were arrested and a dozen were hurt, along with six bystanders, when police in Oakland, Calif., fired nonlethal weapons to disperse a rally outside the city's seaport Monday. It was one of the most violent such incidents since the Iraq war began. Police Chief Richard Word said some in the crowd threw rocks and started a fire, but pledged to review the use of projectiles.

COMPUTERS TO WATCH YOU WHILE YOU WORK: With today's computer users increasingly overloaded by a combination of e-mail, instant messages and phone calls, researchers at the Human Media Lab at Queen's University in Ontario are designing technology that will enable a PC to gauge their user's attention level and sort out which messages and phone calls are important. "Today's digital lifestyle has the unfortunate side effect of bombarding people with messages from many devices all the time, regardless of whether they're willing, or able, to respond," says Human Media Lab director Dr. Roel Vertegaal. "We now need computers that sense when we are busy, when we are available for interruption, and know when to wait their turn -- just as we do with human-to-human interaction." Techniques used to evaluate PC users' availability include an eye contact sensor that enables the PC to determine whether the user is present and whether he or she is looking at the screen. (BBC News 8 Apr 2003) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2925403.stm

Advisory information about SARS provided by Health Ministries: The latest health advisory information about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was recently added to the Web site of Health Ministries USA (www.pcusa.org/health/usa) to help parish nurses and health ministry personnel to answer questions from congregation members.

The U.S. Department of State encourages American citizens traveling abroad to familiarize themselves with the information available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) about SARS.

But I didn't open any of it… From little Twizel, New Zealand, comes word that some residents recently received, all at once, eight years' worth of mail - letters, bills, even wedding invitations. Reason: The part-time postmistress couldn't keep up with the flow and let it pile up until a visiting government inspector discovered it. The fact that she's "quite highly respected" around town didn't prevent her from being fired.

Just a thought: The westernmost state capital in the lower 48 states is Salem, Oregon.