Arrowhead RV Resort, Ely, Minnesota
There was continuously rolling thunder this morning right after we woke up, for at least 15 minutes. I don’t believe I’ve heard it go on for so long before. And it seems when it’s about to storm around here, it always gets really, really dark!
Leftover pancakes with fresh wild blueberries for breakfast! Until yesterday, we didn’t know that blueberries darken after they’re picked. Wonder why? When we picked them, they were sort of a cornflower blue (get out your Crayola box if you need to), but then when we pulled them out of the backpack, they’d changed to the indigo we’re all familiar with. Hmmmm . . . . .
The Ledge Rock Community Church is walking distance away. But not in the rain. Not for me anyway. Can’t risk wet toes and flat hair! Plus, I don’t know how they keep their temperature. Can you imagine sitting in air conditioning when you’re wet? I told Blaine yesterday that he was driving, despite his repeated attempts to cajole me into walking. The Lord handled the decision by allowing the rain this morning. 😊
Ledge Rock is a pretty little church, with knotty pine all around the sanctuary, pretty stained-glass windows and a wonderful “rugged” cross at the front. No air conditioning was on, they opened up the side windows and had ceiling fans instead. Nice! Especially during the throws of the storm! Bob (the guy next to me) told me he was expecting the power to go out, but it never did.
The people weren’t very friendly, at least not to us. They seemed to be enjoying one another tremendously! No room for new people I guess. That’s too bad. What if we’d just moved into the area? They had no idea because they didn’t ask. I spoke to the guy sitting next to me because it occurred to me on a previous Sunday, “What if the person next to me is also visiting and thinks I’m ignoring them?” Anyway, today, Bob told me that he “comes when he can” because he’s a long-distance truck driver. So there ya go. He didn’t know if we were visiting for the first time or had been attending while he was gone. Still, he knew he’d never met us.
We were able to worship to some awesome music this morning! Both in the singing and listening – including a piano/mandolin/harmonica set. Excellent! Included in the worship music this morning was the song “O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”, written in 1875 by Samuel T. Francis. I haven’t sung that great old hymn in eons! The tune is nice, but the words are wonderful!
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over meUnderneath me, all around me
Is the current of your love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To your glorious rest aboveOh, the deep, deep love of Jesus
‘Tis heaven of heavens to me
And it lifts me up to glory
For it lifts me up to theeOh, the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread his praise from shore to shore
How he loves us, ever loves us,
Changes never, nevermore
During announcements, we learned they’re in the midst of a pastoral search. We are assuming the current pastor’s retiring at some point, because he was there and gave the message and mentioned being 73 years old. and they introduced 3 new “young” members, so that’s good. They also talked about the success of the July 4th parade this year, and lots of other things, including a lengthy time of praises and prayer requests in which the people talked a lot more about things other than health issues. That was also refreshing.
I suppose (hope) you’re waiting to hear about the message for today. There really wasn’t one. Well, there was, but it was more of a prelude than a message. It seems he’s getting ready to do a series on the book of Romans. And while our Pastor Mike would have taken the first seven verses (which are the apostle Paul’s introduction) and made them into a life lesson (somehow), this pastor just spent his time quoting other people talking about how great and powerful the book of Romans is.
And then he presented his congregation with a challenge. He said he will personally pay $1,000 to anyone who’s life isn’t changed by the end of the series. Whoa! Sounds like he’s gonna be around a while longer.
I entertained the idea of sharing some of my favorite passages from Romans, but there are just too many.
Instead, the Lord’s been impressing upon me to talk about the Rock.
Remember the children’s church song, “The wise man built his house upon the rock . . . The rains came down and the floods came up . . . . and the house on the rock stood firm. The foolish man built his house upon the sand . . . The rains came down and the floods camp up . . . . and the house on the sand (either went splat or fell down or met some other total demise depending on the version)” ?
Well, this song’s been in my head for a couple of days now, and not only that, but as we hike, God’s been bringing to mind the story of Jesus and Peter to go along with it. Now that song’s in your head, too isn’t it? 😊
The song depicts a timeless truth, taken from Matthew (and Luke). Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. ~ Matthew 7:24-27
James says essentially the same thing when he tells us, 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. ~ James 1:22-25
And so we know that what we know can’t just be stored in our minds like an encyclopedia, or nowadays, Google. 😊 It does us (believers in Jesus Christ) no good unless we learn from it and actually put what we have learned into practice.
As non-believers, we can say that we know there is a God. I would venture to say that most believe that in some form or other. In fact, even demons believe this. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – – and shudder. ~ James 2:19.
But it’s what we do with this knowledge that’s important.
Believing in God is wonderful, but it’s missing a vital next step – – believing in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Most probably also have some knowledge that Jesus is supposed to be God’s son. Or that he was a great teacher, at the very least. But knowing that and using that knowledge, is a critical step.
In Matthew 16:13-19, Jesus asks his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is? To which the disciples replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
And then Jesus asked them, But what about you? Who do you say that I am?
Simon Peter (usually the first to speak up) answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
To which Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (Jesus changed his name), and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.
So what do we make of all this? First of all, our answer to Jesus’ question is the most important answer of our entire life. We can say all kinds of things about Jesus and who he is, but unless we give the same answer as Peter, we are like that man who builds his house on the sand, or the one who forgets what he looks like.
Based on his answer, Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter and declares that He will build His church on this rock. What does that mean? Certainly not that the Church will be built on Peter. If you study him, he’s definitely not “rock” material. But his declaration is. And even after more than 2,000 years, the Rock, the Foundation of faith that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, still stands firm. And Satan and his demons have not and will not overcome it.
So what about you? Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He just a man? Do you believe that He’s God’s Son? And if you concede that He is God’s Son, how are you applying that knowledge? Have you humbled yourself and told Him so? Have you recognized your inherent sinful nature and asked His forgiveness and asked for Him to order the steps of your life as Lord and Savior? Or are you content to continue through life having knowledge that you never apply? Your life – and your eternity – depend on your response.
I spent all day sitting. Really. All day.
I was determined to get caught up on the blog, but I didn’t quite make it. Not to whine or complain, but part of the reason is because my laptop’s acting up. The mouse seems to have a mind of its own now – jumping around, highlighting and deleting things, and gliding back and forth over the page all by itself! It’s probably taking me almost twice as long to get things done as it normally would. However, at least I made some progress! I’m now only 5 days behind instead of seven or eight! That is, until tomorrow . . .
Blaine, on the other hand, rode his bike around Miners Lake, took a walk into town, made dinner, cleaned up dinner, looked for and set up HBO and Cinemax movies since it’s a free weekend, repaired the jacket of my Bible, washed his Tilly hat and who knows what else. Sounds like he was more productive, doesn’t it? Definitely more active!
He’s also more sticky and sweaty than me. 😊
You get one picture today. That’s it. One. Because I was busy and Blaine refused to take his phone along.
