A Taste of a Deeper Journey

Since I returned from my sabbatical I’ve been praying about how we as men can continue to grow as disciples of Jesus.  My desire is to share more deeply some of what the Lord taught me while I was away.  For the last few months I have been developing a process and a place to help us do this. I am calling the process “A Deeper Journey” aka “Getting Real with God, Yourself and Others”. My theme verse is “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” Mark 6:31"  I envision a yearlong process with small groups of men that would include 4 retreats and meeting once a month in between. The last two weekends we had two retreats that provided men with "a taste of a deeper journey".  It was a wonderful confirmation of this direction in disciplemaking.  The first retreat was Dec. 6-7 and included Thomas, Rick, John, Al & Mark.  Around a bonfire with snowflakes falling we reflected on Jesus question to disciples of John the Baptist who began to follow him. "What do you want"?  We shared our answer to Jesus on that question. 

At the breakfast table

Since it was the last day of hunting season Rick & John put on targets

Our Dec. 6-7 Group 

 Friday night we went up to Baxter Mountain with the 2nd group of men. I it was snowing on the way up and as we climbed the mountain. Since it was extremely cold my Real Estate Agent Bob Lambrigger kindly went up early to get the stove going.  After dinner we also reflected on Jesus question and then gathered around a bonfire for night prayers.

 Before breakfast in the morning we used the devotional Seeking God's Face to reflect on Scripture and "write" our own devotional.  We enjoyed blueberry pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs & cheese, orange juice, fruit and coffee/tea.

Linzie, Jessie, Sal, Colin & Clifton

 After breakfast we had some "chillin" time since it was to cold to go outside - like 10 degrees - but was toasty warm inside. The woodburning stove works good.

Colin was very good at the dishes

 After breakfast we visited with Bob Lambrigger and his Pastor from the local Horton Brook Free Methodist Church. We had a good time of fellowship and prayer together. Another of Bob's friends also brought some fresh venison sausage just out of the smoker. It was delicious.  After our guests left we did one "spiritual exercise" from the Dallas Willard book: Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. This would be one of the tools we would use on the deeper journey.

Our Dec. 13 -14 Group - Yes that is snowflakes you see falling - and yes - it was cold

After a time of prayer and the Lord's Supper we cleaned up and headed home early due to the falling snow and predictions for me. We had all experience the "rest" of being with Jesus and being blessed by each other.

Eremos: A Baxter Mountain Retreat/Prayer Cabin

Ever since I spent a week of solitude and silence at the East Haven Mountain Cabin back in February I've been thinking and praying about how we could do something like that closer to home. I began scouting for cabins in July and purchased a cabin on Baxter Mountain in Rosco NY, 2 hours from Paterson in the beginning of October.  My vision was a prayer and retreat center for myself, others in ministry and anyone needed a place to get away with the Lord. I also had a vision of small group mens retreats as part of a year long process called "A Deeper Journey".  I devoted all of my spare time in the month of October to getting the cabin in shape before winter set in.  Many other friends, neighbors and contractors helped with critical parts of parts I didn't want to do.  Heres a bit of a picture survey of the month and where it is today.

My neighbor Jose Velez painted the cabin 

Max Brooks of Brooks Electric helped me install the solar electric system. It works great. 

We decided to do the living room and loft in tongue & grove pine. Here Mac is doing the poly before its put up

Our early October group. myself, Jose, Mac, Max, Alvin

A Baxter Mountain sunset

Matt Murphy is a local master carpenter as well as the Fire Chief of the Cooks Falls Fire Department

Bob  Lambrigger is the local broker who sold me the cabin

Linzie came up to stack the "cord" of firewood I purchased...not splitting my own yet.

The cabin has a wonderful "Vermont Castings" woodburning stove and it is very effective. This wood should last us the winter and more.

A job well done

Jim Stegink is a master craftsman with man skills and laid the wood laminate floor - with a little help from me.

The view from the cabin

The cabin has two bedrooms and a loft for sleeping. We can accommodate 7 people there

The Living Room is very comfortable and cozy 

A view from the loft

This past weekend we had our first retreat with our Cadet Counselors. They were my "trial run" since they already used to camping is this is a big step up. We consecrated the cabin to the glory of God and named it "Eremos". This is the greek word that translates as "a quiet place, wilderness place, desolate place, remote place." It is the word that translates Jesus invitation to his disciples in Mark 11 to "Come away with me to a quiet place and get some rest." It is my prayer that the cabin will be that for many.  In December we will do two "Taste of a Deeper Journey Retreats" for 5-6 men to see if they are interested in joining in the yearlong process.

Experiencing God: Congregational Retreat

This past weekend we had our Congregational Retreat. This was planned as part of our congregational activites following my sabbatical. We had 77 adults & youth attending at Ladore Retreat & Conference Center in Waymart, PA.  We began Friday evening with a time of worship

and a short reflection from Pastor John from Mark 6:31 where Jesus invites his disciples to "Come with me by yourselves to a quite place to get some rest."  The "quiet place" is the Greek word "Eremos" which can also be translated desolate place, wilderness and even green pastures. After this we did a "mixer" finding others born our month of the year and had prayer in those groups together.  After that folks hung out or went swimming in the pool or soaking in the hot tub.

Saturday began with Pastor John leading an optional Prayer & Scripture Engagement time before breakfast. Everyone enjoyed all the food and meals served. After a brief worship time all the kids and young people broke out by themselves. 

 The adults has a "quiet time" practicing praying and listening to Scripture from I John 4: 7-21. This is a profound passage about God's love for us and ours for each other. We practiced Reading, Reflecting (meditating), Responding (praying) and Returning (acting) on the Scripture. We shared some of our insights and reflections together. Our Keynote Speaker was Dr. Janice Mclean Farrell. She and her husband Allen live in Harlem, NYC and are expecting a baby next month. She is on the Pastoral team of New Song Community Church and a facalty member of City Seminary. Here first message was "Experiencing God: Joyful in Creation".  We learned about "THE VOID" in  Genesis 1:1-2 but that the Spirit is hovering over the chaos before creation and in our lives.

We ended in groups discussing the message and concluded with a time of prayer.

 And yes, then we ate again. We ate alot and the food was great. The afternoon was time to "rest" , hang out, sleep, visit or do some of the activities available. Unfortunately the weather was not very cooperative and it was 55 degrees, cloudy and sometimes drizzling a bit.  However folks still enjoyed the pontoon boat ride around Lake Ladore and a few brace souls even took to the kayaks and the canoe.

 The pool or hot tub however were the most popular places to be on a cool September afternoon. Others played shuffleboard,  miniature golf, ping pong or other activities in the game room. Others enjoyed a quiet walk on the beautiful grounds or just sitting around the fireplace.

 After dinner Pastor Janice gave her second talk: Experiencing God: Steadfast in the Wilderness. She explored the place of wilderness in the Scriptures and in our lives. We again divided up into small groups to talk together about what this meant for out lives and prayer together.

 Following this we took a candlelight walk from the Lodge to the Bonfire. Everyone carried a small candle in a paper cup that created a beautiful chain of light flowing down the mountain. It was very beautiful. Minister Sham brought a message from I Corinthians 13 reminding us that all ministry of "word and deed" is empty if it is not done in LOVE!

 This was followed by a time around the bonfire where many enjoyed roasting marshmallows and making SMORES!

SMORE recipe: Graham Cracker, chocolate square, roasted marshmallow, graham cracker on top: YUM< YUM 

 Many enjoyed driving around the grounds on the little peddle go-carts. Your never to old for this. Some adults were even racing each other ( I won't say who) and cheating a bit to win. :)

 Ladore Lodge sits on top of a mountain below a ridge full of large windmills. You can't quite see them in this picture but they are all along the top of the ridge behind Joyce & Tracie.

 We concluded on Sunday morning with another time of worship where anyone would begin a song and we all joined in. Linzie would just pick up the tune and we would worship the Lord. We continue with a fountain of Scripture as we shared favorite Scripture verses.

 Pastor Janice gave her final message: Experiencing God: Flourishing in the City. Here Scriptures were from Psalm 46, Jeremiah 29 and Revelation 21. God calls us to seek the peace and prosperity of the city he has call us to - Paterson. But most important the Lord calls us to LOVE our city. We concluded this message with a spontaneous time of sentence prayers for our city and all that the Lord had put on our hearts.  Pastor Ken shared the details for our "Stand Against Human Trafficking" next Saturday and Sunday for 27 hours representing the 27 million people in sexual slavery.   We concluded with the Lord's Supper as we recognized the presence of our Lord Jesus in our lives and city. We prepared to come off the mountain and return to continue to live out His mission. We enjoyed a final meal together and drove home refreshed and blessed to have been in a "quiet place" to get some rest with Jesus and each other.

A Wild Adventure

This past week I attend A Wild Adventure - Men's Fly fishing Retreat at Smiling Moose Lodge in Cameron Montana. This was one of my post-sabbatical experiences. This experiences is designed by Jan Janura and Ken Tada (husband of Joni Erickson Tada) as an experience for men to really discover themselves. Its an amazing experiencing combining a place of tremendous beauty - The Madison Valley; a group of 12 guys who are willing to open up to each other; use of John Eldridge's book: Wild at Heart - Discovering the secret of a man's soul; 

Every morning I had devotions on my porch watching the moon go down

Smiling Moose Lodge 

View of the Continental Divide from the deck of the Lodge

 We spent our first two days fishing in the morning on the Madison River with guides in a drift boat or drift raft. Everyone caught fish - some bigger than others - and had a great time. Many in our group had never fly fished before and did very well

 We enjoyed amazingly delicious meals from our chef Jason who explained every salad, main course and desert. Noone went hungry here.

 Around the campfire at night we talked together and each day 3 men shared their life stories. Part of this retreat is for men to be able to be real with each other, not pretending or hiding. We had some good discussions on different aspects of the book, spent time practicing listening to God, and did some reflection on our own true selves.

 The second morning we again fished the Madison switching sections from the day before.

On a rise above the Madison River

Dennis and our guide Mike in the drift boat. 

They can't all be big !

The second two days we fished lakes that are on Smiling Moose Ranch and Rainbow Lake Ranch. These fish were larger and you had to wade out on a mucky lake bottom to get them. But we did.

Rainbow Lake Rainbow Trout

 The last day we had a context for the largest trout. Just as we were pulling off of Moose Lake to return to the Lodge Rick hooked up with this beauty. It was 25" long but the winner was a 26" trout although this one was definitely heavier.

Rich and our guide Dan with 25" Rainbow

 Sometimes we told our stories inside, sometimes on the front deck and sometimes around the fire. Trust built as we got to know each other and were willing to open up.

Our cabin

Armando and I shared a cabin

Our whole group