The Pen of the Wayfarer

2009-11-15T18:53:00.002-05:00

Love all God's creation, the whole and every

grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of

God's light. Love the animals, love the

plants, love everything. If you love everything,

you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you

perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every

day. And you will come at last to love the

whole world with an all-embracing love.

-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

photo taken past sunset in Feeding Hills, MA

Letting Go: It Only Hurts for a Minute!

2009-11-12T18:52:00.000-05:00

We are a funny lot. Adults, babies, dogs, cats,
birds, chipmunks, squirrels. All of us seem to
like to hang onto things. Babies, even from
a young age, have a sense of entitlement,
they can hang onto sweets for dear life only
minutes after they have learned to use their
hands. Dogs hold onto their toys with their
teeth. Chipmunks and squirrels pack their
mouths full. Crows gather shiny things. Me,
mine and more mine.

In the bible study that I have we have
been looking at hardness of heart. Its been
a penetrating study and I have had the
privilege of seeing how and why I hold
onto things way past when I should! :)
The things that we often hold onto
are intangible but they hold us as tightly
as any chain ever could.

We hold onto our sense of being right;
we hold onto our rights, our repugnance
at being "used" or taken advantage of,
we hold onto our sense of what is ours,
and what we place our value upon. We
hold onto our life and ourselves.

These things become part of us and
when we have to let them go, we feel
as if part of ourselves is going with them.

Recently as I have been made aware of
how I protect myself, and how I hold
things to prevent injury or loss, I have
heard the voice of the Lord coming
up quickly behind me. His calm,
authoritative Voice, with a hint of
playfulness, has often recently said,
"Let go, it only hurts for a minute."

We hang onto so very much: our rights, our
possessions, our sense of ourselves; and when
we think of letting go, of surrender,
of turning the other cheek, we often
feel something clench tightly inside.
We anticipate the ache of pain or loss.

But God's advice is to let it go. He
doesn't say there won't be pain, He says
that it just hurts for a minute. A wall
of pain that, once pierced through, sets us
loose into a calm, clear place of immense
freedom.

On the other hand, when we hang onto things
when we shouldn't, things like unforgiveness
or self-focus, or entitlement, or pride;
then we have hell to pay for hours, days,
weeks, months, or years after. We think
we are protecting ourselves but we are
only walling ourselves away from the life
of God flowing through us.

You see, "letting go" is another name for
surrendered obedience. It is meant to take
us deeper into the Kingdom of God. It is
meant to take us out of this world and
put us in the Kingdom of our God and of
His Christ.

We always see the whole idea of walking
the extra mile or turning the other cheek
as a burden, as something to steel ourselves
against, or at best, our "Christian" duty,
when it should be our delight and our joy
because of what it does within us and
where it brings us in God.

Letting go is the gateway into the Kingdom
of God. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5), those
that Jesus calls "blessed" are those that
have mastered the art of "letting go."
They are meek: they have let go of pride.
They are merciful: they have let go of the
spirit of retaliation; they are pure in heart
because they have let go of impurity; they
are peacemakers because there is no war in
their souls.

They inherit the earth, they see God, they
obtain mercy, they are truly called "sons
of God because they have learned one
beautiful thing: how to let go.

How much pain we will save ourselves if
we quickly let go when God says to.
The earlier the better. There
is always the moment of grace, early on,
when there is grace to let go. If you look
at any addiction, there was a moment, long
forgotten, when just one "no" would have
closed the door. Always God gives us
that moment, no matter how weak we are,
we have that moment, and it is held out
to all men and women, no matter what their
past was or what has happened to them.

We as human beings have something wonderful
given to us by God: the power to will to
forgive. Our animals friends may hold onto
things because their souls say they should.
Play tug of war with a large dog and see
what holding on is like. We, as humans,
have been given an additional grace to
let go, to choose not to serve ourselves,
to forgive, to go higher, to be like God.

It all starts with letting go when God
says to. It wont always be easy or
instanteous, but this I do know,
it is far easier then we are led to
believe by the world.

It is vitally important that we cultivate
a listening ear to the voice of God,
carefully listening to that moment when,
in the face of our many difficult day
to day situations, He urges us to "let go."

This is not a sign of weakness or a giving
in to evil or abuse. It is a making way for
God to act, and for God to change not only
our enemy or opposer, but WE OURSELVES.

I've noticed a marked change in my approach
to opposition lately. I can feel God,
and those great cloud of witnesses saying,
"For heaven sake, RM, let go!" I'm actually
having a good time...why don't you give
it a try? It only hurts for a minute.

surrender to God
forgiveness
spiritual preparedness
cloud of witnesses
letting go
beatitudes

A.W. Tozer: Taught by the Spirit?

2009-11-08T19:16:00.004-05:00

“The church or individual who is Bible
taught without being Spirit taught has
simply failed to see that truth lies deeper
than the theological statement of it. We
only possess what we experience. The devil
is a better theologian than any of us and
is a devil still.”

~ A. W. Tozer

photo taken near Abergavenny, Wales

A.W.Tozer
Abergavenny, Wales

Relatives I Didn't Know I Had: Hebrews 11: 22-24

2009-11-04T21:03:00.009-05:00

Recently I have been researching my family tree.
My relatives on my mom's side, the DelNegro's,
come from a tiny village in the mountains of Italy
called Atena Lucana. It's amazing to me all
that had to transpire for each of us to come into
the world, and we are largely unaware
of all those little destined moments crossing into
time so we could come to be!

I guess it has surprised me to find out just how
many relatives I do have, since the part of
our family that I know seems relatively limited.
I started to think about this, and how, even
on an earthly level, this fact somehow expanded
me, made me see a bigger picture. Then, I really
started to think about this concept spiritually.

No matter how large our earthly families are, most
of us have felt, at least at times, alone,
out of place, misunderstood, and longing
to find "our people." I think because the
Body of Christ seems fragmented (from our
point of view, anyway, from God's point
of view it really isn't) we feel a bit
more solitary than we need to. Let's face
it, sometimes its hard to find fellowship
with people who really love and understand us,
and are rooting for us!

What we fail to realize is how many relatives
we have that we don't know that we have!
Paul, and the person who authored the book
of Hebrews, and even John, in Revelation,
see things in terms of earth being a large
theatre for spiritual truths to play out
before those in the heavenlies. Angels watch
and learn, but listen to this:

"On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion,
and to the city of the ever-living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,
to the great festal gathering and Church of the
first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven,
and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the
spirits of righteous men made perfect,
and to Jesus the negotiator of a new Covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood which speaks in more
gracious tones than that of Abel."
"Hebrews 11:22-24 Weymouth translation"

Beloved, if we could know in our hearts just
what kind of glorious family surrounds us, if we
could know that "our people" are watching us and
cheering us on, if we could sense that we
are not alone in our little enclaves but actively
part of a universal Body, unhindered by the
constraints of space and time, and undivided
from God's point of view, we would have
a greatly enlarged perspective of what our
life means. The sinful, self-focused part of
our experience could be diminished and the
good, "I'm part of a greater Whole" part could
be increased. "Little ole me" would seem
both less important but also more important.

When Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, surrounded
as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let
us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that
so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with
patient endurance the race that lies before us"

You go, men and women! boys and girls! You are
included in the spiritual genealogy of Jesus, and
of God, the Father! You have family immeasurable,
and holy, royal family at that! You are not alone,
not forgotten, not poor for resources! We can think
ourselves poor when we are rich beyond our wildest
dreams. We can think ourselves alone when we are
included in a Family more numerous than the grains of
sands are on the beach.

Dear hidden ones that dwell in the solitary wood (Micah
7:14) know you are well cared for. You are never alone!
Perhaps I am writing to just one person out there,
but I know in my spirit that I am writing to MANY
of you. Sleep well in the safety of your Shepherd,
know that you matter and are noticed, know that
in the heavenlies, your true family cheers you on.

And so do I.....

spiritual preparedness
cloud of witnesses
Hebrews 11:22-24
Hebrews 12:1
Micah 7:14
Atena Lucana, Italy

Seeking the Knowledge of His Will

2009-11-04T19:57:00.002-05:00

To the individual believer indwelt
by the Holy Spirit there is granted
the direct impression of the Spirit
of God on the spirit of an individual,
imparting the knowledge of His will
in matters of the smallest and greatest
importance. This has to be sought and
waited for.
- G. Campbell Morgan

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

2009-11-02T19:07:00.005-05:00

He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day:
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;
Himself his own dungeon.
~John Milton

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

John Milton

Decide at Once

2009-11-01T11:19:00.003-05:00

We Christians too often substitute prayer
for playing the game. Prayer is good; but
when used as a substitute for obedience,
it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy,
a despicable Pharisaism... To your knees, man!
and to your Bible! Decide at once! Don't hedge!
Time flies! Cease your insults to God, quit
consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame,
lying, and cowardly excuses. Enlist!

... C. T. Studd (1860-1931)

photo taken in Barnstable, MA

spiritual preparedness
C.T. Studd

With My Face into the Wind

2009-10-27T17:01:00.008-05:00

"I work now as I have always worked:
with my face into the wind... I'm only an
instrument that God is using for
the moment. Afterwards, things will be
as God wants them."
..... Fr. Alexander Men

photo taken at Beach near Wreck of the Peter Iredale"
(Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria, Oregon)

Oregon photography
spiritual resistance

Embracing Detours in Our Spiritual Lives

2009-10-17T15:18:00.007-05:00

Detours are inevitable both in our natural and our
spiritual lives. We often have a negative view
of them because we want to be "on with it." We
want to get there, we want to proceed with our
plans and go the way we want. God, often,
in His Wisdom, has other plans. We must learn
to trust Him in the detours of life, even
when we do not know where the detours will take us,
and even when they are confusing.

Detours are not always bad. Sometimes they are
ordained of God. In the natural, detours are
meant to steer you around trouble. In the town
that I live in, they are laying sewage lines,
and God knows we need the sewage pumped out
of town. Where the road once was, are deep, deep
holes. To proceed as you have always done would be to
find your car and yourself wrecked in a ditch.

The authorities, well-meaning folk that they
are, have posted a traffic sign recommending
that you take a detour. Of course, there is no
easy way around. As the old Vermonter's used
to say when asked directions: "You can't get
there from here." Sometimes detours feel
like that. But God has His ways. Going the
long way around may be a pain,
but not as much of one as going through
a forbidden zone.

When Paul preached the gospel he encountered
Holy Ghost detours: "Now when they had gone
throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia,
and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach
the word in Asia, 7 After they were come to
Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but
the Spirit suffered them not. 8 And they
passing by Mysia and came down to Troas.
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night;
There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him,
saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately
we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to
preach the gospel unto them. (Acts 16:9-10)

We make plans, but the Lord continues to guide
us in the best way. Sometimes doing the
right thing will include a detour.
The story of the good Samaritan is one such
example: "But a Samaritan, as he traveled,
came where the [wounded]man was; and when he
saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to
him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey,
took him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’
he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you
for any extra expense you may have.’ (Luke 10:33-35).

The "Good Samaritan" had to stop to help the man.
He had to take time to tend to his wounds, and
take him to a place where he could recuperate.
Perhaps not much time was lost, but whatever
he had planned for that day was disrupted.

Can we see these detours as divine appointments?
Can we trust that even when we are delayed
that God is watching out for us? Sometimes
the right road to proceed on is not abundantly
clear. We look one one way and there is a detour,
we look another way, and that way has a detour
also. How can this be of God? As long as we
are looking to God and are willing to
submit to Him, we will be on the right
track, no matter what. Sometimes the
detour is so bad we have to come to
a complete stop. Being puzzled at that
point is all part of it.

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit out into
the desert to be tempted! Upon his return
He went to His home town of Nazareth but
was not well received. God created His
own detour for Jesus. The people of
Nazareth "rose up, and thrust him out of
the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill
whereon their city was built, that they might
cast him down headlong.

30But he passing through the midst of them
went his way. (Luke 4:19-30). Sometimes
when God detours us, it is to protect us.

The detours of God can be God's most
swift and efficient ways of getting
us to where we need to be. Trust God
in this season of detours. You are not
alone!

photo taken in Southwick, Massachusetts

The Sleeper Cells of God

2009-10-11T18:23:00.015-05:00

In a day when we hear much, and
possibly fear much, about embedded
terrorist sleeper cells even in
our "sleepy" suburban neighborhoods, be
greatly encouraged that God has a plan.
His plan includes righteous and Godly
sleeper cells for His purposes. And
realize, too, that you have a call
to be a member of those holy cells!
If you look around, like Elijah, and
wonder where the people are who have
not bowed their knee to Baal, rest
assured God has them out there! He
may have them hidden, but they are
hidden for His purposes.

I am a child of God, born of God, but also
born in the atomic age. Atomic is back
"in," you know: atomic as in nuclear,
"duck and cover," Cold War kind of stuff.
I grew up with the spy movies where the bad
guys, and the good guys, plant "sleepers"
into everyday Springfield kind of cities
to live soccer mom and banker dad kind of
lives until the red phone rings in their closet.
Then they are called out on their Man from
U.N.C.L.E kind of missions.

Consider this. God also has a plan.
An anti-evil, anti-terrorist,
anti-antiChrist plan. You may feel not
very useful in your situation, you
may wonder if God is using you at
all, you may try and figure out what
in the world it is you should be
doing.

Well, perhaps you are all already doing
it: perhaps you are just meant to be
who you are as a Christian, little ole
you, just living your life, seeking
God daily, loving others, being salt
and light in your neighborhood, but
in the back of your mind you were
expecting it to be different. You
know, somehow more dramatic. Well,
more drama may very well be coming and
the only way you will live through
it is to faithfully keep doing what you
are doing. Be faithful to your calling.
Be faithful vehemently!

Although you may be part of God's
sleeper cell for the coming Day,
you should not be sleeping. And
when you do need to rest, you should
rest in spiritual preparedness and
be ever ready in your heart.
You never know when the red phone
is going to ring in your closet
and you need to be ready.

Remember the parable of the ten virgins?
The bible says that ALL the virgins were
asleep, not just the slackers. A lot of
time had gone by since the Lord had sent them out
to prepare for His return. The point
is, when the Lord calls us into
an active service, for an appointed
hour, will we be ready?

Or will the cares of this world cause
us to ignore the call? Will we have so
assimilated into worldliness that
we will have forgotten who we really are?
Will our tools be rusted over, and
the weapons of our spiritual warfare
dormant? Will we care about the
spiritual mission we are called to
or will we say, "just a minute
after I finish watching the game,
or "just as soon as I am able to
get a moment in my busy schedule."

Jesus calls us to follow Him. He
tells the one who hesitates because
he needs to go bury a dead relative,
"Let the dead bury the dead." Not
a very "politically correct" admonition,
but a totally "spiritually correct" one.

Soon, even now, God will be waking up HIS
sleeper cells to serve on the spiritual
battlefronts of the end of the Age.
"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light."
(Ephesians 5:14).

"And this, knowing the time, that for us,
the hour already is to be aroused out of
sleep, for now nearer is our salvation than
when we did believe." (Romans 13:11)

Finally, may the Lord of the Harvest
find us faithful and ready when He needs us.
Let us continue to walk, day in and day out,
in the simple tasks that He presents us
with. But do know this, there is most
probably, for our generation, much
more to the story. Be ready for
His call. Be faithful NOW.

spiritual preparedness
sleeper
cells
parable of the ten virgins
Matthew 25

7000 not bowed down to Baal

Judgment amidst the Falling Apples

2009-10-08T09:59:00.005-05:00

We have this really old apple tree in our yard.
When we have the pruning man over to trim it, he
is always amazed. Its a great tree, although
by now it has lost quite a few major limbs.
It still, however, produces large quantities
of apples. Baldwin apples to be exact.

My job, each fall, is to pick them all up.
We are an organic folk, and don't spray,
and our hand apple picker just doesn't
work right. So all the apples fall to their
destiny on the ground. I hear them, especially
at night, falling with a padded "thud" to the
earth below.

What got me to thinking is my approach to
picking the apples up. It takes longer
than it should because, being a "waste not,
want not" kind of gal, I examine each
apple to see if it worth saving. We make
applesauce, apple pies, dried apples,
apple cakes. You really should stop by
in the autumn if you are hungry.

Instead of just picking up all the apples
and throwing them all away, I sort through
and inspect their defects, hoping that,
through any means, some can be "saved."

I think about how God looks at me, and
where it not for the grace of Jesus,
and His sacrifice for us, there would
be no hope, but realize that all our
works shall be judged by God and
He shall look so very carefully
at us and make all hidden things
manifest.

So it takes forever to sort the apples,
not wanting to be unfair to the good ones
and just dismiss them with the bad.

Some apples, perhaps most, because we do not
spray, have worms in them. So some are
too wormy to be saved. Some have fallen
on the hard, wooden steps and because
of the hardness are broken to pieces,
Many of the large ones make it to the
ground safely, but then are eaten
by chipmunks or squirrels. The sweetest
ones are attacked by ants and slugs.
The hardest ones will never ripen properly.
Some look fine but have fallen in such
a way that the damage is hidden.
Others have rot and will damage the
other apples if they get too close.
If Jesus had been born in New England
the parable of the sower might
have been about fallen apples.

Yes, spiritual lessons left and right,
overwhelming my thinking and causing
my ability to judge them to slow way
down. Yikes. Now I have moved from
how God will judge me to how careful
I need to be in judging others.

This morning as I was out there picking
up the apples, judging them into good
and bad piles, I saw a little apple
that, for some reason made me smile.
it didn't have much going for it,
not overly big, a bit mishapen,
but a lovely red, shining in the sun,
but no worms, no rot, no damage.
Something in that apple made me want
to save it. I love that God looks
at me that way, and you, too.

May we co-operate with who God has
made us to be, no matter where we
have fallen, or no matter what
issues we have. God's grace is different
from man's opinions and man's judgements.
His judgments are righteous and true.
Sobering but comforting at the same time.

As I picked up the apples, I told
God, "You can have the judgment job,
its just too much too handle."

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Praising God in the Approaching Storm

2009-10-06T20:45:00.002-05:00

"You will never find Jesus so precious as
when the world is one vast howling wilderness.
Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst
of the desolation—a rock rising above the storm.

... Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813-1843),

photo taken near Oceanside, Oregon

This World in Its Present Form is Passing Away

2009-10-06T20:02:00.005-05:00

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer
man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed
day by day. (2 Cor. 4:16)

Those who use the things in this world should do so
but not depend on them. It is clear that this world
in its present form is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:31)

photo taken of a tree near Cape Meares Lighthouse, Oregon

And I Am One of Them

2009-09-29T19:38:00.005-05:00

This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I
view it from this fair garden, under the shadow
of these vines. But if I climbed some great
mountain and looked out over the wide lands,
you know very well what I would see--brigands on
the high roads, pirates on the seas; in the
amphitheaters men murdered to please applauding
crowds; under all roofs misery and selfishness.

It is really a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly
bad world. Yet in the midst of it I have found a
quiet and holy people. They have discovered a
joy which is a thousand times better than any
pleasures of this sinful life. They are
despised and persecuted, but they care not. They
have overcome the world. These people, Donatus,
are the Christians--and I am one of them.
... St. Cyprian (?-258), a letter in A Treasury of Sermon
Illustrations, Charles Langworthy Wallis, ed.,
Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1950, p. 59

photo taken near Oceanside, Oregon

Oregon photography

Here is the Patience of the Saints: a prophetic word

2009-09-21T08:41:00.006-05:00

The lives of mankind ebb and flow across history,
but these are hours, yes, an hour is upon you,
when things destined for My Son override
the histories of individual lives.

Always I know and care for your individual
circumstances and your lives as individuals,
but do not lose sight of the fact that you,
as one individual, are but a small part of
the corporate Body. All is coming to an eternally
destined moment for Christ and His bridal inheritance,
to whom and for whom all earth's history culminates.

Look about you. Think you that all this is created
for your small life alone? No, it is part of a
great mystery--I have purposed it for My Son and
all those TOGETHER that shall be His inheritance.

Always I am with you and for you but there are times,
of such now is, that the designs of a larger picture,
My eternal purpose, take precedent over the individual
events of what you see as your specific destiny.

If you know and understand this you will be able
to abandon yourself to My purpose more fully, and
more happily. You are like a drop of water in a small
tributary finally reaching the water of a large
river, which in turn finally reaches the ocean.
Does the drop of water that you are diminish
as it loses itself in a larger body?--not from
My perspective, but there is a certain abandonment
needed so that it is FELT from your perspective.
You are flowing toward a great ocean that is an
eternal sea of life in Christ. Be unto Me and
for Me.

You are IN Christ so know you are safe but it is
not about you but about things greater than
you know. Let your perspective be changed and
the view you have of what life is and where your
life stands in it all.

Your life is surely hid with Christ in God.
The pages of human history are surely moving
toward the ordered destiny I have willed: he that is
prudent let him hear. As Peter was bound and
taken to where he did not choose for himself
to go, so your individual lives are bound
up in My will and eternal purpose. This
does not diminish your life but you need to
abandon yourself to Me entirely to feel
the same joy that Jesus did when He abandoned
all to Me. "In the volume of the book it
is written: I have come to do Thy will, O God.
He taketh away the first that He might establish
the second."

Be about my business. Be unto Me and for
Me. He who loses his life shall surely
gain it. "If any man have an ear,
let him hear, he that leads people into
captivity shall go into captivity, he that
kills by the sword must be killed by the
sword. Here is the patience and the
faith of the saints (Rev. 13: 9 & 10).

Here is the patience of the saints: here
are they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus. (Rev 14:12).

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still,
and he which is filthy let him be filthy
still, and that is righteous, let him be
righteous still, and that is HOLY, let him
be Holy still. And behold, I come quickly
and my reward is with me to give every
man according as his work shall be
(Rev 22: 11 & 12).

If you have ears, listen and obey.

2009-09-18T14:25:00.006-05:00

Romans 12: 1-5
1 For this reason I make request to you, brothers,
by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies
as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is
the worship it is right for you to give him. 2 And let
not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be
changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you
may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete
purpose of God.

3 But I say to every one of you, through the grace given
to me, not to have an over-high opinion of himself, but
to have wise thoughts, as God has given to every one a
measure of faith. 4 For, as we have a number of parts in
one body, but all the parts have not the same use, 5 So
we, though we are a number of persons, are one body in
Christ, and are dependent on one another.

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

The Wonder that is God

2009-09-12T12:36:00.005-05:00

Hearts that are "fit to break" with love
for the Godhead are those who have been
in the Presence and have looked with
opened eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men
of the breaking hearts had a quality about
them not known to or understood by common men.

They habitually spoke with spiritual authority.
They had been in the Presence of God and they
reported what they saw there. They were prophets,
not scribes: for the scribe tells us what he has
read, and the prophet tells us what he has
seen.

The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between the scribe
who has read and the prophet who has seen, there is a
difference as wide as the sea. We are today overrun with
orthodox scribes; but the prophets, where are they? The
hard voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but
the Church waits for the tender voice of the saint who
has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye
upon the Wonder that is God.

... A. W. Tozer, Pursuit of God

photo taken in Neahkahnie Beach, Oregon

Neahkahnie Beach, Oregon
Oregon photography
A.W.Tozer

2009-09-09T16:24:00.005-05:00

When we are spiritually free, we do not have
to worry about what to say or do in unexpected,
difficult circumstances. When we are not
concerned about what others think of us or what
we will get for what we do, the right words and
actions will emerge from the centre of our beings
because the Spirit of God, who makes us children of
God and sets us free, will speak and act through us.

- Henri J. M. Nouwen

the photo was taken at Rockaway Beach, Oregon.
It is white floating kite on a cloudy day. This is
the light we couldnt see with our naked eyes!

"Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Oregon photography
Henri Nouwen

2009-09-07T12:50:00.002-05:00

Whate'er may change, in Him no change is seen,
A glorious Sun, that wanes not, nor declines;
Above the clouds and storms He walks serene,
And on His people's inward darkness shines;
All may depart--I fret not nor repine,
While I my Saviour's am, while He is mine.

While here, alas! I know but half His love,
But half discern Him, and but half adore;
But when I meet Him in the realms above,
I hope to love him better, praise Him more,
And feel, and tell, amid the choir divine,
How fully I am His, and He is mine.

-- J. Quarles (1624-1665)& Henry Lyte(1793-1847)

photo taken at Rockaway Beach, Oregon

"Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Oregon photography
dog photographs

Fuji Flies His Kite

2009-09-01T12:55:00.005-05:00

I met this little dog, Fuji, on the beach
in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. He was a rescue
dog, very much loved. His family was flying
kites, and if you look very closely you
will see that his blue leash is attached to
a kite, also. His joy was great in being
who he was that day, and the wind, carried
his Spongebob Squarepants kite to great
heights. My joy was great in watching him!

(p.s. the dog was absolutely safe in flying
the kite!)

photo taken at Rockaway Beach, Oregon

"Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Oregon photography
funny dog photographs

The Invisible Church: Indefectible

2009-08-31T14:45:00.003-05:00

"What is in ruins? The invisible church,
composed of all Spirit-baptized persons, is
indefectible, it cannot be ruined;
against it "the gates of Hades shall not
prevail." The local assembly may indeed be
sadly ruined; but it can be restored,
as, by the grace of God, has been seen times
without number--at Corinth, for example.
The only other institution in question is
that agglomeration of sects that is called
"Christendom." But that is unrecognized by
the New Testament--it is not of God at
all: and that it is "in ruins" is no matter
for our regret.
... G. H. Lang (1874-1958

photo taken at Rockaway Beach, Oregon

"Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Oregon photography

Believing Impossible Things

2009-08-26T18:03:00.004-05:00

There is no use trying, said Alice;
one can't believe impossible things.

I dare say you haven't had much practice,
said the Queen. When I was your age, I
always did it for half an hour a day.
Why, sometimes I've believed as many as
six impossible things before breakfast.

Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll

photo taken at Rockaway Beach, Oregon
"Beach Grass at Sunset"

Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Oregon photography

Really at Rest

2009-08-24T17:40:00.004-05:00

No soul can be really at rest until it has
given up all dependence on everything else
and has been forced to depend on the Lord alone.
As long as our expectation is from other
things, nothing but disappointment awaits us.
Feelings may change, and will change with
our changing circumstances; doctrines and dogmas
may be upset; Christian work may come to naught;
prayers may seem to lose their fervency; promises
may seem to fail; everything that we have
believed in or depended upon may seem to be swept
away, and only God is left, just God, the bare God,
if I may be allowed the expression; simply and only God.
- Hannah Whitall Smith

photo taken at Rockaway Beach, Oregon

Oregon photography
Rockaway Beach, Oregon

Sunset, Twin Rocks, Oregon

2009-08-17T21:22:00.003-05:00

You ask then how I knew He was present,
when His ways can in no way be traced?
He is life and power, and as soon as He
enters in, He awakens my slumbering soul;
He stirs and soothes and pierces my
heart, for before it was hard as stone,
and diseased. - Bernard of Clairvaux

photo taken at Twin Rocks, Rockaway Beach,
Oregon

Twin Rocks, Oregon
Oregon photography
Bernard of Clairvaux

Spurgeon on the Old Gospel

2009-08-13T17:17:00.002-05:00

There will be no new God, nor a new devil,
and we shall never have a new Savior, nor
a new atonement: why should we then be
either attracted or alarmed by the error
and nonsense which everywhere plead for a
hearing because they are new? What is their
newness to us; we are not children, nor
frequenters of playhouses? Truly, to such a
new toy or a new play has immense attractions;
but men care less about the age of a thing
than about its intrinsic value.

To suppose that theology can be new is to
imagine that the Lord himself is of yesterday.
A doctrine which is said to have lately become
true must of necessity be a lie. Falsehood has
no beard, but truth is hoary with an age
immeasurable.

The old gospel is the only gospel. Pity is
our only feeling towards those young preachers
who cry, “See my new theology,” in just the
same spirit as little Mary says, “See my
pretty new frock.”

Charles Spurgeon