Resolved

Another resolution from Jonathan Edwards. This reminds me of the
discipline that is necessary for the Christian life.

#24 Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it
back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully
endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might
against the original of it.

Rob Signs
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Final L Ride

We're on the L, headed to O'Hare to fly home. If the flight is on time
and traffic isn't psycho (yeah right...) I'll make it right on time
for SIX33.
It's been a really productive trip. We're definitely way more prepared
to put together all the final details for the SWC trip this Summer.
If you haven't joined choir, get there this Sunday. It's going to be a
great trip!
Speaking of great trips: Camp is June 27-July 3. Space is limited.
Sign up ASAP.

Coffee & Donuts

Celebrity Encounter (sort of)

So me and Jeff went to take a picture in front of the big Michael
Jordan statue. Waiting for the bus out front we met a guy also
waiting. We asked him where he worked and he said "in the United
Center." Then Jeff asked, "oh that's cool. What do you do?" He's the
Senior Vice President of the Chicago Bulls! And riding on the bus home.
Very exciting. The picture is him on the bus. :-)
For those of you tracking evidence, here's a little more that we're
both dorks.

With fries...

This is a Chicago style hot dog!!!
I'm excited. Just ordering it made me gain 3 pounds.

Last Dinner in Chicago

So we found a local "hole-in-the-wall" place to get an authentic
Chicago-style hot dog. Normally, I'm adamantly opposed to hot dogs,
but for this I'm willing to make an exception.

Picture of the actual hot dog to come...

Resolved

Today's Jonathan Edwards Resolution:

#58 Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness,
and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness
and benignity.

Rob Signs
<><

Deep dish pizza!

So we stopped by Reggio's pizza place to pick up a pizza for later.
Pastor Clark's brother owns this place, so he's making one special for
us!

Our lunch...

We concluded with some delicious peach cobbler! I'm stuffed!!!

Inside Morrison's

Soul Food for lunch!

The line in this place is quite long. I'm thinking that's a good sign.

Meeting

Our meeting with Pastor Clark and Mrs. Collins, the church secretary.
Great meeting. Many ministry opportunities here. The Pastor has been
here for 31 years and is definitely passionate about reaching the
community with the Gospel.

He said his favorite verse is Matthew 6:33! Now here's a guy I can
work with!

Our Partner Church

Good Hope MB Church in Chicago.

Meeting with Pastor Clark

Just before departure...

From Yesterday...

So we weren't able to upload this until just now. It's from lunch yesterday...



Hope you have a fantastic day!

Breakfast View

The view from our table at breakfast. It's so beautiful to look out
and see all the snow in the park! Too bad it won't be like this in
July. Of course, it'll be quite a bit warmer. Mandy, out waitress last
night, said July is the perfect month to come to Chicago.

So now we fuel up for the morning and head out to meet with Pastor
Clark.

Free Breakfast!

So we're headed down to Mei's Kitchen for a free "American Breakfast!"

After that - we jump on the "L" to go meet with Pastor Clark, one of our potential ministry partner pastors for the trip here. After that, a classic Chicago Hot Dog lunch (way too many calories, I'm sure!) and we'll be checking out some housing options. It's all about finding cheap housing for this trip.

Then, we'll be checking on a couple more sightseeing options and taking care of a few last-minute things.

Of course, I'll be posting throughout the day, chronicling our adventure!

See y'all tomorrow at SIX33!

Rob

<><

Resolved

We're going to bed here in Chicago. (current temp is 30)
This resolution came up when I checked it and couldn't not post it as
it's perfectly timed.

#37 Resolved:
To inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been
negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied
myself: also at the end of every week, month and year.

Rob Signs
<><

Resolved

Another of Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions:

#56 Resolved.
Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my
corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

Rob Signs
<><

Giordano's Video Blog

How far?!?!

We are 1685 miles from home! (Highland is 60 miles East of LA)

Navy Pier

So we came to ride the ferris wheel. Here's what happened...

Snow Angel

I finally talked him into it!

Winter

It's beautiful here with all the snow. I wish you all could be here
with us right now. Impossible to adequately describe.
And yes - my shoes are doing nicely. Keeping my feet warm and dry.

Millenium Falcon Park

Windy?

Today, it's the "Snowy City"

Free February

The Art Institute is free this month! I've never been here, but I've
alwas wanted to come. This place is famous painting after famous
painting!
Above is Jeff in front of one of my personal favorite paintings. (I
have a print of this on my wall at home)

Giordano's Video Blog

>
> ministry opportunities meetig
>

>

The Chicago Attitude

So this is apparently how they feel about pizza here in Chicago. After
lunch at Giordano's, I'm understanding why...

Again! Such concern

The city of Chicago is so concerned with our safety! They even warn us
that we could be killed. If we were in another city, they probably
wouldn't even warn us of impending disaster.

Snow everywhere!

Jonathan Edwards

So - I'm a big Jonathan Edwards fan. Back at the first SIX33 of the year (click here), we talked about New Year's Resolutions and how Biblical resolutions are and how helpful they can be to our overall spiritual life and growth.

Jonathan Edwards was a man of unwavering resolve. When he was 19, he wrote a series of resolutions and reviewed them weekly. It took him about a year, but he eventually had 70 resolutions written that he reviewed his entire life.

I have an app on my phone that randomly pops up one of his resolutions. This is the most recent one. I thought, considering the emphasis I've made on Ephesians 4:29 the past couple of weeks, that it was very appropriate. May you be edified by what Jonathan Edwards wrote so long ago:

Resolution #70

Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.

Cooooooold!

So it's quite chilly here in snowy Chicago! I'm having some coffee right now and we're getting ready to meet with someone from the association about our partner church. We'll also be checking out some sightseeing options.

So the ground is entirely snow-covered and I'm quite interested to see how well my REI hiking boots hold up to the snowy conditions. When I bought them, I wasn't buying a "waterproof" scenario. We'll see how they work. I do know that my jacket is warm with it's newly installed "extra liner." (thanks again to REI)

If I can talk Jeff into it, I'll post a video of him making a snow angel. While you're thinking that he'll never go for it, I can be quite persuasive. But you might be right - probably not quite that persuasive. But we'll see.

Definitely more pictures to come. I'll keep you posted on the dryness/wetness of my feet in my hiking boots throughout the day. Because I know you're dying to hear how they're working. Well, ok... I'm probably more concerned than you are, but I'll keep you posted anyway.

TTFN!

Rob

<><

It's 1:09 a.m.

So after a delayed flight (1-1/2 hours late) a 45 minute subway ride,
a transfer to the red line, a trek through the snow, a stop at the 24
hr. Grocery store, another couple of blocks in shoes that don't even
understand the idea of "waterproof," and we make it to our hotel.
We're off to bed.
Headed out in the cold tomorrow morning to start meeting with people
here about partnerships for the tour.
Good night California!

"No it's not!"

So as we pulled up to this subway stop, the announcement declared,
"this is California." My immediate thought was "um.. No, it's not!"
The picture probably doesn't show that it's snowing out there.

Advice from ORD

Always good advice. Thank you Chicago O'Hare for being concerned with
my safety!

Landed!

So we landed in the dark on a snow-covered runway! My first time and
it was exciting! Of course, I'm also glad I wasn't by the window to
see the icy ground coming up at us.
I don't know how well the picture shows it, but that's snow on the top
of the plane.
The flight was uneventful. Pretty standard. More to come when we get
on the subway...

First Class!

So this is the closest I've ever been to First Class! I'm in the row
right behind it. I can touch the seat!!!
Of course, seeing the food they're eating and how it compares to what
I'll get might be a bit-O-torture... ;-)
But I've got some great legroom while Jeff is waaaaay in the back and
not on an aisle.
We're delayed, so it'll be about 11:00 p.m. when we land. It'll be a
long day, but tomorrow we'll hit the ground running. Lots to plan and
plenty of people to meet with.
Keep us in prayer as we put together this Summer's SWC Chicago Tour.

Lunch: The Aftermath

So we had a delicious lunch at "On the Border." Nothing quite like
Mexican food at LAX...
Now, we're waiting for our flight and looking for free wifi. Of
course, there's no free wifi at LAX.
Perhaps I'll get some Starbucks before boarding. If only they had
Sorbetto...

Security!!!

As usual, they wanted to dig around in my backpack. They did an
"explosives test" because of the density of the stack of books and all
the electronics.
The lady checking was nice though. We ended up having a pleasant
conversation about coin collecting when she came across my 1921 Morgan
Silver Dollars.
Now.... FOOD!
We board at 3:05.

Rob Signs
<><

Headed to Chicago

So we're on the Airport Shuttle. Hope we get good seats on the
airplane. More to come when we get checked in. After checking in my
first order of business is to find food. I'm starving!

The Great Charles Spurgeon

So I read a blog that puts up a Charles Spurgeon quote each weekend. The one that was up this weekend was too good not to re-post.

"Do not believe that the common Christianity of the present age will carry anybody to heaven. It is a counterfeit and a sham. It does not make men to differ from their fellows, it pretends to faith and has none, talks about love and does not show it, brags of truth and evaporates it into thin air in its latitudinarian charity.

God give us back the real thing—stimuli, strong belief in the gospel, real faith in Jesus, real prayer to him, real spiritual power.

Then again there will be persecution, but it will only blow away the chaff and leave the pure wheat!

The world likes us better because we like the world better; it calls us friends because we doff our colors and sheathe our swords and play the craven; but if we preach and live the gospel in the old apostolic way, we shall soon have the devil roaring round the camp and the seed of the serpent hissing on all sides, but we fear not, for "the Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

I hope that was as edifying to you as it was to me. For more great Charles Spurgeon stuff, check out the Spurgeon Archive.

Also - it's been far too long since I've blogged on the London Baptist Confession. I got distracted and busy and never got back to it. So in the next couple of days, check back for the next installment of the 1689 London Baptist Confession. It's such a great Confession of historic Baptist Doctrine!

Rob

<><

Mission Bay

Coram Deo Quiet Time

So we're up and having our Morning Quiet Time on beautiful Mission
Bay. What better place to spend time in God's Word than in the beauty
of His creation?