Old John and the Forest Fire (Part 1)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

(Psalm 121:1)

  

Part 1 of 8

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This is basically the story of an elderly man - Old John.  Many people did not really know him, though a very few in the area did.  Many had heard stories about him, but as is often the case, most of those stories were rumors built upon other rumors.

As a result, most people believed he was mean-spirited, ornery and selfish – perhaps even with a criminal background.  Many thought he actually delighted in seeing bad things happen to good people.  Of course, there were many who just took the stories as nothing more than folktales - not attributing them to anybody who really might live high up on Baldcrest Mountain.

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Baldcrest National Wilderness Area was a very large expanse of beautiful forests with a large variety of mountain peaks and ridges, interspersed with beautiful deep valleys and wonderful clear streams meandering downward toward several larger rivers.  The fishing and hunting were generally very good, and the camping was excellent – especially if you preferred to leave your car behind, and had several days to explore bits and pieces of this captivating wilderness on foot.

Baldcrest National Wilderness Area was named after the tallest and most majestic peak in the area – Baldcrest Mountain.  Baldcrest was a natural name to give this large outcropping of rocky mountaintop, which soared several hundred feet above the timberline.  From a distance, Baldcrest looked like an old white-haired patriarch keeping watch over his large family.

If you knew the right paths to take, you would be able to hike for just over three days to get to the summit of Baldcrest from the end of the nearest dirt road.

It was on the summit of Baldcrest where Old John lived and worked.  You see, Old John was the fire lookout whose job was to keep his eyes on the vast expanse of Baldcrest Wilderness.  Day and night, he watched for trouble that could bring disaster – the destruction of thousands of acres of the most beautiful forests by fire – Or worse, could bring the death of any hikers who might be spending one day or even a couple of weeks fishing, hunting or just enjoying the beauty of this wilderness.

Old John had worked at this same post for so many years, that nobody really remembered where he had come from.  During the winter, nobody knew, or even paid attention to where he stayed.  But at the snow-melt each spring, Old John would briefly report in at the ranger station, pick up his supplies for the coming season, and make his annual trek up to his "home" on Baldcrest.

So there was plenty of room for rumors and stories about Old John.  And, of course, true to the way people's minds work, most of those stories were far from the truth, and certainly not representative of Old John's real character.

[To be continued - jad]

The Bibles Were Passed Out

The Bibles were passed out during the Pastor's announcements

The Lambs Jesus

The Lamb ran swiftly

The Lamb was slain

The Lamb was covered

with my sin's stain.

The Lamb has taken

my sins away

The Lamb, God's wrath

due me, will stay.

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Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Sacrifice and the Scapegoat,

who washes us clean and carries our sins out of God's sight.

(Leviticus 16 & Hebrews 9)


by JAD as part of a paper on Hebrews 9 at Moody Bible Institute 1975

"Playing Chicken" with A Russian Ship in The South China Sea

Our enemy is very deceitful.  But if we will hold our course by obeying our King, all will be fine.  (Matthew 7:24-25)

It was in the early Fall of 1967 in the South China Sea.  I never expected to be involved in a game of "chicken" with a Russian ship!

I was in the U.S. Navy serving on board the USS Markab (AR 23).  We had been in Yokosuka Japan, and we were steaming toward Vung Tau, Vietnam.  When we left Japan, a First Class Electronic Technician and myself were assigned to Combat Information Central (CIC) to work as CIC watch supervisors.  Normally, this position would be manned by a Radarman , but the only Radarman on board at that time who was qualified to be watch Supervisor was a Chief Radarman.  So he stood one of the 3 watches and the other ET and myself stood the other 2 watches - 8 hours on and 16 hours off every day.

The responsibility of CIC on our ship was pretty straight forward.  Maintain a constant RADAR watch in every direction around the ship as far out from the ship as our RADAR could reach, which was about 65 miles or so.  We were to track the course of anything we picked up on the RADAR and keep the Bridge (Officer of the Deck) informed.

AR 23 with 5 other ships alongside for repairs (4 to the port & 1 to our starboard).

As I was saying, we were steaming across the South China Sea toward the mouth of the Saigon River.  It was early in the morning when we picked up a blip on the RADAR that turned out to be a ship.  We began to plot it's course and report it to the Bridge.  It soon became apparent that this other ship was on a deliberate head-on collision course with us.  In navigational terms, it was on a constant bearing with a decreasing range that indicated it was moving through the water directly toward us at about the same speed we were traveling.

As sunlight increased and the other ship got closer, our lookouts identified it as a Russian trawler (i.e. a Russian spy ship pretending to be a fishing vessel).  The trawler did not show any signs of changing course, but seemed intent on "playing chicken" with us.

To follow what happened next, let me explain the normal procedure for two ships in this position:  Each ship would move to its right (starboard), and each Captain would expect the other ship to do this so that the two ships would safely pass by each other with the other ship on its left (port) side as they passed.

Another rule of the sea (as I understand it) is that if two ships collide, and your ship is dead in the water (i.e. propeller not turning and rudder amidships - straight ahead), then you are not at fault.

Well – It appeared likely that this Russian Captain wanted to create an international incident, and use our ship to do it.

As we monitored the trawler on the RADAR and the lookouts watched it as well, our Captain forewarned the engine room that he might be calling down an order to immediately stop the engine, and that he wanted the screw (propeller) to stop turning immediately when they received that order.  The Captain also told the helmsman that he was to keep the rudder amidships no matter what happened.

The ships were closing in on each other – bow to bow.  In CIC we were watching the RADAR very closely as the blip on our RADAR screen moved steadily closer to the center of the scope (which represented the location of our ship).  The Captain ordered that the ship be immediately prepared for a collision, and to make the ship water tight.

It was obvious that the Russian captain was hoping that we would move, as expected, to our starboard, according to the rules of the road, to avoid a collision.  But our Captain did not flinch.  At the last minute, the Russian ship moved – but not to his right as required.  He moved to his left, which would have put him directly in our path if we had followed the correct procedure.

Because we did not move, the trawler passed harmlessly (although dangerously close) down our starboard side.  As he went by, I leaned out of CIC to look through the door in the Navigator's chart room.  I could see several Russian sailors standing at the rail of their ship smiling at us.  They were so close I could almost have reached over and shook their hand.

Our Captain understood the situation and new exactly how to handle it.  He issued the orders, the crew obeyed, and all was fine.

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Matthew 7:24-25

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock."

Our Citizenship is in God's Kingdom

Wir sind nur Pilger Weisheit ist es: stets bedenken, Dass wir hier nur pilger sind. Und sein herz auf das nur lenken, Was nicht mit der Zeit verrinnt. Seine Augen unverwandt Nach dem ewigen Vaterland. Richten und mit Eifer streben Für die ewigkeit zu leben!

We are only Pilgrims Wisdom tells us to remember, That we are only pilgrims here. And pilgrims heart is only tender, To that which time does not adhere. Pilgrims eyes are not distracted From his eternal home. And with zeal pilgrim strives to keep his heart for God alone!

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I translated and paraphrased this poem from this little book, "Gott Schütze Dich! – Perlen aus dem Schatze christlicher Dichtungen" [God Protect You – Pearls from the treasure of Christian Poetry], which was given to me as a Christmas present from my cousin.  This little book was published by Karl Birsch, Christian Publishing House, Bookprinters, Stuttgart, Germany.  There is no publication date, but there is a dated inscription:  "Geo. Deethardt, Dec. 25, 1905". 

The Weed, The Rose, and The Eagle

Whenever the weed looked into the mirror, it only saw a sweet-smelling beautiful rose.  And whenever that same weed looked out the window at the rose in the garden, all it ever saw was an ugly, troublesome weed.

But, whenever the eagle, with its discerning eye looked down from where it soared high above in the clear blue sky, it saw a beautiful rose growing in the garden and a poor misled weed looking longingly into the mirror or gazing judgmentally out of the window.

We tend to see ourselves and others as we want - in ways that make us look better to our selves and feel better about ourselves.

God sees each of us as we really are.  He alone understands.  He alone knows our need.  Only He is our loving provider who is willing and able to meet our every need.  Have faith in Him because He alone is faithful.

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O God, it is You who knows my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from You. (Psalm 69:5)

Jesus says, "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." (Rev. 3:18)




JAD 2008

Theory of Relativity

The theory of relativity explains the two most important issues in the history of the world:  First - The theory of relativity explains every problem facing mankind, individually and corporately, throughout history, and across the face of the planet.  Finally - The theory of relativity explains the solution to those problems,

It works like this:

First - The theory of relativity and the problem:

(1)  Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve because of their rebellion against the Creator of heaven and earth.

(2)  If anyone traces their family tree back far enough, they will discover, without exception, that we all come from Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve are our common parents - We are all relatives of Adam and Eve.  We have all inherited their sin nature.

(3)  This is part of the theory of relativity explains the problem.

Second - The theory of relativity and the solution:

(1)  Faith in the atoning, saving work of God through His Son, Jesus, makes each one a relative of Jesus,  Each relative of Jesus is a new person; our heart of stone is changed to a heart of flesh; God puts His set of standards within each of His children; we are washed clean; and the person of the Holy Spirit lives in us.

(2)  Being His relative, we have the full assurance of forgiveness of all sin, an eternal and wonderful inheritance that involves and includes security from the wrath to come and eternal life with Him in a home especially prepared for us in heaven.

(3)  This part of the theory of relativity explains the solution.

Come to think of it, this is not the theory of relativity at all.  It is the fact of relativity.

God bless - - -

JAD October 2011