GARBC Conference

Just wanted to give a quick post and say hello from the GARBC (General Association of Regular Baptist Churches) National Conference at the First Baptist Church in Elyria, Ohio.

Elyria is located just East of Cleveland and is a beautiful part of the country. I got to fly out of Des Moines on Monday afternoon and after a brief layover in Chicago, I arrived in Cleveland with plenty of time to get a rental car and get to the conference before the evening service.

The speaker this year are:

Dr. Kevin Bauder in the evenings and Dr. Renald Showers in the mornings:

Kevin T. Bauder is president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Plymouth, Minn.

Before going to Central Seminary, Dr. Bauder was engaged in pastoral ministry and church planting. His prior teaching experience includes a professorship in ecclesiastical history at Denver Baptist Bible College, where he also served as dean of men.

A 1979 graduate of Faith Baptist Bible College, Bauder earned an MDiv and ThM from Denver Baptist Theological Seminary, a DMin from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a PhD from Dallas Theological Seminary. He was the pastor of GARBC churches in Colorado and Iowa, a professor and dean of men at Denver Baptist Bible College, and a church planter in Sachse, Texas.

Dr. Bauder contributed essays to Pilgrims on the Sawdust Trail: Evangelical Ecumenism and the Quest for Christian Identity and Missions in a New Millennium: Change and Challenges in World Missions. He was coeditor of One Bible Only? and author of Evaluating the Da Vinci Phenomenon. His 2005 address to the American Association of Christian Colleges and Seminaries, A Fundamentalism Worth Saving,” has been credited with igniting a new defense of the ideals of fundamentalism.

Since February 2005 he has written In the Nick of Time, a weekly electronic newsletter addressing current issues within Christianity. He is a chaplain with the Civil Air Patrol, the auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Dr. Bauder’s academic interests include ecclesiological issues, Baptist distinctives, and the development of American evangelicalism and fundamentalism. He and his wife, Debbie, have two children.

Renald E. Showers is a popular speaker at college campuses, GARBC churches, and Bible conference audiences coast to coast. He represents the church ministries division of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

Dr. Showers grew up in DuBois, Pa., and is married to the former Eleanor Eby. A 1956 Bible major graduate of Philadelphia Biblical University (then Philadelphia Bible Institute), Showers earned a BA in history from Wheaton College, a ThM in church history from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a ThD in theology from Grace Theological Seminary. He has served in the pastorate; as a member of the faculties of Lancaster Bible College, Moody Bible Institute, and Philadelphia College of Bible; and as a visiting lecturer at Word of Life Bible Institute, Calvary Bible College, and Baptist Bible Theological Seminary.

A recognized scholar of modern dispensational theology, Rennie Showers is the author of There Really Is a Difference, a well-regarded study of the major differences between covenant and dispensational theology and the various millennial views.

Junior Boys Camp - Singing Every Morning!

Following a very hectic week at Special Camp, I had just enough time to get home Friday afternoon & try to get a bunch of odd jobs done and then get back to the camp by 10 AM Monday for an action packed week of Junior Boys!

"Action packed" hardly covers the week that was! I was truly blessed to have seven guy's in my cabin this year. Four were from the Clear Lake Church, two were related to Clear Lake guys and one was a guy from Ventura who rode my bus when I had filled in for a regular route driver. When Jackson walked into our cabin, he looked at me and said "Your a bus driver!"

Junior Boy's are, by definition, "full of enough energy and rambunctiousness to kill an average counselor" (I made that up, but it should be there!). This is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best weeks of summer! Junior boy's camp rocks! These guys play hard, are fearless and love chapel time. On a serious note, junior boys are very tender toward the things of God and always seem ready to respond as God's Word is preached and their hearts are challenged. Our two main speakers were Missionary John Murray, with Cyclone Bible Fellowship in Ames, Iowa and Pastor Dennis Reynolds, senior pastor Nevada Baptist Church Nevada, Iowa. These men did a great job!

One fun insight - Everyday I would wake my cabin in this way...at 6:59AM I would in VERY loud voice say: "GOOOOOOD MOORRNNING Campers! It's (whatever day)!" Then their favorite part, I would sing to them! At which point they would moan and complain that I was hurting them, causing great pain and suffering. I love junior boys camp!!!!!

Can hardly wait until next year!!!

Special Camp 2009

Special Camp at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp bright and early on June 8th.

As registration began we moved through 80+ campers and our week was underway. This was another great year! Our theme this year was creation and our campers really seemed to enjoy every aspect of the week. Perhaps the only draw back was the weather and we have no control over that anyway! Cool and rainy was the fare this year, but our campers and staff are a hardy bunch and with some sweatshirts and jackets ... it was all good!

Special thanks to my evening speaker: Pastor Garry Moore; my teachers, craft workers and counselors. Without you, your preparation and hard work during the week this ministry would NEVER be possible. Thank you!

Here are a few pictures:

Registration First Thing Monday!Class Work
CraftsCamper/Counselor Softball game (Nice boots Pastor Hill!)
IRBC Olympics!
Waterfront Activities
Talent Show

Ordination Service

Sorry for the lag time but our Summer Season is fully underway! Special Camp began Monday with close to 90 camper; more on that later.....

Daniels ordination service was Sunday and it was very nice.

Daniel sang in a Men's group and did a very cool number. His Pastor spoke and then I spoke and we were still done in pretty good time.

Here are some pictures:

Praying for God's blessing and leading in Daniels life!

A joyful Dad passing the tourch to another generation.

Ordination Council Results!

By unanimous vote, the examining council, enthusiastically recommend that the Bethel Baptist Church of Oskaloosa, Iowa move forward with the ordination of Daniel Cox. The council also commended Daniel on his gracious demeanor and ability to handle the scriptures.

From the Dad's perspective: Daniel did a great job! He was able to answer the questions that were put to him and he made his Dad very proud. It was obvious that Daniel had studied and prepared long and hard for this day. While not being presumptuous or cocky, Daniel was able to effective communicate his position with much grace.

The ordination service will be tomorrow, Sunday June 7th in the morning service.

Photos:

Daniel & Maggie sharing their testimonies

Daniel getting clarification on a question

Searching the Scriptures; Rightly dividing the Word of Truth!

Ordination Council Called For Daniel A. Cox

Bethel Baptist Church of Oskaloosa Iowa is convening an ordination council on June 6th 2009 at 9:30 AM for the purpose of examining Mr. Daniel Cox to consider the advisability of ordaining him to the gospel ministry.

Daniel graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College, did his pastoral internship and is a member along with his wife, Maggie, at Bethel Baptist. Daniel is the son of Pastor and Mrs. Steve Cox.

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth."
(NKJV)

My Smokin' Weber

I have a Weber Kettle grill.

It's the 22 1/2 inch model and until just lately I have just used it as a charcoal grill (direct heat). A week or so age I stopped at the local hardware store and bought a couple of baskets to hold the hot coals enabling the ability to cook with indirect heat.

Why you might ask is this important? Because it takes the standard grill and turns it into a first class smoker. This is a huge step in my culinary arts ability! As weird as this might sound, this step helps me ramp up my ability to cook and/or smoke meats, fish & poultry.

I have a Brinkmann Smoke-N-Grill, but the problem I always have is that I can never seem to get the food to cook. The food will be smoked very well but I always have to finish the smoked meat or poultry in a very low oven.

Case in point - A friend harvested a wild turkey in Iowa's Spring Turkey Season. The task wes simple, but after 3 hours in the smoker I needed to put the bird into a 225 degree oven for a couple of hours to finish. Very Frustrating!

All that is OVER! Using my Weber over these past few weeks, I have made boneless Chicken breast, a couple of racks of pork baby back ribs and venison roasts and steaks. My next project on the Weber Smoker - Pork shoulder roast bone-in, which after being smoked will become pulled pork!

Do I see another smoking post in the future? I think sooooooo!

Philip's Home

Philip's flight home from South Africa arrived safely in Des Moines Friday evening at about 6:45!

He was only gone for 3 weeks but it was sure good to see him walk down that flight of stairs grinning from ear to ear!

Everyone from our family was there, Daniel, Maggie and the E man (Elijah); Amy, Susan Lynn and Me too!

We snatched up Philip, headed out to the nearest Pizza Hut, met up with our good friend Nick Oliver and the entire herd polished off a couple of large pizza in about a New York minute! Philip was starving for some "real" food after feasting on Rino, Croc and Zebra while in Africa!

Philip had a great time and Mom and Dad are thankful he's home safe!