Coming to the Still Waters

  I am thankful to say I have fully recovered from this round of the virus.  The symptoms are gone and I have made it to being mask-free again.  I used the time to explore some of the country roads of central Wisconsin.  This trip found me "against the wind" at one point and if I stopped pedaling I would start going the other way! I am also living among many lakes and rivers so I made my way to a lake that one of the church member lives on for an evening of fishing from a kayak.  I was a little wobbly at first but after a couple hours on the lake things stabled out.  Many were caught but these crappies and bluegills were what I brought home to clean for a meal in the future.   I was back in the pulpit this Sunday starting the book of 1st Peter.  What does this senior citizen saint named Peter have to say to the 1st century Gentile Christians who were being heavy persecuted?  Realizing that these are probably some of Peter's last words t...

  You see two in the picture above because I thought I better test again just in case but the same result was shown.  The starting sermon in 1 Peter 1:1-2 was going to have to wait for another week.  Nothing as before but a great opportunity to read some books that have been piling up and also to get some leisurely bike rides in on the beautiful backroads of central Wisconsin.   It was a mighty storm when I came into town on Wednesday.  This is a pine tree at the entrance of a cemetery just down the road from the church.  It is just an example of why the sound of chainsaws running is the dominant noise outside right now.  Some in the church I am serving are dealing with downed trees on their structures.   I just came from a yearly conference that IPM puts on for its interims to receive continuing training and it featured Karl Vaters.  I am working through some of his books at the present and it really helped me to ground myself...

  Here is a shot of Chicago as I was stopped in traffic traveling to the IPM (Interim Pastor Ministries) Summit conference.  The international interim pastor is someone who is always traveling somewhere.  From the conference I will continue traveling north to a church in Waushara County, Wisconsin called Waushara Community Church.  The closest town is Wautoma, Wisconsin.  After a candidate weekend that affirmed on both sides the working together through a process to gain greater spiritual health and seeking who God has called to be their next pastor, "I loaded up the truck and we moved to Beverly, Hills that is..."   That last ditty really dated me. I served 28 years in a denomination that appointed you to one of their churches.  When I left that denomination, I sought out a church that I would have to candidate at rather than appointed to.  This is something I had never done before.  It is usually an extended weekend that involves a lot...