Words from Colorado

        Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32).           We may (wrongly) believe, and conclude that our lives are not making any significant difference in the World.  Sometimes however, something happens, in such a unique unmistakable way that we know, that we have touched a life, and we smile.  Events happen all around us, and I am sure, that we are more effective than we might realize. Heaven alone will reveal the smile, handshake, gift, hug, card, call or other expression of concern that on a day, lifted someone’s heart.  Just yesterday (Sunday) after the first service, I was talking with a man who had never been to HillTop Baptist Church before.  He lives in Rock Springs, travels a lot and we may not see him again, yesterday we did, I did…and I talked to him after the service.   He was having shoulder problems and...

        Life is often predictable. The sun rises, the sun sets, the seasons come they go…unless you happen to live in Wyoming where winter is reluctant to leave, and overstays his welcome!    We go to work, we come home from work, we check email, we check checking account balances, we eat a burrito, we check email, we look at face book, and we have a taco! My point is that life is sometimes so continual, so normal, that we can sometimes get weary with it all! Were you aware that America has the highest per-capita of boredom of any country in the world?  How do you know that? Because of all the amusements we have! Disney land and World, Lego land, Universal studios Hollywood and Orlando, twitter, face book, TV, video games, movies, travel, etc.  I have found in the midst of all this business, I often find myself longing for something more…Pizza land!   Not really, actually I often feel a tug in my heart, ...

        "And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me”. (Matthew 25: 40). Holman Christian Standard Bible  Life is hard. Moments, become hours and hours days, that often sap our strength, and leave us wanting, needing rest, or assurance that we are not alone.  We are not alone!  Life is meant to be shared, sufferings comforted….friendship offered. We need each other! Oh sure we have all read of hermits who hideaway in some out of the way spot, and dare anyone to trespass. Deep down I think they want someone in their yard …even for a moment to share life with someone other than themselves. We need the Lord! Need is not even a strong enough word. Must have, is better and even then it simply will not offer the definition I need to point out, our desperate condition.    Life is hard, Life without Jesus, I can’t imagine it! According to Matthew 2...

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow . (James 1: 2-3) NLT A wife of nearly 30years, a Fuji camera, and an opportunity to film wild horses, all of this on an early Friday evening in Wyoming! No wonder Wyoming’s state motto is “Forever West”!  Wild horse loop is a dirt road that winds above the city of Green River. Almost every time I have been up there I have seen Wild horses.  Laura and I jumped in (Actually I haven’t jumped in years) the Jeep and away we went for our Western adventure. Laura had a brand new (Wedding anniversary gift)  Fuji camera, and the horses we hoped, were waiting.   Dirt roads, dust,  and earnest searching revealed no horses….then I spotted some in the distance turned around (Laura wanted me to drive on, Oh how I wish I would listened to my wife) searching, realizing they were too far awa...

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. (Genesis 1:29).    Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado and  being raised by one of the world’s great cooks (My Mom), I have few and scattered memories of going out to eat as a child.  I mean why would we go out …when you’re accustomed to the “Gold Standard” of southern cooking; anything else is just a poor imitation! I well remember our family gathering around our kitchen table where we would feast on ribs, green beans, sliced and salted tomatoes, fried okra, buttermilk biscuits made from scratch etc!  The above mentioned meal was standard fair, common place, like on a Monday!   The next night there would be a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes with shimmering butter doing backstrokes on the surface, fried chicken, the ever present and always welcome biscuits etc.  ...

               Life is never static, oh I know it can seem that way, but it is fluid, something or someone is coming into your life, my life soon.  And that something or someone can change your life. Today I have a vivid recollection of an in between time in my life, when I had prayed and waited for a resolution to my dilemma of not having a church to pastor.   I well remember graduating from Seminary in 1987 and impetuously, hastily moving back to Colorado, thinking I have spent seven years in Texas getting educated, I am going back home to Colorado!  You would think a Seminary graduate would pray before such a move….but I really didn’t.  Laura and I and our (then) young son Brian moved in with my mom, and waited for the call of God on my life to be realized.    It wasn’t!  No church showed any enduring interest….and in the “in between time” I clearly remember writing the following not...

      My favorite quote from the movie “The Good old boys” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Sissy Spacek, happens at the end of the movie when, the character played by Tommy Lee, is about to ride off into the sunset, choosing the cowboy way of life over the love of his life played by Sissy Spacek….she says to him “If wealth was measured in friendships you would be the wealthiest man in the world” He replies:    “It is and I am”   Yesterday, our family road the historic Durango/Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to the beautiful Mountain town of Silverton. The scenery was spectacular, the trip 3 hours and a half (each way) of soaring Mountain vistas and emerald green water cascading down the Animas River. We even saw a bear on the way back down! No wonder national geographic says this is the number one train ride in North America! It is, but for Laura and I the trip was much more than that, much more than breathtaking views...