Q & A this Sunday

We will be having a Question and Answer time this Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. for our proposed building. This will not be a voting meeting, just a meeting for anyone who might have questions or suggestions. We are in the early stages of this building and are open to any suggestions. We want to make sure that everyone is on the same page and we simply want the Lord's will to be done. We will also be sharing some ideas that we might have on our current buildings and how they can be best utilized. Looking forward to Sunday night for a time of sharing and a time for vision casting.

Pastor Board Banquet

Had our annual Pastor/Board Banquet last night in Oskaloosa. This is a time that our District officials share their vision for Iowa to the local pastors and board. I thought it was interesting that the theme of the night was "Reaching the Next Generation." Many of the things that were shared last night was in my message from Sunday. I feel the Holy Spirit is moving our leaders and churches to realize the importance of this truth. Many of the things Tom Jacobs our superintendent shared were right on. Here are a couple things that stood out to me;

1. Some of the greatest ideas are not going to come from my generation but the next generation. It is my job as a leader to help cultivate and fund those ideas.

2. As a church, we must not choose our traditions over our children.

It was a great night of vision and can't forget the great food as well. I am exciting that our state leaders have a vision and heart to reach our state in creative and innovative ways.

Just got done creating our Easter Postcards for our Easter Weekend. We will be printing 3000 cards this year and sending them to Montezuma, Deep River, Malcom and Barnes City. We will also use these cards as invite cards as well in church. Easter is not that far away so begin praying about Easter services and the lives that will be touched this year.

Weekend Reflections

1. Had the touch of the flu on Friday and Saturday. I don't get sick that often so it was definitely an unpleasant experience. Still pretty weak on Sunday when I preached but got through.

2. Rhonda Minner hit a home run on her song on Sunday. She definitely has a great voice and an anointing as she sings.

3. We picked up twelve kids on the van on Sunday! That is great numbers for the winter months.

4. Preached on the "Battle of Parenthood." Continuing our "Love is a Battlefield" series. Talked about the importance of reaching the next generation. We must realize that if we don't reach the next generation, the church could easily become extinct. We have an opportunity as a church and as parents while our kids are with us. Statistics show that we only have a 4% chance of reaching someone after they reach the age of 18. This has to be a wake up call for us all. We must fight for our children and fight for our teens. We had a powerful time of prayer for our kids and teens around the altar this Sunday.

5. Still no solution on the sewer system. It looks like we have a frozen pipe somewhere underground. The question is where?

We are up and running (Kind of..)

OK, so are sewer system is still not working. It looks like we have a frozen pipe underground and not quite for sure yet what we are going to do. We brought in some external tanks so we can have running toilets in the main building so church is on. I think we got most of the stench out at least. What a crazy week. I am believing God for some GREAT things tomorrow with all the chaos we have experienced this week.

Our Church Stinks!

No literally, it really does stink. Our sewer backed up in both buildings on Tuesday night. What a mess! We have sewage water in the foyer and in the Education building bathrooms. Problem is still not solved as we are going to have to blast out the sewer underground with a huge water blaster of some sort. Just praying that it works. There will be no Bible Study or youth tonight due to the horrible smell. YUCK!

Lent

The season of Lent has officially begun. I want to invite everyone to the Lenten Breakfast that will be taking place every Wednesday at the Methodist church from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. until Easter. Lent is a season that leads us to Easter and it is a time of prayer and self-denial. I know we are not a liturgical church but there are some things we can learn about Lent. We will be doing our own 21 day fast leading to Easter in March.

New look

The blog is getting a makeover. I thought it was time to change the look of it. Hope you like.

Weekend Reflections

1. Went to Joe's Crab Shack on Friday night with the family to celebrate my birthday. Gotta love Joe's. I enjoy the fun atmosphere. This is the one time of year I get to enjoy seafood since Jen despises it.

2. Most of Saturday was spent on basketball and then to Cedar Rapids for hospital visitation. Jen and I are also looking for a Wii Fit but can't seem to find them anywhere.

3. Sunday was a great day. We had 185 in attendance and it was just one of those fun Sundays. We are in part two of "Love is a Battlefield" and I talked about the fight for marriage. Paul gives us two commands in Ephesians 5 for men and women. He calls the women to respect their husbands and he calls men to love their wives. When we don't do these two essential things, we get caught in the crazy cycle. The key is learning to stop this cycle and energize each other with love and respect. Jen bought me some crazy glasses to illustrate that men see through blue lenses which represents respect and women see through pink lenses which represent love. Got a few laughs out of that one. The key is to look through the lens of your spouse and not your own lens. Also, remember Jesus is our example. Jesus' love for the church should be present in our love for our spouse.

4. Sunday Night was our Valentine Banquet. The ladies did an excellent job decorating the fellowship hall. It looked amazing. The food was great and the fellowship was great as well. We played the "Newlywed Game" and had lots of laughs. It was a fun night.

Cookie Outreach

Today we did our annual Valentine Cookie Outreach. We wrapped over 120 plates and gave them away to the community. What a great and practical way to show the love of Jesus!

We started our series entitled "Love is a Battlefield" last Sunday. I really felt it was important that before we talked about relationships in general that we needed to understand God's love towards us. If we don't understand God's love, then we will not be able to show true love towards others. Remember that Jesus prayed that we would be filled with the same love that He and His Father have for each other. (John 17) God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are able to express perfect love. There is no selfishness in the Trinity. We are to be filled with this love and then give this same type of love. This was Jesus' prayer for the church. Let us know our worth in Christ! Know the the battle that Jesus went through on the cross so that we can experience this love. When we understand this truth, then we will be able to go to the battlefield for others.

More Snow!

Anyone tired of snow yet? Working at home today because we are snowed in once again. Looking forward to Spring and warmer weather.

Blogging Again

Hey everyone, so it has been a long while since I have blogged. It has been a crazy year for me especially in my family life. I am excited to say that things are starting to slow down and so I want to try to blog again. There are many things happening right now at CH and I am excited about what God is doing. I feel that the blog is a great way to keep everyone posted and share their thoughts. Please stayed tuned!