Evil men must not be allowed to persist in their evils…they are a blight upon the land.”
–Louis L’Amour (Brionne)
“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”
–2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NKJV)
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What in the world is going on? That may be the question on your lips. In some places, mass hysteria–“we’re all gonna die.” Stay home, don’t go out. No groups of ten or more, and in some places no groups at all. I remember hearing of Moscow during the Cold War. Moscow was one of the largest cities in the world, but few people could own a phone. The phonebook fit the size of a town of 8,000. However, on the other side, almost everyone had a television. Was that to appease the masses, to keep them entertained? No, it was for control! Stop the communication, don’t let people get together so they can’t plan. However, feed them propaganda, keep their minds from the truth. Is that part of what is happening today, in this hour?
What is this–communist USA–where churches cannot meet? Where there are restrictions of how many can enter a store? Who and where people can go? Is “shelter-in-place” the politically correct term for martial law? I have always been one who does not believe in large scale conspiracies, but now I’m beginning to wonder. But in one sense, I believe in the spirit of antichrist and that there is a satanic agenda and conspiracy out there, is what is happening now part of it? I would say most definitely.
We are living in the “last days.” But didn’t Paul believe he was living in the last days? Absolutely! The last days began with the ascension of Jesus to His Father’s side. Every believer, of every time, should believe that they are living in the last days and they would be right. The last days, sometimes called the “Church Age” or the “Time of the Gentiles,” is upon us and will be until the Rapture of the Church. One thing for sure today is certainly closer to the Rapture than Paul was, yet he was expecting it.
One of the signs of the “last days” is that people will scoff. They will laugh at such a notion of the Rapture. Many in the church will not believe. They will say it is but a myth. They are simply fulfilling prophecy of the last days. People no longer want sound doctrine and much prefer a church that will appease their vanity. Again, a fulfillment of prophecy about the “last days.”
Paul wrote to Timothy telling him to “guard”: “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” (1 Timothy 6:20, NKJV) Don’t listen to the babblings today, and if you watch much of the news, that’s what it is – “babblings.” Don’t heed the lies, the things that contradict the eternal Word of God. Guard what was placed in your trust, make sure your children know the truth. Be ready, for that “Day” is at hand.
Month: April 2020
The Saga of Miles Forrest
Did you show Abrams this telegram?” I barked at Fitzer.
“Well, uh, uh, not exactly,” he stammered.
“Not exactly! Now what does that mean?”
He was visibly sweating, his eyes went to the barrel of the Greener even though I hadn’t threatened him with it. “I told him what it said,” he murmured weakly.
“And?”
“He just said he thought he’d ride out to meet him,” replied Fitzer.
Now I did slam the Greener down on the counter and when it smacked I thought he was going to jump out of his britches. “How far?”
“Oh, from when I received the telegram, probably two hours,” he said meekly.
“When did Abrams leave?
His eyes now darting from mine to the barrels of the shotgun. “Close to fifteen minutes ago.”
“Listen you little weasel, I’m goin’ to see that you’re in a cell so deep in Canon City that they’ll never find you!” I exclaimed then rushed out toward the livery.
Without a glance at the hostler I had my horse saddled and ready to mount in a few minutes. There was no time to lose. I rode out from the livery when I saw Cora. Reining in next to where she was standing, I leaned down toward her. “Cora, tell Marshal Blasco that I’m ridin’ to catch Abrams. Now! Pronto!”
I spurred my horse harder than usual since he was a strange mount to me. Riding hard down those tracks I was wishing that I was on either Hawk or Star. I trusted their eyesight, this one, I just had to pray, ride, and hold on. I knew I couldn’t keep up this pace, so I slowed to a trot. I didn’t figure that Abrams would be pushing his horse any. It didn’t matter to him when he came up to Martin.
Since I had rode hard at the beginning I reckoned I was only minutes behind him. There was an outcropping of rocks ahead where the tracks started to make a bend. It was there I heard the shots. I slowed down as I neared the rocks then dismounted tying the reins to a bush. As quietly as possible I walked around the rock. I heard conversation, but could make nothing out of what was being said.
There was a man, over between two rocks. If he wasn’t dead he was close to it. I saw movement off to my left, saw Abrams and another man slowly moving from cover toward the man.
“Stop right there!” I ordered “You’re under arrest for the murder of a U.S. Marshal.”
As I stepped toward them, I felt the sting along my neck, then heard the sound of the shot. I cut loose with both barrels of the Greener, dropped then rolled to my left. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I muttered. Fool tenderfoot stunt. Looking in front of me I saw that Abrams and the other man was down. There was no movement. I knew that off to my left and behind me was at least one more man, maybe more.
There was a wetness and I reached up to feel blood on my collar. That was a close one. It wasn’t going to do me any good to lay here so that he could get a better position. I started to move when I heard the shot….
* * * *
He tipped his hat when he came in the restaurant. Walking toward where Molly was sitting, he was looking around. “Looks like, Mrs. Forrest, that I’m going to have to shut you down,” said Marshal McCall calmly.
“What you mean, shut us down?” shouted Marta who had heard him from the kitchen door.
McCall nodded at her and smiled. “This establishment does not meet the safety requirements as stated in the city ordinances.”
“McCall, what is it that you’re after?” asked Molly, now standing.
His grin increased, showing his teeth then he shrugged. “Oh, a thing or two, but we’ll start with twenty-five dollars a month protection fee.”
“Get out!” yelled Marta coming toward McCall with a meat cleaver in her hand.
Pulling his gun, he pointed it at her. “I’d hate to shoot a woman, but you take one more step and I’ll shoot.”
“Marta!” thundered Molly. “Stop! Go get Charlie!”
She rushed out, McCall holstered his gun, smiled again. “Good, I’d much rather negotiate with you…”
Echoes From the Campfire
Son, always listen to the crazy old men. Mostly it’s just geezer gas, but ever now and then, they’ll drop a pearl on you. Be ready to ketch it.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Hickory Jack)
“The Lord said, ‘It is because they abandoned My instruction that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it.'”
–Jeremiah 9:13 (HCSB)
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“Though they lead o’er the cold, dark mountains, seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam’s fountains, helping the weak.
Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus where’re they go.”
–Mary Slade
Are you quivering with fear, afraid to venture out or take another step? Because use of this virus, many are. Take time to meditate on this portion of Psalm 37. These Scriptures should give us hope and build our faith. The Lord is interested and involved in every aspect of your life. What are your plans for the day? Have you involved God in them, asked Him about them? In another version, the second part of verse 23 states, “He delights in every detail of your lives.” If you’re in a quandary about what to do–ask Him. Take a step for they will be guided by the Lord.
23 – A man’s steps are established by the Lord, and He takes pleasure in his way.
24 – Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord holds his hand.
Perhaps these next verses mean more to me now than before. I saw it in action with several of the godly people I saw in the church as I was growing up, but now I know it firsthand. I can say with complete assurance, the Lord has always been with me. What are the words of that relatively new song, “He’s a good, good Father”? Annie and I have been in places where we’ve had little and we’ve had times where we’ve had more than enough. There have been times when we’ve eaten steak, and there have been times when we’ve had the pinto beans, but we’ve never gone hungry. Living on Social Security, we do not look for the government to provide, we look to the Lord. He knows how to stretch a dollar, and knows where, when, and how we should spend. The Lord is good, and He is faithful.
My children are now serving the Lord, the greatest satisfaction a father could have. They are following the steps that the Lord have established for them, as are the grandchildren. Surely, the Lord is good.
25 – I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging for bread.
26 – He is always generous, always lending, and his children are a blessing.
Verses 27-29, are true to an extent in this life, but the truth of them extend on into eternity. There will be a day, a second death, for the wicked, for those who reject Christ. However, the godly will walk in His way and will inherit, not only the land, but eternal life.
27 – Turn away from evil and do what is good, and dwell there forever.
28 – For the Lord loves justice and will not abandon His faithful ones. They are kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.
29 – The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it permanently. (HCSB)
There is a requirement–“turn away from evil.” The Lord will never leave or forsake the godly; it is their steps that He will guide and establish. The godly will inherit the land. Do you sometimes feel lost, then do an inventory of your life, turn away from evil and back to the Lord. Get back into the Word, and then take a step–it will be guided and established by the Lord. And let me add, this is worship–worship with the will. Don’t be afraid of getting lost. “The godly man is not left in the trackless forest without a guide, or doomed to struggle in the darkness without a kindly light; he is not orphaned in the world without a loving hand to aid. His Father, unseen but not unknown, has prepared the path and somehow guides the steps of those who commit their way to him”. (James Hastings)
Coffee Percs
He drank his coffee black. The heat of it jolted him a little, it pulled him out of a deep hole.”
–Ernest Haycox (Trouble Shooter)
Turned a little chilly, so get yurself inside this house. The coffee’s hot, be careful yuh don’t burn yur tongue. Just sip it easy and slow. Yuh feelin’ haggard from bein’ all cooped up ’cause of this ol’ virus. It reminds me of that winter up near Chugwater where my ol’ pardner Miles spent the time in a lineshack. Oftentimes he was in there by his lonesome, couldn’t get out for the blizzard was sweepin’ through and the wolves were at his door a-howlin’, but that’s another story.
What’s that? What was Jesus doin’ the Saturday after the crucifixion? Well, that crucifixion was a horrible thing, I reckon He just laid there relaxin’ from all the loss of blood and turmoil. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make yuh snort yur coffee. I just said that to get yur attention. I can tell yuh for a fact what He was doin’. Now don’t look so surpised, He was doin’ what He always did–He went about His Father’s business.
Now as for specifics, that I can’t help yuh with for it was all done in the spirit realm. There’s plenty of conjectures and speculations. Since He was dead, I would imagine He would go to the place of the dead; call it Sheol, Hades, or Hell. There were many there waitin’ for Him to come. I wondered who greeted Him first? Perhaps His ol’ friend Abraham. Hmmm, now don’t spill yur coffee a second time; but since He was loaded with sin, did He have to go to the tormented side first, shed all that sin off take the keys then unlock the celldoor for those in the Paradise side to go to their home in heaven?
We don’t know, the Lord has good reason for us not to know and not to see in the spirit realm. Ha, why pard, we have a hard time dealin’ with life here on earth, just yuh look at all the foolishness goin’ on. Some of us can’t even drink coffee without spillin’ it, an’ a certain someone will forget to check their cinch from time to time.
Vaya con Dios, Pard,