Doctrine for Life
Just home safely with the Queen from Pella, Iowa—an 8-hour trek by car. Before leaving, we visited with some of Mary’s relatives—Nick and Lynn—who own a flower shop/greenhouse (picture #1). We took a break for an enjoyable dinner this evening at Clementine’s in St. Joseph, situated by a peaceful marina (picture #2), for perch and walleye (we always split our meals—try it—it’s fun). Thanks for your prayers!
Yesterday was encouraging. In the morning, I preached the installation service for Rev. Greg Lubbers into his new charge at Covenant Reformed Church (URC) in Pella, Iowa from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 on “Paul’s Trinitarian Apostolic Model for Ministry” and gave him a personal charge following his vows (picture 1: with Rev. Lubbers and his wife Jennie). The interim pastor, Rev. Ralph Pontier, led the liturgy and gave a personal charge to the church. Church was full—close to 500 people were present for this special occasion, including a good number from neighboring churches. (The occasion was extra special as Pastor Lubbers had come through serious brain surgery only several weeks ago and the Lord made all things wonderfully well.
After the service, we visited with numerous people and then had a noon meal and good fellowship with the Lubbers family and all the relatives who drove from Michigan. Later in the afternoon, we spent a few pleasant hours visiting with Rev. Ralph and Lois Pontier at their home, and then headed back to church for the evening service. Rev. Lubbers preached his inaugural sermon on the theme “Ready to Preach” from Romans 1:15.
After the service, we again fellowshipped with a variety of people, including some whom I had met on previous visits to this church, some who had gone with us on past tours that I had the privilege of leading, and some whom we had not met before, including some children of a good friend, Dr. Stuart Kanis, who passed away some months ago. We closed out the day by going to the new Lubbers home where we fellowshipped with the Lubbers family (picture #2) and relatives from Michigan.
Please pray that God will uphold Pastor Greg Lubbers in his large new charge at Covenant Reformed Church (picture #3) and bless his family and his labors there abundantly to the glory of His name, the maturation of His people, and the salvation of the lost.
