Back to the Basics

Just got done with my sermon for Sunday. We are still in the "Unusual" series. God shifted gears on me early this week as I had another message planned. This Sunday I'm going to talk about the unusual God we serve. It is a basic message of grace vs. works. Ethan is being dedicated this Sunday and there will be a lot of our family members at CH that have never heard this type of message. I'm praying that God will use it greatly. Please be in prayer for God's annointing and that His Word will not return void.

Prodigal Friendly

Just got back from our Iowa District Ministers Conference. What a great couple of days. Dary Northrup spoke to us on Monday and Tuesday morning. He is the pastor of a church of 5,000 people in Fort Collins Colorado. He spoke on the prodigal friendly church. He has an amazing story on how God began to transform his church from an insider church to a church that reaches the lost. It all began with a stripper that got saved in one of his services. After she gave her life the Lord, her friends began to attend and some of them got saved and began to attend the church as well. At first, it was messy. Sometimes church folks don't like it when things get messed up. He talked about the struggle the first few years of changing the mindset of how they must welcome the prodigal home and not be like the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son. I challenge you sometime to read the story and read how the elder brother reacted to his younger brother coming home. It is found in Luke 15 and it is very interesting. Sometimes we can be like the elder brother in the parable. Even in my own life, I have had expectations and thoughts that God has had to crush. The goal of Jesus is to seek and to save that which is lost. God's heart is to see the prodigal come home. The conference reminded me once again how important it is that we keep our focus to reach those that need to come home.

Awesome God!

Another great Sunday at CH we had. I was battling a serious cold today. During Sunday School, I could hardly talk but I was thankful that the class laid hands on me and prayed for God's touch as I preached. I am so amazed at how faithful God is. While I preached the message this morning, I didn't feel the effects of the cold at all. I am so thankful that God always comes through and His Word was delivered. How has God been faithful to you recently? Post a comment on the blog and let me know.

Gifts of the Spirit

What a great past Sunday we had. We were jammed packed full as we had 131 in attendance. Gary Smith was having to park cars on top of one another. It shows our need for the two acres directly behind us for parking. What was definitely neat about the service was the moving of the Holy Spirit after worship. The Lord spoke through a tongue and interpretation of tongue. I know for many of us, this is new. I want you to sometime look at 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 sometime. In this chapter Paul talks about the 9 gifts of the Spirit. Two of those mentioned are tongues and interpretation of tongues. Paul then goes on in chapter 14 to explain the purpose of tongues, interpretation of tongues and prophecy. In a quick overview, here is what he says.

1. Church should desire the spiritual gifts vs. 12
2. Speak in a tongue, pray that it would be interpreted vs. 14
3. Tongues are a sign to the unbelievers vs. 22
4. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two at the most three and let one interpret vs 27
5. All things to done for the edification of the church vs. 26
6. Every shall be done in decency and in order. God is not a God of confusion. vs. 40

I hope this helps everyone understand a little more about the gifts. If you ever have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask.

Unusual Life

Here is a quick recap from yesterday on how we can live the unusual life.

1. Dare to be Different
2. Dare to be available
3. Dare to give yourself completely to God
4. Dare to never give up

Genesis 6 tells us that Noah lived the unusual life in a world that was full of evil. Today, God still searches for those who will live the unusual life even in a world that is full of darkness. 2 Peter 2:9 tells us that we have been called out of that darkness to walk into God's light. That's what makes us peculiar as the KJV states or in other words "unusual". Dare to live the unusual life!

Unusual Sundae

Here are the pics from Sunday morning and Pastor Keaton's human sundae. The kids really got behind the whole thing. We had five girls spend the night because Olivia wanted to see Keaton get the ice cream on his head. It was a huge mess but worth it all.

Unusual Weekend

What a weekend we had. The free car wash went well even though it was a cloudy day. I think people have a hard time understanding the word "free." We had lots of people ask us "what's the catch." There really wasn't a catch, it was a free car wash! That's why it was unusual. Thanks to my home church Glad Tidings in Des Moines for all their hard work. Pastor Matt Loomis is doing a great job with those youth. What is really crazy is some of those kids were in my children's church. What an awesome thing to see them grown up and still serving the Lord. At the end of the day they all laid hands on me and prayed for this community and church. What an awesome experience.

Everything is an Experiment

I was reading an article by Mark Batterson the other day about action regrets rather then inaction regrets. In a recent survey, most people regret not doing some things they wish they had when they had the chance. I'm sure all of us regret not doing some things in our lives. As a church I never want us to be afraid of failure. Let us not be afraid of trying new things and stepping out of our boats so to speak. I don't want us to say, "We never tried it because we were afraid we would fail." Remember that there are lost people in this world that need to hear about the good news of Jesus. For that reason alone, it is worth trying. For that reason we are doing a free car wash on Saturday morning and also going door to door asking people in our community if they would like prayer. Even if we can touch one person for the kingdom, it will be worth it. So remember, everything is an experiment and don't be afraid to fail. Do something unusual!

Great Exchange

I hope everyone had a good labor day weekend. Mine was full of good food and school shopping for the kids.

Sunday's message is still on my heart and I once again want to go over the main points in case you missed it. Isaiah 53:4,5 tells us of the great exchange that occurred on the cross. The Bible says that Jesus took and carried our griefs, our sorrows, our punishment and even our sicknesses at Calvary. It was the greatest exchange ever made for mankind. It is nothing that we deserved but what Christ did on our behalf. Christ died so that you and I can not only be made free from our sins but be made whole. (in our souls, spirit and body.) If you have not exchanged some things that you have been holding on too, I encourage you today to do so. Christ wants to totally set you free. He made the great exchange for us.