Feeling Odd in Colorado

I was a real oddball in Colorado, let me tell you.

It happened on the Herman Gulch hiking trail.

I always try to witness for Christ on hiking trails. This is because I feel closer to God in his beautiful creation, and because people actually talk to each other on hiking trails!

It's true!

Say hello on the street, and people react as if you carry airborne Ebola.

Say hello on the trail, and people smile as I say, "How far is it to the top? This is so nice! I love your dogs!!"

So, I tried to witness on the hiking trail.

I said to two young women, "Praise God for his beautiful creation!"

They blinked at each other.

I know what they were thinking: "Oh, NO! We've connected with a God nut! He's gonna try to make us kneel and pray on the trail and the rocks will make our knees hurt! And he'll probably try to sell us special Bibles and crosses and DVDs and retirement plans at Christian resorts!"

I walked on, mildly deflated.

Another group of five young people met me at the very top of Herman Gulch trail.  (You can see a photograph of me in the blog below, taken after these kind people gave me oxygen and CPR and called a chopper to airlift me out).

I said to them, "I love these mountains! You  know, I first really believed in God when I first saw the Rocky Mountains. I thought, 'Man didn't make those mountains and man ain't movin' em.'"

Silence.

One girl, sitting on a nearby rock, looked at her friends and they looked back.

The girl was thinking, "What planet did this guy fall off of--and how can we transport him back? I hope he doesn't keep talking or I'll have to drown myself in this icy mountain lake!"

I walked away, really deflated.

Thank God for gatherings of believers!

In Breckenridge (which is a ski town somewhere at stratospheric level in the mountains) there was this little white storefront church.

It didn't look like a church.

I almost missed it.

But I noticed a sign that said, "The Bridge."

That sounds like the title for a church, I thought.

So I looked at the bulletin board. And it was!

So, that Sunday morning, I walked down from the condo my sister and her husband had rented, found a Starbucks (eureka!!) then went to church.

The group of about 25 believers had a praise team (including an electric violin!), a social time with donuts and coffee and a very young, curly-haired pastor named "Pastor Jimmy" (I never did hear his last name). They were mostly young people (everybody's young in Colorado!) in their suitably scruffy attire.

It was such a great thing to sing praises, hear "Pastor Jimmy" preach from the book of Revelation, and mingle with these believers!

It took the label "Oddball" off my chest.

I felt OK again!

Here is a photo I took inside the little church on my cell phone:

Don't ya just love it?

It's been a long time since I was actually hungry for the Word of God.

Here I was filled.

Thanks, Pastor Jimmy!