Operation Fish rescue

Last week, my family and I camped in Cougar, WA on Yale resivoir. We took a hike along cougar creek, known best for it's pristine spawning grounds. As we walked the narrowing creek bed, we came to a fork that was nearly dried up from low water levels that are expected this time of year. A closer look revealed Salmon smolt trapped in this small puddle of water; soon to dry up. Along with the smolt were nymphs and a couple walleye finglerlings. To put it mildly this small puddle of water was crawling with life. But very soon this life would suffer the invetible-death. As the hot dry days of summer wear on, portions of the river dry up leaving behind a parched river bed that awaits the return of rain in the Fall. My kids immediately took up the cause of rescuing the Salmon smolt. So we emptied our water bottle and began trapping fish. And one by one, we rescued all nine. Each were transplanted to the flowing part of the creek where once again they would have a chance at life.

As I thought about rescuing the fish, I began to think about how Jesus rescues us. Jesus said, in Luke 19:10 "The Son of man came to seek and save the lost." So when you think about it, you and I are being sought out and rescued by someone who loves us. And that someone is Jesus. He does for us what we did for those fish in Cougar creek. He rescues. And without him coming to rescue us we would die an inevitable death.

Rescuing the fish was a rewarding experience. After we rescued the fish I began talking to my kids about how Jesus rescues us. I shared with them Luke 19:10. And I think we all walked away with a deeper appreciation of who Jesus is and what he came to do.

Water in the desert

On our recent trip to Yellowstone, I was taken back by the amount of water the wells up from underground into the dry desert-like landscape. Many of them Hot Springs. You find them by the dozens throughout the park. Some are terribly accessible while others are well hidden treasures. Seeing the water flow reminded me of a passage of scripture from the book of Isaiah that I've been meditating on lately. Isaiah 41: 17-20 says this:

"The poor and needy search for water,

but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst.

But I the LORD will answer them;

I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water,

and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.

I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know, may consider and understand,

that the hand of the LORD has done this,

that the Holy One of Israel has created it"

In this passage God makes a promise to His people; He will not let them go thirsty. In fact, he promises them an abundance of water in their time of need. God says, "I will turn the desert into pools of water." When I read that I think of the water flowing out of the ground in Yellowstone. (The picture above is of an actual Hot Spring in Yellowstone). Even the earliest accounts of Yellowstone depict the flow of water springing up from underground. The supply of water has never ceased, it runs constant for as long as anyone can remember. And when I think of that, I think of how limitless our God is. He abundantly supplies in ways that we could never imagine. Water in the desert is almost an oxymoron, but is anything too difficult for God? He takes our barreness and causes it to bear fruit, much like he did with Abraham's wife Sarah in the book of Genesis. God also says through Isaiah, "I will put in the desert the cedar, the achia, the myrtle and the olive." Can you imagine that? Several different tree varieties found in the same barren location. Even under the best growing conditions it's difficult to find such variety of vegatation. Only a God could do such a thing. And the good news for you and I is this: He promises to fulfill this promise in our lives. He promises to abundantly supply with limitless resource.

There have been times in my life when I have felt like I have walked through a desert. Even some of the great heroes of the faith have had desert experiences. Moses spent most of his life in the desert. David ran for his life in the wilderness. Even Jesus spent Forty days in the desert and was tempted. I guess I'm trying to say... don't be surprised if you find yourself in the desert. Many have gone before you and many will follow. And if thats where you find yourself today, then maybe you can benefit from these golden promises found in Isaiah. I know I have.

Drink it up,

Bob

Remembering Tammy Faye Messed up

Excuse me for slaughtering the last name of the dearly departed loved one. The gift of mercy left me for a moment. But is there any doubt that Tammy was...well a little messed up? I mean come on, she didn't exactly display the kind of life that most people would want to live. She definately had her share of ups and downs. Truthfully, I could never really figure her out. Most people couldn't. Maybe that's why so many people followed her. Talk Show host, Larry King stated that when he announced that Tammy Faye would be a guest on his show he received over 200,000 e-mails. Now that's pretty incredible for a woman whose only claim to fame was her 30 year marriage to Televangelist, Jim Baker. But somehow she made a name for herself even though she never had a hit television show, didn't sell that many records and never had a best selling book.

Here's why I think Tammy Faye intrigued so many people. She was messed up! And in a wierd way there's a whole segment of our population that can identify with that. In fact, we have an insatiable appetite for people who are really out there...if you know what I mean. We almost like watching them suffer and then miraculously pull themselves up by their bootstaps and jump into the circus of life again. In kind of a wierd way we enjoy the drama. And so it was for Tammy Faye. She had life drama to offer people and not just big eye lashes! In fact, you never knew where she was going to pop up next. But she always did. In fact, she seemed thrive on the attention it brought.

On a spiritual level, Tammy Faye puzzled even the best of us. It was almost impossible to know what she really believed. Her life was filled with a series of contradictions and oxy morons. For example, she would seemingly disappear from the Church scene, then suddenly reappear with all the zeal and faith of her previous years. I'm not trying to be judgemental here or anything. I'm just saying, that she kept a lot of us guessing. And once again, in a wierd way, a lot of people could identify with that on-again off-again pattern. Strangely enough it seemed to represent what a lot of people typically goes through in their struggle to believe.

So your probably wondering where I'm going with all this. I guess I would just like to say that we're all messed up in one way or another. Afterall we were born in sin. We're a fallen race. Today we would call that being dsyfunctional. And then someone like Tammy comes along and puts it all out there with no inhibitions whatsoever. And we celebrate her life. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Tammy's way of life helped us see reality. This is the world we live in. People today are as messed up as they come. And because we live in such a messed up world, we need Jesus more than ever. Yes, even Tammy confessed her need for Jesus and we certainly can't fault her for that.

The good news is this: there is hope for the Tammy Faye's of the world. And if there is hope for the Tammy Faye's then there is hope for messed up people like you and me. So let's get a hold of the one thing that will unravel our messed up ways and conform us into what we were meant to be, Jesus!

Not as messed up as I used to be,

Bob

Canyon plunge

Yesterday we left Yellowstone National Park after a being there for a week. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing that place is. We visited every major attraction the Park has to offer, yet we feel we've barely scratched the surface. One of the Park Rangers informed us that we really have only scene about 1/5 of the Park. There are about 1,000 miles of trails that cover the Park. Some of the trails are so dangerous the Rangers will not issue permits for them because of the rising bear population.

Anyway, yesterday we visited Fire hole canyon not far from West Yellowstone. The canyon is breathtaking. Fire hole river, a river that is geo-thermally warmed, cuts through the canyon like a knife. The cut outs are deep and treacherous. Not much wildlife to speak of since much of it is uninhabitable. Actually, we did see a Mule Deer Doe.

In any case, a little ways up the road before the river enters the deeper part of the canyon is one of Yellowstone's unadvertised specials. A place called Fire hole Canyon swimming hole. I got to experience it for myself yesterday. It's actually kind of a dangerous place to swim. In fact, we made our first attempt to swim in the canyon a week earlier but it was closed due to a technical rescue that was going on. Apparently someone jumped off of one of the cliffs and had a pretty ugly landing on a submerged rock.

When I first laid eyes on the swimming hole I knew I had to jump in. It's kinda hard to keep me away from a good swimming hole. So I grabbed my goggles and jumped in to scan the bottom of the river. It didn't take me long to spot some bull trout. In fact, I had a couple of them right under my feet and right in front of my nose. Nice 12" inchers too! Of course I savagely tried to grab them but had no success.

But the highlight of the day was swimming through the "chute." The chute is a narrow passage along high canyon walls through rushing waters. You have to do a walk around on some slippery rocks to get there. But the plunge is pretty incredible. Swimming through chute was so awesome I want to do it again. And if ever in Yellowstone, I will not miss spending a day in the Canyon. Incidently, we fly fished the river not far from swimming hole hoping to latch on to one of those trout. We didn't have much luck there, apart from seeing a few jump. Although, we did in fact watch a doe Elk come down to the river and keep us company for a while. How cool is that?

As I thought about my plunge into the Canyon, I thought about how many times I've nervously attempted something new in my life. Life is a series of firsts. It's about taking a risks and stepping out in faith. Just like swimming through the chute. I've never done it before, I'm a little uneasy about it. I wonder if the current is too swift? Will it push me into the rock wall? Countless others have turned away. All these thoughts run through your mind. But like doing anything for the first time, it involves a bold a step of faith.

That's kinda where I'm at these days, I'm seeing life as one big step of faith. A series of firsts. God is always moving us in a new direction. He's always setting us up for something else. With Him there is always more. Nothing is the same. He pushes us to the limit. That's where I'm at in my walk with God. I'm pushed to the limit. And I have no choice but to hold on as I leap into the unknown.

Have you ever felt that way? Pushed beyond limitations into a previously unknown place? If so, we have a lot in common. And maybe we're all closer than we think to what God has in store for us. Have a story? I would love to hear it: bob@plungefaith.com

Last Fall the Sandy River hit flood stage. Little did we know at the time how much change it would bring to the river. I got to see those changes firsthand last Friday when I kyaked down lower river with my friend Devin. The redistribution of sand and sediment is beyond description. I'm amazed at how quick fast moving water can move dirt around and not burn one gallon of gasoline! The local fishing guides are pretty bummed. Fishing holes previously of 18 foot of depth are now filled in to a shallow depth of 8 feet. The Spring Salmon run is squirting right through without stopping. There are no more deep holes for the fish lay, consequently they pass right through on their way to the upper river. For me, the most heart breaking change to river was the loss of my favorite rope swing. Much to my shagrin, the rope swing at Big Bend is gone! The tree fell victim to the fast moving current and is no more. (In case you haven't read the "Plunge" the cover photo features the rope swing at Big Bend.) In any event, I was taken back by how drastic the river has changed.





And you know, the river is sort of like life. There are times when we experience major changes. And the truth is right now I'm going through some major changes. After nearly Seven years of serving the people of Springwater, I have resigned to pursue other opportunities. Everything that I've built my livlihood around for the last Seven years is changing. Relationships, routines, responsibilities; it's all being redistributed in the next few months. But in time everything will find it's place and once again I'll settle back into a routine.





Just like the River. In time, the river will settle down and return to a new normalcy. It will likely take a few months for the water to cut through the sand and sediment and carve a deeper path but inevitably it will happen. And when it does, once again we'll be amazed at the power of water to change the landscape of the earth's surface. I just wonder how many times in the history of earth this happened? Over and over again, the river re-invents itself through change by cutting new paths to follow.





Just like me, God has called me to cut some new paths for which I need your prayers. The next few months are going to test my faith in a big way. Like Joshua of the Old Testament, I've never been this way before. It's all new. We're going into new territory with new challenges and new opportunities. But I believe that God's promise to Joshua holds true for me, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you." (Joshua 1:5)





Some of the changes I'm going through are going to benefit "Plungefaith." More of my time and energy will be devoted to the development of water themed discipleship materials for a new generation. We have fully written the 'Into the Deep" and hope to have it out in the Fall. By then www.plungefaith.com will be online and the materials, including leader's guide, will be available for purchase. Tell your church leader or Pastor to stop by and check it out.





And by the way, I'm still after that elusive Spring Chinnook. The last couple outings haven't been too productive. Now that the river has changed, I realize I'm going to have to change with it. But then isn't that what life is all about?

The latest news about 'plunge'

O.K. it's been a while since I've posted a blog. But here's the latest with the 'plunge.' We have been working on the follow-up material to plunge titled, "Into the Deep." I can tell you right now, that it's a fascinating study through the early chapters of ACTS. The study is more tailored to small groups, but it will be fine for individuals to complete. Without a doubt, this is the best stuff we've done. Some of the issues deal with honesty, community, empowerment, revelation. We're looking forward to getting it done and sharing it with you. At this time, it's looking like August of 2007. Just in time for Fall study groups to kick off. The other good news is this: We are creating a web site for our material. My good friend, Earl, is creating the website. Earl is picture above. He's truly an awesome guy and will be a phenomenal member of the 'plunge' team. In fact, Earl just recently purchased the domain: www.plungefaith.com . I can't believe it! It's just the domain we wanted! On the site we will have we have all of our materials, including the leaders guides, etc. Even some recorded messages that coincide with the material we offer. And hopefully some video in the future. Keep watching. It's exciting to see it happen. More exciting is the people who have benefited from the material. God is using 'plunge' to go into some dark places. There is a group of men in a Kansas correctional facility that are using 'plunge' study. Several have completed it, others are just getting started. We hope to revise 'plunge' material and obtain the copyright in a few weeks. Please pray for us as we move forward with our vision to create modern discipleship tools. If anyone feels led to be a financial partner, please let us know. Thanks for reading this, more later.

I went fishing Saturday and didn't catch anything. Call me crazy, but it's time to get after some of those winter Steelhead. Instead of coming home with a fish, I came home with numb fingers. O.K. now it's your turn...There are two distinguishing qualities of a good fisherman found in week one? Check out the illustration in week one for the answer. Do you have these qualities?