It is midnight, Monday and I don’t have my blog written, I haven’t written in my journal, I haven’t done my Bible reading, I haven’t ridden my stationary bike, I haven’t done my hour of praying, and I did zero reading in a good book.

I got up at 6:30 and went to prayer at 7:00 am, then I taught my ladies leadership class, then I went to the 9:00 am church service, and then I taught my “Angels and Demons” discipleship class, then I took an hour nap in my office, then I taught my men’s leadership class, then I checked on football scores for 30 minutes, then I taught my leadership II class, then I drove to Albany and taught my leadership I class at Agape Family Fellowship, then I went out to dinner with my wife at Applebees and we got home at 9:00 pm.

I then had three hours to get all of the rest of my disciplines done, which was plenty of time, but instead I watched a Clint Eastwood western on my IPad. And now I am feeling like an undisciplined, lazy, no-good, bum.

But now, at least I have something to write about in my blog even if it is Monday instead of Sunday. I work hard at being disciplined and making the most of my time, but occasionally I will give in and watch an old “Rocky” movie or a Clint Eastwood western or when I am really bad and undisciplined I will play “Hearts” or “Crazy Birds” on my IPad for a couple of hours.

Whooooeeee you would think by the time a guy gets to be 75 years old he would have that nonsense out of his system. Oh well, maybe when I get to be 80 years old I will grow up. One can always hope!

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If I live my life in a straight line I will get more done with my life that matters in a shorter amount of time. Another way of saying that is if I do only the things that matter and don’t get distracted by things that don’t matter I will get a lot more done with my life that matters. Sounds sorta profound, but it is very simple, do only those things that matter and never the things that don’t matter.

What is the key to doing that? Writing out your goals and reading your goals every day. Your goals are the things that you believe that matter, the desires of your heart, the will of God as far as you can dicern it. Reading your goals over and over programs your mind to do those things, to seek those things, to think about those things, to be focused, and to automatically make those things the priority of your life.

It is pretty simple. Write down what you want to accomplish, read what you wrote down every day and you program your mind to accomplish those things. You will then live your life in a staight line. Did I mention that this concept is simple, that it works, that it always works.

Why are there so few people who actually do it? People must like living their life in a circle or a sgiggly line instead of a straight line.

 

1. I will read 12 chapters each day in my Bible. 

2. I will pray alone five times a week for one hour each time.

3. I will pray for 15 minutes twice each week on my kneeling bench in my office. 

4. I will pray at two regular corporate prayer times at JBC each week.

5. I will pray for 40 hours in each of the four “Five Day Prayer Events.”

6. I will pray with Patty three times each week minimum. 

7. I will pray through the JBC and Agape Family Fellowship church prayer letter each week and will transfer the serious prayer requests to “Prayer Mate.”

8. I will pray for every person who attends JBC at least once each month.

9. I will pray for all our kids, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and grandkids every week. 

10. I will pray corporately for a total of 300 hours for the year.

11. I will pray every week for those on my “lost list”, and for those who are new attenders at JBC for six months.

12. I will pray every day for 44 baptisms at JBC this year. 

13. I will pray for all the staff, Elders, key leaders of ministries and their families every week.

14. I will pray for every person in each of my Leadership classes every week.

15. I will recruit a new “intern” to train at JBC.

16. I will coach four pastors outside of JBC.

17. I will use my prayer app, “Prayer Mate” for all my prayer commitments, and I will keep up to date on names, requests, lists, and pictures.

18. I will write in my personal journal at least twice each week. 

19. I will pray my “personal commitments prayer” the first thing every morning.

20. I will read 20 pages in a good book, five days a week. 

21. I will work hard to grow the Wednesday Night Service with a goal of 200 average attendance by May 29th.

22. I will install a good permanent air compressor and air-line throughout my auto shop with a good moisture trap.

23. I will get a minimum of seven hours sleep each night. 

24. I will memorize the book of 2nd Peter well. 

25. I will review all my memorized verses every week and get to 200th place in “Scripture Memory.”

26. I will have a total of 800 verses memorized well by the end of the year. 

27. I will work with Brandon and hold two “Newcomers’ Dinners.”

28. I will faithfully attend three “Men’s Accountability Groups” each week.

29. I will write my blog 5 times a week minimum praying for wisdom as I write it, and for the number who are subscribed to it to grow to 900. 

30. I will invite every man who is new to JBC to attend “Monday Night Football.”

31. I will attend at least one “Church Growth” Seminar and bring at least one staff person with me. 

32. I will plan a 2,400-mile, unassisted bicycle trip to Utah and back for the month of June.

33. I will attend the “Church Venture” Prayer Retreat at Tadmor. 

34. I will listen to 100 podcasts. 

35. I will meet with Preston and Nick each month to mentor and encourage them as new pastors.

36. I will faithfully report to, respond to, and pray for those in my two pastor’saccountability groups. 

37. I will finish my blog book project and get it published. 

38. I will teach a Discipleship Class on Sundays eight months out of the year. 

39. I will attend the “Church of the Valley” prayer summit at Cannon Beach January 29th to the 31st. 

40. I will get started on my quarter acre fishpond in the back yard.        

41. I will write 100 handwritten notes to different people at JBC each month.

42. I will teach five different “Leadership Classes” at JBC from October to May. 

43. I will build a three wheeled car from scratch.

44. Patty and I will participate in “Dinners for Eight.”

45. Patty and I will go to Oahu to visit Sally and her family this year. 

46. I will take Patty on a date at least twice each month.

47. I will take Sam out to breakfast or lunch at least four times. 

48. Patty and I will drive over to see Seth and his family in Idaho at least twice.

49. I will text or e-mail each of my 29 grandkids at least once every month.

50. I will write out a detailed description and plan for a “Shepherding Ministry,” at JBC and start it. 

51. I will meet with the Elders at Agape Family Fellowship along with Preston whenever they meet.

52. I will ride my stationary bike at least five times for an hour every week, and I will lift weights twice each week.

53. I will train hard and run a half marathon in Corvallis on April 6th.

54. I will keep my weight under 200 lbs.

55. I will plan out, buy materials, and build an aquaponic system at Seth’s place in Idaho.

56. I will play golf ten different times.

57. I will learn how to crab and go crabbing at least three times. 

58. I will be diligent and self-controlled to eliminate all gluten, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and food preservatives from my diet.

59. I will tow my Dory boat up to Tim’s place in Soldotna, Alaska in July and leave it there for halibut fishing.

60. I will plan an elk and a deer hunting trip in the Fall with kids and/or grandkids.

61. I will go salmon and halibut fishing in Alaska for a month in July.

62. I will fish three times for steelhead, twice for salmon, and three times surf fishing this winter.

63. I will fix up my 20 foot pontoon boat and tow it over and leave it at Seth’s place in Idaho for his family to use.

64. I will paint the trim on our house.

65. I will totally finish the 1969 Mustang.

66. I will start restoring my 1950 Ford Club Coupe. 

67. I will redo the front of my number one shop turning it into a garage for four cars and put a new roof on it. 

68. I will get all three of my shops organized and cleaned.

69. I will get my number two shop set up to do wood working for profit.

70. I will prune all my apple trees before February.

71. I will build a chicken tight fence around our property. 

72. I will plan a ten-day fishing trip out of San Diego before 2025. 

73. I will plan and do a hunting trip to Texas for a trophy white tail buck and a pig before 2025.

74. I will plan a hunt for my son-in-law, Philip this Fall so that he can kill a bull elk.

75. I will start and teach a leadership class at Agape Family Fellowship.

76. I will read these goals at least once each week. 

Last night was our weekly Wednesday night service and I preached a sermon from 2 Peter. When I got home last night after the service I had such an adrenaline high that I couldn’t go to sleep until 1:00 am. I enjoy preaching so much, the study, the writing and thinking about how to make things clear and understandable, the actual teaching time, and then the conversation with people after the service.

It is an activity that I sense a strong partnership with God as He speaks through me and works in the hears and lives of people. The times that I teach the Bible are the most supernatural experiences of my life. Each week I teach seven different times and each time for 40 to 60 minutes. The rest of the week I am reading, studying, writing, thinking, and praying about what and how to say what I want to make clear to people.

1 Timothy 4:16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure sanctification both for yourself and for those who hear you.

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

I consider myself incredibly blessed to have spent the last 50 years of my life doing what I love most, and having the Lord bless me and use me for His glory.

Every believer and follower of Jesus has a giftedness from God, that sweet spot that is incredibly rewarding, exciting, fun, and bears much fruit. Most Christians haven’t figured out what it is though, which is very sad to observe and to think about. If I didn’t know what it was that God had wired me to do I would be totally obsessed with figuring out what it was.

I have a characteristic that I have valued and liked in myself in the past years of my life and that was the joy I got out of living life on the edge. Not living life on the edge of danger but living life on the edge of failure. I guess I wouldn’t call it joy, just a sort of high, a sense and feeling that is the opposite of boring.

Riding a motorcycle 9,000 miles in 30 days hitting all lower 48 states, camping every night, when up until a couple of months before I left on the trip I had never ridden a motorcycle before. Running two marathons and 4 half marathons a year for ten years with the goal of qualifying for the Boston marathon before I was 60, which I never did accomplish. Building a 900 seat sanctuary with cash, no loans and with all volunteer labor. Riding a bicycle twice to Fairbanks, Alaska, three times across the nation from coast to coast and a half dozen other trips of 2,000 miles or more. Making a goal of growing our church to 2000 people by the year 2000, we didn’t even come close to that goal. Making a goal of starting 10 daughter churches between the year 2000 and 2020, we almost made that goal. Starting 100 churches is Sierra Leone, West Africa before I die, that one is in process. Setting over 60 personal goals every year for the last 15 years, and of the 60 plus goals each year ten have been nearly impossible to accomplish.

Over the last 60 years of my life I have failed at more goals and adventures that I have started than I have accomplished, and some of them were major failures. I broke away from the security of farming with my Dad on the family dairy to start my own dairy and failed miserably. I attempted twice to start a small business that would support my family so I wouldn’t need to take a salary from the church so we could put the money back into ministry and failed both times. At least one third of my goals each year I don’t accomplish.

So, I am anything but a successful person, but I have enjoyed life to the max. I have always felt very confident in the beginning stages of all my goals that they were the will of God for my life and that I could accomplish them, and when I didn’t accomplish many of them I never felt like a failure because my definition of success was in trying to accomplish them not necessarily in accomplishing them, though I definitely wanted to accomplish all of my goals, and gave all of them my best shot.

Now at 75 years of age I would like to live life without that constant push to accomplish more which I have lived with all of my life. Just to relax and sleep into 9:00 am every morning with no “to-do” lists driving me crazy. I have tried really hard to relax and take it easy, but life gets so boring when it gets easy and comfortable and I hate boring. Oh well , I will try again when I hit 80.

October is Pastor Appreciation month, it was also the 50th anniversary of our church, and it was also my birthday so October was a good month. I got a couple of dozen very nice notes and letters from different people at JBC, and it was very encouraging to receive them and I read them all over a number of times.

Everybody enjoys being praised and affirmed for what they have done and how they have blessed the lives of others. I believe that God will communicate His pleasure in us through people that we have influenced. The trick is to keep my motives focused on pleasing the Lord rather than people even though they are being used as God’s mouth pieces. When I hear people praise and affirm my teaching or ministry or read notes and letters saying very nice things about me I say to myself, “thank You Lord for affirming my service to You, thank You! “

When Jesus came up out of the water after He was baptized God the Father spoke from heaven and said, “this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” God does that, He communicates His pleasure in us, but He does it through people so it is important for each of us to see the source of the praise so we we don’t trapped into working to please people instead of God, it is easy to do.

Our motives for what we do and why we do it are very important because God knows what our motives are and He energizes us, guides us, and blesses what we do when our motives are pure. Our heart is tricky and easily self-deceived so we need to examine our heart and our motives often so that we don’t mess up our lives and God’s church.

Just finished planning our bicycle trip for this coming year. It is 2400 miles and we will ride it in 40 days. It will be unsupported meaning that we won’t have a vehicle with us for the trip. We will carry all of our food, camping gear, cloths and bicycle supplies on the bicycle in four panniers, two in front and two in the back. Each of the front bags will have 15 lbs and each of the back bags will have 20 lbs for a total of 70 lbs. There will be a total of 98,722 feet of climbing with about 1/3 of that being in Utah. We will go through five National Parks in Utah which will be beautiful. Anybody wants to go let me know.

Sunday is a good day. I get to teach four different classes and they all are great classes with very teachable people in all of them. I won’t go to sleep tonight before 1:00 am because I am on such an adrenaline rush right now from teaching those classes that I can’t go to sleep. It is rewarding, exciting, fulfilling, challenging, and a great blessing to be able to teach these classes for the Lord and for our church. Next week I am adding another class to my schedule at our daughter church in Tangent, Agape Family Fellowship. I will be teaching my “Leadership I” class on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 pm.

I consider myself to be very blessed to be able to do my favorite activity of teaching the Bible in a setting that is so positive to such teachable and enjoyable people at my age. I am hoping that I can keep my sanity and energy up enough to do this job until the day I die.

I don’t know what my future holds, but I will make adjustments in my life accordingly. I know that my present energy, health, and mental ability are not to be taken for granted and it could all change tomorrow, so I will do all I can for the Lord for as long as I can and thank Him for every day He gives me.

I have goals written out until I am 88 years old, and if I am still around and able to serve after that I will write out another five years worth. I am enjoying life right now, my ministry, my family and my hobbies. I enjoy writing goals for the future and my dreams for what I can do and accomplish. As I have written before, it doesn’t cost anything to dream so I am dreaming big.

Men’s Breakfast sermon this morning was entitled “The Cure for Stupid Thinking.” Yesterday I got excited and signed up to run a half marathon in Corvallis on April 6th. So last night I ran two miles on my treadmill with the incline set at 3% as I began my training for this new B-HAG of a goal. I think I might have overdone my first running in 10 years because tonight I can barely walk I am so sore. The worst part of it is my wife is laughing at me and calling me a perfect example of stupid thinking! We actually were laughing together as I sat groaning pathetically in my recliner.

I don’t think it is stupid thinking, just a bit naive, unrealistic and overly positive. But if I am going to have a thinking problem I would rather it be overly positive instead of negative and defeatist like so many people that I know. My soreness will be gone in a few days and then I will start in on the pursuit of my goal a little bit more gradually, but I am pretty sure that I will run a half marathon in April, even if a bit slow, and then I will ride my bicycle 2,600 miles to Southern Utah and back. I see where a guy 91 years old ran and finished the Boston Marathon this year, I think I will make a goal to do that.

The reason I like goal setting is that it costs nothing to write big hairy, audacious goals down and dream about doing them and make an attempt to accomplish them. I made a goal the last four years to climb Mt Adam’s, I didn’t make it to the top on any of the four climbs, but I did give it a go and made it quite a ways, and I had fun in the process. I think I might make another goal to climb Mt Adam’s if I finish the half marathon in April. yep, I am sure I will.

I may not finish the half marathon, I may not ride all 2,600 miles on my bicycle, I might not even attempt climbing Mt Adam’s or run in the Boston Marathon, but it is sure fun to dream about doing it. On some days when I am feeling especially good I even dream that I am going to win the Boston, now that is a fun dream!

I wonder if having crazy unrealistic dreams is bad for your health, if it will cause my heart to fail, or give me cancer, or make me a grumpy old man. I don’t think so!

Occasionally when I have run out of time or energy or both. Like tonight I go back and find a blog from several years ago that I like and republish it.

Living righteously takes a huge amount of inner strength, which all comes from God. God loves to give His strength to people who love Him and who are serving Him. He gives His strength to people who meet the conditions that He has established. The more faithful that we are in meeting the conditions the more strength that He gives us. 

Probably the most basic of conditions to receiving God’s strength is reading the Bible. In the Bible there are dozens of different blessings that God gives to those who love His Word, who read it, memorize it, meditate on it, and who study it. 

A few of the blessings that we receive when we faithfully read the Bible are;

Peace amid chaos. Psalms 119:165 Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.

Extraordinary wisdom to know what to do and say in any and every situation. Psalms 119:97-100 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts.

Growing righteousness. Psalms 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

A healthy soul. Psalms 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

A growing righteousness. 1 Peter 2:2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

A supernatural strength. Psalms 138:2-3 For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.

Some people will say to me, “how much do I have to read the Bible?” It all depends on how much of God’s many cool blessings that you want.