Coming to the Still Waters

  This is Baker Mountain in the Rocky Mountain National Park and we were on the Coyote Trail.  The mountains are so large that you get a view of them around every bend of the trail.  The bonus is that you are walking along the banks of the Colorado River.   The Sowma's joined us for the week and Memorial Day weekend and took in the park and also the town.  We hope to host many who come this way.  It was great to have them see the ministry first hand at SCC.  We will need to stock up on canned air! Satan's tactics are predictable.  They are an appeal to the flesh, an appeal to the eyes, and/or an appeal to your pride.  He waits for a vulnerable moment and then shows you something comfortable, or something that puts you in control, or something that makes you compromise.  Eve saw the fruit was good to eat (physical comfort) and it was desirable to the eyes (compromised path) and Satan said with would make her wise (power control)....

  Signs are important.  They are usually placed in strategic places to warn or inform us ahead of time of what is coming up.  This one is on the way up to the Adam's Falls in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  This one is a warning and prepares us to be very alert of our surroundings.  Others are informative like what attraction is ahead that you have been anticipating or the distance it will take to get there. In our passage, Jesus makes a journey from Galilee to the Jordan to have an encounter with John the Baptist.  The Messiah is making His way to the Messenger.  You can sense this is a purposeful trip.  Jesus will find John the Baptist baptizing many in the Jordan River as they are coming confessing their sins.  They are turning from their sin and following after God.  They are heeding the sign of John the Baptist which reads, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"   Interpreting the sign, "Turn because He is here!" Je...

  If I just painted it purple.  This boulder sets between the church and our living quarters.  I should have had Stephanie stand in front of it to give perspective of how big it is and it is relatively small compared to others in these parts.   "If a Messiah Matthew, then where is the Messenger" might have been the response of Matthew's Jewish audience to his claim to give the official record of Jesus as the actual Christ, the Anointed One of God.  Matthew introduces us to John the Baptist, not as Luke does as a baby but as a 30 year old man coming out of the wilderness.  He is dressed like Elijah is described in the Old Testament.  Some of God's last words to the Israelites through the prophet Malachi was that a Messenger was going to come before the Messiah and he would be in the spirit of Elijah.  So Matthew starts here. An apology for the video from this Sunday.  It seems the stream didn't start until just 8 minutes from the end....

  This is Adam's Falls in Grand Lake, Colorado.  It is a beautiful hike up and back. There were many visitors today.  It was hard to get a shot without someone in it. Here is an overlook of the mountains and Grand Lake. And those pesky signs!  I think Stephanie's new phrase is, "Shouldn't there be a guardrail there?"   I also saw a moose in town today! A little late getting this out but it has been a busy week with a trip to Denver and back to deposit Stephanie at the airport for a Florida run.   Matthew is adding to his description of the Messiah.  His name is Jesus which means "the God who saves."   He will be called Emmanuel which means "God with us."   He will also be called by the prophet(s) a Nazarene which carried with it "a despised position or reputation."   Putting it all together, "The God who saves is with us and is despised."   With the introduction of John the Baptist this week, Matthew will keep painting the p...