Life in the Big Potato

No matter how bad you think your life is going, remember, it could be much worse. A friend who lives in a difficult part of the world offers this reminder . If you look at your problems in light of the daily fear and turmoil that many people in the world face you just might feel a little guilty for complaining. You could be a child soldier in Africa. You could be a woman sold into slavery in South Asia. You could be a mother who lost all her children to fighting in Columbia. So when you send your kid off to school, go to your air-conditioned workplace, go to college where you will get an education that puts you in the top 10% of the world in education, pay only $3 for gas, or watch people on the news criticize the government; just take a moment to be grateful. Please pray that the Gospel will pour out on Iraq and people will experience the only real hope they have of peace. What other solution is there?

When buying a house, especially in a place like North Idaho, you really want to look for a place with a view. They aren't hard to come by. Out on the prairie where we live you can look in any direction and see mountains. All you have to do is find a house without trees or other buildings blocking the view. For a little bit better views you can drive up one of the mountains. There you will find some houses perched on the side of the mountain with vistas overlooking the prairie with mountains beyond or even a river or lake. For really spectacular views, though, you have to put forth some effort. If you really want to see something memorable you'll have to drive or hike to places where they haven't yet attempted to build any houses. You might have to wake up early to see the sun rise or camp out overnight so that you can see the sunset. Just for a good view some people will put themselves through the risk and pain of climbing at high elevations and extreme temperatur...

Monday evening I had a unique experience. I now own a home which means I get to cut grass. I bought a used push-mower for $34. So Monday evening I decided to put it to the test. The weekend had been beautiful with temperatures into the 70's, but when I went out to mow I had on jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and my super warm SWBTS hoodie. The wind was a steady 15-20 mph out of the west and very cold even though the sun was shining brightly. In the distance I could see storm clouds, so I tried to hurry and get each section of my yard done before rain hit. As I was contemplating the ridiculousness of mowing grass in the freezing cold I felt something cold hit my cheek. I looked around me without slacking my pace and I saw tiny pieces of ice bouncing of my mower. The sun was still shining and the wind was still blowing, and all around me tiny white meteorites were striking the ground. I know that when it is raining or lightning you are not supposed to cut the grass, but I've...

We had over 130 men from the community show up for NorthStar's 3rd Annual Beast Feast wild game supper. We served different dishes made with elk, buffalo, bear, caribou, and even alligator. During the day from 12-4 we had games for kids such as BB gun target practice, a hunting video game, a craft table, face painting, and give-a-ways. Bubbles the clown even showed up. Dinner started at 5pm. Chuck Buck the chairman of Buck Knives, was the keynote speaker. He shared some about the company and some about his personal life. And he shared about how God had had a major impact on both. After Chuck spoke we drew tickets for the give-a-ways. We gave away a bunch of knives and some fishing gear. Almost everyone received a Buck Knives bandage dispenser. The wrapper of each bandage reads, "Oops, it really was that sharp!" The goal of this event was to serve the community and share Christ. We met both of those goals. Glory to God.

This Saturday NorthStar Church is hosting the 3rd annual Beast Feast. We are having a wild game supper for men only. The supper will feature food like, buffalo, elk, bear and even catfish and alligator! The keynote speaker will be Chuck Buck of Buck Knives. Buck Knives is head-quarted in Post Falls right next to where Jana works. We are expecting as many as 200 men for the supper. Please pray for this event. Chuck is planning on sharing some of his testimony and giving the men a chance to respond to the Gospel. This is also a great chance to let people know about NorthStar and just show that we want to serve and be a part of the community.

I saw the movie Amazing Grace . It made me think a lot about social change and whatnot. As Christians, why are we doing what we are doing? Is Heaven our only goal? Have you thought about why God is doing what He is doing? Surely, God's ultimate goal is not to collect all of the nice, well-mannered, moral people of the world to himself. Surely, He is not watching the masses cry out in pain only to look away and dote on those who have been honored to hear about Jesus. The world (some of it) points a finger at God and screams out, "Why aren't you doing anything?" The answer is that He has done and is doing just the right thing. The problem is there are many things that appear to be a good solution to the world's problems. More technology, better medicine, free education, more laws, less taxes, free trade agreements, better weapons, gun control... the list never ends. But none of those things will permanently heal the hurts of mankind. They are bandages on wou...

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If you don't mind I'd like to pass along a funding request from a friend of mine serving in a sensitive area. He is working with some National believers that he wants to take on a trip to do disaster relief in their own country. It is a chance to show them that they can serve the Father in their own country. They need about $700. I can't share too many more details on the website, but if you are interested in helping meet this need send me an email or give me a call. Here's some pictures that are unrelated. Ministerial Staff Retreat Thanks for praying for our church's staff retreat. It was a great time of fellowship and vision casting for our families! Have a great day!

Alright well, there's a lot o' stuff been going on. Here's some highlights. The Disciple Now went off without a hitch. You can see pictures below . We had 15 students and 5 leaders involved plus a bunch of help from parents. From what I hear the girls had some really good time of Bible study and relationship building. I was with the guys. We just hit each other a lot and called each other weird names. Which is, in my view, a good sign of spiritual development in men. Actually, even our guys enjoyed mature discussion of what it means to truly be a disciple of Christ. Overall, the students had a great time getting to know each other better. We even had three who had never been a part of our group before. Also, our leaders got a chance to invest in mentoring relationships with the students. Please pray that the excitement about God's Word will not fade away, but will continue to grow and affect these students' lives. GIC Tom and I went to Birmingham, Alabama l...

Me and Tom are at Shades Mountain Global Impact Celebration

little blurb from Giglio's Blog- A reminder that this is not our home. And no one else could ever compare To You, Lord All the earth together declares... Glory in the highest ... to You, Lord. "Tonight was a little, tiny peak into what that’s all about. And as it unfolded, heaven got bigger. That’s been a theme of my life for the past few years, as glimpses of gatherings on earth declare that heaven blows away anything we have ever dreamed, and the church that is headed there is doing quite well as His anthem spreads around the globe. Of course we have a massive mission before us, but at the front lines God's way is to have the singers of heaven’s song lead into the fray. That song is the down payment on a party that is going to leave us grasping for words and in utter awe. May we never become so enthralled with the puny glimmer of earth and lose sight of forever’s anthem…and heaven’s great and glorious King." www.268blog.blogspot.com

Thanks to all who prayed for this weekend. We give God all glory for what took place in the students' and leaders' lives. We all prayed that God would place in their hearts a passion for His Word, and we believe He did just that.

That's right. It is gently snowing outside this morning. We haven't seen the sun in several days now. I can't really remember when it was. Jana "says" she saw it shining in the distance yesterday, but I'm not sure it wasn't a mirage. She said it was down by the lake, and she almost drove straight to the lake to try to find it. It is strange waking every morning and driving to the church in a thick fog. And sometimes driving home at lunch and in the evening in the same soupy mist. It's pretty cool. Have a great day, no matter what your meteorlogical conditions!

Please join us on Friday night the 9th in praying for our students. Next week we are having a Disciple Now weekend focusing on God's word. Pray that the Holy Scriptures will be the foundation of their lives.

The other day I stepped out on our balcony to see these two kiddos running through the back lawn behind our apartment. The second one (wearing SHORTS and running through the snow) was singing at the top of his lungs, "I can't wait for it to be Summer-time." Me too buddy!

It's already month two in 2007! Here's some of what's going on. We are planning and preparing for our biggest youth event yet- Disciple Now 2007. Please be praying for the students and leaders as we go into this event. We've been studying about how the Bible is God's story and how hearing it inevitably changes your life one way or the other. The DNow will be the culmination of this emphasis. The Theme is Clarity: Understanding God's Word. We hope to instill a love and passion for studying and applying the Bible to our lives. This all happens on Feb. 16-18. Please ask God to work among the hearts and minds of our students and leaders. Our church has adopted a year-long focus on five areas. The pastor has asked us to do 5 things, "Invest and Invite; Read Your Bible; Have a Friend, Be a Friend; Start Serving; and Do the Next Right Thing." The idea is that if every person in the church is focusing on these areas the church cannot help but grow ...

This is where we meet and worship on Sunday mornings. I just thought this picture was cool.

You'll never guess what site comes up in the top three or so when you Google "how to grow a big potato". Well, since you are here you probably would guess it. I'm sorry that we don't have any information about growing potatoes. I don't know how to do that. Please pray for us as we plan for our 2007 Disciples Now. We are really emphasizing a devotion to scripture for the next few months as a church and as a youth group. For the next 5 weeks we are exploring how hearing God speak changes your life. We are looking at examples (strangely enough) from the Bible. Then our Dnow is focused on the why's and how's of the discipline of scripture study. Most of our youth are young and really ready to start growing in their faith. Pray that they will take this part of their lives seriously. Our Life Group is studying 1 Peter. We plan to go all the way through 2 Peter. It is going very good. We are currently praying about how God wants us to launch another ...

First, I must tell you that I had a wonderfully written post prepared for you. I was halfway through crafting a witty, insightful missive when we blew the breaker. We don't know why we blew a breaker. It just sometimes kicks off. This happens pretty regularly now. Each time it makes our pastor start grumbling things about getting a new building and our worship pastor wonders when one of us will be electrocuted. Now, I must tell you that it is 14 degrees Farenheight and it is lightly snowing. But I am inside at a comfortable 67.

here are some pictures from our trip to see Mom and Floyd. we did a lot of laughing and selling property in Monopoly. Mom also decided to model the converse. isn't she cute?