Steve Sikes Blog  

D.B. is a father of two, a Special Education teacher, a counseling graduate student, and a minister of the Gospel of Christ.  He teaches, he preaches, he leads songs, he goes to hospitals and nursing homes, and he makes house calls – lots of house calls!  D.B. has a heart for ministry; he simply loves God and loves people. 

D.B. is genuine.  He is what most of us would call the “real deal.”  There is no pretense about him.  In a word, D.B. is SINCERE – which helps to explain why many people find him easy to talk to, easy to listen to and easy to follow.

“An often repeated folk etymology proposes that sincere is derived from the Latin sine = without, cera = wax.  According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors in Rome or Greece would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture “without wax” would mean honesty in its perfection.”  (Hartford Courant) 
There is some controversy whether the above study of word origins is actually true or not.  I can’t say.  But what I can say is this: D. B. is definitely honest; and without a doubt, D.B. is “without wax.”
For the past few years, Derrick Busch has been hired to shore up our church staff needs during the summers.  Derrick has done an outstanding job again this year, and as a staff, we look forward to more “without wax” summers ahead!  God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

By definition, the word “Vespers” means “an evening church service.”  On August 2, a group of thirty or so of us came to the building and participated in a very insightful vespers.  I was inspired!  We sang, we read from God’s word, we prayed, and we discussed ways that we could become more and more a church without walls – a people for God’s own possession affecting a world in desperate need of Jesus!  Our youth intern for the summer, Rachel Thies, developed this particular vespers around five stations of reflection, vision, service, encouragement, and mission.  All of the above took place on a Saturday night.  The previous night, quite a few of our young adults had come to our house for a party and a devotional and ended up staying till 11:30 pm.  They talked mostly about how they could make a difference for Jesus in our community and with our youth group.  The night before, three of our young adults had taken flowers to one of our hospital’s emergency centers, and then drove up to a fast-food restaurant and gave flowers to all the workers! 3 nights of serving; 3 nights of praising; 3 nights of being Jesus – all because of 1 Sunday morning 2000 years ago!  GIGATT!