Back Home, Briefly

A few updates …

1) We finally made it the conference at Rocky Mountain Renewal at 11:30 PM Monday night.

2) That was the first time I have ever missed a speaking engagement because of travel problems.

3) The conference center is actually a ranch called Rancho Mira Sol in the mountains outside Durango, Colorado. It is a place of spectacular beauty—verdant green valleys and pine covered hills not far from vast mountain peaks.

4) We stayed in the large hacienda which also served as our dining room and meeting area.

5) I think we had around 70 people for the conference. Most were pastors, missionaries and Christian workers from Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, but we also had folks from California, Texas, Indiana and Florida.

6) Here’s the amazing thing about the conference. There is no charge for those who attend. When God gave Jim and Ginny Neece the vision for this ministry, he also gave them the idea of not charging for anything. They started out at Triple Creek Ranch near Galena, Illinois. Now they have two locations in Colorado. They don’t sponsor a lot of conferences–only a few each year. Most of the time they simply open their property to Christian workers and invite them to come and stay for up to a week free of charge. You pay your own way and bring your own food, but everything else is provided for you. When you leave, you clean up for those who will be coming next. Over the years they have provided a haven of rest for thousands of the Lord’s servants.

7) We ate amazingly well. Volunteers and staff members prepared gourmet meals that would match or exceed any fine restaurant.

8) Our schedule was designed to promote relaxation. We ate breakfast at 8:30 AM, had a time of worship and teaching, and then the rest of the day was free. We met again at 6 PM for supper and another time of worship and teaching. Jim and Ginny both emphasized that they want plenty of time for people to get to know each other, and for couples to have time to be together with no ministry pressures. And that’s exactly what happened. Everyone came early and stayed late, laughing and talking together.

7) We slept very well, partly because it took us so long to get there, and partly because the ranch is located at 7000 feet above sea level. The cool mountain air made it easy to fall asleep quickly.

8) I didn’t update my weblog because we had no Internet access (and no cell phone service either).

9) Don and Wendy Francisco provided the music. Many of you will recognize Don as one of the early pioneers of the contemporary Christian music movement. In 1977 he wrote “He’s Alive,” a song that still has a huge impact today. Don and Wendy have an amazing gift for taking a Bible story and putting it into music so that you think you’re hearing it for the very first time. They did that with the woman at the well, the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and (in what was perhaps the most powerful worship moment) with the story of the thief on the cross.

10) Here’s another amazing thing. Even though they have a number of CDs for sale, all of their music is available free for downloading from their website. Wendy told me they get 100,000 downloads each month, many of those from nations where their CDs are not available.

11) I preached on Elijah, but my first session on Tuesday was a reflection on the lessons we have learned in the last two years. In God’s providence it happened that I spoke at Triple Creek Ranch exactly two years ago–during the last week of my pastorate in Oak Park. And now two years later I spoke at Rocky Mountain Renewal. God led me to spend that first session simply telling about the journey we have been on. I think it set the tone for everything else that followed.

12) We met some of God’s choice servants–a young couple in their 20s heading out for missionary service with New Tribes Mission in Mongolia, and a couple in their 70s who spent 50 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators. After finishing a Bible translation in Bolivia, they are now spending their retirement years working with the Ute Indians to help produce a Bible in their language. We also met several prison chaplains from New Mexico plus Bill and Jan Strickland who lead Encouragement, Inc. in Surprise, Arizona. We were pleased to see our friends Phil and Robin Byars whom we first met at a Word of Life conference in Florida three years ago. We also met pastoral couples from Abilene, Texas, Page, Arizona, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Brentwood, California.

13) Very often the most valuable part of the conference takes place between meetings, in casual encounters with people who happen to be standing nearby. Marlene and I both had many conversations that allowed us to encourage others and to be encouraged ourselves.

14) We came away convinced more than ever that this is the sort of thing we ought to be doing. It goes to the heart of what Keep Believing Ministries is all about. I told the people that our name is our mission. We are called to help people keep believing in Jesus. All of our resources work toward that end.

15) I encouraged everyone to pray this “dangerous” prayer: Lord, do things I’m not used to. And I reminded them that because God is not the God of the status quo, he continually puts us in places where we feel inadequate and out of our comfort zone. I shared with them that in the last two years, Marlene and I have seen anew that the will of God is not a destination, it’s a journey whose purpose is to teach us about God’s character. And that’s why sometimes we’re on the mountaintop facing down the prophets of Baal, sometimes we’re hiding in the ravine by the brook, sometimes we’re standing before the king, and sometimes we’re listening to the still, small voice of the Lord. Thus the story of Elijah and our own journey dovetailed into the message of the conference.

16) Yesterday we flew back to Chicago (no delays this time), arriving about 10:30 PM, picked up our car at O’Hare Airport, and drove through the night back to Tupelo. We pulled into our driveway at 8:30 AM, tired but grateful for all that God did at the conference.

17) We’re here for three days. On Sunday we leave for a ten-day missions trip to Thailand.

18) Marlene and I decided before we started this two-month period that has us on the road almost constantly that we would simply take it a day at a time. Last Saturday we left for Normal, IL and then traveled on to Colorado. So far, so good.

19) We’re very glad to be back in Tupelo with Mark and Vanessa and with Dudley, Gary and Parker. Right now Parker (Mark and Vanessa’s little Maltese) is tormenting Dudley (one of our two basset hounds) who is barking up a storm. Gary just padded into the living room to see what was happening.

20) Hearing them bark makes me smile. It’s good to be back home again.