Inspiration

This is a follow-up to last week’s blog post.  I believe we all need inspiration.  I define inspiration as anything beyond oneself that causes wonder and awe.  I find inspiration in many places.  For example in watching the TV show The Voice more than once I have been moved to tears by the contestants’ superb performances.  Occasionally I’ll attend a youth gymnastics event.  As I see the kids from my church give a wholehearted effort, it lifts my spirit.  One of the most moving experiences I have is observing nature, hence the name of this blog Creation Musings.  Three weeks ago my wife, Mary, and I enjoyed a hike over West Marron Pass in West-central Colorado near Aspen.  So last week we took two close friends so they could enjoy the hike up the pass a couple of miles and observe the abundant wildflowers adorning the landscape.  There were even more than three weeks ago.  No photograph or painting does justice to God’s creativity in the wilderness.  As you can see from the picture, and last week’s post, there were several varieties including Colorado Columbine, larkspur, lupine, four colors of Indian paintbrush, monks hood, purple daisies, kings crown, alpine sunflowers and even sneeze weed (the yellow drooping flower).  And of course there were many other flowers we could not identify.  Alas that will, once again, be our experience next spring for we will have forgotten most of what we learned this year and will have to relearn them next year.  I guess that means we are getting older, another part of God’s creative design.  Rather than just looking at pictures of God’s creation, therefore, get out and enjoy first-hand the beauty God has made and you will be inspired.  Inspiration will give you a renewed perspective, it will help you think more clearly, it will make you grateful for the beautiful world in which we live and you will further your appreciation for God who has given us all this to enjoy. 

Explosion of Wildflowers

Last week, my wife Mary and I went on our 35th anniversary hike.  Actually our anniversary is not until August but we wanted to take advantage of the peak of the wildflower season between Crested Butte and Aspen, Colorado.  We drove to Schofield Park and started hiking the scenic West Maroon Creek trail. It went over 12,500 foot West Maroon Mass to the Maroon Lake trailhead 11 miles later.  Two days later we did the return hike on the same trail, 22 miles and 11,000 vertical feet.  It was an awesome experience.  We saw shoulder high Colorado Columbine, Indian Paintbrush in four colors, Kings Crown, Blue Bells, Queen Anne's Lace, Purple Daisies, Richardson Geranium, Asters, Elephant Heads and a whole host of other wildflowers that we could not identify.  Plus the backdrop was the spectacular and iconic Maroon Bells and Pyramid Peak to the north and Purity Basin and Bellevue Mountain to the south of the pass.  We met new friends Mike and Sandy on the way over and coming back we made other friends Greg and Rio.  For me it was three days of sensory indulgence in the Maroon Bells Wilderness. We both felt so refreshed after the hike.   God's creation does that. It refreshes and renews encouraging us to better serve him and others.  Plus it gives us a healthy perspective - that sense of smallness surrounded by the huge world of his creativity. Are you losing your zest for life?  Take a hike and have God's beautiful creation, his explosion of wildflowers, refresh and inspire you. 

The sky is falling?

You would think so if you have been reading the news recently.  Escalating racial tensions in Ferguson, Missouri concerning the tragic killing of teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson police portends to develop into one of the most divisive racial issues of 2014.  In northern Iraq hundreds Christians and a small group of Yazidis have been systematically exterminated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group because they will not convert to Islam.  It is one of the worst humanitarian crises in 20 years.  In Western Africa, specifically Liberia, over 1200 people have contracted the deadly Ebola virus causing fear the world over that it might spread into a pandemic.  I’ve heard fearful people callously say to close the borders and deny the infected medical care to keep it in Africa.  In my home town one of the most effective ministries serving the homeless community has had their rent increase by $1200 per month threatening to shutter their doors.  The rent increase ironically is by the county housing authority.  In each of the above it seems needy humans are being marginalized.  So what can we do? The first is to pray for each of the situations and ones like them because all involved are image bearers of God.  As the foremost part of God’s creation, every human being is of inestimable worth in God’s eyes and is thus sacred and valuable to Him.  Next we need to tell others how much God loves them and can be trusted during difficult times.  Use a personal experience to add credibility to what you claim.  Third we can ask God to change our hearts and make us more compassionate toward those who are in difficulty.  When we spend time with the less fortunate, it is amazing how real they become and we no longer look on them impersonally or dispassionately as someone else’s problem.  The three suggestions will reorient our focus upward helping us to see that God is in control and nothing takes him by surprise.  Then the sky will not be falling but God’s grace will shower us with perspective and blessing in every tragedy we experience or see.  So today exercise faith in a mighty God who understands and will graciously carry out his will in each of these tragic situations. 

Uganda the Pearl of Africa

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Uganda for the third time.  The country is absolutely stunning with teeming rivers, diverse forests and unique wildlife.  Yet Uganda’s greatest resource is its humble and gentle people.  Their smiles brighten even the darkest of days and their hearts are warm and inviting.  I took a team of 15 to help with Hines Ugandan Ministries that serve over 200 orphaned children and house them in homes of extended family.  Personally it was a highlight for me to meet Mary, the young lady my wife and I have supported for over 10 years.   The picture shows me with Mary after we had lunch together.  The most fulfilling experience for me was to see our group of 15 gently and boldly share their faith as they visited homes in the village of Kamonkoli.  God used the fifteen to lead over 40 to a personal relationship with him through faith in Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death for them on the cross.  It was encouraging to see so many accept his death and penalty for their sin. Like us they could never pay the penalty.  God created us to love and serve him forever, but because of sin, that goal has been frustrated ever since humanity’s fall in the Garden of Eden.  That is why we need Jesus.  I’m so pleased that once again God took me to a delightful place to draw me closer to himself as I witnessed others being drawn by the good news Jesus dying on the cross to save them from the penalty of sin.  To God be the glory! 

Marmot Madness

Several years ago my son Nate and I hiked 7 miles into Chicago Basin and spent the next two days climbing the three fourteeners there. In Colorado peaks over 14,000 feet are commonly referred to as fourteeners.  There are 54 of them.  The first day we climbed Sunlight and Windom. The next day we climbed Eulos Peak.  On the south side of Eulos we glissaded down the valley and made it down in record time.  Glissading is where you ride on your bottom using your ice axe to control or arrest your descent.  It is thrilling but oh so cold on the bottom.  Mine was numb when we finished.  It was the middle of the afternoon when we arrived back at camp, so we took a nap.  Since it was warm we left our tent flap open and laid on top of our sleeping bags.  After about 30 minutes Nate felt a tickle on his ring finger toe. He looked up and saw a marmot staring him in the face and looking at his toe.  Then the marmot clamped down on his toe and Nate exclaimed, “Dad that marmot just bit me!”  So I looked at the toe and we dressed the wound and put Neosporin on it.  Fortunately the toe did not give Nate any problems the next day as we hiked out seven miles.  In all of life there are marmots that could destroy meaningful experiences relegating them into the marmot madness category.  I think God plans it that way so we will continue to walk with him by faith and not by sight.  Allow marmot madness to cause your eyes to look up in faith.

Summer is here

Summer is finally here. Yesterday my wife and I hiked the Twin Peaks trail and came out at the Silversheild trail-head in Ouray, Colorado.  The wildflowers were just coming out of a long winter's nap.  We saw lupine, strawberry, holly, pasque flower, Indian paintbrush and many others in splendid natural arrangements.  And this is just the beginning!  I'm always amazed at creation waking up after winter.  Spring in the high country is much later but no less vivid.  In late July the southern Colorado mountains put on an explosion of color that tickle the senses and encourage the soul.  God wrote about that in his Bible.  His creation is designed by him to reveal his eternal power and divine nature (Rom. 1:20).  Once we acknowledge that in creation we know God is there.  So I encourage you to make the most of this summer and spend time relishing God's creation from splendid wildflowers to majestic mountains to meandering streams to unique wildlife.  You will be refreshed and your spirit will be renewed

Spring Is Here!

Spring is here so what about your faith? Is it springing into action?  Are its buds swelling and opening with new blossoms of blessing?  Are those flowers leading to a fruitful year?

I ask myself these questions each spring around Easter. With the promise of the resurrection fresh in our minds, what is God going to accomplish in our lives?  He offers new life and challenges to us daily.  Why not look to Him for the answers.

God’s pleasure is for us to share our faith with others. Jesus' parting words to us in Matthew were to go and make disciples.  I’m convinced this is the missing component for Christians today. We complain about our secular culture, but are we doing anything to transform it?

A few months ago in our town, a group of well-meaning but misguided believers visited the public school superintendent’s office making a demand with a letter from a Christian attorney. That is not the best way to make friends. In fact it created a hostile atmosphere.  Two months ago, myself and two other pastors visited with the High School principals and apologized for the previous encounter. This put them at ease; and we then discussed the idea of moving the traditional high school graduations held on Sunday to later in the day.  The graduations cut into one of the pastor’s worship services as her worship leader is a music teacher with the schools.   One high school principal mentioned that he would prefer graduation be on Friday.  That is something I have desired as well.  Then we mentioned that for the past seven years we have enjoyed a Sharefest project to assist the schools.  During Sharefest the Christians of our community go out and do service projects in the community for anyone who asks.  That led to one of the principals telling us how badly the High School baseball fence needed painting.  So on Saturday, May 3^rd, we will be painting that fence.  That meeting began to repair damaged fences and warm an icy relationship between the faith community and the schools. And it will continue to show the love of Jesus in practical ways and thus provide future opportunities for us to share our values as people of faith.