Pilgrims' Pathway Newsletter
March/April 2000
Contents:
The Bridge Keeper
The Housewife
When Our Hearts Are Lifted Up
Anywhere, Dear Lord!
Creation Nugget
Spotlight In History
Perseverance
Recipes
Parting Verses
Note from the editor...
Hello there! Welcome to
another issue of Pilgrims’ Pathway! I pray that this newsletter may
be a blessing to you all and encourage you down the “road to glory”.
It is a long road, but with Jesus leading us it can be a very sweet one.
What better companion and leader can we ask for? He is so loving
toward us and perfect; He will never lead us wrong. And when we pull
away and try to lead ourselves, He is still faithful to us and will guide
us back on His path again when we repent and seek after Him. “The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in
green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores
my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
(Ps. 23:1-4)
Praise the Lord!!!
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The Bridge Keeper
There was once a bridge which
spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with
its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing
ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at
certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be
turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.
A switchman sat in a small shack
on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge
and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman
was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the
distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the trainlights.
He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed
distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into
position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work.
If the
bridge was not securely in position, it would
wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the
train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would
be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned
across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the
river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually.
He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He
could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of
the lever and leaned backward to apply his
weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to
keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man’s strength.
Then, coming across the bridge
from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his
blood run cold. “Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was
crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry
out to the child, “Run! Run!” but the train was too close; the tiny legs
would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left
his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But
he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people
on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make
his decision.
The train sped safely and swiftly
on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown
mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware
of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking
lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking
home more slowly than he had ever walked, to tell his wife how their son
had brutally died.
Now if you comprehend the emotions
which went through this man’s heart, you can begin to understand the feelings
of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between
us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth
to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel
when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done
for us through Jesus Christ?
-Author Unknown
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Book Review
Dear Levi
This is a very good book about the Oregon Trail. It
was very clean and had several good lessons in it! For ages 9 and
up! I suggest you look for it at your local library.
-Tabitha Howell
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When Our Hearts Are Lifted Up
Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17 “Beware
that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments,
His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest--when you
have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;
and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your
gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; then your heart
is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God...then you say in your heart,
‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’”
It was Moses who gave this warning
to the people. He knew what the pride of man was like and he knew
that when people are comfortable and satisfied, they tend to forget God.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened--over and over again.
God blessed the people with great abundance. They ended up turning
their backs on Him. They took credit for all they had--their wealth
made them feel powerful. That power made them feel that they could
do as they pleased. They did, and great was their fall. Proverbs
16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before
a fall.”
Many of the kings of Judah were good,
godly men, yet most of them came to a point where their hearts were lifted
up. They were strong, powerful, and had much wealth. They took
their eyes off the Father and pride took over. It’s unsettling to see
how often that happened. As much as we like our comfort and things
to go smoothly, it would be far better to loose that, than to loose our focus
on the Lord. It happens so easily and really we do it in small ways
all the time. Probably one of the most common ways we overlook the
Lord is in our decision making. We’re faced with many decisions on
a daily basis--yet how many times do we go to the Father? How many
times do we really wait on Him and expect an answer? To our shame,
probably not very often. Of course, there are many small decisions
that must be made quickly and can be based on Biblical principal,
yet the point is the same--we must rely on the
Father all the time--not just when it’s convenient or when there are problems.
Like everything else, it takes constant discipline; it takes time and it
takes keeping our guard up always.
Another thing to remember when we’re
in a comfort zone, is that all of our time, talents, abilities, and possessions
belong to the Lord. They came from Him in His goodness and mercy and
can be taken away just as quickly if He so desires. I Corinthians 4:7 basically
says “What do you have that you did not receive?...Why do you boast as if
you had not received it? And John 3:27 says, “A man can receive
nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” It’s so important
to keep watch on ourselves to keep our hearts from being lifted up.
The Bible is full of examples of those who became proud and the consequences
they suffered. Constantly remembering who God is, how great His is,
and thanking Him for all that He gives us will help us to keep a humble attitude
toward
the Lord and toward others.
“Be clothed with humility, for ‘God
resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble,’ therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting
all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1st Peter 5:5b-7
-Michelle Stace
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Creation Nugget
Opposite to godliness is atheism in profession and idolatry
in practice. Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind that it
never had many professors. Can it be by accident that all birds,
beasts, and men have their right side and left side alike shaped...; and
just two eyes, and no more, on either side of the face; and just two ears..;
and a nose with two holes...(etc.)? Whence arises this uniformity
in all their outward shapes but from the counsel and contrivance of an
Author?...Did blind chance know that there was light and what was
its refraction, and fit the eyes of all creatures after
the most curious manner to make use of it? These and suchlike considerations
always have and ever will prevail with mankind to believe that there is a
Being who made all things and has all things in His power, and who is therefore
to be feared...
We are, therefore, to acknowledge one God, infinite, eternal,
omnipresent (always everywhere), omniscient (knowing all things), omnipotent
(all powerful), the Creator of all things, most wise, most just, most good,
most holy. We must love Him, fear Him, honor Him, trust in Him, pray
to Him, give Him thanks, praise Him, hallow His name, obey His commandments,
and set times apart for His service, as we are directed in the Third and
Fourth Commandments, for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments,
and His commandments are not grievous (1 John 5:3).
-Sir Isaac Newton; from his Philosophy on Nature: Selections
from His Writings, H.S. Thayer, ed. (New York: Hafner Pub. Company,
1953).
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Perseverance
He failed in business in ‘31.
He was defeated for state legislator in ‘32.
He tried another business in ‘33, it failed.
His fiancée’ died in ‘35.
He had a nervous breakdown in ‘36.
In ‘43 he ran for congress and was defeated.
He tried again in ‘48 and was defeated.
He tried running for the Senate in ‘55, he lost.
The next year he ran for Vice President and
lost.
In ‘59 he ran for the Senate again and lost.
In 1860 the man who signed his name A. Lincoln
was elected the 16th President of the United States.
“we also glory in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and
perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Rom. 5:3,4
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The Housewife
Jesus teach me how to be
Pleased with my simplicity.
Sweep the floors, wash the clothes,
Gather for each vase a rose,
Iron and mend the tiny frock,
Taking notice of the clock,
Always having time kept free,
For childish questions asked of
me.
Grant me wisdom Mary had,
When she taught her little lad.
-Coblentz
“Train up a child in the way he
should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Prov.22:6
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Anywhere, Dear Lord!
I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord,
as long as it isn’t too far;
I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord, as
long as I can take my car.
Don’t
ask me to go to the mountain’s top, or over the stormy sea;
Adjustments
in a foreign land, would just be too much for me.
I’m sure that you can find many others,
far more qualified than I;
To send out to the distant lands; on them
you can rely.
I’ll
pray each Sunday for those who’ve gone, and I’ll give a dollar a week;
But,
Lord, don’t ask me to go abroad - a new language I could never speak.
I’ll say what you want me to say, Dear Lord,
as long as it’s not to my neighbor;
I’ll say what you want me to say, Dear Lord,
but not to those where I labor.
Don’t
ask me to witness down at the shop; I know they’d call me a square;
But
I’ll try to be extra good, and look like a Christian down there.
I’ll be what you want me to be, Dear Lord, but
don’t ask me to be a preacher;
And I’ll be faithful in Sunday School each week,
but don’t ask me to be a teacher.
I
want to be Your servant true, and do Your perfect will;
But
just don’t ask too much of me; I just cannot fill the bill.
Is this the way you serve the Lord, by word of
mouth alone?
Or can your heartfelt love for God, in your works
be shown?
When
you stand in the church and sing, “What you want me to be I’ll be,”
Be
careful to honestly consider those words, then ask, “Lord, how does this
apply to me?”
Are you willing to serve God in
whatever way and place that He calls you? Remember God
will never ask you to do something which you
are not capable of doing, but He has called ALL of
us to do His work. In John 15:16, He says,
“Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye should go and bring
forth fruit...”
-N. E. Durik
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In the “Parting Verses”
for the Jan./Feb. issue of Pilgrims’ Pathway, I noticed Psalm 37:4, “Delight
yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
Think about this verse. If you are delighting yourself in the Lord,
the desire of your heart will be the Lord. Lots of people think this
verse means that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, we will get that
new car, or a new video game, material stuff. Please think on this
verse!
-Rachel Coomer
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Spotlight in History: Robert E. Lee
Did you know that General Robert E.
Lee was against slavery and released all his slaves? This came as
a surprise to me.
Lee was born in Virginia in 1807. He worked his way
through U.S. Military School and distinguished himself as a captain in the
Mexican War. As things began to really heat up between the North and
the South over the slavery controversy, President Lincoln asked Lee to become
the commander of the Union forces. He rejected the offer, and shortly
after the war began, he made the difficult and painful decision to resign
from the U.S. Army. He afterward wrote to his sister, Anne Marshall,
who was on the Union side. Part of his letter said, “My dear sister:
...With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty
of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise
my hand against my
relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission
in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the poor hope that
my services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called to draw my
sword. I know you will blame me; but you must think as kindly of me
as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right...
May God guard and protect you and yours, and shower upon you everlasting
blessings, is the prayer of your devoted brother, R.E. Lee.”
Throughout the war, he bore no hatred toward the Union soldiers.
Lee became the chief of military and naval forces and military
advisor to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States. Lee’s
military genius was incredible and he played a very important part of the
Confederate Army. If he had had all the men and resources that the
Union had, it is probable that the South would have won the war. After
the Civil War was over, he applied for an official postwar amnesty.
It was denied.
He became the president of the Washington College (now known
as Washington and Lee College) were he worked to unify the country.
He died in 1870, just five years after the end of the war.
-Atlanta Stace, information taken from America-Land I Love, Copyright,
1994, A Beka Book Pub.; and Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia Corp., Copyrighted.
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Canceled Stamp Ministry
Naomi Durik has an interesting ministry. She sells canceled stamps
to a stamp dealer, and uses the money to support
missionaries and other such work. If you would like to help, save
up your canceled stamps, leaving 1/4
inch of paper around the edge. Send them to the following address:
Naomi Durik
Helping Hands Mission
3868 E. Armstrong Rd.
Leesburg, IN 46538
Recipes
The following are some healthy breakfast ideas that my
family and I enjoy.
Yeast Grain Pancakes
1 tsp. yeast
1 1/4 cup very warm water
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup dry milk
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
Dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk in honey, egg, vanilla, & dry milk. Mix in cornmeal, flour,
& salt. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Lightly
oil pan before starting to fry. Makes approximately 8 pancakes.
Note: these make a very convenient breakfast since the batter is made the
night before.
Oatmeal Waffles
4 cups oats
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
3 tbl. oil
1 tbl. vanilla
1/4 cup honey
4 cups water
Mix dry ingredients together and ad in remaining ingredients.
Blend half of mixture at a time thoroughly in a blender and pour into another
bowl. Lightly oil waffle maker. If using a 7” round waffle
iron, use about 3/4 cup batter per waffle.
Cook each waffle until golden brown. Makes about 7 waffles.
Note: These are dense waffles, but delicious and very healthy! I
wasn’t crazy about sesame seeds, but they make this recipe.
Apple Syrup
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tbl. lemon juice
2 tbl. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch
2 cups apple juice or cider
Mix all ingredients together in saucepan until cornstarch
is dissolved. Over medium-high heat, stir constantly until it begins
to boil. Cook for 2 minutes at a low boil. Take off heat. Store
in refrigerator. Take out several hours before serving so
it’s room-temperature. Excellent variation:
use orange juice in place of apple juice.
Blueberry Peach Syrup
1 quart canned peaches, drained
1 1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
Chop up about 1/3 of peaches. Put remaining peaches
and remaining ingredients in blender and blend smooth. Mix in chopped
peaches. Store in quart jar in refrigerator. Heat up in saucepan
on stove before serving. The consistency is more
like a jam. You can use your favorite fruits in this recipe.
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Parting Verses
Now to Him who is able to
keep you from stumbling, and to present
you faultless before the presence of His
glory with exceeding joy, to God
our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory
and majesty, dominion and
power, both now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24, 25
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