MY CHRISTMAS LETTER TO ALL MY BELOVED LOVED ONES: FRIENDS & FAMILY, GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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2018 CHRISTMAS LETTER 

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MERRY CHRISTmas !

#proLife, #kag, #kindness. #repent&BeBaptized .. greetings, if you are reading this, it is probably because you received a physical postcard in the mail from me with a link on it (although it is theoretically possible that you just randomly came across this while searching blogs)..depending on when you check in here, the blog may be finished or not..i'm still working on it as of 12/13/18 ...nonetheless, there's already plenty to peruse ... 

" If I don’t tell people the Good News, I am in real trouble.  If I did it because it was my own choice, I would deserve to be paid. But I have no choice. I must tell the Good News. So I am only doing the duty that was given to me. 18 So what do I get for doing it? My reward is that when I tell people the Good News I can offer it to them for free and not use the rights that come with doing this work..." 1 Cor 9

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it takes me about a month to compose a good quality Christmas letter so I am beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving 11/24/18 .. and most of what I will talk about is sort of a "state of the union" address, but instead, this is a "state of the ministry" missive, so to speak..SOME of you know of my endeavors as a Christian evangelist, and the founder of Mustard Seed Ministries

...(well, to be more accurate, God is the founder of all good things and therefore is the founder of this ministry...I am but a vessel for Christ..a "mere mortal" doing the best I can for the kingdom..; ironically even as Christians we sometimes call ourselves "mere mortals" but yet as Christians we are also actually IM-mortal (immortal) trusting that we will continue on forever in eternity with our Lord after this life on earth comes to an end..that's our hope and belief and firm conviction, praise the Lord !

Anyways, on a personal level, I continue to contend with a "chronic pain" problem (left side of the body, alternates between left arm versus left leg/hip etc) ...been seeing a doctor about it for many years...this year around March  I did physical therapy again, and then received an "epidural" (high-powered pain injection in the lower back)  ...my 2nd time and it definitely helps ! I was able to walk normal again without pain...and took immediate advantage of my "new youth" ...and discovered some great hikes in the southern California area...


...at first some medium-size hikes to many of the local waterfalls around LA & San Diego...I was surprised how many there actually are, and filled with water too (not dry) .. and some you can swim under or around the pool below. IT takes a little online research and use of google maps to discover and locate but definitely worth the time.. ; after the medium hikes I started looking for greater challenges...

All the while, my main purpose in life is to continue to try to reach others with the Good News of Jesus Christ  (as I compose, there's a lot of news about the young missionary kid John Chau who tried to reach the Indians of Sentinel Island with the Gospel, but they shot arrows at him and apparently killed him..altho his mother believes that he may be still alive..so far the body has not been recovered as local authorities do not know how to deal with the situation... b/c these Indians are supposed to be "untouchable" .. yes the kid knew it was "illegal" to go there, and I've read a lot of very mean & ugly comments about him by very unfriendly people, but I believe what he did is commendable.


..anyways, let us keep his family in our prayers, and him too...maybe he is still alive, God only knows; and even though I grew up Christian Reformed, not Catholic, ..having survived being a substitute teacher for so many years in LA , it was during this time that I started attending Catholic Churches all over southern Cal and began to appreciate some of their traditions, including praying for the "repose of the soul" of those who have passed onward...which entails the belief in "purgatory"

.. and if you read the fine print argument for the belief in purgatory some of it makes sense..and yet if you read the fine print of those who don't believe in it, this makes sense too..and therefore I believe it is "possible" that there is a purgatory, I neither affirm it as definitely true nor deny it is definitely false. Makes sense doesn't it ? We will only know for sure when we get to the pearly gates, no matter what anybody says. Therefore I also pray for the repose of souls ! Most of whom I am writing to are non-Catholics so you might object, but I encourage you to consider it as a possibility ...

But my MAIN POINT was simply to say that every day I try to find a way to reach people with the Gospel, even if not so radically as John Chau tried to do .. sometimes it is as simple as "street evangelism" and handing out tracts ..sometimes under windshield wipers ( I call this "yellow" evangelism because I use little yellow tracts that I created; other times it is "presence evangelism" , .. still other times it is "online evangelism"  (lots of blogs etc) ..and also when I take my annual summer mission trip it includes "Repent & Be Baptized" (RABB) evangelism (more about that later) .. and then there is my ongoing "prayer book" , and I also added "Movie Reviews for Christians" (also known as "Pray the Movies"  this year thanks to a new organization called MoviePass (MP) which allowed people to see one movie per day for an entire year for about $8 dollars per month (if you signed up at the right time which I did).

Some of you may have heard of the MP ..there's been lots of media coverage of it, both good and bad..some have scorned it.. others loved it.. they've had financial troubles, and technical problems at times.. but all I know is that I went to many movies this year at many different theatres around the USA..and the MP always worked for me.. I don't have an exact number..

i did NOT go to a movie every single day which would be 365 days but let's say I did 300 days at an average cost of $10 per movie...that's $3000 worth of movies for a cost of less than $100 this year (altho my membership expired on November 17 , and now the MP has changed to only 3 movies per month for about the same price, so I have not yet decided if I will re-subscribe

..frankly, I actually got tired of going to movies..it really was a "mission" more than a pleasure at times.. NOT all movies are very edifying , especially for Christians..which is why I started reviewing them..trying to make something constructive out of the endeavor. )

Having the MP also allowed me to get to know MANY different theatres ...mostly in southern Cal, but also in Phoenix area, Coachella Valley, a few around Palo Alto and San Francisco  and the bay area (where I spend about a month  or two every year on my trip to the March for Life West Coast ... ) , and then also this year my mission trip was thru northern Cal and Oregon & Washington , so I went to a lot of theatres along the way to end the long and often hot days .

And if you look at Mustard Seed Ministry's original mission statement you will notice that part of our goal is to reach "Hollywood" with the Gospel. By the way, as an aside, pray for Justin Bieber, recently married, who seems to be sincerely convicted in his newfound faith in Christ.

His new wife is the daughter of Stephen Baldwin who is also outspoken about his faith, and I recall him being a guest at the Crystal Cathedral  back in the day. For a while we (I sometimes  use the plural when speaking of "my ministry" (God's ministry) because it is not just "me-myself-&-I" ..it would be impossible to keep going on my own natural power.. it is "we" because it includes the whole body of Christ either literally as a team or spiritually because of your prayers and along with the Father Son & Holy Spirit) , as well as the financial contributions of some, God bless you...

Anyways, attending all these movies thanks to MP I really became a "movie critic" ..more familiar with names & faces & what is quality movie-making versus what is made just for a quick buck, and adding "Pray the Movies" as a powerful component to Mustard Seed Ministries.

 As many of you know, Hollywood is very liberal..far left in politics , mostly against the PRO-LIFE people... such as myself.. but there are a FEW insiders who are conservative or traditional, in general, and whom we need to try to support and pray for as they are vital to the Hollywood environment  in terms of hope for creating a revival of faith and morals  (as Christians we should not just laugh off Hollywood as irrelevant , but pray for a revival within; and since I am fairly close, physically, to the Hollywood studios etc, I try to play a small part in that regard ).

I am frankly exhausted from attending so many movies this year, ...not sure if I will continue such a vigorous pace as a critic for "Pray the Movies" ( & only will do so if there are financially feasible options for doing so via all the new movie plans out there, but I don't think there will ever again be something like what the MP did this year , which was really unsustainable financially speaking).



Meanwhile, I began this letter talking about my "NEW LIFE" in terms of pain-free hiking, .. and the medium hikes I did...but then I graduated to some of the more difficult hikes around southern Cal... including what they call the "six peak six pack" (nothing to do with beer) . I can PROUDLY say I completed the six-pack  which  includes six of the highest peaks around Los Angeles:

1) Mt Wilson (almost 6000 ft, 14 miles round trip ) (this is the most "domesticated" hike but actually quite difficult if you start at the Sierra Madre trailhead which I did. I say it's domesticated because you can actually drive up to the peak where there is an observatory & several giant telescopes). None of the other peaks are accessible by roads. 


2) Cucamonga Peak 
(about 9000 ft, almost 12 miles RT),

3) Mt Baldy (aka Mt San Antonio, about 10000 ft, 10 miles RT), . Cucamonga Peak & Mt Baldy are fairly close to one another by the way. You can do both in one hike, but probably not both in  a day hike unless you're a real trooper & a masochist. 

4) Bernardino Peak 
(almost 10.5k ft ,16.5 miles) , 

5) San Jacinto 
(almost 11k, 11.5 miles) , .. this is the peak above Palm Springs. You can also take the tram halfway up & hike the rest. full disclosure:  I did not use the tram. 

 6) GorgonioPeak the highest at about 11.5 thousand-feet & 17 miles. 

 Gorgonio was by far the most challenging.. given the extremities ...started at 4 am .. returned as it was getting dark ..so I did these BIG 6 hikes  or "the 6-pack" between March to May if I recall correctly, ...it was very gratifying.  


and PRAYER sustained me along the way.. some people I passed hiking may have thought I was a little crazy because sometimes I talk aloud to God.. not ashamed of the cross.

Some of you hyper-competitive wise guys are saying, "but have you HIKED MOUNT WHITNEY "..the highest of high in California and the continental USA at about 14,505 feet ..in Central California, and the answer is YES, I have ! see http://hiking-mount-whitney.blogspot.com/  




Many years ago , in fact. So I've actually done the 7-pack ! And I did Mt Whitney when Lola my golden retriever was still alive and well ...and she made it to the top too ! Looking back on it, I really do NOT know how I managed to make it ...it almost seems like a miracle because I did it "COLD TURKEY " so to speak, meaning I did little to no "training" before going. I DID plan ahead in terms of making a required reservation (ie permit required to hike and/or camp the Mt Whitney trail) but did NOT do much hiking or walking prior to going in mid-July of 2006 .

To put it simply, I hiked Mt Whitney (about 22 miles rt) without training, without good boots ( I wore  old clunky heavy boots not the kind 
most diligent hikers would use...I did not realize at the time they were heavy but do now ) ,  without a tent ( I did not have a camping permit & was intending to hike thru the night with the help of a flashlight, more about that some other time) ...ALL I HAD was a few basics (water, backpack , food, & a so-called "emergency blanket" which is like a piece of body-sized tinfoil which I actually tried to use and it does help but needs to be bigger & a little thicker, & every time you make a move it sounds like a potato chip bag crunching) , and of course, my dog Lola !


ANyways, without going into all the details I did make it,  as you can see with the blurry images I copied from the video I made at this link http://hiking-mount-whitney.blogspot.com/ And upon returning it began to sprinkle and there was a DOUBLE RAINBOW wow !..it was like God sending a sign to Me & Lola , who makes the term "dog-tired" a reality ..of course she did not know how to pace herself..she didn't realize we would be on our feet for almost 24 hours straight as it turned out, not did I.


 She was running all the way up , even chasing a deer at one point, and therefore a bit more tired than me on the way down. When we finally got back to the car, we both slept for several hours without moving ...and she slept the entire drive back to LA ..so tired, what a great dog ! She was with me for fourteen years ...the next year she passed on and is buried at a beautiful pet park with a stone marking her name in Calabasas. Fourteen is a good long life for a golden retriever. I was blessed to have her . Thank you God !


this ends day 1 of Christmas letter composition (Sat 11/25/18) ...TO BE CONTINUED
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(continued)  I begin composing again Sunday afternoon (11/26)...earlier today I attended Bel Air Presbyterian..don't go there very often anymore..but had a reason to be on this side of town so I planned to attend the 830am service. Drew Sams is still the preacher..they went thru a lot of changes a few years ago so for a while I didn't know what to expect..looks like they've settled in for the time being., after the service I walked over to the Getty Center (not from the church, but nearby; they are in the same vicinity 405/Mulholland area)

 ..going to the getty has become a regular activity for me..at the very least, once a month when I'm in town..sometimes more..& I found a way to avoid the $15 parking fee..I park & walk..about 2 miles round-trip..not bad..get some exercise and see whatever new exhibits they have.. & occasionally I attend special events there..

..it used to be more relaxed going there..but at some point they amped up the security like almost everywhere else & you have to go thru the "theatrics" of being inspected .. ridiculous. Too many places have actually amped up "security theatre" rather than actual security. And some security guards seem to think they have to prove they are not discriminating by being extra vigilant around even the most obviously innocent  Americans.

anyways, back to hiking & evangelism *& this summer's "mission trip" (2018)..; last year (2017) I went all the way to Key West & back...and got back thru Florida  & Texas et al before the storms hit those areas...I was in the areas where they got hit pretty hard.. lots of mileage..; whereas this year I went up to the northwest & returned just prior to the big wildfires hitting northern Cal & Oregon.

so the 2018 trip began from LA and ey need a lot of interpreters now.. all the while I am doing RABB & "yellow" evangelism ..

& of course "presence" evangelism..

by the way, when I was doing my 6-pack hikes around southern Cal I encountered several Pacific Crest  Trail hikers ..who hike, or endeavor to hike, a trail that extends from the the USA/Mexico border up to the USA/Canada border...quite an accomplishment if they make it... ; so the ones I encountered were basically just starting out...coming out of San Diego in the spring...; it made me think that maybe I might like to try this some day..

...anyways, after Yosemite ( & by the way, I heard a few rock climbers fell to their deaths off of El Capitan shortly after I was there...  chilling ..; still later I saw the movie called "Free Solo" about this daredevil who actually climbed El Capitan without any ropes or protection of any kind...he made it ! courageous or foolish?  )..


leaving  Yosemite I continued northward..and took famous highway 4...a rustic old highway with quaint little mountainous towards  eastward towards 89...there was still a lot of snow along hwy4 ...and some frozen lakes, or semi-frozen in some cases..


.. not many people yet..coming out of southern Cal I kind of forgot about "winter" up north, although that's not to say I didn't encounter snow on my 6-pack hikes earlier on..there was still patches here & there in some places in the high places around southern Cal, but not like they get up north; for that matter, when I hiked Mt Whitney in mid-July there was still snow there as well.

After hwy4 I headed northward towards Reno & Lake Tahoe. First I went above Tahoe..wanting to attend church in Reno..having done so a few years prior..; in all the places I travel I make a serious effort to attend 2 or 3 church services in whatever town I happen to be on Sunday. It's never easy being a "visitor" but I find it important to be amongst the Body of Christ at least once a week. And when possible I also try to attend a "daily mass" at a Catholic church here & there when it works logistically.


Arriving in Reno I found the church I wanted to attend, & also a new Catholic church I hadn't been to previously. Didn't feel so comfortable there because they had vigilant "watchers" who apparently tagged me as a "new guy". & stood behind me (not so hospitable) ..I think because of a few of the church attacks around America, some congregations are starting to be more vigilant..understandable but also uncomfortable.. I left early to put them at ease (& myself also) .. the other church (protestant) was better..

After a morning of church, I looked up "hiking trails" near Reno and found one that turns out to be very popular..it goes to a waterfall & is a 2 to 3 hour hike..very manageable.. enjoyed the afternoon hiking, but it was SO BUSY with people..unbelievably busy..

One thing I noticed over the past decade ..and I think because of the advent of handheld "devices" (ie smartphones etc ) & the interent as well as GPS is that people are exploring more. Whereas many would be more hesitant go go to new places without a map, now they have a map everywhere they go, as well as online reviews of just about everything..so you can look up hiking trails nearby using a zipcode or city and also get specific reviews of all the fine  details..how to get there, where to park..if there's a grumpy neighbor near the trailhead  to beware of in the area, etc.

Even back in Los Angeles when I started hiking & exploring the Palos Verdes area there were lots of trails but NOT so many hikers..people just didn't go so far to get there..not knowing the area..but with the advent of interent & GPS people will go to all kinds of new places...; so you see new faces in different places..sometimes for better, other times for worse; sometimes people 

from other areas tend to care LESS about the neighborhood, and sometimes leave their trash behind etc...that's NOT nice, not cool.. ; fortunately, most people are decent citizens. Nonetheless, there's less comraderie as you hike & pass by people..

..you might be a local but the others may be from central and treat you like a stranger to be wary of...that's no fun.., and being originally from the Midwest I'm used to being more congenial on the trail...whereas that's less the custom around southern Cal,  at least that's been my experience..so I keep my poker face as I pass by, unless they say hello to me first.

so back to the movies & my "hollywood ministry" my goal is to combine "Americana" and Christian faith in a positive way to  hopefully lead people to Christ ...I don't know exactly how it will transpire (past, present, future), but try to trust in the Holy Spirit  

to lend a helping hand..., in some ways I think of myself as a "seed planter" ..you've heard of "Johnny Appleseed" ..well I am "Johnny MustardSeed" .. ;

 we're all called to be "farmers 4 Christ" so to speak, but not everybody on the farm has the same job. Some milk the cows,
... some water the crops, some plow the fields, somebody is the "boss", ..I sort of think of myself as the "seed planter", 

...and hope that it will find good soil and then others help out to help it grow and make it to the harvest..

Also I mentioned the fact that "new faces" are showing up in new places due to the availability of smartphones, internet, & gps & maps...; as it turns out without foreseeing it, I started contributing photos to Google Maps a few years ago, 

  and was STUNNED by how many "views" some of the photos  garnered so quickly...; people really do find maps photos (along with reviews)  helpful in their assessment of going to a place, ...; 

I would post a photo and see it go up to 100,000 views in a matter of a few months; and you're allowed to include a tiny little brief "caption" underneath the photo which I used to include part of a Bible verse & an invitation to accept Christ as Savior, ...and lo and behold, suddenly I realized I could "evangelize" to people thru google maps ; 

..and so I continued to add photos little by little and now it's become a important component of Mustard Seed Ministries..and Google appreciates me for it..giving me periodic updates & encouragement to keep contributing ..and they call me one of their "top contributors" (unfortunately I don't get paid for it, but hopefully my reward will be in heaven). 

As of 11/28/18 I've added several thousand photos to one of my maps accounts & it has tallied about 45 million views (ie 45,000,000) [update, one year later by November 2019 it passed 100,000,000 views)  ..; it is a staggering number & humbles me ,..it's mind-boggling. I just have to keep the main goal in mind...not just "numbers of views" alone, but how many seeds have been planted in a person's heart-mind-&-soul..maybe it directly leads them to Christ, or indirectly.. ONLY GOD KNOWS ! I ask for your prayers that this tree will bear fruit, or maybe already has..

Meanwhile, back to my summer mission trip.. after RENO I doubled back towards Lake Tahoe ...2 summers prior I briefly passed thru this area, and now I wanted to explore the area more closely..with the "best hikes" in mind.. along with some "yellow & rabb" evangelism. 

One hike that came up from a google search as "must do" was called the aloha lake hike..(which , as it turns out , also intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail; I mentioned seeing some of the PCT hikers around So Cal  a few weeks prior, now I saw some in this area as well..definitely NOT the same ones


..they wouldn't have made it this far so quickly on foot, but I did in my car ...these were the earlybird PCT hikers.., and for some of them it is "serious business" ..they have all the best equipment & maintain a quick pace.., hats off to them. Godspeed. 

Aloha Lake hike was truly great..and because I started so early in the morning I had much of it by myself for a while..and as You continue gently upward you see more snow and ice..even to the point you are hiking in snow, and at one point I was a bit concerned about hiking on a "ledge of ice" right next to the lake..

if it were to break one would be IN the ice-cold lake (not frozen over itself) .. but I made it..just wondering at what point it breaks as the season gets warmer..and if anybody does, in fact, fall in to the lake..might be a bit difficult getting out. 

Anyways, it was a great hike, ..and I even saw a bear & a cub as I drove the road that goes to the trailhead ..sort of a lesser-known dirt road back by Fallen Leaf lake.., the adult bear did NOT seem scared by my presence as I watched from the car window, altho the cub ran back into the trees before I could get the camera up & didn't re-appear for a photo-op. THE sun had just gone down so it was dark, ..I managed to get a grainy photo using my headlights..(i will try to add it here if I can find it) ..


...(unfortunately, I did lose a significant amount of photo/video footage later at a library in the state of Washington..after inserting my SD card in the flash..it went blank, and everything was wiped off it..it was devastating..but fortunately I still have plenty of other material and hold out hope that maybe I can retrieve data from that seemingly wiped sd card). 

I stayed around Tahoe for about a week ..hiked a few other trails..some waterfall hikes, ..drove around..went to the local library etc..; and then moved on..heading back north..went thru Carson City & Reno again, just passing thru.. and continued north on 395 .. lots of small towns along the way.. doing "rabb evangelism" ..my next "tourist destination" was Lassen Volcanic National Park. ..didn't know much about it.. decided to explore..; and so you see the missionary trip combines being a tourist with evangelism along the way. 

Being a "tourist" also satisfies people's "social expectations" .. whereas being an evangelist in this day & age does not always result in positive reception anymore, here in post-Christian USA (not to sound too skeptical, because also there are a lot of good people & Christians remaining but plenty who are not as well). 

I noticed a hike called "cinder cone" and aimed for that area, spending the night prior in Susanville if I recall correctly, and arriving at the Cinder Cone as sun was rising..only one or two cars in the parking lot upon arrival. 

There's a nice little lake there as well, .. the hike is not too far, about an hour, altho the uphill portion is a good workout.. , it's basically an old inactive volcano.. you can hike to the top and even down to the bottom inside if you so wish..which I didn't. .. I could see from the top there's NOTHING to see down below..it's a neat hike, good views from up high, but just rocks.. not much vegetation or animal life.. ; didn't hang around there for too long.. 

Back on the road I decided to see the rest of Lassen NP..the main park..taking the loop around to one of the gates..used my National Park Pass (still a good annual deal for $70  I think it was ?  when I bought it at the Florida Everglades one year prior.. , by the way, do NOT go to the everglades like I did in the summer..it is a MOSQUITO FEST.. literally it is very challenging to even get out of the car without getting massacred by mosquitos). 

anyways, I'm glad I bought the park pass..used it extensively this summer, .. and at LASSEN there was still a LOT OF SNOW ..even people were skiing & snowboarding Lassen Peak (they hike to the top, and ski down and some of them rely on hitching a ride back to where they originally parked.. ; 

i haven't skied in many years, mostly just hike..thought about hiking to the peak anyways, but decided on a few other shorter scenic hikes instead.. one of their most popular hikes with the strangest of names, called "bumpass hell trail" , ..unfortunately , was closed for rehabilitation..but I found a nice waterfall hike..which still included some snow & ice along the way to SLOSH thru.. but the air not so cold.. ; good time in general., and I left some SEEDS OF CHRIST along the way !

NEXT UP, I decided to head westward towards RED BLUFF..even though i was amongst ice & snow in Lassen , the temperature down below was QUITE WARM as summer was beginning .. and I wanted to be near the coast if it was going to be hot driving.. ; so Red Bluff is south of Redding along the 5 freeway. I spent a night there, and used my MoviePass to catch a film at a small local theatre. ..can't remember which movie it was..maybe that one about the girl who survived a shipwreck ..or something like that.. that's what comes to mind at the moment.

The next day I headed EAST ON HIGHWAY 36.. which according to the internet is supposed to be QUITE THE DRIVE..very curvy.. they say..and it was under construction during the week but open on the weekend..so it was saturday & i could make it to the coast.. ; and it was a nice drive, even YES quite curvy at points. .. took me most of the day..thru FOrest Glen, Mad River, etc.. stopped a few times.. waded in the river near Mad River..but it was ICY COLD..even too cold for the feet for very long..definitely not swimming time... ; 

i eventually made it to the 101 near Fortuna.. very rural areas in this area.. saw a lot of deer from the 101 freeway going north., and decided to call it a day in Eureka.. where I  used MoviePass for another "free"  movie ., and the next day, Sunday, attended a few church services.. it's always a bit awkward walking in as a visitor when most people are "local yokels " who have been  sitting in the same seats for their entire lives.. 

but I'm always glad I did it AFTERWARDS.. not necessarily in the present moment. Sometimes attending church has delayed positive effects, like taking pain medication..it doesn't happen immediately..you have to wait a few hours or sometimes longer.. 

What I like best is the "nostalgia" of having been to the church and thinking back to having intersected with a small part of the Body of Christ here & there.. whether catholic, presbyterian, episcopal, non-denom, or whatever.. (rarely, however, do I randomly find a CRC along the way.. they are few & far between).

Eureka is south of some of the BIG REDWOOD areas ..my next tourist destination.. I enjoyed the LadyBird Johnson trail (amazing, & very popular) as well as Redwood Creek trail for a short while.. (not as popular, parking lot a bit sketchy.. i read reports of break-ins and saw window glass there was well..so I didn't stay for very long). ..little further north I saw the amazing wild ELK grazing next to the road..

I 've probably driven thru this area about ten times total in my life.. and seems like they area always in this area.. beautiful as always.. I also read that STOUT GROVE trail is a BIG TREE must see destination so I starred it on google maps and that was my next same day destination..,

 just north of Crescent Beach. ..that's a really beautiful area as well.. it was a warm day so people were out and about.. some young people jumping off rocks into the deep river near Stout Grove ( I did a lot of "cliff jumping" near waterfalls later on in the summer, but not here) 

12/1/18 back on the computer after a day off ..., planning to go to a few Christmas parades in the next few days & weeks...last week the Hollywood Christmas Parade kicked off the season, tonight I am in Encinitas ..my first time at their annual parade, and tomorrow La Jolla is having a parade .. it's been raining here in southern Cal for about a week now, with a few dry days in between.

 Also big waves, but after it rains, it's recommended to stay out of the ocean for 72 hours (ie 3 days) .. so not many people out there..; I'm a body surfer..I go out there even in the winter without a wetsuit..; it's probably b/c I grew up in Michigan.. the water never seems so cold here b/c lake Mich is almost always cold, even in the summer when the wind blows a certain way it can change dramatically overnight. 

But I also have a physical disability (my left side, especially my left arm ...call it what you will, arthritist, peripheral nueropathy, spinal stenosis, etc..causes an aching a lot of the time.., and I aggravated it recently at redondo beach..hoping it's just temporary..meaning I expect the "regular pain" to remain, but right now it's at an "elevated" level. ). Nonetheless, I am thankful I can be relatively active physically in terms of hiking, even body-surfing, etc. I can't play golf, however, and probably not tennis too well. 

Ironically, I had found a medication called tramadol which was helping fairly well for a while, but as some of you know, the media & government have gone crazy about the so-called "opioid crisis" , and because of irresponsible users, and misleading hype, , now it is becoming more difficult to get even some lower-level medications on a regular basis. 

While my doctor still prescribes it for me, they won't give me more than a week's dose at a time...meaning I have to return to the pharmacy on a weekly basis to get a refill. And given the amount of traveling i do, this is often impossible, or other times impractical in terms of distance ..and the amount of gas money it requires (because you have to return to the same pharmacy for refills)..so I am trying to rely on over-the-counter pain med ..as simple as tylenol, which is a mediocre antidote, at best. 

Anyways, back to my summer mission. Where was I ? i enjoyed hiking thru Stout Grove..not so populated as other Big Tree areas.. & there's a fun, rugged, dirt road drive back to Crescent City if you prefer the scenic route. 

After a night in Crescent City, I continued north, continuing with yellow & rabb evangelism.. so many scenic views & quaint towns along the 101 up this way.. next area I explored a bit was  the Samuel H. Bordman State Scenic Corridor Trailhead ..little further up is "natural bridges" , & arch rock... among other places to pull-off & take a few photos. 

I also utilize public libraries when I am traveling. Most of them provide a "guest pass" to use  the computers..where I transfer my photos & videos to a larger flash drive. 

Of course, as mentioned, one time I got burned, and everything was lost by a bad computer. But ever since my laptop was stolen (they smashed my window by dodger stadium) I have preferred not to carry the sort of things that thieves like to steal. 

All the while, I try to remain in communication with others by email or occassional text as I travel, including beloved family members, especially two who I call "mij-nil" (if u read it backwards it gives you a better hint who it might be) .., I keep a "prayer book" and often write backwards so as to make it a bit more challenging for myself..i'm unique. 

By the way, my prayerbook or prayer journal or spiritual journal ..whatever you wish to call it has become a great source of comfort for me.. I carry it with me most places.. and even when I am at the movies ..especially during my epic MoviePass year I started journaling while watching the movies..which led to "PrayTheMovies" and my movie review ministry. Let's face it, 

...lots of movies are not so edifying..and can be destructive to the soul if you do not remain "on top" of what's going on.. if you passively sit there and absorb some of these films, I think they have terrible potential for the soul. 

That's what hollywood does to us in some cases (fortunately there's some exceptions). .. but rather than walk out of every movie in which there is a morally objectionable scene or repetitive objectionable profanity (the f-word is so mundane & ubiquituous, it usually is a signal to me that the film-makers lacked the ability to create dialogue)..,

...(& shame on Mark Wahlberg by the way, for his excessive use of the f-word   in some films, while at the same time promoting himself as a Catholic Christian) 

..anyways, to counter-act this without walking out (even though sometimes I still walked out of a few ) I would write down prayers as I watched....praying for this & that..different thoughts & issues that arise while watching a film. 

Back to my summer mission trip.., along the way I also maintain my many different blogs: some of you may have received my links to these blogs.. mostly on blogger such as this (ie blogspot.com) ..and a few others on wordpress .. ; 

I've found these blogs to be a good tool to reach others.. with daily news, a pro-life blog, a blog against terrorism, a hollywood blog (turning hollywood into HOLYwood) , an animals blog (during many of my summer trips I make a point of visiting various zoos along the way, altho not so much during the 2018 trip, trying to keep a budget, and zoos are getting more & more expensive..usually $15 to $20 now, unfort) .. 

But I also blog about sports, & have a blog dedicated to my alma mater Calvin College, also GR Christian High, one for hawaii (where I briefly attended Chaminade of Honolulu, great experience !) , and for Fuller Seminary, , 

..and also, even though I almost attended, but at the last moment switched, a blog for Valley Christian  (often referred to as "Cerritos Valley Christian") in bellflower/cerritos.. 

which is also near & dear to my heart because I know some of the kids who went there (including my younger brother) & practiced football with them for a summer in 1984 , but most importantly it was founded, in part, by my grandfather, the late Rev. Gareth Kok, back in the 30's .         
                                                

This was when my dad was born..& was raised in Bellflower thru elementary school. They also have done well in varsity football in recent years. 

The city of Bellflower has commemorated my grandfather on a few occassions, sort of treating him as an "elder-founder"  of the city before he passed away. That was nice of them. The press-telegram carried a few stories now & then. I'm proud to have such a legacy. 

On the other side of the family, as many of you know, is another grandfather, also considered "important"  in some ways, but a bit more controversial, and NOT so beloved by everybody.., his name is, or was, Leo Peters (RIP). 

above: Leo Peters & family in Evanston Illinois before Butterball had taken off
His biggest "contribution" to society was the development of "beautiful butter" , which is still sold in McDonalds restaurants around America , usually with the hotcakes. Unfortunately, he was not so loved or successful in terms of family relations, and leaves an ambiguous, at best, legacy in that regard. 

back on the road, after traveling a while along the oregon coast, i eventually turned back inward, if i recall correctly  north of coos boy around winchester bay .. I took  highway 38 back towards the 5 freeway and then northwards towards Eugene..& upwards towards Salem. 

This also included a visit to the FABULOUS "SILVER FALLS state park" ..wow, stunning.. great hike..so many waterfalls in one hike, ..all of them un-bee-liev-able  ! I highly recommend this hike. Unfortunately, this was one the SD card that got erased , so I lost some incredible footage..but at least it's in my mind.. & you can find plenty of other people's footage on YouTube. 

AFTER SILVER FALLS i continued northward, taking a lot of back roads which I always prefer, going thru Oregon City which has some interesting sights, including their "Municipal Elevator" .. which looked like a smaller version of the Seattle Space Needle .. but it's free, and only goes up and down a short ways. . , it's just a glorified elevator. 

12/3/18 so George Bush #41 just died a few days ago. RIP. I recall him as a decent president. Nothing stood out either as outstanding or very controversial.  THe memorials I am hearing about him now make him sound like a very good person. I noticed he lived with his young family in Compton CA for a while. How 'bout that? One article says that back then it was mostly white people there. 

I went to the Encinitas Christmas Parade a few days ago, & then the La Jolla Parade yesterday (Sunday). Encinitas is at night but they have very little street lighting, making photos & videos not very captivating. 

La Jolla is a mid-day parade so I got better footage. I make a bunch of little Christmas parade videos every year. It gives me something concrete & practical to do for the different Christmas events. IF I had to sit there and just watch them over and over I would get bored. This way I have a challenge. 

Some get a lot of views. Others not so many. Looking at past years footage of other cinematographers
I'm not expecting much interest in my videos either. These are San DIego people..whatever that means, but they don't seem to be too interested in looking at themselves online. More interest in Los Angeles.

 Some of the annual parades I attend there include of course the HOllywood parade, & also Downey, Whittier, San Pedro, Wilmington, El Segundo, MOnrovia, & yes, Compton , among others. ANd then there's the boat parades which include Newport Beach (the biggest), & then Belmont Shores (Long Beach), & a few others  not all of which I go to every year, such as Marina Del Rey, Redondo Beach, San Pedro (LA) , Dana Point..all of them try to do a little something. And of course they all fall on the same few weeks, so you can't do ALL of them every year.. so I rotate . 


but one thing I learned in seminary is what is called "pre-evangelism" ..& A LOT of what i do amounts to such.. 'it's becoming familiar with a people & area before there is enough natural familiarity to make evangelizing more fruitful, because people know you and you know them just from day-to-day interactions. 

Hence, I go to events that as a mere "natural man" I might not normally want to attend. As a younger person when I was more "in the flesh" and less "in the Spirit" I would have no reason to go to certain social events because there was "nothing in it for me" ..that's the way I would think. As a Christian however, I go to events because it is a form of presence evangelism or pre-evangelism , hoping that it might become "good soil" in the future. 

ANYWAYS, back to my summer mission trip...I hope to finish narrating the whole trip in this letter.  

12/6/18 it's been a few days..i'm back on a computer.. was at Palos Verdes library earlier today when the power suddenly went out.. , it's been raining all night.. raining unusually hard.. maybe that had something to do with it. .. so now I'm at Malaga Cove library.  

NO GRINCH ALLOWED 

anyways, back to the mission trip, ..after Oregon City i continued towards Portland.., & spent a few days there on  the northbound  leg (a few more on the return). I happend to be there when the Art Museum had a free night so I explored for a while. Nice museum. And I caught a film at a nearby theatre using my movie Pass once again, and did a "Movie Review for Christians" ex post facto. The are around the art museum is very hip & trendy, ..& Portland State Univ is in that vicinity as well, but PARKING is a huge problem. i finally found free street parking but it required a long walk. 

As an aside, that's one thing I like about Stanford where I spend time for a month or so every year when I go to the West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco. Stanford has lots of activities for community: speeches, musical events, presentations , etc, and they are one of the few universities that have ample parking on campus. It's great!  & GREAT to do evangelism there as well. 

..leaving Portland northbound I passed thru Vancouver (Washington) ..nice town as well. .spent more time there on the return..; because I actually took several days to hike the Gorge area (mostly on the washington side ) on the southbound return leg (more about that later)..

lots of little towns north of Vancouver on the way to Olympia where I have relatives, but I knew I would not be able to slow down so much to visit them and did not want to impose on them either..but I kept them in my thoughts & prayers as I explored the Olympia area for a few days. ..hiked a nice trail at Tolmie State Park, among other areas of greater Olympia. 

...then I noticed the LA Angels of Anaheim were in town to play the Seattle Mariners. And I had never seen a game at the Mariners park so made my way to Seattle.. and enjoyed a game at the nice ballpark there. And Mariners had a great comeback to win.. , Seattle fans were still optimistic about the Mariners in June..they were doing so well.. stadium was almost full. 

For a few years straight I used to come up this way around Christmas and explore the different parts of this region.. it's a fascinating part of the USA. This time around I was more intent on hiking..so I kept consulting the internet & google maps for places to go as I did my ministry along the way. 

Mt Baker kept popping up as a place to enjoy hiking, but I did NOT realize I was fairly early in the season because the snow remains there for so long. When i arrived in the Baker area, the snow banks were still higher than a housetop in some parts. literally. And they were still clearing the snow on the road up to "Artist Point" ...

...actually the snow made it ALL THE MORE incredible.. although we couldn't hike very far.  ..but I enjoyed "glissading" a bit on the way back down.. , and after Artist Point I passed by a small waterfall back on the main road , and then took a fairly long dirt road to the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead. This is the trail a lot of people take to the top of Mt Baker.  & some of them bring their skis to glide back down. I passed a lot of them returning from their hike as I was just doing a late afternoon short hike on the same trail. Even though it was a short hike (for me) , it still requires crossing a few rivers...some of them fairly wide & running fast with ice cold snow water. Fortunately, there's almost enough big rocks to hop across, but some people get their feet wet. 

I spent the night there at the trailhead  and the next day took the dirt road back and another long dirt road up to skyline divide trail.. once again I was too early in the season. ..after about a mile on the trail there was SO MUCH SNOW I couldn't navigate any farther, and had to turn around. 
 12/7 REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR. rained all day here in southern Cal yesterday.. even the power went out at the main library in PV . today it is sunny again. I like to body surf even in the winter without a wetsuit..must be b/c I grew up by lake Michigan where the water always seems cold. People think I"m crazy here going into the ocean without a wetsuit when it's "only 64 degrees" but that's not so cold by michigan standards. One time I went snorkeling without a wetsuit at Monterey Bay (much colder than southern Cal) and that was DEFINITELY REALLY COLD. ..& by the way, that's a great place to see some cool underwater creatures..where everybody goes scuba diving you can also snorkel. but it helps to have a wetsuit. 

after the Mt Baker area I headed westward back towards Lynden. I always make a point of visiting here when I'm in the greater Seattle area..it's a small Dutch CRC town..and it even has a "Kok Road"... just like Randolph Wisconsin. The KOk clan in Wisconsin is definitely my ancestors, albeit not sure about the Lynden clan. This time I just passed thru quickly. Took some photos for Google Maps. Might have lost some of them or all of them though because of the SD card mishap (what a shame) . 

But last time I was up this way was for the winter Olympics in the "real Vancouver" across the border ..I remember sticking around the border crossing for a few days because the first time they wouldn't let me pass. They thought I was trying to move to Canada because I had so much stuff in my car. I ended up renting a car and went across but only stayed about a day..didn't really get to enjoy the Olympic experience.. ; later, a Canadian border official apologized to me in writing. That was nice.I used to enjoy cruising thru Canada. Prior to this time, I crossed around Michigan and drove westward to Washington & arrived in time for my Aunt Di's wedding in Olympia ! Never had any trouble back in the day. Ever since 911 everything is more difficult. 

Meanwhile, hear our prayer Lord for our country & our world. We pray for wisdom for our leaders, especially our own president.  And we pray for our loved ones. .. . and pray for the unreached.. to continue to try to reach them with the Good News. Sometimes they are initially unreceptive, ..but that does not mean they will not later accept Christ as Savior. Sometimes you plant a seed without knowing it. Some seeds take longer to germinate. Never grow weary of doing good. Our Labor for the Lord is Never in vain. 

After Lynden I went southward .. spent a little extra time around Bellingham.. , took some time studying maps & internet for places to go.. and decided to explore the "North Cascades" realizing I had never been there before..and so close to them.. ; once again however, it was still relatively early in the season..and some trails or roads were still closed due to snow. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the drive and a few great hikes, including near Diablo lake, & especially memorable was the Blue Lake Hike ..
still partially covered by deep snow..the trail goes up and up to a beautiful little lake ..warm enough air, a bit cold on the feet.. a little dangerous in certain spots if you slip.. but worth it ! 



Golly gee, as I write this letter, I'm starting to remember all the footage I lost .. sad. Oh well, that's life. Anyways, there's a lot of good hikes along thru the North Cascades...eventually I made my way back towards Seattle..this time aiming for North Bend (not to be confused with just plain Bend in Oregon which is also a cool town where I spent 4th of July)  . And there's lots of hikes around North Bend..I even saw a Bear & a cub here as well (across the lake so I wasn't concerned about being too close) . The MOST POPULAR trail in this area is Mt Si . Everybody from the Seattle area apparently considers this a "must do " hike ..& I actually did it in combination with the Mt Teneriffe peak . I was only planning to do Teneriffe because I had heard how crowded the Mt Si hike is, but once I arrived at the Teneriffe Peak I realized I could do a cut-across trail to the Mt Si peak in relatively short time.. both have FANTASTIC VIEWS. Getting to Teneriffe Peak was a heck of a challenge even though i took the "short way" called Kamikaze Trail. It's like going straight up the mountain.. & I thought I was in decent shape. wow ! but I made it. Praise the Lord ! 

So cutting across from Teneriffe to Mt Si was relatively casual & easy in comparison.. you actually have to do a bit of rock-climbing to get the the highest point of Mt Si which makes it fun. ..and then the long trail back to the parking lot. THis is where my legs started burning out. I actually was running for a while downward..easier on the legs..then I would rest. At one point a guy passed me and apparently thought he was "beating me" as if we were in a race..i saw a little smirk on his face. I bet he didn't know that I had "double peaked" that day..probably a bit more than he had done.  I hate it when hikers get competitive as if it's a race.  

Around Bend I also did the Talapulus Lake hike (where I saw the bear & cub)  , among many other hikes.. spent about 5 days around the North Bend area..there's also a cool old train tunnel you can hike thru.. kind of spooky. And there's rattlesnake ledge trail..relatively short..WAY TOO POPULAR.. I also hiked around Franklin Falls & Twin falls (amazing ! ) ..and near the end I made a visit to Snolqualmie Falls (been there before) ..

with Sunday coming I began looking for churches to attend..and found one near Bellevue..it happened to be the church where one of the pastors who ministers to Justin Bieber presides.. (ie "one of justin bieber's pastor's" ha ha. )  it was a nice little mega-church.. and suddenly the weather was warming..  

12/10/18 okay weekend, ..2nd weekend of Christmas events.. I started videotaping Christmas parades around southern Cal as something constructive to do at Christmas events..& posting them on youtube.. something sort of evangelical to do..I add some Christian material and invitations to them usually.. , most people know what Christmas represents but not exactly know Christ.. , has Christmas become too commercialized and sentimentalized to be called a "Christian holiday" anymore ? Buried beneath a lot of what we do for Christmas has profound Christian significance (giving gifts, singing carols, attending various events ) but a lot of it gets lots on too many people. 

Last weekend I did the La Jolla & Encinitas parades. This weekend I did Whittier uptown parade & Naples Christmas boat parade. I almost did the Wilmington parade as well but it started late..so I left.. wanted to make sure I got across town to UCLA on time for their "Passion of Yeshua" concert.. surprisingly it was quite powerful & very Christian...; you don't expect it at a secular university.., inspirational. From there I drove to the nearby Bel Air Presbyterian for their annual Christmas concert. John Tesh was one of the many performers. Some  of the members of this church are also part of the hollywood & music industry...so they often perform here.  Steve Amerson also performed, among others. 

I always relied on the Crystal Cathedral for great Christmas events..but most people know what happened there.. ; which is an interesting aside... when I was at Calvin Seminary (1 year) and Fuller Seminary (4 years) everybody assumed I was safely & securely "in bed" so to speak with the Crystal Cathedral ministry. And they all thought of it as a "rich" church...so they thought I "had it made" after seminary. As everybody knows now, such is/was not the case. As I was finishing seminary, the Crystal Cathedral was on its last legs. As I was just starting, they were just ending, more or less.

 I did NOT go into ministry because I thought i would go to work for the CC, but because everybody assumed such to be the case it sort of left me without any roots. This is why I started my own ministry.

 Even though it has/had no real financial security, it cannot be taken away from me. It will persevere to "plant seeds" one way or another whether I am "rich" or poor or somewhere in between. 

Furthermore, even before Calvin Seminary.. back when I was still an undergrad at Calvin College,

some people who knew my family heritage knew about Leo Peters, my grandpa, and made assumptions based on this relationship(or lack of) as well. Once again, people assumed health & wealth... probably envisioning things we all do about "those rich people" ... ; 

truth of the matter is while I was growing up in Grand Rapids, 

we would visit "grandpa's cottage"

 for a few weeks every summer, usually going out in their motorboat now & then , where I learned how to waterski... 

jumping on their trampoline 

overlooking Lake Michigan, 

and going to the "butterball mansion"  

every once in a while for holiday gatherings, but apart from that life was pretty normal. I played little league baseball for Trane Air Conditioning 

 I was a GR Press "paperboy" , I shoveled snow (or snowblowed it)

 in our small driveway in a normal middle-class house during the winter in Alger Heights, .. 

for a while I packed groceries & stocked shelves at Boorsmas grocery store; 

I worked at a Little Caesars Pizza , and even for a short time at Dominos doing deliveries. I played youth football, & thru high school. I went snow skiing at Cannonsburg, the only close to a ski "resort" in West Michigan.

 I played on the basketball team

 in junior high graduating from millbrook Christian junior high 

I went to church at 1st CRC in "inner city" grand rapids.

 Then after my junior year of high school my family moved to California..

above: my elementary school
Nonetheless, I ended up shortly later back in Grand rapids where I finished high school and then went on to Calvin College..with brief interludes back out in California..but didn't really get to know the area until much later in life. 

Meanwhile, back to the present, my PAIN is acting up again.., and now I'm trying to deal with it with "home remedies"..mostly just tylenol acetaminophen combined with ibuprofen.., it's just getting too difficult timely & expensive (in terms of driving across town to see my doctor & pharmacy ) to get the more potent so-called "opioids" which were meant for people like me who use them responsibly so we can keep living a normal life, but now have become a political "buzz word" whether you believe the "crisis" hype or not. 

I'm in Brentwood at the moment. Weather is getting back to normal after some significant rain last week. Today is a bit overcast . 

So back to the summer mission trip. Where was I ? I believe I was coming back southward after hiking around Mt Baker & the north cascades. I found a nice waterfall area around Bellingham and a nice lake where I swam one morning on a hot day near Whatcom falls area.

I did some "yellow & rabb" evangelism, then continued onward. 

12/12/18  i went to the LACMA art museum yesterday... every 2nd tuesday of the month it is free. And every weekday after 3pm for LA citizens it is free also.. , so I spent a day there..they showed a movie too..I thought I had seen a lot of movies but this was the first time I had seen Hitchcock's classic thriller called "Psycho". very entertaining, in a good old-school kind of way. 

Back to the summer mission trip ... so I spent about a week around North Bend hiking different trails. ..then back towards Bellevue & kirkland..drove by the lake.. ; I wondered if my Aunt Martha still lives here part-time.. with her husband Uncle Warren. I stayed at their house in Jackson Wyoming for a summer many years ago after college. that was an interesting experience. 

now I'm heading back south back thru Seattle & downward...; and all the while I want everybody out there to know that I keep you in constant prayers ..I even have a "prayerbook" ..; and I pray about our nation & our leaders & our fellow CHristians around the world, many of whom are being persecuted, even martyred. 

 12/13/18 ...and my blogs are one of my other ways of reaching people... ..my most viewed blogs are "StopTheTerror" , "SaveOurBabies", and "GodsAwesomeAnimals". But I also have other blogs that receive moderate attention, one devoted to where I went to high school 

, another to my college, another to my seminary (sem #2) 

, another to the city where I grew up, another to the area where my family relocated in 1984, ...and I have a "gospel" blog as well as a "missionary" blog, ...as well as numerous other blogs devoted to this or that.. & I post to most of them by email on a regular basis, sometimes daily , others weekly, and a few others are annual blogs, such as my Rose Parade blog.. , and I try to integrate Christian inspiration into these various blogs. I also have a blog devoted to my original denomination , the CRC, in which I grew up, and almost became a CRC pastor like my dad & grandfather, but instead became an indepndent evangelist..feeling I can be more fruitful in terms of fulfilling the "great commission" than I might be if I was an ordained church pastor, and spent more time doing weddings, funerals, meeting with the elders & the deacons, et al. ..we need church pastors to do this but we also need evangelists devoted mostly to reaching others with the Good news..including Baptism in the spirit. 

I want to emphasize the importance of the UNITY of the Body of Christ (see pro-cath-ordox . WE are still too  much divided as Catholics, Protestants, "Just Jesus" , non-denoms, calvary chaps, , episcopal, reformed, CRC, presbyterian, etc. Wwe need to be more united..& i don't see it happening fast enough... Please pray and when able mention it to others..I think it can only happen as a "grass roots" movement. Church pastors & priests on a salary are blinded by their daily tasks & need for income. 

...at the very least we should be united as the "invisible church" (as well as indivisible)  if not the "visible church"..something I learned about in seminary.. worth thinking about if you haven't heard of it. 



coming back south on my mission trip I passed thru Portland again, actually stayed in the vancouver/portland area for several days as I explored and hiked mostly the north side of the columbia river (ie the "gorge") . ..there were some stupendous hikes ...one of them is very short and also very popular..called "beacon rock" .   

it's a constructed trail..that takes you to the top of beacon rock with a majestic view in one direction... 

Almost right across from Beacon Rock is a longer trail called Hamilton Mountain trail, with a waterfall, and some nice views as well..in all directions. I also took time to view Bridal Veil Falls & Latourel Falls..  hiking to both..(very short).. ; lots of trails still closed on the south side of the river due to the wildfires from many months prior. I also saw the semi-famous bridge from the Pacific Crest Trail movie (which I haven't yet seen, called "Wild")  , known as "The Bridge of the gods" . By the time the PCT hikers get to the Oregon /Washington border, they must feel like they are almost done, ..an incredible accomplishment. But still a little ways to go. 

After a few other hikes around the Gorge I went back to Portland and from Portland I went up towards Mt Hood on highway 26. Very close to one of the ski resorts I hiked to Umbrella Falls, and south on another trail to Sahale Falls   . both very nice, but not spectacular. after that I was able to make it to Tamanawas Falls , a more popular hike. Lots of people here. And there was still time left in the day to drive south...my destination was Bend Oregon.

However, at a critical intersection I was greeted by a sign that said the road was "closed due to wildfire" (near Warm Springs on highway26) so i had to cut across on the 216 east towards Maupin and then south on 197 towards Madras. And suddenly there was the "mother of all traffic jams" ..out in the middle of nowhere for that matter..; I couldn't believe it. Apparently there was construction ahead, and the wildfire detour compounded the problem. And suddenly as I was idling in traffic, I felt a lurch, and then realized I had no power to accelerate anymore. This was a highway with very fiew pullouts..the miracle was that I happened to be by one of them..and was able to coast off to the side..otherwise, I would have been blocking traffic ..

So I pulled off and opened the hood..it was about 6pm by this time.. maybe 7...and I found abelt had snapped. Turned out to be the "serpentine belt". The next problem was that I had NO phone service..no connection , or so I thought. I decided to call it a night by the side of the road..I carry food and blankets so I can survive in the vehicle when necessary. I figured I would have to walk the next morning. I didn't feel like bothering anybody driving past in the traffic jam, plus I was tired enough to sleep well right there. 

The next morning, I awoke and attempted to make a phone call again..this time I played around with the various switches ..and managed to realize I h ad not yet turned on "roaming"..which allows you to make phone calls from other cell services..(after  you pay a roaming fee)..anyways i managed to connnect to my roadside service, and they sent me a tow truck from Madras. a nice-enough fellow arrived about an hour later..I was very close to where the 97 and 197 intersect..as I look at it now on google maps, it says about 27 miles from Madras. 

My tow service only covers 5 to 10 miles per tow, ..not sure why they didn't bill me for the extra miles, but I won't argue. However, I will argue about what happened next.

I was towed to a place called "Cliff's Auto " in Madras. It turned out to be a bad waterpump. So the guy offered to do the whole job (pump, belt, etc) for $429. I agreed, thinking it sounded a bit high but fair enough ..it was the day before 4th of July & I didn't want tobe stuck there..hoped to at least find an Independence day parade & fireworks in Bend..which looked a bit more populated. 

So I spent the day walking around Madras..went to the library...to mcdonalds..to taco bell..hiked to the vista point above the city.. ; never got a call from the mechanic the whole day.. but didn't want to bother him.. finally I returned around 4pm,..and at this point he & his group of employees about 5 guys..said "it was a lot of work...it took so long..." and said "now it's going to cost $639" ..I couldn't believe it..I didn't think this guy was gonig to scam me. .. later I checked all the possible prices and none of them were so high, except in the highest priced parts of the country (ie new york city, san francisco etc)..there's NO WAY this job should have been more than what we initially agreed upon. 

It was a classic scam..and they were ALL in on it. I could see that one of the guys by my car ..with the hood still open was waiting for a signal. If I disagreed with the price I could see that he was going to suddenly "notice something else..." or something of that sort.. . I had heard of this scam..and been overcharged before, but never by such an exorbitant amount. $200+ dollars was like four days of gas money when traveling. Really sickening. 

So I calculated my alternatives in a matter of 30 seconds, and agreed ..and pulled out my credit card with the intent of filing a dispute as soon as I drove away..(ie via mastercard)..I had never done so before but was aware of the service provided by mastercard and my brand (CapitalOne)...i hoped I could ..



( by the way, now when I look up this mechanic on google maps it says "permanently closed"   (to be continued)






....now it is 12/14/18..just sent out a few postcards..hope you (plural) get it soon..i saw a nice presentation about wildlife by a lady named Ami Vitale at the Iris lectures at Annenberg photo space..she is a wildlife photographer, & has done a lot for national geographic..and altho Annenberg sometimes goes a bit over-the-top in terms of evolution propaganda, I didn't hear any from Ms. Vitale. I don't know  if she has any particular religious affiliation...she did use the word "grace" one time..but the main thing is she gave an optimistic presentation about the future for endangered wildlife.., or at least "encouraging" .. rather than the usual apocalyptic message we hear so often re elephant poaching etc. She said this was intentional, and not that she is pollyannish or naïve. //. so back to my summer mission trip...after leaving the shifty shady con artist auto repair shop ..I called capitalOne and told them I wanted to "dispute" the charge. This immediately reverses the charge, pending a decision by capitalOne after I present my "evidence" to them why I think the charge was wrong or excessive..., nonetheless, I had a few weeks to spare..as it doesn't happen overnight. ..I thought FOR SURE my credit card company would back me up on this. ..the excessive amount for the repair was SO OBVIOUS and EXORBITANT. ..meanwhile, however, I was back on the road...and made it to Bend Oregon, not too far down the road southward. ..happy 4th of July !!!

I enjoyed our Independence day in Bend..including a "patriotic pet parade", as well as fireworks (which almost got cancelled due to a wildfire up near where they do the fireworks, but they managed to put it out in time..albeit I also happened to go to a movie theatre earlier in the day after the parade and while watching the "Mister Rogers" movie (lots of memory flashbacks ) the power went out due to this wildfire (caused by a transformer or something near the butte where they launch the fireworks), so I never got to see the end of the movie..and we were escorted out of the theatre with flashlights.

... Bend Oregon is a great town by the way. A beautiful river runs right thru the middle, and people float down it on different types of inner tubes , kayaks, etc. and when it gets hot there , it gets REALLY HOT ! unfort, I didn't have my own tube, and didn't want to pay the $10-20 price to rent a tube & use the shuttle.. ..(did that 2  summers ago  in Utah; & 3 summers ago in southern Missouri..I love tubing a good river...had fun doing that numerous times in west Michigan also.. including the WLAV raft race before it ended, back in the 70's.. have some photos of that somewhere..; and I heard that they are thinking about bringing back the "grand" to the "rapids" in GR..so that it has some whitewater once again..that would be GREAT ! Apparently at one point in time back in the day, the Grand River was quite a strong body of water.

 ..anyways, ..I did enjoy hiking the Tumalo Falls area near Bend...made it an all day hike..but be warned..there is a serious mosquito problem near the river in the Tumalo Falls area.. not sure if it's all year 'round or just when I was there..but it is very significant..  ..and then I was back on the road two days later


Next destination: Crater Lake National Park! ...been to Crater at least once prior to this.. I remember having Lola with me in the winter one time and driving up there thru the incredibly high snow banks (similar to what Mt Baker was like still in June) .. Crater's snow had mostly melted however by this time in July .. , but still a fair amount.. , hiking trails were passable however..and I enjoyed  the Garfield Peak trail..not too difficult..and a nice view from the top.. , and across from there I did the Cleetwood Cove hike that goes down to the edge of the lake and where you can take a boat tour ; it is also the only place where you can swim in the lake, if you can handle the coldness..which I didn't ..or couldn't..not sure which..altho I can handle cold water in the right situation.., I did the Cleetwood hike first thing on arrival in the morning..so the day was still young..maybe if I had done it in the afternoon I would have braved the cold water..; anyways, it's a nice view from the water edge.. ..and I spent about an hour at the visitor center lodge..the only place with Wi-Fi .., and mapped out my next destination...., I decided go to west on 136 and hike some of the waterfall trails..lots of relatively short hikes to small falls near the highway..and also one bigger one, the more famous one called Toketee Falls.., which I realized once I got there that I had been there before in the winter..probably same winter trip that I did crater with Lola.. , and right next to the trailhead at Toketee is a cool old redwood water pipeline.. with tiny little holes in it spouting out leaks of water.. it is a historic pipeline but still being used as well.. 

so I hope all of you are well.. I feel connected to you...not just as relatives or friends ..but also , I hope, as Christians.. & I keep you in my prayers on a regular basis.. Let us make this "THE BEST CHRISTmas EVER !  ..(to be continued).

...12/15/18 ..went to a Christmas concert in Pomona last night..hard to believe this is where the future Fuller Seminary will be.. exciting & a bit sad at the same time.. seems so far away from everything..I come to this area once in a while, usually around LA Fair time.. , sometimes for Claremont College events..or basketball games.. , it gets awfully hot here in the summer, and so far from the ocean. I guess they all have central air and /or swimming pools. 

I am truly enjoying composing this Christmas Card letter. It gives me time to reflect on where I've been this summer, .. & I even reflect on my previous trips.. , last summer (2017) was the florida mission trip. ..all the way to key west florida, and no car problems, amazing.. . , +, so much unexplored areas of the USA that I haven't seen, but less and less every year. and hopefully the 'seeds" i leave behind will find good soil and come to fruition for the Kingdom ! God is so great & sometimes mysterious..we never know for sure what to expect in our daily lives & circumstances.. but we DO know He is always with us and for us, if we 'keep the faith'. 

I haven't heard from Jim & Linda recently. We usually have email correspondence, sometimes daily, or at least weekly. That is, mostly with jim, less with linda. I hope they are well. 

. anyways, back to narrating my summer mission trip. .. after Toketee falls and the other short waterfall hikes I made it to roseburg for the night. There also happened to be a big car show & car parade on the weekend so I stayed and enjoyed the show. They have a gigantic classic car gathering in mid-July. 
after roseburg i continued south a while on the 5 to medford , and attended a few church services there sunday morning.., then I drove back north a little ways on the 62 towards Crater Lake..with the intention of going past the Klamath Lake area and then to the Lava Beds monument.. 

Lava beds was interesting..my first time there.. basically a bunch of caves, some big, others small.. self-guided.. some people enjoy "spelunking" so to speak..and in some of them you have to get "down and dirty" .. basically crawling on your knees or "worming" in some cases.. i used to be game for such things..but too much chronic pain in my "old age" .. I just walked thru a few of them.. ; and then I looked back at google Maps for the next destination. I didn't want to go too far east, and I saw Medicine Lake on the map and decided to go that way.. , ..nice remote drive..much of it dirt road.. and I stumbled across Blanche Lake & Bullseye lake as well . I think it was at tiny little Bullseye lake that I saw 1000's of tiny frogs (ie "polliwogs" ) along the shore, near my feet.. here's a video (not mine) of what it looked like although they didn't jump on my hands as they do in the video. 

I also enjoyed snorkeling in Medicine Lake..not too cold..and almost nobody there.. in the middle of the summer. .. , after which I continued south on the "volcanic legacy scenic byway" .. a wonderful remote drive.. 

finally I made it to  highway 89 and headed westward.. towards McCloud..without planning  it..I would come upon an incredible river with trails and great "cliff-jumping" opportunities. There are three big waterfalls along the McCloud, aptly named "upper-lower-& middle" ...

I first discovered the lower falls..and saw some people jumping off into the river, and decided to join the party... , it always reminds me of that old Mountain Dew commercial...a classic. .. i found it on youtube..from 1980, back when they still used glass bottles & cans with the pull-tabs ...  (by the way, if there's one place where glass bottles should NOT be taken, it's out by the river and beaches where people walk barefoot..I still see broken glass in some of these places). 

It is mid-summer now..mid-July..hot weather everywhere, and cool water is SO NICE after driving so many miles..the McCloud river area is just south of Mt Shasta..and I hoped to find some good hiking trails here.. , and was NOT disappointed.. , there's PLENTY of great hikes , but a little farther away from Mt Shasta than I had planned.  And I would return to the McCloud river later to explore a bit more.

I actually went back north a little ways, and went to the city of Weed (funny name) because it has a McDonalds.., i enjoy and utilize the $1 large drink at mcdonalds everywhere.. self-refillable .. but I try not to drink too much soda (beware of hi- fructose corn syrup_)..mostly ice tea and water..and the final refill is mostly ice for my big cup in my car..it lasts most of the day.. and they also have free wifi, another essential when you're on the road.. and I found a promising-looking hike called "castle lake" and "Heart Lake" nearby.. 

...which I made it to the next day. Castle Lake is big..and you can swim there in the cool but not too cold water.. which I did at the end of the hike..but first I wanted to get to the tiny little "Heart lake" ..on a moderate hike ..and it is an amazing little hike & view when you get there. Here's what it looks like when you get there (not my photo) ..

A lot of these great hikes and trails I've passed by many times not knowing what was there..but ever since the advent of the smartphone and now the various hiking websites, it is SO much more fun to explore and find places.. , as opposed to back in the day when we all carried paper maps , and local places required local maps and/or asking locals for directions, etc. (some of whom wouldn't want you to find their secret spots). 

Near castle lake, there is also Lake Siskiyou.. an even larger lake.. with a trail that goes around most of it..i hiked part of it, and went swimming there also.. it sounds just like plain old "fun" but it's also part of being a missionary.. I think it's important to become a "physical" part of the scenery you pass thru (ie "incarnational") ..so that we can better relate to and appreciate the people in the community.. and not just pass them like animals in a zoo. some of this is also "pre-evangelism".. 

Have you ever been to a place the first time and it seems so foreign and mysterious, but no matter how many years later you happen to return it feels familiar..and people are even more familiar towards you..; you're not a stranger so much to them and vice-versa.. 

This is what i've also been doing slowly..ever-so-slowly around southern California.. people may not realize HOW FAR & WIDE this area is.. so many different little cities & communities make up the gigantic metropolis of LA , OC,SD (san diego).., and then there's riverside & san berdoo as well.. , 

Please pray for my missionary/evangelism efforts to bear fruit.. it's taken so much time to plow the soil so to speak ..and also planting seeds.. hoping for good fruit in the end. 

after hiking around Shasta-Weed, i went back to the McCloud ..and went to the middle falls this time.. where there's higher jumping.. and I think this was the highest I've ever jumped.. made sure to NOT spend too much time thinking about it.. you just have to DO IT ..and make sure you "tuck in" ..any lose body parts (ie swinging arms etc)  will sting pretty bad otherwise ..here's a video (not mine) I found  of some people jumping from middle McCloud ..the only difference is i DON'T do any of the fancy stuff like flips..i just do a basic cannonball jump.. too old for the mickey mouse with all my chronic aches & pains.., and I am NOT foolhardy.. I wouldn't go much higher than this, if at all.. 

A few days later I would make the trip to the "famous"  Burney Falls, and it happened to be only a day or two after a man jumped and died from this much-higher waterfall...apparently he jumped and did not return to the surface..they had to send divers to find the body.. , and this water is ICE-COLD even in mid-summer..not a good place to swim...just enjoy the views and a few hikes..and there is a warmer lake nearby (Lake Britton ), albeit a bit murky
after Burney falls I went back towards Shasta-Weed for one more night..and then took an incredible scenic back road .."stewart springs road" from around edgewood (just north of weed) and stopped at the Mt Eddy trailhead ..this is a great hike.. and also is part of the pacific crest trail..i passed a few of the pct phikers..  as I walked to deadfalls lake..a stunningly beautiful mountain lake ..here's a picture of it (not mine)..this hike took about half-a-day, and then I was back on the road and intersected with highway 3 towards which goes past Trinity Lake .. nice name , but the lake isn't so special.. ; however, on the other side of the highway is a beautiful flowing river (ie the Trinity River) .. I found a nice pull-off and enjoyed sitting in some of the whitewater holes for a while..cooling my body down..

and a bit further south i found a swimming hole known  as "cherry flat"..not so easy to find on the map.. but there are websites that talk about it.. otherwise you would NEVER know. ..here's one of the links that helped me find a few incredible "waterholes"...

after a night a late-afternoon and night at cherry flat I hit the road the next day , destination Whiskeytown Lake  west of Redding.., looked big on the map, and sounded like you could swim there.. ..

I made it there in a few hours with a few scenic stops along the way..another waterfall, including Crystal Creek Falls. . and whiskeytown lake is, indeed, pretty big.. I decided not to drive all the way around.. but did enjoy a few swimming beaches.. .. this is where there would be a significant wildfire a few weeks later..among a few other places near redding.. 

I went from Redding back up north along the 299 and found an amazing place called "hatchet creek falls" a
as well as potem creek falls . 
hatchet has  a giant fallen tree that is lodged up against the waterfall with some footholds chopped into it..so you can climb up it and jump off (here's a video, not mine) , or you can scramble up another way and jump near the top of the falls. Not as high as middle falls at McCloud, but still an adrenaline boost.; there was a small family there , among others,..mother-daughter-son.., and the son literally stood at the top of the jump the entire two hours I was there..as he tried to summon up the courage to jump. That's what I meant by you shouldn't stop at the top and reflect on it.. , the poor kid never summoned up the mental courage to jump.. while the mom gently kept encouraging him from below and the older sister jumped a few times to show him how easy it is.. , 

anyways, I enjoyed jumping a few times and cooling off, then went onward.. potem creek falls is NOT a jumping falls (although there is at least one daredevil , or fool, depending on your perspective, who has done it) ..and I just found a video of one of them (definitely not me)..,  ..apparently this is about 60 feet high. whereas burney falls (where the guy died) is about 129 feet ....people do successfully jump off burney falls although it is illegal... I just looked up McCloud middle falls and they say that's about '50 feet high..albeit I didn't jump from the top, but maybe from about '30 feet.  I think it's quite dangerous from '60 feet, but people do it. the rope swing there is more my style. 

also, above potem falls are several nice little waterholes..and crystal clear water.. not really a trail to get back there so not many people know about it..






... (to be continued)
12/17/18 NICE Christmas concert at Rolling Hills Covenant church last night.. been taking in as many of the free Christmas events as I can .. and trying to avoid the depressing "library people" as much as possible.. , as I compose right now I am also watching the WSL pipeline billabong surfing competition live online.. looks nice in Hawaii.. I actually went bodysurfing "bareback" yesterday here in Redondo Beach (ie without a wetsuit)..it's cool but not ice cold.. I call it "refreshing"..then it rained a bit last night.. supposed to be HUGE WAVES all along the western coast the next few days. but as I look at the live cam for "the wedge" it's as flat as a pancake....

SO I Sent out a few postcards ..hope you received them ..by the way, I want to invite you and encourage you to "pray for the persecuted".. I spent a lot of time on various websites devoted to the persecuted around the world, and have a persecuted blog as well.. we need to pray4 and keep our fellow Christians worldwide in mind.. many of them are living very challenging lives.. even sometimes being killed for their faith..  here's the link to it...

currently, for example, we should be praying for Asia Bibi.. and there's a petition to President Trump right now as well which people can sign online. And then there is Leah Sharibu 

...she's still in captivity ..and the news has been kind of silent lately about here..here's the most recent news from a simple google search dated Dec 3 ...for much of this I keep a "THOUGHTS & PRAYERS" (& action where able) blog  as well



12/18/18
my Pain is NOT so bad today, yet.. we'll see what happens later on..it rained a bit again last night.. ..SEVEN DAYS TO Christmas.. but then it's really NOT just one day..it's a season..the Catholics even officially commemorate Christmas as an extended holiday (or holy day), although they also emphasize the 25th.. one of the catholic churches I periodically attend (I attend ALL types of Christian churches) just found out that two of their nuns were stealing from the school for over ten years to the amount of $500,000 or thereabouts.. and so I went to the noon service on the 16th and the priest was already chiding and rebuking the members for being "angry".. I thought it was a little early to be saying , essentially, "get over it" .. it's like the stages of grief..you need to work it out in your own way.. the priest was premature in such a rebuke.. ; and he needs to be rebuked as well..it happened under his "watch". 

12/19/19 after writing this, the next day i read it may be  over a million dollars !  sunny day here in southern Cal ..took my usual "loop hike " on the rattlesnake trail from 8 to 9 am..only SIX DAYS to CHRISTmas now ! 

24 You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one runner gets the prize. So run like that. Run to win!  All who compete in the games use strict training. They do this so that they can win a prize—one that doesn’t last. But our

 prize is one that will last forever.  So I run like someone who has a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something, not just the air. 27 It is my own body I fight to make it do what I want. I do this so that 

I won’t miss getting the prize myself after

 telling others about it.

back to the summer mission trip 2018: after Burney falls I doubled back to Redding..stopping at the McDonalds in the town of Burney..nice little town.. after a night in Redding I went south on the 5  thru Red Bluff again, and turned inward westward near the Black Butte circling around it.. not much water there at the moment.. but then towards Stonyford I saw a herd of Buffalo.. and there's a reservoir there as well which is more of a recreation area...i said a special prayer as I passed thru "Devil's Elbow" ..and back towards the 5 ...

..i took 20 westward towards Clear SPrings Lake ...final destination for today or tomorrow is Fort Bragg ..where a relative lives.. my aunt Karen.. Clear Lake is nice.. looks like a good place for water sports..much smaller Blue Lakes is nice too .., and then there's Lake Mendocino ...

went to church in Fort Bragg..a presbyterian, and a lutheran church.. also drove past Aunt Karen's house..

12/20/18 5 days to CHRISTmas ! wow..so exciting.. are ya'll excited ? more to talk about ...stay tuned ! 
12/21/18 ...went to the Newport Beach Christmas Boat parade last night..always spectacular..but unless you are there, most people are not too intersted..even a video i post about it doesn't get much interest..most people probably think it's just a "rich thing" . Well, the big boats maybe spend $50,000 on decorating their boats..which is nothing if they can afford such a boat in the first place.., you can be jealous and scornful or you can appreciate the show they put on for us..i prefer to do the latter...some of them REALLY do put a LOT into this event..four days they do the same circle thru the harbor.. you can watch a video here (link pending) 

back to the summer mission trip..after a day or 2 in fort bragg including the "broken glass beach" i continued southward.. this is a really RURAL coastal area.. and I enjoyed a few hikes along the way, including the jughandle pygmy trail..which has some historic dwarfed trees ...and I stayed on PCH highway one towards San Francisco.. 

12/22/18 went to the Journey of Faith Christmas Concert last night.. they're in manhattan beach.. they put on a nice concert every year ...and today in a few hours is the Grace Community Christmas Concert.. in Sun Valley L.A... people may be familiar with Pastor John  MacArthur who is also on the radio.. i generally like his preaching too.. he's one of the few mega-church Calvinists around here..and Calvinism is largely misunderstood by many.. and it doesn't help that popular anti-Calvinist preachers keep perpetuating negative myths..trying to sound knowledgeable and authoritative, many of them are just wrong. 

Anyways, in the news lots of things happening... the federal govt just shut down.. not sure how long or if it will affect much of anything in our daily lives.. the mail will keep being delivered. 
some people around here are worried about whether Yosemite will remain open.. not sure.. hope they resolve it soon enough.. 

back to the summer mission trip.. my next exploration area is near Point Reyes , just north of san francisco..  i hiked a few trails...and went to the lighthouse..this is Marin County..it's farther than it looks to drive to the lighthouse..make sure you have enough gas.. surprise they don't warn people.. nice view from lighthouse.. pretty epic walk up & down a long stairways to get to the actual lighthouse and back.. sorry no elevator....how come I can take big long hikes and enjoy them as a challenge but then dislike relatively small hikes up these types of steps and even at shopping malls.. I prefer the escalators..

i've hiked Marin County previously.. including the Mt Tam area.. and of course the wildly popular Muir Woods trails ..wow, this time i just drove past and it was unbelievably crowded...it's like ALL the big parks and monuments have become OVER-the-TOP popular, and mostly, I've noticed with tourists from other countries.. it's crazy. 

this time around , the BIG HIKE i did, for the first time, was to Alamere Falls   on the Palomarin Trail .. this is also a crazy popular trail.. I managed to avoid the masses of "city hikers" (ie those who do NOT hike on a regular basis but come from the city with all the bad habits ...including carrying "stereos" that they play aloud.., another one carried his boa constrictor around his neck.. ).. i started at daylight and didn't see a soul the whole way, thank God, but saw ALL of them on the way out.. crazy .. 

12/26/18 ...WOW it's already the day after Christmas.. haven't checked in for four days.. hope ALL of you had a wonderful Christmas day..this is actually now the 2nd day of Christmas ...if you believe in the "12 days of Christmas" .. I hope to write some more here later today..

12/27 The third day of Christmas already..going fast..I hiked yesterday & today to get the day going.. then back to work ..online evangelism..& a bit of street evangelism.. , also went "bareback" swimming (or bodysurfing to be exact) yesterday at Malaga Cove.. big waves for the last 2 weeks..much bigger than usual for this area. .. , and finishing up some of the "Christmas images" I post with evangelism.., there's a lot of "casual Christmas" observers.. who even go to church on Christmas day or eve.. and do all the Christmas things.. giving gifts, Xmas tree, etc..maybe even have a Bible around the house somewhere..but they are NOT giving it 100% for the Kingdom.. , it's become too easy to be a casual Christian.."no sweat" so to speak.. , maybe this is why I keep myself living "on the edge" to a certain extent.. I don't want to acquiesce to becoming a "casual cultural Christian" .. it's too easy.. let's KEEP IT REAL folks ! 

now I'm gearing up for the Rose Parade...which I always photograph and videograph as another way of reaching out to people with the Good News of Our Savior Jesus Christ.. , you can see my Rose Parade blog here

12/28  ...GOOD morning.. 

12/