Greetings from Jackson, Wyoming!

We have had three fabulous days in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. I have had more sun in the last three days than in the entire summer in New England.

The parks are amazing! We saw plenty of bison, mule deer and one elk. Alas, no grizzly bears.

We saw geysers, geysers, and more geysers. Also hot springs, bubbling mud pots, and steam vents. Of all the geo-thermal features in the world, half are in Yellowstone. Tough hiking at 8,000 feet we found out. Yellowstone is as big as Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Then on to Grand Tetons park. Wow, wow, wow! What a spectacular day--crystal clear blue sky and 70 degree+ temps. We kayaked on Jenny Lake in the park.

Another thing. People are friendly in this country. I mean real friendly. Everywhere except the northeast, that is. I find that it is stunningly different.

That's all the travel news for now. On through Idaho tomorrow to Boise.

RM

Greetings Sports Fans!

Debbie and I spent yesterday tooling down memory lane. We visited Northfield, MN--where we lived for 6 years following seminary and where I served in my first pastorate at Emmaus Church.

We walked downtown through this idyllic college town, home of Carlton and St. Olaf Colleges. "Cows, Colleges and Contentment" is the town's tagline on T-shirts sold at the local historical museum. The town's main historical claim to fame involves the Jesse James-Cole Younger gang's last attempted bank heist. The local citizens foiled the bank raid with the rallying cry, "Get your guns boys, they're robbing the bank!" Every September the town holds the annual "Defeat of Jesse James Days" festival and street fair. Hey--it works for them.

In Northfield yesterday Debbie and I walked downtown; walked the street past the house where we used to live--802 College Street. It is run down and shabby looking. Sad. The back yard is now torn up--looks like they are going to put in some kind of garden. I remember the yard as being the scene of hundreds of wiffle ball games with Mark and Mike when they were growing up.

Then we drove north to the Twin Cities and visited the campus of Bethel University and Seminary, where I went to seminary and graduated in 1980. We lived on campus in an apartment in Sem Village. We walked around the college and the seminary. Good memories.

After that we drove north two hours to Aitken, Minnesota. We have been visiting the home of Jim and Bev Mason. Jim was my mentor while in seminary and has been a good friend for 30 years. He and Bev live on Lone Lake outside Aitken. We have been catching up and sharing laughs and rants. Good times. This morning we went with them to their Wednesday morning breakfast group from church. The "Forever Old" group Jim calls it. Good people. Good food.

Signing off. Happy trails!

RM

It is good to be back in Minnesota.

Debbie and I take off after church this Sunday and head west. I will be preaching a message that was sparked in me by something Mandy Adendorff shared recently in her weekly Monday inspirational devotional. I am looking forward to sharing this with you--I have her permission to preach her message, by the way!

We are also excited to be going away for a season--looking forward to a time of rest, some time with old friends on the way to California, and an immersion in the life and ethos of Bethel Church in Redding, CA.

Once again we are grateful for the opportunity to go. We hope to come back rested and refreshed. We also hope to bring back something of the abundance of blessing, anointing, boldness and creativity that is in the atmosphere of Bethel Church.

While away, Pastor Wes will be leading the ministry and the staff. Elders are on duty. Team members are carrying on the work. Pastor Wes is putting together an exciting fall teaching series that many will share in--it focuses on getting back to our radical core. You won't want to miss a single Sunday.

Pray for Debbie and I while we are away. We need travel mercies and trouble free miles. We are asking God for rest, refreshment, and renewal of vision. Pray for divine appointments with key people and divine encounters with the Lord himself. Pray for fresh revelation and strategy for the way ahead.

Blessings and Happy Trails to you--'til we meet again!

Pastor Rick

This coming Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by radical Islamist terrorists. The nation is gearing up for all manner of observances and ceremonies of remembrance. It was the worst attack upon our citizens on our own soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, everyone knows what issued forth as a result of the day that lives in infamy--December, 1941. Our nation entered the Second World War and we helped to lead the Allied effort win through to victory both against the Nazis in Europe and Imperial Japan in the Pacific.

But ten years later, we still don't know or understand the significance of the 9/11 attacks. We have entered foreign wars in two nations as a result of those attacks. But today few see that connection as primary; and besides, our men and women are still fighting in both of those nations as part of a global war against terrorist activity. We remember 9/11 as a day of great heroism by first responders and by the men and women who brought down the fourth plane before it could fly into the Capitol building or the White House in Washington. It is right and proper that we honor these citizen patriots. 9/11/01 also ushered in one of the most tumultuous economic decades our nation has ever seen. And indeed, the primary attack was upon the American center of global trade in New York's financial district.

I myself don't claim to have the answer as to what 9/11 'means.' But I do know that it was and continues to be a pivotal day in our history as a nation.

This year as we gather for worship on September 11 I plan to begin a short, two-week series on King Hezekiah of ancient Judah. His story and his lifetime of leadership was likewise pivotal for the southern Kingdom of Judah, and is told in II Kings, II Chronicles and in the book of Isaiah.

I have long been fascinated by the way Hezekiah was used to turn the nation back to the Lord and to his ways. I am also fascinated by a huge opportunity that Hezekiah did not lead through--and ultimately missed. In these two upcoming weeks, as we reflect upon our nation's recent crises and current turmoil, I hope to bring some light from the Scriptures that will illuminate our way forward as God's people in the midst of a land that is at a major turning point in its history.

Blessings,

Pastor Rick