Those Bumps In the Night?

Hi. We can do this. Help me.

I wish I could tell you I wasn't scared.

I got lost in the woods once, with a friend, a long time ago, and that's a long story. I wasn't scared then. I am now.

There's a lot that rides on my effort raising the monthly $$$ I need to be on campus at Mines full-time this fall. It's when I think about the opportunity to reach into young lives with friendship, sincere mercy, grace--and some tasty hot cocoa on a cold Colorado winter afternoon. Not being able to do that, well, that's when I feel...scared.  

I feel it when...well, when I know people don't respond to team up financially with me...just $25/month...and lots of partners! Lord knows,  I'm not independently wealthy; I can't do this by myself!

I feel it when...well, when I have to remind myself that for every tenth person who decides to share this marvelous burden with me, nine have said--one way or another--"No."

I feel it...well, considering how God has tooled n schooled me--and well! All good stuff. Those skills, hard fought and effective. Plus the school of time and, wow, that uncomfortable honing. My heart hungers to capitalize it all--to sow these seeds into younger lives, to watch them grow. And that's when I feel it...scared. 

I feel it again, remembering now two summers ago, looking down deep into tearing eyes. A young Mines engineer, at school for a degree, with his brother, but at home his mom ran away--ran away! Broke their dad's heart--and of course his n his brothers. A hurt I've salved many times before.   

 I know it. I know getting there will be about sacrifice. Life and the Gospel are both that way. New life comes in dying...and that's hard. So, I get scared. That nobody else wants to feel that discomfort to help me save lives. And yes, it is indeed a partnership.

Nope. My friend n I, long ago, we weren't lost for long--about eight hours. It was what it was, then we were found. It wasn't scary. But God's got people at Mines. He knows where they are, and he want's us to find them. It's really scary--if we don't. 

Please, join me.

Click here!

And that's Dialogues...but just for today.

Dick

Context, Context, Context

How do you know me? 
I've worked as an engineer, directed a Christian campus ministry,

Top:.Wood Talkin Refin., CO Psy License, CA @ Mines, Old West Builders

worked on a couple church teams, owned businesses respectively in building construction and in furniture repair, served administratively for a Christian college start-up, and practiced as a Colorado clinical marriage and family counselor and therapist. Perhaps I met you in one of those contexts? 

Thankfully right now I can still do those things! But at this special time in my life's journey I've troubled myself with the question, "How do I want to spend the next ten years of it?" 


After some careful and prayerful deliberation, I decided...I want to influence young adults....again. So, God willing, I'm orchestrating a return trip into campus ministry, specifically focusing on engineers at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). 

So, I ask you again, how do you know me? Was the role, skill, or person I was for you someone you would recommend to others? Were you grateful to God for my presence and influence in your life at that time...maybe? If I was, or you were, you've glimpsed how God may similarly use me to influence the lives of young (19-21 year old) neophyte engineers. 

To set myself up at CSM I need financial support, but I really want it most from people like you who know me. I need friends--team members--who can and will attach themselves spiritually and prayerfully to my effort with students, faculty and staff at CSM. I need 200 people who will give $25 monthly. It'd be like you treating me for the cost of a coffee sit-down together once every week! 

Will you do it? Join me? Please give this some thoughtful prayer. Then, if you feel God tugging at your heart, go to my web page at Missions Door (click on this), pull down the "Donate" tab at the top right of the page, and support me. If you do it, text me a note at 720-350-2992. Surprise me with that super news...and I'll be in touch.

Oh, and one final question. Have you really thought about what you're doing with your next ten years? 

That's Dialogues...for today. Thanks.
Godspeed,
Dick

Jesus Christ Rose From the Dead!

Yup. It's a historical fact. (But, if you're a doubter, then "I double dog dare you" to disprove it historically.) Consequently, this blog exists to support, illustrate, and encourage people. It supports, i.e., advertises the fact. It illustrates and celebrates it's real-life implications for the Christ follower. It encourages fellow Christ followers and those considering whether-or-not-to-become Christ followers.

Here's a troubling, but predictable observation in the theme of last weeks' post. Remember that I said Christ's resurrection " ...remains as threatening and hated today, by some, as it was in AD 68. Every effort has been made by principalities and powers--the dark rulers of this world and of the unseen spirit world--to discredit that Good News. Hmmm. Where do we see it?

The Word/Integrity Celebration Hymnal, 1997

I wonder if--like me--you've observed the dramatic changes in Christian worship music? Tell me. You be the judge. Are the changes you've seen good, bad, or neutral? Maybe you don't really know? Regardless your judgment, I think (if you're seasoned enough to recognize the changes) we can probably agree on this: Today's contemporary worship songs ARE NOT the worship songs of just 20, 30,...50 years ago. What would you say is most noticeably different? My observation: It's generally their content. Praise and worship aside, the content of today's church worship music has deteriorated dramatically. How? It's the instructive, theological, historical, doctrinal, and self-disciplinary/ persevering themes. Those themes are altogether gone, or they are meagerly present at best.

Contrast, for example, the lyrics of the old hymn, Take Time to Be Holy. Thoughtfully compare, if you can--ya, I know it's an age-related thing--this routinely sung hymn of just 40 years ago (that's 1970) to a worship song of your choosing in 2015.

 Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

OK. You might be saying to me, "Well, that's not fair! You chose a really good one, probably not representative of the majority of past worship songs?" Nope; not true. Just grab a dusty ole hymnal from the closet archives of a church that's been around for a little more than 25 years. Open it up--any page--and read the lyrics. Yup. See what I mean.

So why is this important? How does this relate to my last blog? Again, remember what I said about Christ's resurrection "(It) ...remains as threatening and hated today, by some, as it was in AD 68. Every effort has been made by principalities and powers--the dark rulers of this world and of the unseen spirit world--to discredit that Good News. Those discrediting, dumming down influences are at work everywhere--even inside the church--whether we're aware of it or not.

It is a troubling thought, but it is recognizable in the Church. We can see it. It's in the simple and subtle way we've dumbed down--yes, with good intentions--present day worship. We have slowly and unintentionally emptied  historically profound content from Church worship songs. It's quietly separating the Historical Church, and our legacy, from our Contemporary Worship. Hmmm. Well, you say, "Isn't it really about worship...everyone just really getting into worshiping Jesus regardless of the words, the content, etc?" Really? C-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y think about what you just asked,...then you tell me. Sure--some agreement--worship is "of the heart," but it's also supposed to be a Spirit and Truth thing....right? (John 4:23, 24)

So, again, I ask myself the same question I peddled home mulling last week, "Dick, what are you doing with that truth, and what can you expect will happen as you choose to live it's implications daily?"

How about you...what are your thoughts? (Re-read the old hymn...identify those pieces of content I identified above...hmmm.)


That's Dialogues... for today.

Dick
(Wanna commit to my financial support? Click here...then go the top, right, corner of the page....thanks!)

A Little AM Life-Challenging Summary

This morning I attended a 6:45 AM guys' Bible Study. I was at Faith Lutheran Church in Golden, CO. The men were working through the little epistle of II Timothy. As we discussed portions of its first chapter, I was struck by a short, quick summary statement the Apostle made:  "For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, and therefore I suffer as I do."(vs. 11)

Paul said the reason he was in prison--and soon to die--was because of his preaching and teaching. I thought to myself, "OK, but preaching and teaching what?" Of course,  he states that answer right there, too. He was preaching and teaching the gospel, the Good News, surrounding the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of that news, and because of it's implications to radically influence the lives of people, Paul was intensely persecuted. The Apostle's message--his preaching and teaching--was dangerous. So, he had been arrested, thrown into jail, and faced death--beheading. Recently, we've all "witnessed" the fearsome threat and savageness of beheading. It's no aberration. 2000 years since the Apostle Paul's life ended, that kind of ideological warfare persists. 

In the USA we have lived well outside the hideous reach of such savage persecution. However, through the past 50 years obvious deleterious changes in American societal values are well documented. These probably do not bode well for America. Predictably, the changes are provoking new interpretation of America's founding documents--its Constitution and Bill of Rights. They also contribute new perspective on America's history and new conclusions about its legacy. Hmmm, some interesting albeit tangential thoughts.

Some 2000 years and America's history aside, the truth in the Apostle's simple summary still trumpets the clarion call.  The Good News in the Apostle's gospel, so threatening to princes and kings and rulers then was this: Wow, wow, wow. The implications in that amazing truth literally changed the world. It remains as threatening and hated today, by some, as it was in AD 68. Every effort has been made by principalities and powers--the dark rulers of this world and of the unseen spirit world--to discredit that Good News.

This is important stuff. So, I'm going to say a little more about this in the next blog. Let me end with the question I was asking myself this morning as I peddled my bike toward home. I asked myself again, "Dick, what are you doing with that truth, and what can you expect will happen as you

choose to live it's implications daily?

How about you....what are your thoughts?

That's Dialogues...for today.

Campus Ministry Preparations...ongoing

This past week scheduled the review of program docs and their anticipated update: I suspect I'll be engaged in this process for a while, but here's where it's at right now.

I scheduled time to update my book, Smarter Romance. A major complaint: it's too cerebral (?) and wordy. I'm trying to slim it and tone it down; make it more reader friendly. It's a fail-safe dating and courting system. Progress is being made. I'll need another week of catch as catch can time slots. I do suspect, despite my best effort, it'll remain more of a class text book than an easy-to-read pocket manual--

Upper SW Campus, Colorado School of Mines

eighty pages and a short stack of practical addendum. It's a super concept. (Tooting my own horn.) I plan to teach through it several times in the NW Denver burbs and with Colorado School of Mines students. We'll see.

I reviewed the mentoring program's documents. The initial review spotted dated elements. I've also decided to create a small program board. It'll probably be comprised of 3-5 educator-engineer-business types who catch and share this vision: offering value-focused insights and market-specific skills to transitioning young engineers and entrepreneurs. Interested? In the meantime, I'm gathering the names of some self-selecting mentor candidates. We'll need to come up with a new program name. As it is now it's got a University of Denver focus. 

I'm taking a hard look at all the documents for the divorce support group, Collegians Addressing Issues Related to Divorce (CAIRD). The need for the support is there; I've already heard that loud and clear from students. The plan is to make it known through several local churches,  CSM Pan-Hellenic groups, officially recognized faith-based campus ministries, and word of mouth. 


Last Friday afternoon I met with the front-range area team for Campus Ambassadors. As I updated that team, I rehearsed a statement I have now made several times this past month. “All of this passion, effort and strategic planning is merely academic unless I can get my financial support underwritten.”

Your strategic concern targeted through your focused prayers....my game changer! (James 5:16b)

That's Dialogues for today.

Dick 

PS: My web page at Missions Door for your information (Click here) and my financial support (top right of that web page)



   

An Unrequited Life

Give this some thought...

When you don't know how good you are, you settle for less than you should. When you settle for less than you should, your God-given gifts and talents get squandered. When your gifts and talents get squandered, you experience a nagging sense of frustration and disappointment. When you experience nagging frustration and disappointment, it masquerades as anger...because you don't realize you are settling for less. But remember,  you're settling for less because you don't realize how really good you are. Wow, you can change that!

...So "if the shoe fits, put it on," or maybe you've got a friend who needs to read this. 

That's Dialogues for today.
Godspeed,
Dick

More Than This?

Our life and times are not what they appear to be. I can hardly believe how easy it is to get sucked into the idea this life offers everything there is to take pleasure in... and everything you'd want to take pleasure in! It's The Deception as old as mankind itself, " Did God really say....?" Do you recognize those, Satan's, enticing words to Eve there in the Garden as he worked to deceive her? If we recognize the challenge in those words, the insight such recognition  offers can influence so many of the choices we make daily.

Perhaps some past generations have been better at dealing with this deception, but if you're a student of the Bible and history, I suspect you will agree with me. The world has probably never seen a more energetic and creative "en mass" seduction effort than what we are witnessing and being influenced by right now.

Our Lord Jesus Christ made a very clear and interesting statement in reference to the last times. He said that had his Father not shortened theM, even the very elect would be deceived and fall away. Hmmm.

Give this some thought...prayerfully. Let me know what you are thinking, too. Don't hesitate to get back to me ....I know I'm being very cryptic here. But I suspect that if you are personally invested in this daily discipline, too, the Spirit of God will offer you even more insight  and opportunities for discussion.

Godspeed,
Dick

Contributor Chagrin?

The national economy is not a support-raising friend. Corporate America may be doing better, but small business.....NOT! But even corporate America reflects the economic pinching. Down sizing adjustments have been made in work schedules, employee numbers, hours worked, bonuses, healthcare packages, etc. The money is just not out there.  

So what's a God-trusting wanna-be-campus- missionary supposed to do? Well, it still crystallizes around TRUST.

 I'm frequently asked, "What do you do knowing that so many of the people who supported you in the past are now retiring...living on fixed incomes?"...a question I have found myself answering multiples of times in the past months. The answer to it is simple: expect less. 

 Unless you've done some support raising or you've been faith-supported yourself, you can't know the solid sense of exhilaration I get when someone makes a monthly commitment of $10, $15, $20. It's HUGE! It's like lifting a cold drink to one's lips on a really hot working day. In the context of faith support it merely means I need many more of those. The reassurance I get when my friends--the people who know me well--are behind me, that they are there, praying and emotionally invested...well, it's irreplaceable. 


I've also discovered Contributor Chagrin. That's my label for what friends feel who want to give, but slip into a three step faith-deterioration skid.  Sympathetic and well-intentioned they realize they can't give "enough." Disappointed and maybe even a tad ashamed(?) of what they can give, they procrastinate and....and then don't do anything! Oooh, that's thrice the pain! It's painful for them that they can't give "enough," that they've done nothing  yet--and then don't do anything; and it's painful for me because I know they intended to support me, but they haven't, and my support account's growth curve is flat, flat, f-l-a-t. So, please let me encourage you, "Don't be that guy!" I can promise  you that what you think of as "a little bit" will go a long, long way. So, again, here's my  Missions Door web page, see the top right-hand corner, and click!


In just a few days I will be flying to the Tucson area. I'll be joining other Missions Door ministry staff from the Southwest and Rocky Mountain mission regions for a collaborative conference. It'll be encouraging to spend time with these men and women similarly focused on ministry efforts throughout these two regions. The event, referred to as SWaRM (Southwest and Rocky Mountain...hmmm), will offer some strategic encouragement, program planning insights, spiritual focus, and fellowship.

Thanks..n..keep praying.

Dick
Hey...if you've not done so already, please sign-up at the top of this page for my blog updates. The update notices will then show up in your email. Thanks again!

OK, so how do you spell relief?

Take that question out of the narrow context of a Rollaids commercial. Then, if we make it about stress management, it asks a broader and every bit as practical question: "How do we manage stress; what's our chosen method?" 

I think as a general rule we learn how to deal with stress at home growing up. Dad and and mom, brothers, sisters, uncle Fred, ...and even our friends "teach" us.  Of course the most influential members in that very abbreviated list are those closest to us, those around whom we spend our most formative hours, days, months, and years. We watch and learn the details of the stress-management process, the necessary management tools, how and where to get those necessary tools, and what the process is supposed to look and feel like. 

As we get older we tend to apply those stress-management skills to all kinds of things. It's become pretty automatic; we just tend to do it. Again as a general rule, I think that's probably not a bad thing in and of itself, but it can get really out or hand. It can get crazy and personally destructive. As our stress mounts--around personal issues, work challenges, relationship issues, money concerns, academics, romantic drama, competitive goals, etc.,--our stress management "stuff" can shift into overdrive, and get really out of hand before we even realize it! With all that stress around us we just want to feel good. That occasional cola can become an every several hour "gotta have one." That wonderful morning coffee can become a love affair with the coffee pot. Shopping for our weekly needs becomes shopping for shopping's sake--all just because it's a welcome diversion...and it feels so good. We're visiting feel-good places, experiences, substances, things, people, situations more, and we linger there or with them a little longer. I'm sure you get my drift. We can very happily become the "bond slave" of our own stress management tools and behaviors.  So, I've discovered it's often necessary to take a close-up and carefully examine my own stuff!

 In his Epistle to the Philippians the Apostle Paul emphasizes moderation--"Let your moderation be known to all men..." (Phil. 4:4ff). And in his Letters to the Romans (12:1,2) and the Corinthians (2 Cor. 14:14 ff.) he challenges us to develop intentional, conscious awareness of our mental and emotional routines...and to be always carefully aware of them and managing them. The gospel writer, John, late in his life, similarly engages this theme when he closes his First Epistle with the fatherly admonition, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols!" (I John 5:21).



So, how do you spell RELIEF? Let's support one another around the development of good "stuff self-management" skills, and in ways that do not become self-compromising or self-destructive. In a world that appears to be going crazy with excesses and related excuses for all kinds of craziness (around things that used to be recognized unequivocally as aberrant behaviors), may we support one another to do the good disciplines. Let's vow to keep ourselves free so we really can be Children of God who love and do "good works." (e.g., Matt. 5:16; Titus 2:7)



Dick
 Missions Door page (click there)

Birds of a Feather

Designing and building stuff was always my thing. Even as a kid those events were my "sweet spots." After high school I briefly studied Architecture, but some timely observations triggered me to change my focus to engineering. Four years later my earned Bachelor's degree (BS, Engineering, 1970) from Oregon State University was from the department of Production Technology with a minor in Business Administration. (The same program at OSU is now advertised as Civil Engineering Technology.) 

In school I was an active member of the student chapter of Construction Engineering Students and the student Association of General Contractors. My after-graduation ambitions were modest by today's standards and a special young lady had also entered my life. My career plans were put on a two-year hold by the Vietnam war conflict, then....finally...I got an engineering job with CH2M-Hill. My role found me involved supervising the resurfacing of runways at Portland International Airport and then the construction of a 1.5 million gallon water tank on Mt. Sylvania in Lake Oswego, Oregon. 

I was smitten.

 But the winds of change were blowing. My plan soon came to a grinding halt. Along the way our first two sons had been born, and long story short, I lost my job. So I decided this might be a good time to get some seminary training. (Did you hear the logic in that?) Then, precious people God placed around me through those years and some other related uncertainties together influenced my career path. God only knows all those details. (Proverbs 16:9)

When I at was OSU all my close friends were engineers. We hung together through those special undergrad years. As a general rule we were all very studious...and not a slacker among us! Even at that time I was very aware of God's presence and call on my life. I translated the challenges I found in the gospel and personally forwarded them to my interested friends. Some of them developed vital faith and similarly became followers of Jesus Christ. That piece--the like-minded element in it--intrigued and affirmed me then, and I believe it will play an important role in my present and future support-raising activities.

I know that fellow engineers and engineer-minded men and women understand the territory of the profession. So I believe asking fellow engineers to get behind my effort for the CSM campus is both appropriate and strategic! 90 percent of CSM's students are engineering focused. Those graduates work really hard for their degrees, and they're of particular interest to me. As alums, CSM holds a special place in their hearts, it's a "birds of a feather" sort thing. If they are also Christ followers, they share a Kingdom passion for the CSM community and its people. So, I am particularly seeking their insight, suggestions, their prayers and their financial support. 

So again, I'm directing everyone who wants to help me to go to my web page at Missions Door (click there) and see the top right corner of that page for donation next steps. That's the shortest distance between getting the word out and my being able to actually get started on campus getting the WORD out! 

Pray: 

• For strategic people connections...and for God's favor
• For the perseverance in the use and management of time and energy juggling what I'm doing right now
• For wisdom and insight in my decision-making processes

Dick
 

A Ministry That Can Be: Some humbling and exciting thoughts....and prayers

 The very thought that I could again be focused to touch peoples' lives, and this time on the Colorado School of Mines campus...well, it's precious!  Since my successful application to Missions Door eight months ago, I've grown increasingly excited and marvelously aware of the opportunity I've been given. 

1977 Western Seminary Grad

I remember feeling this way in Oregon, in my early thirties. At that time I had recently graduated from Western Seminary. I'd been appointed by an international missions organization (the same one!) and I was trying to finish up my support-raising effort and move to Colorado. The move and support-raising success triggered an adventure at the University of Denver. It became a 15-year tenure at DU, of course now history, that saw scores of students come to Jesus Christ. It similarly impacted the lives of many precious members of the University's academic, administrative, athletic and faculty communities.

This past s-l-o-w eight months have prompted some interesting, albeit very unofficially prognostic comparisons between then, in my 30's..and now.

A young missionary family serving  the DU campus, 1987

• Then....I had never started a university-focused ministry before--especially on a campus with an earned reputation (at that time) that said to Protestant evangelical ministries, "Go away; leave us alone!" Also, outside of my personal experience as a undergraduate student, I didn't really know how a college or university worked or was put together. But now...I have that very successful ministry PLUS 15 years of administrative insight at Centers for Christian Study International and VP for Student Affairs at Rivendell College. I even helped start the college! 
• Then....fresh out of seminary, I had a pretty tight set of expectations for what a good, biblical ministry should accomplish. I had excellent biblical training and understanding around the rebellions and sinful nature of man. However, I had almost zero training or insight to practically love and support tragically fallen and emotionally broken people to move beyond their emotional ruts and relationship scars. But now...I have the academic degrees, pedigrees, 20 years of proven experience, and some modest confidence to recognize first my limitations and then those of the precious people God brings my way to empower them.
• Then....I was largely ignorant of university systems, administrative protocols and the reasons behind them. I really had little knowledge of how it all worked together to support student integrity, personal and community growth and development, or how it all contributed to a community-college/university reputation. But now....I've "been there; done that." I know it inside and out, backwards and forwards. For example, I've created the documents that support a student community's living environment and that help distinguish it as a healthy, supportive and cooperative system.
• Then....I was a young guy focused predominately on collegians. But I worked hard to relate and be relevant to the administrative echelon, to departmental faculty, and to the university's team staff--the grounds crews, facility and maintenance personnel, security, etc. But now....because I've "been there and done that too" I've found I can communicate easily with administrators, faculty, and staff on a peer level, share war stories and count battle scars--yes--of the professional and the life-relationship varieties. 

• Then....my general life experience was comparatively limited. Understandably, it made it harder for me to see how to make student development programs practical and progressively relevant. But now...I can see how and why I was near-sighted in my development perspective. I know, oh so much better, what to do, for example, in both supporting and training my own student leaders, but also in my attempt to galvanize more general curiosity and involvement of the student community and its diverse leadership base.  

OK...Please read this blog entry in context with my many other entries. I'm not really trying to toot my own horn, but I do realize no one else will do it for me. 

As you can tell, I'm genuinely excited and humbled to be in the position I'm in, this opportunity God has given me....again! I covet your prayers, your financial support, your insight, and your collaborative partnership. Again, if you have not been there already, please visit my web page at Missions Door (click there).


Dick

Dead People Walking?

A friend was in our home fidgeting with his new mobile phone. Head down, deeply concentrating on details he saw in his screen,  he walked slowly, albeit purposefully, across the living room still carrying a marginally intelligent conversation"? I quipped, "Dead man walking?," and his broken concentration erupted in laughter. If you have a smart phone....you know the territory.

Then the spiritual truth in the situation broke in on me. How easy it is to get lost in the spiritually distracting demands of a moment, of the week or the month...of my life. All the contemporary important tyrannical stuff subtly inserts itself into my intimate routines; it easily becomes the stuff of life. Ugh.

No cell phone criticism intended here, but in that moment I was curiously reminded how important it is for me to practice the reality of my Spiritual life (Colossians 3:1ff); 

• to consciously and purposefully dedicate myself to disciplined parallel commitments that contextualize today's demanding temporal circumstances (Romans 12: 1-2).
• to appropriately subject myself to the always present and ever jealous availability of our marvelous loving God (I John 5: 21).
• to live in the unfathomable truth that He literally died for me in time and space (John 3:16)!
• to invest myself in the implicit demands that spiritual truth makes on my time and how I use it (Philippians 2: 5-11) .
• to develop the variety of life and spiritual disciplines (virtues) and skills I am commanded to master and humbly practice (Galatians 5:22; I Peter 1: 3-9). 

 Dick

Your Plan, My Plan & Profundity?

When someone asks me, "How's it going," what do I say? I suspect that answer tends to depend on whether the person asking is really a friend or just an acquaintance--and whether I think he or she really expects more than a superficial answer.

Brandow Brothers

But there's another contributing influence to my response, too. It's about whether or not what's going on for me--how my day or life is going in the moment--seems to match-up with how I think it should feel or look or be. Implicitly, my answer to the question now perhaps becomes a mild reflection of how well I think life is playing out. Is my day or life going according to my plan and expectations? Is it on course (happily!), off course (a bummer), irretrievably off course (a real big downer)?  

Sis Suzie and Dad

Of course, how "on" or "off" course my life feels gets emotional. We all do that. And as we all know, our emotions tend to predict our behavior. So, wisely and appropriately I remind myself how Biblical scripture unequivocally challenges me, a Christ follower, to police my thoughts, be real (not phony) AND to think profoundly! 

Profundity is demonstrated in one's resolve. It's about purposefully, every day, and especially in such moments, choosing to anchor and then interpret the events and circumstances of my life from a broader perspective. It's one that stretches beyond the serendipitous influence of mere time-space limited scenarios and circumstances. 

Three Generations

Here are some simple Biblical examples I know of  that illustrate this kind of resolve--and profundity:

• Abraham's response to Isaac's inquiry with the statement, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." Genesis 22:8
• Job's response to his wife's inquiry, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him!" Job 13:15
• Jesus' anguished statement to his Father in the garden, "... yet not my will but thine be done." Matthew 26:39
• Jesus' John 9:3 statement to his disciples that the reason behind the blind man's troubling situation was, "...that the works of God might be manifest in him (the blind man)." 
• Peter's statements to Jewish Christian exiles, "...though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials." 1Peter 1: 3-6, the contrast between vs s. 3-5 with vs. 6.
• Jesus' admonition to his disciples to order their whole lives around Kingdom principles and priorities, "...but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things (food, clothing, housing) will be yours as well." Matthew 6:33 
• I think of the song, "This world is not my home I'm just passing through, my treasures are laid up away beyond the blue, the angels beckon me from heavens open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore..."

Hmmm.

So, how's it going?

Dick

A Timely Support-Raising Update

Regarding my effort to begin a Campus Ambassador ministry outreach on the Colorado School of Mines campus, the support-raising challenge still comes first. 

I am directing everyone who wants to help me to go to my web page at Missions Door (click there) and see the top right corner of that page for donation next steps. That's the shortest distance between getting the word out and my being able to actually get started on campus getting the WORD out!

I have chosen to get my support raised before I begin actually working on campus. That decision promises NO DISTRACTIONS to the ministry effort once I actually get there. I'm really looking forward to being able to just focus on the ministry effort, new student and faculty contacts, and the general and three-dimensional adventure (spirit-soul-body) that a new ministry effort like this introduces.

In the meantime, I am p-a-i-n-fully (and frustratingly) distracted.  I'm doing furniture restoration and repair, maintaining a small counseling practice called Fine Tune Your Life...and raising the financial support.The sooner I can stop doing those other things, the better! But I must do those things now, too.

Would you like to see some miracles happen...and be a vital vicarious participant? If you've not already gone to my web page to join with me, do it now (above). Then text me that you're prayerfully anticipating some miraculous things at CSM....and pray with me for rapid success in this important support-raising effort. Subscribe (top of this page) to this blog for routine blow-by-blow life and ministry updates.

Godspeed.

Dick
(Proverbs 16:9)

Sex Charades, Individualism, Gouche-ism, or simple Deception?

What kind of fish are you?

I live a long distance from the so-called cutting edge of societal "progress." But the majority of uninvolved blokes like me used to be able to figure this stuff out. It fell under the category of "common sense," which is increasingly difficult to find....(and when it is found, it's ridiculed). Culturally compromising sexual practices are being encouraged and experimented with. This is stuff that when it was talked about, even behind closed doors, used to bubble the paint on the woodwork and lift the wall paper on the surrounding walls.

For example, it really isn't cool to sleep with your boyfriend, do "hook-ups," decide you're bi-sexual, or make it your practice to chase around promiscuously with the same or the opposite sex, etc. (although we're being told that it is...and never mind the insightful research). Can anyone spell, s-t-u-p-i-d! It's a fact--and you should know it too. Why? Because I'm very familiar--as we all should be--with the dynamics  and tragic implications of addictive behavior.  

American society is increasingly committed to it's own haphazard destruction---and the vast majority of us appear to do our level best to ignore it! That, in and of itself, is N-U-T-S. We humans are amazingly susceptible to our own pleasure producing endorphins. It's a basic tenant of social (forensic and clinical) psychology that "all behavior has meaning." Why? We predictably repeat pleasurable (stimulating) and pain-avoiding (pleasurable) experiences. And, for example, just about nothing is more pleasurable than the sensual payoffs--the endorphin pumps--we get in and around sex and our sexuality. Duh!

Similarly, there is just about nothing more predictable than the growing preoccupation we can observe in, for example, all things sexual or sexually stimulating. As more and more people are doing, exploring, or just talking about "it" (whatever that "it" is),  the social stigmas around "it" declines (since the need for a social pain-avoidance diminishes). At the same time the potential for the experimentation around "it" GROWS. For example, the personal and societal appetite for the physical, emotional, and psychological pleasure associated with "it" gets bigger and bigger.

So, what's so bad about it, if so many people really seem to want "it?" It's ADDICTION. Contrary to the pervasive PC arguments of our day, it's really not about tolerance, character building, diversity, or progressiveness. There is nothing noble, creative, independent, progressive, or even praise worthy here. It's just stupid, permissive, enabling and "falling down drunk" ADDICTION. 

My dad used to say, "Any old dead fish can float down the stream, but it takes a live one to swim up the stream." So, what kind of a fish are you...are you daily practicing your crawl stroke?

NEXT TIME...A metaphor: 70 years of sugar, processed foods and simple carbs, type II diabetes and a society in trouble.

Got Obstacles Ahead?

There is stuff to say about a support raising effort. As I prepare myself for a fruitful outreach ministry at the Colorado School of Mines, the first step is that of raising my needed financial resources...including my salary. Of course that comes through a detailed ministry budget and the administrative oversight of Campus Ambassadors parent organization, Missions Door.

Some people predictably ask me, "Why do you need to raise your own support...isn't ministry hard enough of itself?" One of my answers to that question rehearses how the process helps me discover people with vision and heart who will partner with me. These stand financially and prayerfully behind me--invisible warriors, as they become--for my on-campus presence. Their passion is, in part, because of their financial investment through me for the Kingdom of God. I feel it assigns me a precious and sacred trust.

There's another answer I offer to this question, too. I sincerely believe I am partnering with God in this ministry effort. I want and need to learn to trust Him with it and in it. A big part of my own faith-growth starts anew and matures, often AWKWARDLY, in this support-raising crucible. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

So what's next...where does the faith road go from here? God knows and I'll follow Him. What are the challenges ahead for you?  I Peter 1:3-7.

Got a life plan?

"Life's Road"...near Birkenfeld, OR

I had an early plan for my life, but I'm here to tell you that it looked a lot different from the one I'm living. For example, if I was doing My plan...   

• My boys would have had a great deal more familiarity with the Pacific Northwest...and a relationship with their Grandparents--my parents!
• My dad and mom, sisters and brother--and my life's earliest friendships--wouldn't have been truncated by a 35-year hiatus to the Front Range of Colorado.
• I'd be a seasoned builder of custom homes with a reputation for creative, innovative inside-outside living designs.
• Yada, yada, yada, ...and you get the idea.

As a general rule, life just doesn't work our way. Either life gets in our way all by itself --and God permits it--or GOD himself gets in our way to change-up our plans (eg., Jonah 1: 1&2; Acts 9:3&4; Proverbs 16:9).

Today we're marking the 12th year since those horrific events of 9/11/2001. we're all remembering, as confusing as it may be sometimes, that God permitted some of the worst to happen in and around NYC. Lives were lost and other lives were dramatically changed--and let's not to forget the influence those events have had on all Americans as a whole!

Perhaps you're wrestling with something today--maybe even something other than 9/11? It may be that whatever it is, it seems to make no sense? Hmmm. Might you be wrestling with God or against something else he has permitted to impact your life?  

Of course I can't know, but I know there is that for which we can be completely confident, and it's this: HE promises--and has already demonstrated conclusively that our existence, our life, yours and mine in time and space today, right now--is not all there is. He promises his followers he will make-up for the sacrifices, the disappointments and the hurts we experience here, if we will just trust in HIS rewarding plan and faithfulness for our forever future (1Peter 1:3-8).  

So, together, let's swallow hard. Let's challenge ourselves to assume an attitude that says, "Yes, I will trust Him...and with his help I will persevere!" Then, let's watch what God can and will do through our dedicated lives.

"For God is at work in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure."...and..."I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him--for his safe keeping--until that day." Philippians 2:13 and II Timothy 1:12.

Bless you.

Dick

Entangled in a web....of my own making?

I walked into our chicken house and found a poor scared little mouse. At first I thought she was just hanging out in some string dangling in a corner of the feed area. But she didn't run away--and then I realized she couldn't!

A closer look discovered she was painfully hung-up in the string. Yes, in her nest-building effort she had become entangled in the very strings she was trying to drag away to her nest. She was horribly stuck! Check out this video of the situation.

What happened next? As you observed, my best attempts to help her wiggle from her confines didn't work. She was terrified, so I couldn't touch her for fear of being bitten. At the end of the video I had to put my phone down to retrieve some scissors. I'd carefully cut her free....and that worked, but even then it wasn't easy. Probably hours of wriggling had tightened the the strings across and around her little belly and back legs. She was wearing a tiny string girdle. Gradually my persistence to free her and her not so unconfused patience with my help prevailed. She was finally able to slip down, scamper across the floor, and then race out the door into the yard. 

It occurred to me how this little Mousie Incident might offer a valuable instructive lesson. How easily we can become imperiled by the very things we think are in our best interests. (Proverbs 16: 9) What we may initially anticipate as a blessing can sometimes become...a curse. But how does and how can one discern the difference--before it's too late? I think the key is time and wise (informed) perseverance. When or as we become (let's say) "vexed" by our effort to persevere, and fearful of missing out on our dream--one that's intended to be in your very best interests--it's important to be asking some prayerful questions in the counsel of and with the input of some close, caring friends. 

As you know, I'm in the midst of a challenging support-raising effort. God willing its successful outcome will place me in a ministry role on the CSM campus. BUT I have a time-limited window of opportunity to make that happen. That fact alone could emotionally impale me. So far the effort isn't going well, which could make me really fussy. But I'm not going to let it beat me; I will not allow myself to be vexed by the to-this-point-poor-outcome of my best efforts, nor will I allow myself to assume OR DEMAND that the support-raising success HAS TO HAPPEN! (Proverbs 3: 5 & 6) I will trust in the God of the challenge, not in the nature, promises, or outcome of the challenge.

I sincerely appreciate your ongoing prayers on my behalf...and please stay away from "mousie hang-ups!"

Dick