I’m planning to make the climb to the top of Idaho again in a few weeks. The challenge to the top is always sure, but the decent is where the pain is. All in all, I enjoy the journey, those on the journey and the pictures from the journey. Hey, if you’re not busy on August 30 you should join me and the others.
Here are some photos from some of the past years.
The circuit-riding preacher used to ride across the land,
With a rifle on his saddle and a Bible in his hand;
He told the prairie people all about the promised land,
As he went riding, singing down the trail:
Last year I had the occasion to site down with the only circuit-riding preacher I’ve ever known. The history of the circuit-riders may prove to be among one of the most unique aspects of the spread of the gospel in the west. My history search shows that John Wesley began and developed an early circuit schedule in Europe to take the gospel to communities without preachers. In America, the Baptist and Methodist employed this strategy to do the same as the great westward expansion began.
The circuit-riding preacher traveled through the mire and mud,
Told about the fiery furnace and of Noah and the flood;
He preached the way to heaven was by Jesus and the blood,
As he went riding, singing down the trail:
This kind of gospel advancement is heroic and rarely recalled today. There are not many books written of these courageous men. When I sat down with this circuit-riding preacher I was reminded of the struggles and hardships of preaching in places that few preachers will venture because there is no fame and glory there. But born of God with a commitment to faithfully preach the Bible sends this kind of preacher into wilderness lands filled with danger and loneliness.
The circuit-riding preacher slept in flee-infested barns,
Even then he felt the comfort of the everlasting arms;
That gave him strength to travel on to churches, homes and farms
As he went riding, singing down the trail:
This circuit-riding preacher I know is blessed of God to have taken this eternal gospel to people from the panhandle of Texas, across the mighty Rockies, and into the land where the deer and antelope play. This circuit rider still lives today. He didn’t travel from farm to ranch on a mule as the early riders did, but his duty of the word was of the same spirit as the early circuit-riders.
Now his Rifle’s old and rusty as it’s hanging on the wall,
His Bible’s worn and [weathered and can hardly be read at all,
but until the resurrection when we hear the trumpet call
His truth keeps marching on].
Today, that circuit-riding preacher is in Amarillo, Texas. He’s preached in places you have never heard of, buried saints throughout the west, he is a rich-poor man, frail and weak. But hear him today speak of His savior as he gasps for a breath is among the sweetest things I know.
the Circuit Riding Preacher, Tim Spencer, 1958
It is arguably among the most uncomfortable discussions born again believers have who want to be considered cool by unconverted friends. It’s possible the internet makes this battle even more complicated. Have you taken inventory of who likes and comments on your social media posts? Have you taken recent inventory of what stories you “like” or “share” or comment on? Have you inventoried the amount of time you’re spending in “conversation” with people in passing that you rarely have to see face to face?
I thought I would take a moment and consider what kind of influence Scripture is having on me in this respect.
Titus chapter two is my starting point. I took the statements by the apostle Paul to heart and weighed them in the balance. So, with the lamp of Scripture on, I take the beam of light from Titus chapter two and let it do an examining work on myself and may it do an influencing work on the reader too.
First the apostle tells Titus that he must tell the Lord’s people what sort of character he should expect to come from sound teaching. There is an expected result upon the follower of the Lord that should be present. It is not a cloning effect, it is a transforming work.
After Paul told Titus to expect a transformation he starts with the old men.
“Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance (Titus 2:2).”
Similarly, like the older men, the older women should be noticeably set apart by their conduct and behavior than the unconverted women of the day.
Paul concludes this teaching to Titus by telling him that his teaching must show the strictest regard for truth, and show that you appreciate the seriousness of the matters you are dealing with. Show this seriousness because the enemy is making a mockery of manhood and womanhood. Make sure that when you speak that you use language that doesn’t show partiality to the spirit of the age, be influenced by the Holy Spirit so that the enemy has nothing in which to pick holes.
Hebrews 11:32-39
And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release , so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others…
it’s the “and others” that we read about from Iraq that the Lord has blessed with the responsibility to bear the suffering of the name of the Lord, Jesus the Christ today.
and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
Rise up church, pray that the saints will remain bold and advance the gospel banner as they are being executed in mass numbers in Iraq.
