Words from Colorado

               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...

       From time to time I have met them in my ministry . They linger after a service, and want and need to talk.  It is always a high honor when I can offer a couple of ears, and many years, of life experience to someone who has something to share.   I certainly don’t have all the answers but I know someone who does! Today after preaching about the life of David, I had someone ask if they could speak to me. They waited until the congregation began to leave and we talked.   Guidance needed, council offered…and as I was walking away…this person thanked me, and even said that I had been a great help to their life.   Words strung together, in a parting statement that left me feeling valued, and needed:)   Oh I know….believe me, I know who gets the glory, all the praise goes to Jesus …because if anything I say ever lifts a heart…..or is useful in charting a new course of direction for a weary traveler…it is because ...

The United States flag does not fly because the wind moves past it. The United States flag flies from the last breath of each military member who has died protecting it. American soldiers don't fight because they hate what's in front of them...they fight because they love what's behind them. Wow! What an incredible and moving collection of words! I am writing this on a rainy Fourth of July afternoon in Wyoming.  I am thinking about the men and women who have served our country.  I never had the opportunity to serve in the military. I came very close, as a senior in high school, I had signed up to join the Air Force.   Before heading up to Fitzsimons hospital in Denver for a full physical my recruiter decided to weigh me. This was way before I was ever introduced to Baptist Potlucks! I weighed 191lbs! Oh how I would like to weigh that now….but I digest…I mean digress:) I was six pounds overweight!  The recruiter told me to drop the pounds and come back…I los...