Just wanted to post a couple of pics of our Daughter and Dad Thanksgiving weekend mountain bike ride.
We did the 396/Felmier loop today.
As you can tell the temps were a bit brisk.
Love the 396 views. It follows Goldwater lake for much of the trail.
In all it was 9.6 miles of great family memories.
Great day, great ride with the greatest daughter on the globe.
Filed under: family
I just wanted to post some pics of Thanksgiving 2009.
Kate, Natascha, Heather, Tim Dad and mom, Beth, Brenda Caleb and I – love these guys.
Adam is in Kansas hunting pheasant.
I love the energy they bring.
Cody,Bella and Hoover walkin it off.
Gingerbread house competition .
Caleb sleepin it off.
Brenda and I are so grateful for what we have be blessed with in this season.
We have learned that Thanksgiving is a verb.
I love John Mason’s word about Thanksgiving. John says,
“If you can’t be thankful for what you have, at least be thankful for what you’ve escaped!”
Wow, what a great way to look at life.
Here is my Thankability list for 2009
I am thankful for:
God’s unending and relentless grace and care. (I take it personally)
My family. A very cool and compassionate church family.
Prescott az. A great mountain bike community.
Books, Rivers and our two dogs.
Friends who are real when you need them to be.
People that don’t abandon you in tough times.
A life partner (Brenda)
My life purpose to be a pastor.
The difference is in the Thank-ability.
Filed under: Ministry
This weekend we are looking at one of the most pandemic problems in the spiritual life of millions of people.
The issue is people can’t see God because the are MIXED UP when it comes to spiritual matters.
I CAN’T SEE GOD ……..BECAUSE I’M SO MIXED UP
Pastor Steve Lummer
part 4
If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. Proverbs 29:18 ( message)
Review - HOW TO SEE GOD CLEARLY
1. Give up on religion and go for a relationship with God .
2. Quit waiting for eternal life and start experiencing it right now .
3.. Relax about finding God’s will for your life .
4. Let the Bible speak for itself instead of trying to make it say what you want it to .
5. Find a higher calling than just being happy.
I Can’t See God Because I’m So Mixed Up.
“Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled. 10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together. 11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together”. - Deuteronomy 22:9-11 (niv)
We lose our vision of God because there are so many LAYERS.
1. Layers of CLUTTER. 2. Layers of CONDEMNATION. 3. Layers of CONFUSION.
People lose sight of God because we send mixed messages of what God looks like?
Ezekiel 34:18 Can’t you be satisfied to drink from the clear stream without muddying the water with your feet? Why do the rest of my sheep have to make do with grass that’s trampled down and water that’s been muddied?
The Good News is not that complicated.
1 Corinthians 14:33 God is not the author of confusion
1. FORGIVENESS OF SINS
Colossians 2:13,14 – When you were dead in your sins and in your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
2. A NEW NATURE
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
3. INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ephesians 1:13,14 you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised. 14 That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive what God promised
4. FREEDOM FROM THE POWER AND SNARE OF SIN
Romans 8:2 through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
5. ETERNAL LIFE BEGINS IN THIS LIFE.
John 17:1-3 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Minister To The Ministers
What a great weekend as we get ready to turn the corner toward Thanksgiving. I just felt like we were to minister to a Pastor and his family this Thanksgiving.
Saturday we were able to take a suv full of food as well as a spirit of joy to invade Brian and Debbie’s home in the village of the Grand Canyon.
We took long time friends from our college days Kent and Judy Anderson who work with Rural Compassion.
Brian and Debbie pastor a small congregation in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
Over 5 million visitors visit the South Rim of the canyon which is literally 5 minutes away from were Brian and Debbie live.
It was great to minister to the ministers yesterday.
Here are some pics of our trip to the Brian’s and ’Debbie’s
@ The Grand Canyon with Kent and Judy Anderson.
Kent and Pastor Brian.
Little Samuel, Debbie Mercy and Brian Fulthrop pastor the village of Grand Canyon
Also here is the link for Rural Compassion
http://www.ruralcompassion.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=2
About Rural Compassion
The Mission
To help break and prevent cycles of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual poverty.
Benefits of Rural Compassion
* Strengthen small communities by utilizing and building on indigenous resources and maximizing those resources through the church.
* Build the capacity of the church to respond to the systemic needs in the community through sustainable solutions.
* Assist the church to become the center of the community and a spiritually-based service provider.
* Accomplish together what no individual or group can accomplish alone.
Really great services at Prescott First Assembly with the Rural Compassion team.
Speacial thanks to all who gave to help this ministry to the ministers take place. Here is an email note from Debbie.
We were extremely blessed with enough food to feed our family for over a week!! Thanks Pastor Lummer & Brenda; Prescott First Assembly & Rural Compassion. The Lord knows exactly what we need at just the right time! Happy Thanksgiving 
Tonight Robert Middlemore and I did a real nice loop up through the pines/Tatanka and over Iron Springs to the 332 into Granite Basin.
After climbing up to the cattle guard I noticed the Brian Lopes Bike Van at the parking area.
We road on down toward some Granite Basin single track when we notice about eight mountain bikers and I knew it was “No Way Rey’s crew.
We followed them up the hill and got to talk with the for a while.
Hans ‘No Way’ Rey is a biking phenomenon. He’s been doing amazing stunts on bikes for the best part of 30 years and is a multiple national and UCI world champion in the trials category.
He’s also the main man behind the wheels4life charity, which provides bikes for people in need of transportation in third world countries. For more about Hans and wheels4life, check out www.hansrey.com and wheels4life.org.
If you get time, here is a link to some of “No Way Reys” bike stunts – pretty cool stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuIrg4ArBpw&feature=player_embedded
Also in the crew was Brian Lopes one on the world best downhill racers http://www.brianlopes.com/
Hans was looking over my Spot 29er single speed and ask to take it for a ride. So when No Way Rey wants to ride your bike you say absolutely .
Wish I had my camera tonight but you will have to take my word for it.
Just a quick blog post about my brother Gary and I connecting with our old but very energetic friend Darrell Creswell.
I first met Darrell in 1977. He served as our youth pastor in Davenport Iowa with pastor Tommy Barnett.
Wow, Darrell has lived a colorful and fascinating life.
I ask him to tell me his story At the restaurant where we had lunch.
So cool to hear about the mountain top as well as the valley experiences he has witnessed.
After striking oil in Texas in the 1980’s his life drastically changed.
Darrell is the owner of http://www.braziliansprings.com/
Great to catch up with Darrell as well as being able to have some time with the best brother on the planet .
I can remember as a child in elementary school looking at the history book and seeing the map and pictures of what the world looked like back in Columbus day.
The picture in the history book was of ships falling off the end of the earth because the earth was believed to be flat. You remember those old maps with the sea monsters and the dragons and people hanging on to the end of the world.
Well, recently I had a situation that caused me to feel like my ship was about to fall off the end of the earth.
In fact I was explaining my emotions to someone. I was explaining how I felt that I had every anchor out in an attempt to keep from going over the edge.
With that, the person I was speaking to said very simply, “Hey Steve, you’ve got to remember, the earth is not flat, its round.” Wow, I had a moment where I felt at peace and realized what I was worrying about was basically conjured up in my mind and was not a real scenario at all.
Most of our fears never really come to pass.
The words of Jesus still reverberate with truth. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NIV) He was teaching people who had ears to hear to learn to live one day at a time. The context of Jesus’ profound recommendation begins in Matthew 6:35, and concludes in the final verses of this life-changing lesson. “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV)
My situation was very real and had some serious ramifications if not dealt with but we are all going to have problems and situations that are beyond our control….that is just a fact. But another fact is that we have a choice as to how we respond to the problems and situations in our lives.
The earth is not flat. That is so important because of this one important thing. If the earth was flat we would eventually fall off the edge. But, because it is round we can keep going forward.
What a great feeling to have hope and a future.
You can keep going forward Don’t let fear keep you from sailing– the earth is not flat it is round.
This is our world and it is round meaning we can keep sailing around it and not fall off it.
Loving the series I Can’t See God.
This weekend; I Can’t See God Because I Just Don’t Like His Kids That Much.”
Here is the outline for the teaching.
Pastor Steve Lummer
part 3
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9 (niv)
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20,21 (niv)
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15: 12-13
CFS – Cubic Feet Per Second.
Here are a couple of photos of the Verde River about a mile up from Beezly Flats flowing at approximately 160 CFS.
Here is a pic of the remnants a an earlier CFS of around 900 to a 1000.
I actually floated the upper section where Oak Creek drops into the Verde @ 1100 CFS. What a ride that was.
Any way back to the CFS discussion. Here is a a chart provided by the usgs.
Current Verde River flow information: http://az.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=09506000
Almost every water shed in the USA as well as Canada has these stations to give hourly reports of water flow. Very Cool.
Here is the actual chart flow when the top three photos were taken.
Notice the dates at the bottom of the chart.
If you want a perfect float down the Verde River, float it a between 25- and 450 CFS and you wont be disappointed for sure.
Before you float any river make sure you know what the CFS is for the day you float. It will help make the difference between a great time on the river and a not so good time on and possibly IN the river.
Just one more point in this blog.
Here is another link for the Verde River Canoe Challenge sponsored by NAU every year.
Chuck Hammersly does a fanastic job of putting this event together and all for just 10 bucks (includes t-shirt)
http://www.prm.nau.edu/PRM325/verde_river_canoe_challenge_informati.htm
Go for it – you will love it and fall in love with the Verde as well.
Brenda and I – Verde is running @ 450 CFS
