Paddling Alone

Ecclesiastes 4:10 “If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”

On a recent kayak outing I found myself paddling alone. I had started out the day paddling along with two friends but after about three hours of paddling I was now alone. We had paddled the length of Park point to the Wisconsin Point light house. On our return trip we met with a sudden downpour and 25 mph headwinds. The storm lasted only about twenty minutes and the sun returned and the lake was again calm. Somewhere in that down poor I had put much distance between myself and my friends. I kept thinking I should slow down and wait but I just kept paddling. With about ten minutes left before our landing spot, I did stop and I waited to finish the day paddling along side of Willie and James.

When we had finished loading up our gear James said to me, “I found something out about Dave today, you either had someplace else you really wanted to be or else when you want to be done you just buckle down and say, I want to get this over with.” I have been pondering James words since that day thinking, “Ok God, what do you want me to learn from this?” I saw a movie this weekend titled “Hope Springs” that gave me my answer.

The movie is about a couple who have been married for thirty-one years. Their marriage started out much like our kayak trip, with the husband and wife paddling along side of each other, enjoying the journey together.  They faced what life threw at them together.

Thirty-one years of marriage, storms came and they started to drift apart. One day they found themselves paddling alone. Each of them consumed with their own agenda’s.  Each of them feeling hurt and alone. The wife decides she wants her marriage back, and she signs them up for a week long marriage counseling retreat. The husband is less than thrilled, but he gives in and joins her on the retreat. The counselor is very bold and has them work through some tough and very real issues. He has them look back and see when and where they started to drift apart and paddle alone. He has them look back and remember the love that brought them together.  At one point the counselor says, “Some people should never have gotten married, you two are not those people.”

The movie was hard to watch first for it’s boldness and second for it being so real, so honest. Do I recommend the movie? With a strong word of caution (very frank sexual issues are discussed) I would say, yes. I recommend it for couples who want to take an honest look at their marriage and ask themselves, “Are we paddling together or are we paddling alone?”

Buying The Lie

Genesis 3:13  “And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

I have had the privilege of teaching at Minnesota Teen Challenge the past two weeks. I was talking with one of the counselors and he said, “God has brought all of us here for healing.” Meaning the students as well as the counselors, teachers, me, all the people involved with Teen Challenge. I have found it amazing to see God’s faithfulness. To see His hand at work in me, teaching me so much more than I am teaching the students.

While preparing for class today I was thinking about the lies we buy into. How the world, (Satan) tricks us into believing a lie, into having a false world view. How we then turn this false image of the world into our reality.

When I was eighteen I wanted to be a Youth Minister. I attended church my whole life, but looking back I realized I witnessed very few people who really lived the life of a follower of Christ. I had very few role models that exemplified the qualities of Jesus Christ. I was surrounded by some very kind and loving men and women, but no one discipled me, no one taught me, no one poured into me how to live the life of a believer. I was confirmed, I memorized Scripture, I went to Bible Camp. Yet there was a huge void, I had no solid core beliefs on which to base my world view, my views on marriage, family, drugs, alcohol, sex, relationships, fatherhood.

After High School, I was off to college and the university was packed with professors who were more than willing to pour their world view into us. To pour into young men and woman eager to absorb knowledge, to absorb what was sold to us as wisdom. In an unbelievably short amount of time I had totally bought the lie, “Christians are weak minded people who believed in fairy tales.” I created my own view of God. God was who I wanted Him to be, he existed by my rules and I was free to live the way I wanted to live.

I believed this lie for nineteen years, well into my adult years. I spent those years destroying my marriage, living a selfish life devoted to my happiness. I was not teaching my children how to live Godly lives, just the opposite. Only by God’s grace were my eyes open to the truth. God brought men and women into my life who lived the life of a believer. God gave me a thirst for His word and the Holy Spirit is teaching me.

The last month I have been truly blessed to be surrounded by men who want to change, by men who are seeking the truth, by men who no longer want to believe a lie.

I Can’t Handle It


Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

“I can’t handle it! I can’t handle it!” My Nieces son screamed from the back seat.  He had fallen and hurt his mouth and knee while running to see some wild mountain goats. He was somewhat calm until he saw the blood, and then he was anything but calm. His dad loaded him in the car and for the rest of our drive up the mountain he was in the back seat screaming, “I can’t handle it!” For the next couple of days I kept replaying his words in my head and thinking how life sometimes hands us so much pain that we find ourselves screaming those words, “I can’t handle it!”

Maybe it is a divorce, heartbreak. Maybe you have lost your job or you just don’t have enough money to pay your bills. The bank is calling and you are about to loose your home. The doctor has just delivered you terrible news. All of us at different times in our lives find ourselves crying out, many times with anger and screaming at God, and asking, Why? Yelling, “I am at the end and I really cannot take anymore pain. Leave me alone!

Charles Swindoll in his book, Moses, Compares these times in our lives to Moses forty years in the desert. He says this of Jesus, “Jesus went through the worst desert of all for you. He was alone as no man has ever been alone. He was rejected. He lived in obscurity. He suffered the worst earth and hell could hurl at Him. On the cross He said, “I thirst.” And when that desert was the darkest, He screamed, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus walked through the desert first. He felt its heat. He tasted its loneliness. He accepted its obscurity. He faced down Satan himself while the desert winds howled around Him. And He will never, ever forget or forsake the one who follows Him across the sand.”

Isaiah 54:7.8 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.” Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

I have screamed those words too many times, yet looking back I now see how God has brought me through time and again. He has shown me there is water on the other side.  Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13

The Frost

Philippians 4:6,7: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

This morning while finding myself worrying about life I came across a quote by Charles Spurgeon. He said, “You will not have peace unless you turn your troubles up. If you tell them to your friends, you but put your troubles out a moment, and they will return again. If you roll your trouble anywhere else it will roll back again. As soon as the trouble comes, quick, the first thing, tell it to your father. Remember, that the longer you take telling your trouble to God, the more your peace will be impaired. The longer the frost lasts, the more likely the ponds will be frozen. Your frost will last until you go to the sun; then your frost will soon become a thaw, and your troubles will melt away.”

I am always amazed at God’s timing, at how he will bring books, articles, songs or people into our lives at the moment we need them the most. I had read this sermon over two years ago and then this morning I came across the notes I had taken from it. I had planned to write this morning about the Brule River and paddling with friends during the winter. Not knowing where I was going with the message. God knew, and upon reading these words from Spurgeon this morning; the frost (worries) in my life have begun to melt. I had let the worries in my life grow and they were turning from frost into ice. I had conveyed my worries to friends which did help for a moment, but as Spurgeon said, "My worries returned again." This morning I can feel the power of the Son and for the first time in weeks I am feeling the peace that God’s Son brings.

Which brings me to the Brule River. Winter is an amazing time to paddle down the Brule. It’s beauty is surreal, the clarity of the water, the whiteness of the snow, and the beauty of the ice forming on the rocks and on the shore. The ice on the shore! That’s it, that’s the message! I am always amazed that the river continues to run while the world around it is frozen and still. The river continues to flow, it is warmed by the sun, it is feed by it’s springs. The ice cannot take hold. The same applies to us if we turn to the Son, continually being feed by His spring, (God’s Word). The ice might cling to our shore but we will keep moving and experience God’s peace.

The $3.5 Million Dollar Violin

Psalm 39:5 “You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” 

What would happen if you put one of the worlds most talented violinists in a subway station during the morning rush hour and had him play classical music on his $3.5 million dollar violin? The New York Post did just that as an experiment to see people’s reactions. The musician’s name is Joshua Bell and that day he played some of the most beautiful and complicated classical music ever written, two pieces, one by Bach and one by Brahm. Bell plays for sold out audiences around the world, people pay hundreds of dollars to hear him play. 

On that January morning over 1000 people passed by while Bell played for 45 minutes. Seven people stopped for about a minute to listen, 27 people gave money, for a total of $32 and change. Most people passing by do not even turn to look at him. Bell said, “At a music hall, I'll get upset if someone coughs or if someone's cellphone goes off. But here, my expectations quickly diminished. I started to appreciate any acknowledgment, even a slight glance up. I was oddly grateful when someone threw in a dollar instead of change." To be noted bell makes over $1000 a minute when he plays for most audiences. One man stops and stays for three minutes, he said the music made him feel at peace and for the first time in his life he gave a street musician money. 

Bell watches the video a few weeks later and said he understands why he is not drawing a crowd but he is surprised at the number of people who pay no attention at all, “It is as if I’m invisible. Because you know what? I’m makin’ a lot of noise!” 

I recently spent an afternoon with a woman named Dorothy, she is 88 years old and is suffering from Dementia. I asked her if she thought she had lived a good life. Dorothy said, “A good life, well yes I had a good life.” She then stopped and after a few moments she said, “But it went so fast!” 

I have a friend who is retired and living on a lake, he loves to garden and work with his hands. For years he has been telling me how he just watches as all these young people are always so busy, he said, “They are always running, here and there, they don’t take time to enjoy the things around them.  They always have someplace else to be.”

Psalm 39:6 goes on to say, “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.” If Dorothy had been in the subway station that day, I am sure she would have stopped and listened to the man and his $3.5 million violin. 

For Better or Worse

Malachi 2:16 “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

“I take you. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.” These are traditional marriage vows. 

I met a woman this past week who worked in a home housing people suffering with Alzheimer's. She told me a story of a woman she took care of. This woman could no longer preform daily functions. She no longer recognized the people she loved, including her husband. She told me how the husband came to the home everyday to be with his wife. He would sit with her and hold her hand and talk to her. He would feed her and tend to her needs. Everyday he came, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ‘till death do us part.” This man took his vows seriously he stood by his wife until the day she died. 

My parents were married for 56 years. In those 56 years they raised 4 children. My mom would tell you, at times it was great and at times it was extremely hard. “For better for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ‘till death do us part. When my dad was dying my mom was right there beside him walking with him through the final stage of his life. 

Twelve years ago my marriage ended in divorce. It seemed like the easy way out for both of us. It turned out to be anything but easy. There has been immeasurable pain for our two children and for both my ex-wife and myself. If you could have do-overs in life this would be mine. I have found the words of Malachi to be painfully true.

Billy Graham said this after his wife’s death. "I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

February 14th Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love and marriage, a day to, “Rekindle the romance of your youth.” God said, “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.” 

Green and Growing

2 Peter 1: 5-9 “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.”

I heard this statement the other day.  “You are either green and growing or you are ripe and rotting.” A challenging way to look at our lives to push ourselves to grow. My daughter plays for her high school tennis team and I recently signed her up at a new tennis club for lessons. It was an eye opening experience for her, these kids played at a much higher level that any of the girls in her area. It was fun to watch as she started to raise the level of her game. My daughter has a desire to improve her game, a desire to grow to the next level. Now that she has seen a new level of play she is desiring more than ever to reach that goal. It will be fun to watch her progress over the winter. She has an instructor with a passion for the game and a love to teach. She has kids playing along side of her that also want to improve and to grow in their ability, knowledge and skill. Next fall when tennis season rolls around my daughters tennis game will be at a higher level and she will be more productive and useful to her team. I also know she will enjoy the game more knowing she is striving to be the best she can be.

Paul said in Philippians 3:12 “I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this on thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”  This is my goal, my resolution, for the New Year. To keep working and to keep growing to develop my faith and knowledge of our Lord. So that I will be more productive and useful in the lives of the people around me.

I will do this by studying God’s word, by listening to the instruction of Godly teachers and by working along side other Godly men and women. People that will raise the level of my game. Remember we are: “Either green and growing or ripe and rotting.”

I pray you will have a joyful New Year knowing you are striving to be the best you can be.

I Had To Save The Baby!

Proverbs 31:8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.”

“I had to save the baby.” Sam said. A friend of mine was telling me a story involving her five year old son, Sam, and his one year old brother Avery. The boys were out in the yard playing and she heard screaming, she ran around the corner of the house and she sees their rooster attacking the boys. Avery fell to the ground and Sam laid on top of Avery to protect him from their crazy rooster. The rooster dug his talons into Sam, pecking at him. She kicked the rooster off of the boys but the rooster kept coming back and Sam just laid there protecting Avery. The rooster finally retreated after their mother hit him with a shovel. Afterwards she asked Sam. What made you just lay there on top of your brother, protecting him, Why didn’t you run away? “I had to save the baby,” Sam said.”

January is Sanctity of Human Life Month, this year marks the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision that legalized abortion in all 50 states. The pastor of the church I attended last Sunday spoke of the “What if’s” of abortion. What if 50 million children had not been lost to abortion over the last 39 years. How many Steve Jobs, Bill Gate’s, Hellen Kellers, Henry Fords, Ruth and Billy Grahams would have been added to our world?

I know a woman who was pushed by her parents and boyfriend to have an abortion when she was a teenager. I asked her, What do you want to say to people?  This is her response. “When I got home that day (after the abortion) my boyfriend said to me, “Did you have fun killing our kid today?” I will never forget it. Abortion pretty much ruins your life. I am still looking for healing, but I don’t want to go there, I don’t want to remember. I would like to help young women who are in the same position I was in, but I know in doing so I would have to tell my story and I am not ready to do that. I need to talk to someone. I need to find healing and forgiveness.”

Mother Teresa said this, "Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today- abortion which brings people to such blindness."

If Sam’s mother were to explain abortion to him and then to ask him what he thought. I see him looking up at her with his innocent eyes, responding without any hesitation, “Mom we have to save the babies!”