Getting Married Again???

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of a couple who had been divorced from each other 5 years ago. 

This might have been the most unique wedding I have ever attended! The theme of the wedding was reconciliation. The key thought was that before the bride and groom could be reconciled to each other they needed to be reconciled to God. You see, in the 5 years that they were apart, God was working in their lives, drawing them into a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus' perfect work. Once this couple had received the gift of salvation and really begin to grow and change, God began to draw them together again. After a great deal of discipleship, counsel and prayer this couple choose to come together again and recommit to walk together in a marriage that honors God!

I'm not kidding you, this was a beautiful ceremony! The center focus of the ceremony was not the exchange of vows, exchange of rings or the "kiss". The center focus was a sharing of the Lord's Table (communion). The Pastor did an incredible job explaining how the Lord's Table is about calling into remembrance the incredible price that was paid so that we could have any chance to be reconciled to a completely HOLY God. No matter how "good" we think we can be or how many "good works" we think we can preform, our efforts will always fall short! Romans 3:23 ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ...; Isaiah 64:6 ...And all our righteous works are like filthy rags...; Titus 3:5-6 ...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,   whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior...; Eph. 2:8-9 ... For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

This was an incredible picture of Biblical Truth: Before we can ever truly hope to be reconciled to one another we MUST be reconciled to God! Romans 5:1 ...Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! True reconciliation or forgiveness only comes at the foot of the cross.

What an incredible witness and testimony of God's working in their lives! What a blessing to have been a part of this wedding! Thank you Brice & Dena.

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Senior High Camp 2011

Senior High Camp was held at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp July 25th - 29th.

The speaker this year was Pastor Jon Jenks from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Pastor Jon brought excellent messages in both the morning and evening services. There were many decision and I know that I was challenged by his walk through of the "idols of the heart" series.

This year, in the afternoon "Summit Seekers" session, the decision was made to do a simple round table discussion on questions submitted by the teens and no topic was off limits! The panel was made up of some of the Pastors who were counseling this week at camp. The questions were very good! There were the standard "how far is too far" question that teens always ask is this anonymous setting. There were also some very practical questions as well as some fairly deep theological questions. One of the best parts of this exercise is to get e glimpse into the thinking of today's teens.

Camp was filled with the standard activities, game and other fun stuff. Senior High camp is one of the highlights of my summer! Very tiring but worth every minute invested!

I Remain,

Pastor Steve   

Long Time - No Time - About Time

The best laid plans.....

It seems that no matter my good intentions, I just struggle to find the time to sit and blog. As I peruse other blogs I realize that every posting does not need to be as long as "War & Peace" but to try and condense my thought down to a few pithy lines. I'm a preacher, there is nothing I enjoy more than a good narrative or a good story. Some folks might even say I'm long winded, I have no idea where they would get that idea.

Oh well!

Over the next few days my goal is to bring some updates on the summer past. Letting you in on what I've been up to and what God has been doing in my life.

FAMILY CAMP #3

In the middle of July Lynn and I attended Family Camp #3 at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp in Ventura (Just outside of Clear Lake). This has been a family event since Philip was just 6 months old!

This year was extra special in that Daniel, Maggie & the boys come for their family vacation as well! I'm not going to lie to you ... being the Grandpa is the best!

I got the opportunity to introduce Elijah to the world of Slushie's! I'm not really sure he like them as well as I do but we had a great time. Every evening after chapel we would go to the snack-shack and get a green slushie and a bag of popcorn. Great fun!

On the Benjamin front, I got to introduce him to corn on the cob! At first he was just sucking on the cob that I had already eaten the corn off of but I found that he was able to bite off a bit of corn with the few teeth that he had. He really liked it and was leaning and reaching trying to get his hands of that ear of corn. I'm not sure Maggie was all that happy about the fresh sweet corn that Benjamin had to eat, especially when it was diaper changing time!

More to come,

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

As Seen On Facebook

This was just too funny to not put on my Blog!

"WARNING, PLEASE READ - I don't usually re-post these but... If someone comes to your front door, and asks you to remove your clothes, and dance in your front yard with your arms in the air.. DO NOT do this, it is a scam!! They just want to see you naked. Please copy and post this to your status -- I wish I had received this yesterday.... I feel so stupid now.."

Now that is just funny!


Pastor Steve


And NO I'm not the one who posted this!

Been Awhile...

The summer camping season is underway and we are in the throws of 3 weeks straight at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp.

Last week I was the guys Dean at Jr. High Camp, this week I'm serving as the Program Chairman and Morning Speaker at Family Camp #3. Family camp ends at noon on Friday and Sr. High Camp will begin next Monday.

Been a real blessing to have Daniel and Maggie here this week with Elijah and Benjamin. I LOVE being "Papa Steve"!!!

Talk to you soon!

Pastor Steve