The temperature is hovering around 0° and snow is falling hard. Winter is back. After weeks of driving on road grime, it's hard to tell the color of my truck. But all of that dirt and grit and grime has disappeared- just like that- under a blanket of white. This is what God does in regard to our sins. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord, "though your sins are like s...  Read More

As the temperatures dropped, our rain turned into snow. With the wind, we had an actual 'Minnesota-type' blizzard. High on the mountain, we got about 6 inches. The snow's undercoating of freezing rain made the roads treacherous. Alaskans are used to driving on snow. The ice hidden underneath was the problem. So often in life, the danger is hidden beneath the surface. I once listened to a young wom...  Read More

Our team from Ukraine leaves today. Last night was amazing. We had our annual missions dinner. We honored our missionary guests, ate, worshipped, and heard a powerful message from Slavik Golovatyuk, the founder of Solid Rock Mission in Ukraine. We watched video reports from our foreign missionaries sharing the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of decisions for Christ this past year! Between our Women's Minist...  Read More

As my truck began sliding sideways down my driveway yesterday, it occurred to me that I needed sand... Fortunately a good friend put me at the head of his list and got the job done. A team is staying with us who are part of a ministry in Ukraine. They needed to drive a 15 passenger van down to the church, but would never have made it down our driveway! Isn't it great when you have a friend who can...  Read More

As I sit at my kitchen table this morning I can hear the wind roaring outside like a jet engine. Where did it come from? Where is it going? We cannot see the wind, but we FEEL it and see its EFFECTS. Jesus said in John 3:8, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Every Christi...  Read More

Many things in life are behind us. Those experiences are gone, and we will never get them back. That's the thing about time- it is truly our most precious commodity. My week has been filled with reminders. I spoke with the family of a man who was 'suddenly gone', with the father of an infant who is no longer with us, and prayed with a man (and his family) who is not expected to leave the hospital....  Read More

Consider the farmer who plants 1,000 acres of corn. Not counting the astronomical cost of equipment and fuel, he will spend $100,000 on seed. Then he buries it in the ground... INVESTMENT...RISK...WORK...FAITH...WAITING....Producing a harvest always comes with a significant cost. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Salvation is free, but following Christ will COST YOU EVERYTHING. Jesus said, ...  Read More

I had a chance yesterday to help a man lift a 140 lb propane range off his truck and put it in a cargo sled behind his snowmachine. He was a little bashful at first when it came to accepting help. Typical man. I know, because that's how I would have responded. But he was thankful that I INSISTED on helping. When you see a need, is it your natural inclination to try to do something to meet that nee...  Read More

My first retriever (named Tuck-A Duck-Away) was so intelligent that by 12 weeks old he took hand, voice, and whistle commands. The process of teaching him was so joyful that I actually considered a career as a dog trainer. 'Tucker' was strong, impervious to the cold, loved to learn, loved water and loved to hunt. I had followed the instructions in a book by a world-class dog trainer, and I honestl...  Read More

With our machines still idling in the bitter cold, we were finally able to put on our warm gear and get ready to ride. Another friend was off-loading at the same time as us. Seeing that we were having problems, he walked over to our machines and asked, "Did you bring extra gas?" I said, "No." He replied, "Then you better follow me to my cabin. You're almost out of gas. I have some there." A short ...  Read More

It was a short drive by Alaska standards. My son David and I drove less than 2 hours and pulled over to off-load our snowmachines. The temperature was −17°. When David stepped out of the truck, he said, "We have a flat tire on the trailer." Sure enough, completely flat. Before we could jack the trailer up, we needed to off-load the machines. It took a lot of pulling and sweating and freezing finge...  Read More

So here we were- the better part of a day of hard labor, good conversation with friends, inflating a raft, putting on our gear... There was one logjam higher up that we needed to portage. Other than that, the East Fork of the Eklutna River was high and raging. We plunged through all of the 'boulder gardens' and 'drops' that we had intended to portage around. This was whitewater rafting at its best...  Read More