Crossroads Celebration Church

Last Sunday we were pulling up to the school building where we host our church Crossroads. We had a new visitor. He was very persistent to get in the main door. Waiting very patiently. We got out of the truck and he did not seem to be bothered by our presence.

I hate to admit that we did turn this one away from worship.

It’s hard enough to get people in the doors to worship God, but to turn them away. I believe that our doors are open to all people. It’s the ducks that worry me. What kind of mess would they leave?

Let’s flock together this Easter. Let’s not turn anyone (human) away. Hey, maybe I could get the duck to come back on Easter Sunday and be our Easter (duck) bunny.

Mark Tuttle, pastor of Crossroads, a Free Methodist Church in Ankeny Iowa invites all to come and celebrate with us this Easter season. I promise we will not turn you away.

Ok, so there was a little fun this week for spring break. We went and played disc golf. That was our adventure for the week. But we got a lot accomplished this week. Thanks to Jeni and Rachel and Matt for coming and painting. What a crew.

Here are some photos to show what we accomplished in two days.

Spring Break, has never been a pleasure trip for me. In college one year I helped my father-in-law tear out the guts of a hog confinement. So early in life I learned that it wasn’t always about exotic beaches and swimsuits and drinking games.

In fact the pleasure has been to accomplish something other than studies and help someone else out. Now that I am back at college this time as a teacher, I still get spring break. And again it is fun to do something totally different than correct papers and exams and prepare for daily lessons. This week I have some young friends of mine, Jeni and Rachel are on their spring break and we are spending two days painting the set for the local community theater. I tried getting one of my college students to join us, but he is home helping his parents fix the siding on their house.

The only exotic I will get this week is some 1800 Russian scenery, that I get to make up in my head. And I don’t usually think of Russia as a warm get-away spot. The good news is that for March in Iowa we are to get 72 degrees.

If you are local to Ankeny check out the Neil Simon play “Fools” it runs the last two weekends of April and the first weekend of May. You will know that the set was a spring break project for several people looking for something different to do and to help out someone else.

Mark Tuttle is pastor of Crossroads, a Free Methodist Church in Ankeny, Iowa

Last weekend I spent some time with some awesome youth in a retreat called Chrysalis. A friend of mine gave a talk on prayer. He used an illustration of driving some distance and listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio and as he was moving away from the tower, he was getting static. He prayed for God to bless him with the rest of the message. The static went away and he heard the message till the end very clearly. As soon as Swindoll was done, the radio went to all static. What an awesome God.

Also over the weekend, I was talking with another friend and saying that I was trying to photograph eagles on the Des Moines River, but they were too far away for my camera. It is a nice camera but not the expensive kind with the long zoom. My friend said, ask God to be the zoom and bring the eagles closer to you for a closer picture.

I was also in prayer this week about a career change and trying to decide what to do. So I laid a fleece before God in hopes of getting an answer. Lord, bring an eagle up close to my camera so I know you want be to continue doing what you called me to do. Today, the eagle came closer and seemed to almost stand still in the air so I could get my close up shot of the eagle. Maybe we shouldn’t test God that way, but I recall God telling us to test his faithfulness in Malachi about money and tithing.

So today, God was my zoom on my camera. God affirmed my calling and answered my prayer. By the way I got several closer shots of the eagle. What’s next? I saw a mink crossing a log while I was waiting for the eagle. Didn’t get a picture of it, but maybe that will be my next prayer.

Actually, as I look back on this week. God has blessed me immensely with answered prayers and answers I didn’t even think about praying over. All week, all I could think about was the majesty of God in the image of the majestic eagle. Enjoy.

Mark Tuttle – pastor at Crossroads – a Free Methodist Church in Ankeny, Iowa