“It was his way, to balance all things against the ranch. He could not escape that loyalty…. There was this simplicity about him, with always a slowness in coming to judgment, and always a hard adherence to those judgments when he had made them.”
–Ernest Haycox (Deep west)

“‘Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,’ says the Lord of Hosts. ‘See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.'”      –Malachi 3:10 (HCSB)

One of the big problems in the Christian community today is that very few live life in light of heaven. People do this and that, but they do not think of it is terms of eternity. We should be living this life in relation to heaven, and not for reward, but for service. When we make a decision is eternity in mind? When we go someplace or do something do we have eternity in mind?
Where is our loyalty? Many would say to the Lord, but few then carry it out that way. Some say they would die for Him, but to die for Him means that we should be living for Him now. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” (John 14:15, HCSB) Are we loyal to Him by keeping His commands or do we just do our own thing?
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Peter said we have faith and then to add virtue/courage, and then to that add knowledge. There are different types of knowledge: there is professional knowledge, the things you know about your career, and there is general knowledge. There is a knowledge of facts in which you can play Jeopardy and there is a knowledge that can be used in given situations.
The word “knowledge” here is a practical knowledge, the ability to apply to particular situations the knowledge a person has gained from learning, from experience, and from wisdom. This knowledge enables a man to rightly decide then to act honorably and efficiently in the day-to-day circumstances of life. Life is not to be a haphazard walk, but one where intelligent choices are to be made. To make these choices there must be knowledge.
To be able to recognize poison ivy is one thing. To recognize it and make the decision as what it is and what it can do and therefore avoid it is another. Hmmm, perhaps one of our problems is that we no longer recognize sin. Then we do not have proper spiritual knowledge.
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Some more from the farmer:
–Every path has a few puddles.
–When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
–The best sermons are lived, not preached.
–Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
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Here’s a very philosophical question posed by that buckaroo bard, Waddie Mitchell. What does it mean when you say “It’s a rainy day”? I’ll start it today and finish it later in the week.
“We can talk to the same people with the same tongue everyday
And still what’s said and heard can vary in some very different ways
And that’s because we’re individual in the way we look at life
Let’s take for instance, with an old phrase, what I heard as did my wife.

She drove home in rain and anger and had quite a lot to say,
Because I’d bought a hat with money we saved for a ‘rainy day.’
Sez I, ‘Dear, just what does that ‘rainy day’ phrase mean to you?’
Sez she, ‘It is the bad times that you save for to get through.'”

Hope this day isn’t one of those rainy days for you. If it is, still remember that this is the day the Lord has given you. Maybe you just need to check your cinch :-].

“It’s a rough land, but a man is better off if he rides his trail knowing there may be trouble about. It simply won’t do to get careless.”      –Louis L’Amour (The Sky-Liners)

“Be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong.”      –1 Corinthians 16:13 (HCSB)

I gave a little hint the other day concerning Christian Classics that should be read. Here is a suggested one-year reading list from Glaspey’s book.
January — The Confessions, Augustine
February — Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyon
March — Penses, Blaise Pascal
April — The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a’Kempis
The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
May — Interior Castle, Teresa of Avila
June — The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
July — Samples from the “Theologians”, Summa Theologica (Pt 1, Questions 1:26), Thomas Aquinas
On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther
Institutes of the Christian Religion (Bk 1), John Calvin
The Journals of John Wesley, John Wesley
August — The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
September — Christian Poetry……Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake
Holy Sonnets, John Donne
Ash Wednesday and Four Quarters, T.S. Eliot
selected poems by George Herbert
selected poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins
October — The Man Who Was Thursday and Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton
November — Mere Christianity and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
December — The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen
The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer
(for extra credit it was suggested to read some works of John of the Cross)
Now to say that I have read all of these would not be true. I have not been able to get through them in a year either. However, there are great truths and great lessons in these books. I have read two-thirds of them. Try at least one this summer.
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D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes that “Our faith is to be a living, energetic, active faith, and we are to see that, on our part, we give all diligence to making it so: ‘add to your faith virtue.'” This word virtue simply means “excellence”. It can be rendered “courage” for to make faith alive it does take courage.
The word translated “virtue” or “courage” does indeed mean excellence, and it has two ways in which it may be seen. The first is that there is an operative or efficient excellence. This is what makes a man a good citizen and a friend. This person is an expert in the technique of living well. The second meaning is that it is not an excuse for cowardice. Faith, therefore, must issue in a life effective in the service of God and man; it must have the courage to show whose it is and whom it serves. (thoughts from William Barclay)
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I keep hearing the nonsense about people not voting because neither Clinton nor Trump are Christians. That is foolishness. First of all we live in a country, a place where God has placed us, and there is a responsibility to be governed by the rules of that country. We have an obligation to live in this country by the guidelines of the country. To not vote is to give up that responsibility. It is using the name of Christ to be a coward.
Second, to use that they are not Christians is a poor excuse. How many people in the White House were actually born-again believers? I don’t know and neither do you. We will find out one day, but for sure not all were. Then there is one more item. Look at the platform of the parties. In some cases they are similar because both have given in to the dictates of the stupidity of political correctness.
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A few more from that savvy farmer:
“Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.”
“It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.”
“You cannot unsay a cruel word.”
“Every path has a few puddles.”

“Without faith, without friendship, there was nothing.”
–Steve Frazee (The Big Die-Up)

“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.”      –Exodus 33:11 (NKJV)

Patience! Now! I read the New Testament with James, Peter, and Paul imploring us to have patience. Even Jesus uttered the words, “By your patience possess your souls.” (Luke 21:19, NKJV) However, I am sure that they never had to deal with insurance companies, mortgage companies, or trying to get a claim settled so work can be done. This is when I am thankful for other versions/translations which render the term, “endurance.”
Don’t worry friend, I won’t sell my soul to an insurance company, nor especially to a mortgage company. But they sure can be exasperating. Seems like few things can be simple nowadays.
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“Partners of wind, their spurs are rust,
Their cattle trails long-settled dust,
But over their campfires’ ashened embers,
The steadfast northern star remembers
That proudly they rode, with the ancient pride
Of all bold men and true who ride!”
–S. Omar Barker
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Faith is imperative to know God, to walk with God, and to serve God. All of the following Scriptures are from the NASB.
“For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Therefore, we should not be surprised that Peter begins with faith in his “ladder of virtues.” It all starts with faith, we all have a certain measure of faith. We are not to add to our faith. Faith is the conviction that what Christ said is true and we can commit ourselves to His promises. It is unquestioning certainty.
I’ll repeat what I wrote on Monday. “Faith is not only commitment to the promises of Christ; it is also commitment to his demands. (William Barclay) One of those demands is what Peter is writing about. Add to our faith; equip our faith and do it will all diligence, or “bend all our energy” to equipping our faith.
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Here are some more words from the farmer:
“Words that soak into your ears are whispered… not yelled.”
“Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.”
“Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.”

Have yourself a great day; remember the Lord made it and gave it to you.

“But I’ve a notion to just wander off in wild country and live best as I can.”      –Louis L’Amour (Passin’ Through)

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.”      –Psalm 84:5 (NKJV)

Well, the Lord let me live another year! If you go by weeks, it was a year ago yesterday that I had my heart attack. If you go by the day it will be a year ago tomorrow. Strange the way life, or death, comes at you at times. However, it is not so strange for the hand of the Lord to intervene. The Reaper may have had it in for me, but the Redeemer said, “No, not yet.” When He does removed His hand for death to come, He will also be the One to hold mine as I pass over.
I keep getting asked the question, “Am you going to retire?” I’m really not sure what that means. What is retirement anyway? Annie’s Uncle John said that he might “retread” but he would never “retire.” They will certainly come a day when it is time to leave the classroom of academia, but that doesn’t mean retirement, it simply means changing and doing something else.
People say, “You need to enjoy life. You’ve worked all these years.” From where does that thought come? I’ve often wondered about that. I already enjoy life. I have been given another year to enjoy life. And work, what was man put here on earth for if not to work? (Read John Piper’s “Rethinking Retirement”)
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There are several places in the New Testament where lists of virtues or character traits of a believer. Paul, James, and Peter all have lists given to them by the Holy Spirit. I want to look at one of those lists this summer from the Apostle Peter.
“Since his divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are necessary for true life and true religion, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, and since through these gifts there have been bestowed upon us precious and very great promises, that through them we might escape the world’s corruption caused by lust and become sharers in the divine nature–since all this is so, bend all your energy to the task of equipping your faith with courage, your courage with knowledge, your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with stedfastness, your stedfastness with piety, your piety with brotherly affection, your brotherly affection with Christian love.”      –2 Peter 1:3-7, Barclay translation
I like where he says, “bend all your energy.” The NKJV states, “giving all diligence.” Therefore, it must be a very important of the Christian walk to look at this portion of Scripture. Barclay refers to this as “equipment” or a “ladder of virtues.” Lloyd-Jones calls it the “balanced life.” Contrary to what some in the church might said today and for exclaiming that dreadful word of “legalism” the Bible is clear that God expects His people to live a certain type of life.
God has saved us by grace, but there is such a thing as “growing in grace.” There is something that Peter is depicting that we must also do our part. God has already done His. Peter states, “bend all your energy to the task of equipping your faith with courage… .” This is often translated “virtue.” But what is virtue? It is moral power, or moral energy. In our society today, that is a trait that is sorely needed. This is a time in our history that “moral energy” is definitely needed. It starts here with our faith and then there must be a continual moral progress. Barclay writes, “[the] supreme effort of man must cooperate with the grace of God.” Moffat states, “The Christian life must not be an initial spasm followed by a chronic inertia.”
Remember faith is “unquestioning certainty”! We are justified by faith, but that does not exempt a man from works (i.e., James). Barclay contends that, “Faith is not only commitment to the promises of Christ; it is also commitment to His demands.” There that should give you plenty to ponder on for a few days.
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I have a great little book written by Terry W. Glaspey, “Book Lover’s Guide to Great Reading.” From time-to-time this summer I will give you some of his thoughts on books that should be in the Christian’s library. Yes, L-I-B-R-A-R-Y; remember we are to study. Glaspey states, “Because we live in a culture that is sometimes not very receptive to the Christian faith, we must make the effort to think through the meaning of our faith.” I know, there are some hard words and thoughts in that sentence, especially “effort” and “think”.
There seems to be more and more fads upon the scene. There seems to be more distraction taking us away from the “important things.” I challenge you to take time to read the words of Christians of the past. Glaspey writes, “In modern Christianity we are often prone to faddishness, placing our concerns in the ephemeral and transient rather than the weighty and eternal.” We get caught up in the trivia rather than developing the foundational.
Here are a couple to start with: “The Confessions” by Augustine, and “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan. “Confessions” is written in the form of prayers of thanksgiving and praise to God. It is the story of Augustine’s intellectual and spiritual journey; the soul in search of God. If you read Bunyan compare your life to the character of Christian. This is a Christian journey and you are on a Christian journey. What stands in your way?
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Pretty heavy thoughts for around the campfire, but I’ve done plenty of thinking at places like that. However, not to leave you overwhelmed or your brain to addled I’ll close with some simple truths from a farmer. I don’t know the author, but here are a few.
“Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.”
“Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.”
“Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.”
“A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.”

Ira Paine

P.S. Remember the sacrifice of those on D-Day.