119: Pastor Richard Dahlstrom: His faith was renewed while hiking in the Alps. Now an inspirational Pastor at Bethany Church in Seattle. Big believer of taking care of yourself so you can help others.. The role of life: Service, Pilgrimage, Hospitality, Truth-telling and Generosity..
Pastor Richard Dahlstrom
How exactly did Pastor Richard Dahlstrom develop a love of the mountains? Pastor Richard Dahlstrom grew up right outside of Yosemite in Fresno, California. When he was young, his father experienced severe pneumonia and bronchitis, ultimately taking his life at only 53-years-old. By the time Richard’s father was 40, he had really weak lungs, even after being athletic in his youth and never being a smoker. When he was living, he struggled to elevate beyond 3000 feet without breathing complications. After losing his dad when Richard was only 17, self-care and connecting to the outdoors became even more crucial to him.
On this episode of Finding Your Summit Podcast, we talk with Pastor Richard Dahlstrom, Senior Pastor at Bethany Community Church, Author of “The Colors of Hope,” “The Map is not the Journey,” “Breathing New Life into Faith,” and Torchbearer Bible Teacher for Timberline Ministries. In fact, “The Map is not the Journey” is about Richard and his wife of 40 years hiking through The Alps for 40 days. He met his wife in a speech class after he relocated to Seattle to study music. “Hiking, rock climbing, and mountaineering are the best teachers of what it means to live a whole life. I really feel like when I’m out there I am learning lessons that can’t be learned anywhere else.”
What You Will Learn:
“My wife and I we started a program, and the best way to describe it would be a blend of bible school and outward bound, where we were integrating bible teaching with rock climbing.” They continued to do this for six years and it just clarified for Pastor Richard Dahlstrom the importance of getting out in the world and directly encountering what God has to say to them through creation and not just by studying text.
“When God made us, He made us as whole people. We are not just brains. We are not just spirit. We are spirits and we have souls, like a mind and an emotional being and we have a body, and all of those things work together as an ecosystem.” By ignoring the maintenance of either the mind, emotions, or the body, all the others may suffer. We can’t be any good to others if our body is in poor shape. His dad’s death really weighed in on the priority he takes in his health and making the most of each moment.
“As a pastor, I go, ‘man, both the Jewish tradition and the Christian tradition are filled with passages in the bible that say, ‘we are learning the goodness of God and the glory of God through creation.’ So, that everytime I’m taking a breath it’s gratitude.” He discusses how he has witnessed people skiing that are surrounded by the beauty of nature that God created for us to enjoy. But they were too busy arguing or cursing to allow their spirit to be moved by the experience.
Pastor Richard Dahlstrom talks about self-care and how he incorporates it into his teachings. “I believe that we are designed to live our life out from a full cup. So, if I have a full cup, and I see you by the side of the road and you are thirsty, then I have the resources to say, ‘Hey Mark, come over here man. There is plenty in my cup. Let me share with you.’ That whole mindset, it creates a mentality of abundance where I go, ‘there is not just enough, there is more than enough.’” In order to live with a full cup with the ability to share requires that we have to live with a full cup emotionally, bodily, and spiritually.
Richard and Mark discuss how they have followed the Everest tragedies that have occurred in 2019. Mark shares a personal story of someone he knew that lost fingers and toes, and then eventually died on Mount Everest. Pastor Richard Dahlstrom addresses the importance of being prepared for challenging tasks, but also having the willingness to back away and recognize when you are in over your head and not letting pride and ego force you to forge onward into a dangerous situation.
Becoming a Preacher
Pastor Richard Dahlstrom talks about how he got reacquainted with God on a ski retreat after letting the words of a motivational speaker sink in. The speaker’s theme for the weekend was Knowing God. “He said, ‘I’m just here to tell you guys that none of you are ever going to live the life for which you created unless you make knowing God a central goal.” At this point in Richard’s life, he had stepped away from God, and this speech left a strong enough impression that he enrolled in Alaska Bible College and started helping other people get to know God.
Have Flexible Goals
Richard Dahlstrom believes that it is important to not just have goals but to have goals that are flexible enough to adjust and adapt when need be to ensure that you evolve and change towards being where you are most needed. He was preaching to a small group in the mountains and was told by a guy he met in India who was from Seattle that he should go apply to a big church in Seattle. Pastor Richard Dahlstrom reluctantly did so and was hired by a unanimous vote. In hindsight, Richard believes that moving to Seattle to preach was the best decision he and his wife have made together.
Links to Additional Resources:
- Pastor Richard Dahlstrom: Linkedin Twitter
- Bethany Community Church: churchbcc.org
- Laird Superfood – Code: Markp20 [Sponsor]
- Cascade Mountain Tech [Sponsor]
Want to Advertise/Sponsor The Podcast?
Please contact Mark if you are interested in working together and sponsoring the Finding Your Summit podcast.