My buddy, Tobias Smith, and I, and our wives traced this afternoon the LotoJa course from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Logan, Utah.  Grueling.  And I am just driving a van.

We passed a lot of LDS historical sites as we rolled through Idaho down into Utah.  Very interesting.

Tonight, I found out there are 1,400 road racers signed up for this epic event tomorrow.  Unbelievable.

I am carbed up and holed up this evening in Tremonton, Utah . . . a half hour away from the starting line.

Tomorrow, we shall see what we are made of.  I like what I saw on one particular license plate – “RENEWED”.

Praise God for the testimony!

Hey, I just read your article.

I sincerely bear a testimony.  I think that it is only God who will get me and another Christian brother through the mountain passes before Montpellier and after on the road bike LotoJa route this Saturday.

I wish you knew Him.

Thinking of heart issues . . .

A while back, I became acquainted with Wendy Alsup while interacting on the blog, Sharper Iron.

Today, I just read her quote in the article, “Pastor Provocateur” in Christianity Today (September 2007), featuring Mark Driscoll and his church, Mars Hill in Seattle, Washington.

CT writer, Collin Hansen, highlights Wendy:

 “Still, exposure to criticism does not make church leaders immune to it.  Wendy Alsup, the Mars Hill deacon responsible for women’s theology and training, shook with emotion as we sat down in the ‘war room’ and talked about Driscoll.  She said that Mars Hill will ‘always be open to criticism, because God has grown us faster than we can handle.’  Alsup defended Driscoll with evident passion.

He asks forgiveness more than any pastor I have ever seen,” she said, “He publicly confesses sin.  He’s such a great example to young, idealistic, confident, inexperienced, immature pastors that you have to say you’re wrong when you’re wrong.  And he does it to women.  I know.  He has apologized in times when he has gotten things wrong, and I’m thankful he doesn’t apologize for the things he hasn’t said wrong” (48-49).

One thing for sure, Wendy is a passionate defender of her pastor.

But in the conclusion of the article, Collin quotes Mark,

Fundamentalism is really losing the war, and I think it is in part responsible for the rise of what we know as the more liberal end of the emerging church,” Driscoll says, “Because a lot of what is fueling the left end of the emerging church is fatigue with hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture.  But culture is the house that people live in, and it just seems really mean to keep throwing rocks at somebody’s house. (49) (more…)

LDS Translation 

In examining the text of Isaiah 29 from an LDS perspective, I turned first to Don Parry’s book, Harmonizing Isaiah:  Combining Ancient Sources (FARMS, 2001).  Those unfamiliar with this volume can read Kevin Barney’s review.   Attached to the beginning of  Isaiah 29, Don’s endnote begins, (more…)

This Saturday, the church parking lot of Berean Baptist Church will be the stage for some slammin’, jammin’ 3 on 3 basketball.

National Hoops is partnering with our church family for this cool event.  This particular team has been cruisin’ the country this year, and so I invited Mike and his crew to visit Idaho for the first time. (more…)

Make sure you check out September’s Christianity Today and the article, “Latter-Day Politics”.

For some reason, I missed these articles in The Christian Century (August 21, 2007) on Mormonism.  Again, I am behind the times.

I am sure that most of you have already read “A Mormon president? The LDS difference” by Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp.

But it is the second article in the magazine, “Counting Mormons:  Study says LDS numbers inflated” by John Dart that provided totally new information for me to consider.

I had never seen a chart sharing LDS statistics on defection and apostasy.  And I didn’t know this:

Every baptized but lapsed Mormon–whereabouts unknown–is kept on the rolls until age 110.

John writes, (more…)

According to today’s Post Register, the temple will be finished on December 29.

The temple will be dedicated February 3.

“The church’s temple construction missionaries have taught nearly 22,000 (83 percent of Rexburg’s population) about the temple since May 2006, said Linda Frost, one of the missionaries.”

“Church officials said there will also be a monthlong open house for anyone who wants to check it out.”

Well, I plan on showing up.  It will be a first time experience for me.

I needed a ride today to clear my mind and also scope out the Lotoja route, so I headed down to Preston, Idaho, near the place of an altogether different massacre that unfolded back in the 1800’s (check out some of the description by Brigham D. Madsen).

Preston, today, is pure, pristine, rural, LDS Southern Idaho.  There is a huge scrapbooking store right on mainstreet.  Just cruising through town, it almost made me want to pick up a Napolean Dynamite map and take a tour.

But because of time, I hopped on my Motobecane for a trip from Preston to the top of the first, long mountain pass on Highway 36 – a race of how fast I could get there and back.  On the ride, I ran over grasshoppers, bypassed a dead deer, rolled by Mink Creek Ward, and enjoyed all the junk cars in farm fields. I knew I was in Idaho.

I had a beautiful ride.  And thank you Lord that I wasn’t struck by any lightning in the afternoon rain storm.

Now, it is basically one week till D-day.  I don’t know if the brother in my church family and I are physically ready for Saturday, September 8.  But I do know how to pray.