For the last two weeks I have been very careful about what I eat. I found out that no one is allergic to rice, so I went on a rice and vitamin supplement-only diet and then have added foods to my diet a few at a time and noting any changes, especially in regards to Parkinson’s symptoms. I found out that I have very strong reactions to anything with Gluten in it. I also react to hot dogs and it must be the additives because I am fine with most meats. This past week has been much better for me as far as muscle stiffness, muscle cramps, and not being able to sleep. I have actually slept like a baby for the last week, and that is so nice. Now I have no excuse for being grumpy.

My discipline in regards to what I eat and how much I eat has been very poor most of my life. But now that I am almost 75 years old I would like to still be active physically and productive as a Pastor and a disciple of Jesus Christ. I don’t want to be lazy and undisciplined about what and how much I eat and then whine and fuss when I don’t feel well. I am keeping close track of everything I eat and noting any changes in physical energy and flexibility. I am also trying to notice any mood swings especially between enthusiasm and depression, and energy and tiredness mentally.

A new thing I just started is a thirty minute stretching routine each day. I have gotten so stiff and inflexible that I can’t put my socks on in the morning. I can’t get on my bicycle except by laying it down, stepping over it and then picking the bike up under me. This program that I bought promises that I will be doing the splits in no time.

Everyone’s life is full of challenges and barriers that need to be conquered and overcome. They are all different , but we all have them. That is what makes us grow. I found myself getting wimpy and whining more and more about the challenges and barriers in my life, but I am going to conquer that problem as well.

This is one of my favorite stories that I used to tell a lot but I haven’t told it now probably for ten years.

In 1960 Dad retired from the Navy, and we bought our first farm on North Myrtle Road, 13 miles out of Myrtle Creek. My Dad’s sister and her husband, Uncle Bill, visited us about a year later. I had never met Uncle Bill or Aunt Mabel because they had never visited us before. After all, we moved so much while Dad was in the Navy that they couldn’t figure out where we lived; at least, that is what Uncle Bill said.

When they drove into the driveway, Dad told me that after all the greeting was finished, to carry their suitcases into the room where they were staying. I did that, and when I finished, Uncle Bill gave me a nickel. I thanked him enthusiastically; a nickel was worth a lot more in 1961 than it is now. I could buy a pack of bubble gum with five baseball cards for a nickel back then. Later I brought him the paper, and he gave me another nickel, a cup of coffee, and, yep, you guessed it, yet another nickel. On one of those nickel experiences, I noticed that Uncle Bill had a big bulge in his pants pocket where he was getting the nickels from. I concluded that Uncle Bill was rich. There was a bit of a lull in Uncle Bill’s generosity, so I didn’t wait for him; I just asked him for a nickel. He, without hesitation, reached into His pocket and brought out a nice shiny nickel, and gave it to me. My mom was just around the corner in the kitchen and heard me ask Uncle Bill for a nickel, and she came around the corner, spitting mad, and I thought I was going to get a significant whipping. Uncle Bill intervened and said, Bernice ( that was my Mom’s name), that is OK; I would like for Dee to ask me for a nickel any time he wants. Mom wasn’t too happy with me begging for nickels, as she put it, but reluctantly agreed to Uncle Bill’s generosity after he assured her it was what he wanted. So I became Uncle Bill’s shadow; every place he went, I went. I even tried to go into the bathroom with him, but he assured me he would not be long and for me to wait outside the bathroom. Actually, we had an outhouse, not a regular bathroom, and it was a two-holer, so I thought it would be fantastic for us to sit together. At some point, I took the initiative and asked Uncle Bill to go ahead and give me all the nickels in his pocket, and then he wouldn’t be bothered with me shadowing him anymore. He sat down and looked me in the eye, and said, “A major reason for our visit was to get to know you boys, but I knew Junior High boys wouldn’t have any interest in hanging out with their old Uncle Bill, so I came up with this plan to bribe you. You know, if I gave you all my nickels now, I wouldn’t see you much for the rest of our time here; no, I will keep my nickels, but you keep asking, and I will keep giving.”

One of my significant mottos with prayer is, “Much Prayer – Much Blessing; Little Prayer – Little Blessing; No Prayer – No Blessing.” Is that because God is a reluctant giver and needs persuading? I don’t think so; I think God wants our time, fellowship, and attention, and He is willing to give us nickels whenever we ask to get our time with Him. We get so busy with our lives that we quickly forget all about God and give Him just token, left-over time.

Luke 6:23
Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.

Revelation 11:18
the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints

One of the things that constantly puzzles me is how few believers in Jesus think much about the “Judgment Seat of Christ” and the eternal rewards earned in this life that will affect the quality of our eternity forever.

The Bible talks about judgment, rewards, and the loss of rewards a lot, but it is like most Christians don’t see them when they read the Bible.

All the verses written about the rewards given to us by God for the deeds that we have done in this life are intended by God to motivate us, stir us up, make us hot, and increase our willingness to work hard and sacrifice for God.

But because there are so few who understand the eternal rewards that we could receive that will make a huge difference in the quality of our life in eternity there are a lot of lukewarm, apathetic, world-focused Christians running around who make very little difference with their life in this world.

I think about the day I will stand before Jesus and give an account of my life and what I have done with my life for Him constantly. I begin my day thinking about it, and I end my day thinking about it. I am a highly motivated, driven person, always wanting to do more, looking for opportunities, looking for open doors, and never satisfied or content with what I have done or how much I have grown; I want more and more and more.

I sleep almost every night, and if I miss a night because of schedule, the next day, I am not worth dirt. The other day I went to bed at 7:00 pm and didn’t get up until 7:00 am; it was a delight. I usually don’t do that because I would toss and turn and not sleep, but that evening I was so tired that I slept like a baby. I eat almost every day, and usually, I eat three meals, and I have a weight problem because I love to eat. On our month-long bicycle trip, we showered almost every night, and if we missed one, we felt sticky, smelly, and very uncomfortable; showers were, Oh, such a delight! I have not had a cavity or a filling in my teeth for over 50 years, and I feel “not right” if I don’t brush my teeth daily.

Things we do daily are not necessarily drudgery, mindless repetition, duties, obligations, or legalism. They are often the key to our health and energy, sense of well-being, and joy. We do them regularly and faithfully because the benefits and blessings from those faithful basics are our energy sources.

Our physical life is a visible illustration of our spiritual life. Our physical health is tremendously influenced by our daily disciplines and habits, and our spiritual life and health even more so. Even though many of the disciplines of our physical life are not what I would call a delight, I do them almost every day because the benefits are almost immediately experienced, and the benefits are tremendous. One such discipline is physical exercise. It is a struggle while doing it, but the results are so apparent that I am making goals to do more; I love feeling good and energetic; therefore, I love exercising.

The problem for many is that the faithful practice of the basic spiritual disciplines is not as quickly connected to the benefits and blessings that result from doing them. The Bible is full of blessings promised to the person who faithfully reads, memorizes, and meditates on the Bible, but most are ignorant of them.

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,

Psalms 119:165
Those who love Your law have great peace,
And nothing causes them to stumble.

Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

There are over fifty clearly stated blessings in the Bible promised to the person who faithfully reads, studies, and memorizes it so that they might live it. God’s blessings are conditional, that means that when we experience a blessing from God their is a reason.

James 1:25
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Many born-again Christians are living weak, fruitless, and joyless lives because they are not being faithful to the basic disciplines of the Christian life. According to their theology, the disciplines are just things you are supposed to do, and because we are saved by grace, no big deal if we don’t. They tend to believe that because our salvation is a free gift from God, neither earned nor deserved, that blessings from God are the same. God is our loving heavenly Father who will shower us with blessings, and if something goes wrong, it is the devil’s fault.

And when I say “many,” I really mean “most.”

As I maneuver my life through all the activities that I am involved with during the summer schedule, with almost all routines going out the window, I need to remind myself repeatedly that certain things must get done every day, no matter how busy I am and chaotic my life has become.

When I was growing up on the dairy and then started farming full-time with my Dad, we never missed milking the cows. We never thought of not milking the cows; it never even entered our heads. We never discussed, maybe just this once, we could skip milking the cows; it never happened; we always milked the cows. Our cows were our life, our income; that is what we did; that is who we were, dairy farmers.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ; He is my Savior, my God, and my Lord.

John 8:31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

Psalms 1:2-3
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

I read the Bible almost every day. Some days I don’t read the entire scheduled number of chapters in my goal, but I read something. Almost every day I either memorize scripture or review verses I have already memorized. On some super busy days, I will bring verses up in my mind and review them with my head on the pillow, and by the way, that is a great way to fall asleep. I almost always spend some time with the Lord in prayer every day. My goal is to pray when I am doing nothing else so I can focus and give the Lord my complete self and attention, but sometimes I pray fervently while riding a bicycle, while driving, while I am fishing, or while working on my car, but I try to pray every day. I almost always spend a few minutes reviewing the day and thanking God for leading me, protecting me, blessing me, and using me for His glory. I also try and remember all sins I have committed that day and confess those to the Lord and repent asking for His strength so that I never do them again. In the morning, I almost always pray my prayer of commitment asking for His strength and wisdom for the day that He has planned for me while I am getting out of bed and getting dressed. That morning prayer of commitment is the key to keeping all the others.

People regularly call my daily commitments legalism, things I do because I have to, thoughtless obligations that lose their power or value by shear repetition.

We all are people who easily get entangled in the world, who are very prone to following the desires of our flesh instead of the promptings of the Spirit, and often can’t tell the difference, and are influenced by the lies of demons who are all around us.

The commitments that I make in the morning are what keep me faithful and fully devoted to my Lord.

You probably noticed that I put the word “almost” in regularly. That is because, unlike milking the cows, I do occasionally, though rarely, miss a day on part or all of these commitments. I haven’t lost my salvation, I don’t consider myself a loser, and I don’t beat myself up. I do confess and repent and move on.

One of the characteristics of my life in the summer is that I don’t have much routine. There was some routine during our bicycle trip, but then it was over, then I was camping on the bank of the Brownlee Reservoir, sleeping on a cot in a tent, fishing 12 hours a day. Now I am at our son Seth’s home in Idaho hanging out with his family for a couple of days. I will be home on Monday and will try to get a bunch of chores and “honey-dos” accomplished, then on July 12th, I head up to Alaska where I will fish for salmon and halibut for 12 hours a day for a month. I will work hard at keeping my daily Bible reading, prayer time, and Bible memory goals current, but sometimes I am getting them done just before midnight, and I often find myself “speed reading” in my Bible reading. I have a goal to write for a minimum of two hours each day, to read 20 pages a day of good books, and to listen to at least one good podcast each day. But I am not always successful at keeping those goals, especially when the fishing is good. During the school year, from September through May, it is easy because I have a routine that I stick to, and a routine is a great tool for faithfulness and consistency in life. Establishing a routine in our life begins with writing down our commitments and goals and then establishing the time when we want to do them and sticking to that time commitment.

Most people have a simple routine in the morning when they get up. They take a shower, brush their teeth, get dressed, and eat breakfast, or whatever. It was established by habit. The more routines we establish, especially for important things that we want to be sure we get done, the more faithful we will be.

This last Monday I left with my boat in tow headed for the Brownlee Reservoir for some catfish fishing. I haven’t written a blog for the last five days because there was no electricity to charge my IPad and there was no cell service where we were camping.

I have this very nice 26-foot fiberglass boat that I built with a 135hp Mercury outboard motor on it that I was dying to use. I had recently done a bunch of work on the boat and I had the outboard motor completely rebuilt. I couldn’t wait to get it into the water and see how fast it was going to go and catch a bunch of fish out of it.

I had left the key on after I used the electric tilt to raise the motor to drive over to Huntington so the next morning the battery was dead. I had brought along two spare batteries so I put one of them in the boat. I don’t know how or why, but I put the new battery in backward from the one I took out. When I tried to start the motor it wouldn’t start. It had always started right off before so I looked again at the battery and immediately saw my mistake. I turned it around and tried to start it, but evidently, I had messed something up or several things. I couldn’t believe that I did that!! I said to myself out loud, “Duke, you dumbhead, why did you do that!!! Have you ever done something totally stupid and wish that you could keep anybody else from finding out about it.

Just about everybody has done something like that. Putting a battery in backward has consequences, but it isn’t what you would call a sin, just a mistake. I try hard not to make mistakes, especially ones that have a financial cost involved in the consequence. But sin on the other hand is more than making a mistake, it is choosing to break God’s law. Learning and growing in knowledge and wisdom will cut down on the mistakes that we make, and growing in holiness will reduce the sins that we commit. Life is all about growing in wisdom and knowledge but it is especially about growing in holiness and the character of Jesus.

Learning happens at the point of mistakes, poor choices, and sin, but it requires that we own our blunders, review them a bit to recognize where we took the wrong turn and then to make resolve not to do that again. We may do the same thing again but the distance between them grows farther and farther apart.

Every summer for the last 14 years I have taken a “Summer Study Break.” I get away and do a variety of things that I enjoy sometimes by myself and often with a few others. I have gone on an extended bicycle trip every summer, sometimes a month long and sometimes up to two months, I go up to Alaska and fish for several weeks, and I often go up to Alaska and hunt. I usually get in two to four hours each day to read and write at the end of the day. Getting away is especially effective in renewing my emotional gas tank and my study time is very productive because of the freedom from the pressures of ministry my creative juices flow and I write up a storm. I usually get 30 to 40 sermons and lessons written every summer. Several times I have gone to a cabin or other place that I can be all by myself for a week and even up to a month to write and read. I especially like to do this if I am working on a special project like a seminar or syllabus for leadership class or other extended teaching times.

Many pastors have burnt out in ministry because of the pressures of preaching every week, counseling people’s problems, solving problems and conflicts in the church, and feeling the weight of responsibility that comes from leading, especially through the COVID years. I have pastored at JBC for 47 years this coming October, and even though I am changing roles and responsibilities as I get older and handing things off to Pastor Mike, I still feel energized when teaching my leadership class, participating in a five-day prayer event, or coaching other pastors. The three months each summer that I take off and get away have been crucial for my endurance, and I am so thankful for the Elders at JBC that have allowed me to do that.

We started driving the motorhome up I-5 at 8:00 pm last night from La Habra, California. We drove there after reaching the Mexico border at about 3:00 pm and ate dinner and showered. We have been driving all night and should be home about noon. The trip will be officially over. This has been a great trip. Probably the easiest of the twelve trips I have done. No rain except a few morning drizzles, camping in the motorhome was comfortable and convenient, there were mostly tailwinds when there was wind, no dogs, no bugs, very few rumble strips, mostly good roads, lots of designated bike lanes and trails, hills but not like the Rockies, Appalachians, Cascades, and Ozarks, and the camaraderie and fellowship with the team was great, at least for me; I enjoyed all of them but I am not sure if they enjoyed me! The scenery riding along the coast was beautiful and we met lots of nice people along the route.

The best thing about every trip is the amount of alone time that I have with the Lord while riding the bicycle or driving the motorhome, and the extra reading time that I have at the end of each day’s ride. It truly is a spiritually renewing and growing time.

I had a lot more trouble physically this year than on any of the previous trips and drove the motorhome rather than ride the bike about a third of the days, it was nice to have that option, and the rest of the team didn’t make to much fun of me and call me a wimp, except my brother, Cliff. I am not sure if the problems were caused by age or Parkinson’s. The main issue was not being able to sleep well, not getting rest, and nothing gives me a wimpy attitude more than not being able to sleep. I had decided that this was my last trip, but I have changed my mind about that, I enjoy these trips and get too much out of them to quit now. I am going to exercise more, and do more bicycling outside on my bicycle. One of my new goals is to join a group that bicycles together regularly so I will have the accountability to do it so I stay in bicycle shape. This year I got bummed when I decided to drive a day instead of riding my bike, but I will just make that part of the plan in future rides if I need to. Even with getting older and with physical and health issues, most of the battle to endure is in my head not with my body, it is good for me to fight those and win.

Thank you to all of you who took this journey with us via this blog and for all the kind responses to the blog that many of you wrote that were truly motivational for me.

Today we started with 83 miles to ride to finish the trip. I started riding this morning very confident that I could ride all the miles, but about mile 30, my bicycle broke. I think my front sprocket got bent because it kept throwing the chain. Each time the chain came off, I flipped the bike upside down and got the chain back on. Each time I got the chain back on, I was sure I had fixed it, but 100 yards later, it would come off again. The last time it came off, I lost my balance and fell on the bike. I bruised up both elbows, forearms, knees, and shins pretty well. Tom was driving the motorhome today, and as I got up off the ground, telling the passing motorists and bicycle riders that I was OK, he texted his location. He wasn’t far from me, and I took that as a sign from the Lord that I was done. I texted him my location and wrote, “Come get me, please, pretty please!” In a few minutes, he was there, and we loaded my bicycle in the trailer and took off for the finish line. We drove to the end of the route, and here I sit in the motorhome writing this while we wait for the other riders to get here. I will write more when I hear the various stories of the other riders.

Well, Paul just texted that he needs to be picked up. So off Tom, Ray, and I go to rescue Paul. Oh, I forgot to tell you that after Tom picked me up, Ray texted that he needed to be picked up at about mile 50, so we got him and then drove back to the finish line, and then we got the call from Paul and drove back and picked him up at mile 63. He had hit a curb and popped his tire, and the tube had such a big hole in it he couldn’t patch it, and he didn’t have a spare. We again drove back to the finish line, and pretty soon, Cliff and Kathy got there. With no problems. Hallelujah!

We are now all in the motorhome with our bikes in the trailer headed home. We are going to stop off at my friend Paul’s house to take showers. Then we will start the 20 hour ride home. I am hoping this ride will be uneventful, but if not I will tell you about it in tomorrows blog.