GroshLink

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What a joy to hear back from so many of you after our 9/21 update. Your encouragement, prayer, and support in so many aspects of our mission remind us that we are not alone as we seek to extend the Word of Life on campus.

Four items to highlight:

1. October Prayer Calendar: Includes 2009-2010 Ministry Calendar (p2 of PDF). Note: Up-to-date prayer calendars can always be downloaded at http://groshlink.net/static/about. Please open/print for personal use and share with prayer meetings, small groups, mission committees, local congregations, etc. If you desire a personal update/visit, drop us an email so we can arrange a time to connect.
2. Finances: If you have not already done so, prayerfully begin considering how you might support us financially at year end and/or in 2010. As you'll remember, God provided through His people at the close of last fiscal year. Although we've been tightening on ministry and household expenses, we are 20% behind on our budget for the new fiscal year.
   
   • Financial support for this strategic ministry should be directed to "InterVarsity Christian Fellowship," P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895. Please enclose a separate piece of paper indicating that the gift is for the work of "Tom Grosh." On-line giving available at http://www.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh
3. October 7: visit http://blog.emergingscholars.org/ for ...
   •  ESN Book Club: The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, http://blog.emergingscholars.org/2009/09/esn-book-club-the-outrageous-idea-of-christian-scholarship/
4. October 11: 2nd Central PA Christian Scholars Network Lunch, Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ, Elizabethtown, PA. Interested in learning more about the Central PA Christian Scholars Network? Let us know. ...
   
   • Topic: Jesus for the Academy: Freeing Christ from our Agendas, Stephen Nichols, professor of theology and church history at Lancaster Bible College, author of InterVarsity Press' Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to "The Passion of the Christ. For more visit http://www.intervarsity.org/gfm/esn/event/jesus-for-the-academy
   • [T]here is something peculiar about the tendency to contemporize in American evangelicalism. American evangelicals reflexively harbor suspicions of tradition. In fact, most tend toward being(rabidly) anti-tradition. Consequently, the past is overlooked as a significant source of direction. This leaves American evangelicals more vulnerable than most when it comes to cultural pressures and influences. In the absence of tradition, one tends to make up a new one, one not tested by time and one more or less constructed by individuals or by a limited community. This anti-tradition animus arises from what Sidney Mead once labeled historylessness, and what I have elsewhere called ahistoricism. This is the tendency of Americans in general to be not only amnesiacs of the past, but to be amnesiacs who aren’t necessarily looking to be cured. -- Excerpt from Stephen J. Nichols, Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to 'The Passion of Christ,' posted at http://www.ivpress.com/title/ata/2849-x.pdf.

One more day by the grace of God alone,

Tom & Theresa Grosh
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Mid-Atlantic Faculty Ministry Catalyst
Brethren in Christ World Missions Affiliate
http://www.groshlink.net
http://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/tomg/

Students and Faculty Transformed, Campus Renewed, and World Changers Developed.