Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
-1 Peter 2:11-12 NLT
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I think if we could recover a vision of what holiness actually is, we would be absolutely captured by it. I think we would see it as not only completely desirable, but attainable as well. King David was a man who knew well his character flaws, felt the anguish of regret, spent many a tormented night wrestling with his failings. And yet, in Psalm 119, David wrote this:
“I run in the path of your commands, because you have set my heart free.”
Have you ever put those two things together—freedom of heart and the passionate pursuit of God’s commands? The two go hand in hand. Genuine holiness restores human beings; restored human beings possess genuine holiness.
-John Eldredge, The Utter Relief of Holiness
Picture Credit: NPS
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Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.
-1 Timothy 4:7-10 NLT
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| 1 | pkt | red bell pepper pesto dry mix |
| 4 | oz | cooked and dehydrated pasta |
| 2 | T | dried mushrooms, crumbled |
| 1⁄4 | c | shelf stable parmesan cheese |
| 1 | T | olive oil (1 packet) |
| 1 1⁄2 | c | water |
| 1⁄4 | c | freeze-dried mixed vegetables |
Using 1/4 of the pesto pack per meal gives good flavor without being too strong or salty. A 3 ounce can of chicken or 1/4 cup cooked and dried hamburger added to the meal gives more protein and fills a larger appetite. For a Vegan recipe, do not add the Parmesan cheese.
At home:
Split the packet of pesto mix into 4 portions, packing into tiny plastic bags. (makes 4 meals) Pack the pasta and vegetables in a quart freezer bag. Pack the cheese in a small bag and add it and the oil packet to the other bags.
In camp:
Cover the pasta and vegetables with near boiling water. Seal well and put in a cozy for 15 minutes. Open bag and if any left over water, carefully drain off most of it, leaving a Tablespoon or two behind. Add in oil, pesto mix and mix well. Top with cheese and stir again.
Courtesy of trailcooking.com
Posted in Backpacking Recipes | Tags: backpacking, food, health, hiking, outdoor cooking, pasta, recipes, vegan
Here is Soren Kierkegaard’s version of the story:
Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist-no one dared resist him. But would she love him?
She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal. (as quoted in Disappointment with God )
The king clothes himself as a beggar and renounces his throne in order to win her hand. The Incarnation, the life and the death of Jesus, answers once and for all the question, “What is God’s heart toward me?” This is why Paul says in Romans 5, “Look here, at the Cross. Here is the demonstration of God’s heart. At the point of our deepest betrayal, when we had run our farthest from him and gotten so lost in the woods we could never find our way home, God came and died to rescue us.”
-John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance, 80-81
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So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
-1 Peter 2:1-3 NLT
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Christ did not die for an idea. He died for a person, and that person is you. But there again, we have been led astray. Ask any number of people why Christ came, and you’ll receive any number of answers, but rarely the real one. “He came to bring world peace.” “He came to teach us the way of love.” “He came to die so that we might go to heaven.” “He came to bring economic justice.” On and on it goes, much of it based in a partial truth. But wouldn’t it be better to let him speak for himself ?
Jesus steps into the scene. He reaches back to a four-hundred-year-old prophecy to tell us why he’s come. He quotes from Isaiah 61:1, which goes like this:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.
The meaning of this quotation has been clouded by years of religious language and ceremonial draping. What is he saying? It has something to do with good news, with healing hearts, with setting someone free.
Christ could have chosen any one of a thousand other passages to explain his life purpose. But he did not. He chose this one; this is the heart of his mission. Everything else he says and does finds its place under this banner: “I am here to give you back your heart and set you free.” That is why the glory of God is man fully alive: it’s what he said he came to do. But of course. The opposite can’t be true. “The glory of God is man barely making it, a person hardly alive.” How can it bring God glory for his very image, his own children, to remain so badly marred, broken, captive?
-John Eldredge, Waking the Dead, 50-51
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, literature, love, mountains, nature, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
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Ingredients| 2 | c | rolled oats |
| 1⁄2 | c | melted butter |
| 1⁄2 | c | packed brown sugar |
| 1⁄4 | c | honey |
| 1 | c | raisins |
| 1 | c | dried cranberries |
| 1⁄2 | c | chopped nut of choice |
With homemade items try to eat your product within 3-4 days of baking it. Most homemade items can be frozen safely in advance (cut into individual portions, wrap, and store in large freezer bags.). Most frozen items are good for 1-2 months in a freezer.
At home:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and press into an 8 x 8-inch microwaveable glass pan. Microwave on high for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the mixture starts to turn brown. It should be soft to the touch when you take it out of the microwave. Cool, cut into squares, and wrap in plastic wrap.
Courtesy of trailcooking.com
Posted in Backpacking Recipes | Tags: backpacking, energy bars, food, health, hiking, outdoor cooking, recipes, survival, vegan
The coming of Jesus of Nazareth was like the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan. A dangerous mission, a great invasion, a daring raid into enemy territory, to save the free world, but also to save one man.
Jesus told a story like that in order to shed light on his own coming: “If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one?” (Matt. 18:12). In the midst of the great invasion, like the storming of the beaches at Normandy, God yet sets his eye on one lost soul. On you.
Historically speaking, Jesus of Nazareth was betrayed by one of his followers, handed over to the Romans by the Jewish religious leaders, and crucified. But there was a Larger Story unfolding in that death. He gave his life willingly to ransom us from the Evil One, to pay the price for our betrayal, and to prove for all time and beyond any shadow of a doubt that the heart of God is good. And that your heart matters to him, matters more than tongue can tell.
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(Col. 1:13-14)
-John Eldredge, Epic, 67-68
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: Bible, books, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, literature, love, mountains, nature, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation, survival
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