My friend Mike took his HOPE ROCK on a trip. He’s working on a bucket-list item to ride his bike in all 50 states. During a 9-day stretch in early July, Mike and his HOPE ROCK did 177 strategically-chosen miles of cycling in 14 different states! Like many of his FREEDOM TOUR teammates, Mike carries […]
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Tough Conversations
I’ve been in some tough conversations recently. I’ve had opportunities to learn, or re-learn, or un-learn. Opportunities to examine my beliefs and either re-think or hold myself accountable. I’ve also had opportunities to engage in arguments. Maybe you’ve had similar encounters. And maybe, like me, you’ve wondered why these discussions so frequently devolve into verbal […]
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Seek Justice
We all believe in justice. I wonder, though, if we all agree on what it means to “seek justice.” In this highly-charged political environment, even this notion has become divisive. A recent Facebook post about justice elicited a comment — from a friend — about “social justice BS.” In scripture, justice is primarily a relational […]
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About Lines
It seems lots of folks are drawing lines these days. Everywhere I look I see lines about US and THEM. Here’s the line: you’re either on my side, or the wrong side. Those who draw them are certain they’re absolute, true, and righteous, but in fact they’re mostly opinions transformed into hard-and-fast rules, unnecessary false […]
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Struggle And Celebration
Paul Hurkman spoke to our team last week about justice. Paul is Executive Director of Venture. In 2012 he taught Becky and me the blueprint for doing a group bike tour, about shared sacrifice and doing what we love to benefit a cause bigger than ourselves. He began with words written by another Paul: “We […]
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Freedom & Truth
I told you last time about our team’s ZOOM conversations. Dick Foth said he wanted to discuss freedom. He began with Jesus’ words: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So there’s a chain: obedience –> truth –> freedom. It’s […]
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Reflections On A Stay-At-Home Tour
Every tour is unique. Maybe you think after 8 years it’s just rinse and repeat. When you bring a group of people together with different backgrounds, riding abilities, and expectations it’s never same-old-same-old. Toss in the stay-at-home model and the uncertainties created by COVID-19 and you’ve got “unique.” It’s a bike tour, so first thought […]
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Tour? Or No Tour?
How do you do a tour, when you can’t do a tour? FRONT RANGE TOUR 2020 kicks off this week, but with COVID-19 it’s not smart for a bunch of sweaty cyclists to invade a new church every night for 5 or 6 nights. However, we still want to ride bikes together, and the kids […]
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Extra Weight
Cyclists deplore extra weight. Serious riders go to great lengths – and spend lots of money – to remove every unnecessary ounce. Especially during climbs, seemingly small grams make a big difference. So it’s a big deal when we ask every FREEDOM TOUR participant to carry two stones with them during the journey. It’s a […]
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Prophetic Voices
It’s as if he wrote this quote just for us. “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Wheels, spokes, and victims of injustice – the perfect bumper sticker slogan for the FREEDOM TOUR, written by […]
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Magic Bullets
We all want them. Overnight success. Viral ideas. Instant vaccines. Magic bullets are illusions, of course. Overnight success springs “magically” from lots of sleepless nights, crumpled papers, and cold coffee. Successful ideas almost always rest on a string of “failures.” The scientific method doesn’t care about expediency. Skip steps and you might get faster results, […]
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An Introduction
I’d like you to meet someone. Cheyenne likes to run. When we launched the HOPE & FREEDOM CHALLENGE, she committed to run 150 miles to support the kids at the HOME OF HOPE. Cheyenne wanted to make her miles go ever farther, so she’s asking friends and family to donate and support her effort. I’m […]
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