The Agony of Defeat

It was the second attempt to climb Spirit Mountain.  The mountain is located in far southern Nevada.  The mountain's peak is 5600'.  

Here is the mountain viewed from the east.


Last April we attempted to climb from the east; after 6 hours of climbing and still hours from the peak, we turned back because of limited daylight.  This time the plan was to start at first light.  We chose the approach from the southwest.  We were starting at 3700' elevation compared to 2500'  the previous attempt.  And without the 2 mile hike across the flats to where the ascent would begin, we were confident of making the peak by noon. 

Well, we again were turned back.  There is no trail up the mountain.  The mountain has many canyons  and sheer rock faces.  This photo may give you an idea, as we hugged the side of the mountain attempting to find a way up.   We were at 4800' at this point, and came to a dead end at the spacing between the rocks in this picture.

(sorry about the shadows)

So it was 9:30, and we realized that there are two separate peaks, and we were on the wrong mountain.  You can't see this from the ground, nor do the satellite images show this.  So a few more pics and down the mountain we descend.


The area is rather remote and rugged. Thankfully temps were on the cooler side, 55°-65°, so no worry about snakes.

The view from the higher elevations overlooks Lake Mohave and the Colorado River.


The next plan is to try the approach from the southeast.  Will we make it next time?

Stay tuned...

It passed

The senate has passed the hate crime bill, the house had done so earlier this month.  It is expected to be signed into law by Mr. Obama.

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news

Your first amendment  rights will then be severely hindered.  Yes, change was promised and change is being delivered. 

But this is a matter of not believing what God said about change.

Romans 1
22   Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23   And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24   Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25   Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26   For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27   And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28   And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Did you see the three references to change in those passages.  The sodomites are all about change.
The Lord said In Prov 24:21,
21   My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:

America this passage is for you - (found in Daniel 5)
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

Waste Howling Wilderness

It is prime time to ride the bicycle in our part of the world.  The desert is cooling down, temps in the higher elevations of the desert are in the 60's and 70's.  And the terrain in our area is certainly wilderness.

Deut 32
9   For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10   He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness;

I have thought about that verse while riding in some very remote wilderness locations in this area.

The wilderness is a very dangerous place if you are not prepared to go in there.  Yet the Lord was willing to venture out into the wilderness to find Jacob the text says. 

This world is a wilderness of sin.  Dangerous, dry, and destructive.

In the wilderness there are the serpents hissing, a lack of water, but also according to the Bible, a Baptist calling out to men to repent.

Isaiah 40
3   The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Matthew 3
1   In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2   And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3   For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

For those with a repentant heart, the gospel message rings out, "Christ died for us".
Are you still wandering in the wilderness of sin, or have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour?