Today was the most difficult day of the trip for me, in fact it was what John and I call a "hit the wall" day." That is where you have thoughts like, "I can't do this anymore", or "I am going to tell everyone tonight that I am done, cupute, finished, near death", or "why are you doing this, you must be crazy". Even though we only rode 48 miles we went up 3 monster hills that were 600 feet each in elevation gain and most of it was 6 % grade or more. When we got to the top of the third I was totally run out of gas. And then today we went through a tunnel. It is dark inside, there is no curb, and the cars, trucks, and RV's are passing with very little space between us and them, and then there is the noise inside the tunnel of engines of all sizes sounding like jet engines, and also those who have this crazy idea that you have to honk all the way through the tunnel. It was more scary than my first time sky diving and when I got out I was mentally and emotionally exhausted, though I acted the tough and brave guy, and suggested that just for fun we go back through it a couple more times!!

I know the "hit the wall days will come", they always do, and though I would really like to quit, I won't, I know that. Why? Through out my life I have had good teaching from my parents, pastors, youth pastors, teachers and friends that have shaped my character into what it is today. There are about 26 character traits and one of them is endurance and grit, and when they are well developed quitting is near impossible to do. One of the ways to make this character trait strong in your life is to choose to do things like this trip. Maybe not quite so crazy, but hard things that will cause us to grow into a strong person who doesn't quit, keeps his promises no matter what, does their responsibility no matter how hard it might be.

Well, tomorrow only has only one killer hill but it is 800 feet in elevation gain, and the wind is forecast to be blowing in our face so we will have a 7 to 14 mile head wind as well, I hate head winds!! One of the major self coaching things we must do to help ourselves grow into this kind of strong person is to commit to never grumbling about anything no matter how difficult or hard. I will work on that tomorrow.

Today we pedaled from Vernonia to Astoria. 70 miles and some very pretty country. There were lots of trucks and logging trucks on the road that we were on with very little shoulder, but the drivers were patient and safe, and we felt very comfortable in our ride. We again got up early and we're on the road by 6 am, and by the time it was heating up at home we were having very pleasant temperatures on the coast. We had one monster hill to climb that was about 5 miles long and steep, but we made it up and the ride down the other side was wild. John got up to over 40 mph, I was going around a corner at 30 on my bicycle and the road sign said to go 20 mph. We will be on the coast now for about a week, and we are so confident that it will be much cooler that we are planning on sleeping in in the morning a couple of hours. We went to Fred Myers and bought some cheap fishing rods, and John and I are at Sunset Lake fishing though we haven't caught anything yet. I am sitting on a bench writing this blog, and reading and writing while I watch my bobber. I am getting a super work out each day for about 6 hours, and I am anxious to lose some weight and keep it off this time!'

I have observed of late how easy it is for people to drift away from faith in God And Christ. Most would have said, "I will never drift away" before they do, and it is that lack of fear that they could, that prevents them from being very careful that they don't. The Book of Hebrews in the New Testament says we should fear that we don't drift away. On this bicycle trip I am careful to spend time in Bible reading, scripture memory, and prayer every day, and I am planning on making it to church each Sunday. I don't have to, but I want to grow closer every day to Jesus, and not drift away, and I know how to do that.

We started bicycling this morning from Champoeg Park where we had camped overnight.  We left at 6 am to try and beat some of the heat again as we did the day before.  It was fairly comfortable until about 11 am and then we went onto the Banks-Vernonia  bike trail.. It was a super nice trail. It was all paved and not much bike traffic and it was almost all in the shade, in fact its was like going through a tunnel of trees so we didn’t really have any problem with the heat.  We averaged a little over 11 miles per hour which was a little slower than the day before but we had some uphill riding today that slowed us down. We rode almost exactly 60 miles and we were finished and at camp by 1 pm.  Tomorrow we are riding  70 miles and the temperature should be less as we get closer to the coast. Tomorrow we will be camping a few miles south of Astoria.

When I got on my bike this morning I was instantly aware that I had rode 44 miles the day before. I was really sore in my leg muscles and my rear end was super sore. I am hoping that tomorrow is better. We will see!

Today we had a lady passing us in a car yell at us that we were fools for riding in this heat. That is a regular comment as we ride our bikes.  The question is “Why”?  Doing something difficult and challenging is one of the things that I really enjoy.  It is sort of a funny thing to think about because I can’t really explain the attraction to these kinds of events that I have. My only explanation is that God made me that way because he knows that produces rapid character growth. I really think He made everybody that way but many have bured the desire.

I am looking forward to some major adventures tomorrow.

August 1st John Smith, Doug Sheets, and I started on our 30 day bicycle trip around the State of Oregon. We started at 6 am to beat the heat, and it was cool enough that I needed to wear a long sleeved wool shirt to start with. Our destination was the State Park and Campground Champoeg. It was just 44 miles with very few hills and no headwind until the last hour. We were in camp by 11 am before it got really hot. It was a great first day to get in shape a bit before some of the long days with lots of miles and hills. Tomorrow it is supposed to be hotter and we will ride 60 miles and climb some pretty steep hills as we head for the City Campground in Vernonia. A cool thing about tomorrow is about half the miles are on a bike trail much of which was a railroad track and the rails were removed and it was paved for a bike trail, no cars and trucks to worry about.

Several weeks ago I bought a little speaker system that fits in my bicycle helmet that Bluetooth connects with my IPhone. I bought several really good books on Amazon in Audio and downloaded them to my phone so I can listen to the reading of the book while I am riding. I don't like ear buds in my ears while I am riding because I like to be able to hear the traffic around me and what is coming up behind me. With this speaker system I can hear the traffic and the audio from my phone at the same time. The book I am listening to is called "Renovations of the Heart" by Dallas Willard who is my favorite all time author. The book is basically about how to cooperate with God as He works in our life to grow in character to become like Jesus in character

Probably the biggest mystery of life to most Christ Followers is what is the purpose of life. The purpose as Believers is to become like Jesus so that when we join Him for all eternity we will be like Him so that we will enjoy our fellowship with Him , and He enjoy His time with us. Some grow rapidly and some do not grow at all, because they don't know how to grow and they are not motivated to grow, because they don't think it will make that much difference in eternity. I want a lot of things in life, but nothing comes close to the desire I have to grow as much as I can in the time I have left.

Anticipation is so much fun! Anticipation really doesn't get exciting if you don't cover it with a good dose of imagination spiced up with some creative thinking. The real experiences that I have rarely come close to what I imagined would happen. I imagine the worst, the best, and the wildest, things possible in my musings about the next month as I ride 2000 miles round the State of Oregon with some friends. Tomorrow morning we leave from my house headed to Champoeg Park Campground. We will leave right at 6 am and only ride 44 miles tomorrow so we should be sitting under a shade tree shortly after noon drinking a coke.

Today as I was packing stuff and getting ready and lined up I set up our tent to make sure it was all there, and I wanted to give Patty some lessons on setting it up, because she will be setting it up and taking it down most days. It is easy to set up but it is a bit confusing trying to figure out what poles go in what holes. When we knew exactly what we were doing, and Patty was pretty sure she could easily set it up and take it down again, we decided to go to town to run some errands and buy a additional things.

When we got home the tent was gone. I asked Patty if she had taken it down and packed it in the container it had come in. She assured me that she had not. I got out of the car and walked across the railroad tracks where a big field of grass seed was being harvested, and way across the field, over half of a mile away was our tent up in a tree. It took awhile, but I finally got it back home, packed it in the dry bag and threw it into the trailer we are taking along with us. I thought, wow, it is starting out better than I thought it would. I can't hardly wait until tomorrow,

I have been in Soldotna, Alaska with friends and family for the last two weeks fishing for Sockeye Salmon, and I have been having a wonderful time. We caught lots of salmon, ate lots of great food, and had wonderful fellowship. It was the perfect vacation. Went to Kenai this morning to board the plane for Anchorage and then home, but the flight got canceled because of fog. Our biggest, most important service of the year is this Sunday as we have our big baptism service at Lake Charles, so I really want to be home for that service very much!! So I got another flight out of Anchorage to Los Angeles and then back to Portland, a total of 9 hours of flying, it was the only way to get home in time for the baptism. We had to drive 3 hours to Anchorage to catch the flight, and we made it in time. When I landed in Los Angelos my flight was late and my flight to Portland had already left, so I got rescheduled to leave Los Angelos  at midnight.  Wow, I think I will eventually make it home and to the baptism, but what a circular route to make it. 

As I stood in numerous lines today to get rescheduled I observed many angry people who were in the same boat I was in. Today, I worked hard to be gracious and kind in all my communication to people. I smiled whenever I was talking, and gave many compliments for good performance, as most were receiving lots of complaints. There are so many unhappy people in the world today, who feel like victims.  I am very happy, I enjoy life, I enjoy problems, I enjoy conquering problems, I rejoice always, and try hard never to be negative or grumpy to othet people. The only way I can pull that off day after day, especially in trying days like today, is to pray constantly ” Dear Lord, please help me now to please you in the words I say, and the attitude that I display. You are my Lord and today I will follow You and Obey you no matter how hard the assignment. God loves to give His strength to those who desire to serve and please Him in all that they do. 

My baby was my 9 foot G Loomis steelhead fishing rod that I have been using here in Alaska as I am fishing for sockeye salmon on the Kenai River. It is an awesome fishing tool, but I slammed our van door on it this morning and broke it. I thought I was going to cry, but I managed to not, but when I get back home I think I might need some grief recovery counseling. I am glad it was me that did it and not someone else. One of the worst things I see people do is get upset at someone because they damaged or broke something that belonged to them. Why would we choose to damage a personal relationship over a worldly possession?  I watch  people do it all the time, and they justify their behavior with statements like, “well, they need to learn to be responsible” or “they need to learn to be careful”or, and on the list goes. Teaching others good behavior and consideration for the property of others is great if you can do it graciously and gently, without hurting the other person, but damaging a relationship with a family member or friend over a personal possession is a clear indication that we have a very serious case of the disease called “worldliness”. 

Worldlinessis one of the most subtle and dangerous diseases known to mankind. Worldliness is why people’s love for God grows cold, and they fall away from the living God that saved them. 

We are up in Soldotna, Alaska fishing on the Kenai River for sockeye salmon and Kings. This is some of the best fishing in the world, and all who are here are having a blast catching fish. This past Sunday we took a break from fishing and attended a local church here called Soldotna Bible Chapel. I rarely miss attending a church service on Sunday while on fishing trips, bicycle trips, and hunting trips. If it isn’t possible because of location or circumstances I don’t get upset about it, it is just a commitment that I have that if possible I will be in a worship service every week. There are about a dozen reasons for this commitment, but let me share just a couple. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “do not forsake gathering together as is the habit of some”.  I know there a variety of ways to interpret that verse, but Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians, and they knew the Old Testament well and weekly seems like the norm for gathering to worship God. Jesus said a number of times, “if you love Me you will obey Me”. So I am not going to wink at a clear command given to us by the Lord.

The church is called the “Bride of Christ” and the “Body of Christ” so I believe strongly that my commitment to the church is my commitment to Christ, and my love for the church is my love for Christ. Jesus has created me, died for me, and is nurturing me into His image and character so He can enjoy me  and I Him for all eternity, so I want to please Him with my life and commitments. 

God Grace is God’s power in my life, and God gives grace. He doesn’t give grace in a vacuum. He gives grace to us through other people when we gather together with Him for the expressed purpose of seeking Him.

In our culture today faithful attendance at a local church is not much practiced or appreciated. 

I am fishing for sockeye salmon, called Reds, in Soldotna, Alaska, on the Kenai River the next 10 days.  I have come every July for the last 18 years, and had a wonderful time catching lots of salmon. It began with an invitation from my good friend Jay Goold who used to live in Jefferson and was a key part of Jefferson Baptist Church, until because of a job promotion he moved to Anchorage. I came with another friend from the church on that first trip who bought my airline ticket, and we caught a ton of fish, and had an absolute amazing time, if you like to fish and catch fish! Several years ago, Tim Groome, another good friend, got so addicted to the fishing here that he bought some property with a small house, remodeled it and added some bunk cabins and now has a fishing lodge of sorts that I get to come to each year with about a dozen great friends. As I think about it as I am fishing away on the Kenai river catching salmon in an incredible beautiful invironment, I think, “how did this happen”? Most people would just call it a serious of coincidences that brought this about. But I believe God is the director of my life, and He causes things to happen. My experience this week is what most would call a blessing because it is fun and enjoyable. But what about the hard things like a financial crisis or a good friend dying. Well the Bible would label those as blessings as well because God is still the director in my life and “He causes all things to work together for good”. Good is not just what is pleasant and fun, but also trials and hard things because if I cooperate with them they produce rapid growth in my character to become like Christ in character. So I need to tell God Thank you for one as well as the other. 

August 1st we are headed off on a 2000 mile bicycle trip around the State of Oregon. We will ride for 30 days and average 70 miles each day. We will see a lot of beautiful country,  we will get a bunch of exercise, I will write many pages of curriculum for the classes I will teach this fall, I will for sure lose 30 lbs, I will come home energized and excited about another year of ministry, and I will spend much time with God while I ride.