Category Archives: Life experiences

Alaska, church family, Life experiences

ALASKAN CRAB OFFERING

A couple of Sundays ago my friend Geoff met me at the door after service and he handed me an offering from Alaska.

Geoff gave me some info about the Crab and here is what he said.

“It is dungenus from southeast Alaska, not sure if from Ketchikan or Metlakatla where my brother in-law is from. It is a hour boat ride, or a ten min float plane but it is from southern southeast the best crab in the world better then king crab in my opinion”

Wow what a great gift from a friend…That is what I love about people. They bring so much into your life.

I will never forget the love offering from Geoff.

Thank you friend.

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Arizona, family, Life experiences

Primo’s hot dog stand serves 1,000 customers, 4 at a time

Just had to blog about this little hot dog shop in Flagstaff called Primos.

The sign inside says; Serves 1000 customers 4 at a time.

Caleb took  me to this amazing little classic in Flag.

Primo’s is just a short walk from NAU campus and really cannot be missed due to the fact the building is painted bright yellow and stands out along the sidewalk from the building next to it. As you may have guessed from the limited seating, Primo’s is very small.  You literally walk into the building and the counter is the first thing you see.

Primo’s is Primo!

located at 113 S. San Francisco Street in Flag. – go there

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Books I'm Reading, Life experiences, Ministry

HE SEES DROPS LIKE STARS

Six of us from Prescott attended Rob Bell’s “Drops Like Stars” event last night in Tempe . The tour is basically a two-hour multimedia sermon focusing mostly on the concept of suffering.

The presentation by Bell spoke of how  suffering connects us in a way that health and wealth and money cannot.
His two-hour presentation covers four major issues:

1. The Art of Disruption, or how we are very good at making plans on how our life is supposed to go, but never does. (when insulators are removed form how we assume life should be)
2. The Art of Honesty, or how pain has a knack for bringing out our truest selves.
3. The Art of Elimination, or what can you let go of? Rob used a bar of soap to illiustrate howw an artist will eliminate to create ( very cool illustration)


4. The Art of Possession, which is not the same thing as ownership.
“You can possess something and not own it – and you can own something and not possess it.”

He says, – “We plot. We plan. We assume things are going to go a certain way. And when they don’t, we find ourselves in a new place—a place we haven’t been before, a place we never would have imagined on our own.
It is the difficult and the unexpected, and maybe even the tragic, that opens us up and frees us to see things in new ways.
Many of the most significant moments in our lives come not because it all went right but because it all fell apart.
Suffering does that. It hurts, but it also creates.”

I loved every moment and every lesson and every story of his talk. Bell’s message is on point. His delivery is conversational. He’s funny. He understands people.

One of his true gifts is his ability to teach and present. He engages the audience in so many ways, not just through his content (although that is a wonderful start), he does so through his rhythm and timing, through his body language, through the tone of his voice. He is so amazingly talented, not just in his interpretation of scripture and spirituality, but also in engaging his audience in the challenge of his words.

One of my favorite Illustrations and audience participation tools he used was wilt a 3×5 card. He ask us to right the words I know how you feel with our none writing hand. After we had the words written on the card he ask some human suffering questions like, “How many of you have been directly effected by cancer” – “how many of you have been betrayed?” – “How many of you have had a stack of bills and you did not how you were going to pay them?” – with each question he had us make eye contact with someone who had the same type of  experience we had and trade cards with them.

Also, it was really cool that our bunch got to hang and meet Rob after the event.

Side note; If you ever get an opportunity to visit an event at the Tempe Center for the Arts you will find it as an amazing creative work of architecture

What a great night.

Quotes of the night:

” What every artist must learn, is that even the  failed pieces are essential.”

“This too will shape me.”

“We are brothers from other mothers and sisters from other misters.”

Steve  (lead pastor – Discovery Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaED1WWPzhA

 

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family, Just sayin', Life experiences, marriage

Baking on a Stone

The other day Brenda and I went treasure hunting at the goodwill here in Prescott.
She walked out with a smile saying that she hit the jackpot by finding a pampered chef pizza stone for three bucks.
We couldn’t wait to get the ingredients and try it out.
Baking on stoneware is one of the oldest methods around and yet is still virtually unknown. Stoneware has been used in bakeries and pizzerias for years and now we brought the art into our home. There are many advantages to stones.

Baking stones and bricks produce an even amount of heat throughout the stone so you won’t burn the edges while leaving the middle raw. They wick moisture away from the surface as well, always leaving your pizzas, cookies and bread a perfect golden brown. The stones retain the heat, keeping your food warm longer than your normal metal pans.
I have got to say that this was the best home made pizza Brenda has made in 30 years of amazing marriage.
We are sold on stone.. maybe someday we will go for the brick oven.

Steve is happy 🙂

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Life experiences, Ministry, rivers

When God Works Upstream

I just wanted to post this about the foresight of  God and how he has “upstream” solutions for our “downstrean” situations.

(Joshua 3:13-17)  And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” 14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Joshua, the third chapter, records a story about the challenge the Israelites faced just before they entered the Promised Land that has application to our situation today. God’s people were finally ready to enter the land of Canaan, but they had to cross the Jordan River. Normally that would not be difficult because the Jordan isn’t much wider than a typical creek at places. But the river was swollen at flood stage so the water was deep, the current was swift, and the river was wide and hazardous. Joshua 3 records a miracle God performed that enabled all of them to cross safely on dry ground.

Here are a few observations about how God works upstream to help us downstream.

1. God PROVIDED upstream in anticipation of what was about to occur.

– God’s timing was perfect. He dammed the water several miles upstream.

– When possible the church needs to imitate God by anticipating the future and preparing for it.

– You are giving to meet the needs of people downstream—people you haven’t met who will have much similar struggles and are so lost. “He stands tall who plants a tree in whose shade he will never sit.”

2. God PROVIDED upstream even though the need wasn’t as dramatic as it had been previously.

Forty years earlier God performed an even more spectacular miracle in parting the Red Sea.

Each act of God may not be more dramatic from a human perspective, but it’s another affirmation of God’s hand of blessing and the presence of His Holy Spirit within us.

3. God PROVIDED upstream because the leadership was in transition.

– The Israelites had followed Moses for forty years.

– He was the only leader they had known and God used him in a might way.

– Moses was dead.

– God took this opportunity to demonstrate that His hand was on Joshua as it had been on Moses. .

4. God PROVIDED upstream because the people were willing to walk by faith

– God gave the people specific instructions. They showed their faith by obeying.

– God will work upstream for us if we have enough faith to obey Him.

– God has commanded us not to rely on possessions.

– God commands us to return to Him a generous portion of what we earn.

– God commands us to respond to those in need.God commanded the Israelites to do one thing first: consecrate themselves. Before performing a miracle, God commanded them to purify themselves. God works through people who are spiritually clean and fully devoted to Him. A.W. Tozer said, “God can use any vessel, even if it is cracked, as longs as it’s clean.” The same is true with us.

God is always working upstream for you…“God…goes ahead of you” (Dt 1:30 TM).

Bonus quote. “Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.” ― Wendell Berry

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Bikes, cycling, Life experiences

TAKE OFF THE TRAINING WHEELS

I remember the first time my dad took the training wheels off my bike. Man that first moment was scary.

But a few weeks later I was riding around the streets of our neighborhood like a pro.

Isn’t it amazing how life doesn’t come with training wheels?

Are you facing a situation that feels overwhelming and you’re afraid to make a wrong move? Or maybe you’re saying no to something in your life that you’d really like to say yes to. A well-known counselor says, “For years I heard about hiking. It sounded elusive, difficult…and mysterious. When a friend asked me to go hiking…I began thinking…what if I couldn’t do it well enough? Or I didn’t know how to do it at all? ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I scolded myself. ‘You’re making this more complicated than it is…it’s just walking, and you’ve been doing that since you were a baby!’ We left…and I followed…as he started up a steep incline. ‘Just walk,’ I told myself…’Put one foot in front of another…like you’ve done all your life.’ I didn’t make it to the top of the mountain that day, but I made it halfway…Start where you are. Start poorly. Just start…if you already knew how to do it well, it wouldn’t be a lesson…and you’d never have the thrill of victory, years from now looking back.”

God has promised to “take the hand of those who don’t know the way…to show them what roads to take.” You say, “But what if I get into difficulty?” You probably will! But God says: “When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you” (Is 43:2 TM). But you’ve got to be willing to ‘go’ in order for God to bring you ‘through!’ In other words – you have to be willing to get your feet wet. Time to take off the training wheels and learn to ride on the wheels of life with God’s strength. The thing to keep in mind is: “God…goes ahead of you” (Dt 1:30 TM).

Here is a great scripture to let you know that when things get a bit shaky and you feel like you are going to fall.

“I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way…to show them what roads to take.” Isaiah 42:16 TM

I just rode my bike yesterday and  am really glad I decided to take off the training wheels years ago.


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church family, Life experiences

Standing Between The Twin Towers

Just wanted to post this pic of my two friends Bobby Snyder and Chase Winniford.

While they were both in twon for Christmas break I wanted to catch up with these guys.

Chase is going to school and working on the creative gifts God has givin him and Bobby leaves for Afghanistan in a few weeks.

One of the benefits of staying in one place for a longer period of time is the gift of sustainable relationships. You get to witness the fascination of how people make progress and succeed.

I love hanging with people younger than me because it keeps me young.

Remember, when you become married to your own generation ….you  become a widow in the next.

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Life experiences, Storms of life

SEEING THROUGH YOUR SOLSTICE

solsitice

Here we are at December 21 and the winter solstice that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, sun and stitium, a stoppage. Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.

Your solstice could be the darkest night of your life.  The time when you feel like cannot see your way through.

Here are a few thoughts on seeing through your darkest times of your life.

Usually God’s purposes are revealed and His power displayed, in our darkest experiences when like Gideon you ask, “If the Lord is with [me], why has…this happened?” When there seems to be no rhyme or reason, God’s promise is, “I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord…who [calls] you by name” (Isa 45:3 NIV).

Anybody can be faithful in good times, but standing “by night in the house of the Lord” (Ps 134:1 NIV) takes real commitment. Hymn writer George Matheson wrote: “Will I remain in God’s house at night…love Him for who He is…know I desire not the gift but the Giver? When I can remain…during the darkness of night and worship…I’ve accepted Him for Himself alone.” When the Israelites faced their greatest challenge, the Red Sea, the Bible says, “All that night the Lord drove the sea back” (Ex 14:21 NIV). Be encouraged, God is working, even though you can’t see Him.

After all, how can God give us “songs in the night” (Job 35:10) if the sun always shines? Jesus said, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight” (Mt 10:27 NIV). It’s in life’s dark places that God shares things which strengthen you, and encourage those around you.

The Solstice or darkest night of your life can be an opportunity to see  what you cannot see in the bright of day.

Take the darkest places and let God transform them into your brightest places.

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

Be the light my friends and especially in the darkest places.

All the best.

Steve

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church family, Life experiences, Media, Ministry

Pastor Bill Wilson – The “Clint Eastwood” of Christianity

It was great to see my youth pastor/mentor of 35 years ago on a news program early this morning and I just had to post a blog about him.

In the summer of 1975 in a mid western church a hand touched my soldier and a guy by the name of Pastor Bill knelt down to pray with me. He knew I needed a lot of change in my life a long with my praying parents and family.

1975 inner city outreach. (Anita Norman, Lisa Letterman, myself and Yogi)

For a few years, I was able to hang with Bill and a few others at all hours of the night and travel on a couple of west cost adventure ministry trips with Bill that opened up my mind to another world that I never knew existed.
Anyway the 30 years have come and gone and this morning as I was getting ready for another normal day, I looked up at the screen for the morning news and there he was being interviewed by a news anchor.


Yep, 30 years and he still is going at it.  Sure not as quick but just as edgy as I knew him by in the mid 70’s .

God bless you Bill as you continue to educate, motivate and sometimes irritate all of us. You do exactly what God purposed you to do.

Here are a couple of links Bills web site.

http://www.metroministries.org/
http://blog.metroministries.org/post/45

That same hand now has become a far reaching compassionate hand that touches  who knows how many.


Thanks always Bill for not quitting,  always fighting, and speaking through the distance.

Steve

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Just sayin', Life experiences

THANKABILITY 2009

 

I love John Mason’s word about Thanksgiving. John says,

“If you can’t be thankful for what you have, at least be thankful for what you’ve escaped!”

Wow,  what a great way to look at life.

Here is my Thankability list for 2009

I am thankful for:

God’s unending and relentless grace and care. (I take it personally)

My family. A very cool and compassionate church family.

Prescott az. A great mountain bike community.

Books, Rivers and our two dogs.

Friends who are real when you need them to be.

People that don’t abandon you in tough times.

A life partner (Brenda)

My life purpose to be a pastor.

The difference is in the Thank-ability.


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