Hope from the Hurricane

I ran across this building south of New Orleans when I was down there a few weeks back. We must not forget that God has lined every inch of life with HOPE...sometimes we must just look harder to see it.

I sell cars

In the Hills again

As I write this I'm in a little coffee shop in Salida Colorado listening to a bluegrass band. There are few things I enjoy more than just relaxing and listening to a fiddle and mandolin. Salida is a cool little town full of granolas, river gurus, artsy fartsy folk, and ranchers. I love it! I am here for three days taking a Wilderness First Responder recertification course with NOLS. It will be a great few days to refresh my mind on this info, read, play guitar, enjoy the mountains, sit by the river, and get some solo time. It's great to be in the hills again.

Bloody-faced on a bicycle

I was driving down Academy Boulevard on a Monday morning on my way to work. Normal day, beautiful views, windows down, and then it all changed...whether I wanted it to or not. I saw a woman laying on the groud with blood rushing down her forehead and her glasses bent to heck. I pulled over, picked her up, picked up her bike, and asked her what had happened. Crazy morning- two bad falls on the bike on her way to the courthouse for her hearing. As I we drove downtown the blood cleared enough to realize that she was going to be okay...her face at least. I couldn't believe that world of hurt that Cathy had bathed in each waking moment. Some call it life, for her it has been a nightmare. Sexually abused as a child, moved out of the house as a teen, promised herself she wouldn't marry a man that would do to her kids what her father did to her, married a guy like that, and here she sits today...in my car...looking at me through bent specs. And the worst part, she was always pushed away by the Church. When will we start loving the people that need love most? When will we realize that we are in the presence of the least of these? When will we realize that Jesus loved on the brokenhearted? I am grateful for those who are.

The tightrope of cyberspace and the real world

Sorry, I'm not writing about the show where pampered, hissy people get crammed into one building to live together and call that REAL. Since when does real life have cameras, free living, and no job involved. I'm talking about E-connecting vs. face to face relationship. I'm not good with keeping up online. I E-crastinate. It's not that easy- that's not an acceptable excuse like "I'm bad with names...so I won't even try to memorize yours." So I'm bad keeping up with blogging and emailing...stay with me here. A quick snippit of my brain. I value personal contact, conversation, and real relationship over almost anything in life. I have no shoratage of cool adventures to write about, but there's only so much time left in a day to stop doing cool adventures, sit down, and write them out. Some people love looking at computer screens even more than checking themselves out in shiny glass windows as they walk by. But for me, computer screens don't do it for me. It is sometimes a struggle for me to take time away from face-to-face relationship to let my fingers and the keys do the talking. I want to get better at this, but please know that I don't neeeeeeeed to write down my thoughts to process them. I blog to keep others up on my life adventures, not to feel like I'm a good E-person. I have heard people say they enjoy reading, therefore, I should keep writing because I love making people think and sharing what God is teaching me. BOTTOM LINE: I'll try to be better with this, thanks for reading, and I would love to chat with you if you want to get more personal. Stop by my place (7330 Brentford Drive) to say hello or give me a call at 719.271.5866. I appreciate all your thought-provoking answers to my questions and thoughts...keep up the comments! You guys mean a lot to me!

In synagogues and on beaches

Ever felt discouraged at the massive problems in this world in light of how little we can do to help them? I certainly do sometimes- but I'm getting over it. Here are a few thoughts... Everyone has a voice...That means I have a voice...Can they hear my little voice over the traffic of life in this crazy world?...Maybe my voice is heard even when I'm silent...If not proclaiming the name of Jesus with my little voice then what am I proclaiming? These are thoughts that have been coasting through and even stalling for a while in my cranium lately. At the center of all of these thoughts is one word- INFLUENCE. We all have it. Sometimes we use it well, sometimes we botch it up, and sometimes we trick ourselves into believing that we don't have it. I think that little voice I have in this world is really influence that has been given to me. I think everyone has it , but it's different. In the New Testament we read about Paul going into the synagogues and laying the metaphorical "smack down" on the smart dudes of the day. He was a Roman citizen AND a devout Jew and he was well schooled. That changed the degree of influence he had and the arena where he had it. My synagogue this week has been on beaches, boats, and on the dance floor. I am in Lake Tahoe California. I just performed a wedding ceremony (my first) for a friend. Those here in attendance are not believers and most have had a very judgemental, crusty, and impersonal look at Christ's bride, the Church. I have been given influence this week to speak and to live as a pastor and a firm believer that Christ is the only way to freedom. People seem quite surprised that I like to have fun, that I hit the dance floor after the wedding, and that I was able to talk about REAL things with them. Conversations have been great this week around the lake and it has been a huge honor to be the spiritual presence for George and Lindsay. I challenge you to this; find the places where you have influence and use that arena to proclaim the greatness and grace of God. You might not be Switchfoot, Billy Graham, or Mel Gibson, but take your little voice and speak the name of Jesus where you can. I take that back, LIVE the name of Jesus.