Day 187- Halloween today.

Off work today. Slept over 12 hours last night. Extremely fatigued.

Decided to hike into Englewood and found out that my regular hangout, Fireside Books/Coffee is closed due to rearranging furniture and books. Spoke to David the owner. The store will be open tomorrow.

Called Lois Davis a lady I stayed with for two weeks when I went through Paris, MO. All is mostly well with her and her son Mike.

At the McDonalds in Englewood composing this post and getting started on my next weekly column for the Morton Times-News.

Will head down to the parks/green spaces downtown to meet up with the homeless. See what I can do there.

Day 183- Went up to Green Mountain

Went up to Green Mountain today
Got up at 5:30am and hiked to the train station a mile away at 6am.

Took over an hour to get to my stop 14 miles away at the Jefferson County Bldg in Golden, CO. After I de-trained I hiked up Rooney Road to the north side of Green Mtn.

That was a 3 mile hike. Then hiked the mountain for 3 hrs after which I hiked another 3 miles to Barnes and Noble. Worked on my sermon for 3 hrs then hiked 4 miles to my old house in Lakewood, CO.

Then, got something to eat. Will be getting on the train at the Lakewood-Wadsworth station then head to Auraria- West then hop on a C train to Littleton and home. It's another hike of 1 mile back home. Geeez.

Spent my time on the mountain praying, reading and walking(climbing). Hard day physically and otherwise.

Work tomorrow. 

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.

Mark 1:35

Second to last pic is my old home in Lakewood, CO. Mardell, the girls and lived here for 5 years or so.

Attended Mercy Bible Baptist

Attended church this am at Mercy Bible Baptist. Had our usual potluck afterward. The men had a great theological discussion after lunch. Present was Jason Kyser, Pastor Josh, Rich Nelson and yours truly.

Discussed time v. eternity, old earth v. new earth, Kingdom of God and much more. Really appreciate talking of the things of God with the men of church!

The men prayed for a music/worship pastor. We have candidate named Ed who is visiting next week.

Went to Fireside to work on my sermon which is scheduled December 14.

Tomorrow Lord willing, I am traveling to Green Mountain to pray, walk and fast. Its about 14 miles west. Will take the train. But still have to walk 6 miles from train depot at the Jefferson County Govt Complex. Need to go to the mountain to seek God's direction regarding family issues.

Shalom to you all!

Met with Pastor Josh Nelson

Met with Pastor Josh Nelson at Fireside to discuss commissioning me as a missionary to the US to proclaim the good news and make disciples to those I meet on my journey. Lord willing it will take place on December 14, 2014 the Sunday I am scheduled to preach the sermon at Mercy Bible Baptist Church.

I am excited at the prospect. It will give me more purpose and direction as I travel across the US.

Worked on my next weekly column today too.

Pic is of Pastor Josh preaching at Mercy Bible Baptist Church.

Day 180- but who's counting?

Its been 6 months now on the road. This journey has already been a success for me. It had opened new vistas and created in me a renewed gratitude for all that the Lord has done for me since way back on November 16, 1959 up today October 24, 2014. Everything I have and everything I have lost is and was from God. He is great above all things!

I had the day off. Cleaned up the kitchen and took a nap. Then headed over to Fireside Books/Coffee.

Yesterday evening was spent with Rich, Margie, Jeremy Nelson and Rich's son Josh Nelson his wife, Emily and their 8 week old daughter, Sierra. We all had supper, steak and mashed potatoes along with 100 proof moonshine which I bought yesterday more out of curiosity. It was great. Smooth.

We watched the Broncos beat the Chargers.

Spent this afternoon posting my old weekly Morton Times News columns on Facebook.

Went down memory lane with old friends, Scott Witzig and Tami Hitpas. Brought back great memories, some bittersweet.

Wondering how my Quincy friends are doing. Need to call them! Im very bad with calling old friends! Jim Burns: Trust you are well. And Deb too. Monica and Dakota? Bill Bassnet??

Another day off tomorrow. Will begin writing my next column.

Happy 16th birthday to my step-daughter, Clara Grider! I love her very much! Miss her badly.

Bye for now.

Day 177- Worked a full day pruning trees

Worked with Rich and Josh Nelson pruning trees in Littleton. We had a great discussion in transit to the job site. It was about how different the baby boomers are compared to Generation X and the Millennials when the subject of music worship, dress codes in church and how we boomers look at homosexuality and female pastors.

The discussion got a bit heated between dad and his pastor son but I am going to have to give it to Josh. I think he won the argument with his pithy arguments. Dad enjoyed the discussion as well. He is very proud of his son.

Its great to be able to disagree and still be able to keep it civil!

Work was hard today. My breathing has been a bit difficult the last 2 days. Old age I presume.

Pics are of Rich up in an 80 foot Cottonwood.

Worked tree service today

Removed 2 stem aspen today. Lots of pruning too. Had a terrible headache all day. Went to bed after getting home from work.

During our lunch hour we went to Cabellas in Highlands Ranch. Its a retail hunting, camping store like Bass Pro. Looked for bear spray canisters. $64 for one. But, I absolutely will need it later when crossing the Rockies.

Just finished studying the topic of what the Kingdom of God is all about. Christ spoke about this subject more than any other. Conclusion: its about the establishment of God's reign, rule and authority over all the earth just as it is in Heaven. God will someday restore the earth to the days of Eden. No taint of sin or decay. New Heaven and new Earth. That's God's end game.

Will be preaching a sermon on that topic in December at Mercy Bible Baptist Church.

Second pic is of Green Mtn. Had a beautiful but terrifying spiritual occurrence on top of that mountain in 2005.

Perfect fall Saturday afternoon

It's a text book perfect fall Saturday afternoon in Denver.

Working on my weekly column at Fireside. Clara's 16th birthday coming up on Monday. Wished I could be in MN and help her celebrate it. Had a nice telephone conversation with her mother, Mardell, the other day. Discussed Clara and the other kids. Talked a bit of old days. Makes me miss my Grider family.

Divorce is such an ugly and hateful thing. Tears people apart and wreaks havoc on the children. I needed to be a better husband. It obviously wasn't an important priority for me.

Had a lot of time to analyze my contributions to both divorces while out on the road. Came down to one simple fact. I didn't look at marriage like it was making a vow to God instead of my wife. In other words I didn't make marriage the top priority in my life after my relationship with God. Who's kidding whom here. I didn't make God my top priority and that's why both marriages failed.

I finally have my priorities right now. Now, I could be a good husband. But, of course, I don't have a marriage to prove it. So, I will prove it by loving God above all else.

Well, that's my ranting about marriage.

House sitting at the Nelsons as they are camping at a Boy Scout campground in Elbert County last night, today and tonight. They will be back Sunday morning.

Will head down to the parks tomorrow afternoon after church to meet up with the guys living down there to converse with them and see what I can do for them.

Hey, Jim Burns, from Quincy. Hi! Thanks for your uplifting encouraging email the other day. You certainly have a way with words my good friend.

Pics are of the beautiful fall scenery around Denver. Last pic is of Jim Burns, my good Irish friend from Quincy, IL.  He's a fantastic writer and story teller. Through and through Irish.

Trimmed bushes and a tree today

These days trimming and pruning and dragging heavy brush is kicking my @#%&$ butt!

Tweaked my shoulder the other day just raking debris. Moved slow today and more tired than normal. Getting to old for this work.

Not complaining...just explaining.

We all had a lot of fun at Hal and Monet's home up in the mountains last night. About an 1/8 inch of snow came down. Monet was teaching the women folk how to make/bake fruit pies. Once a month we will be going up to Conifer to learn from this talented lady. She's Pastor Josh Nelson's mother. Josh is Rich Nelson's son.

Of course, the men folk will not be there to learn but to eat.

Right now I'm penning my Oct 22 column. The subject matter is "loneliness" on the road. Most everyone experiences this phenomenon. If you don't shrink from it but instead use it it can benefit you. Loneliness forces us to confront why we seem detached or isolated and what our purpose is in this life.

You can read my weekly column at mortontimesnews.com every Wednesday.

Pics are from last night at the Demuth dinner party. Ciao!

Day 168- Attended Mercy Bible/Baptist this morning

Attended church. I invited about 10 homeless men to church for services and potluck afterward. None showed up.

No worries though. It takes time to develop relationships. You can't become friends overnight.

Told Zack  last night I would drop in on him today in the Sam Love Greenway park. Did so after church. Talked again. He's having a very difficult time detaching from his past and past mistakes. Sounded familiar to me! Lots of spiritual warfare going on too.

I will be heading over to the park most days after work to see Zack and the others. All of the men I met in the parks know each other and watch over each other. Its a bona fide community. And, for now I am an outsider. So, it will take time to engender trust.

Headed at 4pm today to Pastor Josh Nelson's mother's home for dinner.

Pics are of children's church. The fight between David and Goliath was the theme. Other pics show Bruce who is homeless and Zack the guy who has been homeless since 2008. He had a great job a nice home a wife and two kids in Louisville, KY until a divorce caused his life to implode and now he lives in a park.

Atomic Pablo! A blues/jazz band played at Fireside

3 members of the Atomic Pablo blues, jazz band played at Fireside Books/Coffee today. Very good.

Writing my next column. Planning on heading to the parks today again locating homeless people to introduce them to our new fellowship and figure out how we can help them.

Im not preaching to them per se. I am interested in helping build a rapport and relationship first. So, I need to be seen where they are at. I plan on just having conversations with them. See what their stories are. Share my life stories with them. In short become a friend. Proclaiming the good news that the Kingdom of God has burst into human history when Christ was resurrected and is continuing to invade this evil world system set up by man and the evil one will naturally come up in conversation.

Repent and pour out your life in Christ's service. The Kingdom will come in fullness after this age is over and the age to come arrives!

In the meantime, we should not ignore the physical needs of the non-believers. The body is part of the human trinity: Body, soul and spirit.

I will be meeting with Johnny and Susie Davis soon. They manage a large food and clothing bank(His Hands). This couple provides all kinds of services for the poor. They are located off Broadway not far from our fellowship.

Mercy Bible Baptist wants to initiate their own homeless ministry but we also want to see where we can help out existing agencies as well. Think that is a wise approach.

No work today. Went thru parks and talked to homeless

No work scheduled today so I worked on the homeless ministry today. Walked thru the parks downtown introducing myself and striking up conversations.

Their stories are all different but the same paradoxically. Broken relationships, home, addictions whatnot.  Varied educational and work backgrounds. One guy(Mike) was an electrician but lost his job because of COPD. Met 2 guys who volunteer down at a food bank off Broadway. They told me I should visit the couple who runs it. The Davis's. I had already planned on doing so as I came across them gathering info/intel on the homeless problem.

I am assessing extent and nature of the need downtown to come up with what Mercy Bible/Baptist Church can do to help.

At this point just attempting to build rapport and trust.

I don't really know how I couldn't have better spent my day.

Pics are in order, Zack, Larry, Doug and AJ. AJ is only 18 years old. Also met with Tony and Mike but they are not pictured here. Last pics are of one of the parks/greenways I visited.

Trimmed Russian Olive trees and a large Locust today

Got most of our work although not all today. Rain was supposed to hit early today but didn't come until 130pm. Helped Matt the climber trim the dead out of a large Locust right next to a beautiful house in Cherry Hills.

Josh trimmed the Russian Olives. Rich couldn't assist us today because he's allergic to Russian Olives.

Got home showered and took the train downtown to Fireside Books and Coffee. Discussed the days events with Audrey the barista/bookseller.

Beginning to pen my column. Raining persistently now.

Tomorrow no tree work scheduled. Will be working on my homeless ministry assignment tomorrow.

New assignment from Mercy Bible Baptist Church

Received new assignment from Mercy Bible Baptist Church of Englewood, CO.

I will be starting a homeless ministry for the Church in Englewood. Who better than me to undertake this ministry? Since I am homeless. I spent part of last night going into the parks and train station looking for homeless people to assess the extent of the need. Found that many homeless people go to various shelters for the night. Will need to go to these parks and other hangouts during the day.

Working full time for the tree service. Will be working on the homeless ministry on my off time. Will need to cease my work at SAME Cafe too.

My first order of business is to analyze the extent of the need re: the homeless in Englewood. Then, will figure out how to meet the need. Then lastly, execute the plan to fill the need.

Exciting assignment! Will then hand off the ministry when I leave Denver.

The setting sun resisting the eventual night

Caught this on camera while hiking the Highline Canal Trail in Cherry Hills.

This was the first trail I hiked when I moved to Denver from Peoria, IL in February 2003. I was missing the 27 mile long Rock Island Trail. After hiking this canal trail I thought no way would it replace the Rock Island Tr. But after a year I fell in love with it with all of the wild plum groves the packs of coyotes and bats dive bombing me at dusk! I have hashed put a lot of problems walking this trail.