Part Four in the Series Hang with me when I ask this question, What do you think went through God’s mind on the first seventh day after creation? Read Genesis 2:1-3: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had…
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RHYTHM: Remember Part Three in the Series I’m a list-maker, always have been. If I don’t write something down, I tend to forget it. The most-used app on my phone is one that contains daily to-do lists. If I know I need to make a call today, purchase a birthday gift tomorrow, send a friend…
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RHYTHM: Cease PART TWO IN THE SERIES Last month we introduced the 2023 retreat theme of RHYTHM and underscored several key points: We also debuted an important equation: R = 6 + 1 where Rhythm equals how we live 7 days per week. From the Bible to new articles in social sciences, healthy people tend…
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(PART ONE IN THE SERIES) Each year Altar introduces a theme for its retreats and guidebooks, intending to hit the relevant and core needs, hopes, challenges, and desires of people–no matter their background or platform. In 2022, we focused on building a resilient life. This year we will focus on RHYTHM and why this may…
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Before you continue reading, please take 60 seconds to watch this video. What did you feel or sense as you watched the video on the unforced rhythms of grace? Seriously, what did you experience watching this video? Welcome to Altar Fly Fishing’s 2023 theme of Rhythm. This year we will learn to read the water…
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One of my favorite lines about fly fishing is a quote from John Buchan. He wrote, The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. Every time I cast a fly onto the surface of a stream, it is another in…
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Over the years I have read many articles about the power of the outdoors, nature (creation), and/or fly fishing from prominent papers and magazines like Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, and most recently, Fast Company. I am always surprised by the impact these articles have on people when I thought the information was common…
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My favorite trout stream is in northern Michigan. It’s not the most famous trout water in the state—it probably wouldn’t even make a top-ten list. But it’s the stream I learned to fly fish on many years ago, and one I have faithfully fished ever since. With those years have come a familiarity. I know…
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As I write this, the first day of August, I considered the mindset that I too often fall into… rushing ahead as if we were already there. From back when I was in school, the Fourth of July was a waypoint marking that summer was half over. Dread! And somehow, while still in the middle…
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This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16) As I sit at a Colorado lodge after just ending our Soul of a Pastor Retreat and preparing…
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