Fishing

Last week, my buddy Bob and I went fishing. It is a great time of the year to find those big crappies! We did pretty well. Between Bob, my other buddy Mike, and myself, we have probably caught more than 100 of these beautiful crappies in the past week!

I am so excited about spring this year. I can't remember the last time I was so anxious for the season to change! My plans are to hit a different Minnesota lake every week during fishing season this year.

I have a nice boat that I was able to purchase on ebay a couple of years ago. I even upgraded the motor on ebay last year. I'm hoping that I can take my boys out a bunch this season. They are growing and my window of opportunity for having them around is closing quickly.

I love to fish. What are some of your favorite hobbies to do outdoors?

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Dylan's birthday today ( a month late!). Dylan is my associate pastor here at Hawley Alliance. His official title is youth pastor, but he serves more of an associates role here at Hawley Alliance.

I am very proud of this young man. Rare do you find a 27 year old who is so responsible. He is very dedicated to his Lord, his family, and his church family. We are blessed to have him.

He also has a fun sense of humor. This photo was staged in Bemidji. I thought it would be a funny picture, and he quickly agreed and complied.

The first ten years of ministry I was a solo pastor. I am so thankful now for staff. Take the time to tell those people around you how thankful you are for their contribution to your life. Surround yourself with winners, and it gives you a great chance to be a winner yourself!

Full Day of Ministry

Yesterday we had our Ministry Fair following the morning worship service. We are following a series via Willow Creek called Living Beyond Myself. Through this series, our goal is to empower the congregation to get off of the bench and into the game.

Willow Creek suggested that our church hold a Ministry Fair to show case our different ministries. We had about twenty different tables set-up. There were even tables set-up by ministries in the community. It was awesome.

To be honest, most people who stayed for the fair are already plugged in and doing a marvelous job in ministry using their spiritual gifts. The people who are not engaged in ministry hit the doors for an early exit. I think that this was ok though! It gave the leadership of the ministries a chance to see what they have. It gave them the opportunity to be seen as a leader.

Also, those people who did not stay now know that their is more to life than just existing. They have the possibilities to live beyond themselves. Perhaps next week, next month, or next year, they will take that big jump and get involved in some sort of ministry!

Following our morning service I went to Viking Manor in Ulen for their worship service. It is always a hoot to go and lead them in their worship service. I have been doing nursing home services for quite some time, but I have to say that Ulen is the best by far. It is a first rate facility. I would not hesitate to allow one of my loved ones to be in their facility!

Then last night the men packed out the Hawley Lanes Bowling Alley for a men's night out. What a great time it was. I took 25 coupons for a free sundae to anyone who could beat my score. I came home with five coupons. What is that saying about my bowling?

It was a good day. I am so thankful for Hawley Alliance :)

Update on Dad

I called the hospital this morning and was actually able to talk to my father for a minute. He was extremely hard to understand, but it was good to hear his voice.

The nurse explained that his blood sugar dropped rapidly and he passed out. When we went down he hit his head on the cement floor and that caused the head trauma. They are not certain now whether there was actually a stroke or not. The nurse said he was getting better every hour.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

My Father

Two posts in one day. I have some thoughts going through my head and I thought it would be good to put them on paper. I just received a call from my sister, Traci. She tells me that my biological father has had a severe stroke. I'm not certain he will make it through this.

My mom and dad were divorced when I was less than two years old. My mom raised me and I saw my father like maybe once a year. Once I left home it was less than that. Over the past ten to twelve years we sort of started to dialog a little bit more for a while. In the past year or so though, our converstaions have been extremely scarce.

Seeing that I am a pastor, and he has no time for God, it leaves little to talk about. I have witnessed to him on several occasions. Whenever we have a meal together, I always pray for him. He seems not too bothered by it. About eight years ago he showed up with his girlfriend for a week long visit. We endured it. It was kind of nice for my boys to get to know who their grandfather was.

The whole time mom was sick last year, and even after her death, he never called me once. That was tough. When I called him to tell him I was in town one time last year, he swore at me and handed the phone to someone else.

I guess I am just thinking, what if he dies? How will I feel? Will I go to Indiana for the funeral? Will I take the family if I do go? How can I not go??

Please keep my father, Lester in your prayers. Please also pray for me as I seek to honor my father. (Is that my answer?)

Lenten Services

We are in the middle of the Lenten season. To be honest, I'm not the hippest person on this season. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Jesus's life, death, and resurrection are what separates us from many cult-like religions. I love Easter. It is the whole Lenten thing that disturbs me a bit.

It is just too ritualistic. Kind of like we have to do it because our forefathers did it, and their forefathers did it.

We live in a small community. This is an ecumenical event. Our brothers and sisters in Christ from the Lutheran church, Methodist church, and Catholic church hold dear to this season.

If they hold dearly to the season, I belive as a good neighbor that I should show them the respect to go, and take part, and help promote it. A lot of my friends who pastor churches in my denomination do not agree. They believe that this pulls away from what they are trying to accomplish.

Isn't it possible to find the good common ground and celebrate it? Isn't it possible to stretch ourselves beyond what makes us comfortable? I think it is. I have many people in my congregation who grew up in these denominations. They remember them very vividly. It is not much of a stretch for us to be a part of this.

Other pastors out there, are there things that you do to keep harmony with other churches and your community? I'd love to hear about it...

Marriage

This afternoon I came into the church for some post-marital counseling. It is very hard to try to make both sides of a feud try to see the problem from the other person's perspective. Needless to say, it did not go very well today.

This past week Cindy and I had a heated barn-burner of an argument. To be honest, we don't argue all that often. When we do, it usually goes away pretty quick. We have a wonderful relationship, and we both like to make up! This was a pretty tough one though. It went away the same day, but we both were pretty emotional.

I wish that every couple that I counseled would look forward to the make-up. That they would not hold onto the hurt. That they would not use this argument as ammunition for the next fight. That they would look to lift up, instead of looking to put down.

Secrets are bad news to a marriage. Any email or note that I get is available to another set of eyes. I try to keep myself pure and above reproach by allowing Cindy, or my secretary Heather to see what comes across my desk, computer screen, and so on. When husband and wife start to keep secrets, bad things happen!

Take the time today to reaffirm your mate. Let them know if you had it to do all over again that you would marry them without hesitation. Tell them that you love them, and then give them a big smooch! Take my word for it, kissing is much funner than arguing!

Living Beyond Myself

We started the series, "Living Beyond Myself" last Sunday. It was a great day! It just seemed like everything clicked. This week we plan to do a skit about a teen girl who was kicked out by her parents. It looks to be awesome.

It is great the churches like Willow make these series available. I am blessed to pastor such a church as hawley Alliance. I am discouraged though that more people are not interested in finding and using their spiritual gifts.

Through this series our prayers are that people will get motivated to leave the pew and just jump into ministry. There is so much that needs to be done for the kingdom of God. All of us are a part of the plan. there are no substitutes that are stuck on the bench (like i was on my high school football team!). We are all a vital part of the formula to win!

Please pray that god would do something utterly and absolutely amazing in and through our church this month.

Easter

Thinking through plans for the busiest day in the year of the church. What are some things you'd like to see happen, or are planning for your church? I'd love to get some feedback!

God @ Work!

Sometimes it is quite obvious that our Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. On New Years Day I took a Sunday from preaching and went with a buddy to see the Bears and Vikings play football.

We sat next to a young couple who were Bears fans. It came up that they lived in Fargo, and I pastor in Hawley. That is about as personal as we got.

A few weeks later they tracked me down and asked me to marry them! Wow! I agreed if they were willing to come to premarital counseling, and also attend church. They agreed!

They were here last Sunday. I think they are very close to accepting Christ. There is so much more to the story, but I do not have time to tell all of the details.

Please be in prayer for this. I will try to update more details in days to come!