Author: Ira Paine

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
Miles finally has the injured Marshal Todd Johnson of Silverton on the train and headed down the canyon towards Durango.  At least two of Johnson’s men have boarded the train.  What awaits Miles on the trip?  Will Johnson’s men make a move with all the passengers on board to free their boss?  Miles is ready, but the rocking of the train could lull him into dozing.  Come with me to those days of yesteryear and see what happens in the furthering Saga of Miles Forrest.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
       I could tell that Johnson was hurting.  The jostling of the train over the tracks hurt his shoulder and broken wrist.  He was in and out of sleep and I wasn’t concerned much about him trying to do anything to get away, but I was keeping my eyes on the two men that boarded and were sitting at the other end of the car.  From what I could tell they were the only two that had boarded, but someone I didn’t see or know might also be among the passengers.
       It was hard to stay awake with the rocking of the train, and I was bone tired.  I didn’t dare go to sleep with the two men aboard.  Sleep would have to wait until Johnson was safely behind bars in Durango.  I know it was all in my mind, but the trip seemed to take much longer than normal.  My eyes kept shutting until finally I stood up and leaned up against the door.  
       I must have been dozing standing up, but when the final whistle blew I came wide awake.  I moved back to the seat with Johnson and let all the passengers depart, not seeing where the two deputies of Johnson went.  I nudged Johnson with the barrel of the Greener to get up.  His face was worn, and etched in pain.  Looking away from him I saw someone standing on the platform right at the steps.  I couldn’t tell who it was, but I was going to keep Johnson between me and the newcomer.
       A big sigh of relief came from me when I recognized Mateo.  “Am I glad to see you,” I remarked, then looked around for the other two men.  They weren’t to be seen.  I informed Mateo of the men as we walked down the street toward the jail.
       Groaning, Johnson stopped, “I need a doctor.”
       “Doc Jones will be up to see you after I get you settled in a cell,” I informed him, then nudged him to continue.
       He refused to move.  “Up to you,” I charged.  “You can walk or I can drag you which I’m sure will hurt you more.”  He groaned again, then slowly started to walk again.  
       When he was settled in the cell, Mateo left to get Doc Jones.  I sat down with Lucas to inform him of the situation and the two men.  He had grown as a man in the past few months.  I knew he would do the best he could, but I also knew of the ruthlessness of Johnson’s men.
       Within the hour, Doc had splinted his wrist, but he said there wasn’t much he could do for the collarbone except to keep it in a sling.  He turned his gaze to me, “You did know that he had broken bones?”
       I pulled at my moustache before answering.  “I reckoned the wrist was broken, wasn’t sure about his shoulder,” I replied, then smiled.  “Sure kept him from causin’ any trouble.”
       Doc let out a snort and shook his head.  “I’ll be back in the morning to check on him,” he paused, giving me a stare.  “You are going to feed him, aren’t you?”
       “I’ll bring him his food, but he’ll have to feed himself,” I replied.
       It was time for me to head down to the diner.  I wanted to see Molly and tell her I was back, plus hoped that she might have a piece of pie for me.  I had settled down at the table sipping on coffee and talking with Molly.  It had probably been fifteen, maybe twenty minutes when gunfire sounded from…

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The wilderness is quiet, but there is always a faint, low rustle or murmur. Listening is an art to be cultivated; and the symphonies of the desert or the forest demand a finer ear than do the symphonies of the composers.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Broken Gun)

       “But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

                    –Proverbs 1:33(NKJV)
——————————————
Steven Lawson said that, “One’s understanding of the flow of world history is dependent upon seeing that God is sovereignly building His kingdom upon the earth to reach the world.”  D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones continues in this vein, “The key to the history of the world is the kingdom of God.”  The world is in God’s hands, and it revolves around redemption–the redemption of mankind through the blood of Jesus Christ.  When we look at the world, with its issues and problems, we must keep in mind God’s purpose and that He is in control.  “God is always working through His people to effect the flow of the entire world.” (Lawson)
       As we look at Psalm 105 in the next few weeks, keep in your thoughts the invisible hand of God upon the many events, circumstances, movements, and causes of history.  Know that He is not distant, but up close, actively involved in the affairs of men. (Lawson)  Here, at the beginning of Psalm 105, we are exhorted to worship the Lord because He rules over history.

          1 — Oh, give thanks to the LORD!  Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!
          2 — Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works!
          3 — Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!
          4 — Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore!
          5 — Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
          6 — O seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
          7 — He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.
          8 — He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations,
          9 — The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac,
        10 — And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.    (NKJV)

As you go through life, where is your focus?  We have been for the last few decades involved with what is known as “seeker churches.”  Congregations seek out the seeker.  “The trend has spawned more entertaining worship services (for good or ill) and friendlier church lobbies.” (William J. Petersen)  Now, here is the question:  Are we seeking a church or God?  Are we seeking God as we should?
       Steven Lawson writes that there are ten imperatives as this psalm begins:  1) give thanks to the Lord, 2) call on His name, 3) make known His deeds, 4) sing praises to God, 5) tell of His wonderful acts, 6) glory in His holy name, 7) rejoice in Him, 8) look to the Lord and observe His strength, 9) seek His face–pursue the truth of God, and 10) remember the great things that the Lord has done.
       Our circumstances may be confusing; we may not understand the absurdity of what is happening on earth; then terror and fear may strike at us.  And here is the problem, we focus too much on our situations and do not remember what the Lord has done, not only for us, but throughout history.  We, in our troubles, may forget what God has done in the past, but He doesn’t forget us.  God is faithful to us just as He was to those in the Bible and the saints that have followed throughout history.  May we take to heart verse 4, “seek the LORD” or as the NLT translates it, “search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching.”  We must strive to know more and more about the God whom we serve and who seeks a growing relationship with us.

               “Spread, O spread, thou mighty word
               Spread the Kingdom of the Lord,
               Wheresoe’er His breath has given
               Life to beings meant for heaven.”
                     –Jonathan Freidrich Bahnmaier

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

We were already by the fire, drinking coffee, when he came riding up, still with the remnants of a song on his lips.”

                    –Zane Grey  (The Trail Driver)
 
I wonder what that ol’ boy was a-singin’?  Perhaps, he was croonin’, “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more…”.  Pard, let me be tellin’ yuh, it’s comin’ ’round sooner than later.  Now, I’m not a-sayin’ what’s happenin’ over in Israel is the comin’ of the Lord, but I’ll sure tell yuh one thing–it’s closer to day and ever before in history!
       It’s appallin’ the atrocities that are takin’ place.  The Lord have mercy, babies bein’ decapitated–that’s pure evil.  Here’s yur cup.  Makes me wonder jist how many more times we’re gonna be sharin’ coffee at the ol’ kitchen table.  When I read some of the evil that is takin’ place I thought of the words of Jesus when He was asked what it would be like at the end.  He told them of false prophets, lawlessness, coldness, wars, but what gets me is that one verse, “All these things are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8)  Pard, jist the beginnin’!
       My ol’ ridin’ pard, Bob, wrote in his blog about it gettin’ worser an’ worser.  Think of it, Pard, if’n yuh can an’ swaller at the same time.  Right now the Holy Spirit is restrainin’ evil.  Look around, evil is currently bein’ restrained.  I can’t imagine it gettin’ worser than it is now, but Pard, when the Holy Spirit no longer restrains, why, it’s gonna be havoc.  Then the “man of lawlessness” will be revealed.
       I read in the Psalms, “how long”.  The prophets of old questioned, “how long?”  Let me add to that, how long?  When will the Lord’s patience finally say, “that’s enough”?  Pard, it sorta makes the coffee gurgle in yur guts.  When He calls for the trumpet to sound that will be the signal, not only for our homecomin’, but for the Holy Spirit to allow the gates of evil to flood this earth.
       Pard, if’n yuh don’t fall on yur noggin’ ’cause yuh didn’t tighten yur cinch and go on to meet the Lord that way, yuh can join me flyin’ up through the air singin’, “On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, And the glory of His resurrection share….”
        Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Doing what’s right is never a mistake.”
                    –Kenneth Pratt (Prairieville)

       “Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.”

                    –Proverbs 28:6 (NKJV)
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                    “More and more abundantly,
                    More and more abundantly,
                    ‘That they might have life
                    And more abundantly…'”
                           –Thoro Harris

          “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
                           –John 10:10(NKJV)

Abundance or an Abundant Life–which is better?  People cry and clamor for the good life, which in their minds means to live “happy and free,” to “tip-toe through the tulips” singing “la, la, la all the day long.”  This abundance is self-serving.  When we study the words of the Bible, especially those of Jesus, we find very quickly that the “good life” is not necessarily one of material abundance, and, in fact, may be one of suffering.  People have for decades gotten off on the “prosperity kick” wanting only their stuff and to be happy.  However, the abundant life that Jesus speaks of in John comes from following God’s ways, pursuing holiness, and seeking to be more like Him.
       Barclay says that the Greek phrase for “having it more abundantly” means to have a “superabundance of a thing.”  He further states, “To be a follower of Jesus, to know who He is and what He means, is to have a superabundance of life…  When we try to live our own lives, life is a dull, dispirited thing.  When we walk with Jesus, there comes a new vitality, a superabundance of life.  It is only when we live with Christ that life becomes really worth living and we begin to live in the real sense of the word.”
       When we begin to see inner turmoil in our lives and our minds it is usually because that the self is seeking its own way and will and not wanting to give all for Jesus.  People misunderstand what true happiness is.  It is not having “things.”  “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, NKJV)   Life, here and now, with all its pleasures, vanities, and hopes of happiness and fulfillment–or–life eternal.  God’s life, His abundant life, speaks not only of “endlessness, but of quality of life.  With Christ, life on earth can reach much higher quality, and then in heaven it will be complete and perfect.” (NKJV Study Bible)
       “He who walks with integrity walks securely…” (Proverbs 10:9, NKJV).  “The integrity of the upright will guide them…”  (Proverbs 11:3, NKJV)  The good life in the eyes of God is one of integrity.  To live with integrity brings peace to the soul as well as the mind.  Look around you, think of the past several years and see those who thought they had everything the world had to offer, but failed in their personal life for lack of integrity.  God has entrusted us with this life, therefore, it must have purpose.  Purpose is not gathering in all the pleasures and the material goods one can, but it is the giving of oneself.  It is following Christ and His commands fully to the best of one’s ability.  F.M. Fosdick wrote, “For selfishness is sickness, and overflowing usefulness is spiritual health and abounding life.”  The selfish man is absorbed in his own needs and wants.  He becomes disconted when he cannot obtain all that he wants, therefore, he is a “sick man.”

                    “Come to Him believing, Hearken to His call;
                    All from Him receiving, Yield to Him your all;
                   Jesus will accept you When to Him you flee;
                   He will grant His blessings more abundantly.”
                                –Thoro Harris