The Volcanoes of Lewis Clark

The Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark

October 1805 to June 1806

Welcome

I though this would be a interesting historical site to view.

On October 7, 1805, Lewis and Clark and the "Corps of Discovery" began their journey down the Clearwater River and into the volcanics of the Pacific Northwest. The Corps travelled from the Clearwater to the Snake and down the "Great Columbia", finally reaching the Pacific Ocean on November 15, 1805. Along the journey they encountered the lava flows of the Columbia Plateau, river channels carved by the great "Missoula Floods", and the awesome beauty of five Cascade Range volcanoes.

TIM WHEELER FIRST PLACE

Tim Wheeler, first in line, first in points

RIVERVALLEY BASS CLUB

TIM WHEELER WON THE LAST TOURNAMENT AND WON FIRST IN POINT STANDING FOR THE YEAR

SERVING BASS ANGLERS FROM SOUTHERN OHIO AND NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY

OHIO RIVER GREENUP POOL RESULTS (CLICK AND CHECK OUT WEBSITE)

OCTOBER 11, 2008

1. TIM WHEELER 2.71

2. STEVE RUSNAK 1.59

Tim Wheeler is my friend and I work for him at Mex-Itali. Tim also a Bass Angler fisherman,

CHURCHES GOD MIGHT NOT SHOW UP IN ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY

I AM AFRAID GOD DOESN’T SHOW UP IN MANY CHURCHES TODAY?

James MacDonald pastor of the Harvest Bible Chapel wrote an article this week, about the church. Of course I read a few articles on the church during the week. And since I am back in the pulpit (we still have one) I am more interested in the subject. James writes this “When God Goes To Church!” James writes:

• "We have to get back to vertical church. Somewhere along the line, well meaning people have hijacked the church. Some in the name of organizational excellence, some because they want to see more people coming to Christ, some because they feel the church has become too stale to actually reach this so-called postmodern audience, and some because of countless other motivations, good and bad, that I can’t think of right now."

I believe well meaning pastors and churches have had the desire to reaching the community and the world with for Jesus Christ. I read daily of church innovation, they are continues in the process of inventing or introducing something new, technological innovations, preaching and teaching innovation. Cultural modernization, that is to change something in order to make it conform to modern tastes, attitudes, or standards, has become to form today in many churches.

I am amazed at the crowds that attend churches. I was watching Brian Houston, Hillsong Church, in Sydney, Australia, this week, and to see the crowds (20,000) of people come. Its innovated, yet how 20,000 people are involved is another question. Of course there are a number of other just works across the world. (By the way I do not view Houston’s ministry as a model for Church ministry). I am just pointing out the technological, musical, preaching, and teaching, innovation of the church. I don’t accept the gifts of tongues nor in women preachers, speakers yes, preaching no.

At the same time there are good men in the body of Christ today that are in to this new form of ministry. Many are following after Mark Driscoll Seattle Washington, Mars Hills, Acts 29 Network of churches and Rob Bell, in Michigan. I was amazed as I read about our local churches who are following in their pattern of ministry. And even more amazed at the church in Lexington Kentucky that I attended for five years has now planned a Mars Hills Conversations. What churches and pastors will do to see people come to church is just amazing to me. I am even more amazed to see fundamental churches of the past follow suit to the form of NewSpring churches network, pastured by Perry Noble in Anderson South Caroline. And these fellows are off shoot of Bill Hyber at Willow Creek.

From a general observation, you will believe what a wonderful way to worship, and 100’s of souls are getting saved each week. But upon a careful watching and recording of the facts, you will began to see another form of worship. Good man I believe, they are, but they have the overpowering desire to worship Jesus, and see His commission fulfilled.

In my humble opinion we are headed down the wrong road to the kind of Church, God is going to attend.

James MacDonald, writes (so would John MacArthur, Jr.)

• "Bottom line: at Harvest Bible Chapel we now have almost 20 years invested in the notion that church should not, better, must not be an audience-centered effort. NO MORE AUDIENCE-CENTERED CHURCH, unless of course we return to the biblical priority of God Himself being the audience. My thesis is that God simply does not attend most churches in America. He won’t work or manifest His presence in places where His Word is apologized for, His Son is polished and marketed, and His power is not sought in prayer or even anticipated. God does not attend churches where the gospel is watered down to a self-help pep talk about felt needs. God does not attend churches where Jesus’ crucified life is not proclaimed as the only hope for a fallen humanity. God does not attend churches where Bibles are not brought, and the gospel is reduced to a formula that a person can recite in 60 seconds. God does not attend churches where words, biblical words, like holiness, repentance, and Lordship are scrubbed from the vocabulary in an effort to . . . ? You may be able to get people to attend churches like that but God doesn’t show up much at all."

Of course at the same time, I have a very hard time accepting the altar calls and mass appeal to sinners to be saved that happen at James MacDonald’s church. From their website.

• Here is how you can receive Christ:
• 1. Admit your need. ("I am a sinner.")
• 2. Be willing to turn from your sins. (Repent.)
• 3. Believe that Jesus died for you on the cross and rose from the grave.
• 4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)


• How to pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Its not that the above is not correct, but far too many people just say those words without meaning them, and are led to believe they are saved, Christians, going to heaven.

And I would say that MacDonald would say the same, and is doing a good in discipline them in Christ.

Otherwise, I like what he is saying.

• 'God shows up with power to save where Jesus is passionately adored without shame or pretense, without entertainment or needless comedy. God shows up where His Word is proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit. God shows up where He can be certain that His Word will be heard and held up for the sufficient, saving, sanctifying word that He promises it to be. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth” (John 17:17).'


• The church has fallen and is now, on most fronts, floundering in the abyss of cultural analysis and human approval. Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” The western church in our day is floundering in silly attempts to be pleasing to an audience that does not conceptualize the stench of our lives in the nostrils of a holy God. Attempting to become ‘relevant,’ the church has become impotent and irrelevant. At the end of the day people want to meet God when they go to church, but His Spirit is so grieved by what happens in most churches, He simply refuses to attend."
  

I heard a pastor say recently that the past 20 years have been about “church done with excellence in the flesh is better than church done poorly in the flesh.” How insightful!

• How about church done according to God’s Word and in the power of the Spirit?
  
• How about Doing God’s Work, in God’s Way?
  
• How about church on fire, led by men on fire, burning a swath of God’s power across our land like a tornado across a Kansas wheat field?
  

1. Where is the mighty prevailing church (Matthew 16:18) moving with God’s power, seeing lives transformed frequently and totally?


2. Where is the church that sees miraculous answers to prayer and marvelous interventions of grace?

I want to spend the rest of my days working to see the true church, the grace AND truth church, (John 1:14) the spirit and power church, the overcoming, Christ-adoring, prayerfully dependant, Word-proclaiming church return to prominence. I believe it is only then that God will begin regularly attending the churches of our land. If that were to happen it would make ALL the difference, would it not?

IS IT A MANIKIN?

ITS A MANIKIN. or MANNEQUIN

An anatomical model of the human body , used in teaching art or a Pilates move, or position.

Yes I have learned, that photo is really an manikin, because its hard to believe anyone could do this Pilates position. Believe me I can't. Now, how this looks so much like my sister is a wonder. I could be wrong about this.

Well, a little fun here, my sister is no mere manikin, she is a live beautiful lady who is working hard, not only on her physical body, but continues to grow in her spiritual life as well.

A PREACHERS WIFE

A PREACHERS WIFE Charity has for the last nearly forty years submitted to the call of Christ on our lives.

Even while we were dating, if I really felt that I should attend a church, she would say, okay. I remember once saying, "Charity, I believe we need to go to Gideon Baptist Church and work with Dr. Norris. " And without question she said okay. And that was really a wonderful experience, and she and I really had a wonderful time working together on the Bus Ministry and the Children Church ministry. And in almost all churches that we have worked in, Charity and I have worked as a team.

Too often the Pastor's wife doesn't really enjoy the work of the ministry, and comes across loud and clear. Too often the Pastor's wife many think she is the co pastor, or the church might think she is the co pastor. So there is a balance in the live of the Pastor and his wife. She works along side the Pastor as his help mate, first in the home, as a wife and mother. And this is really the role of any wife and mother.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT ABOUT PREACHING

THIS IS NOT HOW TO LOOK WHEN YOU ARE TEACHING A LESSON

BUT IT WAS OCTOBER A FEW YEARS BACK

Why Are Pastors So Interested in Expositional Preaching?

Here's the answer J.I. Packer gives:

• What troubles us, I think, is a sense that the old evangelical tradition of powerful preaching--the tradition, in England, of Whitefield and Wesley and Berridge and Simeon and Haslam and Ryle--has petered out, and we do not know how to revive it. We feel that, for all our efforts, we as preachers are failing to speak adequately to men's souls. In other words, what lies behind our modern interest in expository preaching is a deep dissatisfaction with our own ministry.There is a delightful seventeenth-century tract by John Owen entitled The Character of an Old English Puritane (1646), in which we learn that such a man "esteemed that preaching best wherein was most of God, least of man."

Our own constant suspicion, I think, is that our own preaching contains too much of man and not enough of God.

• "We have an uneasy feeling that the hungry sheep who look up are not really being fed. It is not that we are not trying to break the bread of life to them; it is just that, despite ourselves, our sermons turn out dull and flat and trite and tedious and, in the event, not very nourishing. We are tempted (naturally) to soothe ourselves with the thought that the day of preaching is past, or that zealous counseling or organizing or management or fundraising makes sufficient amends for ineffectiveness in the pulpit; but then we reread 1 Corinthians 2: (NKJV)--"my speech and my preaching were... in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"--and we are made uneasy again, and the conclusion is forced upon us once more that something is missing in our ministry. This, surely, is the real reason why we evangelicals today are so fascinated by the subject of expository preaching: because we want to know how we can regain the lost authority and unction that made evangelical preaching mighty in days past to humble sinners and build up the church."

In Ryken and Wilson, Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching in Honor of R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton, IL: Crossway), p. 142.

When I read this today, I had to take a look at my preaching/teaching. I need to remember its God's power to change lives. Its all about God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, not about me. Getting cute is not cool. But my speech and my preaching needs to be in demonstration of the Spirit and power.

I am not sure why preachers today believe they need to dress down in their looks, and speech. Its not in our appearance that the power reigns but in the word of God, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I really don't need to add myself into the conversation. I need to allow Christ to be the focus of the message. Really its not about me, I need to keep saying, its about Christ.

Expository Preaching, verse by verse preaching, keeps me on Christ.

Some preachers today believe if they use the harsh language of today, that there is some power in that. The power is not in our voice, or language, but in the Words of God.

Some even believe the power is in the language of the old 1611 or 1768 KJV. The power is not in the translated words, but in the power of God in the Word. The power to change lives is the work of the Holy Spirit.

There is no magic in the KJV, NKJV, NASV, ASV, or NIV, or RS, or the ESV. I don't care how simple you dress, or how simple your message is, its not its power. The effective work of the Holy Spirit in our spirit become the reason there is change in our lives.

Preaching is about Christ, His glory, His gospel, its not about me and my personality. Expositional Preaching/Teaching, helps me focus on Christ and His Word, rather than me. It is about what Christ has done in my life. If I can keep focus on Christ, I have accomplished my purpose.

GOD AND PRAISE

WHY DO WE ASK SUCH QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD?

• "Why did He desire to and create a plan of salvation that would frustrate his desire for all to be saved? Why did he create a world that would become sinful and frustrate his desire for perfection? Why was it God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge to crucify Christ (Acts 2:23) which was accomplished through many acts of sin (which is against God’s will by definition)? God’s plan to crucify Christ can be seen in Isaiah 53:10, ”Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief.” Why does God send Moses to tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go.” Yet Exodus 4:21 God says, “I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Was God commanding someone to do something that He was ensuring they wouldn’t do? Did God not frustrate His own desire to have Pharaoh release Israel? (Romans 9 explains more) One of the biggest questions is why did God create a world capable of evil? The mere existence of an evil world works in contrast to God’s will. There are many more examples." A quote from a reader this week.


• The gospel has been described as a pool in which a toddler can wade and yet an elephant can swim. It is both simple enough to tell to a child and profound enough for the greatest minds to explore. Indeed, even angels never tire of looking into it (1 Peter 1:12). Humans are by no means angels, however, so rather than contemplating it, we argue about it.


• A generation ago evangelicals agreed on "the simple gospel": (1) God made you and wants to have a relationship with you, (2) but your sin separates you from God. (3) Jesus took the punishment your sins deserved, (4) so if you repent from sins and trust in him for your salvation, you will be forgiven, justified, and accepted freely by grace, and indwelt with his Spirit until you die and go to heaven.


• One gospel, many forms. So yes, there must be one gospel, yet there are clearly different forms in which that one gospel can be expressed. I am teaching First Thessalonians and Paul said, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance." The Gospel is the plan of salvation, but the gospel has a far reaching effect upon those who by God's grace receive it.

• There are other forms of the gospel. You will noticed that the kingdom language of the Synoptic Gospels is virtually missing in the Gospel of John, which usually talks instead about receiving eternal life. However, when we compare Mark 10:17, 23-34 , Matthew 25:34, 46, and John 3:5, 6 and 17, we see that "entering the kingdom of God" and "receiving eternal life" are virtually the same thing. Reading Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15 and John 3:3, 5 together reveal that conversion, the new birth, and receiving the kingdom of God "as a child" are the same move. The terms eternal life and salvation and the kingdom are speaking of the same gospel.

PRAISE TO GOD IS A LIFESTYLE

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RIVERS OF JOY BAPTIST PRAISE CHOIR, SOUTHERN STYLE

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All too often, praise to God is something that many people leave at church, an event that happens only when they come together with other Christians. However, praise should be a part of a believers lifestyle, inter-mingled as a part of their daily prayer-life. At work, in the car, at home in bed, or anywhere; praise to the Lord brings the refreshing of the Lord’s presence, along with His power and anointing. “...I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalms 34:1).

Praise is an expression of faith, and a declaration of victory! It declares that we believe God is with us and is in control of the outcome of all our circumstances (Romans 8:28). Praise is a “sacrifice,” something that we offer to God sacrificially, not just because we feel like it, but because we believe in Him and wish to please Him. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).