Category: New Beginnings

What makes a book worth reading? What do you look for when selecting a book? With so many options, what attributes determine your “to read” pile? A few weeks ago Mark Batterson asked me to review The Circle Maker. His request got me thinking about how I filter and choose my reading material. I read […]

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Why do you believe? Cranking my bike along the Mississippi River somewhere in Missouri, I wasn’t ready for that question. I’m not sure how I responded—I think I was more concerned with the next hill than a coherent rationale for my faith. I’ve thought a lot about the question since then. I’m not sure I […]

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Are You Too Smart For Miracles? It was just a casual party conversation. I didn’t know the other guy very well, so the discussion skipped around like a smooth stone on a pond. I don’t recall how the stone skipped onto “religion” but suddenly he said, “I’m just too smart for miracles.” I’ve learned to […]

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Live in the present. That’s the conventional wisdom. How often have you heard that advice? Looking back leads to regret, looking forward results in worry. TODAY is all we have, it’s what we can control, it’s the only place we can live. Pretty good guidance, right? Except—living exclusively in the present can lead to an […]

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Rich’s Ride provided countless rewards and a few challenges. One significant test arrived in the form of a question. A Christian disability-advocacy group invited me to a meeting. I began as I often do with a small audience, by asking what they wanted me to talk about. After a short pause, a lady began the […]

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If you’ve been following along the past few weeks you know that I’ve been pondering one particular scripture as I crank along the Mississippi River. Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a […]

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Traveling on Rich’s Ride brings wonderful side benefits. One of those is attending a variety of churches. Becky and I love the people at our home church, Timberline Church in Fort Collins. We couldn’t have done this project without their love and support, and we’re excited to be there in a few weeks. But it’s great […]

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Last week’s word-of-the-week was DAILY. I’m noticing something else about trusting God for the daily progress of Rich’s Ride. My initial idea was to ride 200 miles each week. That would mean I’d only need to do 100 miles during the final week to reach the 1500-mile goal. I also planned to do a little […]

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I’m constantly amazed by the individual stories we hear from people as we talk about hope. I think there’s a lesson for us in the depth and variety of experiences. It’s easy to divide the world into two groups—those who face some kind of challenge, and those who don’t. It’s pointless—there’s nobody in the second […]

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This article originally appeared on December 17, 2010. Who’s your hero? I recently heard a surprising, thought-provoking response to that question. A critique group gathered to practice their public speaking skills. They challenged each other to do a two-minute impromptu talk answering the question, “Who is your hero?” The last speaker began with an attention-grabbing […]

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It feels like God’s speaking to me on this trip. I’ve seen some stuff in familiar scriptures that eluded me before. Today I spoke to some kids about this passage: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive […]

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