Ken

According to the news, those of us who are privileged to live in Douglas County live in the healthiest county in the state of Colorado. Nearly every day, I see someone walking, running, riding a bike. Here's a tip: If you see me running, do me a favor and don’t call an ambulance. Call the police: I’m probably being chased. Rather than give workout tips, I'm more interested in the spiritual benefits of taking care of our physical bodies through exercise, good diet, and rest. Here's why: Our physical health and spiritual health are connected. We tend to think of our physical bodies as separate from our spiritual identity. How does God see things? In his eyes, they are connected. In a modern world, we may be tempted to see ourselves as simply machines. We certainly have machine-like qualities such as the ability to do math in our heads and…

Stewardship. To some, it's largely a religious word -- and often attached to money. Outside of finances, our culture doesn't talk much about the idea of stewardship. That's unfortunate. Why? Because it's a matter of two perspectives: Stewardship and ownership. Ownership is simple: If I own something, it belongs to me and not to you (unless we're co-owners). As the owner, I'm free to do whatever I want with it. Ownership can breed entitlement. This is mine, I bought it, you can't have it. Stewardship, on the other hand, is about managing someone else's resources. These resources -- or blessings -- have been given to me and I'm responsible for managing them well. For me, self-care is a matter of stewardship. I have been entrusted with one life. As much as I often think otherwise, my life is not my own. It is a gift, albeit a complex, often confusing…

My wife and I spent part of her fall break this year at the Great Sand Dunes National Park near Alamosa, CO. They are the tallest sand dunes in all of North America and they’re in Colorado! Some of the dunes are over 700 feet tall. The entire dune field itself is 30 square miles. From the base of the dunes, it's hard to tell which peaks are the tallest because of how far back they set. We picked a ridge lined with hikers and set out for what we believed to be the tallest dune. It wasn't. Not even close. It might have been the second tallest dune - still quite an accomplishment for someone about to turn fifty. Imagine walking up a steep incline made entirely of sand. But once you make it to the top, the view was worth every step. Later that day we went to…

It is June, 1944, and the largest military operation in history is about to begin. There are over 5,000 ships and 156,000 soldiers about to storm the beaches of Normandy, France. If you're familiar with history, then you know we're talking about D-Day. Not long before the start of the invasion, General Dwight Eisenhower wrote a letter addressed to the “Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.” In the letter, he described the grand purpose of their endeavor and the importance of their mission. It's what you would expect from a General who is about to send 156,000 people into harms' way. But it wasn't all that he wrote. He also didn’t want to mislead them: “Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.” Was Eisenhower trying to discourage his troops? Of course not! But…

You can be the world's worst dancer and still have good rhythm. While I'm not sure how one gets crowned "the world's worst dancer", I have learned a few things about rhythm. In fact, I've learned more about rhythm than I have dancing - which, in the eternal scheme of things, has been a more beneficial path to take. But to be honest, it has taken me over 25 years to get a good sense of rhythm. In musical terms, rhythm is the placing of sounds within the space of time, creating a discernible pattern. It forms the foundation upon which the music is able to build and flow. The rhythm I'm talking about has nothing to with musical talent, eye-hand coordination, or the ability to keep steady time on the drums. Ironically, you could be a fantastic bass player that holds the rhythm together for the rest of the…