Coming to the Still Waters

This is Gravel Mountain from a great vantage point to see the slope.  It is a favorite spot for snowmobilers who have the thrill of climbing it on their sleds.  There are 3 decks below for staging so your buddies can watch you scale it.  While it is beautiful, it is also very dangerous because of avalanches.  It becomes a slippery slope and everyone below can be put in danger if your sled causes an avalanche.  Let me see if I can post a couple videos below of this.  The first is of an avalanche last year and broadcasted on the local news. This second one is of a couple of sleds going up and coming over the top. Why I speak of it is because it is a great illustration of a slippery slope.  It looks beautiful and can be fun for awhile but there are real dangers to hanging out here on or near the slippery slope.  So it is with the slippery slope of ignoring or being around those who ignore the roles, rules and responsibilities of God's created institu...

  Here is part of the Rocky Mountain Range from 11,400 ft at the base of Gravel Mountain.  A hike/hunt for 1st season rifle put me in a place to see this beautiful view.  When hiking up you typically don't see the majesty until you turn around.  It is amazing that I can name a bunch of the mountain peaks just be looking at their shape.  Here is another framed shot by the pines of Longs Peak.   Thinking you are the only one on the planet, I look to my left and here is another man who came up from the other side of the meadow.  His name is Cam and he drives the snowcat for the snowmobile trails.  He was preparing his route for the upcoming winter season.  We had a great conversation "on top of the world" and found out we live not a mile from one another.  I was dedicated to hunting and putting some meat in the freezer and he was dedicated to safety for the snowmobilers in the near future.  It opened up a door when I might see hi...

A beautiful Friday created the opportunity to take another beautiful hike up the Colorado River Trail to the Ditch Road that runs along the Grand Ditch.  You are walking among the mountains at 10,300 ft and there was a beautiful cool fall breeze.  You come around one of the curves and Mount Richthofen comes into view.  To the left of Richthofen is Tepee Mountain.  The 12 to 14 mile fall hike gave me another opportunity to experience the overwhelming ability of our sovereign God and what He has put mankind in charge of. We see 2 mountain peaks in this picture.  They are very different.  Peter gives us 2 groups to look at in this passage.  He actually finally introduces group #2.  He has been speaking exclusively to group #1 up to this point.  Group #1 are the Christians who are being heavily persecuted and dispersed.  They are the elect exiles of chapter 1, verse 1.  They are the ones who Peter has expressed to the greatness of the G...

  I am praying that you might not be able to see me preach in a couple of weeks because the generosity of the congregation has made this food drive grow so much.  The state of our world has made life more difficult lately for many of us in the bare essentials.  We are praying our efforts to help others will be like Paul collecting from the churches of Asia Minor to take back to the persecuted Christians in need in Jerusalem. I love the song " Ancient Words " by Michael W. Smith.  It is hard to believe that he will be 70 next year.  He got this song from Lynn DeShazo who penned the words in 2001.  She also wrote " Be Magnified " and " More Precious Than Silver. "  Here are the lyrics. Verse 1: Holy words long preserved For our walk in this world They resound with God's own heart O let the ancient words impart Words of life, words of hope Give us strength, help us cope In this world where we roam Ancient words will guide us home Chorus: Ancient words eve...

Do you see the snow cross on the mountain in the left stain glass above?  Do you see the dove in the right stain glass?  The dove is harder to make out. Its wing is a darker shading of the stained glass.  (You might need to zoom in on it.)   When I think of the dove, I think of the provision of God shown to Noah after the flood.  I think of the Holy Spirit coming down upon Jesus like a dove at His baptism and the coronation of His earthly ministry.  When I think of the cross, I think of the provision of God shown to the world that He created and loved manifested by the giving of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.  I think of Jesus' words "It is finished" at the completion of His earthly ministry.  All that is required has been done. Peter takes us there in this passage when he expands on the "according to the foreknowledge of God" who "has caused us to be born again."  What is included in this salvation?  What do we need to remember w...

  We had a great mini reunion in Michigan with all of our 4 kids and their spouses and the 11 grands.  The lake produced for a great fish fry of small and large mouth bass, bluegill and perch.  The memorial service for Stephanie's father went well with more attending than any of us expected.  The opportunity for our whole family and especially all of our grands to experience a funeral and graveside together was very meaningful to Stephanie and I.  We also had the extra blessing to see some of the congregation from our 2nd church, the Porter Free Methodist Church.   The ladies of SCC hit the trail again.  This was the East Inlet Trail about 3 miles up overlooking Grand Lake in the distance.  The trees are changing and I am assuming to see snow on the peaks again soon. I frequent different coffee shops in Grand Lake and Granby.  This picture is across from me in one of the coffee shops in Granby.  I think it is a depiction of Jesus re...

  Stephanie is at it again...Another 2 ladies down the Ute Trail from the Alpine Visitor's Center and up the trail a bit toward Mt. Ida before coming down to Milner Pass.  About 6 miles on a very windy day across the alpine tundra.  No wildlife today because they were probably smartly hiding amongst the trees.  I am amazed at Stephanie's commitment to love God and love others even above 11,000 ft. While they did this hike, I was down at Milner Pass with the pick up vehicle so I wandered down a trail not on the map.  I made my way to the top of Sheep Rock and found the Old Ute Trail.  I have walked by it many times but it was hidden from me because I was looking the other direction.  The trail makes a turn to the left and this little hidden trail is to the right. Maybe this is a good illustration of looking at the book of 1st Peter.  The stones to the left of the above picture are where you go to continue onto Mt. Ida.  Your focus is in that d...

Another scriptural journal to possess.  We finished the Gospel of Matthew starting in March of 2024 and extended it to 106 sermons.  We covered it chapter by chapter and verse by verse and word by word.  Now we open our 1st Peter scriptural journals to do the same.  I have been through 1st and 2nd Peter a couple of times.  Once in Machais, Maine at the Machias Valley Baptist Church and another time in Wautoma, Wisconsin at the Waushara Community Church.  I will be looking forward to looking again at the last words of this disciple of Jesus. This Sunday was an " in between " sermon on the life of Abraham.  He is spoken of very highly in the New Testament as a man of faith and he is but the story to get there is fascinating.  The Bible gives us all the details in Genesis and Joshua 24:2 tells us that he started out as a worshipper of other gods.  The journey to a faith that was displayed by strict obedience takes many chapters in the book of Ge...

  It is not just I who goes hiking but Stephanie too.  While she was hiking across the alpine tundra with these beautiful ladies from the church, I was with another fellow from the church about 1500 ft below them in the valley.  I took my binoculars and actually caught a sight of them probably 2 miles as the crow flies.  I could pick out Stephanie's bright shirt.  She has another ladies' hike set for a week from Friday with another group. Here was our baptism set up for baptism 2.0 on Sunday afternoon. Always good to have some singing when we gather. A young man named Ezra who is a seasonal worker who has called SCC his church home while in Grand Lake.   A man named Jeff who came to SCC through the weekly men's Bible group.  His testimony back to God is tremendous. We completed Matthew's gospel with looking at the Great Commission with fresh eyes.  It was ironic or providential that we baptized a couple disciples of Jesus that afternoon after...

 A 4 mile hike this morning up over a 1000 ft to the cafe at the Alpine Visitor's Center in the RMNP.  A great hike with a friend and we arrived just before the doors opened so the coffee was hot and fresh.  What a great way to start the day and the week with a window seat with a mountain view!  Next was a 4 mile hike back to the car. The Specimen Mountains are some of the main attractions on this hike.  We traversed up and then came back down to Milner Pass.  It was a trial run to make sure all was well for the ladies' hike on Friday down this trail.  These mountains are protected from hiking activity so the mountain sheep have a place to be roam freely.  Limitations can be annoying at times but some limitations we need to learn to appreciate and be thankful for.  That is a possible future lesson for sure. We experienced a very different reaction from those who also heard of the angel of God, the earthquake, the other eyewitnesses there (the...

  A great Lord's Day with the church family on Sunday.  We ended the day with a baptism of J.T. with his mom and dad and stepmom along with other family and friends and his church family looking on.  The waters of Grand Lake weren't too cold and I'm thankful we get to re-create this scene in a couple of weeks.  Be in prayer for this young one who desired to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  It has been awhile since I was in the water doing this type of service. This sign means I made it up to the Ditch Road at 10,300 ft.  I am strengthening up my knee and calf and it was a good 10 mile loop last Friday.  The second picture is the contour of the Ditch Road and the Grand Ditch along the Never Summer Mountain Range to catch the snow melt and send it to reservoirs in the opposite direction for Denver.  I came from around the corner of the ledge formed by the road on the mid far right of the picture.  It was a se...

  According to the National Park Service, I am officially have senior status.  The once a year $80 fee is replaced by a once in a lifetime $80 fee.  I will pull this out many times hopefully and also display in the windshield when needed.  It promoted a little hike in the park. Here is a new picture of the barn with Baker Mountain and the Green Knoll in the background.  I was thankful for the breeze coming across the valley. Here is also my companion for this maiden senior hike in the park.  She has one of those cards too.  I've got a couple trips planned for us in the near future. We finished up chapter 27 of Matthew this Sunday.  We have one chapter left (probably 3 sermons).  Jesus is in the rich man's tomb on the Sabbath.  Matthew seems to want us to know this 3 day event.  He points out the Day of Preparation (the 6th day of the week) for the Sabbath, the Sabbath (the 7th day of the week) and then the 1st day of the week after ...

The exciting event is related to the screenshot of the east end of Grand Lake.  At this point we have a couple people who are going to get baptized on Sunday, August 9th.  I am praying for more to take this step of obedience and also public proclamation of Jesus as their Savior.  I am also praying it will be another bonding event of the attenders of SCC.  I do believe the family ties are getting stronger. I will cover two passages here because last week was full of kids and grands.  Both Stephanie and I are recovering from full days of non stop activities.  Fishing, swimming, hiking, board games, an amusement park day, bike riding and so much more.  We are so thankful for those times when family can make it to Grand Lake.  I had the opportunity to make it to the summit of Mt. Ida again so one each summer I have been here. The first passage deals with the all out mocking of Jesus from the Roman soldiers, the head wagging crowd, the merely religious...

Below is the new addition to our family.  He is number 11 of the grands.  Stephanie had the pleasure of helping with family life when this little one came along.  When you get to a certain age, you start adding years ahead to calculate what you will be when he is....  It is such a joy to watch not only our grands grow up but also to witness the developments of families from our family.  We were 6 and now we are 21!  But this blog is primarily about another one that Jesus interacts with on the way to the cross. Pilate is quite the character in the cross narrative to study.  You sense the tension he is under but he keeps taking advice and acting upon the information from the wrong people.  He is in many pickles with this situation. One pickle is with the Sanhedrin who want him to do their bidding just because they say so.  He knows their motive of envy and struggles with the charges they bring until they finally say that Jesus said He was God. ...