Some one recently asked me how I would explain Communion to some one who didn't speak "Christianese", that is to some one who didn't attend church and wasn't familiar with the language we use in church.  This is what I said:  "We believe that some how Christ is spiritually present in the bread and the wine of Communion.  It is a way of receiving, by faith, the grace that is offered to us by Christ's life and death.  It is 'soul food'.  We aren't saved again and again by receiving the bread and the wine, but we are nourished by it and it helps us to grow in our Christian life."
Since it was a hypothetical question, I'm not sure how that answer would fly with a real person who doesn't speak the language of church.  I know that I would relish the opportunity to have that kind of conversation where some one would ask questions and say that they needed more clarification so that they could better understand it.
Maybe, though, we need to push it back to us, the ones who do go to church, the ones who do receive the body and blood of the Lord weekly or monthly, do we really understand the deep meaning that is there?  I fear often, even for myself, that we go through the motions of it and yet maybe even that is OK.  We say we take it by faith and sometimes just taking it, even in the absence of feeling is taking it by faith, believing that something can happen in us that we might not see or feel right away. 
Jesus said, and this is from 'The Message', "Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you...My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you.  In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me..."  (John 6)
Those are arresting words to say the least.  They grab our attention and point us to the reality that the bread and wine of Communion is no casual thing.  Here are truths from the unseen realm.  And I pray for the Holy Spirit's help in focusing my attention more and more on the things that are unseen rather than the things that are seen.   I hope and pray the same will be happening for you.

Timothy Keller continues to be an inspiration to me.  I listened recently to a sermon he gave from Acts 20:17-37.  He made a strong point about how important it is to be committed to truth.  He used himself as an illustration so I will use myself.  If you were interested in getting to know me better and someone told you that I'm a really organized guy who loves to do 'handy-man' projects, you could believe that if you wanted to.  But it simply wouldn't be true.  In the same way, if a big part of the Christian life is getting to know God better and someone tells you that God is the conscience of the universe, you could believe that if you wanted to but it simply would not be true according to what the Bible teaches about who God is.
He then went on in the discussion about Biblical truth to point out how it will offend every one in every culture at some point.  For example, if some one from a shame and honor culture hears Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek or about loving your enemy, they will be offended by that.  It doesn't fit with a long history of a strong cultural more of defending one's own and one's families honor.  On the other hand, when some one from this kind of culture hears the Biblical teaching about marriage and sexual morality, it resonates with them and what their cultural values are.  Now, contrast this with our western culture.  When we hear the Bibles teachings about love and justice and even the difficult challenge to love one's enemies and turn the other cheek, it resonates with us.  But the Bibles teachings on marriage and sexual morality have been judged archaic and out of touch with where we are as a culture.
The point is, the Bible is truth from and about God, his ways and his will.  It is outside of all culture and will move to reform all cultures at different points.  The question is, are willing to submit human wisdom and human cultural understanding to the wisdom of God as revealed to us in the Bible?  This certainly doesn't mean that we bash people over the head with truth, which we Christians have tended to do.  It doesn't mean that we posture ourselves in an 'us-against-them' way, which we also have tended to do.  But it is a clear call for us to 'not shrink' from engaging in a respectful dialogue within our sphere's of influence with those who place human wisdom and cultural values and popular opinion above a higher source of authority.  When we learn to understand the truth for ourselves and then let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, then, we can 'speak the truth in love'.

In varying forms I have had this conversation many times over the course of twenty-seven years of being a pastor.  It goes something like this:  "So, you're a pastor?  Where is your church?  How big is it?"  Usually at this point in the conversation I try to remind them that it isn't 'my' church and then try to interject something humorous about the square footage of the church building where we meet.  Then the person continues, really not wanting to hear anything else from me.  "Well, I used to go to church but I find I can connect with God better out in the wilderness.  Besides, I think religion has done more harm to the world than good and I think God is basically the same in all the religions.  I think we should just live and let live."
Believe it our not these thoughts in various articulations are pretty common these days in our culture.  Fuzzy notions about who or what God is abound.
I find it fascinating how current the apostle Paul's speech on Mars Hill is.  It is found in Acts 17:22-34.  In it he puts forth a very clear description of God that clarifies and corrects much of this fuzzy thinking.  He basically makes five related points about the God of the Bible:
1.  God is a revealing being so that it is possible to have real knowledge OF God, not just knowledge ABOUT God.
2.  God is a living, personal being, not an inanimate, impersonal force.
3.  God is the self-existent Creator, not a dependent creation.
4.  God is the transcendent King of the universe and the immanent sustainer of it.
5.  God a a present and a righteous judge, not an indifferent or even doting grandfather.
I find these thoughts to be helpful in my personal journey and in giving me direction in more conversations I hope to have with people about the God in whom I believe.
A related subject is the issue about our reason, for humanities reason for being on this earth.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it this way:  "What is the chief end of man-kind?"  Good question!  The answer:  "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  The understanding of God articulated above gives greater meaning to this answer.  How people think about God and how people think about the reason for their existence will say a great deal about how they go about living their lives.

Dylan William (last name withheld for privacy reasons), born August 7, 2015.  Died, August 23, 2015.  A memorial service was held last Thursday in Idaho Springs.  Clear Creek Neighborhood church hosted the service for Dylan's family.
I learned the night of the service that his parents were big Bob Dylan fans.  Their son was actually named for him.  A kind of theme emerged around one of Dylan's famous songs, "Forever Young".  I am a big Bob Dylan fan as well,  and it brought a smile to my face to hear this song playing.  
The opening stanza goes like this:  "May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true.  May you always do for others, And let others do for you.  May you build a ladder to the stars, And climb on every rung.  May you stay forever young."  Bob Dylan.
The little infant weighed less than a pound when he was born and almost two pounds when he died.  A brief life like his raises all sorts of questions in our minds, most of which don't have an answer, at least not ones that make any sense right in the moment of grief.
One of the Churches great historic statements of faith says, "From all eternity and by the completely wise and holy purpose of his own will, God has freely and unchangeably ordained whatever happens."
Lots of passages from the Bible support this statement.  If you are interested, check out Romans 11:33 and Ephesians 1:11 and let's talk.
In the face of an event like Dylan Ellington's brief life, I grant you this is not an easy pill to swallow.  Questions about the love and goodness of God scream out of the depth of our pain.  They also screamed out of the depth of King Davids pain (Psalm 13) and the prophet Jeremiah (Lamentation 3) and the apostle Paul (II Cor. 1:8-11).  Most significantly they screamed out of the depths of Jesus' pain (Matt. 27:45-46).
I have come to the conclusion--and not easily I might add--that it is at precisely these moments, when we don't understand what he is up to, that God is asking us to simply trust him.  Maybe that is why Jesus said to become like a little child.  Children know more about trust than grown ups.  Maybe that is the deeper wisdom in Bob Dylan's words, "May you stay forever young."

We were in a conversation with a person from our community.  She knows I am a pastor.  She professes to believe in Jesus.  In the conversation we had she asked me what I preached about this past Sunday at the United Church.  I said, "I preached about idols."  Her reaction almost made me smile because it was obvious that what she initially thought about when she heard the word 'idol' is more than likely what most of us think about when we hear that word.  We think about something like a statue or like the golden calf fashioned by the Hebrews when they grew impatient waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai.  But idols are much more complex and pervasive than this.  And as we continued to talk it was also clear she hadn't thought much about how idolatry can be a real issue even with the absence of so called 'graven images'.
As my friend and pastor, Bill Senyard says, "Idols are anything that you run to instead of the living God to give you value, worth, meaning, joy, rest, intimacy and life.  They are anything that you allow to measure your value, your identity, your success, your sense of being right or your honor."  Money, power, performance, approval, comfort, control, recreation, physical fitness, physical appearance all are examples of good things that can become ultimate things.
We can get at what our idols are by pondering a few questions:  1)What is my greatest nightmare?  What do I worry about most?  2)What do I rely on or comfort myself with when things go badly or become difficult?  3)What makes me feel the most self-worth?  What am I the most proud of?
The process of even thinking about this challenging subject can be of value in terms of more regularly turning our hearts toward our Lord.  It certainly will be part of the life long struggle we have against the 'world, the flesh and the devil.'
Knowing our need is a great place to be, actually.  Pleading for the power of the Holy Spirit with an open heart and mind will move us toward a more God dependent and God centered sense of being.

We are continuing to 'talk' our way through the book of Acts.  I'm amazed the number of times in these early chapters (we were on chapter 11 this week) that reference is made to 'large numbers' being added to the church.  Twice in the narrative--11:19-30--this is mentioned:  11:20-21: "...and the hand of the Lord was with them and a large number who believed turned to the Lord..."  And then again in 11:24: "...considerable numbers were brought to the Lord..."
As we continue to pray and dream about what could happen in Clear Creek County and ask for the Holy Spirit, I pondered what would happen if all of a sudden "considerable numbers were brought to the Lord."  I'm not sure we have the 'disciplers' in place to offer the nurture and training but I pray that is a challenge we have to face.
May there be conversions in our wake as we go about living our lives in our part of the world and may that be true for you as well.

During my doctrinal oral exam one of the questions we could anticipate was related to salvation.  We were told the question could take the form of something like this:  "In what aspect are you saved?"  And in our preparation I remember one person saying that a good answer would be this:  "I am saved.  I am being saved.  And I will be saved."  Romans 8:28-30 supports this view.
If the words 'saved' and  'converted' are synonymous, and I believe they are, then the narrative in Acts 10 gives us an account of one person being saved (converted) in the past tense of the word.  And one person being saved (converted) in the present tense of the word.
Cornelius is a religious God-fearer who is being relentlessly and mercifully pursued by God.  The coming of the Holy Spirit on him (Acts 10:44 ff) and his subsequent baptism confirm his conversion at a point in time.
Peter on the other hand is the example of one who is being saved, being converted.  Think of the revolutionary change in his perspective that took place as a result of his vision in Acts 10:9-16.  And then his amazing statement to Cornelius in vs. 28: "...God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean..." (NIV) That is the progressive nature of conversion as God continues to work on our hearts to expand them to love as he loves.  There are other ways this expansion takes place.  But the crucial one is in our love for those who we at one time or another considered un-loveable.

I heard that Donald Trump is running for president.  It will be an interesting presidential election campaign!!
I suspect that many strong opinions exist about someone like Donald Trump.  He is a very public person and a person of strong opinions himself and great financial success.  I also suspect that not many of us reading these words have actually met Donald Trump.  I want us to play a little game together to illustrate a point.  Suppose that you are a person who has never met Donald Trump and you have formed some very strong opinions about what kind of person he might be.  You consider him to be arrogant, selfish, egotistical and filled with pride.  But then imagine that your car is broken down on the side of a busy freeway and Donald Trump just happens to come by.  For some reason he is by himself and not being driven around in a stretch limo and he stops and very kindly, unselfishly and humbly helps you.  Do you suppose your opinion of him would change?  Mine would and that would be a conversion of sorts.  We would be changed.  We would have a radically different view of this person than the one we had created in our minds based on what we had seen in the press.
This picture ran through my mind as I was reading about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9.  Think about the view of God he had built in his mind.  God was distant, cold, angry.  And then he had a personal encounter with the living Lord Jesus and he was literally knocked to the ground.  He was converted.  
Not all conversions are as dramatic as this.  But it at least must start  when the gods we have created in our own image come face to face with the living and true God revealed in His Son Jesus.
Regeneration, the new birth, being born again is solely and in the first place a work of God through the Holy Spirit.  But I suspect that because of the reality of the day to day struggle with the power of sin in the world and in our own hearts that there are daily, even moment by moment conversions that need to take place as the gods of our own making discover how weak they are in comparison to the living God of creation.

Often, talking with a new person reveals the things that are closest to our hearts.  After initial 'getting to know you' bits of information are exchanged, like family and where you live the conversation moves to the next level.  It is here that we discover those matters that are important to us--hobbies, a sports team, a good book we've read recently, a particular period of history we are interested in, our job.  The first thing we talk about at this point in a conversation can be quite revealing this way.
This is not a criticism or a judgment in any way.  It is just an observation.
What got me thinking about this was reading in Acts 8.  In the history of the early church, Stephen an early leader just got killed.  Severe persecution against the church breaks out under the direction of Saul.  Homes are broken into.  Residents are dragged out and thrown into prison.  Many who aren't arrested we are told are 'scattered'.  In verse 4 of chapter 8 in Acts we read this about the group that has exiled:  "...those who had been scattered went about preaching the word...".
I don't know about you, but if many of my friends and maybe family members had been put in prison, and I had been forced to leave behind my home and all that was familiar to me, I don't think the first thing I would do would be to go about preaching the very word that was getting so many people put in jail.  I think I would probably hunker down and keep my mouth shut.  And in private conversation I would more than likely have many not so nice things to say about that jerk, Saul and other religious leaders.
I find it fascinating and quite frankly, convicting that these people had been so captivated by the Lord Jesus, their lives so transformed down in the depths of their being that the first response in their new circumstances is to go about preaching the Good News!
I pray that today, the Holy Spirit will so fill me fresh with Kingdom energy and so captivate my heart with how much I am loved by my Heavenly Father, that it will be the natural and spontaneous response to go about preaching the Good News with my very presence on this earth!!

Our culture and time is one of the worst in history in preparing people for the inevitability of death and dying and pain and suffering.  Consider the euphemisms with which we talk about death.  I remember as a young seminarian talking with a woman from our church who's young husband had died.  In my naive, well-intentioned, caring way I asked her, "When did you lose your husband?"  She looked at me and with a small amount of irritation and quickly replied, "I didn't lose him.  He died and I know where he is."  This was my early and rude introduction to a world that my culture had ill-prepared me for.  
We are insulated from death in our lack of involvement even in the caring of the bodies of our loved ones who have died.  In times past it was the family who cared for the bodies of the dead, dug the graves and put them in the ground.  This didn't necessarily ease the pain but it did make death more a part of life.
In addition to this there is our cultures idolization of youth and physical attractiveness and the corresponding lack of respect for our elder population. We go to great effort and expense to prolong life and to stay looking young.  We also have way less respect for the wisdom of age than do other cultures.  Ernest Becker's book, "The Denial of Death" was and is prophetic.
I was thinking about all this as I read again the amazing account of Stephens death in the Bible in Acts 7.  Here was a good and innocent man, falsely accused who went unflinchingly to his death.  The vision given to Stephen, "...(he) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God..." (Acts 7:55), was a great gift.  It speaks of the deep transformation that can and does take place in a person's heart when God claims that person for His own glory.  When that happens, then it is possible to have a radically different view of death and dying and pain and suffering.  When this happens is is possible to view life's circumstances through the lens of a loving Heavenly Father's ultimate care rather than viewing that Heavenly Father through the lens of life's circumstances.
May it be so!!

The responsibility of caring for a lawn is not a high priority for me.  Part of the reason for that is there has not been a lawn to care for.  Now there is and unfortunately, last year I did something that reflects great ignorance, on my part, in the field of lawn care.  I sprayed some Roundup weed killer directly on quite a few spots in our grass.  Most of you who read this will smile because you will know the result.  As I look out the window at what was a lush green patch of grass when we bought the house last July, now it looks like it has a disease!  Earlier this spring, we put some seed down in those spots but we haven't seen much result.  The concern, of course, is that the Roundup takes awhile to leach out of the soil.  I'm hoping to consult a 'lawn professional' today and maybe get some good advice.
Those patches of dead ground surrounded by lush green life look like a living illustration to me of the Church.  The Church is still God's chosen vehicle for communicating the life changing message of the gospel.  In spite of all it's faults and failures there is no plan B.  The lush green living grass that is there depicts to me the living Church.  The dry dead patches, depict both struggling and dying churches and those who have not yet been drawn to our Heavenly Father's great love for them.
Our Father is a God of redemption and it is Him and Him alone by the power of the Holy Spirit who brings life both to the Church and to those He is drawing to Himself.  We need that power as well and so each morning we ask the Holy Spirit to fill is again and empower us in big and small ways to bring a little bit of the kingdom of heaven down to kingdom of this earth.
Ephesians 3:14-21 is an amazing section of Paul's letter to the early Christians in Ephesus.  He prays for them, and us, that we might be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God".  
What difference would it make in our lives today if we really felt full from all of the fullness of God?  I have to believe that those dead patches of grass would come back to life and that life would spill over into the lives of others.  May it be so for us today!!

Happy Mother's Day!!  I got thinking about my mom yesterday.  She has been enjoying her reward since December of 2001.  Wow!!  That seems like a long time ago.  A memorable transition took place in my relationship with her.  Driving home from Uncle Gene Jordan's memorial service--1991 I think--it occurred to me and saddened me that all kinds of nice things were said about someone after they were gone.  About this same time I had been re-reading a little book entitled, "Making Peace With Your Parents".  I realized that I still got irritated with my mom when she would remind me to put a hat on when it was cold outside.  Clearly, I had not yet made the transition to relating to her adult-to-adult rather than child-to-parent.  An 'ah-ha' moment flashed for me.  Almost at a moment in time, I began to see my mom in an entirely different light.  Certainly, she was not flawless.  But I began to see with greater clarity and appreciation her great qualities:  her COURAGE, she pretty much raised four children by herself.  Married off her only daughter and watched her oldest son go to Viet Nam in the same summer; her HOSPITALITY, she was a gracious and welcoming hostess (even when the Vikings were playing.  She was highly skilled at positioning herself with sound off on the TV able to see what was happening while entertaining Sunday guests.)  She had friends all over the country.  Her Christmas mailing list was somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 people.  Many people have told me personally how welcome she made them feel in her home; her GENEROSITY, with her limited financial resources but also with her home and with her time.  She mentored young moms and volunteered in youth programs at her church.
Her memorial service truly was a celebration of her life, attended by a wide variety of ages from children who she had been with in the youth program, to those young moms she mentored, to her peers.  She was 78 when she took her last breath of this earth's air.
Earlier, I referenced the drive home from Uncle Gene Jordan's memorial service.  That night in St. Paul was the beginning of the transition of my relationship with my mom.  I began to tell her then how much I appreciated her.  Thankfully, ten years remained in her life for us to foster an adult-to-adult relationship.  It wasn't perfect.  But it was pretty much all right!

Thought a lot about heroic courage this week as I read Acts 5:17-42.  It prompted me to think about the heroic courage of John and Betty Stam, my maternal gandpa's brother and his wife who were beheaded because of the fact that they were foreigners and because of the fact that they were witnesses for Christ.  We don't need exactly this kind of heroic courage, at least right now.  Hopefully, we never have to have it but the fact is we do need heroic courage just to live life the way we know we should live it.  The big question is 'how do we get it'?
It is a big question and I won't pretend that I can give a conclusive or a comprehensive answer in the space of these few short lines.  I would, though, like to share an insight I gained from Timothy Keller.  In Acts 5:31, Dr. Luke uses an unusual word, a title really, for Jesus.   He refers to him as 'Prince and Savior'.  (NIV and NASB)  The RSV renders it 'Leader and Savior'.  It is the word translated 'prince' and 'leader' that is the unusual word in the Greek.  It is only used four times in the New Testament according to Keller.  One of the other places is Hebrews 12:2: "...looking unto Jesus the author and perfector...".  'Author' is the word. Interestingly, it is the same title that in other ancient Greek literature is used of Hercules and other heroes of Greek mythology.  Thus the connection with the notion of heroic courage.  Jesus had heroic courage. It was courage of a different kind than Hercules had but courage nonetheless.
One of the ways we can get heroic courage is by looking to Jesus.  Do you remember the scene in the movie, 'The Patriot', where the character portrayed by Mel Gibson in the climactic battle scene rallies the colonial army by picking up the flag that had fallen and charging back toward the advancing British troops?  The fleeing colonial army looks at his courage and it gives them courage and slowly, one by one, they turn and follow him and the tide of the battle is turned.
In the battles we face, as our courage falters, we can look to Jesus, and then one by one we too can have our courage renewed.
 

I hope that Uncle Howard and Eunice will get word that they were the topic of the blog this week.  To me the love they showed to Alan was a remarkable example of the voluntary, radical generosity that the first century Christians showed each other.  In Acts 4:32 it says, "...All believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions was his/her own, but they shared everything they had..."  This was no law.  It was done because the Holy Spirit motivated it, so that they were not 'possessed by their possessions.'  Too many and too much we have it the other way around.  We are defined by what we have rather than by who we ARE as children of the king.
Howard and Eunice voluntarily out of love for Alan dramatically altered their lifestyle to provide a safe and happy environment for a special needs young man after his own parents were killed in a car crash.  Our whole extended family benefited by their example.
The beautiful thing about it is they probably didn't even think about it as being some kind of amazing act.  They just did it without any thought of any kind of recognition.  Alan lived the last few years of his life giving and receiving a simple and authentic love, surrounded by cousins who doted over him.  I can still see his beaming face smiling up at Howard.
Thank you Howard and Eunice for giving us a tangible example of the Father's great unconditional love for us!

Resurrection Sunday dawned bright and clear in Clear Creek County.  Our community worship gathering on this day gave us a glimpse of what could be.  Over 100 people (a mega-church for us) crowded into the historic 'United Center' in Idaho Springs!  The United Center is the former United Methodist church building.  It retains it's historic charm with some nice updates.  It is a great place for worshipping together.
A community choir sang.  We celebrated the Lord's Supper and heard a message about how the resurrection speaks into our fears and our tendency to be burdened by guilt and shame.
Earlier in the week--Good Friday to be exact--I led a memorial service for a life-log member of our community who died suddenly.  Marjorie--Chee Chee--Bell was her name.  She and her husband, Bruce had recently come back to the United Church and we had spent some time with them.  Her service was held in the school gymnasium and around 400 people were in attendance.  This was another event that gave us a glimpse of the dream of what a vibrant worshipping church could be like here in our little 'Rocky Mountain Appalachia'.
That is the news from our corner of the world this Monday morning.  Thanks for reading!!

The community of Idaho Springs and wider Clear Creek County gathered for Palm Sunday worship at the United Center in Idaho Springs.  The United Center is the former, historic United Methodist church building which has been converted into a community center of sorts.  Nearly 100 people were there--Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Lutherans--we hope and pray another step toward a Neighborhood church in Clear Creek County!
We lingered for awhile on the poignant scene of Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem while around him the crowds were cheering, "Hosanna".  And his words of lament,  "...If you had only known...this day what would bring you peace..." (Luke 19:42 NIV)
Peace here is connected to the Hebrew word 'shalom'.  This word is a much richer, fuller, deeper word than our usual understanding of the word peace as simply, 'absence of conflict.'  It speaks of freedom from care, inner rest, a sphere of living that lifts us up above our circumstances.
I don't know about you, but I aspire to live more consistently in that inner place of calm even if the world and circumstances around me are in chaos.  Sometimes I have that.  Sometimes I don't.  It is part of the fruit of the spirit.  We hold up empty and needy hands each day and ask for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.
Hear this day the wonderful words of blessing God gave to Moses to give to the people of Israel:
"The Lord bless you
and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon
you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you 
and give you PEACE.  (Numbers 6:24-27)

Clear Creek County Colorado is probably not a lot different than most of the country as it relates to a general attitude toward things Christian.  But since it is a relatively small county (less than 10,000 population) and since we live here and know many people, these attitudes seem more defined.
We are reading, together, Philip Yancey's new book, "Vanishing Grace".  In it he recalls an incident Donald Miller wrote about in "Blue Like Jazz".  A reverse confessional booth was set up on a college campus where Christian students confessed their sins rather than expecting it the other way around.  Largely, they were (are) sins of failing to be 'grace-filled' people.
Philip also quotes Hebrews 12:15 which in part says, "...see to it that no one misses the grace of God..."
As we walk about this space of the earth where God has placed us we realize how many people have missed the grace of God.  It has become an empowering thought for us to consider ways that just by our presence here we can be part of introducing people to this great gift.  That may mean, at times, apologizing, for the self-righteous, antagonistic language and behavior. And it may mean confessing our tendencies toward defensive, condemning attitudes that we Christians have often present to the world around us.  What an opportunity and what a challenge!!

I was thinking yesterday and again this morning about the activities and accomplishments that bring meaning and identity to our lives.  And I was thinking further about how the good news of God's love relates to the formation of meaning and identity in our lives.  Everything in the material realm which brings meaning and identity to our lives is relative.  That is to say that there will always be someone we feel superior to or inferior to.
An illustration:  I'm a cyclist.  For many years I lived and road my bike on the quiet flat country roads of rural southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.  I would rarely see another person on a bike and hardly ever anyone who was serious about riding a bike.  I rode pretty hard and fast and grew to think I was a pretty 'hot stuff' on a bike.  Then I moved to Colorado!  The very first day there a neighbor who was also a bike rider saw me hanging my bike in the garage and asked if I wanted to go for a ride with him the next day.  I said,  "sure",  and quickly found out that I wasn't such 'hot stuff' on a bike!
If we find meaning in life and form our identity on activities and accomplishments that are relative we will always be looking up or down on others and basing how we feel about ourselves and others on ever changing standards.
However, the good news tells us that we are of infinite worth to our Heavenly Father, period.  That worth is not based on what we accomplish or how we look but simply that we are and we are loved to death by Him.
This really is good news and it is the good news we are trying to consistently tell here in Clear Creek County Colorado.

Encouragement from some friends has motivated us to re-up our efforts at keeping this communication more current.  Here goes.
-an update on Kevin and Anna Trivits and Daphne and...With our agreement and blessing the Trivits have relocated to Delaware where Kevin took and associate pastor position.  We miss them and their energy and vision but the move was best for this great family.  We continue to pray and dream about another person or couple to join us in this work.
-we have a 'core team'!  We meet every Wednesday night.  We have a meal together and are currently sharing our faith stories.
-Clear Creek Neighborhood Church meets the 2nd and 4th Sundays.  We believe we are starting to build some community.
-Mary meets with two special needs young women.  They really respond to her listening, gentle approach with them.
-Bill is preaching each Sunday, still, at the United Church in Idaho Springs, CO.  The double and overlapping work of starting something new, and attempting to revitalize an existing church is full of challenges and opportunities.
The preaching at the United Church is taking us through the book of Acts.  What a great book to be in alongside our sense of being missionaries here in Clear Creek County Colorado!  A key theme (check it out) in the history of the first century church is the person and work of the Holy Spirit.  Over and over the Holy Spirit, in power, just shows up.  The exciting (and frustrating) part of the work of the Holy Spirit is THERE IS NO FORMULA.  Wouldn't it be nice if we had just the right words to say or just the right actions to take to guarantee the outcomes and results we would like to see.  So, we just pray each morning for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit that we can see with spiritual eyes and be doing 'Kingdom' work even when we aren't aware of it.  And maybe, just maybe something amazing will happen that can only be described as the work of our great and sovereign Heavenly Father.
PLEASE pray for us here in this challenging area of Colorado as we attempt to have a spiritual influence on Clear Creek County.