score was 15 - 9. The team stood

on the sidelines. "Coach, what

happens now? We really do not

get the game plan." The coach

smiled. "OK guys, it is all up to

you now! Can you recover the

onside kick? Do you really want

to recover the onside kick? Only

you can do this, or even want to

do this. Do you understand you

need to recover the onside kick?

Winning the game is all in your

hands now, do you see that?"

Sensing the coach's plan

and shocked, the opposing team

lined up a bit too quickly. The

kick took a bounce. Can you

imagine the smile on the player

dashing back to the coach,

screaming, "We got it!" "But

guys,” the coach cautioned, “it

still is not over. There is very

little time left (three minutes,

then two). Go out and win one

for your school." A long pass is

the play he called. It was his

Prep football gets into high

gear as we now enter the fall

months.

The local squad was com-

ing off its best season ever; bet-

ter yet it was returning a strong

group of veterans. Naturally

everyone had high expectations

for the team. They would open

the season against a squad that

was average at best.

It was a great turnout that

night, but to the dismay of the

home crowd, it started out worse

than a disaster. Good passes

were tossed right at receivers,

but most were dropped; running

plays were stopped at the line of

scrimmage; the quarterback was

chased mercilessly. He had

thrown two interceptions and

there had been a fumble near the

goal line.

At half time the score was a

mere 8 - 0. Opening the third

quarter, their only good drive

had brought the score briefly to

8 - 6. Another interception and it

shifted quickly to 15 - 6. The

fourth quarter was settling down

to a defensive struggle. It was

now under six minutes, then

five. A midfield fumble and the

home team got the ball back. It

all began to settle into their

minds—“We must score.” "We

want a score" was the chant. But

that would still make it merely

15 - 14 at best. The guys were

playing hard, but the loss was

going to be hard to take; it

would be their first loss in 15

games. Every play used up more

precious time. The coach had to

make a hard decision. "Guys,

this is likely the last time we get

the ball. Will you trust me?" The

clock was showing barely 4

minutes.

The time out ended, and the

next pass fell incomplete. How-

ever, they were on their oppo-

nent's twenty yard line. Immedi-

ately the coach called for the

field goal team to go in.

Shocked, the crowd booed

loudly. "How dumb is our

coach!" The kick was good. The

Think Outside the Goal Posts Dr. Larry Smetak, Highland Park Baptist, St. James

Immanuel Baptist, Westbrook hosts Dr. Charles R. Sanders

Immanuel Baptist in West-

brook hosted a series of meet-

ings with Dr. Charles R. Sand-

ers, Boulder, Colorado, Septem-

ber 12-17. Sanders and his wife

have been in evangelism for

over thirty years; he has also

conducted numerous Holy Land

tours.

A special feature of Sand-

ers' ministry is taking congrega-

tions on a photo tour of the Holy

Land. He shows pictures from a

segment of the tour each service.

Sanders' messages challenged

Immanuel Baptist members to

evaluate their Christian lives.

Visitors from the community

attended most services, and they

heard the Gospel clearly pre-

sented. Several decisions were

made for rededication and assur-

ance of salvation.

On Thursday morning, the

ladies invited Mrs. Sanders to

speak at their regular monthly

meeting. Using her life as an

example, she spoke about the

kind of lady she didn't want to

be.

A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

October 1, 2010 Volume IV, Issue 6

North Star Update

Calendar

December 13: 6 p.m., Pas-

tors’ & Wives’ Christ-

mas Banquet, Prior

Lake Baptist. Contact

the church for more

information.

March 18-19, 2011: MBA

State Ladies Retreat at

Camp Friendship. In-

formation coming to

your church.

April 4-5, 2011: MBA

State Pastor’s &

Wives’ Fellowship in

Baxter.

June 24-25, 2011: MBA

Annual Meeting at St.

Francis.

Fellowship Foundations 2

2010 State Men’s Fellow-

ship 2

MBA Men’s Retreat 1st

Person, Brian Boldt 2

First Calvary, Summer 3

New Pulpit Supply 3

MBA Men’s Retreat, 1st

Person , Josh Stephens 3

Inside This Issue:

Continued on page 4

Years ago, in Indiana, they

referred to the month of August

as the “Dog Days” of summer. I

am not sure why! Now with all

the laws we seldom see a dog

outside all alone. Personally, I

like it this way. However, it

also means that summer is fleet-

ing by. My opportunities of

service in August were –

August 1st & 8th – At Cor-

nerstone Baptist, Willmar. The

great privilege for Pastor Dave

Rogers (Suzanne) to visit and

minister God’s Word in the

Philippines provided my oppor-

tunity to pulpit supply for the

Morning and Evening Services

for this Sunday and the 8th. My

wife and I have made many

friends at Cornerstone in this

ministry (ISM), and also over

the years. We were invited and

really enjoyed eating and fel-

lowship with the Wagar family,

and, as well, at the Willman

home.

August 9th – I attended as

ex-officio member, the meeting

of the Pillsbury Board Finance

Fellowship Foundations Rev. Robert J. Fuller, Sr. MBA Interim State Missionary

2010 State Men’s Fellowship, Camp Friendship

Page 2 North Star Update

Continued on page 4

the keynote speaker and chal-

lenged the nearly sixty men in

attendance on “Christ-like

Communication in the

Christian Home.” We were

given many things to apply

to our lives and our homes.

Missionary Kevin Za-

kariasen and Dr. Bob

Fuller Jr. spoke during the

breakaway sessions. Their

topics centered around

helpful tips on building

positive relationships and shar-

ing Bible stories with our kids.

Everyone in attendance

seemed to enjoy the new ac-

commodations for the 2010

MBA Men’s

F e l l owsh i p .

We hope to

see you there

next year.

The surroundings were

new for the MBA Men’s Fel-

lowship as we met on the

grounds of Camp

Friendship near Annan-

dale, Minnesota. We

were very comfortable

as we settled in for a

time together full of

good preaching and

activities. We were

blessed with wonderful

weather and the facili-

ties were both adequate

and beautiful on the shore of

Clearwater Lake. The food that

was provided in the dining hall

was delicious.

Dr. Tom Zempel was

MBA Men First Person Report, Brian Boldt, Owatonna Brian Boldt, Grace Baptist Church, Owatonna

This year the MBA Men met at Camp Friendship near Annandale, MN. Fifty-five men attended

the meeting held on September 17-18. The officers for the next year are Rev. Greg Linscott (pres.),

Bernie Boldt (v-pres.), and Rev. Doug Roman (treas.).

In July of this year, the

senior high teens from First

Calvary Baptist Church (Inver

Grove Heights, MN) traveled to

an inner-city neighborhood in

Chicago to assist Pastor Bill

Branks. Pastor Bill leads the

River North Baptist Church and

the congregation has recently

opened a ministry called the

Harbor House...a store-front

ministry designed to spread the

gospel to boys and girls in the

area. This summer, we had the

blessing of being able to do

some canvassing for RNBC and

then run their first ever Summer

Bible Time in an attempt to

jump-start this unique children's

ministry. We praise the Lord

for the opportunity to minister

to over 22 boys and girls during

our week of service. God al-

lowed us the great privilege of

hearing 9 of these children pro-

fess Jesus Christ as their only

hope for salvation! Please pray

for their Pastor Bill Branks, the

congregation at RNBC, as well

as the ongoing evangelism ef-

forts of the Harbor House min-

istry.

different locations. This pro-

vided great fellowship as our

men sat around the living room

area of the cabin to pray, dis-

cuss the message, and enjoy

each other’s company.

Dr. Tom Zempel delivered

messages centered on “Christ-

like Communication in the

Home.” The messages encour-

aged men to be the kind of

communicators that would be

pleasing to our Lord and bring

oneness to our marriages/

families by following the prin-

ciples outlined in Ephesians 4.

The challenges and fellowship

were worth the weekend and in

The Men’s Fall fellowship

was held at Camp Friendship in

Annandale, Minnesota. The

retreat has usually been hosted

by different churches within the

association, but this year the

committee moved the location

to Camp Friendship near St.

Cloud, MN. The camp is in a

beautiful location on the shores

of Clearwater Lake and has

nicely kept grounds and facili-

ties for retreats such as these.

The facilities provided the op-

portunity for each group com-

ing from different churches to

stay together in one larger cabin

instead of being separated into

the words of one of our former

MBA state missionaries, “a

good time was had by all.”

If you did not get a chance

to attend this year’s fellowship,

I would encourage you to con-

s i d e r

putting

t h i s

e v e n t

o n

y o u r

calen-

dar for

n e x t

year.

Inner City Summer Bible Time Chris Juvinall, Asst. Pastor First Calvary Baptist, Inver Grove Heights

MBA First Person Report , Josh Stephens, New Prague

Available for Pulpit Supply

Rev. Donn Kittle

2385 1st Ave. NE

Owatonna, MN 55060

(507) 451-1895

dkittle@gmail.com

Rev. Lenard Huebscher

12525 75th St. N

Stillwater, 55082

(651) 503-9695

lenardhuebscher@aol.com

The following men are

available for pulpit supply in

our churches. They are both

retired, veteran pastors.

Page 3 Volume IV, Issue 6

Error

The Update erro-

neously named Pastor

Gerald Fisher as

elected at the MBA

annual meeting. We

apologize for the er-

ror.

Church, Plymouth. Great pro-

gress was achieved in re-

vamping our Planting and Wa-

tering program for our Associa-

tion.

August 29 – At the invita-

tion of the deacons at Coon

Rapids Baptist, I supplied the

pulpit for the morning service

Committee in Owatonna.

August 12 – I again had

the privilege of attending as an

ex-officio member the function-

ing Planting and Watering

Committee of the MBA,

chaired by Pastor Doug Roman.

Our meeting was held in the

facilities of the 4th Baptist

and Sunday School. Upon his

retirement, Pastor Peterson

(Sharon) had concluded his

ministry the day before, and

was moved to Lake Crystal by

church members and members

of the Peterson’s families.

If I can be of help or ser-

vice to you, please contact me.

Outside the Goal Posts, from page 1

A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

PO Box 527

Willmar, MN 56201-0527

We’re on the web! http:www.mbaoc.org

MBA Contacts

Minnesota Baptist Association

Rev. Gerald Stephens, President

Community Baptist Church

PO Box 212

New Prague, MN 56071

(952) 758-3287

pastor@npcbc.org

Interim State Missionary

Rev. Robert Fuller, Sr.

1549 118th Lane NW

Coon Rapids, MN 55448

(763) 568-4078

rjfsr4@juno.com

MBA Office

contact@mbaoc.org

Minnesota Baptist Association

PO Box 527

Willmar, MN 56201-0527

Send Contributions to:

Mr. Brian Veth, MBA Treasurer

c/o Coon Rapids Baptist Church

11164 Hanson Blvd.

Coon Rapids, MN 55433

Send Update Articles and Pictures to:

drjfjr@comcast.net

North Star Update Editor

315 S. Payne St.

New Ulm, MN 56073

(507) 354-3323

Foundations, from page 2

decoy to keep the defense off

guard. Then, a series of short

passes were completed, all to

the sidelines. The coach merely

reminded the team, "Guys, this

may be the last play of the

game. It is all up to you to

make it happen." The quarter-

back took the snap and ran

laterally, then delivered a quick

drop-pass over the line. Yes! A

score! An extra point and vic-

tory was claimed! Remember, it

was both the plan and the

team's execution of the plays

that brought them there. Good

job, coach!

Pastors and churches all

around us had very busy sum-

mer programs with VBS,

c a m p s , c h u r c h s i n g

times, fair booths, and other

ministries. But what can be

done in the fall months ahead?

What is being planned? Do you

have a Bible Conference com-

ing, a missionary or Harvest

Festival? What literature drops

can be made, home studies

begun, contact made with new

residents, outreach to that mi-

nority sector near you? What

are you really praying God will

do - bless or use your group

involvement? Will it be some

athletic outreach? Are you con-

sidering His plan? Are you

ready to serve the Lord OUT-

SIDE THE GOAL POSTS?