Author: Ira Paine

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Faith and fear cannot be in the same place at the same time… You either live in one, or you live in the other.”
                    –Dan Arnold  (Bear Creek)

       “When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.'”
                    –Luke 5:4 (NKJV)
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I was sitting the other morning in my chair, doing my morning devotions.  I paused to look out the window and gaze at the little forest where our cottage is nestled.  It won’t be long, progress they call it, that the trees will mostly be cut down and it will be part of “suburbia.”  I don’t blame folks for wanting to get out in the woods, wherever they might live, but my question is why?  But that’s a debate for another day.  As I was quietly sitting and gazing, an old hymn came to my mind.  I haven’t heard it in ages and it is one that I don’t know well.  In fact, I could only remember two phrases:  “Launch out into the deep, Oh, let the shore-line go…”  
     I turned to one of my readings that I do every morning and here is what came up.  “All great voyages begin in the same way.  Once all the passengers board, the ship’s horn sounds, and most of those on board rush up onto the deck.  The thick ropes that held the ship to the dock are let go.  Then the vibration of the engines can be felt in the steel beneath your feet.  Moments later, the dock and shoreline begin to slip away.” (James Merritt)  Coincidence?  Maybe, if you believe in that, but perhaps more, something that I was to ponder, something from the Lord.  So let’s take a look at that old hymn by A.B. Simpson and mesh it with what I read that morning.

          “The mercy of God is an ocean divine,
          A boundless and fathomless flood;
          Launch out in the deep, cut away the shoreline,
          And be lost in the fullness of God.”

Finally, the ropes have been cast off.  The lines that held the ship secure are no longer there and it is free to move into open water.  The journey has begun, and I like what the hymnist said, it begins out in the ocean of God’s mercy.  “Freedom and enjoyment in life start with casting off.” (Merritt)  We now are free to let go of the old life and enjoy life without the anxiousness that often besets us.  God has put us on a new journey and has good plans for our life. (Merritt)

          “But many, alas!  only stand on the shore
          And gaze on the ocean so wide;
          They never have ventured its depths to explore,
          Or to launch on the fathomless tide.”

Why, oh why, I have often wondered?  Why do people refuse the love, grace, and mercy of God?  Why do they stand in their selfishness bound by the ropes to the dock when God has provided a wonderful venture of life in His mercy?  Why do they purposely reject the grace that He offers?  All they have to do is get on board, because the crew does the work of casting off.  The journey has already been paid for.  Step out into the ocean of His mercy.  Put away the worry that may beset you.  Let go, “because God will provide sufficient grace for every trouble you face.” (Merritt)

          “And others just venture away from the land,
          And linger so near to the shore,
          That the surf and the slime that beat over the strand,
          Dash o’er them in floods evermore.”

Have you ever been to the docks?  The grease and crudge and slime lie all around.  The smell can knock you down.  Ahh, but out on the sea, the fresh air blows, the water is clean and clearer than at the docks.  Why stay moored to your old life?  “You don’t have to stay docked to your challenges any longer, moored to every piece of bad news, or tied to those things you cannot control.” (Merritt)  Look up at the bridge and see the Captain.  Just think, even the winds and waves obey Him, therefore the “storms of life cannot sink you on your journey.” (Merritt)

          “Oh, let us launch out on this ocean so broad,
          Where floods of salvation e’er flow;
          Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,
          Till the depth of His fullness we know.”

There is no need to look back at the dock–that old way of life.  Look forward to the journey, enjoy His grace and mercy, as you travel in faith with Him on this voyage.  I have written many times what my Pastor used to say, “Live Is Living!”  Then live it to the fullest with Jesus Christ and let the Holy Spirit guide you along the way.  Look at the freedom you have in Christ; no longer bound by the ropes of sin, worries, frets, and depression.  Look forward to the journey of God’s grace.  And if the storm clouds roll in don’t fret, the Savior is there to secure our safety.

          “Launch out into the deep,
          Oh, let the shoreline go,
          Launch out, launch out in the ocean divine,
          Out where the full tides flow.”

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

There are always those who are willing to earn what they get and those who work, being too lazy or immoral to honestly build their own lives.”

                    –B.N. Rundell  (Escape to Exile)

       “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
                    –Proverbs 24:10 (NKJV)
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There is a verse tucked away in that wonderful thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians:  “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (13:11, NKJV)  One of the saddest, and perhaps most shameful things in life and more so in the church, is the man or woman who continues to act like a child.  They may have been a Christian for thirty years, but they display the attitudes and actions of a four-year-old.  It ought not to be.
     A couple of my grandkids like to watch “Dude Perfect.”  I watched it a couple of times and it seems that they display the symptoms of Peter Pan Syndrome.  I couldn’t watch much of it because of its silliness, but then I began to ponder–childishness.  I have a hard time putting up with so-called adults who act like children whether in the workforce or at church.  How many do you know who have this “syndrome”?  
     The definition of the Peter Pan Syndrome is, “never-growing adults who have reached an adult age, but cannot face their adult sensations and responsibilities.  They engage in activities associated with childhood rather than taking on the responsibilities and challenges of adulthood.”  Play rather than work.  Work to many of them is a dirty, four-letter word.  Behaviors associated with immaturity and a reluctance to grow up are their forte.  Traits that may be seen are:  avoiding responsibilities, resisting commitment, seeking constant fun and excitement, and displaying a lack of ambition or direction in life.  A dangerous situation, for the individual and the nation, and I believe we are seeing more and more those who display this tendency.
     Paul writes, “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” (Ephesians 4:14, NKJV)  When we are born again, we are like little children spiritually.  We then begin to grow, just like children.  Sometimes the growth is gradual and sometimes there are those growth spurts not much different than natural growth.  However, grow we must!
     Do not measure your growth by comparing it to someone else.  Yes, there are common characteristics of growth, but some may reach a mature point in their lives quicker than someone else.  The question to ask yourself is:  “Am I moving away from childish attitudes?  Am I forsaking infantile behavior?  Am I still governed by childish reactions and outbursts?” (Stedman)   And, to shame, there are those who never grow up.  A word of warning:  do not use the phrase that God wants us to be childish.  That is not true.
     The Scripture does exhort us to be childlike at times, but never childish.   Ray Stedman describes it this way, “Childlikeness is that refreshing simplicity of faith which believes God and acts without questioning.  But childishness is described here [Ephesians 4:14] by the apostle as instability and naivete.”  Children are fickle; their attention span is short.  They are carried about with fads, fashions, infatuations, and changing circumstances.  They play in dangerous situations, with questionable companions, without knowledge or awareness of the threat.  They will run out into the street without looking or considering what may happen.  Put that in a spiritual context and who comes to mind?  Think of those who hop from church to church, who dabble in the things of the world, who adopt the fashions of the world and its entertainment.  Think of those who are mixed with Belial, those who lack the commitment to marry, those whose tongue is as salty as the devil.
     I had a student ask me one time, “Do you think I am a man?”  I replied simply, “Do you accept responsibility?”  Hmmm, do we take our work seriously?  Do we do all for the glory of God?  Do we do it the best we can, giving quality time for quality work?  Do we live to have fun, or do we live to bear a cross?  Do my work ethics glorify Christ, or do I just get by?  In other words, put away the childish things–become a man/woman of God!

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Hollowness is perhaps the worst emotion a man can feel.”
                   –Kenneth Pratt  (To Kill a Dragon)


       “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord I will seek.'”
                    –Psalm 27:8 (NKJV)
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To think of God is overwhelming.  Yet, by doing so, by contemplation on the great “I AM” we become closer in our relationship with Him, and are more able to cope with this world.  Contemplate then, on the Almighty.  We have had a brief, little study the past several weeks on the person of God, along with a few of His natural and moral attributes.  I would encourage you to continue to study them, and more, deeper.  However, do not let the infiniteness of God discourage you.  

          “Can you search out the deep things of God?  Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?  They are higher than heaven–what can you do?  Deeper than Sheol–what can you know?  Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.”
                    –Job 11:7-9 (NKJV)

No, we cannot grasp completely who God is.  We cannot fathom His character and personality because of the purity of it.  But, we must try.  Charles Spurgeon said, “Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the great subject of Deity.  The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity.”  This study should teach us humility, caution, and reverence.  However, it is our duty and obligation to know Him better.  Spurgeon continues, “There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity.”
     So much of our thinking regarding God is superficial.  And truly, we cannot know Him fully.  One day we shall Him face-to-face; yet He will still be the incomprehensible God.  No wonder man cannot look at Him and live for He is holiness.  He is infinite in His attributes; He receives nothing, nor is limited by any other power.  True happiness consists then only in the enjoyment of God.  S. M. Leckeredge said this,

          “I wish I could describe Him to you.
          He’s indescribable because He’s incomprehensible,
          He’s irresistible because He’s invincible.
          You can’t get Him off your hands,
          You can’t get Him off your mind,
          You can’t out live Him
          And you can’t live without Him….”

     “The purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (Shorter Westminster Catechism).  We cannot glorify Him if we do not know Him.  We cannot enjoy Him and His fellowship unless we take the time to learn of Him.  John tells us that we are to worship Him in “spirit and truth [reality]” which means our everyday life. (John 4:23)  He is the Supreme Sovereign of the Universe.  WOW!  Think on that!  Then add to it that He watches us, He sees every breath we take, He knows every thought and step we take.  His eye is ever upon us.  It is overwhelming; yet it is comforting.  “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

 

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
It wasn’t unusual for men to buy dynamite since this was a mining hub, but it bothered me that three miscreants would be purchasing the goods.  Perhaps I was thinking wrongly, they might be working up in one of the canyons at a digging, but my gut instinct told me different.  I was hoping that Doc was right and a man would show up at his place in need of help.
     I stood back in the shadows of some pines at the little park about a block and a half from Doc’s office.  Darkness was starting to settle in as the last rays of the sun went down over the horizon.  Mateo, I was sure, had his position somewhere at the back of the office.  Now, we waited…but for how long?  I knew Doc was right, if that bullet hit the man in the hip or pelvis he was in a world of hurt.  Even if it hit only muscle, he would have lost a lot of blood.  But would they take a chance and bring him to the doctors; it was the only one in the area?
     Ten minutes later a wagon pulled up in front of the office.  It was too dark to recognize the man as he lumbered off the wagon and went to banging on Doc’s door.  In the quietness of the Sunday night, I could hear the man.  “Are you the doctor?” he barked.
     Doc’s calm voice responded, “I’m Doctor Jones.”
     The man turned toward the wagon.  “There’s a man hurt bad in the wagon.  I was ridin’ into town an’ happened to notice him lyin’ in the ditch.  I went to check on him, and when I touched him he began groanin’ somethin’ fierce.  I was most ‘feared to touch him, but I knew he’d probably die if’n I didn’t get him into see a doc.”
     Shuffling out to the wagon, Doc took one look.  “Let’s get him into the office so I can examine him.”
     The man put down the wagon gate, and I heard Doc ask him, “Do you know this man?”
     Quickly responding, the man answered, “Never seen him before in my life.”  Lifting the man out, Doc continued to ask, “You have a name?”
     There was hesitation, then the man stuttered, “Mark Barstow.”
     Doc looked up at him.  “Not sure if I’ve seen you before.  You work around here?”
     No answer came forth as they carried the man into the office.  When the door was shut I moved on over to the wall beside the office.  I could hear only pieces through the closed window.  I’d give Doc time to start examining the man then go in.
     “You’re right, this man’s in bad shape.  Left any longer and he would’ve died, might yet.”
     It was time for me to make my entry.  I entered nonchalantly.  “Evening Doc, I was makin’ my rounds and spotted a wagon in front of the office.  Anything wrong?”  I watched the man closely for any moves.  I did notice that he was some uncomfortable when he saw me enter.
     “Miles, got a wounded man here in bad shape.  Shot in the hip and I think his pelvis might be broken.  Bullet’s still in him so I’ve got to get that out,” said Doc all the time working on the man.  “Where’s Edith when I need her?” he mumbled.  “Mister, Barstow, right?” he questioned looking over at the man.  “I’m going to need your help.  Get a pot of water on that stove…I need it hot.”
     Barstow moved to find a pot and added some wood to the low burning stove while Doc cut away the patient’s clothes.  I stood there watching then asked, “Shot?  Where’d you find him?”
     “On the road in from Mancos,” replied the man, setting the pot on to heat.
     “What are you comin’ into Durango on a Sunday night for?  Everything’s closed except the saloons.”
     “Comin’ in for supplies, thought I’d stay the night then get them in the mornin’.”
     I glared at the man, then turned my attention to Doc.  “Think he’ll live?”
     “Tell you the truth, he’s in bad shape…lost a lot of blood. Listen, I’m going to need the two of you to hold him still while I dig for that bullet.  I don’t want any more damage to his pelvis.  He’s going to be out of commission for a long spell as it is.”
     Doc had his tools near him and picked up a scalpel.  He was moving it toward the wound when the man’s eyes opened wide and he hollered, “Bart!…”