If Yosemite is God’s best, Cedar Point is Man’s

If Yosemite is God’s best…. then Cedar Point is man’s best display of how we have harnessed God’s natural laws and the creativity he gave us and made: Roller Coasters. Yes, Roller Coasters are man’s cheif creation. Since the Tower of Babel man has always desired to go higher and faster… and nothing demonstrates man push for speed than the roller coaster. Sure, race cars and airplanes (and rockets) are faster, but they also have practical purposes: transportation and shipping. Only the roller coaster was built (at the cost of millions of dollars) simply for the pleasure of pushing the common man’s human limits. When we strap ourselves into these wood or metal machines we are saying we want to experience what we were not created to experience in our day to day life – height and speed are were not given to us – but the creativity to think of what does not yet exist and the intellectual ability to make it exist is one of the greatest gifts God gave us when He made us in His image. Forgive me for getting too philosophical about Roller Coasters – but they are one of my favorite things – and…

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Karl’s Oregon Coast Wallpapers

Yes, we bought matching shirts. Yesterday we started our journey down the Oregon Coast. In one word? Breathtakinglyamazinglybeautifullyspectacular. The Oregon Coast FAR EXCEEDED my expectations, and they were pretty high already. It has proved to be even more spectacular than I had even hoped. Colorado? You may need to step aside – you’ve got the mountains, but not the rivers, ocean, lakes, and lush greenery. I still claim Colorado as my favorite state, but is more due to my personal roots there… It is getting harder to say it is the most beautiful state in the Union. The first day we traveled from Portland, North to the Coast, and then started straight down. We ended in Newport for the evening with dinner with our friends, the Helts, who I met through Kidology. Pam Helt has co-authored a few of my Kid’s Church units with me. We had lunch this morning at Coca Mocha Joe’s before heading on our way again. We also visited their church, but more info and pics on that later. I can’t get over the amazing displays of God’s Creation here! It just never ends, for hours on end. No photos can capture it, but I tried.…

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Ennie, Meanie, Minie, Moe, Catch a Lizard by his Toe (or tail, if you have to)

Back to Washington – after we left Spokane, we decided we would get out of the city and then stop for food and gasoline on the outskirts of town. Um, there are no outskirts of town…. there is Spokane, and then there is wilderness… boring… plain… never ending…. for a good two hours, and then all of sudden there is a ‘Scenic Overlook’ and we are thinking, “overlook of what?!” But needing to stretch our legs anyway we pull off the road and WOW! What a scene awaits us!! Mere photos can not capture the expanse of this view of the Columbia River. Of course, I had to go exploring… I love cliffs, every since I read the book “Cliffs” by Elene Over, I’ve enjoyed them immensely. We could see for miles in every direction. You gotta love that built in timer! I soon headed down the hill promising Sara that I would stay at least two feet from any lose crumbly cliff edges. I soon discovered there was a TON of wild life running around these cliffs! Can you spot the wildlife here BEFORE scrolling down? Need a hint: Here is a larger zoomedin.jpg image. I was DETERMINED to…

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Children’s Pastors "Havefunner"

Who is the Man Behind the Mask? Allow me to travel back in time, a few blogs anyway, to Portland Oregon where we visited Shiloh Hills Fellowship. (see post and photo gallery) Spokane held a few surprises for us. Besides the amazing hospitality shown to us, I was glad to get to meet a great children’s pastor. Our original purpose in visiting Spokane was to meet Danile Bigler, a gifted young man who has impressed me (and many others) with his contributions to Kidology.org A Young Man with a Heart for Preschoolers. Daniel proved to be a fascinating young man with many talents and passions that could lead him in many directions… though I’m encouraging him to be a children’s pastor, one of his many possibilities. But whatever he does, he will have a great impact on the Kingdom, I’m sure. I was very glad, however, to find out that he is working as an intern for a fantastic children’s pastor at Shiloh Hills Fellowship. Daniel is at home with kids… Rick “Havefunner” Pastor Rick Haffner, (often called by his kids Rick “Havefunner”) has over thirty years of children’s ministry service, having served both in the church and public school…

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Blasting Past Mount Saint Helens

On our way South on I-5 through Washington, we stopped at the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center and finally got to see this famous mountain. The famous mountain in the distance. Granted from a great distance, but I still remember May 18, 1980 very well, I was only 11 years old when it blew. I was mesmerized by the power of the blast and the scope of the disaster. Ash reached my home in Lakewood, California. Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 Not only was it beautiful here where we stopped, but the entire drive through Western Washington was breath-taking. When Rich Stafford and I were friends at Moody he was always bragging about the Great North West, which he always said with emphasis – it took me a while to get here, but I’ll admit it, “Rich, you were right, it is awesome here!” We will definatly be planning a future vacation here some time when we can stay even longer! Me, at home in the woods. We are now driving through Portland, Oregon on our way to Henry Zonio’s home. We will be going to his church on Sunday. (Yes, I am online in…

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