At almost 77 years of age, my most significant issues are the aches and pains in my joints and muscles, and the lack of energy that I have. I recently had a new hip put in on my left side and will have one put in on my right side soon. A lot of the pain I was having went away with my new hip. One of the things I read is that muscle strength is essential for maintaining mobility and energy.  I have lost a lot of strength over the years. Sometimes when I lie in bed and look at my arms, I think, Wow, my muscles are much smaller than they used to be. Exercise is the key to maintaining and even increasing muscle strength, but the hip pain I was experiencing kept me from doing much of that. However, now I am exercising a lot and plan on doing even more once my right hip is free of pain. Another key to energy and good health is maintaining a healthy weight. As my muscle tone and strength decreased, my weight increased, which is a bad combination. I started a serious diet about a year ago and have lost 35 pounds so far. My goal is to lose another 20 pounds and reach a weight of 180 pounds, which is what I weighed when I graduated from High School, and then maintain that. Another issue with my health and energy is my diet. So, I have eliminated almost all sugar from my diet, as well as processed foods, additives, and artificial sweeteners. I am also taking vitamins, minerals, and supplements that are recommended for older men who want to maintain their health. So, with 50 pounds less weight to carry around and two new hips, and reasonably good health, I should be able to accomplish a great deal more with my life in the next 20 years. A favorite verse of mine is Psalms 92:14-15: “They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is upright.” One of my major life principles over the years is that God guides, gives strength, bestows blessings, and protects. Still, He expects us to be faithful, responsible, disciplined, diligent, and wise in following the fundamental laws of human life and living. God’s grace, love, and care for us are not intended by him to bail us out of the consequences for poor choices and an undisciplined lifestyle.

I don’t know if it is common with older people, but I spend a lot of time now reminiscing. I don’t do that negatively; it’s more like reading a history book – just remembering and enjoying the memories. I mostly do that while looking at the pictures on my iPad. Today is one of my grandkids’ 18th birthday, and I think, how is that possible?! I have also been thinking about my old friend Jack Knight, who passed away this past week; he was 97. I looked it up on Google and saw that only one in one thousand live that long. In the Bible, life is likened to a race, with a starting line and a finish line.

Some people run a 100 yards, and others run a marathon. Jack ran an ultramarathon. The primary emphasis in the Bible on running the race of life is to run it with your eye on the finish line, not on the sidelines. Run it with endurance; don’t sit down. Walking is okay, taking a drink is OK, but keep moving and finish well. One of the problems that many people have, especially young people, is that at the beginning of their race, they take detours off the main route. When you are young, it seems like the finish line is so far away that a few detours won’t make that much difference, but they do. So, what if you have made some major detours? What now? Paul understood that issue. He didn’t start running the race until he was well into life. His basic response was, Make this the first day of your race and run it right from here to the finish line. I will be 77 in 18 days, 20 years younger than Jack. If I live to be that old, I have a lot more running to do. I will probably walk a lot.

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 Hebrews 12:1-2 let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

One of my every morning commitments that I make to the Lord is, “Today I will do my part to build your church at JBC and around the world, and I will thoughtfully step through any door You open for me to serve You and Your church.” One year ago, a door opened for me to Pastor the Jefferson Evangelical Church. I was still involved in several ministries at JBC, but my weekends were free, so I took advantage of the opportunity and stepped through that door. Several people asked me, “Why?” My answer was simple: “Because I have made a promise to God every morning for the last 40 years that I would not ignore any opportunity that He gave me to serve Him and His church.” When I decided to pastor JEC, I knew that God would give me all that I needed to accomplish this ministry and to be a blessing to His bride, the church. At 76 years of age, having faced many struggles in the past trying to discern God’s will for my life, I have grown to the point where I am confident that I am making most choices in accordance with His will for my life. When I believe that what I am choosing to do is His will, I have little fear that I will fail. The fear of failing is what keeps most people from trying to do something significant with their lives. A question I often ask people I work with in my leadership classes or in other mentoring relationships is, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” Most people are not consciously aware that the fear of failing controls their decisions in life, but it does. It is hard for most people to break free from that way of living.

I went deer hunting last week and killed a nice 3×2 buck. I missed a much bigger buck several times, and I was bummed about that, but I have had many years of deer hunting in the past when I didn’t even see a deer, so I am thankful for what I got. I replayed my mistakes 10,000 times in my mind, and I am confident that next time I will not make the same mistake. But at my age, I may never have a next time!

One of the reasons many people do not set goals for themselves is that they dislike the disappointment of not achieving their goals. They find it easier to take what comes without getting their hopes up for something great or big in their life. There is undoubtedly less disappointment in life when we don’t dream big and don’t set ambitious goals for ourselves, but there is also much less accomplishment in our lives without the passion and drive that goals inspire in our minds. The key to satisfaction in life isn’t to eliminate the potential for failure and disappointment that comes from unrealized dreams by going with the flow, but to manage our self-talk when we fail to accomplish a goal. The formula is to dream big, aim high, work hard, be very grateful for whatever the results are, and plan how to make the next time a success. It is incredible how quickly disappointment fades when you rejoice in everything, figure out what went wrong and why, and make new goals.

I am going deer hunting in Eastern Oregon this weekend. I own a 300 Weatherby Magnum. It is a nice gun, and it shoots well. When I was a kid, my Dad would have me dry fire my rifle a hundred times a day, the week before we went hunting with a spent cartridge in the chamber. He said that I needed to be able to shoot and have my eyes open when the gun fired, with no sign of a flinch or jerk. He said that when I dry-fired it with no flinch and my eyes were open and fixed on the target, whatever it was that I was aiming at out the window, I would know whether I would have hit it or not. He said it was actually better practice than shooting live ammunition, and it was free. 300 Weatherby shells are very expensive, so the free part is a great. He said practice until you hit what you look at every time.

The Bible mentions focusing many times. We are to focus on heaven, not on this earth or life. We are to focus on Jesus and work at pleasing Him, not on the people around us. We are to focus on the finish line, the day we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, so we will run the race set before us with faithfulness and endurance. What we set our eyes on is what we think about. What we set our eyes on determines what we become as a person in character. What we set our eyes on is where we end up in life. What we set our eyes on determines what we accomplish with our lives. Focus is the key to self-control. Focus determines whether we will succeed in life or not. Focus.

Today, I signed up for the Corvallis half-marathon, and I plan to walk it on April 11th. It cost me $64 to register. On November 29th, I will be walking a half-marathon that starts and finishes at my house. It is free, and we will have a porta-potty and an aid station with water and sports drinks. You are all welcome to come and walk or run; it starts at 9:00 am. Hopefully, it won’t be raining too badly. I walk six miles outside on the road twice a week and walk for one hour on my treadmill twice a week. My goal for November 29th is 3:45, and for April 11th, 3:30. I am also planning to walk another half-marathon on July 4th at Sauvie Island. Back in my running days, I ran the half-marathon at Sauvie Island four times and did it several times with one of my kids. July 11th is the day I am climbing Mt Adams, so the Sauvie Island Walk should be a great warm-up. My goal for the Sauvie Island walk is 3:20. My monster B-HAG (big, hairy, audacious goal) for this year is to climb Mt. Adams. I used to live in Trout Lake, which is under 20 miles from timberline of Mt. Adams. I climbed it for the first time shortly after we moved there when I was 16 years old. I have climbed it numerous times since that first ascent, but I have failed to reach the top on the last four attempts. The last time I made it to the top was over ten years ago, when I was 65 years old, and I will be 77 when I attempt it again on July 11th. I anticipate that it will be a very tough climb. I am praying that Jesus comes before then, or I die. Someone asked me why I am doing this climb, and I responded by saying, “Because I am crazy!” Hopefully, I will come to my senses before July 11th. Let me know if you’d like to walk any of the half-marathons or climb Mt. Adams with me. Misery loves company.

In 1968, I went to college at Biola College in La Mirada, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. I only attended for two weeks and then quit, returning to the college I had attended as a Freshman, Cascade College in Portland, Oregon. The reason I went to Biola was that Cascade had decided to close after my first year due to financial and accreditation problems. After I arrived at Biola, the leadership of Cascade decided to try to keep the school open. I received a phone call from one of the professors informing me of the change and asking if I would return. I was on a Greyhound bus the next morning. I loved Cascade, and I hated Los Angeles. One of the reasons was my job. I needed a reasonably well-paying job to stay in school, so, given my farming background, I applied for a position at a large veterinary clinic a few blocks from the college. They were overjoyed to get me. I was surprised and honored by their enthusiasm to have me come to work there. After my first day, I understood why. My job was to administer enemas to large dogs before their surgeries. I would put a muzzle on them, trying not to get bitten in the process, carry them to a bathtub, and lash them to the rails that were constructed on both sides of the tub to try and keep them from jumping all over the place, and then give them an enema with a garden hose with the end cut at an angle. After the enema was finished, I bathed them and dried them off with a hair dryer, then carried them to the dog operating room. My part was done, and I went off to get the next dog on my list. I could usually get six dogs done in a four-hour shift. It was a great blessing to return to Cascade for many different reasons. The major blessing was Patty. It was my sophomore year at Cascade that I met, dated, and got engaged to Patty. The school only stayed open for one last year. We got married at the end of it, and then went back to my parents’ dairy farm for five years before we came down to Salem to attend college at Western Baptist Bible College, now known as Corban. It was during our time there that we helped start Jefferson Baptist Church. From the time I graduated from High School in 1967 until I became the Pastor of Jefferson Baptist Church in 1976, it seemed like there were a dozen major decisions and changes made in my life. At this point in my life, 50 years later, it is easy to see that God was orchestrating the entire journey. I recall being extremely anxious and uptight over every decision I made, fearing that I would ruin my whole life with a wrong choice. I can’t imagine my life being any more blessed than it has been. Every decision was perfect, especially the one to quit that job. I left without telling them, and I never got paid for the most miserable two weeks of my life.

Saturday, I walked four miles out on the road in front of our house. I felt pretty good about the speed at which I walked the four miles and how I felt afterward. When I looked at my phone a few minutes later, I saw that I had a message with a big exclamation mark beside it. The message stated that my phone detected unstable walking and that I was at a significant risk of falling. I was highly offended, but it is hard to get seriously offended at a cell phone. I thought it was very weird to have a cell phone that counted my steps and determined how steady my walking was. I really didn’t like this feeling of being spied on by a stupid phone. I then thought of some Bible verses that I have memorized.

Psalms 11:4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

Psalms 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him.

Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

Psalms 139:2-4 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.

Using a cell phone feels like I am being spied on, resulting in a sense of irritation, but using God feels like caring and loving, resulting in a sense of security.

| I leave on my ten-day tuna fishing trip out of San Diego in one month. I am not sure how the trip will turn out, but the anticipation is consuming my thinking right now. I watch an hour of YouTube videos every night of trips like mine. There are a bunch of boats offer fishing trips out of San Diego, ranging from one-day trips to 16-day trips, and they all feature hours of videos advertising their boats and trips. If my experience is a fraction of what I have imagined in my mind, it will be amazing. Anticipation for a future event is the essence of the New Testament word of hope. I eagerly anticipate my entrance into heaven, my glorified body, my first experience with Jesus, and the joy I will feel. My fishing trip doesn’t have a chance of being as good as I imagine it will be, but my experience of eternity will be many times greater than my imagination makes it out to be. The more we imagine and hope for eternity now, the more we will run with endurance the race set before us. We will have more joy now, we will be stronger now as we go through trials, and our faith will be more attractive to those who are lost.

 Hebrews 9:28 Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

1 Corinthians 1:7, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:23-25  we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

1 Peter 3:15  but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

One of my upcoming goals is to walk a half-marathon. I am planning and hosting my own event on November 29th. That is the Saturday right after Thanksgiving. It will start at my house at 9:00 am and end at my house whenever you get back. I am going to rent one porta-potty and set up a table with water and sports drinks. It will be free. My goal is to have at least 40  people take part. I used to run a dozen half-marathons a year, as well as one full marathon. It has been over ten years since I did that. Besides November 29th, I have also made a goal to walk a total of six half-marathons before July 11th, which is the day I am going to climb Mt Adams. A number of those will need to be solo events if I am going to reach that goal.  I have discovered that walking for over an hour appears to improve my thinking significantly. I have noticed that as I have gotten older, I have times when my thinking is foggy. It kind of comes and goes. During those times, I have trouble focusing and thinking in a straight line. I particularly notice it if it happens when I am trying to write my blog. I don’t know if it is a blood sugar issue or what, but the more I exercise, especially walking, the less it happens. With long sessions of memorizing Bible verses and exercising, I have pretty much eliminated those bouts of thinking like an older man. The desire to think clearly and to have knowledge, understanding, and wisdom be strong and abundant in me up until the day I die, gives me great motivation to be faithful to these disciplines.