ORIGINS pt. 3

I love this picture of my brother Gary and I that was taken probably around 1965ish.

My first bike is a schwinn banana bike …..what a classic !

I’m not sure what Gary was driving at the time but I am sure of this, His little legs were always moving as fast as he could move them to always try to keep up with his big brother.

We built a race track and we would have bike races in the woods behind our house in the hot summer sun in Iowa.

It wasn’t about winning….it was about trying to win.

Thinking about those days reminds me of a story I heard a couple of years ago from National Geographic.

It has to do with not just racing, but finishing the race.

One of the most grueling of all bicycle races is the Tour De France. A contestant in that event, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, describes it in a National Geographic article titled, “An Annual Madness.” The race covers about 2000 miles, including some of France’s most difficult, mountainous terrain. Eating and drinking is done on the run. And there are extremes of heat and cold. To train for the event, Lassalle rides his bicycle 22,000 miles a year. What kind of prize makes people endure so much hardship and pain! $10,000? $100,000? No. It’s just a special winner’s jersey. What then motivates the contestants? Lassalle sums it up: “Why, to sweep through the Arc de Triomphe on the last day. To be able to say you finished the Tour de France.”

Now some 40 years later, Gary and I are still racing at break neck speeds everyday we wake up to accomplish the things God has purposed us to accomplish with our lives on this earth.

I dedicate this blog to the BIGGEST LITTLE BROTHER on the planet. He is a true inspiration. He is someone I learn to love and appreciate more as time passes. He is a true competitor with life and to runs the race set before him with great desire, determination and dignity.

He has been like that since the beginning of our back woods bike races back in Iowa.

Life experiences

ORIGINS part 2

Amazing how where you live in the world affects your outlook and outcome.

I have always enjoyed the outdoors, the woods and streams.

To this day it seems whenever we are on a trip or going from one place to another and we pass over a river or go through a forest, I have an urge to stop everything and take the time to explore the place.

Any place I have had opportunity to travel to, whether it was South America, Mexico,Canada, Alaska or my own back yard I have been curious about the habitat.

Here is a picture of a place I would spend hours at a time as a boy growing up in eastern Iowa.

I knew it as “the swamp” next to my first job at the Scott County Sportsman Club. Now it is known as Nahant Marsh.

What a great place to grow up as a child. Little did I realize at the time, but that place of adventure and exploring was a set up by God.

I found an amazing passage this morning out of Acts 17:26,27 that explains why we live where we do and why we live when we do.

According to Acts 17, God places us in certain geographical locations at certain times in history for a real specific reason.

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him.”

Pretty cool stuff ! From this perspective I conclude that where we live has a lot to do with how we live.

Here’s a little post script; About a mile away from Nahant Marsh is a church that was very instrumental in my pursuit and search for a real relationship with the Creator.

Life experiences, Ministry

“ORIGINS”

I want to dedicate a few blog post to what I am going to term “origins”. By that I mean I am going to be a little reflective in a way that might explain how history helps direct our future.

This month is really special to Brenda and I . It was 18 years ago this week that we planted and began LakeCrest Church in Lake Saint Loius Missouri.

Our first Sunday service was September 8th, 1991 at the Lakeside Fitness Center in Lake Saint Louis.

Over those 14 years, we poured everything we had into that ministry with a core group of people that had a passion to reach their community with the good news.

I can sum up that time in three phrases; HARD WORK, MUCH FAITH and GREAT MEMORIES.

I learned so much during that season of my life. I learned that God never waste your efforts and experiences. He tends to use past challenges to prepare you for future ones. In other words, he uses one season to get you ready to handle a greater one. That is a good thing because I don’t think we could handle the end result all at once. He grows us gradually.

From what I hear, the church is doing good now and that means a lot.

God was really faithful to meet all of our needs during those years.

“Your faithfulness endures to all generations.” Psalm119:90

Ministry, what I am working on right now

MY FAVORITE PAIR OF GENES.

Really looking forward to my newest series starting this weekend.

Yes, I do know how to use “spell check”.

My favorite pair of “GENES” come right from Psalm 71:18 “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I declare your power to the next generation and your might to all who are to come.”

I feel like God is really going to accomplish something in the next five weeks through this message and the hungry hearts that hear it.

I will keep you informed along the way on these messages and let you know how THEY FIT.

Generation (from the Greek γενεά), also known as procreation, is the act of producing offspring. A generation can also be a stage or degree in a succession of natural descent as a grandfather, a father, and the father’s son comprise three generations.

Ministry

WE HAVE A GREAT STAFF

Just about an hour ago we came out of our Tuesday staff leadership meeting.

Pastor John Parmelee our discipleship pastor gave the devotion this morning and I love a quote he gave us.

He said “I like having a few rough edges because it gives God a better grip on my life.”

John is such an encouragement to me. He always seems to have the right word at the right time.

Really blessed to be surrounded by such a great team of real world people.

family

LABOR DAY

Started the day by reading and prayer, washing three cars and cleaning out the garage.

Man things can really pile up when you can’t get to them and have the ability to put stuff away.

Over the past 9 weeks I have also really missed talking the retrievers for a walk on one of their favorite trails.

Whenever I say, “are you ready to go to the railroad?” they go crazy.

Well today Brenda, Caleb and I walked Coty and Bella ONE MILE through the Prescott National Forest.

I emphasize the ONE MILE part because that is a big deal to me right now because it means I am really feeling strength returning to the ankle. Really great to be able to walk with no cast , no crutches and no cane.

This is one of the “RAILS TO TRAILS” portions that is close to our home.

When we came back home it was time to fire up the grill and finish off the last of the salmon I brought home from Alaska …..guess its time to get back up there and catch some more dinner.

Also, it is always great to have our son Caleb home for the weekends.

He left about 30 minutes ago to go back up to flagstaff.

Labor Day was no labor at all….It was perfect!

Alaska

I like Alaska Even More Now

I liked Alaska big time after going there last summer, but I like it more now. Especially since Governor Sarah Palin loves fishing and her favorite meal is moose stew.

The “blogisphere” is really buzzzzzzing right now about this VP pick.

Here is what Doug Weads Blog has to say about it.

http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/what-is-sarah-palins-religion/

What is Sarah Palin’s religion and why does it matter?

“What is Sarah Palin’s Religion?

She is Assemblies of God.

Ted Boatsman, the former Alaskan District Superintendent for the Assemblies of God, was her junior high pastor at Wasilla Assemblies of God Church. She is currently attending Juneau Christian Center whose pastor is pastor is Mike Rose. http://www.jccalaska.com

In high school she was the local leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

McCain does more than balance the ticket with a woman. He solves his complicated religious problem with Pentecostals and Charismatics, who according to a recent Barna survey make up almost half of all born again Christians. McCain’s on again off again relationships with Pentecostals, John Hagee and Rod Parsley, as well as the ill timed Charles Grassley attack on six Pentecostal television ministries are now moot points.

But wait until MSNBC finds out. Expect all hell to break loose. She will be portrayed as a pro creationist – Neanderthal. Just wait. And, as well intentioned as they will be, thinking that they are doing Obama a good deed, it will drive the Evangelicals into the McCain camp. All of Senator Obama’s kind overtures to people of faith will be for naught.”

I have liked listening to Doug Wead for the past 30 years and again he speaks truth.

This choice for a running mate it going to make things really interesting to watch over the next three months.

family

COOL PARENTS!

Brenda and I got spend the day with the most awesome parents on the planet today.

Awesome as parents yes…..but also just great people that you would automatically like if you met them for the first time!

Jo and Paul Lummer living it up in Scottsdale Az.

Here are just a few photos of one of the neatest places to live in the USA.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day. Dad’s mountain bike that he has riddin so much that the tires are worn all the way through to the treads.

(we have got to do something about that)

family

BODY AND SOUL

Great to watch the sun rise this morning with Brenda before the day starts up.

My prayer for my family today comes out of John chapter 3.

I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

– 3 John 2 (nlt)

cycling

SPINNING

Getting used to the bike again by using a trainer.

Spinning is a great way to ride your bike without having to actually go anywhere.

Its a great way to exercise especially with music from the ipod.

Speaking of the ipod.

We all know we are living in an “I” society …. “itunes” “iphones” “ipods”

Here are three “I” experiences I really enjoyed yesterday for a full 30 minutes.

IPOD + ISPIN = ISWEAT.

It was great to burn off about 430 calories yesterday on the bike trainer. It is not the 1200 to 1500 hundred I was used to on a normal Mtn bike ride….but still it is better that being laid up on the couch.

Go to http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/calorie_calculator.htm

this web link will help you count calories burned during a variety of exercises.

The goal is to work up to 90 minutes on the trainer by my first physical therapy session September 9th.

After 9 weeks of virtually no real exercise it really felt great to sweat.