What A Great Weekend

This was a great week that just passed!

Friday began with a trip to Des Moines to see my Mom. She had a wonderful lunch fixed when Lynn and I arrived. Lunch was Graziano's hot sausage patties with cheese served openfaced on Krispy Krust Italian bread and my Mom's world famous vegetable soup w/ chicken. What a feast!

The purpose of the trip besides just getting to spend time with my Mom was to go through some of my Dad's things. I'm telling you the truth, it was tough. But as I tell my kids hard is hard, hard is not bad, hard is not impossible. I even learned something about my Dad that I hand never been aware of before that day. I miss him!

After our visit at Mom's, Lynn and I drove to the Sportsman's Warehouse in Ankeny and just walked around. Not that we were really looking for anything but enjoying the diversion and just spending some time together. You know, it never seems like we get enough time to just hang out and as unbelievable as it might seem Lynn likes spending time with me! She's so weird!

We picked up Lynn's Mom and drove to the Grandview Park Baptist Church for a concert with the Faith Baptist Bible College Choral. It was fantastic! The group did a great job and we thoroughly enjoyed the music as well as the fellowship. We met some church friends there as well as others and we slipped away to Hickory Park BBQ and Ice Cream for a bite to eat following the concert.

It ended up being a late night not getting home until about midnight but it was worth the effort!

Saturday was kind of a lazy day as the girls all drove to the outlet mall to go shopping and Phil and I stayed close to home and the NCAA tourney on the TV. My bracket is a royal mess, however, 3 of the final four teams are in as well as my pick for national champ. You will have to wait before I tell you who I've crowned as the Champs!

I made homemade chicken pot pie for supper and everyone really enjoyed the meal (Thanks to the Fultz's). We spent the balance of the evening watching movies that were so-so. Not enough car chases and crashes for me!

Sunday was incredible. I love the opportunity to preach and teach the Word of God! On Sunday mornings I'm working through a series in the Book of Hebrews. Sunday morning we looked at Hebrews 9:15-28 and saw once again that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what makes it possible for us to stand before a holy God! One verse that I mentioned that is so cool is 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." I stand in awe of our great God!

Sunday evening we had out TFC night at the Church. Talents For Christ (TFC) helps teens to develop their God-given talents for ministry within the local church. It encourages students to prepare and to gain skill for serving the Lord. Students can choose to compete in either the Open category or the Scholarship category. The open category is for students just developing their skills or students who are not planning on attending one of the participating colleges. If students choose to compete in a scholarship category, they have the potential of qualifying for college scholarships on the state and national level.

We have three young people from our church involved with TFC and one of them is Susan (our daughter). She is in the ladies vocal and she did a great job Sunday evening. I'm really looking forward to hearing her compete. Someone asked how that much volume could come from a package that small, I responded that she takes after her mother because I'm so meek and mild.

I'd better stop there!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Winter Makes A Comeback

North Iowa was greeted with a couple of new inches of snow this morning.

The roads were fair but the gravels were very slick. However, the really cool part was the incredible way the snow hung in the trees, fences and how clean everything looked covered with this new blanket of the white stuff.

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

But He Cusses Too!

Driving a school bus is a unique experience in that I'm able to observe the students in a setting where they really are not paying attention that there is an adult within earshot.

Nintendo DS is just huge in the middle school culture and is seems that everyone has a DS. As kids get on the bus they ask each other if they have theirs with them and what games they have with them.

This morning one guy gets on and when asked says that his DS is at home because it needed to be charged. However, he did bring his CD player with a great CD. The CD is by Michale Card.

The conversation went something like this:

Boy 1: "I got this great CD by Michael Card"
Boy 2: "Who is Michael Card?"
Boy 1: "A Christian singer!"
Boy 2: "oh" (somewhat dejected)
Boy 1: "But he cusses too!"
Boy 2: "COOL!" (totally impressed now)

I'm telling you ... you can not make this stuff up!!!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Waffles and Syrup

Ran across this picture on Shannon and Jodi Clarks blog . I could not pass up stealing it and posting it here.

So would you like some waffles with that syrup?

Thanks to the Clarks!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Timothy Retreat At IRBC

This weekend offered a couple of really great opportunities.

First, there was a Spiritual Life Conference at the church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The speaker was Dr. Paul Tripp. Dr. Paul Tripp is the president of Paul Tripp Ministries, a non profit organization, whose mission statement is "Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life." Sounds really great!

Second, was the opportunity to attend the Timothy Retreat at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp with my son Philip. The Timothy Retreat is designed for high school men (grades 9-12) who are considering full time ministry.

You can tell from the title of my post that I chose the Timothy Retreat. The theme of the retreat was prayer and knowing the will of God. It was a fantastic retreat! Very challenging for both the young men and the sponsors as well.

Garry Moore was the main speaker and did a great job with the Word as usual. Great sessions with the use of video clips and power point presentations. Music was provided by Aaron Hart and he did a great job as well.

Overall, the retreat was very good and the best part was getting to spend the time with Philip!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Opportunities For Growth Update

Due to a zoning issue that was going to take at least 15 days to resolve we had to step out of the process of bidding at auction for the building and land that I had mentioned in my previous blog.

We do know that the property did not sell but what the future holds is up in the air at this point, Please continue to pray for wisdom as our leadership team seeks God'd perfect will.

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Opportunities For Growth

This is a copy of a letter that we sent to our Church family and friends, I thought you might like to know what we're up to in Clear Lake...

Friends and Family,

Just a note to update you on what God is doing at the Clear Lake Regular Baptist Church.

We will have the opportunity to bid at auction for a new property and church building. The property is located on Hwy. 18 just West of the Fertile blacktop and the building is a "Heritage" like new large metal building 75'X100' with an attached office complex 30'X40' w/ 3 offices, a reception area and conference room.

This facility is usable from day one and also has great potential for future growth!

Please pray with us as we seek to know the Lord's will in this matter. This would be a huge undertaking for us in many ways, but if God is in it we are confident in His leading! We are having an informational meeting this evening at the church and of course we desire to have all of our Church family be in attendance.

If you have any questions please feel free to call the Church.

God Bless And Thanks For Praying With Us!

Pastor Steve Cox
Ivan Good
Bob Burns
Tom Nichols
Daniel Stephenson