Death to Self

“To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.” Thomas Merton

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July is a great holiday…not only is it the birthday of this great country it is a time when the weather’s good and you get to blow stuff up!

Well at least we did when I was a kid. Now they have so many restrictions on fireworks that everything has been reduced to a glorified sparkler. It’s probably for the best though because 10 year old boys and explosives aren’t typically a good mix.

I leave for Mexico at 1:30am on Sunday morning. I’m taking Stewart (our worship leader) and 5 young people from our church. We will be joining 12 other students for a month long missions/retreat/Bible College experience in Vizcaino, Baja Mexico. Actually Stewart and I will only be there for a week as there are 3 other pastors involved who will each take a week to lead and teach the group.

Please pray for us as we travel by van, and plane on Sunday. There are many things that can go wrong on a trip like this so please keep us in prayer. My single desire for these young people is that they hear from Jesus in a powerful and personal way over these 30 days.

Thank You for praying!

It’s Official

The Seattle Supersonics who have been playing professional basketball in Seattle since 1967 are now moving to Oklahoma City. No offense to Okie Preacher, but are you kidding me! For one thing Oklahoma is a college football state. Always has been, always will be. Maybe I’m just bitter about the owner ripping this team out of Seattle, but I don’t see this being a good move for the “Sonics” at all. We’ll see what happens in October when the NBA season begins, right in the middle of the Sooners run at a national championship and the Cowboys run at another beat down by the Sooners. Seriously though…is this city and region really going to support this team?

The owner will have to change the name and the colors.

So what will they call them? Okie said, “they could call them ‘The Possums’ but then they would get killed on the road.” I don’t think it will have anything to do with their name…

I have now officially changed my allegiance to the Portland Trailblazers. Go Brandon Roy…Go Greg Oden…Go Nate McMillan (who is a Sonic btw). I have lived in Oregon for 10 years now so I guess it’s about time I root for a local team.

Good bye Sonics…you’re horrible anyway.

Oh…I’m rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays while the Mariners figure out that they are getting paid to play baseball.

Man’s Best Friend

It is said that a dog is a man’s best friend. I grew up with dogs. Had a Chinese Pug named Oscar as a kid, then we got a Cocker Spaniel cross named Buff when I was in high school. After I left the house my parents have had several really cool dogs…a Springer Spaniel (Coco)…a Black Lab (Shadow) and their latest canine a Snoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle cross) named Scooter.

As an adult I’ve had two dogs…a Black Lab cross named Maggie and the best dog in the whole world, a Golden Retriever named Abel. Apart from their long hair that ends up on everything, Golden Retrievers are the most loyal kind pets you could ever hope to own.

Recently Abel was diagnosed with bone cancer. It started in his left front paw causing him to limp initially and then lose use of that leg completely. Last week he developed a large tumor in that leg and by the end of the week he was no longer eating and he could barely get up. Yesterday I took him to the vet to be euthanized. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. Abel was such a good dog. Even with cancer his one goal in life was to please me. As we waited for the vet to come in to put Abel down he sat there and licked my hand completely trusting that I had his best interests in mind. I felt like an idiot sitting there crying on the vets floor as Abel’s vital functions slowed and then stopped all together. The vet and his assistant felt bad too, they handed me a box of tissue and left the room quietly. It seemed weird to cry over a dog but I think it would have been weirder not to.

We will miss Abel terribly. We will never be able to replace him but I already want another dog. I have my eye on a 1/2 Golden Retriever 1/2 Yellow Lab that is only 10 months old.

My wife says that we need to wait, but I’m thinking that “Cooper” will bring some much needed joy into this family that is mourning the loss of both my dad and Abel.

What do you guys think…is replacing Abel this fast analogous to the 40 year old man than gets married to the kids babysitter 6 months after his wife dies?

Thank You

I am truly amazed at the overwhelming support of my friends here in cyberspace. Some of you I know, many of you I have never met and yet your concern for me and my family during this time has been remarkable. You guys bless and challenge me greatly.

My dad’s service went very well. Some of my dad’s friends and family may never speak to me again but it went well nevertheless

Pastor Chuck Lind did a great job making his points and using my dad as an illustration. My dad was a handyman, there wasn’t much he couldn’ t fix and yet he couldn’t fix this brain tumor. God used this terminal illness to bring him to the end of himself and to drive him to Jesus, the One who can restore all things. Awesome point Chuck!

Our worship leader and his wife came up from Oregon and they did a wonderful job with the music. I closed the service with a message in which I spoke about the Prodigal Son and the fact that my dad spent much of his life running from God. I talked about his strengths…his work ethic, his servants heart, and his humble nature but for all his strengths (and there were many) he was a deeply conflicted man. Like the Prodigal Son he finally “came to himself” and realized that this life with all its allurement is empty and meaningless. I challenged the attenders to evaluate their own life and see where they are at with Jesus. I called out those who used to walk with Jesus and our now given over to the flesh. I said, “many of you were men and women my dad looked up to spiritually and now you have turned your back on God.”

I heard there were some in the bathroom complaining about my message but I know that the Lord will use it and what people think of me is of little consequence.

It was difficult to share at my dad’ s memorial…more challenging than I anticipated. But when I got up there and all the emotions were swirling within in I kept telling myself, “this isn’t about you…eternity is at stake and there are many here you will never see again.”

If you think about it today please pray that God uses the words spoke yesterday to pierce hearts and change lives. Thank you again for your support during this time.

I love you guys…ryan

Rambling

With the possible move of the Sonics to Oklahoma City, the Mariners faltering, and football season on summer break I’m pretty much going through sports depression.

Maybe that’s just the result of my overall depression with the passing of my dad last week.

I’m officiating my dad’s service along with my parents pastor, Chuck Lind, from CC Olympia. It seems kind of weird to officiate my dad’s memorial but I really think that it’s something I need to do. Chuck is going to open up with a short message about the believers hope in death and I will close with an evangelistic message. I believe that I can speak to our family and friends in a way that other pastors could not. I’m both excited about the opportunity and really nervous at the same time.

Next week Stewart, our worship leader, and I leave for a week in Mexico. We are bringing 5 of our youth down for a month long summer discipleship program in Viscaino, Baja Mexico. The program is for 15-25 year olds and is designed to be a semester of Bible College, a short-term missions trip, and a retreat rolled into one. The program is called AViD, which is an abreviation for “A Voice in the Desert”. Our heart for these kids is that they hear the voice of Jesus and that they draw closer to Him than they’ve ever been before. There are 4 pastors involved in this program, and each of us will spend one week with the kids. Each pastor will teach through a book, or a portion of a book of the Bible as well as a topic relevant to the kids. I am teaching John 13-21 and my topic class is “Ministry 101″ and we’ll use Warren Wiersbe’s On Being a Servant of God. I’m really excited about this program and know that God is going to use it big time.

I’m reading Greg Laurie’s autobiography right now and I highly recommend that.

The band Needtobreathe is coming to Bend this summer to do a free concert at a weekly summer event called “Munch and Music” in downtown Bend. If you live in the Northwest and are looking for something to do…take a drive to Bend the week of July 24th. Munch and Music is on Thursday evenings in Drake Park in downtown Bend. Needtobreathe is a great band and free is a really good price.

ok…enough rambling

Get Smart

In light of my recent trashing of Harrison Ford and his pathetic little movie “Indiana Jones and the search for the ambigious plot” or whatever it was called.

I thought I would balance my criticism with a little thumbs up for Hollywood. I went to see “Get Smart” with my mom tonight. It was awesome! I love Steve Carell and he didn’t let me down at all in this movie. It’s pretty tough to weave a comedy into a semi-serious plot and they pulled it off beautifully.

Now go see it.

Michael Dale Page: 1951-2008

Here is the bio that will be read at my dad’s memorial on Sat.

Update on my Dad

Thank You to all that have prayed for my dad, mom, and family through my dad’s battle with brain cancer. Jesus called him home this morning at 6:30am. He died peacefully and during this whole ordeal he never complained; that was my dad he never wanted to draw attention to himself or make others feel sorry for him. My dad had a real selfless character about him and although he had many struggles he personified many attributes of Christ that I desire to model in my own life.

Please continue to pray for my mom and the unbelieving family and friends that will attend his memorial, as the gospel will most certainly be proclaimed. I pray that they are pierced in their hearts. The Lord has already used my dad’s sickness to touch many lives and I know that his death will do the same.

Thank You again…ryan

Bighorn Sheep

I just found out that I was selected to recieve a tag to hunt Bighorn Sheep in the Trout Creek Mountains of South Eastern Oregon. This tag is extremely hard to get and you are only issued one in your lifetime.

This is going to be the hunt of a lifetime. I better start getting in shape as this hunt will require some hiking.