Mountains or Molehills?

Tim Riter May 12, 2014

While my wife celebrated a few days away with a girlfriend, I figured to pop a surprise on her Mother’s Day return with the installation of a new faucet for the master bathroom. Several complications soon arose. The old house had some funky modifications over the years, and one was the drain trap, a strange conglomeration of plastic and brass and mismatched parts. The threads got stripped, and it took four trips to Home Depot to finally get the correct set up. Eventually I had to replace the entire trap: cutting the outlet pipe, putting in an extension, gluing it into place. That two hour project took nearly an entire day. But the faucet does look nice.

The second complication also came from age. My own.

Looking to Heaven?

Tim Riter May 5, 2014

Heaven’s a hot topic of late, with the movie Heaven is for Real and the still bestselling book 90 Minutes in Heaven. I like that. I believe in heaven, and want to spend more than 90 minutes there! But I sometimes suspect that focusing too much on eternal life in heaven can distract us from the eternal life of knowing Jesus now, and better later.

Here’s the back story.

Fresh Cliches

Tim Riter April 28, 2014

Today in worship I wondered about some clichés that need to be fresh. Sunday: the first day of the week. A chance to get lost in worship, to acknowledge our shortcomings, to gain forgiveness. To get a fresh start. So true it’s become a cliché. But Sunday’s not enough.

Free Will?

Tim Riter April 21, 2014

Let’s flip the coin. Last week, we began to explore God’s role in daily life with a story of how he overwhelmingly directed a major change in moving me to Taos. One repeated response by readers dealt with the rarity of such clear direction. Though seldom for many of us, it does happen. But my time in Taos ended in a radically opposite form.

I’d spent a year in youth ministry a few years earlier, and upon getting fired, declared I’d rather drive a truck. Not long after, the manager of a parts house offered me a job—driving a truck. God has a nice sense of humor, but I should have said I’d preferred being a movie star!

Determinism?

Tim Riter April 14, 2014

We all face critical change points, events that significantly shape the rest of our lives. What puzzles me, though, is life determined for people of faith? Some, like Calvinists, lean toward God choosing all. Arminians blend free will into the mix, and deists acknowledge that although God created the world, he has little involvement in daily operations.

For me, one of the three greatest change points came with my move to Taos NM. I’m absolutely clear that God determined that—here’s why. Tired of SoCal congestion and smog, I determined to move to Colorado, where I had a job lead. The route led through Taos, where I’d lead mission projects for two summers. Then came nine issues, each essential for the final result.

I pulled into Albuquerque on a rainy Saturday...

Masks

Tim Riter April 7, 2014

Revealing that a favorite song comes from the 60s doesn’t necessarily date me as ancient. One of my high school students also loves “I am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel--his parents play it all the time. But for years, my theme was the line, “and a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries.”

The safety of being a rock came from my fear of being known, of being rejected or judged, of being hurt or disappointed. So, I played it safe and let few inside. That verged on sliding into hypocrisy—knowingly and intentionally portraying a person I knew I wasn’t. By the way, that’s why many reject following Jesus. Not that we aren’t perfect, but we pretend to be.

Surrender?

Tim Riter March 31, 2014

Before we began

I wondered

could you fill

the voids in my life

change the traits I could not?

I yielded

You did it all

which leads me to believe...

Knocking in Heaven's Door

Tim Riter March 24, 2014

Saturday, a chance to catch up on yard and house maintenance, at least until my body screams, “Enough.” Trying to remember the good times when I could work all day, I put some classic rock on Pandora and cranked up the outside speakers. Bob Dylan’s “Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven’s Door” soon brought back a Facebook discussion over the previous several days, ranging from do all people go to heaven, why or why not, can people change, forgiveness, and justice. Some deep issues done well with divergent views.

Since Unconventional exists to discuss what it means to follow Jesus, we can all benefit from making sure we’re on track, so that when we stand, knocking on heaven’s door, that door will open. So, some basics that touch the results of following Jesus.

First, all people go to heaven who want to go there. Honest. But...

Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following