2018 – Page 9 – Rich's Ride

Just Pick Up Your Corner

Four friends carried a paralyzed man to see Jesus. They were pretty determined. According to Mark the four friends fought through a large crowd, lugged their friend onto the roof, cut a hole, and lowered him into the room where Jesus was eating dinner. Lots of lessons in this familiar story, many sermons, tons of theology. […]

Just Tell Me The Answers

“Can you help with homework?” The former math teacher occasionally gets a call, often on a weekend. And while I love to help, I’ve discovered I’m not a very good tutor. I was a big-picture type teacher, never believed in recipes or easy shortcuts. I wanted kids to work things out, figure it out for […]

How Big Is Your Dream?

Thirty years ago I confronted an insurmountable obstacle. After spinal surgery and five weeks of recovery, therapists loaded me into my first wheelchair and rolled me into the hospital hallway where they’d placed a 10-foot strip of red tape. My first therapy goal was to push my chair 10 feet. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t. […]

Self-Help Or Hope?

Someone asked the other day if RELENTLESS GRACE is a self-help book. I laughed. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the most sensitive response. I knew what he meant, but I chuckled at the notion that I somehow “helped myself” through the darkness of that horrible experience. RELENTLESS GRACE isn’t a story of self-help, it’s a […]

Only One Way To Sit Still

I cranked my first handcycle 19 years ago – in March, 1999. I’ve told the story before. Two blocks, thirty minutes. After a decade of inactivity, it wasn’t exactly a triumph. I’ve also said God used the handcycle to inspire hope, to help me look forward rather than back. Maybe you wonder how that works. […]

Couch Courage

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! Are you? We’d like to follow this biblical encouragement passed from Moses to Joshua to all of us. Who doesn’t want to be *courageous*? Stand for justice? Save the kid from a burning building? Take a bullet for a friend? Followers of Jesus are courageous…right? “Take courage. I AM. Don’t be […]

Can We Handle The Truth?

“The truth is more important than the facts.” Frank Lloyd Wright Wait…what? Is this iconic architect offering yet another argument for “alternative facts?” I don’t think so. I can’t imagine fact-free architecture. Buildings are constrained by science, gravity doesn’t care whether you believe it. Ignoring inconvenient facts doesn’t stop the structure from collapsing. Frank Lloyd […]

Are The Times A-Changin?

“Those kids are INCREDIBLE!” Maybe you’re heard a similar sentiment lately. Maybe you’re among those who are surprised as passionate, articulate young people step forward following another tragedy to claim #neveragain. We’ve heard all about how these spoiled, entitled millennials with noses buried in their phones would be the end of civilization. Sort of like […]

When You Need A Shepherd

Grief’s a funny thing. Not funny/haha but funny/ironic. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross demonstrated that grief progresses through similar stages across cultures, but no two individuals navigate their grief in precisely the same manner. It’s a completely universal human experience, yet we each experience it in our own unique manner. In a recent memorial service the pastor […]

About Finger Pointing

I listened – briefly – to a simplistic argument in which a Missouri politician attempts to assign blame for human trafficking. Leaving aside the goofy specifics, I’m struck by the focus on fault-finding. It’s like we believe we’ve solved a problem by figuring out who’s at fault. Blaming, finger-pointing, asking WHY? … all ways for […]

A Tale Of Two Tests

Psych 101, Iowa State University, Fall 1969. Maybe 200-300 students in a creaky old lecture hall, professor droning, me taking notes with one question in mind: Will this be on the test? Came home (yes, I lived at home) from my very first college midterm exam and told my mom I was going to flunk […]

Adventure Or Disaster?

It happened in 2013, and it’s still one of my favorite FREEDOM TOUR stories. I did my best to research a route through the south Denver area, even called a local bike shop. The guy assured me the “Outlaw Trail” was great. So imagine the surprise when the trail went from paved to dirt to […]

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