Feline Fellowship

Tim Riter March 10, 2014

Pet lovers will get this. Non pet lovers may not. But hang in there, because this really isn’t about cats, but people. Particularly, principles for deeper connections between fellow followers of Jesus, necessary ones, that I learned from Sandy, our cat. I thought he was just a lost kitten when he strolled into our lives along the top of a bank, and nobly ignored us as we called him. He had business to attend to. I did as well, and walked away.

Our grandkids, Josh and Hannah, soon brought him to me.

Rock Star

Tim Riter March 3, 2014

Determined to become the next big rock star, I bought a guitar. A Sears Silvertone, black with an orange starburst around the sound hole. My good friend Ken and I began practicing, and the first obstacle emerged. I couldn’t tune the blasted instrument! Oh, I knew the strings and frets to press to match the tones of adjacent strings, but my ear couldn’t hear the differences. Ken soon tired of tuning mine. OK, ditch the gitfiddle and just sing. Next obstacle. Being tone deaf doesn’t lend itself to singing virtuosity.

So my dream died, but a new force emerged. Jealousy

Roadmaps

Tim Riter February 24, 2014

Several years ago a buddy and I hopped in my Ford van and headed to Yosemite for some winter camping. We hit all the backroads we could find, but faithfully followed the map. Until we got lost. The map just didn’t match the territory; it couldn’t get us to our goal. Running on fumes from the detours, the van crept into the aptly named Dinkey Creek, the last gas station for a dozen miles, just as the operator was closing it down for the winter. An hour later and we’d been hiking in snow.

This week, a Facebook friend sparked a challenging discussion when she posted an article “Sick of Christianity?” The author seemed to want to rewrite the Bible and condemn judgmentalism in the church in order to justify

When Angels Ride Along

Tim Riter February 17, 2014

It all seemed so simple. Needing a break from studying during our final finals week in college, a bunch of us took a break from our studies to view “Easy Rider,” the iconic cult biker film featuring sex, drugs, and bikes. It entranced me. Not the sex and drugs, although I certainly couldn’t claim faith then. But Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper captured the freedom of traveling on two wheels.

The idea burst upon me like inspiration—I’d work for a month or so, save enough to buy a bike, and head to Canada for a month before grad school started. Three weeks after buying the bike, I took off. Way too early, I knew almost nothing about riding or bikes. Not enough to know the danger.

Complexity's Paradox

Tim Riter February 10, 2014

43 years ago this month, I was a grad assistant at Pepperdine, living off campus with a rarely present friend, riding a motorcycle and a cool car, with three girl friends (none of whom knew about the others, fortunately). On the outside, life appeared perfect. But internally, I was a mess. After four years of spiritual searching, I surrendered control of my life to the only being worthy of it. I certainly didn’t meet that standard.

The ride since has been wild. I’ve pastored churches and sinned and grown, written books and sinned and grown, taught at Christian universities and high schools and sinned and grown.

And the further I travel through life, the more the complexity of life amazes me.

The End of an Era?

Tim Riter February 3, 2014

Funny how one small incident can increase consequences. Just last Friday, a friend, Carol Efaw, posted a link, nominally on the Duck Dynasty discussion. But the author, Gary Alan Taylor, went much further, suggesting that the incident demonstrates we’re now in a post Christian era. With Augustine legalizing Christianity, Taylor says “a cosmic revolution took place resulting in the alignment of the church with the ruling political regime of the day.”

According to Taylor, and I agree on this, that’s gone. Realistically, those committed to Christian values are becoming a minority influence.

Exulting in Guilt

Tim Riter January 27, 2014

At times

I exult

in the pleasures of sin

blanking out the wrong

enjoying the illicit

caught in the moment

imagining that is all that is

But as pleasure fades...

What Does Your God Look Like?

Tim Riter January 20, 2014

In the interests of integrity and full disclosure, I stole this post. The pastor of a church in Post Falls, ID, Aaron Couch, spoke at our church yesterday. Simple. Convicting. A hard message that prompted much meditation. Let’s focus on one.

Why do we “keep the rules” of Christianity? An earlier post explored how God’s rules benefit us—he best knows how we optimally function. Aaron hitchhiked on that—our behavior puts God on display. We “all reflect the Lord’s glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

So, what God do we reflect? As people look at how we reflect the one we claim to serve, what God do they see?

Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following