If a man doesn’t measure up to what the frontier expects, he’s liable to lose not only freedom, but life.”
–Zane Grey (Knights of the Range)

“Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.”
–1 Corinthians 15:34 (NLT)
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Everything’s packed on the steel horse, ready to mount, and we’re ready to head back to Texas. Don’t fret, I’ll check my cinch before mounting. Sure had a grand stay up here at the daughter’s place in Maryland, but now, time to get back to the Lonestar State. Sorta reminds me of that old song:

“I started out from Texas, about a year ago…
I’m goin’ back to Texas, my heart is sad and sore
My weary feet are getting mighty lame…
Going back where the longhorn cattle roam, roam, roam.
And your best friend is your bronco and your gun…”

We’ve been gone a month, and now it’s time to get back. So, since we’re all packed up, I won’t be sending out any Echoes for a few days.
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Shauna brought to my attention last week a story from a “prominent Presbyterian minister.” This minister, now remember, Presbyterian…Christian, said that Christianity is only one way to get to God and heaven. As far as she was concerned she would not limit the way to heaven from other religions or beliefs.
Let me tell you something straight–God is not polygamous. There is one Bride for His Son, Jesus Christ and that is the Church. Those purchased by the blood. If this other minister is correct then Jesus was a liar. There is no other way to the Father except by Him. He made the statement that “He is the way…”.
This is the reason why so many are against Christianity. It is inclusive. But Christ died for all, He made it so easy to become a Christian, yet people turn away, mock and scorn. Another area to fight and it is in the Church, the false teachings of universalism, pluralism, and globalism. Beware!
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“Nobody ever believes it until it is too late. Everyone has the same idea: that it could not happen to them. It is always happening to somebody else, and you see it in the papers, and don’t credit it. Thieves, outlaws and the like, now, they are no braver than you, and most times less brave. They just figure you will be scared to a jelly, and will do nothing to defend yourself because you think they are so dangerous.”
–Louis L’Amour

Living is something that should be real. We should take it as best we can, as deep and wide and full as we can. We shouldn’t ever be small or ever be afraid.”
–Ernest Haycox (The Border Legion)

“And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.”
–1 John 4:17 (NLT)
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“No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and the intention is purely for His holy service.”
–Christopher Columbus

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY!

That’s right, Happy Columbus Day, not happy indigenous peoples day no matter who might say that or what state or government says it, the truth of the matter is the celebration is for when Columbus discovered the Americas.
Columbus was a great sailor and explorer. Leadership studies usually deal with ten leadership traits and all of these can easily be seen in the character of Columbus. True, he was ambitious, and he wanted wealth and fame, but he also believed that the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be spread throughout the world. He required that a certain percentage of gold and silver brought from the New World be used to send missionaries to the Indians (excuse me, indigenous people) and to build schools for education.
There is much ado about the Columbian Exchange, however, most of it focuses on the negative impact of it. With the Europeans came new diseases against which the Indians (excuse me, indigenous people) had no immunity. There is very little mentioned of the disease that went back to Europe–syphilis. The Indians (excuse me again, indigenous peoples) were still living in the stone age. Even though metals were found in the Americas there was little effort to make them into tools or weapons, and even when the Europeans came they preferred to trade for such items. A person might reach the grand old age of thirty. I might also make mention here that the Indians (excuse me, indigenous people) came from Asia.
The world, including the New World, would never be the same after the discovery of Columbus. The Europeans brought grains, language, education, horses, cattle and other livestock, architecture, tools, and religion. Take for example the Plains Indians. We think of them riding across the plains following the buffalo. In reality, this was only for about 250 years of their existence. Before the horse they lived along the fringe of the plains in survival mode. The horse completely changed their culture.
This is the one the liberals hate. With Columbus and explorers to followed came Christianity. They began to fulfill the command of Jesus Christ to take the Gospel throughout the world. The Indians (excuse me, indigenous people) were pagans. Many practiced human sacrifice and the mutilation of the human body. These were people lost without Christ. Subsequently, with the settlement of America came the largest missionary movement the world has ever seen. This is one reason, I believe, the Vikings did not make permanent settlements in America. At that time in their history the Vikings were pagan themselves. It wasn’t Divine Providence for a pagan people to settle an area in which another pagan people lived.
In the Columbian Exchange many things went back to Europe, mostly in the form of food items. Interesting, none of the Indian (excuse me, indigenous people) religions made an impact upon Europeans. None of their languages became spoken in Europe. Yet most people in the Western Hemisphere speak a European language.
So, Hail, Columbia, the land of Columbus.

Ira Paine

P.S. Read “The Light and the Glory” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel for a enlightened study of Columbus.

Being loyal was not enough. One had to be loyal to the right cause, the right person.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Shadow Riders)

“Love the Lord, all you godly ones! For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes the arrogant.”
–Psalm 31:23 (NLT)
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“Long ago he had learned the way to survive was to watch your back trail and keep a gun handy.”
–Louis L’Amour

“They would need someone to blame. It was part of the pathological makeup of politicians.”
–Brad Thor

From all the signs I see we must be expecting a harsh winter. The trees are raining “nuts” and the ground is covered with them. Go for a walk and there are “nuts” strewn everywhere. What is it with the liberal press? When I think it can’t get any worse, I’m proven wrong. From Dr. Seuss being racist, to the removal of statues, to kneeling for the National Anthem, all I see are nut-cases. Then we have this terrible nightmare in Las Vegas and immediately the nut-press and those who are definitely more enlightened than the common man take to the air waves.
I wish I could say I am shocked with some of the words that have come out of people’s mouths in the past few days, but I’m not. It is a shame that there is so much hatred in society that a person is not shocked by what another says. Take Nancy Sinatra, whoeve-dor she is. She said that all “NRA members should be taken out and executed by firing squad.” Now that is radical thinking–almost terrorist. Then there are those who said they were all right with what happened because those killed were Republicans and Trump supporters. Hatred? Oh no, never from the liberals. Things are too numerous to mention, but why the hatred? Deal with gun-control in a civilized manner, through the political system.
Oh, I can’t leave out sweet, dear OLD Hillary. She said the deaths were caused by the “GOP” and the “NRA.” To date, there has not been one NRA member involved in one of these mass shootings. Why can’t she just fade into the wallpaper? I really wonder who listens to her. I guess most people, at least according to the polls.
Then I hear some of these night time jerks, I means hosts, along with some journalists and politicians coin the required phrase. “Our prayers are with you.” Give me a break. Now, honestly, there may be a few sincere people who say that, but tell me how many of these individuals will get on their knees at night and pray for the families and the wounded? I would say that the majority of them do not even know their Creator, much less pray to Him.
Perhaps you heard of the Special Forces soldiers that were killed. The media in their wonderful way still will not call it what it is. They say that our men were killed by “violent extremists.” They still do not want to recognize the idea of “Islamic terrorists.” What is wrong? Can people be that illogical? Can people hate a person, President Trump, so much that they do not care to see the truth? We better wake up!
I’m doing some reading of some of the men who really settled the West. The preachers and Christians. We do not hear much of them as folks out there would rather read of the infamous; the punks and prostitutes and ne’er-do-wells than those who actually came in and settled. But there is one quotation I would close this note with by Buckskin Brady, cowboy turned preacher.

“There is a mania of forgetting God that becomes contagious under certain conditions.”
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“I challenge any skeptic to find a ten square mile spot on this planet where they can live their lives in peace and safety and decency, where womanhood is honored, where infancy and old age are revered, where they can educate their children–where the Gospel of Jesus Christ has not gone first to prepare the way. If they find such a place, then I would encourage them to emigrate thither and there proclaim their unbelief.”
–James Russell Lowell

There wasn’t all this worry about who was right and who was wrong. You just knew.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Far Canyon)

“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
–Genesis 4:7 (NLT)
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“Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America’s best
One hundred men we’ll test today,
But only three win the Green Beret.”
–Barry Sadler

“I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.”
–Ezekiel 22:30 (HCSB)

There is much ado today about standards. What is right, what is wrong, what can I do, what can I not do. Who makes the standards, why I must adhere to them, and on, and on, and on. What I have noticed in my almost four decades of teaching that instead of standards rising they tend to drop. Now there are a myriad of reasons for that, but the fact is still there. One of the problems is that individuals want their own standards; it’s that autonomous thing again. They want to be in charge, even at the expense of their employer and maybe other people.
I know of a student, quite brilliant, but who has been out of college for quite some time and cannot get the job of his choosing. The reason why is that he will not subject himself to their dress standards. When I look at the above lyrics by Sgt. Sadler I look at the standard. How many pass the test and are able to uphold the standard? –three percent. It surely makes me wonder if that standard is being maintained. I know that the Green Beret, Special Forces, don’t want to get too mercenary here, have individuals known as “Gatekeepers” to make sure the standards are maintained. Hopefully, there are, but what happens if only one can pass up to standard? Will the standard change? A little thing, and I know today’s military personnel do not have to shine boots, but it was easy to tell what a person thought of the standard by glancing at his boots. Spit shine or…well, there just wasn’t anything else acceptable.
I was stationed at the USAF Academy when they allowed women to enter that institution. I watched on the obstacle course to see if the standard had changed. Sorry to say, it had. I don’t care what report you read, I saw it change. I haven’t been there in years, and I wonder if on the front of the terrazzo there is still the sign, “Bring Me Men”? Men to meet the standard, and women too, if they can reach it.
Many people come to Christ, but read the parable of the sower; only a small percentage of them stay the course. Some of the seed falls on hard ground and doesn’t take good root, others are choked out by the world. When Christ calls, He calls us to a standard and the first step in that standard is obedience. He has certain standards; He will never drop or minimize His standards. When I was in the service I would be given an order and it was expected that it would be carried out. There wasn’t always the complete understanding of the order, but there was the understanding of obedience. Take a glance at Abraham: “Get up and move.” He did!
A statement was made in church last Sunday and it is true. “It is not being religious to live blameless, it is an honor.” (Rasim Hasan) We do not come to Christ and remain the same. If we love Him we obey His commandments. That is not legalism! Want to know a cause of the problems in America (and I know the liberals want to blame guns)? The cause is that we have lost the standards that we set up. Evil is being called good. Moral standards, ha, where are they? Righteousness is mocked, and this is true in the church as well. Faith is synonymous with obedience, and the words of Jesus when He rewards those who follow Him will be, “well done, good, and faithful.”
Are you, am I, maintaining the standard? If the Gatekeeper looks for someone to stand in the gap, have I maintained the standard well enough that I can step in and fulfill the duty to which He has called me? Listen, it is not always easy to maintain the standard of the high calling of Jesus Christ. Watching others let down the standard it is easy to let mine drop as well. That cannot happen. In lieu of all this JUNK about not standing for the National Anthem and other stupid stuff, even in the church, it makes me realize that I have to maintain.
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I might mention, the sermon where I attended last Sunday was by a converted Muslim, who now is a missionary to the Muslims in the D.C. area.
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“Sin is nothing, because it cleaves to and joys in creatures and opposes them and prefers them to the Creator.” –Albert Barnes