News & Reflections

Reflections on our Cabo Mission Outreach

Last week I was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on a mission outreach with eleven other people from our church. As with most mission trips the schedule was very demanding to maximize our time and ministry effectiveness so I had no time to write a blog.

Our mission was threefold. We were there to put on a men’s conference, help two churches with construction projects and meet with local church leaders to gain their input for our future involvement there.

The shear logistics of such an ambitious undertaking with just one vehicle stretched all of our sensibilities. The ninth beatitude, “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not get bent out of shape” became our maxim.

We hit the ground running the day of arrival by kicking off the men’s conference with a Saturday evening meeting hosted at the Alpha Y Omega church. We followed that up with three more meetings Sunday morning, afternoon and evening. We concluded the conference on Wednesday night. The main theme was the fatherhood of God and our purpose was to help men address and resolve past issues with their earthly fathers (and mothers) so that they could become rightly related to their heavenly Father.

From the very outset we sensed a powerful presence of the Lord and were awed by the way in which God had drawn a good contingent of men from several area churches accompanied by their pastors. It was unifying to see our worship team of four guys interchange songs with the Alpha worship team.

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Turning 40 Today!

1 Comment / News & Reflections / Tom Stuart

The defining moment of my life happened 40 years ago today. It was a Monday night,October 25, 1971. My wife and I had agreed to attend a Bible study that was meeting at a home located inSt. Paul,Minnesota. We had already attended several times and initially it was with some reticence. My sister had been cajoling us for months to check it out. We had seen a marked change in her life which she attributed to a new found faith in God and we were happy for her. Our first visit was simply to please her and get her off our backs. When that meeting concluded, everyone in the group was discussing where they should gather the following Monday and my sister, bless her heart, suggested our house. And that is how we got roped into weekly attendance.

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3 Lessons from the Life of Steve Jobs

1 Comment / I wish I'd said that., News & Reflections / Tom Stuart

Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple passed away this week. His worldwide impact as a computer entrepreneur and innovator is well documented. As a corporate leader he was admired not only for his genius but also for his determination in the face of the adversity that marked his life.

Yesterday, my intrigue about his life caused me to stumble onto an online video of a Stanford University commencement address he gave in 2005, following his first bout with the cancer that eventually took his life. In that address, Steve told three stories from his personal life while extracting three overarching principles that guided his life. Although in the past I had heard and seen references to that address, I had never sat down and watched it from start to finish.

It was short, all of about fifteen minutes, but it blew my socks off. And here is why. This side of heaven, we do not have any indication Steve was a Christian and whatever religious leanings he had are tied to Zen Buddhism. However, the things that Steve conveyed are truths that could have been lifted from the pages of the Bible. God is obviously the author of truth and examining Steve’s address from a Christian perspective is instructive. As I listened, I could not help but acknowledge that the power and conviction of such a message should be on the lips and demonstrated in the life of every Christian.

Now it is important to interject that these life principles, embraced apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ lack His resurrection power and promised redemption. But viewed from a Christian perspective and tied to New Testament “Life” principles these truths are the doorway to discovering and fulfilling God’s eternal purposes for our lives.

And so here are the three Christianized lessons from the life of Steve Jobs.

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Its all about the wind!

News & Reflections, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

This past weekend we did our annual men’s sailing retreat in the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior out of Bayfield, Wisconsin. It was a blast. Our two boats loaded with groceries, gear and 13 eager sailors enjoyed a slice of heaven. The weather was amazing with warm sun-kissed days, cool, bug-free nights and most importantly at least one day of steady strong winds. Very gentle breezes on Saturday required motoring but as always the scenery was soul renewing with the lake’s clear blue waters washing ashore on crescent sand beaches and verdant tree lined shores.

We anchored for lunch in Big Bay on the east side of Madeline Island where many of us also enjoyed a refreshing swim from our respective boats. Later in the afternoon we also stopped at Michigan Island. We ferried guys ashore in our dinghies and climbed the 128 steps to the top of the bluff to explore the two lighthouses there. A park service ranger gave us all a tour and another 132 step climb to the top of the highest lighthouse rewarded us with stunning views of many of the islands to the West and the Porcupine Mountains of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the East.

Saturday evening we anchored at Stockton Island in Julian Bay with arguably the most beautiful sand beach in the islands. A number of the guys jumped ship for another heart shocking swim and then all of us ate grilled steaks and fried potatoes to our hearts content. The evening was capped off as we gathered on one of the boats under the light of a full moon for worship, discussion of the Apostle Paul’s sailing adventure in Acts 27 and prayer. It was the perfect end to an awesome day.

The next morning we awoke to an increasing southwest wind blowing across our bow. To a sailor nothing compares to the sound of the wind whistling in the rigging and feel of the wind on your face. The eggs and bacon had not even settled in our stomachs before we were ready to pull up the anchor and hoist the sails. After all, this is what we all had come for, the adventure of being propelled through the water on wind power alone

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The Happy Perfectionist

Answers to Prayer!, Growth & Development, News & Reflections, Overcoming / Tom Stuart

This Labor Day weekend Susan and I, with some trepidation, made the trek up north to check on our vacation home. We had the place rented out this past year and our renters moved out the end of August. Having not been there for some time and only been limited as landlords to periodic reports; we came armed with cleaning supplies, tools and our sleeves rolled up to spend the weekend working.
When we drove up the driveway and walked through the front door all our fears were allayed. We were pleasantly surprised to find everything in good repair, the furniture and furnishings back in their proper places, and the house well cleaned and vacuumed. Even the garage was swept and clean the way we had left it and the lawn mowed. It was as if no one had ever lived there. What a joy! And blessed are the responsible renters for they shall inherit their full damage deposit!
Joy and perfectionism are infrequent companions and the term the “happy perfectionist” is for the most part an oxymoron. Those like me with the perfectionist gene know that perfectionism is a hard task master. Unfortunately the more afflicted a person is with perfectionism the more unlikely they are to be satisfied that things have met their expectations. And by the same token the less likely they are to be happy with the result. Thankfully however, I can say that I was a happy perfectionist with how we found our home.
There are typically only two times when a perfectionist is truly happy. First when they complete a task that measures up to their high standards of excellence and fully meets their expectations. And second, when someone else completes a task that measures up to their high standards of excellence and fully meets their expectations.

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