Author: Ira Paine

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

When the fight comes, he goes to it and not away from it…he doesn’t want to die, but he doesn’t expect to live to be an old man either.”
                    –Lou Bradshaw  (Abe)

       They shall be like mighty men, Who tread down their enemies In the mire of the streets in the battle. They shall fight because the Lord is with them, And the riders on horses shall be put to shame.”

                    –Zechariah 10:5 (NKJV)
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I want to look at a few more similarities between David and Jesus.  I know we have to be careful with types, shadows, and symbols.  Too much liberty can be taken, but at the same time we should not forsake them completely.  
       We read in 1 Samuel 17:17, that David was sent by his father to the battlefield.  He had been keeping the sheep, but now would soon be embroiled in conflict.  Jesus was sent by His Father, “As we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14, NKJV)  He was somewhat in isolation in heaven with the Father, as David was in the wilderness with the sheep, but soon both would find themselves in a battle, not only for their lives, but for the lives of others.
       I mentioned last week that David was scorned by his brothers, especially Eliab.  We also know that our Lord was scorned by His own brothers, but also the people of Israel.  When Saul questioned David’s credentials, David told about the lion and the bear which he fought to protect his sheep.  Saul, I believe, in his mind ridiculed the thought of David fighting Goliath.  He told David that he was but a youth, while Goliath was a man of war, trained from his youth (1 Samuel 17:33).  Jesus, before He met the “giant” on Calvary had faced the devil previously in the wilderness.  Redpath says, “He had a private conflict face-to-face with the devil in the wilderness, and defeated him there.”  We also do not know of other times that the vile serpent may have tried to deceive the Lord, tried to trip Him with one of His snares.
       David was sustained by the Word of God and his faith.  “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin.  But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled…  Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with the sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45,47, NKJV)  With that David stepped forward.  Christ defeated the devil in the wilderness over and over with the Word of God.  With each attack, Jesus replied, “It is written.”  He will again be victorious when He bursts out of the grave.
       Saul wanted to make David look like a warrior, or at least a soldier.  But David did not need that.  He knew his weapons and the warrior-ethos was engraved in his heart.  David strode, sling in hand and in faith toward Goliath.  At some point he began to whirl his sling, around and around, and at the right moment, he released it.  All his training, all his faith came together in that moment and the rock struck Goliath in the forehead.  He fell to the ground and David then cut off his head with the giant’s own sword.  Victory!
       The Philistines, instead of surrendering as Goliath promised, fled the scene with the Israelites giving chase.  David won the victory, but all of Israel shared in it.  Jesus won the victory at Calvary and in His coming forth from the tomb.  He was victorious over the enemy not only for Himself, but for all who would accept this victory and follow Him.  David had prepared himself, not only physically, but in private He was with God.  Before he entered the public fight with Goliath, he has spent time with God.  Jesus knew the will of the Father.  He didn’t go into the way of the cross unprepared, ignorant, but He knew His mission and He fulfilled it.  To face the giants of our lives we must be strengthened by the knowledge of our weapons, through experience, and then sustained by the Word of God.
       Goliath was powerful of that there is no doubt.  But we, as David, have the Spirit’s anointing.  We have His power and authority.  Too often, however, we become like Saul, we forfeit that anointing.  We try to face the giants on our own.  We forget that He is the God of today; that He is a “living power in our hearts!” (Redpath)  “In Saul’s mind, God was absent from the whole conflict; He didn’t enter into it.  But in David’s mind, God was the greatest reality of all.” (Redpath)  Far too often we are like Saul, we “imitate the devil’s methods, to try to resist Satan by the same kind of program and technique, ability, and organization, which he himself has perfected.” (Redpath)  We must face the giants in the might and power of the Holy Spirit.  We must know–I repeat, we must know that it is “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6, NKJV)

 

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
Marshal Johnson and his crooked deputies were coming down the street.  Confrontation was imminent; it could become a bloodbath.  Sheriff Gold, Miles, Morgan Appleby, and Ron Barnes were inside the Wells Fargo office, ready and waiting.  Would there be bloodshed?  Would the end of the clash find bodies on the floor no longer breathing?  Let’s go back to a time when things were often decided by a gun, when it took courage and fortitude to enforce justice.  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
       I looked around the room, Barnes was over to the far right, behind his desk, but standing.  I motioned for Morgan to go to the left of Charlie and stand slightly behind him next to a table.  Charlie was just to the left of me, perhaps six feet away.  We stood in the middle of the room.  I had the Greener in my hands.
       “It’s your play, Charlie.  You’re the sheriff, we’ll follow your lead,” I said, then followed, “however, if they start shootin’, I won’t wait for your word.”
       “Let’s see how many of them there are, and the intentions of Johnson,” replied Charlie.
       A crowd of men led by Marshal Johnson walked by the window on the right hand side of the office.  They stopped momentarily and I could hear Tioga and Johnson talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
       Johnson sent two men through the entrance, I reckon that was to see if we were going to immediately start shooting.  When no shots were fired, Johnson came in next and stood between the first two; he was followed by four more.  The room was becoming quite crowded.  I could see that there were at least two remaining outside the office.
       Anger was etched on Johnson’s face when he bellowed, “Release my deputy immediately!”
       He looked at me, and there was a show of surprise when Charlie answered.  “Can’t, he’s a wanted man.  I have a poster on him.”
       Johnson’s eyes moved over to Charlie.  “That poster is not valid in Colorado.  It’s from Kansas.”
       “I’ll hold him until I can extradite him,” replied Charlie, firm in his resolve, but not threatening.
       It looked as if Johnson was going to explode.  “You can’t hold him!”
       “I can,” I said, figuring it was time to say something.
       I thought I heard a growl coming from Johnson.  “If you don’t release him, I will!” he barked, his hand moving slightly down toward the butt of his pistol.
       “Marshal, you can take your men and leave me to my job.  I really don’t want a bloodbath here and if you make one more move toward your gun that’s exactly what it’ll be,” asserted Charlie.  When he said that I brought the shotgun up to bear; its ugly,deadly eyes boring straight at the Marshal.
       There was silence and a ton of tension in the room.  Suddenly the glass broke to my left side, I didn’t look, but everyone flinched when it happened.  It was quickly followed by a shot, then two rifle shots in close succession.  A man fell through the broken window.
       Mateo was on the job, I raised the Greener, and Johnson quickly threw up his hands shouting, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, nobody shoot!”
       I don’t know if it was a ruse or not, but to my right Barnes fired.  There was a grunt and the sound of a gun falling to the floor.  “Don’t shoot!” screamed Johnson.
       “Marshal, why don’t you take your men and depart from these premises,” commanded Charlie.  
       “Move back men,” ordered Johnson.  The men slowly vacated the room with Marshal Johnson stopping at the doorway.  “This isn’t over.  I want Tioga released.”
       “He’ll be released when he arrives in Kansas, not before,” I informed him.
       “Forrest,” he responded with a sneer, “Tioga has friends.”
       “Friends that are ready to die for him, if they interfere with the law?” I answered.
       I could tell he wanted to say more, but he huffed, then turned walking out the entrance.  Waiting for him was the man that Barnes wounded.  It wasn’t serious, the bullet struck him in the wrist.  Of course, he might lose the use of that right hand.
       Morgan went over to the man lying in the window frame and pushed him back outside.  I looked over at Barnes, “You did good.”
       Charlie walked a few paces to me shaking his head.  “Whew, that could have been bad.”
       When Johnson’s men left the area, Mateo came through the door.  There was concern on his face, but when he saw that the four of us were standing with a hole in nary a one of us, he smiled.  “I see that the Lord kept his hand over you.”
       The tension had gone, and now the intensity of the battle was leaving us.  It’s hard to describe how tired one can be after a confrontation where lives are on the line.
       “Miles, there’s a train leaving in thirty minutes.  It might be good that you were on it,” suggested Morgan.
       I grasp his shoulder, “Thanks,” then looked over at Barnes.  “Will you two be all right?”
       He gave a little laugh.  “We might take up praying like you do, but yes, I think we’ll be all right…”

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

If a body takes out to follow a made trail down over the hills, he’d best hold to that trail… Most of the trouble a man finds in the mountains is when he tries shortcuts or leaves a known way.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Treasure Mountain)

      “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.
                    –Deuteronomy 11:22(NLT)
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Psalm 102 started with gloom and despair then moved into the faithfulness and patience, and greatness of the Lord.  To finish we see a challenge.  We, whatever generation you find yourself in, are to leave a record for future generations.  Believers are to leave a godly heritage and legacy to those coming up.  They are to fill the gap and it is the responsibility of the older generations to teach, guide, and provide the means for them to do so.

          18 — This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
          19 — For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth.
          20 — To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death.
          21 — To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem.
          22 — When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
          23 — He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.
          24 — I said, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.
          25 — Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
          26 — They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed.
          27 — But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.
          28 — The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You.”  (NKJV)

       What does your biography say?  Was it a broken road, a road full of failure?  Or was it a road of battle and victories; overcoming adversity?  Most likely it was a mixture, but the important thing is that God kept you.  That is your testimony.  God looks down from heaven to view you upon your journey, in fact, we have the Holy Spirit (Paraclete) with us along the way to guide us, to help us, to comfort us, to chastise us and give us direction.
       The people were looking forward to the end of captivity in Babylon.  Then a new people came along, the Persians.  They must have wondered where God was in all of this.  Yes, He said He would discipline the nation, but now has he forgotten His people?  Here the Psalmist says with a resounding cry, No, God is looking down at His people.  I imagine the people had their problems in the midst of being held captive.  Look for example at Daniel, after leaving Babylon, he went to Persia where he would one day enter the lions’ den.
       The Psalmist reminds us that God does not change.  In the midst of life’s journey–God is there and He does not change.  Through life’s journey, we may have pain, sorrow, and heartache–God is there and He does not change.  Along the road there may be vicious attacks and the lions’ den may be our destiny, or a fiery furnace–God is there and He does not change.  “God will forever remain the same, immutable in his divine person and unchangeable in his eternal purpose.  Because the Lord does not change, his future work through his people will be established.” (Steven J. Lawson0
       If you see the church caving into the world it is your duty, your obligation to remain strong and stable.  This is your legacy to those that follow.  If it seems as if the nations rage against God it is your responsibility to be a light and salt to those around you.  Live in hope; live in faith.  Tell the stories of God’s faithfulness from Scripture; tell the stories of His faithfulness in your life.  No matter what, remain faithful and this will be recorded for future generations.

               “In heavenly love abiding,
               No change my heart shall fear;
               And safe is such confiding,
               For nothing changes here.
               The storm may roar around me,
               My heart may low be laid;
               But God is round about me,
               And can I be dismayed?”
                         –Anna L. Waring

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He warned us about the coffee, ‘Don’t get any of it on your clothes. Been known to eat holes in bat-wing chaps.’”

                    –J. Lee Butts  (Lawdog)
 
Come on over to the stove, Pard, while I pour yur coffee.  I want to check yuh over a little more closely.  Now, I’ve known yuh for several years, but with all the hubbub in Congress I think I need to see yuh from this new perspective.  I always thought the lumps on yur noggin was from not checkin’ yur cinch and fallin’ off yur horse, but some of them aliens or, “nonhuman biologics” are pretty lumpy from the photos I’ve seen.  Let’s see, yur not from another galazy…  I did read that there was a book with the title that men were from Mars.  Nah, yuh ain’t red enough.
       There have actually been found some ET pilots on earth.  In fact, the testimony to Congress notes that the U.S. recovered non-human biological pilots from crashed crafts.  My mercy, Pard, I sure hope my .44 has enough stoppin’ power should they seek refuge in my cottage.  Wonder how much that cost the taxpayers to hold those hearin’s and kept them from doin’ their jobs.
       Let’s see, hmmm, cover up for what?  Hunter’s arrest and hearin’s.  And we’re still waitin’ for somethin’ to happen with Epstein’s list.  Or is it something else they’re drawin’ attention from?   Pard, has you ever been in contact with one of them there aliens?  Perhaps ol’ Joe has been talkin’ to them.  It might make some sense in his antics.  I even saw where one person said that we need to do away with some people to make room for those funny-lookin’, nonhuman guys to survive on earth.  Duh, get rid of some to make room for strange aliens?  Yuh know, I think we’ve become more than stupid.
       Does that coffee taste strange?  Maybe there’s some stardust in it, or perhaps a moonbeam passed over the beans last night.  Whooooeeee, talk about the twilight zone.  ‘Course we always knew there were strange folk walkin’ around the halls of Congress.  Take a fresh look at some of them politikin’ folk.  Schiff…yep, there’s a good choice.  Pard, yuh best be carryin’ yur Matel zapper along with yur pistol.  
       Is this the answer that they’re lookin’ for when the Lord has the trumpet blown?  An untold number of us folk down here will disappear into the clouds.  How will that be explained?  Well, let me tell yuh Pard, I’m gonna sit here and sip my coffee and if’n any of those funny-lookin’ fellows come by, I might offer them a cup whether they be alien, nonhuman biologics, or zombies.  ‘Course I’ll keep my pistol at hand.  
       Yuh keep yur eye on the horizon, but with all of this hoodoo yuh might want to look up now and again.  Nah, I don’t mean for those space ships, but the comin’ of the Lord.
Check that cinch, yuh don’t need any more lumps on yur noggin’, one of them there Congressfolk might mistake yuh for one of them nonhumans.
       Vaya con Dios.