Anything to draw a crowd...

This past Sunday we had our worship service outside at the city park in Boone. I hold an outside service every year that i call Friendship Sunday. It is a day when we encourage all of our people to bring a friend and then we have a potluck picnic to follow. I was really surprised that our attendance was one of our lowest (maybe the absolute lowest) in all of 2008. We did have a great time though.

This is a picture of yours truly sitting in the dunk tank. You would never believe how COLD the water was! Unbelievable!!! My associate took his turn next and he agreed it was freezing! The kids just love to play, and we let several of them get dunked as well.

If you are a pastor and reading this, you should understand how good it is for your congregation to see you in this light sometimes. Pastors are not above their congregations. It is ok to be laughed at sometimes. Be willing to get wet for Jesus!!!

Worship in the Park

Yesterday was the first day back in the pulpit for me following a one month break. I have not missed many Sundays in the past two years and wanted to have my mind free to focus on this next series as we will cover the Fruit of the Spirit. To be honest, I have not studied the subject very deeply prior to this and wanted to give it everything I have.

Our service yesterday was in the park. I set the stage for where we were heading. Following the service we had a potluck picnic and then I crawled into the dunk tank. Everyone loves to see their pastor get dunked. The water was very, very cold. It was loads of fun though. Curt crawled in after me. He is a great kid and loves to have fun as well.

Today is his fist day of vacation. Believe me, it is well-deserved. He held down the fort here this past month very admirably!

Ever been to Canada?

I spent the week away with some buddies from Hawley and went to the English River fishing this week. I love fishing and I REALLY love fishing in Canada. When my buddy, Mike Luthi called and invited me, it did not take long to see my calendar was pretty much open for such a trip.

I have been working a lot of hours, but I brought on an associate pastor who is wonderful and felt I could sneak away for awhile. He did a great job filling in, especially with his crazy schedule last week.

This fish that I am holding is a 27 inch walleye. It weighed just over 8 pounds. I took him to a taxidermist in Ankeny and was told it would take about nine months to complete. I may not have the opportunity to catch something like this again, so I decided to make the investment. It just means I have to donate more plasma to pay for it!