Several of my family members have gotten a weighted blanket to sleep under. They weigh anywhere from 10 to 25 lbs and have pockets that have sand or something like that sewn into the blanket. They all told me how wonderful they were and how much better they slept. I am always interested in sleeping more soundly, so I bought one. I got a ten-pounder and figured I could work up to twenty pounds if it worked. The first night I tried it, I went right to sleep, but I had a dream that I was getting buried alive by some bad guys. I woke up clawing out of my grave and found my heavy blanket on the floor. I have slept with it for about five days now and am getting used to it; no more weird dreams. I do seem to be sleeping more soundly, and I am having little problem with my restless leg syndrome any more. I have read that they recommend a blanket weight that is ten percent of your body weight, so I will move up to 15 pounds and then to 20 lbs in the next couple of months. Several other family members want my ten and fifteen-pounders when I go to the 20-pounder. One of the results of the blanket is that I don’t move much in my sleep now. I wake up in the same position I was when I went to sleep. I am sleeping more soundly and seldom wake up until the alarm sounds. Every night, when I climb into bed, I pray a little prayer, thanking the Lord for the day and confessing all known sins to Him. At the end, I say, “Lord, this would be a good night for me to die and go to be with You, but if that isn’t Your will, I will work hard tomorrow for You.” Professional athletes often say, “One game at a time.” I say, “One day at a time.”

I saw someone at the Sportsman’s Show this past week from a distance I haven’t seen for years. I don’t like them very much, so I turned around so as not to have them see me and be forced into a conversation I wouldn’t enjoy. It happened quickly, and what I did was primarily instinctive and unthought-out. After I turned around and walked away, I started thinking about the past as far as this individual was concerned and got emotionally worked up by my thoughts. I got a cup of coffee and some fries from an outside vendor and went and sat in my truck for a while. It wasn’t long before I repented of my bitterness, forgave them, and prayed for God’s blessing in their life. I went back in looking for them and was committed to warmly greeting them and talking about their life and how things were going. I never saw them again, so I assume I would have done well in my encounter with them. As I think about that event today, I am surprised at how easily past offenses stick with us and how quickly negative emotions pop into my heart when I see someone I don’t like from my past. I still don’t like them in that I probably won’t invite them to go fishing with me, but I can still love them, forgive them, and talk to them graciously if I see them again. Living life successfully is living by principles, commitments, and convictions, not emotions. I know what is right before God, and He will give me the strength to live it if I choose to.

I have watched every one of the 59 Super Bowl Games played. The first one was when I was a Junior in High School. The Green Bay Packers won that one and the next, with Bart Star as the quarterback. I watched it at a friend’s house because I was invited and some of my other friends were going. We didn’t have football at the High School I attended; I think it was the first football game I had watched. When I got to college, it was a big deal, and I watched them with a bunch of friends. When I got married, Patty’s Dad, who was a football star at the University of San Francisco, took me to a Raiders game when they were still in Oakland, and we watched 49ers games on television every time they played when we visited them. That is why I am a San Francisco 49ers fan today. I don’t know the actual numbers, but I can’t imagine any other event in our culture with more hoopla around it and more people watching it than the Super Bowl. I also can’t imagine the pressure the starting quarterbacks have on them as they play, the disappointment they feel if they lose, and the glory if they win.
I often wonder what it is going to feel like to stand before Jesus at the “Judgment Seat of Christ,” have my life examined by Him, and receive glory or loss of glory. I think about that event a lot. I have memorized dozens of verses about that event and meditate on them often. I start every day out praying a prayer of commitment, and the closing sentence in my prayer is, “I will live today as if it is my last before standing before You and giving an account of my life and being recompensed by You for what I have done with my life, either good or bad. Please help me to serve You well today.”

Occasionally, something happens that makes me very upset. I can get myself tied in a knot by rehearsing it and going over and over it in my mind. Such angry and bitter thinking is wrong. I have verses memorized that I choose to think about to replace my wrong thinking. Every time my mind goes to the wrong place, I choose to meditate on the designated verses. I also pray a lot for the people I am angry at or the situation that has me upset, and I pray and ask for peace, joy, self-control, and wisdom. It usually doesn’t take long before I am cheerful and happy despite the event I don’t like. Sometimes, the event simply causes me to fret and worry. Many “what if” thoughts pop into my mind that cause stress. Again, I choose to think about certain key verses and pray about the situation. At first the wrong thoughts keep popping into my head, but after awhile after kicking them out repeatedly the thoughts will come less and less often until I have peace.
I have counseled many people who don’t conquer their wrong thinking, and it is only a matter of time before they do or say something stupid that causes the situation to worsen. I visited with a Dad who hadn’t talked with a son for several years. As we discussed it, I saw that it started with a minor conflict that worsened because of undisciplined thinking. When we rehearse an event in our mind, it gets more serious than it is and creates a lot of wrong emotions in us.
The devil is a master at getting into those situations, and by talking to us and hearing him in our thoughts, he accelerates our wrong thinking. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

The Jefferson Baptist Church’s Sportsman’s Show at the Linn County Fairgrounds starts today at 1:00 pm and goes through Sunday. The Portland Sportsman’s Show is next Friday. I am going to both. I will be at the JBC show most of the time it is open, and will help if needed in whatever way I can. The main thing I will do is walk around and pray for the people I see and talk to people as I have the opportunity about our church and Jesus. At the Portland show, I will just walk around, covet the stuff I see, and maybe buy some things I think I need!
I enjoy both of these Shows very much and look forward to going to both with great anticipation. I enjoy fishing and hunting, and that is mostly what these shows are about. I will watch the videos the various guides are showing about a dozen times each. I will pick up and handle dozens of fishing rods, bows, and guns.
I anticipate and look forward to many future events. Patty has been visiting her family in California for a week and is coming home tomorrow; I am looking forward to that. We plan various trips to see our kids and grandkids and look forward to that. I have half a dozen fishing trips and hunting trips on the calendar, and I think about them often.
But what I am looking forward to more than anything is the day I step into heaven, get my new, glorified body, and see Jesus. I think about that future event constantly. Then all my aches and pains will be gone, all the disappointments and trials will be forever over, and I will know joy beyond my ability to comprehend now.

It cost money to get into the Sportsman’s Show but the only requirement to get into heaven is to love Jesus and believe the gospel.

Tonight, in our Wednesday night service, I preached on Wisdom. Here are some key statements that I made about wisdom.

• God is infinitely wise and gives His wisdom to those seeking it. The harder we seek it, the more He gives.
• There are few wise people; Solomon said one in one thousand.
• Wisdom is knowing what to do and say in any situation.
• Our choices, actions, and words are like seeds we plant; they will all yield a crop. Good choices bring good results, and bad choices bring bad consequences.
• Wisdom is knowing what the crop will be before we plant the seed and being careful only to plant those seeds that will bring a good crop.
• The greatest barrier to wisdom is pride. We think we know it all already, so we don’t seek it.
• If we make bad choices and end up in dire circumstances because of our lack of wisdom, God will not bail us out, no matter how much we pray.
• We get wisdom by seeking counsel and advice from wise people. Prideful people don’t ask.
• Wise people learn from their mistakes; they don’t blame others for the consequences they experience from their poor choices.
• Wise people are readers. They seek wisdom from those who have been successful and have written about it.
• The Bible is the most significant source of wisdom; wise people read it extensively.
• Wise people have healthy relationships, are financially secure, and bear much fruit for God.
• Wisdom is the key to being a good leader.
• Wise people are kind and speak graciously to others.

When I was a kid, roller skating was very popular, and there were many roller skating rinks. Even as a young adult, it was still popular. When we first started as a church, we used to have a roller skating party every month that had five Sundays. We had a Sunday night service back then and would cancel it for roller skating. Everyone was encouraged to invite friends to skate with us. It was a reasonably successful tool for reaching people. When we went to Vietnam on short-term mission trips, the traffic in Saigon and Hanoi reminded me of roller skating. In roller skating and Vietnamese traffic, everyone weaves in and out among each other. There was no system or reason for why people drove where they did. The main rule was to keep track of the traffic in front of you and to dodge and weave as needed to keep from running into someone in front of you. You weren’t responsible for the ones behind you; they were. That is how it was with roller skating: keep track of the people in front of you. The system worked pretty well in Vietnam and roller skating. I live life like that. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” To be at peace with all men means don’t run into them and avoid wrecks.
People in my life are all different. Some people are very temperamental; they get offended easily. Some are very argumentative; they will debate and argue about anything at the drop of a hat. Some people are Democrats, some are Republicans, some are Beaver fans, and some are Duck fans. Some people are bold and outgoing, and others are shy and introverted. The goal is to maneuver through life without offending anyone, hurting anyone’s feelings, or getting into a heated political argument. It isn’t easy, but you can have mostly peaceful and unified days if you pay attention. For me, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things that I am willing to defend or speak up about, but I make sure it is worth it and not simply about winning. I also work hard at communicating in a gracious and honoring way that maintains people’s dignity. I used to have roller skating wrecks, which were not fun, but the more I skated, the fewer wrecks I would have. Most of my bad wrecks were when I was showing off and trying to look cool on my skates. Healthy relationships are worth working at, and making concessions for. Dodge and weave, wrecks are not fun.

In 1989, I attended the first “Pastor’s Prayer Summit.” It significantly impacted my life and changed me in a way that changed everything in my life. It changed my Pastoring, my relationship with my wife, my parenting, and all my relationships. The commitments and goals that I made at the first summit tend to weaken throughout the year, and then I remake them the following year at the summit. It is now 2025, and I have been at every summit except the one canceled for COVID. Today was the first day of this year’s “Pastor’s Prayer Summit,” and I already have been majorly convicted about my lack of devotion to prayer, and I have repented and remade my goals. I knew it would happen because it does every time I come. I don’t feel bad because I am not doing what I should be; I feel bad because I realize the power of prayer to bless other people and change them to be more devoted to God. I am in the business of changing people, and I know that God uses my preaching, teaching, counseling, and mentoring activities. Still, my praying for people magnifies what I do beyond comprehension. But I get so busy doing my thing that I begin to spend less and less time praying to God for people. When I recommit myself to intercessory prayer, I say to myself and God, “I won’t let that happen again!” But I have said that every year. I will probably slip in my prayer devotion again this year, but I will return next year to the Summit and get recommitted. The biggest weakness many people have is not fully comprehending how important other people are in keeping us going in the right direction. Fortunately, I have found numerous events like the “Pastor’s Prayer Summit” to light my fire.

While we were in Hawaii visiting our family, I got to go to the island of Molokai with a friend and hunt for axis deer. They are smaller than our Oregon blacktail deer, but not much. Molokai is about 260 square miles, approximately 10 miles wide, and 30 miles long. It is relatively dry compared to Oahu, which is only 60 miles away. There are 7,000 people and 70,000 axis deer on the island. That is a lot of deer per square mile. We hunted for two days using a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle and killed five deer. We rented a car and a condo while there, and the apartment had a freezer to freeze the meat we harvested. I own insulated freezer bags that hold 50 lbs of frozen meat and can be checked on the airplane. I use the same bags when I go fishing in Alaska. The meat stays frozen all the way home in the bags and has handles, making them easy to carry. I can have two free fish or meat container bags on Alaska Airlines. The meat is delicious and very tender. I killed my first deer when I was 12 and have hunted all my life since then. I enjoy hunting a bit less than fishing now, though when I was younger, in better shape, and more agile, I think I enjoyed hunting more. When I die, I have instructed Patty to put Genesis 10:9 on my headstone; “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Though I don’t want her to put John 21:3 on my headstone, “ They fished all night and caught nothing.” I read a book that said, “Because our great ancestors hunted and fished for their survival, it is in our DNA and therefore easy to get addicted to and to get great pleasure from. I am addicted to hunting and fishing and enjoy both activities immensely.
There is not much in this blog of spiritual value, though I did quote two Bible verses. Many of you asked about our trip to Oahu; it was super.

During the “Five Days of Prayer,” we interviewed a number of missionaries whom we support via Zoom. It was cool to see the faces and hear the voices of missionaries thousands of miles away, like they were in the room with us. After they told us what they were doing and we asked various questions, we spent time praying for them as they were still connected to us via Zoom. It was an incredible time of feeling connected to them and as partners with them in Bolivia, West Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, and China.

Partnerships are great. I was a partner with my Dad on our dairy for a while. I am a partner with Patty, and we have accomplished a lot together. Those who are part of a church family are partners with each other. What is really amazing is that we are now partners with Jesus, doing His work in the world together.

Partnerships provide encouragement to each partner from the others, they provide an opportunity for rest while the other partners carry our load for a while, they provide creative thinking as ideas are shared, and best of all, the separation of responsibilities allows for each partner to focus on the part of the whole endeavor that he does best.

The Trinity is a partnership. We were created for partnerships with God and each other. One of the most potent things about partnerships is praying for each other. The emphasis in the New Testament is praying for each other rather than ourselves. When we do intercede for our partners, God works powerfully. Intercessory prayer is a very strong glue that holds partners close with beautiful unity, even when the partners are separated by many miles.

Praying as partners works supernaturally well in churches, marriages, and families. It is sad to see so many who neglect this amazing power. One of the rules of partnerships is that when we pray little for others, the others pray little for us. That is not a conscious thing, it is a result that God orchestrates.