For some reason, I’m listening to more Christmas music this year. And I’ve noticed the shepherds. We idealize them. Kids play the shepherds in the church pageant. But they were the lowest, outcasts doing a stinky job no one else would do. When God decided to announce the pivotal moment in all of human history, […]
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A Worthy Cause
I thanked a friend for a generous donation to the kids at the Home of Hope. I said I appreciated his support of such a worthy cause. He replied, “There are lots of worthy causes.” My friend’s right. There’s no shortage of worthy causes. His comment got me wondering why people choose to support our […]
Continue readingMore TagBarriers?
A weird thing happens as we plan for next summer’s FREEDOM TOUR. We look back and realize hundreds of people had a great time, nothing but praise and encouragement. And one or two folks were disappointed because something didn’t meet their expectations. Guess which one I obsess over? Guess which one tempts me to change […]
Continue readingMore TagReach
“Your responsibility equals your reach.” What’s your first response? I’ve been chewing on that idea since I read it a while back. The notion, I think, is that folks with bigger platforms have a bigger responsibility to consider the potential consequences of their words and actions. We understand the principle. It’s one thing if a […]
Continue readingMore TagAbsolutes
Students taught me to be wary of absolutes. Once you say never or always, you can pretty much count on two things. First, people will test the boundaries. So you have to decide how invested you are in the rule, how much time and effort you’ll spend enforcing the lines. Second, no matter how carefully […]
Continue readingMore TagNot Yet
Last time I asked a question. What will it be like to meet Jesus face-to-face? I don’t know what that heavenly greeting will be like, but I don’t have to wait to talk to Jesus. He and I have conversations, especially when I’m cranking my handcycle. And I think He’s telling me the kingdom is […]
Continue readingMore TagWelcome Home
What will it be like to meet Jesus face-to-face? I imagine a big smile, a hug, and “Welcome Home.” I know that moment will be more glorious and awesome than anything my human brain can imagine. Still, it feels good to create a script of how the meeting might happen. I picture a conversation, a […]
Continue readingMore TagSunk
Imagine your boat is floundering. The boat will sink, everyone’s gonna drown, unless you lighten the load. Someone suggests getting rid of the heavy anchor. “We can’t! The anchor was very expensive.” It’s an example of a persistent phenomenon known as the sunk cost fallacy. Same reasoning explains why we sit through a boring movie […]
Continue readingMore TagOverwhelmed
Ever been overtaken by a sense of gratitude? I’ve been working for a while on summarizing FREEDOM TOUR 2022. Flipping through photos, I was struck by the sheer number and range of people who came together to make it happen. Literally hundreds of cyclists, walkers, runners, donors, and volunteers. Stepping into a wide variety of […]
Continue readingMore TagThe Biggest Ride Around
I get lots of emails offering to help us grow our ride. It’s tempting. It would be kinda fun, and perhaps a bit of an ego boost, to be The Biggest Ride Around (TBRA). Once in a while I let myself imagine hundreds (thousands?) of FREEDOM TOUR cyclists crisscrossing Northern Colorado. All those jerseys and […]
Continue readingMore Tag“I’m In”
“I’m in” might mean different things. For some it means joining, stepping into the circle. What’s expected? What’s going to happen? What’s it about? For others, “I’m in” means all-in. What can I do? How can I help? How can I contribute and even become a leader? Tempting, I think, to focus on the second […]
Continue readingMore TagExtremism
We’re supposed to avoid extremism, right? Don’t be one of those wild-eyed radicals, they say. Moderation. Compromise. Common ground. Sounds great, as long as you’re not following Jesus, because Jesus was a radical extremist. Jesus said love our neighbors. Jesus said welcome strangers. Jesus said care for orphans. All of them, not just the ones […]
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