“Friendships don’t have to be proven in conversation.”
–Elmer Kelton

“They rode because of loyalty to one another…. They also rode because in each of them there was a sense of what was right and what was justice, although none of them would have admitted to it or would have known how to phrase it. They had never learned how to rationalize, and their world was a simple one where right and wrong were quite obvious.”
–Louis L’Amour

Last Saturday we had a fine time. We met up with some old, hmmm that’s not right, some friends of the past. One of them is getting married and the friends of the past were getting together. That’s the thing about friends. You may not have seen them for years, but when you do, if they were friends you just take up from where you left off. The Bill Gaither song comes to mind:

“Loving God, Loving each other,
Making music with my friends.”

Now, I have made some music with my friends though none of it was very melodious. It was the music of dust, grim, grit, and scraps of the ballfield. The sound of an axe making music in the camp. Then there is the music that comes from the sound of battle, When facing the onslaught of the enemy there is that music that rings with the sounds of the guns, whether it be actual battle or fighting in the spiritual realm. There is also that music of just sitting on the shores of a lake or the rushing waters of a high mountain stream. There is that music that can be heard only when there is silence and you know you can count of your friend being there by your side.
A friend is one who will face the music with you; stand by your side in the heat of battle. A friend is one who may not understand your pain, but will go through the pain with you. A friend is one who will take care of your home when you are not there to do so yourself, or not able. I understand that in one manner each of us has to travel this life alone, that is undeniable. Yet there are friends who will walk along side. Each person must stand before his Creator–alone; yet there were friends along the way that helped him when he fell down or was weary with the load.
Friends can be as close as family, and in some cases even closer. There is that Friend who is always there in the midst of gunfire that will never leave or forsake you. There is that Friend who walks along side each step that is taken, through each valley, each desolate place, and over the hills and mountains of life. Ah, “friendship with Jesus, fellowship divine.”

Ira Paine

“The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
–Proverbs 12:26 (NIV)

“True faith is not blind acceptance. It does not dispense with reason, evidence, and argument. It is, on the contrary, ready to prove all things with sincerity, to investigate earnestly, to institute a thorough search.”
–John Peter Lange

“One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into tow areas–the sacred and the secular.”
–A.W. Tozer

I don’t like snakes. I wrote a few weeks ago of some experiences I have had with snakes. At Heaven-Sent Hunting Camp, Christian family/hunting camp I belonged to years ago, we put welder’s gloves near the door in case we had to go get wood for the fireplace during the night. Just in case one of those varmints was in the woodpile. A friend of mine was working in the yard and cutting down some palms. He went to pick them up and carry them away and as he was walking a pygmy rattler stuck its head out of the refuse. Watch out!
I can remembering once burying a snake we had killed. A few hours later we came by the same spot and the snake had uncovered itself. The muscles moving and relaxing and the dead snake had come up from its grave. Once at the camp a fourteen foot rattlesnake was killed. It was as big as a man’s arm and I saw it the day after it was killed and it was dripping venom.
Snakes like to visit campsites as they like the warmth of the heat. It was a common practice for those on the trail to loop their lariat around their bedroll. The thinking was that the rough rope would irritate the snake’s belly so it would not crawl over the rope. I don’t know if it worked or not.
Monday, I came across this reading and thought I would pass it on. It was written by Elliot Johnson of “Trail Ride Magazine.” “Rattlesnakes were hazards on trail drives. They remain dangerous even after being shot with a .45 or beheaded! One study shows that 15% of rattler bites occur after the snake has been mortally shot, bludgeoned, or even beheaded. One man decapitated a snake, waited five minutes, then picked up the head–which struck him once on each hand! Touch sensors in the snake’s skin and the heat-seeking pit organ between nostrils and eyes can trigger the strike reflex for an hour after. Some say a decapitated rattlesnake should be treated as a very short rattler!”
See that old serpent is dangerous, alive or dead. Adam should have been more aware in the Garden. You may recall the “Passion of the Christ” by Mel Gibson. I love the scene where Jesus steps on the head of the snake. However, what still happened to Jesus? That old serpent still took Him to the grave. The apostles warn us to be alert, be diligence, be wary as we walk through this life. There may be a snake just waiting to strike.
Back to Elliot Johnson’s article. “Satan is a snake who has been decapitated by the Lord Jesus Christ. He cannot harm us if we walk in the light. But the ‘venom’ of sin is still dangerous.” Even though Satan is defeated he can still strike and infuse our body with venom. Sin is still deadly. We must be wary, we must also depend upon the Holy Spirit to guide us along the trail.

Ira Paine

“Then the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
–Genesis 3:14-15 (HCSB)

“In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, and future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of all those things. And then we shall be very cautious.”
–Pascal

“The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle–the roar of the crowd on the one side–and the voice of your conscience on the other.”
–Gen. Douglas MacArthur

There is much ranting and raving today about freedom. The church sings songs about “freedom.” People protest in the streets wanting “freedom.” Rights and freedom are seemingly synonymous with the masses but they really have little to do with each other.
There is the familiar saying, “freedom isn’t free.” There is a price for freedom, and there is sacrifice that goes along with freedom. But that is where the grind comes. Most who clamor for freedom do not want the responsibility of being free, nor do they want to pay the sacrificial price that it requires. Freedom is very fragile; it is delicate, yet there is an amazing strength when someone actually realizes what freedom is and what it requires.
Freedom is a weight and most do not want to carry it. They much prefer to give it to others to carry, yet they demand to say they are free. Freedom is not singing a song in church and getting duck-bumps from it (those are small goose-bumps). Eric Hoffer writes, “Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden.” The truth of the matter is that those who want to be free must understand that they have to grow up, become mature, and quit acting like spoiled adolescents or babies whining for their bottle.
Freedom is hard sought and hard fought; it doesn’t come easy and therefore it should not be flaunted, scorned, or misused. People say they have the freedom to trample the flag. In reality they are showing that they cannot handle the freedom that flag represents. I think that the theologian Warren W. Wiersbe nailed the idea when he said, “Fools use freedom as a toy to play with; wise people use freedom as a tool to build with.” It is important to remember that freedom is not license and discipline is not bondage.
People in the church sing the song, and they will bluntly say, “I can drink, to say I can’t is legalism; I am free.” To which I would reply, but now you are showing me your immaturity and inability to handle your freedom. What about the weaker brother to whom you are responsible?

Ira Paine

“I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.”
–Psalm 119:45 (NLT)

“It’s been forty-five days since the snows have begun
I stare at the fire and long for the sun
As the bitter winds blow through the mouth of the pass
I sit here and dream of the buffalo grass.

The ponies are shaggy; their coats have grown long
With their heads down they huddle together as one
At the window my breath forms a mist on the glass
As I patiently wait for the buffalo grass.

The seasons still turn
And the prairies still yearn
For those who were here long ago
The Sioux have all gone
And the bison moved on
And soon I will follow them home.
. . .
The geese will return as a symbol of change
The elk will be foraging out on the range
Once again nature’s palette will color the pass
And I will find peace in the buffalo grass.”
–Andrea C. Crimmins

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