Years ago, I went on a short-term mission trip to a country that was very hostile to the gospel. If a person converted to Jesus, they risked losing their jobs, their property, their family, and possibly even their own life. I chatted with a leader of one of the small house churches we visited, and he said a very interesting thing, which I am reminded of often. He said that when a person became a follower of Jesus in his country, they were already ahead of most Christians in the United States in spiritual maturity, who had been Christians all their life. He said in the United States, many Christians are in a state of arrested growth or plateaued, a state that they rarely escape from, but in his country, that never happened. All believers grew rapidly from day one and never stopped. The reason was that they were picking up their crosses daily and following Jesus. They counted the cost of being a disciple of Jesus every day, and despite the dangers and fears, they continued to follow and serve Jesus. We never face persecution for our faith here; there is no price that we pay to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus. There, they risked everything to attend a small house church and rarely missed. It was a severely punished crime to be caught with a Bible, so they read it in secret for hours before passing it off to someone else to read and memorize. Christians in our country can grow rapidly and bear much fruit, but they are rare. In Oregon, the only ones who grow and never stop are the ones who desperately want to and pay the price in personal discipline to grow.

It is encouraging to see the number of professional football players who are Christians and give public testimony of their faith. It is even more encouraging to see many of these give intelligent, gracious, humble interviews and demonstrate Jesus’s character. I recently heard one NFL quarterback say that because of the platform that God had given him, he needed to be faithful and use it to glorify Jesus and attract people to his savior. Many of us don’t have the same platform as famous athletes, but we must be faithful to every opportunity God gives us. I believe that we all get many, many opportunities to be a witness for Jesus, divine appointments,  but we miss them; they come and go because we aren’t looking for them. They come and go because we are distracted by the things in the world, we miss them because we are timid and don’t want to influence someone to Jesus, and we miss them because we aren’t committed to being a witness for Jesus, so we aren’t looking for them. It is like the fellow who goes hunting and doesn’t see a single deer when they are all around him. Jesus said,” Lift your eyes and look on the white fields for harvest.” Look, look closely, look expectantly. Looking to see.

Everyone has their favorite time of year. Mine is September, October, and November. It seems like plenty of sunny days are left, even though the rains start, but it is cooler. I am not a hot-weather person; I like cooler weather and don’t even mind cold. I don’t like rain, but I can tolerate the days when it sprinkles for a few hours. I think I like the Fall because of the good fishing and hunting this time of year. I might have been mentally programmed on the dairy when I was a kid. June, July, and August were hectic and challenging months. We had to move the irrigation pipe daily, put in three cuttings of hay, and continue to milk the cows twice a day. When September arrived and school started, things slowed down on the farm. September, October, and November were much easier months. The winter snow and cold hadn’t started yet, the weather was still relatively comfortable, fishing was good, and hunting was in full swing. Now, things get busier in the fall with considerable increases in ministry. I still enjoy this time of year because I enjoy teaching, preaching, studying, meetings, and all the rest that goes with doing ministry, and of course, I enjoy hunting. My Mom used to say that for all of us, our favorite part of the year was when we were born. My birthday is October 27th, and October is my favorite month. My Dad’s birthday was in April, and he loved April.

I have never tested my Mom’s conclusion, but it was true for her, Dad, and me. We all use the word favorite a lot: favorite food, favorite sport, favorite month, favorite activity, favorite person, favorite color, and so on. I have a T-shirt that says, “God loves everybody, but I am His favorite!” I get lots of comments when I wear that T-shirt. I wonder what my favorite activity will be in heaven. Heaven will be a very active place. We will do a lot, and our activities will be very different. I don’t think my favorite activity will be playing a harp.

 Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

There are a half dozen verses in the book of Proverbs on goal setting. Here are two in the same chapter I read this morning because it is the 16th of August, and everyday I read one chapter in Proverbs that corresponds to the day of the month as part of my Bible reading plan. As I write my goals, I always pray before I start, asking God for wisdom, guidance, and faith, and when I finish, I commit them to Him, asking for strength to accomplish them. I pray when I am all done writing my goals and begin sharing them with others, “Dear Lord, these goals are what I believe is part of Your will for my life this next year. I intend to advance with these goals in faith, trusting You to give me the strength and the wisdom to accomplish them. At any time in the pursuit of them that I think I missed how You were leading, I am open to change and will make adjustments as things open up and become clearer. I will not let this commitment to make adjustments become an excuse to let up or take the easy way if things get hard in pursuing a particular goal.” Another prayer that I pray numerous times in the weeks that I am working on my goals is, “Dear Lord, I am writing these goals down and choosing to read them at least weekly because I know that if I don’t, they will disappear in the business of life and in my tendency to forget. My writing and reading are my commitment to You to pursue them diligently, and You promised that my commitment results in Your blessing.”

I have made a goal to climb Mt Adams this next year on July 12^th. I think it has been at least ten years since I made it to the top. I can remember about four times since the last successful climb that I have attempted and not made it. I am going to train very hard for this climb and I will also be about 50 lbs lighter than I have been in the last ten years. If I make it or not this will be my last attempt. If I make it I will call that my last hurrah, and if I don’t, I will figure that is the best chance I will have and move on to another challenge not quite so hard. It used to be that in my annual goals there were about six B-HAG’s, Big, Hairy Audacious Goals, now I usually have one or maybe two. I have liked them because they motivate me to do more than I normally would. This goal has me walking on the treadmill three times a week and increasing the incline and speed, riding on my stationary bike three times a week, and lifting weights three times a week.

Matthew 14:28-29 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Every time I read this passage of Jesus walking on the water I wonder what was Peter’s motive in asking Jesus to command him to “Come.” There are any number of possibilities. If it had been me, my motive would have been the chance to do something that was impossible. I don’t think that would have been a bad motive. I have successfully climbed Mt Adams a number of times in the past, Mt Hood a couple of times, Mt St Helens before it blew it’s top, I have sky dived three times, ridden across the USA three times on a bicycle, and last year I volunteered to Pastor a different church in Jefferson. Why? There is something exciting, and rejuvenating in getting out of the boat and walking on the water, or at least attempting to. I may downsize and reduce the number of B-HAG’s I attempt in the years ahead depending on my health but I am pretty sure I will have at least one, even if it is a relatively easy one. I think I am going to go skydiving again pretty soon. My granddaughter wants to go and I can’t let her do it without me. I am reading a book right now called, “Do Hard Things.” The theme of the book is what happens to our minds, character, and confidence when we regularly choose to do a B-HAG instead of playing it safe.

I was having a conversation with some of my grandkids the other day, and we somehow got onto the subject of hitchhiking. One of them asked if I had ever hitchhiked, and I told them this story.

The summer after my Junior year in High School, a friend and I hiked half of the Pacific Crest Trail in the State of Washington, and the second half the following summer. That was in 1965, and there wasn’t much available then in lightweight camping gear like there is now. We didn’t take a tent, just a 10×10 canvas tarp that we put our sleeping bags on if it wasn’t raining, and under if it was. So with food and camping stuff, our packs weighed almost 70 lbs each. It was a great trip and the first time I had ever done anything like that. With the ups and downs of the trail, the altitude we were hiking, and the weight of our packs, we were tuckered out at the end of each day. We had a goal of walking at least 20 miles daily, so some days it was pretty late when we stopped for camp. My friend was in much better shape than I was, and he would often go ahead of me.  When I got caught up to him, he would have a fire built and dinner cooked. He was an awesome friend. His parents drove us to the start of the trail, and on the way, we stopped off at one of the highway passes and left my friend’s car so we would have a ride home when we got there. At the pass before the one where we left the car, we decided that we were done for that summer. We decided to hitchhike to where our car was parked. We had been walking down the road with our thumbs out for about 30 minutes when a Washington State Police car pulled over in front of us. He told us it was against the law to hitchhike in Washington on highways. We told him of our dilemma, and he gave us a ride to the nearest bus station and bought us tickets to where we needed to go. He gave us his card, telling us that if we wanted, we could mail him the money he spent on the tickets. I don’t know whether he thought he would see that money again or not,  but we sent it to him as soon as we got home, plus some extra.

We could have kept the money if we had wanted, but we didn’t even consider it. We were both very thankful for the blessing of his intersection into our lives and gave God the credit for arranging that divine appointment. Our packs weighed 55 lbs the following summer, and we finished strong.

I am scheduled to speak at a retreat center from August 29th through September 1st. I think I am talking five times. I need to send all five sermons and the  PowerPoint stuff to them soon, so I set a goal to finish it by Friday. The hardest part is trying to decide what to teach about. I have taught several times over the years at conferences, retreats, and camps. I usually always pick basic stuff to teach about, rather than novel or unique, like the importance of reading your Bible every day, spending time with God in prayer every day, or disciplining yourself to memorize Bible verses systematically. If those coming knew what I would talk about, they probably wouldn’t come, thinking they already knew or that it sounded boring. I try and teach the basic stuff so that it is very motivational and engaging and holds their attention. Most Christians don’t read their Bibles daily, have a random, undisciplined prayer life, and haven’t memorized or meditated on scripture for years. I don’t want to teach simply to produce quilt, but to motivate so that their lives change as they faithfully practice the Christian life’s basic disciplines. Years ago, as a Pastor, I concluded that most Christians know much more of the Bible than they are successfully living. They don’t need to learn more Bible knowledge to add to what they aren’t living, but to be motivated to change, repent, and grow in their daily walk with God. It is fun, though, to teach on some hot topic that interests people and they are curious about. Back and forth I go as I try to decide between basic stuff and new and exciting. Mmmmmm

I am starting to write my goals for this next year. I like to have them all done by my birthday on October 27th, and I also want to have them done so I can use them as an illustration for my teaching on goal setting in my leadership class that starts the first week in October. For the last 60 years of my life, I have had one goal for every year old that I am, meaning that I increase the number of goals I have by one each year. Last year, I had 76 goals and should have 77 this year, but I will change that this year. Call it old age, but I could not maintain enthusiasm for that many goals this last year. About halfway through the year, I picked the key goals and reduced my list to 44 goals. I think I will list 40 this year, maybe 45, we will see. The goal-setting discipline I started at age 13 has been the number one key in my life for maintaining faithfulness in my Bible reading and Scripture memory. As I increased the number of goals through High School and College, I began to include my finances, grades, sports, cars, and even my dating and relationships with girls. As I have gotten older, pastoring, being married, raising eight kids, and managing my time have all been added to my goals. It is easy to observe that nothing has been as important in my life as setting and pursuing goals. I have maintained balance with my family, ministry, and hobbies because of planning and goal setting. I am sure that balance has helped me pastor for 50 years without burnout or quitting. I have had regular times of discouragement and weariness over the years,  but managed to get through those times stronger because of the disciplines that I faithfully maintained in pursuit of my goals. One of the key benefits of my goals was the encouragement from others, which I received because I had shared my goals with them. Encouragement from others is critically important to faithfulness in life, and is accepted only by those who know it is essential and seek it. It is hard for me to understand why so few people thoughtfully set and pursue goals for their lives, and why it is so hard to persuade people to do it. This last year, an individual said that goal setting was so natural for me because I am so disciplined. My answer is that goal setting doesn’t come from discipline; discipline comes from goal setting.

Occasionally, I am asked why I am such a fanatic about fishing. The short answer is that my Dad was a fanatic about fishing. I can remember fishing with my Dad first on Midway Island. My Dad, who was in the Navy for the first twelve years of my life, was stationed at Midway from 1957 to 1959, when I was 10 to 12. Most people know Midway Island because of the Battle of Midway during World War II, June 4th, 1942. It is said that this battle was the turning point in the war. Midway comprises two Islands: Sand Island, about a thousand acres, where we lived, and Easter Island, about 500 acres. Easter Island had no facilities or people on it when we were there.

Both Islands were surrounded by a reef about 50 feet across and several feet above the water. At some point in its history, an opening was made in the reef for ships to come in and out to the shipping center on the Eastern side of the Island. Those docks and the concrete sea wall were where Dad and I would walk to go fishing. There were many kinds of tropical fish, and I caught many of them. Several species were big, and attempting to bring them in gave me an incredible thrill. The reef created a wave barrier for the island, so the water at the beach was very flat and calm. It was also warm and blue. We swam a lot, and Midway is where I learned to swim well and love the ocean. We would often swim out to the reef and snorkel and spear Parrot fish with hand-made and hand-thrown spears made out of 3/8 inch bronze rods that Dad would bring home from the Base. We would file a barbed point on one end of the four-foot rod and slay us some fish. We had to be careful that we didn’t spear too big a fish, or they would swim off with our spear. We would swim out to the reef, pulling an inner tube behind us with a dishpan tied in the center, where we put our fish until we towed them back home. The parrot fish had a four-part beak for a mouth and ate coral. They would have their head in the reef, nipping away at coral, and wouldn’t see us as we swam up close and speared them.

As I think about my life’s history, it reminds me of building a house. There is the foundation, the framing, the siding, the sheetrock, and many more parts to the completed building. God created the world and everything in it in stages or days, and He has built me and who I am in the same way.

Psalms 139:13-16 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will thank You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

God created my physical body, but the critical creation has been my character, who I am, the part of me that lives forever. We all have unique histories and important stories of how God has molded and shaped us into His image. One of the Bible’s clear messages is that we must cooperate with God as He does His work in us. That cooperation is called trusting, obeying, and seeking.

It is incredible how much better I feel now with my new hip. I was going to get my right hip replaced as well, but it has been feeling fine so far. I have recently made a goal to walk for one hour three days a week, bicycle for one hour three days a week, and lift weights three times each week. I will have one day when I do no exercise. I also made a goal to climb Mt Adams next year, and to ride across the United States on my bicycle in 2035. That will make me 86 years old, and a guy in Bend just broke the Guinness World Book of Records by riding across the USA at 85. How crazy is that!😀

I know that all of that may change next week. I very well could plop over with a heart attack tomorrow. Lots of guys my age do. But as long as I feel good, I will dream a bit; it is fun. In a week, I might not be able to get out of bed, but I will pretend that things will continue as they are now for 14 more years. I feel good today, so I will plan as if that continues. If it doesn’t, I will thank the Lord for the good days he has given me, and make the best of the ones that may not be so good. I will not grumble or feel sorry for myself if I have bad days; I have had too many good days to let myself do that.

I am pretty sure that one of the reasons I am feeling so good is the weight I have lost and the good discipline I am practicing in my eating habits: no sugar, no grain, no artificial sweeteners, no food with additives or artificial coloring, lots of green vegetables, fish, and meat. I have lost about 30 pounds and have another 20 pounds to go. When I do that, I will probably feel like Superman. We will see.