Wade In The Water

Some have inquired as to the background picture on this blog. This was taken at an event our church hosted at our church lake property at Trinity Point on Maple Lake near Mentor, MN. The event was called "Wade in the Water" and we invited anyone who was desiring to be baptized to come on that particular Sunday for instruction, worship, and baptisms in the lake. We had 18 people come forward to be baptized. The following video shows the fun we had.

Gooey Butter Cookies

This preacher takes Mondays off. It's usually a day for cleaning or running errands. Today I wanted to surprise Karsten with homemade cookies. An internet search had me come across a recipe for Gooey Butter Cake. When we lived in Woodbury we loved to eat at a small restaurant in Afton called The Sail Away. One of their specialty desserts was an individual Gooey Butter Cake. Delicious. Good memories for sure. Well the side bar came up with some alternate recipes and I came across this for Gooey Butter Cookies. It's basically cream cheese, butter, and yellow cake mix. A very easy recipe. Karsten gives them a "thumbs up."

Ingredients: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 egg 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended. Roll into 1inch balls and roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 3. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Luther Seminary Daily devotional

Cold Weather Irony

We're experiencing bitter cold temperatures in northern Minnesota.  Twenty below degrees plus windchills measured to minus 30 or colder.  The irony is the girls hockey game tonight got postponed due to the MELTING OF THE ICE IN THE ARENA! 

The Road to Lancaster

It was a bitterly cold day as I drove north to Kittson County today.  I was struck by the starkness of the landscape - snow-covered fields, wide-open prairies, sun shining so one could see for miles.  It seemed like a winter desert.  Hard to believe that this area had produced some of the best yielding crops ever.
But for now, the soil is resting - frozen - by somehow by God's design regenerating and getting ready for another year of planting and growing.
This is a good reminder of the practice of Lent.  We all need a time of intentional rest and rebuilding.  Lent provides the opportunity for us to reflect deeply on our Christian faith in anticipation of the Easter resurrection.  It is a practice of living and looking forward to the best that Christ hold for us.  So we will pray, worship, study, and practice Godly acts of love for our neighbor. 

Lent 2013: Beyond Question Study

Lent 2013:  Beyond Question

Members and friends of Trinity are encouraged to engage in our Lenten devotional study.  We will be using the Book of Faith Lenten Journey entitled Beyond Question.  Jesus asks questions throughout the Gospels.  These are not easy questions with easy answers.  They are transformative questions that challenge us, reposition us, change us, and draw us into deeper faith and discipleship:

·         What are you looking for?

·         Where is your faith?

·         Who do you say that I am?

·         What do you want me to do for you?

·         Do you love me?

·         How will you believe what I say?

·         Whom are you looking for?

We will be using a book by Eric Burtness that you can order by calling the church office.  Cost of the book is $10 and will encourage us in a daily devotional.  We will be using these scriptures and reflections for our Wednesday night Lenten worship starting on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13.  We hope to provide small groups for conversation to further process what is being discussed in the book.  

Pastor Isaacson has developed a blog site where he will share daily comments based on the daily reading and people will be able to share their comments as well.  If you’re at a computer, type in the address http://northcountrypreacher.blogspot.com and bookmark this website. 

 For those with mobile devices (android phones, tablets, iphones, ipads, etc.) you can take a picture of the following QR Code which will direct you to this same blog and put it in a mobile format.

Lent is an excellent opportunity develop a faith practice that moves us to deeper and richer levels of faith.  We encourage you to engage with Lent this year as we consider these and other questions so relevant to our Christian faith. 

2013 Lenten Journey: Beyond Question

2013 Lenten Journey:  Beyond Question

Jesus asks questions throughout the Gospels. These are not easy questions with easy answers. They are transformative questions that challenge us, reposition us, change us, and draw us into deeper faith and discipleship:

• What are you looking for?
• Where is your faith?
• Who do you say I am?
• What do you want me to do for you?
• Do you love me?
• How will you believe what I say?
• Whom are you looking for?

This daily lenten devotional resource is a guide to exploring these and other questions from Jesus.

Trinity/Crookston will be using this devotional guide for our 2013 Lenten journey.  You can order your booklet at

  http://store.augsburgfortress.org/store/product/17760/Book-of-Faith-Lenten-Journey-Beyond-Question

or call into the church office to reserve your copy.