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Image from Immanuel Bible Church

Image from Immanuel Bible Church

The Glory of Guilt

Tim Riter September 10, 2018

Pain from a broken leg keeps us from doing more damage to the injury. So we limp to see a doc and get it casted to enable healing. We don’t all break our legs, but we do sin. Perhaps, just wondering, but does guilt serve a similar role spiritually for those times?

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In Poetry Tags Guilt, Shame, Sin, Redemption, Worship, Christian Living, Spiritual Formation
Victims of clerical sex abuse and their relatives reacted as Attorney General Josh Shapiro discussed the grand jury report at a news conference in Harrisburg.CreditCreditMatt Rourke/Associated Press

Victims of clerical sex abuse and their relatives reacted as Attorney General Josh Shapiro discussed the grand jury report at a news conference in Harrisburg.CreditCreditMatt Rourke/Associated Press

Follow Your Leaders?

Tim Riter September 3, 2018

For the last couple of months, several guys that ride from our church have joined in with the biker group from another church, and the motley crew in the second pic above depicts us on one of those rides. But the most recent, a few weeks ago, added an important spiritual lesson to the great companionship on a scenic ride to the town of Ramona. By the way, names will be changed to protect the guilty.   ;) The leader picked out a route ahead of time, one he’d not yet ridden, entered it on his GPS, and…

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In Happenings Tags Leaders, Mistakes, Obey Leaders, Confront Leaders, Sins, Restoration, Church Life, Spiritual Formation
Bow Lake Flowers.jpg

No Good Deed

Tim Riter August 27, 2018

Many consider Lake Louise as the jewel of the Banff region in Canada, but Bow Lake, just a bit north, entranced our Gray Hog group even more. Perhaps the less than crowded conditions contributed to that. We took pics of the lake and Crowfoot Mtn from the central area, then strolled south for another angle of the glacier. Out of the many impressive qualities of Canada, we noticed the almost total lack of litter. Until, walking back to our bikes, we stopped to see …

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In Happenings Tags Banff, Bow Lake, Lake Louise, Wildflowers, Good Deeds, Rewards, Personal Benefit, Approval by Others, Goodness, Christian Living, spiritual formation
Time: 4 AM, July 14, 2018, Temecula CA

Time: 4 AM, July 14, 2018, Temecula CA

Will This EVER End?

Tim Riter August 20, 2018

Insanity or idiocy or a demented desire to identify and challenge my limits? Just about all family and friends thought the first two would explain my attempt at an Iron Butt ride: 1,000 miles on 2 wheels in 24 hours. I lean toward a strange blend of all three. On the insane and idiot side, I’m 70 with a bum knee. 1,000 miles will take about 13 hours of butt on seat time, with 6 stops for bike fuel with 3 including human fuel, adding maybe 4 hours. 17 hours from departing at 4 AM from home in Temecula hopefully will get me into Dillon MT about 9 PM, after riding 1040 miles. Well, 10 PM with the time change. One long day.

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In Happenings Tags Iron Butt Ride, Challenges, Push Limits, Dillon MT, Cedar City UT, Motorcycle Rides, Spiritual Formation, Christian Living
Grizzly by You Tube Caters.png

Living with Bears

Tim Riter August 13, 2018

Stepan, orphaned when his mother died in the forest, was adopted by the Panteleenko family in Russia, and 25 years later still lives with them. The kicker—Stepan is a bear. A grizzly bear—one of the most fearsome predators on our planet. He picnics with them, cuddles on the couch watching TV, and even plays catch. What a fine metaphor for dealing with the predators in our lives! And we all have them. Maybe not on the level of grizzlies, but we face antagonism. In traffic. On Facebook. In stores. With families and friends. But how do we respond? Let’s…

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In Happenings Tags Bears, Grizzly Bears, Reconciliation, Enemies, Forgiveness, Peacee, Words, Language, Christian Living, Spiritual Formation
Juniper1.jpg

Defensible Spaces

Tim Riter August 6, 2018

In addition to nearly two dozen wildfires in CA, smoke from a fire at nearby Camp Pendleton covers our town. No, we’re not revisiting wildfires this week, but I do want to steal a fire fighting term—defensible space, which is controlling the vegetation around your house to help keep it safe. To broaden it, that term applies to our…

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In Happenings Tags Wildfires, Defensible Spaces, Weeds, Invasions, Pruning, Margin, Borders, Boundaries, Temptation, Sin, Christian Living, Spiritual Formation
Image by Andrew Foulk, Press Enterprise

Image by Andrew Foulk, Press Enterprise

Fires, Floods, and Evacuations

Tim Riter July 30, 2018

Along with much of the country, California has been blasted with floods, fires, and evacuations. Likely you’ve seen examples on the evening news. A recent fire in the community next door forced an evacuation of a long time friend, Jim Davis. Here’s his story.

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In Happenings Tags Fires, Floods, Evacuations, Liberty Fire, Choices, Values, Priorities, Christian Living, Spiritual Formation, Jim Davis
image by tarkwanews. net

image by tarkwanews. net

Deliver the Goods

Tim Riter July 23, 2018

Reading the newspaper was a daily ritual growing up. Dad picked the front page first, mom got the local, and I went for the comics. Then we’d shift around. I’ve always liked papers, and even wrote a weekly column for several years for our local news rag. BUT. I’m likely to end a decades-long habit. We had a fine local paper, then…

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In Happenings Tags Newspapers, Riverside Press Enterprise, Keep word, Deliver promises, Agreeable, Selfishness, Christian Living, 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