Author: Ira Paine

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The ways of Providence are surely beyond me at times.”   
                    –D.C. Adkisson  (The True and Unbiased Life of Elias Butler)


       “But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
                    –Luke 12:5 (NKJV)
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In any true discussion regarding the attributes of God we must look at one that is disdained and even frowned upon in this day–the wrath of God.  We must remember that all the attributes of God are equal and holy.  We darst not emphasize one over the other for all of them compliment each other.  In years past the wrath of God was emphasized, giving us a biased view of God.  Today, it seems that the love of God is emphasized, making Him seem too good to be a God of wrath.  If God is love how can He be a god of wrath?
     Christians openly apologize for this “blemish” on God’s character.  It is too horrible to contemplate and they say it is inconsistent with His goodness and His love.  Perhaps you have heard the question, “How can a loving God send anyone to hell?”  The fact is, He doesn’t.  He has given wonderful opportunity through His grace, mercy, and yes, love for anyone to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  God, Himself, is not ashamed to make it known that vengeance and fury belong to Him.

          “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.  For I raise My hand to heaven, and say, ‘As I live forever, if I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me.'”
                    –Deuteronomy 32:39-41 (NKJV)

     He hates all sin; His anger burns against the sinner.  Psalm 7:11, states, “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (NKJV)  But note this:  His wrath is perfect and holy.  Listen, we must accept all of Scripture.  Several years ago, a person working with college age people told me that God doesn’t kill anyone.  I pointed him to the above verse, mentioned the angel of death in Exodus, and a couple of other instances where God’s wrath brought death.  His reply, “I don’t agree with that.”  Whether a person agrees with it or not the fact remains that one of God’s attributes is that of wrath.
     Know that the wrath of God is His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness.  It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin.  It is justice being rendered.  It is His sovereignty being exercised over rebellion.  Our hearts need to be duly impressed that God hates sin.  We must not regard sin lightly, gloss over its hideousness, or make excuses for it.  God’s wrath should bring a true fear of God into our souls.  It should make us search our hearts.  “Let us have grace whereby, we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:  for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29).
     One of the greatest studies in the Bible is the study of God in regard to the cross.  God’s love is seen, God’s grace is provided, God’s justice is shown forth through the wrath of God upon sin.  Oh, there is so much more to this study; I would implore you to take the time to investigate the truth of the cross.  We need to give thanks to the Lord for having been delivered from the wrath to come.  Arthur Pink states, “Our readiness or reluctancy to meditate upon the wrath of God becomes a sure test of our hearts’ true attitude toward Him.”

 

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
They were purchasing,” Theo’s voice dropped to an almost whisper, “dynamite.”
     Doc and I looked at each other, then my eye caught that of the Reverend, who was still sort of moping.  
     After checking the dead body, Bart Feakes according to Theo, I stood up and went to the preacher.  Molly was there now with Edith consoling Betty, but it was time to get the preacher thinking straight.  Doc said that his shoulder would be fine, so I grabbed Parson Chapman by his jaw and turned his head where he could see his wife.  “There is your priority, not that man on the floor!  You did right!”
     He pulled away from my hands.  I could see he tried to smile at his wife, but then he turned his eyes towards me.  “But I didn’t have to kill him.”
     “No, he could have killed you, but worse, he would have made you watch while they took your wife,” I barked, then stooped to look him in the eye as he had dropped his head.  “Could you live with that?  Could she?”
     It was at that time that Betty stood up going over to her husband.  She knelt before him and they embraced, both breaking out in tears.
     Doc tugged at my arm and we stepped away from the two consoling each other.  “Miles, if Dale is right, then that man is going to be needing a doctor.  If he was shot in the hip he’ll need more than someone just taking the bullet out.  There’s a chance his pelvis or hip could be broken, plus he would have lost a lot of blood.  Let me head on back to my office and see if he shows up.”
     “Good idea, I’ll walk along with you,” came my quick reply.
     “No, no, let me get settled, and say, oh, maybe thirty minutes you can start to monitor the area.  They may be watching and if you’re with me, they might not show their faces,” urged Doc who then went over to Edith.
     I stood by as Doc talked to Edith and Molly who both agreed to stay with the Chapman’s as long as needed.  Doc nodded at me when he left, Edith was up and going to the kitchen to make some tea.  As Doc went out the door, Mateo entered.
     Theo was still standing there, so I thought I’d get him busy.  “Theo, tell those folk out there to go on home or go about their business.   I pulled Mateo aside to tell him the situation and what Doc and I had planned.  He said he would leave ten minutes after I did and take the long way around to Doc’s and come in from the back.  That way no one could enter or leave the office without being seen.  We wanted one of those men alive.
     Mateo said he recognized Bart Feakes and would Lester if he saw him, but he didn’t really know them.  They worked the mines from time to time, ran freight and did other odd jobs.  He didn’t know where they were staying, but would work on that.
     Edith was bringing the tea when I went over to the Chapmans.  “Pastor, this most likely won’t help, but I’ve struggled with what you’re thinkin’ in the past.  Sometimes we have to do unsavory things to save those we love.”
     He looked at me nodding, then took the cup from Edith whispering a thank you to her.  I went over to Molly to explain what Mateo and I were going to do.  She nodded, then embraced me.  “I’ll stay here as long as they need me,” she said, then looked at the body on the floor.  “It might be a help to all of us, if someone would cart that carcass out of the room.”
     “Parker should be here anytime,” I said, but got that look.  “Theo, help me move the body out of the house.”
     It was time for me to head out.  I glanced one more time around at those in the room.  I’d find the men who did this, and they would pay to the full extent of the law.  As I walked down the street, a thought struck me, “But whose law…”

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Every journey starts with the first step and delaying won’t make it any better.”

                    –Cliff Hudgins  (Viejo and the Ranger)

       “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.  The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.”
                    –Isaiah 35:8 (NIV, 1978)
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“The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah…”  Or perhaps you sang, “This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on his thumb…”  Traveling can be tedious, and can you imagine what it was like in the time of David?  Think about it.  Petersen writes, “If you had one donkey and five children, even fifty miles was a long journey.”  The next fourteen psalms are titled, “A song for the ascent to Jerusalem,” or more literally, “A song of ascents.”  Psalms 120-134 were songs that pilgrims would sing on their way to Jerusalem, “they were good for communal singing as a caravan plodded its way up toward Jerusalem.” (Petersen)  Hmmm, perhaps these psalms would be good for us and refresh us as we make our spiritual climb up the glory road.  We start our travel with Psalm 120.

                    “A hand divine shall lead you on
                    And up the blissful road,
                    Till to the sacred mount you rise
                    And see your smiling God.”
                          –Philip Doddridge

          1 — In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He heard me.
          2 — Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
          3 — What shall be given to you, or what shall be done to you, you false tongue?
          4 — Sharp arrows of the warrior, with coals of the broom tree!
          5 — Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
          6 — My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace.
          7 — I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.  (NKJV)

     This Psalmist must have felt some personal pain, but he knew where to turn.  We don’t know his problems, but he knew that the way back to spiritual health was in asking God for help.  We see also here that he lived in the midst of those who slandered him for his trust in God.  He must have been in deep distress because he utters, “Woe is me”.
     This person most likely does not live in Meshech or Kedar, but uses them to describe his plight as he thought those slandering him were like them.  Meshech was a barbaric tribe far north of Israel.  Kedar was an amoral clan to the southeast, the second son of Ishmael.  They were described as living in hostility toward all their brothers.  Both of these peoples are seen as part of an evil society–gossip, slander, and filthy talk were commonplace.
     Leaving the lowlands, the pain that is felt because of the constant pull to compromise and the evil, wicked talk about the person this pilgrim will begin his journey toward the holy city in distress.  Perhaps he is looking forward to being in Jerusalem among God’s people.  Whatever, he decides to leave the place of pain or compromise.  I like the way George Wood puts it, “You’re ‘valley low’ when you begin.  How will you ever get up the hill, on top?  Follow the example of this Psalmist.  He began his ascent by letting God know he wanted out.  He put his heart in the right direction even before his feet had climbed the first step upward.”  What a way to start the journey–taking the step upward!

          “Should burning arrows smite thee through,
          Strict justice would approve.
          But I had rather spare my foe
          And melt his heart with love.”
                –Isaac Watts

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He slouched over the fire and tipped the pot against his mouth, drinking with an acute thirst. Coffee ran down the seams of his jaw. He said, ‘Ah,’ in great relish and sponged the liquid from the tips of his moustache with sidewise motions of his tongue.”

                      –Ernest Haycox  (Saddle and Ride)
 
Come on in, Pard, sit yurself down, I’ve just been ponderin’ whilst sippin’ my coffee.  Been awhile since I’ve drank straight from the pot or pan; guess I’m what yu’d call sophisticated now.  Big word for such a simple fella.  
     I quoted from that ol’ puncher Lou Bradshaw the other day ’bout the monsters bein’ set loose.  I haven’t heard anything ’bout him in the last couple of years.  Wonder if one of those monsters got him, or he succumbed to a pestilence or the elements.  Most likely he’s crossed over the Great Divide.  Sure hope he went peaceful; I’d hate if one of those monsters came ’round to snatch him.
     Don’t be a-doubtin’ me, Pard.  Those monsters are real.  Why even ol’ Peter hisself spoke of them, saying the devil was like a lion seekin’ someone to devour.  Pard, just hold yur cup for a minute and think, if’n that’s possible for yuh.  How many have you known that some monster has grabbed an’ sent them down to perdition?  Good folks, who at one time were doin’ the Lord’s work and they up an’ give in to the monsters that were chasin’ them.  I read of Hugh Glass bein’ chawed on by that monster grizzly.  That ol’ boy survived an ordeal like few others have been through, and yet, sad to say, some get a kitty scratch and go into fits like they had the hydrophoby.
     Ahhh, good coffee, helps bring the memories back of days gone before.  Pard, don’t get me wrong ’bout that kitty scratch.  I reckon I know it could get infected and the lockjaw could set in, but mercies’ sake sometimes we are so feeble-kneed and whiny that a person would wonder.  I have had the mountains on my mind a time or two, but I wouldn’t succumb to the jaws of the monster.  Yep, back in the summer of ’15, the ol’ heart was smacked by a monster, but my faith was in the Lord, an’ He took care of me and has continued to do so.
     Don’t get me goin’, Pard.  I know that we all got to face that last enemy–Death.  Why he stalks us all the time, and his cohort the devil are always lookin’ for ways to bring us down.  He’s an outlaw for shore, but we know that Death has been defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ.  How we come to face that outlaw, we don’t know.  It may be a monster after us, or a storm, or pestilence, or a battle, or just plain wearin’ out, but one thing we do know is that the Lord is with us.  Yuh need to lay hold of that for a fact!
     Sorry, if I seem a little melancholy, but Pard we got to face those evil monsters out there.  Some are after our family an’ it might be time to tote out the ol’ .44.  Sayin’ that it’ll be a shame if yuh met yur demise by failin’ to check yur cinch.  Yep, sometimes it ain’t the monsters that get us, but those little imps.  Yuh, be careful this week, have yur weapons ready in case yur attacked–hang on to the faith!
      Vaya con Dios.