I guess I shouldn’t have gotten so excited about the Blazers winning the other night because they lost tonight. But I guess every NBA team loses some. That is the way life is, good days and bad days, successful days and failure days, happy days and sad days, winner days and loser days. Nobody wins them all, but it is sure nice if you have a winning season. I think part of the key to winning more than you lose in life is how you respond to the loser days. With many a bad day results in a major downer, resulting in a belief that I am a loser incapable of ever winning. That is a dysfunctional way of living, and spirals downward as we continue in that way of responding to bad days. The worst thing about being a dysfunctional person is that you inevitably infect others around you with the same disease, it is very contagious. I work hard to respond to bad choices, poor performance, and major mess up days with self-talk that focuses on improvement and the accomplishment of a champion. “I can do better than that and next time I will, please help me Lord!”

One of the things I bought at the Sportman’s show was a really good flashlight. Not real big, easy to carry while hunting, but very bright. I like bright when you are out in the woods at night. In the gospel of John Jesus declares that He is the light of the world, and that we can choose to walk in His light. When we do walk in the light we can see where we are going, and we don’t trip over things and fall down. Jesus said that those who walk in the light will know the truth and the truth will make them free. Every morning I declare that Jesus is my savior and Lord, that I will follow Him and serve Him, no matter how difficult or hard that might be. That personal presenting of myself to Jesus as His servant doesn’t absolutely guarantee that I will succeed in following Him that day, but it is a great start to that desire. As I walk in the light “I will know the truth”. I will know that God is real, that Jesus is God’s Son and that He died for me. I will know in the core of my being the truth that so many debate.

I watched the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Dalls Maverics tonight. It was a good game and fun to watch. I watched while I ran on my treadmill so I got to do two things at once and the Blazer game made the jogging go faster. The Blazers started as a team shortly after Patty and I got married. I used to drive into Portland with friends from Trout Lake to watch Blazer games when ticket prices were $4 for seats less than 10 rows from the court. I remember how excited I was when the Blazers drafted Sydney Wicks from the John Wooden coached UCLA Bruins that had won another National Championship. The a Blazers won the NBA championship the year after I started pastoring at JBC, now that was a very good year. I enjoy sports and I am a faithful fan of my teams both College and professional. I am a time management nut, and I often wonder about my use of time when watching games on television. My conclusion which may be a major justification of poor use of time, is that I enjoy watching my teams play very much and that enjoyment is a significant source of renewing of emotional energy for me that my job as a pastor tends to drain out of me. Winning is more renewing than losing so I am feeling all filled up after the game tonight, and ready to go tomorrow and for the entire weekend.

I always feel good when I can get my sermon all written out by Wednesday. I finished it today by 2 pm and I felt really good about the finished product. I pray a lot while writing, and I read and think a lot as I study the portion of scripture that I will be teaching about. What I desire more than anything is that the words that I speak this weekend to those who attend will be the very words of God as He speaks through me as He honors my prayers and diligent study of His Word. This week we are in John 8 and in verse 32 Jesus says, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. We live in a day and age where many think truth is what the majority think. My personal firm conviction is that God is very real and powerful, and is the one who determines what is true by His nature. He doesn’t decide what is truth, the very nature of God and His attributes dictates what is truth. God has communicated that truth to us in His Word, the Bible and I am committed to reading it a lot, studying it diligently, and memorizing it so I can teach it accurately each week at JBC. Honor God by going to church this weekend and learning and growing spiritually by the preaching of His Word.

Tuesday evening at 7 pm I usually join a group of guys for an hour of prayer together. We meet in the “cry room” off of the sanctuary at JBC. We sit in a circle and begin with each man sharing a few things he would like prayed about. Each of us has paper and pen and we write down each man’s request. The requests may be very personal or an event in the world such as the Ebola crisis in West Africa. It usually takes nearly 30 minutes for each guy to share and for some questions to be asked to clarify the need. We then pray randomly for the remaining 30 minutes covering all the requests that were made. I don’t lead the prayer time, Ted Pratt does, I am just one of the guys. I enjoy this hour very much. I experience a great sense of God’s presence and His joy during this time that is very renewing for me. I also enjoy the comraderie that happens as we pray for each other and week by week hear of the progress or changes that is happening in each of the areas that we are praying about. There are 168 hours in each of our weeks. Which one of the hours is most important for you? I think sometime we don’t experience what could be the best hour because it takes a little work to get there or make it happen.

My main activity in life now is praying for other people. I come close to praying 20 hours every week for people. I pray for all in my family every day and with 8 kids, 6 son in laws, a daughter in law, 22 grandkids, a mom, and my wife that takes awhile. I also pray for our church staff and their families almost every day. I pray for those who have visited our church almost every day for 3 months. I pray for every person who attends JBC every week, for our daughter church pastors and their families, and for each of the missionaries that we support each week as well. I have an Ipad and I use a photo App that has an unlimited journal capability. I take pictures of people and put them in my prayer journal and I download a bunch of pictures from facebook. I like pictures because then I can have an image of the person in my mind and I can pray with so much more fervency for them. I have almost 2000 friends on Facebook and as I read through it I pray for those that have various trials and struggles and ask God to work in their lives and to bless them. At times it is a bit boring and I struggle to stay focused and on task with out my mind wandering, but most of the time I am very intent on those I am praying for and on God who I am praying to. I rejoice and grieve and feel great sorrow with and for those I am praying for. After praying for awhile I get very wrung out and emotionally exhausted and have to switch to another activity for awhile until I recover. I believe that I am accomplishing more permanent fruit with my life through prayer than anything else I do.

I have had another cold this past week. I got over my last one a couple of weeks ago and I thought I was good for the rest of the year. but no, I get another one and worse than than the last one. Colds are an amazing irritant. Nose runs, coughing fits, sore throat, can’t talk, can’t breath, can’t sleep. I have a commitment to not grumble or complain about anything. How am I doing so far? Colds! I think I will just quit now and go to bed before I write something that I am sorry for tomorrow. Colds!

Spent several hours at the JBC Sportman’s Show today. Great event and lots of fun. Lots of boats, guns, fishing rods, archery equipment and nice people. Enjoyable experience being part of something so well organized and enjoyable for all who came. The goal is that 6 thousand would come in the two days it is open and that we who are part of the Jefferson Baptist Church Family as we mingle with and hang out with the people who come would plant some seeds of interest in coming to church and experiencing the reason for the joy that we have. This Sportsman’s Show is not a normal church event, but I think it will be very effective in creating a sense of good will towards church. It isn’t a churchy or religious event but one that people enjoy and have agood time at. I am consumed with and passionate about influencing people so that they are drawn to the good news of the Gospel and have a personal relationship with the God of the universe. I am praying that this event will influence many to take another step towards being a seeker of truth and God.

To help myself live a consistent life and a life that is a good model for others I have established some guidelines in the form of rules and commitments. One my rules is never allow self-pity thoughts to stay in my mind, but to quickly replace them with thoughts of how blessed I am. We are by nature self centered so thoughts of “Oh Lord, why me, why now” come regularly and often. If those thoughts are allowed to stay in our mind they will suck the joy right out of us. Every morning when I pray my morning prayer of commitment to the Lord I say as part of my prayer, “today I will rejoice always and I will not allow myself to feel sorry for myself even for a second. Commitments that are remade every morning are very powerful in helping us become the kind of person we want to be. I want to be a happy person that enjoys life in spite of difficult circumstances. I also want to be the kind of person that others enjoy being around, and one that will attract people to my God and Savior Jesus Christ.

I have an app for my iPad called Scripture Memory. It is wonderful and has helped me to get the total number of Bible verses memorized well up to over 300. I started spending 30 minutes each day on scripture memory when I learned that many people with Parkinson’s become increasingly senile and that one of the best mind exercises to prevent senility is scripture memory. Besides the healthy mind benefit I experience all the blessings God promised to those who honor Him by honoring His word. I have selected 1,000 verses that I am going to memorize by the time I am 70. At my present rate of memorization I should make my goal. The App has a built in review system so that I learn new verses but also systematically review the ones I have already memorized. There is about 70,000 people who have this App and it ranks each person based on the number of points they have earned. You earn points by the total number of verses you have memorized and also by successfully reviewing verses you have learned. I am presently at 750th place and working to get up to 300th place by the end of the year. Nothing like a little competition to help motivate.