Arrowhead RV Resort, Ely, Minnesota
Before I began today’s post, I realized that I forgot to add Sunday’s message to July 1st’s post. Since I’m so far behind, I forgot which day was Sunday. Ooops!
Once again, we opted out of corporate worship, favoring the couch-potato style as so many others do every Sunday. This is not our norm however, and we found ourselves truly missing being around church family – no matter where we worship. There’s a reason God wants us together. We actually worship. It’s not just a Bible lesson.
Today’s lesson is from Revelation 3:1-6. The church in Sardis. Pastor Mike has chosen to call this church “The Dying Dead”. Remember, these seven churches in Revelation were real churches (gatherings of Christians), with real people attending them. This entire letter John penned from his exile on the island of Patmos went out around 95AD , not only to the individual churches, but to every one – including those churches that aren’t even mentioned by name. Imagine having your dirty laundry aired by Jesus Christ to all believers everywhere. I’m not sure if that would make me angry or very contrite and humbled. I would hope the latter, but truthfully, that may have taken some time.
Sardis was about 30-40 miles southeast of Thyatira in what we now call Turkey. In its ancient past (around 6BC), it’s capital was Lydia and gold was plentiful in the river. They had the 4th largest temple to Artemis in the world, and they sat on top of an impenetrable hill and felt themselves unconquerable because of it. However, in 547BC, Cyrus The Great did just that. Cyrus was the guy prophesied to fell the Babylonians 250 years before it happened (Isaiah and) in 539BC and then released the captive Israelites in 538BC, also as prophesied and at the exact time it was prophesied. When you look at the dates, remember BC is like a negative timeline, so the numbers go down as you get further along, instead of up like we’re used to. Anyway, Cyrus was able to take Sardis because his men scaled the cliffs in the dark of night and caught the guards sleeping at their posts. Boy, could I run with that metaphor!
After that, Sardis was never the same, and then in 17AD there was a massive earthquake that all but destroyed it. Eighty years later, they’re back on their feet, but only a shadow of what they used to be. This church is the same. They are so dead, practically all that’s left is their former reputation. Jesus gives them no commendations.
Instead, He tells them that they have a reputation for being alive, but are in fact dead. They need to wake up and strengthen what little remains before it dies too. Repent and go back to the basics, or face the consequences. Jesus will come like a thief and they won’t know when or how. This message is scary for those who are “asleep”. It’s not scary for those who are “awake” because if you’re awake, you know the thief is there and are prepared to meet him.
He also tells them that there are a precious few in the church who belong to Him, and Jesus tells them that these people will walk with Him in eternity.
The message today is, are you one of those who claim Christianity by reputation, but are spiritually dead? Or are you alive in Jesus Christ?
In II Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells us to test ourselves.
Pastor Mike listed five ways to go about this.
- Wake up! If you’re alive, there will be movement. You can’t be alive and just sit around. James 2:14b says, “Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
This church was like a morgue with a steeple on top. Does your life fit this metaphor?
- Strengthen what remains. So how do you end up “a morgue with a steeple on top”? By becoming unaware and unobservant. By living in apathy. By forgetting to anticipate Jesus’ return. By having a total disregard for His return. Luke 12:35, 38 tells us to “Be dressed and ready for service, and keep your lamps burning . . . it will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.”
- Remember. Go back to the basics. Recall what you’ve learned, what you know to be true. Pay attention to the Holy Spirit in you. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:24
- Obey. James presents a really good analogy for this, when he tells us in 2:22-25, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”
- Repent. Repent means more than just saying you’re sorry. It means turning around. It means intentionally striving to no do it (whatever sin it is) anymore.
Jesus says, “Do what I ask you to do.” “But why?” “Because you love me.” John 14:15 (paraphrased)
It was supposed to rain today, but it never did. We’ve found that to be true quite frequently up here around the UP, Wisconsin and now Minnesota. Makes it a little more difficult to decide what to do with our day.
We had picked up a few papers from the Visitor Center that highlighted things in the area. One was a flier with a collection of hikes in the area. So off to the waterfall we went.
It was a short hike. Less than a mile round trip, but we like waterfalls. This one is called the Kawishiwi Falls, which is an Ojibwe name that means “river full of beaver or muskrat houses.” We didn’t see any. Not that we were expecting to.
The start of the trail.
Is that cool, or what?!?!?
Another one!
I have no idea what these are. They remind me of cranberries. : )
But we weren’t expecting to see what we saw either! It was jaw-dropping, speechlessly incredible! And you know what that means – – – lots of pictures of the same waterfall! 😊
WOW!
There were other pretty things besides the waterfall. : )
And there it goes!
Off to those beavers and muskrats!
And we were off to visit a different view!
And as it turned out, a closer one!
This is the picture he took!
There was an information board here, so I thought I’d include it in case anyone’s interested:
As the trail continued toward the dam.
We took some other great pictures along the trail, too!
Sneak preview of the dam.
We finally captured one!
Standing in a field of wild daisies!
Here’s something you need to know about this picture:
It’s a sign pointing the way to portage your canoe from one lake to another. They have that a lot around here.
By the way, portage means you have to actually carry it! And those things are not light!
Plus, have you been looking at the trail pictures I’ve taken? Yikes!
The path to the dam.
And there it is.
Blaine says that’s a gang box out there.
There were butterflies everywhere in this field!
And they didn’t seem to mind that I was invading their space!
After the falls, we headed over to a former mine that was once a quite lucrative iron ore mine. We really should learn to not ever have expectations, because things are rarely “what we expect”. This stop was no exception. We had been told the Pioneer Mine had free tours on Tuesdays and Fridays. So that’s one of the main reasons we were there. We had thought it would be just a simple museum with a couple of old buildings to look at.
Instead, we encountered Jenny. Jenny is 25 years old and she not only volunteers her time on Tuesdays and Fridays to teach people like us about what mining life was like, she also works giving tours at another mine we’ll cover later. She was full of stories and facts! The other two gentlemen there today were much older and (we eventually learned) former miners.
The Pioneer Mine is one of 5 that were in this immediate area. They were digging up iron ore that was of good quality in this area and all five of the mines were connected by underground tunnels, although I have no idea why. Anyway, water was an issue in mining around here, and the mines were constantly pumping out water. As each of the mines closed, the water rose and caused cave-ins. Eventually, Miners Lake was born.
By the 1930’s Pioneer was considered one of the largest mines in the world, with depths up to 1,700 feet! And in case you’re wondering, 1,700’ is like stacking the Statue of Liberty on top of the very tip of the Empire State Building!
Pioneer was opened in 1889 and was a working mine until it closed on April 1, 1967, putting about 450 men out of work. When Pioneer closed, it had produced more than 41 million long tons (1 long ton equals 2,240 pounds) of iron ore. There were still about 6 million tons of high quality ore in the ground, but the cost of extracting it became cost prohibitive. It was put on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1978 and is owned by the City of Ely and operated by their Arts & Heritage Center by the non-profit Ely Greenstone Public Art. They appreciate all donations.
Enough history. Let’s get to the pictures and I’ll try to remember some of the more interesting stories!
What do you make of that?
Hmmm . . . .
This was in a coupon book the Visitor Center gave us!
I was looking through it on the way to the mine. : )
Blaine saw this vehicle driving around town. He said it reminded him of Rat Patrol!
Wonder who it belongs to?
There’s a great story for this one!
So, in the old days, before welfare, if you didn’t work, you didn’t get paid. And there was no insurance and little medical care. This guy lost his legs (I can’t remember if it was job related or not). Anyway, he made his own prosthesis – – – out of mannequin legs! Now, as if that’s not story enough, take a look at those legs. Not only are they female, but they’re quite large. I doubt anyone could balance on the female legs they make today! I was also impressed with what a great job he did on his own!
1899
This is called “The Cage”.
It’s an elevator shaft they used to transport the men down into the mine.
This goopy brown stuff is a sample of the mud the miners had to deal with.
And therein lies another story.
This mine had to be supported by wood. If there was too much water in the earth, it would turn into this sludge/mud. The guys generally worked standing in about 6″ of this stuff – every day! If it built up too much and started dripping in, it would cause a cave-in and the men would be buried. One of the guys told us of a particular cave in that caused his father to give up mining. He was working with another guy and it started oozing. They took off running, but he lost his partner. The father (and two other men) made it to higher ground, but were trapped by the sludge for several days until they could be dug out.
No date on this one, but do you know what the tag hanging in the corner is? It’s an ID tag. They worked like military dog tags. The guys were assigned a number and two tags. One tag was hung on a board when they arrived at work, they wore the other. When they came out of the mine, their tag was returned. If there was an incident, they’d be able to identify who was missing, and also sadly, if a body was found.
In the beginning, the guys wore candles on their heads.
These carbide lamps were used later. They were actually better (though more dangerous) because they (somehow) created oxygen instead of using it up.
This is the newest ones for this mine.
It’s battery operated, but really heavy.
This is a list of men who died in the 5 mines over the years.
Note the candle lamps.
Hey! Look! There’s Mr. Ely!
Ewww!
A panoramic picture of the 5 mines.
That’s Miner’s Lake.
They now have a walking/biking path around it. It’s 4.5 miles long.
This building is quickly deteriorating because the roof is damaged and there are no funds to fix it.
They put in for a grant, but are still waiting.
It used to be the Captain’s drying room.
And here’s what that means:
Because the mines were so wet and muddy, the men were given a set of clothes. When they came into work, they changed into their work clothes. When they finished their shift, they returned to the “Drying Room” and hung up their wet, muddy clothes and changed into their street clothes. In the morning, they put their dry, dirty, mud-caked clothes back on. No word on whether (or who) they ever got their work clothes washed.
The sun was shining by the time we left, so Blaine snapped another picture.
After our tour, which ended up being much longer than we expected (remember what I said about expectations!), but soooo glad we weren’t on the clock!, we decided to walk around the Ely downtown area. Our first day, we hadn’t realized there was so much more and we weren’t really in “downtown”. It’s a nice small town. We didn’t take a lot of pictures, because most everything was pretty “normal looking”.
My redheaded Irishman!
He’s not really Irish though, mostly German. : )
So, I’d probably get in big trouble if anyone knew I took this picture.
It was in an art gallery.
But I couldn’t help it.
How much would you pay for this painting?
$350??? Really?
Why am I not an artist???
It was getting late, so instead of going home and taking another hour to make dinner, we chose (upon my urging) the local steakhouse. It got good reviews, so we were anticipating a great dinner. Blaine’s ribs were spectacular and had more meat on them than any ribs I’ve ever seen, but my steak fell short. It had pretty good flavor, but the meat was tough. I’ve decided to stick to Longhorn for my steak from now on. His salad had some different things on it, namely sunflower seeds and chunks of what we think were turnips. I chose the soup which was excellent!
M
Blaine couldn’t wait until I’d taken my picture. Guess he was really hungry!
We had to walk off our dinner, and that meant walking the streets again before we called it a night.
We found this funny!
The whole of downtown’s main street was lined with chairs for tomorrow’s parade! : )
You can find these murals all around town. Pretty neat!
This is the Methodist church built in 1895
Believe it or not, this was originally a hospital. The doctor would put recovering surgical patients in the turret so the sunlight could aid in their recovery.
Tomorrow, we’re touring a different mine. Bet you can hardly wait!