Author: Ira Paine

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Before I could scoot my chair closer to the table, a cup of coffee was set in front of me and a sweet voice spoke.”

                    –D.C. Adkisson  (The Shepherd)
 
Welcome, Pard, sure was hopin’ yuh’d show up this mornin’.  I need some help as I’ve been strugglin’ with something I’ve been ponderin’ most of the week.  Sure, I’ll pour the coffee first.  Priorities right?  Well, let me get right down to it.  Oh, yuh need to taste the brew first,  Hot enough for yuh?  Strong enough for yuh?  Or do yuh need some of the cream to make a latte?  Cino!!!  Pard, yuh have to be kiddin’ me!
       Whew, I was a mite worried ’bout yuh for a second.  Glad yuh were just teasin’.  Cino, my ol’ Grandpa would be rollin’ over in his grave.  Now to my ponderin’ if’n yuh don’t mind.  Here it is:  has our nation turned into a carnival or is it a circus?  Let that soak in yur pea-brain for a minute.  That there’s some difficult thinkin’.  
       I remember as a kid goin’ to the carnival.  There was always a couple that came to town durin’ the year.  They had all kinds of rides, but they all had one thing in common–they all went around in circles.  Yep, the circle might have ups and downs like one of them small rolly-coasters, but it was still in a circle.  That merry-go-round went around and ’round and there would be some horses that went up and down whilst it was goin’ round and round.  Then there were a few rides, Tilt-O-Whirl, where the half-basket shaped seat would spin around as the whole contraption went around.  Now ponder that, and if’n that don’t sound like what’s goin’ on in some places in this country, I’ll eat my hat.  I mean them politicians up in Washington haven’t a clue as to what they’re a-doin’–just goin’ ’round and around.  Up and down, and ’round and ’round.
       Now to the other show–the circus.  I’ve been to a few in my lifetime.  They always kept the ferocious beasts in cages worried to let them out.  But what I want to bring to yur attention is the show.  Sometimes there was a one-ring circus, like we saw in that court case this week with those lawyer a-jawin’ and the media a-frettin’ and tryin’ to worry the jury.  Other times, we have a regular three-ring circus a-goin’.  But what I see is the problem with the circus, there ain’t no ring-master to control it.  The President ain’t in charge, poor ol’ feller can’t hardly think for himself.  His partner can’t be found half the time and she just reminds me of a clown laughin’ ’bout most everything–things that ain’t even funny.  And that Mouth who they call the Speaker, my mercy, I cringe when I see her.
       So Pard, which is we?  Carnival or circus.  We have spectators watching.  Some close up, some from afar.  Yuh don’t finished that cup?  Reckon ponderin’ does make a person a mite thirsty.  Still have some coffee in the pot.
       While yur sippin’ and ponderin’ I know Thanksgivin’ is comin’ up.  My, what a wondrous holiday to stop for a spell and thank the good Lord for all His blessin’s to us.  Why, as I wrote above, I think of the many times my sweet wife poured me a cup of coffee or slid a piece of pie in front of me.  She’s a wonder–she’s had to be to put up with me all these years.
       Pard yuh be ponderin’ that question until next I see yuh.  Don’t worry yur brain too hard that yuh miss out on the pumpkin pie, or forget to check yur cinch.
      Vaya con Dios.

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Funny how folks who are supposed to be Christian can at times look like the devil.”
                    –D.C. Adkisson  (Walker)

       “God’s Spirit specifically tells us that in later days there will be men who abandon the true faith and allow themselves to be spiritually seduced by teachings of the devil, teachings given by men who are lying hypocrites, whose consciences are as dead as seared flesh.”

                    –1 Timothy 4:1-2 (Phillips)
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                    “We are living in an age, in a generation, when men and women are deliberately sinning, deliberately flouting all that is moral and good and clean and pure and uplifting, deliberately setting themselves out to sin, putting their backs into it, as it were ‘drawing iniquity unto themselves’, in sit of all that they have as a moral heritage.”
                                   –D. Martyn Lloyd Jones

       A few weeks ago I wrote from Isaiah 5 concerning the first two woes.  Remember them?   Judgment will come because of the first woe:  materialism and worldliness, those who are interested in material possessions and a worldly lifestyle.   The second woe of judgment is:  intemperance with regard to pleasure; men and women drunk on pleasure and live for it.

                  “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope.”
                                   –Isaiah 5:18(NKJV)

We are in a continuous state of crisis.  If it is not the virus then it’s the vaccine.  If it’s not a trial run by corrupt prosecutors, then it’s a liberal judge releasing criminals.  Then there is the border situation, the problems with voting.  BLM promising to burn down a town.  Crisis, after crisis, after crisis!  And that is not to mention the troubles with other nations and the threats of war.  Who can you trust?  The government?  Dr. Fauci?  President Biden?  For that matter any politician, lawyer, loan officer, or car salesman?
       Notice this verse is speaking of those who are involved in the deliberate, willful element of sin.  They are “drawing iniquity.”  This is not accidental or a sin of ignorance.  It is not done because of temptation, but they were preparing themselves to sin and making provision for it.  This people “were not living in the darkness of paganism; they were not unenlightened…they were going out of their way to do the very things that they had been taught not to do.  They were defying the great moral teaching of which they were heirs.” (Lloyd-Jones)
       These people were used to a certain moral standard, but they were mocking it and laughing at it–they were drawing iniquity to themselves.  Too many Christians are involved in this malady today.  They have become involved with the world system.  They do not recognize or do not want to recognize that the world is under the power of the evil one–the devil.  Phooey, they scoff at the thought of a mystical, unseen, spiritual world.  That is just not “woke.”  Oh, but are they drawing iniquity to themselves?
       A friend of mine wrote in his blog, “Elisha understood the reality of powerful, unseen spiritual forces.” (David Jeremiah Study Bible).  Oh, that we had the eyes of Elisha; that we had the understanding of Elisha.  Perhaps the Lord is shaking His head saying, “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
(Mark 8:18, NKJV)  Friends you need to understand that there are forces working in this evil world that we do not see or understand.  Terrible, evil, wicked forces that seek to undermine the Kingdom of God.  Do not join them.

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

No home except the camp fire.”
               –Zane Grey  (Fighting Caravans)

       “If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.”

               –Exodus 18:23 (HCSB)
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How To Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NLT)

If you have noticed all the problems that the school systems are having then you will certainly understand the purpose of these lessons.  CRT, abuse, molestations in restrooms, bullying–this is a world in which we better teach our children how to survive.  I recently saw a picture with the following caption:  “In a world ruled by Satan; you better arm your kids.”  Don’t teach them the way of the world–teach them the way of God and how to survive in this evil world.

               “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
               By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”
                              –1 John 4:16-17(NASB)

       John doesn’t expound on these verses, he doesn’t explain them, he just states it and takes it for granted that we know we are to abide in love–in Christ.  It is the opposite of the world; it is the attitude of Cain.  Remember the words that Paul wrote to Titus,

               “For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”
                              –Titus 3:3 (NASB)

Our attitude toward others, toward circumstances, was that of the world?  We were controlled by that, but now we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.  Our attitude toward others is not determined and controlled by what they are, but by the love of Christ that is in us.  We must see others as souls, and this at times is very hard to do.  Aren’t you glad God’s love is not controlled by us?  My mercy, what troubles there would be.  Jesus said, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?  Do not even the publicans the same?” (Matthew 5:46)
       Love is abiding, it is not spasmodic or spontaneous, it is constant, steady.  We need to look at love, perhaps from a different perspective.  Love says, clean the wound first, then apply the oil that will soothe it.  Realize what God has done for you, then proceed to do to others.  And I will say, sometimes it is downright hard to love the unlovely in whatever form they may come.  To do that we need the Holy Spirit to operate in us and through us.  We need to know the Lord more and better and to do that we must meditate upon Him and His Word.  Face each situation in light of the cross.
       Instead of automatically reacting in the flesh, that’s the world, we must discipline ourselves.  We must deal actively with ourselves and mortify those things that are contrary to love within us.  One of those things that seem to get us in trouble is the tongue.  If you do not say something you will find that you stop thinking it.  “Put a watch upon your lips and upon your tongue–that is one of the first things in this life of love.” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He watched one man prove that stupidity can’t be cured, and it can often be fatal.”
                    –Lou Bradshaw  (Spirit Valley)

       “So teach us to number our days, That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom.”
                    –Psalm 90:12 (Amplified)
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“Woe is me,” come the voices of humanity.  “Woe, I am lost and undone,” is the cry of those without direction, without Christ.  Man tries in vain to find his own way in life and it is impossible for he cannot find his true purpose without Jesus Christ.  Some of the saddest things of a human life–the errors which divert men from their true aim, and plunge them into various and growing misery.  Anyone on the threshold of death will look back at their accumulations and wonder…
       The “Preacher,” the writer of Ecclesiastes puts forth this question:

                    “What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” –Ecclesiastes 1:3 (NKJV)

                    “What profit has man left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun?  [Is life worth living?]”  –Ecclesiastes 1:3 (Amplified)

At the end of your life will you be able to thank God for all He has done for you?  Or has life been wasted in selfish ambition and self-indulgence?  The man who believes that he has a wasted life is to be pitied.  He has had the wrong perspective all the days of his life.  G. Campbell Morgan said, “This man has been living through all these experiences under the sun, concerned with nothing above the sun…until there came a moment in which he had seen the whole of life.  And there was something over the sun.  It is only as man takes account of that which is over the sun as well as that which is under the sun that things under the sun are seen in their true light.”
       People lose their eternal soul–living for the wrong things.  It is only when we do things for the kingdom of God, when we look at life with eternity in view do you truly accomplish something.  Buildings, fame, power, lustful living, seeking the “good life” all of these things are naught for they are pleasures under the sun.  We seek a home that is beyond the sky, a home whose building and maker is the Lord God.  Hmmm, are the nails you hear being driven in gloryland belonging to your mansion?
       Charles Swindoll said, “We who worship our work and play at our worship have gotten things all fouled up.”  Man will be at a ballgame, or a concert, or, at the hunting camp or fishing lodge rather than in church.  Then they will say that he can worship outside the walls of a church.  Bah, in that context it is nothing but an excuse.  True, one should be able to worship wherever they are but when they use that as an excuse they are living under the sun.
       What works of your hands are priceless?  Stop, take inventory.  Contemplate the following:

                    “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)

                    “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)

                    “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
                                      –1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV)

Do you have difficulty discovering answers to the questions of life?  If so, then check your heart.  What profit is there if you do things for self or for the world?  What is there that you will take to the grave with you?  Certainly nothing tangible.  Only what has been done for the kingdom of God will last.  It is deposited in the bank of heaven.  Perhaps this is a time in your life that you need to stop…stop and think of eternity rather than the ballgame.

                    “So teach us to number our days,
                     That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
                                    –Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)