RickPage

Poenitentiam Agite Happy Reformation Day!   I bet you were expecting Happy Halloween instead.   Most of the rest of the country seems obsessed with the latter instead of the former.   My granddaughter left for school this morning with her angel costume on.   My oldest grandson jumped up and down asking, “Papa Rick, do you know that it’s Halloween today?”   But that is kind of normal compared to when I was a kid.   When I say obsessed, I mean in the sense that people are spending money like never before.   Some observers are saying that Halloween is the fastest growing holiday in America in terms of dollars spent.   It already is the second largest holiday for dollars spent on home décor.   If the trend continues, Christmas is in big trouble.   But then, we should have seen it coming with the popularity of shows like “The Walking Dead,” and movies like – well you know… all those horror movies.   I think the last horror movie ...

The Great Disappointment Prayer and fasting is on my mind this week.   The emphasis comes as our congregation prepares for a miracle Sunday offering to finance construction of our new foyer.   To prepare for this, we have been involved in 40 days of prayer, and we end that this week with fasting accompanying the prayer.   The pang of hunger creates a focus which then is directed toward prayer.   That prayer focus then seeks to find the face of God and His will.   Seeking God’s answer to a question, or a series of questions, seems logical.   Prayer and fasting ought to occur quite often in the lives of Christians.   However, I wonder if we are not better at providing answers rather than seeking answers.   This may explain why prayer and fasting are often the most neglected disciplines within an American Christian’s spiritual walk.   This has led us to fill in the answers, even though Scripture gives clear and contradictory evidence...

Coffee Obsessions Consider, if you will, the humble coffee bean.  Or, at least, our obsession with coffee and all things coffee.  It's four o'clock in the afternoon and my coffee cup is full.  This, however, is not the reason for my coffee musings.  My office was just cleared of the last of 15 kilos of roasted coffee beans I brought back from Ethiopia ( I actually brought 18 kilos back, but three kilos remain in my possession like gold cleaved to Midas' breast).  The aroma still permeates the room.  as a matter of fact, my companions and I brought back 40 kilos in six suitcases, so three airliners and a U.S. Customs station in the Minneapolis airport probably still stir the senses.  To answer the curious, yes we can bring back coffee.  We actually could have brought back about 150 kilos between the three of us, but that would have required at least three more suitcases at $200.00 apiece.  I'm also obsessed right now because the...

  The Quest A week from tonight we start our new service for hunting season.  Folks are coming in tonight to decorate the worship auditorium with "dead things."  I came up with the name for the program before I left for Ethiopia and planned on working on the theme while on the long flight over.  Didn't happen.  I think that's because God needed to work on me while I was over there. A strange thing happens when the hunter becomes the hunted.  It's one thing to be at the top of the food chain, confident in having a superior intellect and abilities.  The gun or bow at your side is also a great confidence boost.  However, too many hunters have discovered all too late that they have become the prey.  Recently, here in Montana, a hapless hiker learned that lesson the hard way.  His weapon was his camera and his hunter was the grizzly he photographed too closely.  He left a record of his exploits in the photos he shot just ...