Penn Lake Park Campground, Marathon, Ontario, Canada
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABIEST BROTHER, LANCE! I actually have two brothers younger than me, but Lance is the youngest of the younger. He was born two days before my 10th birthday and I always tell him he’s the worst birthday present I ever got. 😊 Actually, he’s terrific and very artistically creative!
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know what you are My disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35
Homemade waffles smothered in the wild blueberries we picked yesterday! De-lish!!
This morning we listened to Pastor Mike teach on the church in ‘the city of brotherly love’ – Philadelphia – mentioned in Revelation 3:7-18. We jointly decided that another morning spent singing another eleven hymns was just more than we wanted to take on, and so, we worshiped at home today.
If you recall, Pastor Mike is doing a series on the book of Revelation. What we listened to today was from the end of April, so we are bit behind, but that’s the joy of having on-line access. We don’t have to miss a thing.
Of the seven churches addressed, Philadelphia is the only one with no conviction or condemnation. They received only praise. Oh to be that kind of follower!
Here’s a quick review of the previous five churches we’ve studied:
- Ephesus – Don’t lose your love
- Smyrna – Don’t be afraid to suffer for good
- Pergamum – Don’t be compromised or influenced by the world
- Thyatira – Don’t become corrupted by the world
- Sardis – You are almost dead, wake up!
Yes, these letters were intended for these specific churches, but in each of these, there’s a lesson to be learned today as well.
The town of Philadelphia was about 30 miles southeast of Sardis. It was a relatively young city, established in 200BC. It was known as the “Gateway to the East” – the crossroads between Rome and Asia. It was also very prone to multiple earthquakes – one in particular was in 17AD – that destroyed not only Philadelphia, but also the town of Sardis.
In these few verses, Jesus quotes direct characteristics of God – Holy (other, different, unique). He is the only being that exists who relies on nothing or no one. He is True (real, reality). He holds the key (to the treasure house). He is the Door (for ministry).
Here, Jesus is telling them that He Himself is opening a door for them to minister to others. To proclaim the Gospel. To help and serve. And He tells them that no one will be able to close that door.
In Colossians 4:3, Paul asks people to pray for open doors for his ministry. In Matthew 23, Jesus chastises the Pharisees pointing out their hypocrisy, that they expect people to follow The Law and love the Lord, but they effectively close that door by their personal behavior. In Matthew 28, Jesus’ parting words are not the ones about going out into the world that we’re familiar with, but they begin with Him stating His authority, and His eternal presence.
According to Pastor Mike, there are two key elements in a healthy, effective Christian church –
- How do they keep The Word? Do they believe it? Do they believe it’s Truth? Do they attempt to follow its teachings?
- What do they do with Jesus? Do they deny Him? Do they try to sugar-coat Him to avoid tensions with the world? Do they discount the uniqueness of Him?
When the question of Jesus being the ONLY way comes up, do they – do you – accept the world’s view that “there are many ways to Heaven”?
In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What else is there to say? If Jesus isn’t the way, then who or what will pay for your sin?
We decided to stick close to home today. Blaine had everything all mapped out for us. First, we tackled a hike to the Mink Creek Falls. This was a hike that his hairdresser told him about the other day. It’s not a long hike, but it’s not marked in any way and the only ones who know about it are the locals and “a few lucky tourists”. I guess we were two of the lucky ones! We decided it somewhat made up for the price of the haircut. 😊
We began from the hidden parking lot. Blaine had been told to cross the street to find the trailhead.
And away we go.
Doesn’t look much different from the Park trails we’ve been on. : )
This is the Mink River.
Just before the waterfall.
We had to find our own way through the woods to get to the waterfall view.
Here we are!
And the Mink continues on.
Blaine stayed up top, while I climbed down.
When he joined me, I commented that that stick ruined my picture. You know. Just fact-stating.
So of course, my superhero husband dispensed with it.
Much better!
Too bad he slipped a bit and got one of his feet a bit wet. Not bad though.
It really was a gorgeous fall!
What’s with all the squinting It wasn’t that bright . . .
Back we go . . .
We met this couple on our way out and were surprised to learn they were from Texas!
One of them must have gotten their hair cut this week . . . . : )
Next was Hawk’s Ridge. This one was a bit more challenging. Not only was it about a 40-minute hike, but we had a devil of a time trying to find where it started! The sign pointed right, but there was no obvious trailhead. Blaine had to Google it and read some reviews to try to figure it out. The problem was that it started with an ATV trail. We didn’t know that.
On the way to Hawk’s Ridge, and we see fog!
We’ve never encountered fog in the afternoon around here – especially this thick.
This is the view we had when we first entered the town of Marathon.
You can’t even see the Lake!
The trail marker.
But no trail in that direction.
There it is!
And yes, it went to the right, but not until we went around the corner and turned right.
They could use some additional information.
Someone, at some point, was kind enough to put in a handrail.
Trust me, it was a good addition! That rock was close to vertical.
We had to traverse a pretty long area like this.
The ATVs are still with us.
Well, not literally. But the tracks are there in the mud.
And then, once we got to the top, the Lake was still all fogged in! Pretty cool, but worth the effort? Sure it was!
Here’s our view!
The highest perch he could find here. : )
Here comes another train!
This one was really, really long! And it was headed straight for town.
Anyone caught at the tracks will have a long wait, but at least they motor through pretty fast.
There it goes!
The fog’s creeping in, but Blaine assured me it wouldn’t get as far inland as we were.
By the way – – we have no clue what that is down there.
These wild flowers were stunning!
I know some will think three pictures of a dragonfly is excessive, but it’s just marvelous to me!
Look at the intricate design! And the blue spots!
God is so good to us!
What a face!
Our view spot seems to be on top of a large sand dune.
This is what it looks like when heavy fog meets the sky!
Time to head back.
On the way back, we started hearing thunder. We weren’t too concerned. We’ve been caught in the rain before. But it never materialized. At least not around us. But we did see more fog and some awesome clouds . . .
The start of our trail was behind us at the end of this cul-de-sac.
Look at the fog rolling in! It came in further than Blaine expected.
I guess people who live here are used to this.
People were out mowing and doing other yard/car maintenance things.
The bottom white is fog.
Where fog meets storm clouds.
Beautifully eerie!
. . . . and on the way to our next stop, we took a look at Jellico Bay again and saw what I called a ‘fog bridge’. That was neat!
The fog bridge, accented by the dark clouds of the storm.
Here’s a close up.
Pretty cool, eh?
We revisited Pebble Beach since it was so overcast the last time. When we pulled into the parking lot, the sun was shining, but by the time we got down to the “pebbles”, it wasn’t, so we still haven’t seen it in sunlight and now, we won’t. Maybe it looks better this way . . . .
Pebble Beach from the parking lot.
By the way, when we arrived, a car was leaving with a monster dog in the back seat!
A mastiff, and it’s head was the size of the back window!
The path down looks pretty much like it did the last time we were here. : (
You’d never know the rocks here are a good foot or more underwater! It’s so clear!
This picture and the next are examples of some of the sizes. From really small to quite large.
And they’re heavy!
I picked up a softball-sized one to chuck in the water, and it had to weigh at least 5 pounds!
The edge of the storm
Pizza Hut take out for dinner. They don’t seem to be very busy here. There were only two people working – and one was a driver/cashier. And yet, our dinner was ready in less than fifteen minutes.
Tomorrow we move.