Author: Ira Paine

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
                    –Cliff Hudgins  (Viejo and the Ranger)


       “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
                    –Proverbs 24:10 (NKJV)
——————————-
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
          –Mark 12:30 (NIV)

Sometimes I wonder how the Lord puts up with any of us.  I look at myself and have to shake my head.  Then when I seek some of the “things” out there, and hear the lies spewed by those in the media.  Well, I continue to shake my head.
     Fascists!  That’s what the right is being called.  I want to ask a question here, if we are called fascists, why don’t the right call those on the left by their rightful name–Marxists?  They agree that socialism is better than capitalism–they are Marxists.  And when they speak of fascism, most of them are actually describing socialism.  They don’t even know who they are.  
     Dictatorship!  Honestly, I must shake my head again.  If there really was a dictatorship, and it was fascist, they wouldn’t be able to say the things they are saying.  See, thinking to be wise they have become fools.  A dictator would not allow some of the things that are being said to continue.  
     Let me ask, despite the lies of one politician, what side/group does most of the shooting?  Who is targeting those on the right?  One man just said that just as soon as President Trump is out of office, he is going to pull every ICE agent from their home, and put them to death.  Shades of Stalin–Marxist.
     Look at the anger on some of the faces of these “Marxist” leaders, and I will ask what is that has-been still spouting her mouth on public media?  Talk about a Marxist?  She is not progressive, she is a self-serving, power-hungry Marxist.  (Now you guess whom I am speaking of)
     Now a brief look at the verse from Mark.  Throughout my life I have heard many say that they love God with all their heart, and that is good.  But I have yet to hear someone say that they love God with all their will, all their mind, and let me tell you that the battle is for the mind.  We need, no we must, look for ways that the Bible helps us understand and explain our world.  That is one of the problems that I have seen, people do not know true theology, they do not have a biblical worldview.  Listen, you cannot live bad theology.  David Gill said, “If our minds are fragmented and disjointed, our life may be the same.  If your thinking is full of errors, look out for your actions!”  No wonder there is such violence coming from the left.
      C.S. Lewis wrote, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.”  I heard a student once, supposedly a Christian, say that she hoped that Jesus wouldn’t be a king because all kings in history were bad.  I wonder where she came up with that idea?  Who were her teachers?  Her pastors?  I will close this mostly political “Echo” with these words of warning:  “We are in a battle.  Take aim or take cover!”

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Some things a man can’t do. But some things he’s got to do.”
                    –Ernest Haycox  (Wipe Out the Brierlys)

       “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
                    –Mark 1:15 (NKJV)    
————————–
Why did Jesus come to this earth?  There are many reasons but one is found in Mark 1:38, “But He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next town, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.'” (NKJV)

     With that I would ask, what is your purpose on this earth?  I read this recently, “Action, the desire to accomplish, impels each of us.  Confusion arises because we are not sure which action to take.  We lack a firm basis for decision.” (Orris E. Kelly)  Chaplain Kelly continues on to say, “To move into the world we must have a base.”
     Then I will follow up with another question, what is your base?  That is the foundational question.  If your base is self-seeking don’t be surprised if you are frustrated with the results, and when you come to the end of your life you will find it is full of regrets.  If your base is self-serving don’t be surprised if you find life lonely.  Oh, you may say you are doing things for others, but the deeper reason is that you are seeking to satisfy yourself.  Instead life should be filled with serving others.
     Make your base, your foundation, the Word of God.  Understand that when we center our lives, make God our base, we become free from self-anxiety. The action of our lives finds purpose in serving the kingdom of God.  Since our lives now have focus and a base we can push forward with purpose and make life meaningful.  Our service, our attitudes, our focus must find its basis in knowing God.  Then, and only then, can we find true purpose which will bring happiness and joy to our lives.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I say I prefer to use the Word. But sometimes you have to get their attention before they’ll listen.”
                    –Elmer Kelton  (Badger Boy)

       “But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.”
                    –Jeremiah 7:24 (NLT)
————————–
I know that on Tuesday there is usually a story about Miles Forrest.  Since I’m on vacation and Miles is speaking with Holly McBride of the Colorado Mounted Rangers I thought I’d leave him alone.  He sent me a telegram and one to Molly saying that there were tracks down and he was going to be held up for a few days.

I have been tempted to stop my series on Miles, but I get enjoyment from doing it.  It is a way to convey a truth of life or from God’s Word in story form.  I attempt to write it in the form of the old magazine or radio serials.  Miles has given me fun, and helped me produce four novels.  Miles may be back next week, but if not, look for him in October and be ready for another exciting adventure in those days of yesteryear in the Old West.

     I thought I’d just throw out a few thoughts.  I watched most of the Charlie Kirk memorial service.  Quite stirring.  I heard some good preachings from the politicians and leaders of our country; better than what is coming out of many pulpits.  Now time will tell…  Who knows, only God, but this could be the last great chance for America to turn back to God.  God places men and governments in position to use for many reasons, one of which is to help straighten out a nation, to bring it back to godly morality and righteousness.  We must not let this chance go by.  Many times in the Old Testament we read where God sent prophets to warn the people and for the people to repent and come back.  Now time will tell…
     There is an old saying that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.  I saw recently something added to that–You can show a person the truth but you can’t make them think.  Hmmm.  Two more things for today.  The first is, when you see people cheering over the death of others and mocking them, that is a sure sign of demonic activity.  Beware of these people!  The second is that when God opens the door for revival, the choice is given.  It can bring refreshing and renewal to those who seek God, but for those who reject it, it could mean the hardening of their hearts.  Pharaoh had the opportunity to listen, but his heart was hardened.  Paul writes that God will give those who do not turn to Him over to a debased mind (Romans 1:28)  We also read in 2 Thessalonians that God, during the Tribulation, will send a “strong delusion, that they should believe the lie. (2:11)  If the people do not want to repent, to change, to believe then they are in grave danger.  It will not get better with them, but they will become more bitter and there will be more hatred stirred in their hearts.
     As believers we are to rejoice as we travel this life.  The old song says, “Keep on the sunny side of life.  It will help us every day; it will brighten all the way…” (Ada Blenkhorn)  Stand firm, be a model for others, be a light along the way, and continue onward and upward on the glory trail.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

A snake ain’t dead until you cut off its head.”
                    –Donald L. Robertson  (Tortured Season)

       “He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.”

                    –Deuteronomy 8:15(NIV)
——————————-
               “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
                          –2 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV)

               “But I’m afraid that your minds might be seduced in the same way as the snake deceived Eve with his devious tricks. You might be unable to focus completely on a genuine and innocent commitment to Christ.”  (CEB)

There are snakes out there!  All kinds and some of them are very deadly, while others just give the impression of one of the deadly vipers.  Yes, there are some people who like snakes, even adore them.  But in most all literature the symbol of the snake is evil, deadly, sinister.  I have seen through the years of my experience that not all snakes crawl around on their belly or lie in wait in the bushes.  Some walk tall, talk smoothly, and use enticing words from which their venom flows.  There are people who are really more dangerous than any snake in the bush.
      Consider the following and it is easy to see that if taken literally they are full of poison.  Are the people speaking these stupidities acting as serpents?  Are they full of the devil?  Or are they simply confused simpletons?  No matter which, they are still supposed to be leaders in our country, yet…

Alexandra Cortez (AOC) — “We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was…  His rhetoric and beliefs were IGNORANT, UNEDUCATED, and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans.” (capitals mine)

Jasmine Crockett — “Just because someone has committed a crime doesn’t make them a criminal.”

Brandon Johnson (mayor of Chicago) — Jails, and incarceration, and law enforcement is a sickness…”

Confusion, foolishness, or the work of the devil.  Listen when people gloat over murder that is an indication of a demonic spirit.  Calling law enforcement a sickness and one can see why there is so much mayhem in Chicago.  I would then ask, what is the definition of a criminal?  Is it not someone who has committed a crime?  Not a real intelligent comment from Crockett.  And saying that Charlie Kirk was ignorant and uneducated is absurd.  If he was uneducated why in the world would he bother to debate those on a college campus?
     Paul is clear in his writing, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (Romans 1:28, NKJV)  Know this, the problem we have in America is not a drug problem, not a gun problem, not a terrorist problem, not an abuse problem, not an economic problem–the problem that America has is a God-problem.  Evil spreads, violence spreads, addiction spreads when men and women ignore God’s Word.  Know this, there is an enemy who seeks to confuse people, who seeks to deceive and keep people from the truth of God’s Word.  Someone has said that Satan seeks to cause an emotional battle in your soul.  
     Watch out then, where you step.  There may be a snake.  Watch out who and what you listen to, it may be the voice of the serpent.  Let the Holy Spirit guide your steps and keep your eyes focused on the truth and upon Jesus.