Riders For Christ

Riders For Christ trail riding fellowship is open to anyone interested in seeking after the heart of God through equestrian and outdoor adventure. This is going to be a great time for exploring your faith in an equestrian/country environment.
     Horse owners are invited to bring your horses out to the ranch for our trail ride and campfire worship at the R4C Ranch retreat. For non-horse owners/riders, we will have a hay ride shuttle back to the retreat. We are also planning a Fall campout and trail ride at Rockhaven on Clinton Lake.

     We will be planning our first trail ride and campfire worship as the weather turns more favorable. If you are interested, send an email to r4c_ranch@ Yahoo.com and ask to be put on the Riders For Christ mailing list. This list will be compiled for activity announcements only.

The Message of the Arrows - Week Three

Jan. 30th-Feb 6th Read Chapter 3 of the Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God, by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. If you haven't done so yet, go back and answer the discussion questions for Chapter 2 by commenting to the Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Post: "The Great Mystery - Discussion Questions Week Two."

For those of you following along on Facebook, you can take part in the discussion by posting comments to the threads at http://r4c-ridersforchrist.blogspot.com

The Great Mystery - Discussion Questions Week Two

1. Do you remember the first time you got a glimpse of the revelation of this Great Mystery described in Chapter 2? Describe the place and time you first remember 'knowing' you were part of something you could not fully comprehend and felt it pulling at your heart.

2. Do you let the Great Mystery touch your heart or have you been hiding from it? Sometimes this tug at our hearts makes us feel unfulfilled, alone, or insignificant in the world because we long for a deeper connection to it that easily escapes us. What ways have you tried to hide the calling or mask the emptiness that this yearning can sometimes bring?

3. Think about it. . . when was the last time you felt the calling and stopped to listen? How did it make you feel?

I made it!

Well, it has been a little challenging getting organized this week. But here I am at last. I will get caught up this week, and have something to add.

Drawing Closer to the Heart of God - Week Two

Jan. 22th-29th Read Chapter 2 of the Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God, by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. If you haven't done so yet, go back and answer the discussion questions for Chapter 1 by commenting to the January 20th post, "In Touch-- Week One Exercises."

Hope you will join us for this journey of the heart.

The Great Mystery

There is something about working in the garden that makes me feel close to God. Maybe because it is so close to our true beginnings and so far away from anything man-made. Having your hands in the dirt and working with the soil is one of the most soothing things I have experienced. And what an amazing thing to put a little seed in the dirt and watch it over the weeks as something alive emmerges. And in a great year, watching the abundance flow out of that garden that started with just your hands in the soil and a tiny seed.

God speaks to us in several ways; through the bible, biblical teaching, and through what happens to us. When we listen with patience, faith, and hope and our hearts and minds open we can discern the guidance, comfort, and joy he shares with us. God also speaks to us through his creation, "Speak to the earth and it will teach you," Job 12:7-10. However, communication is a two way street. God can be sending a message that falls on deaf ears or that we are too busy to hear or too wrapped up in our own agenda to stop and listen. God talks about people in the bible who have hardened their heart. They no longer pay attention to God's messaging to them or to his prompting in their heart.

Maybe that is what happens in the garden. I slow down long enough to listen. You can move through the day in one of two ways. You can experience everything that happens to you on the surface, checking off one task at a time from sun up to sun down and never contemplating why or who or what; ignoring any tugs at your heart by something too great to fully comprehend. Or you can open your heart and hear God's direction all along the way. Have you lost touch with your inner story? That deep place inside which is most deeply yours that no one else can touch. Just you and the Lord.

Why do we ignore it? Why do we try to run from it or medicate it? Is it because the story not only contains mystery and magic but angst as well? "It woos us with romance and stalks us with fear."

Do you know what I am talking about? Were you able to connect with this chapter, Chapter 2 in "The Sacred Romance?" If you did, do you remember the first time you got a glimpse of the revelation of this Great Mystery -- this magical connection with something greater than yourself, something greater than your parents, than your whole family and neighborhood.

"Even in your hobbies there is something that secretly attracts you to it that others are curiously ignorant about. Something not to be completely identified with but always on the verge of revealing itself." Reminds me of when God told Moses he would allow his glory to pass by him, but he could not look at his face or he would surely die. Does God's glory pass by me in the garden as he prepares to turn those seeds into abundant fruit?

Do you let the Great Mystery touch your heart or have you been hiding? This study is asking you, giving you the permission to open up your heart again and let the Great Mystery touch your life. It is about waking up something inside of you that was revealed to you in your childhood -- something inside that wants to connect with this Great Mystery again. Something that may have been shut down with all the "shoulds" and obligations you have in this life you built. Think about it. . . when was the last time you felt the calling and stopped to listen?

Passion for Health

If you have a passion for health then you are probably taking a close look at what goes in your mouth these days. Along with three, light, well-balanced meals you need two to three 100 calorie snacks to keep you going throughout the day. You may think because that bag of mini-Oreos says "Only 100 calories" that it is a good choice but although it meets the 100 calorie limit, it is 100 empty calories your body just doesn't need. Instead choose a combo snack that not only satisifies the sweet tooth but packs nutrition into each calorie.

David Zinczenko lists a Snack Matrix in his book, "Eat This, Not That." Matching a healthy base with a tasty topper not only satisfies your pallet but adds fiber, protein, and Healthy fats to your diet. Here are few to try from his list (page 178-179):

1 Medium apple with 1.5 oz of Mozzeralla cheese
1 Medium apple with 1 square of dark chocolate (YUM!)
Baby Carrots (as many as you want) and 2 ounces of Guacamole
Celery Sticks (as many as you want) and 1 Tbsp of Peanut butter
Whoe Wheat crackers (5 each) and 1/4 cup of cottage cheese

Post your favorite nutritious 100 calories snacks as a comment to this blog post. The more ideas we have the better chance we have of reaching for something good to put in our mouth.


Click through the above link if you decide to purchase David's book, or on your future orders of any book at Amazon.com, and a portion of your purchase immediately following your click through will go to Riders For Christ at R4C Ranch.

In Touch - Week One Exercises

"For what shall we do when we wake one day to find that we have lost touch with our heart and with the very refuge where God's presence resides (John Eldredge/Brent Curtis in Sacred Romance)."

Take a few moments and think about the enemies of your heart. What is it that currently keeps you from being in touch with your heart? When you have thought about it sufficiently, then complete this exercise.

1. List the things you thought about in the question above.
2. For each thing you've listed, what is the immediate purpose of that activity?
3. For each thing you've listed, what is the over-arching purpose?

After considering your answers mark each thing on the list with an A or a B.
A = stop the task because your heart isn't in it.
B = rethink the task and renew your heart in it.

For example, one of the things that can make me lose touch with my heart is laundry. It is such a mundane routine task that I feel never gets accomplished or appreciated. Here is my list.

1. Laundry. It's purpose is to clean the clothes. It's overarching purpose is to take care of God's provisions for me, the clothes and the people who wear them.

After considering these answers I give this task a B. I am much more joyful doing the laundry knowing that I have such a worthy over-arching purpose in completely the task and even if the kids don't seem to appreciate it, I know that God does.

The exercises we will be doing in this study are excellent material for a personal journal. Complete each exercise in your journal and then share you insights with us on the Riders For Christ blog.

In this study, "we will be exploring the hidden questions of our hearts, born out of the stories of our lives. In the process of God's resurrection of our heart we will discover our soul's deepest longing and receive an invitation to embrace it as the most important part of our lives.

Discover how God has been speaking to us through our heart all along. This pilgramage will bring us toward a destination that was set within all of our hearts, which in some way we have known, longed for, and have been haunted by since we were children."

Drawing Closer to the Heart of God - Week One

Jan. 15th-21st Read Chapter 1 of the Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God, by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis.

Hope you will join us for a journey of the Heart.

Heart From God

"A life without heart is not worth living (Curtis/Eldredge)."

-From the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 15:18)
-Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deut 6:5)
-Lay up his words in your heart. (Job 22:22)

Even before the first kick or flutter felt in the womb, new parents hear the heartbeat of their growing baby. The first signs of life on an early sonogram are the pictures of the heart pumping inside a tiny shadow resembling a tiny seahorse. Before God puts air into our lungs, he puts the beat in our heart. Is it any wonder that our dreams and passions and ability to love are so connected to our heart?

The life of our heart, our inner life, is the life of the deep places within us. Our passions and dreams, our fears and our deepest wounds reside there. Is it any wonder that the bible says that God will judge our heart? God cherishes those who seek after God's own heart.

"There is a rousing longing deep within our heart, wakening a yearning for intimacy, beauty, and adventure (Curtis/Eldredge)."

This is the most powerful part of our human existence because God designed it within us. The design of our heart was the beacon that would lead us back to him. Our heart's desires keep us on a search for meaning, wholeness, and a sense of being alive. The passion of our life is the voice of God calling us and leading us back to him.

Of course, Satan will use those desires to distract us, to confuse us, and to tempt us to keep us off our path back to God. But God sent us a savior to redeem the life of our wayward hearts, to give us direction and hope. Christ is a beacon of light to follow back to God.

The journey of the heart-- is our road back to God. Jesus came to show us the way, to redeem the inner life of our heart, to keep our passions and desires pure so that we can live the abundant life of beauty, intimacy, and adventure with God.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind. Do this and you will live! (Luke 10:26-28).

For more about the journey of the heart read, "The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God" by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge.