I first met Wade in a feed mill in the 1970’s. I was purchasing animal feed for the small farm our ministry operated. His smile was contagious and his eyes were the brightest blue I had ever seen. As we talked, we discovered that we had two things in common: Jesus and dirt bikes. He was recently married and had a baby girl on the way. Wade was a transplant to the Pennsylvania mountains as was I and we loved the area because it afforded hundreds of miles of trails to ride. Wade was an excellent rider and we continually stretched our skills by playing cat and mouse on tight trails motorcycles had no business riding fast on. We even entered a number of enduro races together.

Regularly, when we stopped to take a break from riding and catch our breath, we would talk about Jesus and how He was changing our lives. Like riding fast in the woods, we also pushed one another in our faith. On one ride I noticed Wade started coughing and struggled to catch his breath. He passed it off as a cold. The coughing wouldn’t subside and he finally submitted to seeing a doctor and then to a specialist. Wade, a young man in his early thirties, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Regardless of treatment, Wade never improved but day by day became weaker and weaker. He no longer had the strength to ride his bike.

Wade wanted to hear his 400 cc two-stroke Husqvarna one more time. After several hard and painful kicks it roared to life and then for some unknown reason, the bike caught fire and burnt to the ground. Like the bike, Wade died soon thereafter. I still miss him – his laugh, his teasing me because he was a better rider than me, his love for the Bible and just talking about his Savior. Wade has been with Him in heaven for many years now. I can still remember one of the conversations we had sitting on a log along side a trail. Wade looked at me and asked, “Do you think the Lord has dirt bikes in heaven?” One day I will see Wade again and I will find out the answer to that question.  Jesus once said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…”

I read recently that American’s are obsessed with losing weight and spend over $60 billion dollars annually to do so. In any given week, 1.2 million people attend Weight Watchers meetings. In recent years, $18 billion dollars was spent on diet pills and appetite suppressant annually. Personally, I am thrilled that American’s desire to lose weight and exercise more, but making it an obsession certainly seems unhealthy. However, my “radical” diet commitment for 2015 does not include Dr. Atkins, the cabbage diet, the Daniel diet or South Beach.

For 2015 I want to be deeply committed to “putting off” what does not belong in my life and “putting on” what does according to Ephesians chapter four. I desire to put off my old self so I can put on a new attitude in my mind. I am making a radical commitment to put off falsehood so I can put on the truth. I want to put off anger, unwholesome talk, bitterness, rage, slander and every form of malice. And, I want to put on building others up according to their needs, kindness, compassion and forgiveness. There is an amazing diet that can help you live at peace with others and yourself throughout this brand new year our Father has given us.  Happy, prosperous and healthy New Year all!

Being lost in the unforgiving elements of winter, deep in the Pennsylvania mountains, is an unpleasant experience for sure and one that I never desire to repeat. To this day, if I ever feel even the slightest bit lost, I can re-experience some of those same fear-filled feelings. But, this blog has been titled, “Twice I was Lost.” Just when was the other time?

In the fall of 1971, I found myself in the middle of making the most important decision of my life. I had one foot in a dark and dying life condition and one foot in truth. Friends were sharing the gospel with me for the first time in my life and I was noticeably moved. They lovingly and gently told me the truth about my soul’s lost condition and sinfulness. They challenged me to read the gospel of John in the Bible and find God’s truth-filled perspective. So, during the week I was seeking a way out from my lost condition and on weekends, still unsure of which life to live, I was seeking the opposite. Don’t get me wrong; I was never one to take any decision lightly, especially one this big. I was counting the cost of becoming a disciple – a Christ follower. I had discovered it’s pretty easy to follow the lost into darkness with little resistance, but radically different to be found by and follow Jesus into the light.

Someone once told me that hell is so dark that you will not be able to see your hand in front of you. That’s lost, eternally lost. A better picture for me, though, describes hell as the absence of God. I can’t imagine any place where there is an absence of the presence of God: His creation, His love, His acceptance, His forgiveness, His Light and His salvation. Just before the Christmas of 1971, I dropped to my knees in complete surrender and I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin and come into my heart so that I would no longer be “lost.” I found The Light that would guide me home. Thank God for His indescribable gift of His Son, especially at this Christmas time. Forty-three years ago I was lost for the last time. Are you still wandering? He’s waiting.

Hunting alone is never a good idea. It was a cold, but beautiful early afternoon in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I had found my sweet spot earlier in the year while cutting firewood. I cleared the snow and leaves away at the base of a large white oak tree for silent footing and began the wait. After standing there for hours, I finally see brown movement several hundred yards below and to my left. It was why a hunter braves the elements, a white tail deer, but too far away to identify buck or doe. Looking at the deer in my scope, I could tell it was acting a bit strange, but unable to detect the problem. I made a decision to gather my things and sneak quietly toward it. Finally coming across its track, the “strange” behavior was easily recognizable. I discovered the deer was bleeding from an earlier wound. Knowing this animal would most likely not make it through the night, I chose to track it in an attempt to return home with some fresh venison and end its suffering.

An unnerving thing happened along the way. I got lost, very lost. While tracking the deer, it started to snow heavily. I was unsure where I was headed, but knew I could follow my tracks back to my stand. Now the snow had completely covered up my tracks and I hadn’t a clue of where I was or which direction to head. For some reason, I had left my compass at home and it was so cloudy with such heavy snowfall, I could not use the sun for position. Now my strategy changed from deer hunting to somehow not freezing to death and getting out of Penn’s woods safely before nightfall. It was becoming more and more difficult to push my way through the deep snow, visibility was poor and I was out of drinking water. I had crossed so many ridges and now north, south, east and west were all in any (unknown to me) direction. The worst was yet to come because it was beginning to become dusk. “Keep your head, Steve, because you are really lost for the second time in your life.”

To be continued…