Unconventional

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    • About Unconventional
    • About Tim
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"Men's Journal"

Tim Riter February 6, 2017

Do you sometimes feel like two totally different, contradictory people? Compassionate at times, inconsiderate at others. Generous and stingy. Spiritual and sinful. And do you wonder which is the real you? Or are both? I share that dilemma. Some anonymous friend, knowing my soul…

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In Poetry Tags Men's Journal, Adventure, Responsibilities, Different People, Rappelling, Rock Climbing, Motorcycle Touring, Spiritual Formation, Values

Lessons from Vietnam

Tim Riter December 12, 2016

The jet above, actually one like it, would have been my bird. Back in college, I signed up for the Navy ROTC, to fly as the backseat RIO in an F-4. They approved my app, sent the paperwork to DC for final signatures, and somehow lost it. By the time they discovered their mistake and asked me to resubmit, life changed and I declined. But I toured the Palm Springs Air Museum last week, and seeing this jet resurrected some memories, along with a lesson for the church in a now secular society

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In Poetry Tags Military Jets, F-4 Fighter, Vietnam, Persecution of the Church, Mission of the Church, Spiritual Formation
Wine by Keep Wine Simple.jpg

Awaiting the Seasons

Tim Riter December 5, 2016

Ever look back on the “good old days?” Were yours as good as you remember, or has time improved them? Or were your good old days something you impatiently awaited, and they came so slowly? Sometimes the best seasons of our lives still lie before us, but how can we tell?

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In Poetry Tags Wine, Patience, Plans, Spiritual Formation, Good Old Days, Future, Past
image by cbc.ca

image by cbc.ca

Saved?

Tim Riter June 27, 2016

Let's do some fun, and brief, theology, in a way that may explode your beliefs about being saved. The theological word: soteriology, or the more common word: salvation. What is it? Getting into heaven? Staying out of hell? Good news, we get more than we often imagine.

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In Poetry Tags Heaven, Hell, Salvation, Soteriology, Sin, Wholeness, Redemption, Progress
image from commons.wikimedia.org

image from commons.wikimedia.org

Suck It Up

Tim Riter April 18, 2016

Life can suck us dry. Home life. Work life. Economic life. Family life. Yeah, the list can go on. We get exhausted and have little to give. We need a break, some rest, like the lion above. A time to refill spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally. But we can't seem to find, or create, a break in the fast pace. Even so, sometimes we need to suck it up. Not always, but sometimes. Here's why...

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In Reflection, Poetry Tags Rest, Depletion, Tiredness, Grief, Restoration, Sabbath, spiritual formation

Know the Times

Tim Riter February 1, 2016

John Thurston, whose house is above, raised his grandson, my father, when my granddad abandoned his new family. Thurston rassled a grizzly and won (otherwise I wouldn't be writing this). He knew the world he lived in, and navigated it well. How about us?

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In Poetry Tags Pioneers, Grizzlies, Culture, Worldview, spiritual formation
image by masterfile.com

image by masterfile.com

An Uneasy Comfort

Tim Riter December 21, 2015

After 36 years of marriage, Sheila and I have settled into relaxed comfort. In our first days, we'd talk until 2 in the morning, avidly learning about each other. Now we head for bed at different times. In early years, we'd cuddle in bed and discuss our days. Now we read books. Separate ones. In early years we'd eagerly listen to the other's words. Now we finish their sentences. Life is like that, even the spiritual one. We begin with passion and fervor, and settle into an uneasy comfort. We love, we commit, we serve, but the spark is gone. Should it be?

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In Poetry Tags Lukewarm, Spiritual Passion, Passionate Love, Spiritual Formation

Hard Times

Tim Riter November 23, 2015

The pic above looks serene, two nice looking bikes in the California redwoods on an early morning. September 2015. Yet the surface appearance never reveals a clue to the hard times those bikes and one other experienced on that trip. Nor the difficulties of the riders. Look at ...

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In Happenings, Poetry Tags The Problem of Pain, Hard Times, Quit riding, God's Benefits, Spiritual Formation
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TimGlacierMcDonald.jpg

A bit of an unreconstructed Jesus freak. Almost old enough to have known him when he walked this world. About 27 on the inside. Investing his life in university and teen students. Inveterate cross country motorcycle rider. Nature lover. Entranced with the power of written and spoken words. Still learning.

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Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following