Tahoe Update

My Sabbatical is starting out great. On Sunday night, my sons learned how to ride bikes. We had a ball watching them ride up and down our cul-de-sac. Kyle Thomas suggested taking the pedals off so that they could learn to balance and it worked great. I have been trying to get them on a bike for months, but Kyle's method only took 15 minutes and away they went.

So far my week in Tahoe has been all about decompressing and recharging my batteries. On Tuesday afternooon, I also got to do one of my favorite things - ride my bike. I had a great ride from the state line (where my hotel is) to Inspiration Point at Emerald Bay and then back along Fallen Leaf Road and the Pioneer Trail. It was one of the best rides I've ever been on. The views were amazing and worth the climb.

I headed back to Emerald Bay (in my car) on Wednesday and found a an amazing secluded place next to Eagle Falls (photo below) to mediate and pray over Revelation 3:1-6. This passage will be the theme verse for our series in August – “Disciple: No Christians Allowed.” As I read over the verses I couldn't help but think about how easy it is to call myself a Christian and yet make everything in my life about me and not Jesus. Spent some time praying and repenting about that one.
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I also spent some time listening to a couple of great messages by Mark Driscoll. They are from the Desiring God Advance 09 Conference held in early June (you can download and listen to the conference for free here). Mark Driscoll's messages on idolatry and the church were some of the best sermons I've heard in a long time. Mark Driscoll's tone is tough for some to listen to (think the polar opposite of Joel Osteen), but underneath the yelling there is some really great content.
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I am also reading an interesting book called, "Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe" by Larry Osborne. The book reviews urban legends that most Christians believe but aren't in the Bible. "Dumb Ideas" found in the book include..."A godly home guarantees godly kids...Everything happens for a reason...A valley means a wrong turn...Faith can fix anything." I am thinking that these urban legends might make a good sermon series in 2010.

This week I also finished a biography of Franklin Roosevelt that was a great story of a great man. Before reading the book I had no idea how much he changed the world and how his influence is still being felt today. For example, did you know he created the SEC, the FDIC, Social Security, the United Nations. He also created a foundation that found the cure for polio. He did all this while fighting WW2 and the Great Depression and being paralyzed in his legs. Really inspirational stuff.

Right now, I am watching the sun go down over Lake Tahoe from my hotel room. I just had Baja Fresh for dinner and so now my day is complete. Baja Fresh is still open in Tahoe (unlike Folsom) and so I am getting it while I can.