Feeling like an outsider

Sitting in my office, basking in the afterglow of Easter Sunday.

I have often considered myself a bit of a misfit in ministry. I'm not really very familiar with the religious side of Christianity. My experience has stemmed more from a love of the Bible, and a desire to faithfully follow Christ, which led to a serious study in theology. I kind of jumped over the "go to church," "be religious," "learn the traditions," steps of most people with Christian faith. So I must confess, many of the religious practices of many churches leave me mystified. A few months ago I researched the odd practice of Ash Wednesday, trying unsuccessfully to find an appropriate application of the practice that could be considered biblical. It seems pretty far removed from the heart of biblical Christianity. This of course led to the "celebration??" of lent. A tradition that almost all of my Christian friends participated in, and I could not help but feel it communicated a message quite contrary to the grace that is found in the Bible. I do not want to suggest that any of my brothers and sisters in Christ who derive any joy or spiritual strength from these practices should stop doing them. Rather I am concerned that many churches and Christians practice these rituals without any true thought to the significance of the actions on themselves, or others. We (Christians) have seemed to be so in love with the organization of church, it has replaced a passionate love for Christ. Many people I know gave up something for lent as an attempt to lose weight, or as a challenge for their self-discipline, or in some cases "just for fun." It is times like these that make me feel like an outsider to the church. I just don't get the attraction.

All that to say, what a wonderful Good Friday/Easter weekend I enjoyed as a pastor at Harbor Church. It was so enjoyable to reflect on the sacrifice of Christ and the impact of his resurrection on humanity. The actual, historic, and biblical events formed the backdrop for a time of introspection and worship. I am grateful to God for the fact that he reaches different people in different ways. He reached me over 30 years ago, as a teenager who did not give a thought about the spiritual or eternal world. He continues to reach me as an adult who can't stand religious tradition. I do not believe that my opinion is right or wrong. I recognize it is an opinion, therefore just a preference, but I am glad that God can touch the heart of a man with preferences such as I have. As you read these words, I pray that God might touch your heart just as you are.

A Reasonable Faith

I am really enjoying preparing my current message series. I enjoy explaining to people the historic evidences for the truth of Christianity. The literal and physical resurrection of Jesus is probably the most controversial of all of the Bible's claims. It is also the most significant, without the resurrection, there is NO Christianity! Fortunately for the believer, the resurrection is also one of the most historically reliable accounts we have in the Bible. In fact, amazingly it is one of the most verifiable historic events in all of antiquity.

It is unfortunate, that in a time when this kind of information would truly benefit the church's evangelism efforts, most modern believers have no idea that there faith has a reasonable, verifiable basis. They are left mumbling something like "we should believe with our heart and not our head." They know the words to thousands of "christian" pop tunes, but are left speechless when called upon for a reasoned explanation for the faith they claim to hold so dear.

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." -Galileo Galilei

video test

Trying to post a video to see if future video blogs might work.
Enjoy this clip from a beautiful day riding up Mt Lassen.

Pastor to Pastor

This morning I had coffee with Don, a pastor from Roseville. The encouragement I received from our short time together reminded me just how significant pastors can be in other pastor's lives. I left our short time together feeling refreshed and knowing that God is working through different people in different ways all around this globe. It is far too easy for a pastor to feel isolated in the modern church paradigm. The false and deadly idea of "church competition," is suffocating the true message of Christ that we all desire to share. I am grateful for pastors like Don, and also my close pastor friends in Folsom, who consistently remind me of our true mission of preaching Christ and seeking his glory.

Award Winning Pastor

I am so pleased to receive such a prestigious honor. I must admit, It comes natural to me, but still to receive this award means the world to me. It required dedication and commitment, and I mustn't forget the little people, you (the faithful blog reader) played your part. It is with moderate humility that I accept the award for "Worst Blogger in The World." Thank you all for your support and encouragement as I struggled toward this accomplish.

You can bet that you may or may not be reading much more from me in the future.

Chelsey One Year Cancer Free!

I have been blessed this year with another wonderful Christmas gift from God. My daughter Chelsey had her one year PET scan done, showing that she is still cancer free. I have been amazed at the support of family and friends throughout Chelsey's bout with cancer, and even now so many people have celebrated with me the most recent test results. So many people have faithfully prayed for her, and God has graciously and lovingly given us the answer to our prayers.

This journey has been insightful in many ways. One thing that I learned was how to trust God during (or in spite of) difficult times. I admit that trusting God is easier when you don't have anything else you can do. With Chelsey's situation, we could take her to the best doctors and medical facilities we could find. They could give her the best treatments available, but when those things were not working, all I could do was plead for God's mercy, and trust him with an answer. Today I thank him for his answer to my prayers and strive to trust him just as much in all areas of my life. God is faithful and trustworthy always, even when it doesn't seem that way to us. I am still learning to completely trust him in the areas that I can control, knowing he can do much more with my life than I can.

Oh yeah . . . I forgot I had a blog

My daughter sent me an email yesterday telling me I needed to keep my Blog updated. I have been very remiss in my blogging responsibilities (although I think only a few people will ever read this!) Today being Election Day, it seems appropriate to write something political. This morning I was reading about the many Christians being persecuted around the world for their faith. It made me think about the many Christians in our country who feel that their vote should be used to "keep America Christian." I have a different view, probably based on the fact that I think America's Christianity is not true biblical Christianity, but rather a social religion that attempts to uphold a moral tradition. While I have no objections to morality, as a biblical Christian, I realize that morality is not going to get anyone into heaven. I wish there was some way to transfer all of our political passion into evangelistic fervor! Today I am praying, not for the the judeo-christian ethic, but for an America that will best allow for the Kingdom of God to be proclaimed, both within our borders and around the world.

Tahoe Bike Tour

I spent 3 days last week riding my bike in the area around Lake Tahoe, CA. Special thanks to Chris Markus for planning the trip! What a beautiful area and a great place to ride. Here is a short summary of a great bike trip:

Day 1
Tim Barthel dropped us (Chris and me) and our bikes off in Placerville at about 9:00am. Our plan was to ride up some back roads to Sly Park Reservoir, then up Mormon Immigrant Trail Road to Silver Fork Pass. We would ride down Silver Fork Pass to a campground to refill water bottles before heading up over Packsaddle Pass and then back down to a truck we had left there the previous night. We anticipated that we would arrive at the truck at about 3:30pm after having ridden about 60 miles with 6,000 to 8,000 ft of climbing. By the way, that is A LOT of climbing!

Everything went according to plan for the first section. It was a beautiful day and we stopped for a leisurely lunch at a diner/gas station before beginning the long, difficult climb up Mormon Immigrant Trail (MIT). We happened to hit the diner on a "Taco Tuesday" and the lady working the counter was not very pleased when we requested food that was not tacos! Things got a little more interesting after lunch as we neared the top of MIT. It was getting warmer and we were using up our water supply when Chris looked at me and said, "We got a problem!" It seems Chris had dropped his wallet (full of cash) back at a previous stop. We had stopped to see a memorial on the side of the road for some Motorcyclists who lost their lives in a traffic accident some years prior. With the oxygen level low and fatigue beginning to set in, I could not remember how far back that stop was. I suggested going on to the truck and driving back for it, but Chris was concerned (rightly so) that many people stop at that spot to visit the memorial. So DOWN we headed, knowing that every foot we dropped was a foot we would have to climb back up shortly. After riding down 5 MILES and 1,500 FEET, we came to the memorial and Chris' wallet sat silently by the side of the road with his family's picture facing up waiting for his return. We grabbed the wallet, turned uphill and started rationing our water. By the time we reached the top of MIT and the turn off down Silver Fork Pass we had both been out of water for some time. We headed down to the campground to fill our stomachs and refill our water bottles.

The climb up Packsaddle Pass was challenging, but the secluded beauty of this road was amazing. After riding a road bike for a while you get used to traffic and noise. This small little road was cut deep into the mountain and had no traffic and no noise. The views at the top of Pyramid Peak and the valley below were breathtaking. We made it to the truck at 7:30 (a full 4 hours later than expected) after riding 70 miles and climbing 9,850 FEET!

Day 2

After the previous day's adventures we decided to have a recovery day. So we rode from our hotel to DL Bliss campground where my friends (The Barthel Family) were camping. We rode through South Lake Tahoe and around Emerald Bay for the visit. It was an "easy" day of only 40 miles and a couple thousand feet of climbing. We also had the afternoon to relax, so we were able to enjoy the hotel's pool, have a nice dinner, and get our bikes ready for the next day's ride around the lake.

Day 3
On the final day of our tour we set out from our hotel to circumnavigate Lake Tahoe. Just looking out over the lake, it seemed like a daunting task, but I was assured it wasn't as far as it looked. The weather was perfect for the trip, beautiful sunshine but not too hot. After a quick breakfast we were off to an early start. My legs felt much recovered while climbing up Emerald Bay for the second time in as many days. Then a nice long descent towards a heavily trafficked Tahoe City. A short but refreshing lunch near Incline Village before heading into the Nevada side of the lake. The east side of the lake is beautiful and has a slow climb up to over 7,000 feet. Then a long ride down to where we started. In all we traveled about 72 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing. Got back early enough to jump in the pool before heading home. This was a great trip and I look forward to whatever Chris has planned for next year.

-Thanks Suzi for arranging our accommodations. The hotel was great.

All Grown Up

Today my oldest child (Ashley, 24) and youngest child (Colton, 19) head to Honduras for a mission trip to the La Providencia Orphanage. I am so proud of the way God has worked in their lives. He has been faithful to them as His children, and to Pamela and me as their parents. I remember when each of them were born. At their first breath (cry) I prayed for them and asked God to guide them throughout their lives. Now I watch my adult children head to South America (without me) to serve God and share His love with children in dire need. I will continue to pray for them, as I have their whole lives, but now I pray with an assurance that even when we are separated by many miles, God will be with them. The care He provides far exceeds anything I could hope to do for them.

Tribe Correction

It turns out that the recently discovered tribe that I blogged about earlier was really a publicity stunt. Here's the 411: "The men in the photo are members of a tribe, but it certainly ain't "lost." In fact, as the photographer, José Carlos Meirelles, recently explained, authorities have known about this particular tribe since 1910. The photographer and the agency that released the pictures wanted to make it seem like they were members of a lost tribe in order to call attention to the dangers the logging industry may have on the group." So basically a made up story to prove a point they think is valid. Truth is, I don't know if their "logging issue" is valid or not, but after this hoax, I am sure I don't care.

It is a good reminder to not fall into the trap of exaggerating situations, or using "might-be-true" stories when we convey the message of Christ. Sometimes the legitimacy of our message will falter with an illegitimate example. The truth of Christ stands on it's own merit. It has stood for 2,000 years without the help of superficial, emotional tricks to get people to see things our way. The Gospel's ability to stand the test of time and honestly influence lives today is one of the convincing evidences that it is TRUE!