Christmas Shopping

I had a funny thing happen to me this past weekend as Jen and I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving. We went into the Olive Garden for lunch and the waitor came up to us and said that I was the first man he had waited on all day. I looked around and he was right, I was surrounded by women. Later that day Jen overheard a conversation an older man had with probably his daughter. He said "The only thing I can compare you girls shopping on a crazy day like this is the first day of feasant hunting." Good Comparison! In fact I found a statistic that I will share this Sunday that says that women spend an average of 288 hours of shopping before Christmas. Wow, that's a whole lot of shopping!

Grinch of Stress

We started our new message series yesterday on the Grinch's of Christmas. I love the Grinch story! It was just a couple weeks ago that I was watching it with my kids that I noticed how much meaning is behind just a simple story. The next few weeks we will be talking about the Grinch's that try to steal Christmas away from us.

This past week we talked about the Grinch of Stress. Isn't true that Christmas is a stressful time for some. Just go to the malls and you can see stress written all over people's faces. God wants to teach us a few things about stress.

1. God wants us to see His purpose in stress- When we are stressed, things can get ugly. I remember working at Toys R Us at Christmas time and seeing how mean people get. Maybe God wants to teach us about our character when we are stressed. What do I become when I get stressed. Am I irritable, angry, emotional? Don't ask God why am I going through this stress but ask God, "What do you want to teach me?"

2. God wants us to see His presence in stress- Psalms 23 is a great example of how David when to God in his stress. David said things like, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me." How could David say such a thing? David has the presence of God in his life. We have a choice in our stress. Will I draw near to God's presence or away from God's presence? It is our choice entirely.

God is not the author of stress, but God may want to work in our stress for an eternal glory. Remember that next time you get stressed out!

Happy Thanksgiving

I will be taking off today and headed to Des Moines for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great weekend and remember to be thankful for all the blessings that God has poured out on your life.

Turkey Sunday

Turkey Sunday was a great success and thanks to everyone who invited people to church. We gave away sixteen turkeys and had 154 in attendance. This is the most for one Sunday besides Easter. God is definately awesome! It is amazing how God can use a turkey to bring people to a life changing experience with Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the words of Paul in 1 Cor 1:27, "For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty."

Hope it's not a bill!

My son Caleb sometimes says the craziest things. Just yesterday he got a Thanksgiving card in the mail from Jen's parents. Jennifer told Caleb he had some mail and out of the blue Caleb says with all seriousness, "I sure hope it's not a bill!" Where did that come from? I didn't know four year olds had to worry about bills. I guess he may have heard that out of our mouths one time or another.

Thou shall not judge

We wrapped up our dirty laundry series this past week. I hope it was encouraging to all and a good reminder to think before we speak. Sunday we talked about judging. Two things to remember about judging:

1. God holds me accountable when I judge- Romans 2 and Matthew 7:1 tells us that the measure we judge will be the measure that comes back to us. OUCH!

2. When I am tempted to judge, I will show mercy instead of judgment- The women caught in adultery is a great example. The Pharisees were ready to stone her on the spot but Jesus stopped them in their tracks by telling them if any one of them were without sin to go ahead and cast the first stone. Problem was, no one could do it. Mercy had been showed to them and now it was their turn to show mercy.

One more thought: Why is it that Christians easily put people on a pedestal but when someone messes up, we easily throw them down and allow them to be run over by a bus? Shouldn't our first response be mercy and forgiveness? I'm so glad that God has shown me mercy time and time again. Jesus Christ came to give us mercy. I'm not excusing sin by no means but by God's standards, we all have sinned. Over the years we have ranked some sins higher then others but in God's eyes it is all sin. Let us leave the judging to God and let our response be prayer and mercy.

Youth Convention

It was another full weekend as the kids headed to Youth Convention Friday and Saturday. It was exciting to hear their testimonies on Sunday morning on how God touched them. The main speaker talked about the need for change and how this generation is looking for change. What the world wants to see is not religion but they want to see people living out what they believe. I know it challenged many of our teens and they came back excited to see change in their own lives and in their schools.

It was at a Youth Convention that I was called to the ministry at the age of 16. I will never forget being at the altar and having a deep passion and burden to do anything I could for God. I wasn't for sure what it was going to be at the time but I knew that I had to surrender my life completely to Him and do whatever He wanted. Camps and Youth Conventions are so important and I want to encourage everybody to support our camps and Youth Conventions. If you have kids, do whatever you can to send them. There is something about getting away and allowing God to speak into your life. Thanks to Pastor Keaton and all our great leaders that took our teens this past weekend. YOUR ARE AWESOME!

Unexpected Phone Call

So I was sitting in my office this week working away when the phone calls rings and I hear this familiar voice on the other end. It was Pastor Dennis Niles, my former pastor at Glad Tidings who is now leading Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. Pastor Niles wanted to know if he could come speak to us the week of District Council. (April 22nd) Many of you may not know but Pastor Niles was the Pastor in New Sharon before he was my pastor in Des Moines. It was Pastor Niles' vision to plant a church in Montezuma years ago. I even believe the New Sharon church voted on it but it was turned down. It is amazing how God works. Here we are fifteen years or so later, a church has been planted in Montezuma and I am the pastor of it. God has a sense a humor doesn't he? Who would of thought that the young teen that was in Pastor Niles church in Des Moines was going to be a part of the vision that he had years ago. I am reminded of the verse that says in 1 Cor 3:66," I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (NKJV) God always has a way of seeing His plans accomplished. It may not be in our time and our ways but God will see that it gets done. I thank God for Pastor Niles' vision and I 'm looking forward to having him come April 22nd.

I am really excited about November 19th and our Turkey Giveaway Sunday. It is a great chance to invite those that you know to come to church and experience what a loving Christ-like community is really like. That Sunday we will be talking about "Living in the Dash." I know it maybe a little confusing but the dash represents our lives. On our tombstone we will have a birth date and the date that we died. The dash is what we did in-between. So many people waste their lives and live their lives with no purpose. God's plan is filled with purpose for each of us.

Please pick up your invite cards this week and start handing them out. Jen and I already have four families that we know that we are going to invite and give cards too. It is a great tool and a good reminder for everyone plus they get a free turkey. You can't beat that! GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

Don't forget to Vote!

Just a reminder for everyone to go out and vote today. Remember what a privilege it is that we can vote here in America. As Christians, it is important that we vote for the those that we know will make good moral judgments in the Senate Seat and in the governor race. We need godly leaders in office. Our country was based on godly principles and there are some out there that would like to see that totally gone. Make sure before you vote that you know what each candidate stands for on moral issues. Also, make sure you pray for our leaders. Pray that God would give them the wisdom they need as they lead our country and state.

Youth Impact<

Last night we kicked off our first Youth Impact Night at Fun Valley. I was totally shocked that we had 56 kids our first night. Pastor Keaton did a great job organizing the event and the teens really got behind it inviting their friends. It shows that there is a true hunger for the spiritual in this community among the teens. I'm looking forward to seeing what God is going to do with this ministry in the future!

Iowa City

I spent all day yesterday in Iowa City with Pastor Rich Greene who is the pastor of the new church plant, Life Church. Rich is an incredible guy and someone with a lot of courage. Iowa City is one of the largest unchurched areas in Iowa. Rich was telling me of an outreach that they are doing with one of the public schools in their lower income areas. They are going to the school and handing out bikes to every (yes I said every) student in the elementary department. He is building a bridge between the community and the church. Isn't that what the church is suppossed to do? The church was never called to be isolated on some island. Jesus was out in the middle of the marketplace ministering to the tax collectors, prostitutes and the sick. The church's job is to build those bridges to the community. Way to go Life Church!

20 Somethings

I got the chance this Tuesday night to go and speak at Grinnell College for their campus ministry. It was exciting to see the students there worshipping and wanting to grow closer to God. As many of you know, I was a young adult pastor for two years. I have a passion to see college students come to know the Lord and grow deeper with Him. Sadly to say, the church is loosing the battle when it comes to 20-somethings. Here is the blog from Catalystspace.com:

"A Barna study finds most 20-somethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years despite 61% being involved in a church as a teen. 50% of teens attend a church-related service or activity in a typical week and more than three-quarters discuss matters of faith with peers. However, only 20% of 20-somethings have maintained a level of spiritual activity consistent with their high school experiences. Just 33% of 20-somethings who are parents regularly take their kids to church, vs. 40% of parents in their 30s and 50% who are 40 or older. Most 20-somethings maintain outward allegiance to Christianity: 78% say they are Christians, vs. 83% of teens. 20-somethings are 70% more likely than older adults to strongly assert if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.” They are also less likely to believe “a person’s faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church.” Much of the activity of young adults takes place outside congregations. "

One of the core values of this church is to reach every generation. This includes children, youth and young adults. The church must be a place where young adults can come, feel accepted and be able to express their questions about God and spiritual things. I was once again reminded of this while I was at Grinnell. Young adults are spiritual hungry, but we as a church must provide a place where they can be fed.