I am excited about the things that we have going on this week at church! Not only do we have our second week of Kids4Truth training tomorrow evening but we also have an all church retreat at Botna Bend State Park this weekend.
The "official" church retreat begins on Friday evening after dinner but several families from church will be going out Thursday afternoon or evening. I am looking forward to canoeing, cycling, cooking over the campfire, and reading. (I'm sorry I couldn't alliterate that last one) I'm not sure of the Friday evening schedule but I'm sure it will include singing and smores.
Saturday I have the opportunity to speak before lunch. Now a couple of weeks ago I told the church that I thought I needed to do a better job of teaching the proof of scriptural truth. I shared with those of you that read this blog that many children are leaving the church when they get out of the home because we have taught "Bible stories" at church but we have not taught the Bible as an accurate "historical account".
In other words, most children and adults alike are familiar with "Jonah and the whale". To most people it just sounds like a cute story for kids. Nineveh? Who ever heard of Nineveh in real life? Have you ever picked up the paper and read about current events in Nineveh? Shouldn't Nineveh still be around? Didn't God spare Nineveh because they repented? Okay, few people read about world news in the paper. Yet Nineveh isn't even talked about on T.V.
Why?
Is it even that important? Does it matter if Nineveh was a real place?
Well, if it doesn't matter to you today, I trust it will matter to you this coming Saturday. I hope to see you there!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Kids4Truth
Tonight we are going to be starting the training for the leaders and teachers who would like to serve in our Wednesday evening children's program. For many years we have used AWANA curriculum, however, this year we really have a desire to focus on the "instruct in Christ-like maturity" part of our purpose statement. The strength of the new program is in the area of discipleship and doctrine. If you haven't yet looked at the program that we will be offering, I encourage you to go to following website and check it out for yourself:
http://kids4truth.com/Home.aspx
Additionally, I ask that you pray for spiritual growth in each person involved in this new program. Not just for the children, but for everyone who will be involved. May the Lord Jesus Christ be glorified through each of us!
http://kids4truth.com/Home.aspx
Additionally, I ask that you pray for spiritual growth in each person involved in this new program. Not just for the children, but for everyone who will be involved. May the Lord Jesus Christ be glorified through each of us!
Already Home
Last week our family attended Family Camp at IRBC. We had a good time but the weather was hot! We were so thankful that this year we had taken a camper with air conditioning. Up until the week before we left we had planned on staying in one of their cabins without A/C. What a blessing it was that we changed our plans. With the high heat and humidity we had last week I doubt that I would have gotten much sleep if it weren't for the A/C. As always, the week flew by and we're already home.
In fact, due to the heat, I spent more time in the camper than I typically would have spent in a cabin. This allowed me to get more study and reading done than in previous years. I tell you this because one of the books that I read caused me to re-think some of my ideas about teaching and preaching in church. The book that I am referring to is called "Already Gone" by Ken Ham. The following is borrowed from the web address at the bottom of this page...
Statistics reveal a huge disconnect taking place between our children and their church experience
Nationwide polls and denominational reports are showing that the next generation is calling it quits on the traditional church. And it’s not just happening on the nominal fringe; it’s happening at the core of the faith.
In the first scientific study of its kind, the “Beemer Report” reveals startling facts discovered through 20,000 phone calls and detailed surveys of a thousand 20–29 year olds who used to attend evangelical churches on a regular basis, but have since left it behind.
The results are shocking:
■Those who faithfully attend Sunday School are more likely to leave the church than those who do not.
■Those who regularly attend Sunday School are more likely to believe that the Bible is less true.
■Those who regularly attend Sunday School are actually more likely to defend that abortion and gay marriage should be legal.
■Those who regularly attend Sunday School are actually more likely to defend premarital sex.
In this powerful book, popular author Ken Ham and consumer behavior research/analyst C. Britt Beemer combine to reveal trends that must be dealt with now . . . before we lose another generation!
The trends are frightening, but Already Gone shows how to win back our families, our churches, and our world!
I don't do this very often, however, if you are looking for something to read that will challenge you to reconsider how and what you are teaching, this book may give you pause.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Already-Gone-Book,6131,224.aspx
In fact, due to the heat, I spent more time in the camper than I typically would have spent in a cabin. This allowed me to get more study and reading done than in previous years. I tell you this because one of the books that I read caused me to re-think some of my ideas about teaching and preaching in church. The book that I am referring to is called "Already Gone" by Ken Ham. The following is borrowed from the web address at the bottom of this page...
Statistics reveal a huge disconnect taking place between our children and their church experience
Nationwide polls and denominational reports are showing that the next generation is calling it quits on the traditional church. And it’s not just happening on the nominal fringe; it’s happening at the core of the faith.
In the first scientific study of its kind, the “Beemer Report” reveals startling facts discovered through 20,000 phone calls and detailed surveys of a thousand 20–29 year olds who used to attend evangelical churches on a regular basis, but have since left it behind.
The results are shocking:
■Those who faithfully attend Sunday School are more likely to leave the church than those who do not.
■Those who regularly attend Sunday School are more likely to believe that the Bible is less true.
■Those who regularly attend Sunday School are actually more likely to defend that abortion and gay marriage should be legal.
■Those who regularly attend Sunday School are actually more likely to defend premarital sex.
In this powerful book, popular author Ken Ham and consumer behavior research/analyst C. Britt Beemer combine to reveal trends that must be dealt with now . . . before we lose another generation!
The trends are frightening, but Already Gone shows how to win back our families, our churches, and our world!
I don't do this very often, however, if you are looking for something to read that will challenge you to reconsider how and what you are teaching, this book may give you pause.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Already-Gone-Book,6131,224.aspx
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Cold Pork
Ha!
Tonight I think I'll share something that is just for fun.
At the fire station today we were dispatched on a call to cool some overheated pigs. That doesn't really sound like a job for the fire department does it?
As it turned out, a semi carrying a load of hogs had overturned on the interstate. The pigs were trapped inside and it was going to take several hours to offload the 175 pigs that were in the double decker trailer. The trailer was mangled and laying on it's side. The pigs couldn't be removed from the trailer until another trailer was hauled in to take them away safely. The interstate was shut down for over 5 hours.
This turned out to be a huge event. Not only were there a plethora of police officers on scene, but there were multiple veterinarians, tow truck drivers, animal control officers, firemen, and the Nebraska Humane Society. Everyone was concerned about keeping the pigs comfortable.
Our job was to keep them sprayed down with water so that they didn't overheat in their cramped quarters. After all, nobody likes dry pork chops...
Got pork?
Tonight I think I'll share something that is just for fun.
At the fire station today we were dispatched on a call to cool some overheated pigs. That doesn't really sound like a job for the fire department does it?
As it turned out, a semi carrying a load of hogs had overturned on the interstate. The pigs were trapped inside and it was going to take several hours to offload the 175 pigs that were in the double decker trailer. The trailer was mangled and laying on it's side. The pigs couldn't be removed from the trailer until another trailer was hauled in to take them away safely. The interstate was shut down for over 5 hours.
This turned out to be a huge event. Not only were there a plethora of police officers on scene, but there were multiple veterinarians, tow truck drivers, animal control officers, firemen, and the Nebraska Humane Society. Everyone was concerned about keeping the pigs comfortable.
Our job was to keep them sprayed down with water so that they didn't overheat in their cramped quarters. After all, nobody likes dry pork chops...
The above photo is Kurt keeping the pigs damp. Below are two pictures of the firemen on top (which is really the side) of the trailer spraying the pigs that are trapped in the trailer below them. These pictures were taken as I was looking north.
The pictue below shows some of the aforementioned helpful bystanders. This was an all agency emergency! This picture was taken looking south. As you can see, we were under an overpass. This provided a nice shaded staging area.
Oh, and here's a picture of my good friend (and Captain)...
Got pork?Saturday, July 31, 2010
A Morning Miracle
Well, here we are! I know I haven't written in a while but it hasn't been purposeful. We have just been out of town. The places that we stayed promised wireless Internet but they didn't all deliver. Many times the connection was slower than dial-up. I tried several times to share pictures and stories about our trip but it was to no avail. A couple of times I even got the post written, yet when I hit the "publish post" button, it disappeared.
I don't yet have all of our pictures downloaded on the computer but I will try to post some of the pictures that we have. Our trip took us to Denver, Grand Junction (CO), Moab (Utah), the Grand Canyon (AZ), Mesa Verde (Colorado), Ouray (CO), Gypsum (CO), and Ogallala, Nebraska. We saw many incredible views and spent days admiring the handiwork of our Lord. I want to thank those of you that prayed for our safety and refreshment. The Lord was definitely good to us.
As enjoyable as it is to take a vacation, my girls were saying today how much they are looking forward to being with our church family tomorrow morning. Absence makes the heart grow fonder...
By the way, did you know that the Grand Canyon is on Pacific Time during the summer? Our first night at the Grand Canyon our phones had changed to Mountain Time. Karen and the girls wanted to see the sun rise over the canyon the following morning so we looked up what time the sun would make it's appearance.
5:21 a.m.
The free shuttles that run inside the park were to make their first stop at our campground at 4:30 a.m. (they run at 12-15 minute intervals). Karen decided that they would try to catch the 4:45 shuttle so that they could hitch a ride to the rim and be in place to see the sunrise shortly after 5:00 a.m.
Morning came quickly that first night. Karen awoke and saw that it was 4:45 a.m. She scrambled to get the girls up, not allowing them to brush their teeth or anything, and rushed them down to the shuttle stop. She kept telling them to hurry or they would miss the sunrise. When they made it to the shuttle stop at the entrance to our campground it was still pitch dark. In their rush the girls hadn't grabbed any jackets. They huddled together (in shorts) waiting impatiently for the shuttle to arrive and pick them up. Without the heat of the sun it is rather cold in the desert. However, fearing they would miss the shuttle (and hence the sunrise) they refused to return to the camper for warmer clothes.
In their own words, they "waited forever". When the shuttle arrived, they scrambled on, anticipation mounting. After they were seated, the driver turned off the interior lights and all was dark. Too dark.
Karen was confused as to why there was no hint of the sun. They had woken late, they had waited for over a half an hour for the shuttle, the sun should be rising, and they weren't even to the rim of the canyon yet. It was at this moment that she looked at the clock in the front of the shuttle...
4:30
How could this be?
Pacific Time.
Our first morning at the Grand Canyon my family, excluding myself, was up at 3:45 a.m.
An hour and 36 minutes later they saw the sun peek over the rim. Yep, the Lord is always on time. He does it so often it hardly seems like a miracle. No, the miracle was that without any help or encouragement from me, my family was early!
I don't yet have all of our pictures downloaded on the computer but I will try to post some of the pictures that we have. Our trip took us to Denver, Grand Junction (CO), Moab (Utah), the Grand Canyon (AZ), Mesa Verde (Colorado), Ouray (CO), Gypsum (CO), and Ogallala, Nebraska. We saw many incredible views and spent days admiring the handiwork of our Lord. I want to thank those of you that prayed for our safety and refreshment. The Lord was definitely good to us.
As enjoyable as it is to take a vacation, my girls were saying today how much they are looking forward to being with our church family tomorrow morning. Absence makes the heart grow fonder...
By the way, did you know that the Grand Canyon is on Pacific Time during the summer? Our first night at the Grand Canyon our phones had changed to Mountain Time. Karen and the girls wanted to see the sun rise over the canyon the following morning so we looked up what time the sun would make it's appearance.
5:21 a.m.
The free shuttles that run inside the park were to make their first stop at our campground at 4:30 a.m. (they run at 12-15 minute intervals). Karen decided that they would try to catch the 4:45 shuttle so that they could hitch a ride to the rim and be in place to see the sunrise shortly after 5:00 a.m.
Morning came quickly that first night. Karen awoke and saw that it was 4:45 a.m. She scrambled to get the girls up, not allowing them to brush their teeth or anything, and rushed them down to the shuttle stop. She kept telling them to hurry or they would miss the sunrise. When they made it to the shuttle stop at the entrance to our campground it was still pitch dark. In their rush the girls hadn't grabbed any jackets. They huddled together (in shorts) waiting impatiently for the shuttle to arrive and pick them up. Without the heat of the sun it is rather cold in the desert. However, fearing they would miss the shuttle (and hence the sunrise) they refused to return to the camper for warmer clothes.
In their own words, they "waited forever". When the shuttle arrived, they scrambled on, anticipation mounting. After they were seated, the driver turned off the interior lights and all was dark. Too dark.
Karen was confused as to why there was no hint of the sun. They had woken late, they had waited for over a half an hour for the shuttle, the sun should be rising, and they weren't even to the rim of the canyon yet. It was at this moment that she looked at the clock in the front of the shuttle...
4:30
How could this be?
Pacific Time.
Our first morning at the Grand Canyon my family, excluding myself, was up at 3:45 a.m.
An hour and 36 minutes later they saw the sun peek over the rim. Yep, the Lord is always on time. He does it so often it hardly seems like a miracle. No, the miracle was that without any help or encouragement from me, my family was early!
Additional pictures...
A picture to verify the story
My nephew Jordan playing praise songs on his guitar. He played his guitar in every state they passed through during the trip!
We spent a few hours hiking along the rim. All of us wore water packs because of the dry air and the heat.
My three girls with their cousin Justine.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Praises
Wow! Did you know that Internet service and telephone service is not available everywhere? For the last several days I have wanted to give an update and share some pictures but I haven't even been able to make a call, let alone post something on the blog. Let me get you up to date...
We spent last Sunday evening in Moab (Arches National Park) after spending the morning in a little Baptist Church in Grand Junction, Colorado. The church was friendly and the sermon was a good reminder that as believers we have been granted privileges but not "rights". The promises we have from the Lord may seem like rights because he has promised them to us, yet they are still privileges. The text he used was from Luke chapter 1.
Arches National Park was beautiful. We were continually praising the Lord for his creativity...
Monday morning we headed to the Grand Canyon. I took a lot of pictures with my phone so I'll show one here...
Wednesday we drove to Mesa Verde National Park. We had a great time on the tours that we took but the road construction was horrible! Even though we camped inside the park it still took an hour and a half to drive the 15 miles to the place that we wanted to tour. This means we left the campground at 7:30 to take the 9:00 a.m. tour.
I took some pictures on the tours and I have some good pictures of the cliff dwellings but I haven't downloaded them from the phone to my computer. I hope to get that done in the next couple of days so that I can share more here. Till then...
Saturday, July 10, 2010
A Smashing Success
We (Jon, Karen, Emily, Kaylin, and Audrey) were riding in the truck today on our way across Colorado. What beautiful scenery! We remarked over and over again how thankful we are that our Lord created (or caused through the flood) mountains. We started out the morning just east of Denver and drove to Grand Junction on the western side of the state.
When we started traveling down the western slopes (Karen had her eyes closed) the girls started talking about rattlesnakes. We had watched the terrain change to a mixture of rocks and sand. As they discussed their dislike of rattlesnakes Emily remarked that if she saw one she would just smash it's head. Her sisters laughed at her but she stated again...
"Seriously, if it comes down to the snake bruising my heel or me smashing it's head, I'm gonna smash it's head. That's Biblical!"
The conversation then turned to speculation on how they would each accomplish this task if they stumbled across a snake. Emily wanted to knife one if she could but she realized the knife would have to be tied to a stick. Kaylin joined the conversation but she wasn't really into the whole "how to" part of the plan. After Audrey considered the various methods that Emily was desiring to employ, she just piped up in a very practical voice, "I'd just throw a rock on it's head".
After setting up camp in Grand Junction (and eating a quick lunch in the camper) we set off on an afternoon bike ride. The trailhead was about 5 miles from our campground so the girls took the truck with the 4 bike rack and I road my bike through the traffic and met them there. We biked for several hours along the Colorado river but none of us saw a snake. I would guess that mainly had to do with the fact that not one of us ventured off of the paved bike path. After all, talking about smashing a snake's head is a lot more fun than actually having to do it.
Let's see if I can find a picture on my phone...
When we started traveling down the western slopes (Karen had her eyes closed) the girls started talking about rattlesnakes. We had watched the terrain change to a mixture of rocks and sand. As they discussed their dislike of rattlesnakes Emily remarked that if she saw one she would just smash it's head. Her sisters laughed at her but she stated again...
"Seriously, if it comes down to the snake bruising my heel or me smashing it's head, I'm gonna smash it's head. That's Biblical!"
The conversation then turned to speculation on how they would each accomplish this task if they stumbled across a snake. Emily wanted to knife one if she could but she realized the knife would have to be tied to a stick. Kaylin joined the conversation but she wasn't really into the whole "how to" part of the plan. After Audrey considered the various methods that Emily was desiring to employ, she just piped up in a very practical voice, "I'd just throw a rock on it's head".
After setting up camp in Grand Junction (and eating a quick lunch in the camper) we set off on an afternoon bike ride. The trailhead was about 5 miles from our campground so the girls took the truck with the 4 bike rack and I road my bike through the traffic and met them there. We biked for several hours along the Colorado river but none of us saw a snake. I would guess that mainly had to do with the fact that not one of us ventured off of the paved bike path. After all, talking about smashing a snake's head is a lot more fun than actually having to do it.
Let's see if I can find a picture on my phone...
Ignore the dust covers (for the camper wheels) that are on the dashboard, that's another story...
I guess they don't like posing for pictures. 93 degrees and dry, dry, dry. I would have gotten the river in the background but the sun was in the way.
See, no snakes.
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