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As most of you probably know, on New Year’s Day, tragedy struck our valley in the form of the death of two snowmobilers buried in an avalanche. This is not the only tragedy so far this year but is one that hits fairly close to me. I am an avid snowmobiler and also had the privilege of being part of the group who assisted in the recovery. It is a struggle for me to know what to say about the incident and how to organize my thoughts in a logical way, so I am going to just share a couple of things on my mind relevant to that incident. 1. I say it...
My beautiful wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1985. MS is an auto-immune disease that causes debilitating issues between the brain and the body. Its effect causes parts of the external and internal body to not work as the brain is telling the body to work. In January 2015 my wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia that causes the brain and the body to not work in harmony. There is no cure for either disease. Both of these diseases cause the body to be disconnected from the head...
We're going to look back a little bit in order to look forward. Christmas is all about celebrating the Incarnation. For followers of Christ, this is really an everyday kind of thing. So often, the whole "God-with-us" reality of the Incarnation gets lost amidst our tendency to focus on gifts, parties and the like. Incarnation means "being made flesh" from the Latin root. This activity in the past has on-going meaning and action in the present and on into the future. That's what the birth of...
I'm gett'n long in the tooth now. But look'n back so many decades when I was a lad and Shep was a pup, there was those Christmas that always seemed like 20-30 below. The new cabin wasn't too far from the little Catholic Church. "Don't be late sez mom as she hurried me out the door, it'll be warm at the Church." I remember the crunch of the snow under foot as I walked to practice the Christmas hymns. Mrs. Ver Schnider would be there to play the organ. Mom didn't always practice 'cause she knew th...
If you like to dance, you know how awkward it can be if both partners are trying to lead. If you recall what happened with Moses when he was still a young man and decided God needed his help looking out for the Israelites. The story is recorded in Exodus chapter 2 beginning in verse 11, "Moses...went out unto his brethren, and looked to their burdens." Needless to say, Moses's efforts, apart from God, did not go well. Sometimes we, like Moses, get out in front of God. Whether because of...
The place of King Herod within the Christmas story is intertwined with the history of the Magi. The Lord used the Magi to reveal the birth of Jesus to outsiders from a faraway place. The response of the Magi was then authentic worship of Jesus as King and Messiah. Matthew 2:7-8 (NIV) "Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to...
Have you picked up your new 2020 calendar? Can you believe it? 2020! Our favorite venders have calendars waiting for us to pick up. In our home we have calendars all over the place - on the kitchen refrigerator, in the car, in the office. Calendars give us useful information. Mostly however, we really like the pictures. Nevertheless, one calendar on the refrigerator is the "Advent" calendar. Our family tradition is to read the passage of scripture which lies behind a little door for each of the...
The aim of all gospel learning and teaching is to deepen our conversion and help us become more like Jesus Christ. For this reason, when we study the gospel, we’re not just looking for new information; we want to become a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means relying on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to help us change our hearts, our views, our actions and our very natures. But the kind of gospel learning that strengthens our faith and leads to the miracle of conversion doesn’t happen all at once. It extends beyond a classro...
In the past, God has always provided the subject well in advance when I write an article for the Pathfinder. This time He waited until it was nearly due and it came in the form of an email from an old friend. In my US Air Force days I was stationed in Japan for about three years in the early 1970s at which time I attended the base chapel and taught adult Bible classes. My wife and I became close friends with another couple by the name of Tom and Cathy. I have maintained occasional contact with them over the years and it was from Tom that I rece...
It was August, 1993 in Chesapeake, Va., when we heard the tornado warning. My husband immediately yelled, “Get into the closets!” Soon I heard the deafening roar of the proverbial ‘freight-train.’ Terrified, I thought, ‘This can’t be happening!’ “Something” made me, I mean made me, cry out loudly, “HAIL, MARY, FULL OF GRACE!” Then all was calm. We looked outside to behold a bizarre sight. There were six huge pine trees twisted off about 20 feet up but just a few shingles sheared off the ridge of our two-story home. Sadly, other families suffer...
We don’t read the word of Elohim like any ordinary book but rather to look into the mirror – the esteem of Yahuwh. Its transforming power of authority is enough to change your life to set apartness. 1 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now Yeshuah is the Spirit and where the Spirit of Yeshuah is there is freedom. And we all, as with unveiled face we see as in a mirror the esteem of Yeshuah, are being transformed into the same likeness from esteem to esteem as from Yeshuah the Spirit.” We don’t have to agree with Ha Satan and be defeated by behavior...
What is the difference between something being conditional versus unconditional? How much can such a difference actually affect our lives? One example from modern history is WWII Japan. While the ferocity of Japanese soldiers had been seen from the outset, this became markedly more so as American forces reached homeland soil; specifically Okinawa and Iwo Jima. The bloodiness of battles there were such that even today terms kamikaze, seppuku, and banzai are familiar. Yet it can be argued that it was this very same fantacism that, in part, shaped...
One of the amazing and wonderful things about Scripture is the way that it comes alive to impact our lives in different ways and at different times. We have been reading through 2 Chronicles together lately as a family, and came to chapter 21. I don’t know how many times I have read 2 Chronicles 21 in my lifetime, but has probably been quite a few times. Up until a few days ago, I could not have told you what the chapter was about or who King Jehoram was. This time, however, was different, and it made an impact on me. Jehoram, as son of King J...
Billy Grahams' "Decision" magazine published parts of this many, many moons ago. On one of those timber tramps to Alaska, I was bunking near an Indian village. No logg'n camp so had to use the two washing machines in a makeshift building. The only time to find them empty was late at night. The only occupant was a tall Indian women about 30 folding her clothes and humming a hymn. She acknowledged me and I her. I dumped my bag into the washer. As it chugged along the only sound was dogs barking...
Looking back at the summer Olympics in 2016…there are so many questions about why are there so many ties in swimming? Going back several decades, there have been many instances in ties. Even in Rio, in 2016, there was a three-way tie for a silver medal. The question is…in our day and age, why isn’t there better measuring technology to avoid so many swimming ties. But the issue did not come down to the need for better timing systems…but the need for better pools. It turns out that there is a pretty big allowance for structural differe...
We are children of God. We are all different. We look different. We sound different. We act different. No two fingerprints are the same. We were created in the image of God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus the Christ. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” (Genesis 1:26). We are of the family of God. We were not all alike in heaven. We know we were sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents. We possessed different talents and abilities, and we were called to do different things on earth. We all have different cha...
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14) We’ve enjoyed a wonderful summer with a steady stream of family and friends coming through our state. Many of them put their hands and hearts to work projects at our home and throughout Montana, encouraging us along the way. In Hawaii they have a saying – “Lucky we live in Hawaii.” In Montana we should say, “Blessed we live in God’s country.” One of the topics that came up frequently with our guests throughout the summer was this – there are certain things that are simply har...
In Matthew 10:24-25 it is written, “A taught one is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the taught one to become like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!” John 14:21 it is written, “He would possess My commands and guards them it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.” I love the Scriptures, the Word of Elohim. If anyone will spend mu...
If you follow the news at all, or if you are on social media at all, you have certainly seen some nasty treatment of and language toward those who hold differing views from one another. This is certainly evident in political discussions between left and right. It is also evident in church matters, family matters, local government matters, even, (dare I mention it?) sewer district matters. Sometimes I think it is worse than it used to be, and continuing to get worse, but then I also recall that our nation went to war and killed each other on...
I heard recently, by way of the backwoods telegraph, that some LDS Church members wanted to get away from the name Mormon. Possibly they thought it left some stigma on the church out of their past. Name me one person besides Christ that wouldn’t like to forget something out of their past? Or perhaps they see some need for revival. The body of Christ, regardless of denomination, is in great need of revival. Jesus said to the church in Lacodicea who scholars say is the end times church, “you are lukewarm,” be earnest and repent! Anyway, enter...
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Many of us do not know who we are if we aren’t opposing something or someone. There’s such great energy underlying angst and rage, such momentum in the desire for retribution, in the urge to assert one’s agenda. How long, O Lord, how long? How long will we continue to do battle from the security of our ideological fortifications? We feel so safe behind walls built of ego and fear. We...
Concerts are a major industry and there are countless stories of music artists that list out lavish demands that concert promoters are required to take care of before the rock star will agree to come. One of the most notorious requirements came from the rock band Van Halen. Each of Van Halen’s contracts insisted that a bowl of M&M’s be provided backstage. However, every single brown M&M needed to be removed from the bowl. If the band arrived and saw that the bowl had any brown M&M’s in it, then they were free to cancel the concert and recei...
I love this beautiful world God has created for us to live in! Even with all the chaos going on around us, I thank Him for the privilege of living here; for the opportunity of learning the things I need to know and do; and for His gospel that strengthens me spiritually and helps me endure through this life. Every day God blesses us in ways we may never know. So what can we do to show our love and gratitude to God and his son, our Savior, Jesus Christ? In John 21:15-17 Jesus, talking to his disciples, asks Peter to “feed my sheep.” Who are his...
Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” This verse is part of a passage describing the new life that a Christ follower should exhibit. There should be a lying aside of the old self and putting on of the new self which is to be the likeness of God. That last part is a tall standard to live up to and one we fall short of. Fortunately, that is something that should result from our salvation rather than something that will earn it for us. However, we sho...
“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” Mark 10:18 We all want to think of ourselves as good and moral people. But are we? To answer that means we have to define what “good” really means, but more importantly, who defines it. It can be argued that last part breaks down into three main sources, myself, society and God, all of which are often intertwined to varying degrees. The first one is easy...no explanation needed, including the tacit dangers thereof. “Society” is far more complex and far too much to g...
