Encouragement ...

I so enjoy the moments in ministry when you are encouraged beyond your own belief!

Often in the life of a Pastor or minister, so much of the work is done in a way where visible fruit and or progress are difficult to see, but there are times that your heart is encouraged!

One of the areas that can be somewhat discouraging is the are of counseling. Specifically when counseling someone who you're not really sure wants your help. Counseling, or more specifically Biblical Counseling, is the act of intensive discipleship. If that doesn't help, discipleship is the act whereby one believer comes alongside another believer to help them to learn to walk, love, serve and grow in their RELATIONSHIP with Jesus!

Part of the problem is (and we are all guilty of this) waiting until the issue, problem or situation is almost to, if not past, the point of salvage. We, in our own wisdom, skill and ability had done all we know to do  ... so ... we turn to others for help and when that fails we turn to God! Many times as what seems to be a last resort.

For the Biblical counselor, often we are that last resort! Presented with daunting problems that had they been handled differently in the beginning would not now be so very difficult to walk through.

I have the privilege to attend, be apart of, a group of Biblical counselors that gather once a month and walk through different aspects of the Biblical counseling ministry, common issues that the counselor  will encounter and just a time of prayer for one another.   

Today was the monthly meeting of the Eastern Iowa Biblical Counseling Coalition (EIBCC). a group that I have come to fellowship with and be encouraged by as well! Thankful for our presenter today who spoke on the topic of "Knowing When We Don't Have A Counselee" ... in other word, when someone is in the counseling room but not really interested in getting help. Sometimes it is the counselee that is the issue and sometimes it is the counselor who is at fault! (Ouch)

What an incredible time of learning, fellowship and encouragement! Already looking forward to our meeting next month!

Pastor Steve

Morning Thoughts w/ Dr. Paul Tripp

1. The cross tells us the extent to which the Lord will go to win the great spiritual war that rages in us and around us. 

2. The is no spiritual danger that you face alone, there is no spiritual deceit that you must defend yourself from alone, there is no spiritual battle that you fight alone, because the Lord Almighty is with you. 

3. Know that in those moments when you are weak and discouraged and don’t want to fight spiritual battles anymore, your Savior still fights for you.

Book Review: "What Is Reformed Theology?" By; R.C. Sproul

In moving to the South Central Iowa area 4.5 years ago I was introduced to a theology that I was very unfamiliar with in many ways ... Reformed or Covenant Theology.

Having grown up Roman Catholic and being converted to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in 1981, I began attending a Baptist church in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Long story short, I graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College in 1989 and began pastoring in a Baptist church in Illinois in 1991. In 1995, I accepted the call to the Baptist church in Clear Lake, Iowa and enjoyed almost 18 years of ministry there until my call to Bethel Baptist in Oskaloosa.

Theologically, my experience in Illinois was a hodge-podge of mostly main-line denominations. While ministering in CL, the predominant influence was Lutheran theology. As I mentioned, upon arriving in Oskaloosa, I found myself in the midst of the Reformed community.

Not being well verse in this area of theological study, I set myself to learning! I chose to read Dr. R.C. Sproul - whom I consider to be a leading voice in the Covenant theology camp. I have read a number of his books, but, by far this was the most explanatory in the important topic at hand!

The book is set up in two parts, part one lays out the "Foundations of Reformed Theology" and part two lays out the "Five Points of Reformed Theology" or as many will recognize the "Five Points of Calvinism" or the acrostic "TULIP".

My purpose in this review is not to debate the validity of Covenant Theology in any way, I simply want my readers to understand that this book, by far, does the best job if defining, explaining and clarifying this area of theology. While many in this theological camp just refer to it as "Reformed" one of the chapters in Dr. Sproul's book is entitled "Nicknamed Covenant Theology". I'm convinced that the proper title for this theology is Covenant, not because of the covenants God made with Adam, Noah or even David so clearly brought forth in scripture but  this theology is based on three overriding covenants of Redemption, Works and Grace. That is the one of the main keys to understanding Covenant Theology!

In my opinion, if you are looking for a succinct description and or explanation of Covenant Theology, this book will cover that need.

Closing Notes:

Dr. R.C. Sproul passed away in early December 2017.

Just because I have reviewed a book on this blog is not in any way a carte blanche approval of any author or their writings.

Pastor Steve   

You Know You're A Bad Speller When ...

I am and always have been a horrendous speller! I struggled with spelling in my formative years and frankly have never really master the "Art of Spelling"!

My Mom & I

Actual Cover

When I was in High School my mom, bless her heart, even bought me a copy of the "Bad Spellers Dictionary"! She knew that I spelled everything phonically, so she buys me a book that I could really use!

So often, in grade school I was told to look up in the dictionary words I could not spell, However, I never understood how I was to look up a work if I already did not know how to spell itt to begin with in the first place!!!

Kept Close at Hand

Then, in college I happened across a book titled "20,000 Words Spelled and Divided for Quick Reference".  Literally, this book is kept in the lower left hand drawer of my desk in my office and I still reference it often!

By the way, the greatest thing to happen for us bad spellers was the invention of the Word Processor and the program that we know and love as "Spell Check"!

All of this now brings me to the reason for this particular blog post ... This morning as I was composing an email, I try to spell a word (NO, I will not tell you what word) and recognized my good friend Spell Check flagged it a being miss-spelled ... I selected the options for a list of possible words only to find my computer has no idea, not a clue of what I was trying to spell!

I reached into my lower left hand drawer and retrieved my "20,000 Words" book and promptly found the word I was needing!

Someone has said "Life is hard and it is even harder if your stupid" ... That is no doubt true, but, it helps to have a few "helps" & "cheaters" located in your lower left hand desk drawer!

I positive I'm not the only one who struggles with the simple task of spelling, so tell me what tricks and cheaters you use to make up for this deficit in your learning curve!!!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

An Incredible Honor ...

I had the opportunity to speak at at college chapel at Faith Baptist Bible College on Wednesday March 6.

I really struggled with what to speak on, what to challenge the students with from the Word of God.

I settled on walking through the 4 Goals of my Life:

1. Be Pleasing to God - 2 Cor. 5:9
2. Be Christ-like/Project Christ-likeness - Rom. 8:28-29
3. Bring Glory to God - 1 Cor. 10:31
4. Diligently Seeking After God - Hebrews 11:6

I'm told that many thought it was pretty good. If you're really interested, you could go to Faith Baptist Bible College, go to "Resources", select "Chapel Messages and Archives", look for a message titled "Being a Better Disciple"

Let me know if you listen to it and what you think!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Over A Year - - Are you Kidding Me!!!

Wow, Where does the time go?

Randomly, I visited my own blog site today. I looked at the date on my last post, only to realize that that it was not January 2019 but January 2018!

Now as far as I know, my brother "Big Bro", is the only person who regularly checks my blog site and at least lets me know every now and again. It has been a long drought since I last heard from him. So I know that it HAS been a long time since I've stopped by and left a note.

Last year I read 60 books, so I have plenty of material in just Book Reviews!

I gained a new passion for kayaking this past summer after vacationing on the Lake of the Ozarks!

I'm working on living a healthier lifestyle, being a diabetic, I'm working through a Keto diet, increased exercise and incredible support from my wife. I have great recipes, some I'm even willing to share!

Looking forward to more regular posts ...

I Remain,
Pastor Steve