Magnificent Hope Celebrates Father's Day in Colorado

Hi! Dianne E. Butts here again. Magnificent Hope surprised us again when she attended church with my husband and me in Lamar, Colorado. She heard my husband, Hal, had been asked to fill in on Father’s Day for the Pastor (who was out of town to perform a wedding of one of our church’s kids!)

Hal preached on a timeless “father’s” story Jesus told: the Prodigal Son. Hal talked about how the Father in the story, whose son left and squandered all his money, ran to welcome his son back home when he saw him off in the distance coming down the road, and that’s how God welcomes each of us home when we decide to return to Him.

Hal also talked about how, when we see Jesus coming on the clouds, riding a white horse, at His second coming, He will have His arms straight out, palms out, nail prints in His hands and feet showing, ready to embrace us, and He will say, “It’s time, children. Come on home!”

Oh my. What a sight He will be! Hope and I talked about whether that day is very far off. Seems like a lot is going on in our world today, and that’s why people need hope. And that’s why Magnificent Hope is on tour, taking magnificent hope in Jesus to people everywhere.

Hal and I rode our motorcycles to the church in Lamar where we used to live. It’s a two and a half hour ride…one way. The ride home was in wind and 100+ degree heat. Magnificent Hope decided not to ride with us under those conditions. (I think she feared she might spontaneously combust.) So she headed off to visit the next author on her Hope Tour at her next destination. We asked where that was, but she wouldn’t reveal that top secret information.

Meanwhile, Hal and I soaked our skill caps in water for a little air conditioning on the road. We got home safely, and spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in air conditioning and sucking down H2O!

So long, Hope! See you next time.

Bio: Dianne E. Butts and Renee Gray-Wilburn co-authored Grandparenting through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Obstacles to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ, releasing from Pix-N-Pens Publishing in August 2012. The Choice film was inspired by a true story in Dianne’s latest book, Deliver Me: Hope, Help, & Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy, a finalist for the 2012 Golden Scroll Nonfiction Book of the Year and a “Book of the Year” award-winner at Christian Small Publishers Association. Dianne writes frequently for print magazines, www.FindingGodDaily.com , www.ThinkingAboutSuicide.com, and www.TheChristianPulse.com.

Read more about Magnificent Hope's Journey:

• Book Signings Aren't Just for Selling Books
• Books of Hope Contest Finalists Announced
• Tips to Help You Win Writing Contests
• Christmas Book Writing Contest
• Two New Writing Contests Announced
• Future Writers: Passing the Mantel
• Week 5: Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? CONTEST
• Dreams Can Come True by Ruth O'Neil
• Week 4: Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? CONTEST
• A Special Treat from Jennifer Fromke (and a huge hint for the Week 2 photo!)
• Week 3: Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? Pays Respect
• Magnificent Hope Encounters Dianne E. Butts at the CCWC
• Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? Contest - Week 2
• Magnificent Hope Arrives at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference with Elsi Dodge
• Magnificent Hope visits a Recording Studio with Zillah Williams
• Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? Contest - Week 1
• Books of Hope Manuscript Contest Announced
• Rides motorcycles with Dianne E. Butts

• The Shrimp Festival with Annie Keys

• The Power of a Book at the Healing Hands Youth Ranch with Tim and Tracy Ruckman

Hope Tour 2012: Biker Chick for a Day

Magnificent Hope made her way to Colorado after leaving Amelia Island, and rode with Dianne E. Butts on her motorcycle on the Christian Motorcyclists Association’s annual “Run for the Son.”

Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) is an interdenominational motorcycle ministry aimed at telling motorcycle enthusiasts and others along the highways and byways about hope and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Every year on the first Saturday in May, the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) has its one and only fundraiser for the year. In the biker world, a ride is called a “run,” and the “Run for the Son” raises money for Christian missions.

Last year in 2011, Run for the Son raised over $3.7 million. The money is divided between four Christian evangelism organizations:

• 40% stays here in the United States to be used by CMA for missions, which includes printing Christian tracts and other materials to give away to bikers and those we meet when we ride. It also helps fund CMA’s work at biker rallies like in Sturgis, South Dakota, in August, the Daytona rally in Florida in March, and many, many other biker events across the nation throughout the year.
• 20% is given to the Jesus Film project, which takes the story of Jesus to people all over the word in their own language;
• 20% goes to Brother Andrew’s Open Doors ministry, which provides Bibles to people in countries where access to them is restricted;
• 20% is used by Missionary Ventures to give transportation (usually a motorcycle) to Christian Pastors in faraway lands who Pastor multiple churches but have no other transportation to get to them. CMA has also provided boats and a horse.

For Run for the Son, bikers ask friends to sponsor them for a 100 mile ride. On Saturday Magnificent Hope rode with Dianne to Westcliffe, Colorado, and met many of Dianne’s biker friends and members of Dianne’s chapter, El Shaddai Warriors.

Those are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. Hope knows a little Spanish, so she knows that in Spanish “sangre de Cristo” means the “blood of Christ.” Dianne’s friend explained that in the light of the morning sunrise, often the mountains appear red, reminding us of the blood Jesus Christ shed to pay for our sins, which is the magnificent hope we have in Christ.

Hope thought the view of the Sangres from Westcliffe was an absolutely magnificent sight!  The locals can tell you the names of all those “fourteeners” (mountain peaks that reach above 14,000 feet elevation above sea level). (Dianne was sorry they didn’t get her motorcycle in the photo!)

That’s Dianne’s husband, Hal. He rides a 2002 Harley Ultra. Dianne rides a 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan.

Together, Dianne and Hope raised $140.75 for Run for the Son (but Dianne gets the t-shirt). According to the mission organizations that get the money, for every $3 raised, one person comes to salvation in Jesus Christ.

[ED. NOTE: That's almost 47 people, in case you wondered! What a worthy cause - Dianne, thanks so much for sharing it with us. I wanna bike!!]

Bio: Dianne E. Butts’ book co-authored with Renee Gray-Wilburn is Grandparenting through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Obstacles to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ, releasing from Pix-N-Pens Publishing in August 2012. Dianne’s latest book, Deliver Me: Hope, Help, & Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy just won a “Book of the Year” award from Christian Small Publishers Association. Dianne writes frequently for print magazines, www.FindingGodDaily.com and www.TheChristianPulse.com.

Be sure to check back Friday for the first installment of  "Where in the World is Magnificent Hope?" - and your first opportunity to enter our Magnificent Hope contest for your chance to win!

<< Magnificent Hope's Previous Stop

The Beginning of Hope Tour 2012

Read more about Magnificent Hope's Journey:

Magnificent Hope Encounters Dianne E. Butts at the CCWC

Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? Contest - Week 2

Magnificent Hope Arrives at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference with Elsi Dodge

Magnificent Hope visits a Recording Studio with Zillah Williams

Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? Contest - Week 1

Rides motorcycles with Dianne E. Butts

Attends the Shrimp Festival with Annie Keys

Learns the Power of a Book at the Healing Hands Youth Ranch with Tim and Tracy Ruckman

Hope Tour: Colorado

Only 17 days left in the Hope Tour 2012 Kickstarter campaign! Be sure to drop by our page, make a pledge, and get involved!

During the campaign, we're going to feature many of the towns on our tour. We're giving away a fun Hope Tour Gift Basket, so be sure to answer our questions for your chance to win!

After Rochester, we'll make our way through South Dakota (I can't go that far without a visit to the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, can I?) then onto Colorado where we'll visit several towns and many authors along the way. Among the authors we'll be meeting, greeting, and having some fun with include: Elsi Dodge, Michael Lee Joshua, Debra Ullrick, Renee Gray-Wilburn, and Dianne E. Butts. While we're in Colorado Springs, we'll also pop in at Kristine Pratt's awesome new bookstore The Written World. And I'm hoping we'll also be able to meet with many of the members of the ACFW Colorado group, too! Colorado is sure to be our busiest state yet!


We have some exciting news to share with you about some of the authors we'll meet in Colorado - but that will have to wait a few more weeks. Stay Tuned!

Now we need to hear from Colorado residents. Leave your answers in the comments below for a chance to win a special Hope Tour gift basket.

1) Who is your favorite local author and what does he/she write?

2) What ONE restaurant would you recommend for our Best Bites on Tour book? Remember, we don't want fancy-schmancy - just good food and hopefully a fun atmosphere, too. Be sure to tell us what kind of food it is, too.

3) What's ONE thing in your town we should not miss when we get there? This can be something touristy, or something off the beaten path - but something that represents your town like nothing else. If we took photos there, folks would know it could only be from your town.

4) Name THREE fun facts about your town. We may use these in a later post, but it will also help us get acquainted with your area.


Leave your answers in the comments below, and be sure to provide us with your e-mail address so we can contact you if you're a winner.

Be sure to stay tuned for events planned in your area.

Thanks for your help.

Check the Kickstarter page for all the different reward levels and pledge your support! We could hold a party in your honor (S'mores, pizza, or wienie roast, anyone?) If we make our goal, Kickstarter collects the money and we go on tour. If we don't make our goal, you won't lose a penny!