Month: May 2026

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

We stand against the bad and give thanks for the good.”
                    –Lou Bradshaw  (Man With No Face)

          “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
                    –Ephesians 2:22 (NIV)
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I used the first verse of J. Edwin Orr’s great hymn earlier this week.  The hymn is so grand, I thought we would look at the complete song this morning.  Remember, that this verse comes almost directly from the heart of David where he writes in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (KJV)  David, a man with many failures, yet these two verses show why he was a man after God’s own heart.

          Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
          Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray:
          See if there be some wicked way in me:
          Cleanse me from ev’ry sin, and set me free.

How do we become pure?  Through the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross.  How do we remain pure?  By allowing and seeking His Word.  Having a humble and grateful heart, and longing to walk beside Him each and every day.

          I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin:
          Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within;
          Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame:
          Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

To have a pure heart there must be that longing for the Lord to have complete control over our lives.  Nothing held back!  He doesn’t want first place for that means there is always second place trying to take over.  He wants the whole heart.  He wants our minds, our thoughts, our desires, our passions–in other words all that is in us.  Oh, that we would have that deep desire to surrender all to Him and serve Him completely.
 
          Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine:
          Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;
          Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
          I now surrender:  Lord, in me abide.

We must let the Holy Spirit do His work within us.  People may call for revival, but true revival should be taking place continually in our hearts.  David most likely prayed those words in Psalm 139 many times.  Let us trust Him more, let our desires finally be given over to Him.  Let us then wall, step by step, together onward and upward to glory.  As we follow Him, as we trust Him, we will realize that He blesses us more and more and will most assuredly supply our every need.

          O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee:
          Send a revival–start the work in me:
          Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need:
          For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He had seen more men die from misplaced confidence than justified fear.”

                    –Ralph Vaughn  (Hell Comes to Paradise)

       “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
                    –Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
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       “Hold firmly to the message of life.  Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.” –Philippians 2:16(HCSB)

I want to reiterate what Gary Inrig said, “Much more that I want to admit, many Christians live, act, and choose as if God’s Word has never been written.”  More and more we need to grasp and engrave God’s Word on our minds and in our hearts.  However, instead, it seems that many, and I will call the pseudo-believers, think they can choose what they wish to believe.  It is almost like doing what is right in their own eyes with God’s approval.
     Evil, though always present, has become blatant in the marble halls of leadership.  Justice is becoming a mockery.   Then from the heights, the worm of sin’s infection is still found in the dark alleys and along the streets of our country.  Instead of compromising or becoming complacent it is a time in which we need to hold firmly to the message of life. Last week we looked at the principle that God is righteous.  A nation that forsakes the Lord, or lowers and compromises His standards, cannot hope to prosper in any ultimate sense.  This morning we turn to three more vital principles that we must keep in mind.
     Know this, whether you like it or not, God is sovereign.  He orders all the forces of nature and history in accordance with His own righteous will, thus working out His judgment upon the nations.  We may not understand it all, but He is in control.  God’s sovereignty remains unimpaired.  He is still on the throne.  Mockery from voices in leadership may come, but they do not daunt or thwart Him.  
     However, in His righteousness and justice He is still gracious and longsuffering.  He is patient despite man’s sins.  There is a constancy of a God who is always ready to hearken to the cries of His wayward people to intervene on their behalf.  Sodom could have been spared if there had been enough righteous in the city.  Perhaps America is spared because there are enough righteous people in the country.   But how much is “enough”?  How long before the Lord’s patience runs out?  These are questions that we do not know the answer to.  
     Therefore, in times like these in which we are living, the importance of faith is more and more important.  “Hold firmly to the message of life.”  Hold firmly to your faith, let it shine forth as a beacon to others–those who mock, and to those who are looking for help and guidance.  Our faith holds us firm, and it is in cooperation with the sovereign Lord.  Read the word, hold fast to the example and inspiration of those with faith within the pages of the holy writ.  Be like Daniel and those with him, where it declares that “the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” (11:32, NASB)   The King James has it this way, “but the people that DO KNOW their God shall be strong and do exploits.” (caps mine).  
     When man does what is right in his own eyes, chaos reigns, confusion abounds.  Civilized life is impossible when man has his own way and anarchy is on the way.  We are to be a standard-bearer in this time, for this is the day in which we live.  “We are to be agents of our King, pressing His kingdom and its values into our culture and forming communities that are outposts of His kingdom, demonstrating to the world another, and a better, way to live life.” (Inrig)  
     Culture has been pressing hard against the moral value system of God – mocking it, claiming it is old fashioned, calling for a new way of life.  I remember years ago Billy Graham said that the “new morality is really the old immorality.”  We are not to become milque-toast Christians, but we are called to be a Daniel and to stand alone if need be.  In fact, we are to celebrate in the midst of our enemies for the Lord prepares a table in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23:5).  
     In the midst of this age go back and read the verse preceding 2:16, “Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation…”(NASB)

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Being a cowboy meant knowing how to work, how to prepare to work, and how to do the actual work.”
                    –Bobby Cavazos  (The Cowboy From the Wild Horse Desert)

       “Let us not allow slackness to spoil our work and let us keep the fires of the spirit burning, as we do our work for God.”
                    –Romans 12:11(Phillips)
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(First, I need to fix a mistake I made in Monday’s “Echo.”  Call it old age, a senior moment, blatant disregard, or just an oversight, there was an issue that changed the meaning of what was being written.  I wrote, “Let me remind you here that we are speaking of perfectionism.”  It should have said, “Let me remind you here that we are NOT speaking of perfectionism.”  However, there is a lesson here.  What I wrote was not perfect, I left out a word.  That did not mean that my thoughts were wrong, or that my motive was wrong, or that my heart was impure.  See, even in my mistake we see how we can be pure in heart and yet at times fail in our daily lives.)
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In every culture there is a need for wealth of some kind.  Money, they say, makes the world go round, it is not love.  Wealth, then oftentimes, becomes an obsession with so many. The meaning of wealth is the total value of all assets, minus the debts.  Today’s proverb is a wonderful way to look at proper wealth.  We read from Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” (NKJV)  I need to ask now, what makes one rich, what is richness?  Sometimes we equate wealth and money with being rich.  Look at the Living Bible paraphrase of this verse and we see a closer meaning.  “The Lord’s blessing is our greatest wealth.  All our work adds nothing to it.”  Much of this verse depends on what we mean by wealth.
     Proverbs 10:4, says that the “hands of the diligent bring wealth,” but here we read that it comes from the Lord.  Which is correct?  I would have to say, both.  We, in our daily life, work together with the Lord.  Bob Beasley sheds light on this, “It is the combination of our diligence and God’s blessing.  The slothful person seeks wealth without diligence.  The practical atheist seeks wealth through his own diligence.  But God distributes wealth as He sees fit.”  
     No matter how hard a man works, and that is needed, industry is needed by man; he cannot expect wealth without honest work.  However, we also need to realize that God is the true source of wealth.  We work diligently as we are supposed to, but ultimately the results are God’s.  If we practice proper stewardship, are diligent in our work habits and ethics, we will find that wealth can be a blessing, not a curse.  But then true wealth–is it really money?  Dan Dick reminds us that, “A good relationship with God is the path to true wealth, and it is a richness that nothing can destroy.”
     Wealth–money or life fulfillment?  Fortune or satisfaction?  Success in life?  Ah, but then what is success–more money?  I have often used the quotation by the “Wizard” of basketball, John Wooden, “Success is peace of mind which is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”  It goes back to your purpose in life and whether you are serving the Lord to the best of your ability.  J. Vernon McGee states, “There are those who live in pleasure and think they are living it up.  But as they get closer to the end, they find life unbearable.”  Riches now often means perdition later.  McGee continues, “The contemporary Christian by his indifference to moral and doctrinal wrong, and by his laxness in his way of living, is missing a great deal that God has for him.”  Have you noticed that it goes back to true worship and proper stewardship?
     John Trapp, the 17th-century theologian speaks of the three “vultures” in regard to wealth.  There is the care of getting, the fear in keeping, and the grief in losing.  Those who depend upon monetary wealth may spend it all if they come down with a life-threatening sickness.  His wealth gone, along with his health, and all that is left is the grave and in that he loses it all.  Let me say in closing, that wealth is not money to the Christian.  We are rich in whatever way the Lord blesses us, and that is so in many ways.  John Piper warns us that “Life is wasted when we do not live for the glory of God.”  I figure I’ve done a good job not becoming a millionaire, but I have riches abundant in the Lord.  A large bank account, what will happen?  One of the vultures will come for it, and at the end of life what do I have.  Do I stick a dollar bill in my pocket as a tip for the mortician?  
     Remember the story of Gehazi, the servant of Elijah.  In his desire for wealth, his greed and dishonesty, the leprosy of Naaman came upon him.  Now, what good was his wealth, when his health was gone? (2 Kings 5:27).  Read again today’s proverb from the CEV,  “When the Lord blesses you with riches, you have nothing to regret.”  No regrets.  Let Him give you what is needed for you to work in His kingdom.  Enjoy His blessings, don’t whine and murmur that you don’t have enough.

 

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
A wise person is stronger than the ten leading citizens of a town!”  –Ecclesiastes 7:19 (NLT)
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(I noticed that spellcheck changed the name of Billy Blackhand to Billy Blanchard.  Sorry for not noticing it until now.)
     Doc took a sip of coffee, then began shaking his head.  “That young man must of been a quite a bit of pain.  I can’t imagine it, why to think of that bone protruding…my, my, my.”
     “I did the best I could, Doc.  I didn’t put pressure on it, but covered it; that’s the reason for the tourniquet.  I couldn’t figure out another way to stop the bleedin’.”
     “You did right, Miles.  I’m not questioning that.  I just sorta feel sorry for the young man going through all that pain.  How’s the other man doing?”
     “Shame of it, Doc, most likely they’ll get off,” I replied. “So much anger in both of them.”  Then I gave a little shrug.  “Blackhand, it’s like he’s two different people.  One time I see him he’s very morose and angry, the next time he seems interested in what I’m tellin’ him.”
     Molly walked up on our discussion.  She keeps saying that she is not going to do much work at the diner, but here she is, almost every day doing something.  I stood up to pull out a chair for her, then grabbed a cup and poured it about half full of coffee.  “What are you two looking so downcast for?” she asked, then thanked me for the coffee and took a sip.  A grimace appeared on her face.  “I can see why if it’s about the coffee.”
     “Did I hear you say, they might get off?  Didn’t they kill those sheepherders?” she asked, trying another sip.
     “I talked with Luther yesterday.”  Luther was our district attorney.  “He said that if there were no one willing to testify that he really couldn’t charge them with anything.  I told him that I doubted that I could get the wives to come to Durango to testify, and that Charlie Two-Face really didn’t see the crime.”
     “Well, I hate to see boys that young hang,” Molly replied, “but on the other hand I feel bad for the widows and their children.”  She glanced at me, then turned to Doc.  “Why is it that justice is sometimes hard?”
     He scratched at his eyebrow, then the side of his face.  “I wonder sometimes the same thing in the medical field.”
     “Billy seems interested, at times, and I emphasize that, about Christ.  Then he’ll get angry and curse.  I did take the Parson to see him, and he threw his supper at him.  Wouldn’t talk to him at all.  Not thirty minutes after he left, he told me to tell the man of the cloth that he was sorry.”
     Molly took a deep breath.  “Sounds like something right out of the Bible.  You know Miles, that the Spirit of God will either convict a person or enrage him.  Sounds like both of these things are happening to this young man.”
     “Do you think they’ll go back to Coloraw, if they’re released?” questioned Doc.
     Clearing my throat, I answered, “I think that’s part of the problem.  I think he kicked them out.  I don’t think they measured up to his standards as a warrior.”
     “Because they’re half-breeds?” Doc remarked with a puzzled look on his face.
     I shook my head, “I think it goes deeper than that.  When I confronted them at times, they seemed to cower away, and then put up a front that they were great warriors.  No, something happened within the tribe for Coloraw to expel them.”
     “Well, you be careful,” urged Molly to which Doc agreed.  
     Smiling I replied, “I’m always careful, but with that type more so.”
     I looked up, to just see out the window a palomino go by.  Jumping up I ran to the doorway…