Words from Colorado

Kindle- a. To build or fuel (a fire). b. To set fire to; ignite. I resisted the kindle for years. Oh I heard about it, and had people encourage me to check it out. I persisted in my resistance! I like books, no I love books! I like the way they look, the way they smell, the way they fit on bookshelves, I even love  book shelves!   Real bookshelves made of wood ( from real trees, that squirrels climb)  not press board! For me, there is nothing more inviting in a driving Wyoming blizzard, than the sanctuary of my office, and the opportunity to read. The Church I am blessed to Pastor has provided the most beautiful and inspiring study a Pastor could ever hope for…pray for.  Whew, I digress! Back to the subject of this blog, a slate colored electronic reader named the kindle.   Why do they call it the Kindle you’re wondering? The name Kindle as your aware means to ignite! And reading has that ability. Reading can set intellect ablaze, enable us to visit l...

                    A friend sent this to me it was to good not to post! TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE   1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers Who smoked and/or drank while they were Pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs, in rooms painted with bright colored lead-base paints! We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants and children, We would ride in cars with no car seats, No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day Was always a special treat. We drank water From the garden hos...

      Worry, is a word we sometimes wish was not a part of our vocabulary.  There are words that by definition move to the front of the line, words we more than like, we love.  God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, family, friends, love, kindness, trust, provision, purpose, joy , laughter, tenderness.   I could go on…but worry….back of the line if you please…and take discouragement and fear with you! Worry, wants to be included, in our thoughts, in our conversations,  and often is demanding and downright rude, interrupting a perfectly good day or evening, thoughts that lift, and fill us with hope….are often forcibly shoved aside so that "you know who" can get some attention! Worry, is an insult to God! Worry grabs tomorrow’s clouds and covers today’s sunshine!  I have used phrases like these for years, and I believe they are absolutely true, yet worry is tenacious, worry is persistent….and worry is a chief tool of a very real enemy, who ...

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. (Acts 20:36-38).  The Apostle Paul is saying a teary farewell to people that had come to mean a great deal to him. He is on his way to Jerusalem.  His life had been re-directed by the will of God, for a season they walked together.   Too often we assume that the people in our life now, the ones that add and benefit us, will always be there. After all life takes on a sameness, everything seems to continue as before, as it always has. The sun rises, and sets, the seasons come and go, the people we know are there, sure others are introduced to the circle of our lives, but for the most part life can have long stretches of relative predictability. We should know, and I ...

     Fifty...five decades!  How?  Why, so fast?  I have been alive for fifty years!  I don’t feel it. I know I look it, and sometimes looking in the mirror I wonder….who is the old guy?    I first noticed that I was getting older when men, older than me, would call me sir!  They were respectful, kind, but strange somehow, I thought to address me as sir, I should have been calling them sir….but they beat me to it, hmmm... faster thought process?  I walked into my 20 th High School reunion, and immediately walked out concluding that I was in the wrong room, the people in there could not have been the friends of my youth…but they were, and I walked back in. Oh I don’t mind getting old, after all as someone said “It is a privilege denied to many” I often think now, have I contributed, have I made any significant difference at all. Have I helped people along the way? Has it been good that I have been here 50 years? I suppose that...

      Living in Wyoming, I have developed an entirely new appreciation for respecting road conditions…and for the many people who promise and do pray for you when you travel.    Just this past Saturday Laura and I were driving back to Green River from an awesome trip to Ogden Utah.  The roads were fine, but a 15 car pileup had left I 80 closed.  By the time we arrived to that closed section, it had gone from bad to worse…leaving many people stranded and scrambling for hotels in Evanston, Wyoming. Gassing up, I struck up a conversation with a man pumping diesel into his white pickup.  Remember, “White Pickup” it’s an important part of this story.  He told me he was from Kemmerer, and knew how to get there another way.  I thought to myself, you can get to Green River via Kemmerer!   He began to tell me the way to go…I lost Him after He said you go…down here, turn left….follow 89 toward Yellowstone, head to Randolp...

Heaven is a beautiful place, filled with Glory and Grace...I want to see my Saviors face, because Heaven is a beautiful place!  I taught that song to my boys when they were very small.  The reality of a place called heaven looms larger now in my life than perhaps any other time. I can say with all sincerity I am homesick for that place. I of course have never been there, and yet I feel an upward tug, a pull that I can’t shake. It’s something I wouldn’t shake if I could! "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -  C.S. Lewis     I am not being morbid on this Monday, even though Mondays are often tough days for me. Why you ask? The buildup of the week, the excitement of Sunday, bringing Gods Word to His people, then wondering “Did I do all I could, and was the Gospel clearly presented”? I know of no other calling in the World where the eternal stat...