Another re-post from Pastor Jeff at the anti-itch…

In 1 Samuel 21, David is running from Saul and goes to the temple to talk with the priest, get some food, and a weapon. While there, a guy named Doeg sees him.

It says that Doeg is there because he is “detained before the Lord.” The word “detained” means to be restrained or stopped. God was keeping him there.

In the next chapter, Doeg rats out David and eventually is the only man willing to kill all God’s priests. He’s a real dork. Two things to note about Doeg the Dork:

1) He was at the temple! Presumably he went there to worship God! Just showing up to the building where worship takes place does not mean anything about the state of your soul.

2) God kept him there! God knew there was a plan for Doeg’s life, a bad plan, but a plan nonetheless. God keeps him there so all the priests would be killed.

Man can make a mockery of worship, but God’s plans are not mocked. There is a reason for everything.

Why are you showing up at your church? Are you there to truly worship or are you just playing a game? God will use it, one way or the other, but pray He won’t use you the way He used Doeg.

via anti-itch meditation

A cicada sheds his old skin, sporting a new mode of transportation.

Man, I wish I had a macro lens.

… Jesus is late, in case you weren’t already aware.

Earlier this week I received an e-mail from our local library. The contents of the e-mail are as follows:

“Courtesy reminder –
The following items are due soon                           Due Date
———
The original adventures of Hank                        07/20/2010
Jesus                                                                               07/20/2010

So, for your information, according to the Rhinelander District Library, Jesus is now officially overdue. I thought you’d like to know.

via anti-itch meditation

After leaving the cabin in Stevensville, Karen and I traveled south on US-93 and then west on MT-43 to Big Hole National Battlefield. Big Hole is one of several battles that took place during the Nez Perce war of 1877. We got to the park just in time to see the tipi raising program.

A temporary visitor center is setup at Big Hole because the permanent one is being renovated. Most of the artifacts are setup in a garage, and it’s a little cramped, but still very informative.

The sign next to the painting reads:

Shortly before midday on August 9, 1877, this mountain howitzer was brought into action on the hillside overlooking the battlefield. The gun crew was able to fire the cannon twice before being overrun by Nez Perce men. To this day, the Nez Perce sing of the bravery of these men in a song called, “The Duck and Dive”.

There are many pictures, like these, along the walls of the garage at the temporary visitor center. I thought these were the most interesting. From left to right, the first three plaques read:

Chief Joseph (Hin-Mut-Too-Yah-Lat-Kekht)
Chief Joseph was a respected counselor and a treaty chief for the Wallowa Band of Nez Perce, not a war chief. By October 5, 1877, he was one of the few surviving leaders. After a five day siege near the Bear Paw mountains, he met with Colonel Miles and agreed to quit fighting. He continued to work for the rights of the non-treaty Nez Perce, first from Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and then from the Colville Reservation in eastern Washington. He died in 1904 at the age of 64, and is buried at Nespelem, Washington.

General Oliver O. Howard, Commander of the Nez Perce Campaign of 1877
The Nez Perce called General Howard “General Day-After-Tomorrow” because he always seemed to be a day and a half behind his enemy. He and his troops pursued the non-treaty Nez Perce across Idaho and Montana to the final battle near the Bear Paw mountains. Later, Howard became an avid campaigner for the rights of the non-treaty Nez Perce.

Chief Yellow Bull (Chuslum Mox-Mox)
Chief Yellow Bull was a Nez Perce warrior and sub-chief of the White Bird Band. His son, a young warrior named Sarpsis Ilp-Ilp, was killed in the Siege area. In 1879, Yellow Bull and Chief Joseph spoke before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. on behalf of the non-treaty Nez Perce.

There’s a lot more to see and do at Big Hole, including hiking, which we didn’t do because of my knee problems, but it’s one of the places we would like to visit again the next time we’re out west.

From a Minnesota rest stop on the way home from Montana. Stitched from a half dozen or so images.

Words fail me. Click on the image to view the original size.

Some photos from our recent trip to Montana. Karen got some pretty amazing shots too.

One of the things I wanted to do while driving out to Montana was meet Matt Green. He’s walking from Rockaway Beach, NY to Rockaway Beach, OR. I knew, from the map on his site, that he’d be near the ND/MT border. Yes, stalking, I know, but how many people can say they met a guy walking from New York to Oregon?

I exited I-94 near Sentinel Butte, ND, since I knew he had stopped there the night before. Google indicates there are three options for walking from Sentinel Butte to Wibaux, MT (I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have already passed through Wibaux, given that it was barely past noon). I drove the 34th St route, because Google says that’s the quickest, until I got to Wibaux. No sign of Matt. I stopped in Wibaux for a few minutes, trying to pull up his site on my iPhone, with no luck. The cellular connection was too slow. Then I noticed an I-94 rest stop right around the corner that has free wireless access. I zipped over there, got on the wi-fi and saw that he had crossed into MT within the last hour or two. Just then I glanced to the south and what to my wondering eyes should appear? There he is! (Literally, I almost pointed and said that out loud as I gasped and made a mad dash back to the car).

I pulled up next to him and said “Hey Matt, how’s it goin’?” He gave me an odd look, like, “do I know you?” I mentioned how I’ve been following his journey for a couple of months. He asked if I was from around there. “No, I’m from Illinois”. He gave me another strange look. I explained how I was on vacation and, no, I didn’t drive all the way to Montana just to meet him. So we exchanged pleasantries and he went on his way and I went on my way. Pretty neat.

At the same exit as Menoken Indian Village is a sign for McDowell Dam and Nature Park. Believe it or not, it was less thrilling than Menoken. And it was 20 minutes off of the highway. And I didn’t actually see a dam. You can see 360 degree pans of everything at the park by visiting http://www.realnd.com/mcdowelldamindex.htm.

Maybe you can see the dam from somewhere along this three mile path that I don’t have time to walk because I spent 20 minutes driving to this stupid place.

On my way to Montana, about six hours into day two, I decided to stop somewhere and stretch my legs. I saw a sign for Menoken Indian Village State Historic Site. Perfect!

Directions, from Chicago:
1. Drive west on I-94 for about 14 hours.
2. Take exit 170 in North Dakota and make an immediate right onto an unnamed dirt road.
3. Drive up and down this unnamed dirt road until you realize you need to turn onto another unnamed dirt road.

That’s it! You made it!

Now that I’ve given you directions, I’ll save you the trouble of actually visiting the site. Click the thumbnails to enlarge so you can read all about these early hunter-gatherers.

The view from our cabin in Montana, a few minutes before a storm rolled in off the Sapphire Mountains.