Our California Vacation

My wife and I took a trip last week away from the growing cold of ND and to the warmth of southern California. Ironically when we landed in Long Beach there was more white stuff coming down there than when we left North Dakota. Although the wildfires weren't anywhere near where our parents live in CA, ash from the fires made it to our area. Fortunately it cleared up after about two days.

One of our big outings was to Disneyland. On Tuesday we went to "the happiest place on earth" with my in-laws and brother-in-law. Being before Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, Disneyland was empty! We only had to wait more than five minutes on a couple rides. As a result I think we were able to get on more rides than any other time that I've been to the park. One of the highlights was going on the new "Toy Story" shoot 'em up ride (twice!) at California Adventure. We had a very nice time being able to catch up with our families and friends. However, we were also happy about returning to ND.

By God's Grace, Jeff

Season's First Big Snow Storm

No, it's not currently snowing in ND (well, maybe somewhere but not in our area). This is actually old news. A week before we left to go on vacation, ND had its first big snow storm of the season. I meant to post this earlier but was waiting until I uploaded a picture of me shoveling the snow outside our house. We had about 8" over the period of around 36 hours. Because the temperature was still around freezing it was a wet, heavy snow that made it difficult to shovel. It took my wife and I about an hour to shovel our driveway. The main highway running between Bismarck and Minot (US-83) was completely shut down for a day and Interstate 94 was closed east of Bismarck and travel was discouraged on it to the west. Schools in the Bismarck area (including Underwood) were closed on that Friday, in some cases for the first time in a decade! This was the most snow that western North Dakota has received at one time since we've been here. Hopefully this isn't the start of a pattern!

By God's Grace, Jeff

Obedience: Right Response to Who Jesus Is

This past Sunday I preached on Matthew 17:1-13 (Jesus' transfiguration). Although this was certainly an important event in Jesus' own life and ministry (confirmation from His heavenly Father), it was even more significant for His three followers (Peter, James and John) who witnessed it. The main point I believe they were to take from this event is found in the Father's last words to the disciples about His Son, "Listen to Him!" A true understanding of Jesus leads to listening to Him or to put it another way, obedience is the right response to who Jesus is. If you'd like to listen to the sermon click here.

By God's Grace, Jeff

Couda', Shouda', Wouda'...

My wife and I took an early morning trip up to Minot on Saturday so that we could get back in time to attend Central McLean's quarterfinal football playoff game. Unfortunately, they lost. Our star running back injured his ankle before halftime when we were up 8-7. We ended up losing 26-8. Now not to take anything away from Williams County, who has a very good team and an excellent quarterback, the game may have been closer if not the outcome different had we remained healthy. In 9-man football, when you lose one guy, you're in trouble!

On Tuesday the economic development group in town that my wife and I are part of held our community-wide kick-off. We had almost 60 people attend the free meal, intro to the program and first of three small group discussion sessions about alleviating poverty. On Sunday afternoon the group I am co-leading had our second meeting. We had a few less people than at the kick-off but still had a very good time of discussion. My wife and I are enjoying being part of a community in which you can really make a difference.

Well, after my ranting and raving about how I should think about the election...I ended up voting this morning. I am still not completely sure how to think about voting as a Christian but I came to the conclusion that if I don't believe Christians should vote then that only leaves non-Christians deciding the future of our local, state and federal government. I am just glad that God is in control and thus no matter what happens there's no need to be concerned. God is not in danger of losing His throne!

This past Sunday we were in the fourth week of our adult Sunday School series on the attributes/character of God entitled "The Joy of Knowing God". This week we looked at what it means that God is Good and Loving. We learned that God's goodness means that all He does is worthy of approval and that in fact He is the ultimate standard of good. We also learned that God being love means that He gives Himself freely to others and as a result it enables us to give of ourselves back to God and to others. Next week we'll be looking at God's Grace, Mercy and Patience.

By God's Grace, Jeff