Author: Ira Paine

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven…  A time to search and a time to lose.  A time to keep and a time to throw away.”  
       –Ecclesiastes 3:1,6 (NLT)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     I stared at the man who was just sitting down.  “Do you know him?” queried Doc, my gaze not wavering.
     Without saying anything, I stood to my feet and started toward the two men at the table.  My antagonist saw me coming, a wide grin forming on his face.  “Why, if it ain’t Marshal Forrest.  Long time no see.  I would say, I’m glad to see you’re doing well, but that’d be a lie.”
     “Teeter, what are you doin’ here?” I spat out my words with venom.  
     The smile didn’t leave his face.  “Just passing through on our way to Salt Lake,” he replied.  “Oh, Marshal, meet my friend, Frank Upton.”
     I glanced at the man, neither of us bothering to offer our hands to shake.  “Don’t be fretting yourself, Marshal.  He’s not wanted, and neither am I,” boasted Teeter arrogantly.  I know you won’t believe it, and I’m sure you’ll run down to your little office to check the wanted posters.  Oh, you might as well send a telegram to Blasco asking him,” he laughed, making me want to slap him silly.
     “Don’t worry, I’ll check,” came my quick reply.  “Stay out of trouble!”
     “Why, Marshal, that’s very good advice, but you’re not the sheriff.  Aren’t you over-stepping your jurisdiction?” he questioned with impudence emphasizing “jurisdiction.”
     I didn’t say anything more, my glare told him what I wanted him to know.  Before leaving, I glimpsed again at Upton, wanting to get him firmly in my mind.  Turning, I walked back to where Doc was waiting for me.  Instead of going to my seat, I picked the cofffepot off the stove to fill my cup.  I motioned it toward Doc, but he shook his head.
     Thoughts were turning in my head.  Upton, Frank Upton, the name wasn’t familiar, but there was something about his features.  I had seen them before, somewhere, years ago.
     Upon sitting, Doc spoke, “Are you going to fill me in, or just leave me out in no man’s land wondering what you’re thinking, and who that man is?”
     I took a sip of the hot, black coffee before answering.  “Doc, you remember, five, maybe six years ago, the shoot out in the courtroom with the Lamb brothers and some others?”  My mouth returned to the cup.
     “Well, I reckon so.  I had amputated the arm of one of the brothers from an earlier gun battle at the bank.  One of them was killed in the courtroom if I’m thinking right, the other, the one with one arm, should still be in prison,” he paused turning to look at the two men, neither of which were paying any attention but were in the process of giving Lola their order.  Shaking his head, “I’m not following you.”
     “In the courtroom that day, there were two men not arrested.  One was Ioway Jenks, the other is one of the men sitting over there, Micah Teeter.  It’s not Teeter that botherin’ me, but the other man.  Teeter said his name was Frank Upton, and that doesn’t ring a bell, but there’s something about him that is vaguely familiar.”
     I finished my coffee, then stood up.  After putting on my coat, I grabbed the Greener that had been leaning against the wall.  “Goin’ up to the office, I’ll see you later.”
     There was laughter as I passed by the table.  Before leaving the diner, I heard the voice of Teeter, “Goin’ to see if you can find my pretty face on a poster?”  Then both men laughed again.
     I didn’t bother turning but went on out the door and up the street to the jail.  Charlie just happened to be in, Lucas was in the process of sweeping out the cells when I entered.  “Charlie, I need to see your posters.  Micah Teeter is eating down at the diner, along with a man goin’ by the name of Frank Upton.”
     He went to his office to retrieve the stack of posters and I glimpsed at those on the board behind Mateo’s desk.  I didn’t expect to see either Teeter or Upton there, but by chance I still looked.  Charlie came out, giving me half the stack while he began to look through the others.
     “Teeter, that brings back memories.  Coward, if I recall, ran from his friends,” remarked Charlie.  
     Lucas finished his work, then came over to help us sort the posters.  “Senor, I remember this Teeter fellow.  I was very young then.”
     I glanced at Charlie, then turned my attention to Lucas.  He had indeed grown.  If it was five years ago, he would have been around thirteen when the incident happened.  It was Lucas who possibly saved the life of Darnelle during the bank holdup.  We get so caught up in life that we often don’t see what’s right in front of us.  
     We’d been at the chore of looking through the posters.  I was getting ready to get up and go to send Marshal Blasco a telegram when through the entrance burst, Darnelle, all flustered…

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The way I see it, every time a man gets up in the morning he starts his life over. Sure, the bills are there to pay, and the job is there to do, but you don’t have to stay in a pattern. You can always start over, saddle a fresh horse and take another trail.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Proving Trail)

       “Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful.”

                    –Nehemiah 9:31(NKJV)
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My wife’s church, when she was growing up, had what we would call responsive reading.  The chapel services at the college I attended practiced it as well.  I like it, for it gets the congregation into the Word, some of whom might be the only time they read the Scriptures.  Psalm 136 is a psalm of responsive reading.  The leader, maybe a priest, would read the first part of each verse, then the people would respond with their praise.  This is a psalm that makes us respond and look to the majesty and character of God.  Steven Lawson proclaims, “The love of God toward His saints is higher, deeper, wider, and longer than anyone can comprehend.”

          1 — Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.
          2 — Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!  For His mercy endures forever.
          3 — Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!  For His mercy endures forever.
          4 — To Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever;
          5 — To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endures forever;
          6 — To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endures forever;
          7 — To Him who made great lights, for His mercy endures forever–
          8 — The sun to rule by day, for His mercy endures forever;
          9 — The moon and stars to rule by night, for His mercy endures forever.  (NKJV)

     The word, “mercy,” has been translated in other versions as “faithful love” (CEB, NLT), “steadfast love” (ESV), “lovingkindness” (NASB).   Whichever term used, know this, that “God’s covenant love for His people, like a mighty river, will be flowing as strong in eternity future as when it first began in eternity past.  This is the awe-inspiring wonder of being the special object of His everlasting love.” (Lawson)  This phrase, “His love/mercy endures forever” is repeated twenty-six times in this psalm.  The psalmist wants it to sink in for this is an eternal truth.  God’s loyal love, His mercy, His lovingkindness will never fail or falter.
     We, His children, are the special objects of His special love.  God takes time to care for us in the large overwhelming things of life as well as in the small, seemingly mundane things of life.  His love is as Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it, “the nameless unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” (Wood)  When I read that, I wondered just how many acts of God’s love toward me I had forgotten, and I had to shake my head.  
     God is good!  George Wood declares that there is “Not a shadow of evil or wrongful intent toward you resides in Him.”  He is love, and His love endures forever.  His love is the love that Paul writes about, “Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)  J.B. Phillips said, “God’s love can outlast anything.  It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else is fallen.”  God’s love was so great that He sent His Son to die for our sins to bring us back to the Father–this love endures forever.
     But, we must remember, that this love is only towards those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of their life.  Unbelievers do not have this love/mercy forever for in eternity they have lost the chance, the love, and the expression of God’s great love.  His grace will no longer be extended beyond the grave no matter how many candles are lit, no matter how many prayers are said, the invitation is now, today.  In the darkness of Hades and the future lake of fire, God’s mercy will be absent.  Now is the day of acceptance!  Now is the day of rejoicing for His mercy/love endures forever to those who put their trust and faith in Christ.

               “Let us with a gladsome mind,
               Praise the Lord for he is kind;
               For his mercies aye endure,
               Ever faithful, ever sure.”
                     –John Milton

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I started a fire in the stove. There was some water in a pitcher, so I poured it into the coffee pot and got some coffee started on the stove.”

                    –Dan Arnold  (Bear Creek)
 
Beep, beep, no that’s not the Road Runner, that’s good mornin’ to yuh in tech terms.  Coffee’s ready, Pard, I heard the beep from the coffee maker.  If’n I’d made it in the old perkolater there wouldn’t be a beep.  Beep, everything has a beep.  The oven is heated–beep, beep, beep.  The car door is left open–beep, beep, beep.  You left the keys in the car–beep, beep, beep.  Why, even some vehicles make beep, beep, beep, when they back up.  Add to that the dings and dongs, the pings, buzzes, whistles, and gongs and we have a whole technological symphony goin’.  
     Let me take a swallow an’ I’ll tell yuh where I’m goin’ with this.  Yuh tell me, Pard.  Why is it that the smoke alarm, when the batteries are dyin’, only beeps at the early hours of the mornin’?  They never seem to go out durin’ the day, but only at the wee hours of the mornin’, then it’s BEEP!  A few seconds later BEEP!  An’ at the time, it’s that loud and that annoyin’.  I think it must be another one of those technological conspiracies.
     I’m sure glad the ol’ song goes, “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more…”.  I’d sure rather the Lord come on a trumpet blast than with a beeper, or a beepin’ sound.  There will be the trumpet call of God, accordin’ to ol’ Paul, not beep, beep, beep.
     Not very profound this mornin’, but let’s jist enjoy our coffee hopin’ that nothin’ else beeps around here.  But…I did hear some beepin’ the other day as there’s some construction goin’ on ’round here.  One thing, if’n yuh fall out of the saddle ’cause yuh didn’t check yur cinch and fall on yur noggin’ it sure enough won’t beep.  It’ll be more like a thud and a rattle as the marbles get all spewed about.
     Yuh be havin’ a good day an’ week, an’ if’n yuh hear some beepin’ sound check yur pacemaker; it may be out of whack and goin’ bonkers, errr I mean beepers.
      Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Trouble ain’t always bad. Trouble can be cleansing.”
                    –Dan Arnold  (Death Is the Dealer)

       “Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?”
                    –Mark 4:40 (NKJV)
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Storms!  We’ve all been through them.  Most of them are natural, physical storms, however, we also know that there are the storms of life, those that rage havoc upon our souls, our minds, and emotions.  Storms of doubt, storms of depression, storms of fear, and on we could mention the different types of storms.  In Mark 4, we read of a storm that caused the disciples to ask a stunning and amazing question:  “Who is this?”  Phillips shows the disciples in wonderment and puts it this way, “Who ever can he be?”
     Briefly the episode goes like this.  Jesus says to His disciples that they should all get in the boat and go over to the other side.  While the disciples were taking care of the chores, Jesus in a tired state was in the stern and went to sleep.  While he was sleeping a violent storm came up.  The terminology is that it was an intense storm, one of cyclonic proportions.  The disciples had to wake Him up and they cried out to Him.  Jesus gets up, rebukes the wind and sea, then turns to His disciples and rebukes them as well.  All of this causes them to ask the question:  “Who is this?”
     There is much more to the story than meets the eye.  First, there is this violent storm.  Even though Jesus was sleeping, do you think He was surprised?  Bernard Rossier says that, “It was Satan who brought this storm about…  Satan is the god of this world and the prince of the powers of the air.”  Another attack on Jesus.  Destroy Him, if possible.  Bring the forces of nature against Him.  I wonder if Jesus was smiling in His sleep at the puny effort of the enemy?  We often get the idea that after the temptation in the wilderness that Satan no longer went after Jesus.  Remember the words in Luke, “…he [Satan] departed from Him until an opportune time.” (4:13, NKJV)  
     The disciples were afraid for their lives.  Here we see a vivid picture of humanity.  “Many times individuals are caught by the storms of life and see the waves beating about them.  They become discouraged, heartbroken, and depressed.  It seems that the devils of darkness scream and attack us whenever possible.  As we start the journey of faith with Jesus toward the throne of the kingdom, it is not a journey on which we have to be capsized and drowned beneath the waves of oppression, discouragement, worry, and darkness.  There may be difficulties that seem insurmountable, but God is eternally alive and alert.” (Rossier)  The disciples were afraid they were going to die; that there was no hope.  Then they did something that was almost unthinkable–they rebuked the Lord.  “How dare He,” they may have thought.  Scripture says, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38, NKJV)  They were in effect, rebuking the Lord.  They had not yet learned the lesson that William Barclay puts it so truthfully, “To voyage with Jesus was to voyage in peace even in a storm.”
     We don’t know Jesus’ reaction to the disciple when they awoke Him.  But in His love and in His power He rises and says, “Peace, be still!”  Notice the NKJV puts an exclamation point.  Was it a stern rebuke to Satan?  Look at the term “peace.”  It means “to be silent, still, hushed, calm.”  In other words, Jesus said to the storm (or Satan) “hush up!”  The next two words, “be still” means “to close the mouth with a muzzle.”  Hmm, possibly another finger pointed at the devil.  It is the same words used by Jesus to silence the demon possessed man in Mark 1:25, though our translations have it slightly different.  However, Phillips does say this, “Hold your tongue and get out of him!”
     One more thought and this answers the question, “Who is this?”  The disciples were overwhelmed at what happened.  They could not believe what took place.  Who can control the seas and the wind by speaking?  This is important, for Jesus is showing His disciples, though they do not recognize it at the time who He is.  Who can control the wind and waters by speaking?  Look to the Creator-God who spoke and there becomes a division of the water so that dry land appears.  Who can control the winds and waters?  Look to the God in heaven who caused the rain to fall and the waters of the deep to rise.  Who can control the winds and waters?  Look to the Deliverer, the One who controls the Red Sea and calls the wind to come and make a division in the water.  In fact, the disciples were acting similar to the Israelites at the Red Sea.  Who is this?  YAHWEH!  Jesus, is relating to His disciples that He is God in the flesh.  He is demonstrating His deity to them. (Chad Bird)
     The next time you read this account, realize that Jesus is telling His disciples that He is God!