Solid Rock Climbers for Christ honor a brother

http://www.srcfc.org/

About two dozen members of the national Solid Rock Climbers for Christ organization spent Easter weekend in Anacortes as they honored the late Dallas Kloke, an experienced climber killed in a climbing accident last year. One element of the memorial/trail work event was presentation of a piece written by Kloke in 2007. That text follows:

"Being a Christian is a risk. Being a rock climber or mountaineer is a risk. I want to compare and contrast these two; both are part of my life.

The goal of a climber is to reach the summit of a mountain or the top of a wall or route. Some will choose the more difficult and dangerous way to reach their goal. The climber depends upon his knowledge, experience, ability and equipment to reach his objective. Eventually, the climber is dependent upon a partner(s) to help achieve his objective. Eventually, the climber has to come down and return to civilization.

The Christian's goal is Heaven. In Heaven is God, the Creator of the universe. Heaven is a place for the person who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. You can't just do good works to get there. It really doesn't depend upon other people. It depends on your relationship with Christ. Heaven is for all eternity.

The climber usually has a book to guide him. There are guidebooks for almost every area and type of climbing. The guides are written by a person who has climbed there extensively and has lots of knowledge of the area. The guidebook provides the climber with lots of information including: how to get there, approaches to the peak or routes, difficulty of the climb, gear to take, dangers, and other important information. However, guidebooks will warn the climber that they shouldn't take everything in the guide as absolute fact or truth. Also, climbing conditions change and humans are prone to errors.

For the Christian, their guidebook is the Bible: God's inspired Word. The Word of God tells us how we shall live. It tells us how to walk in the LIGHT and not in the darkness. It tells us what is right and what is wrong. It tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Bible has many examples of what sin is, as well as what love, faith, trust and hope is. The Word does not change with time.

The climber will face difficulty and danger. He must protect himself in this world of rock, snow and ice. The climber will depend opon himself as well as his partner(s), his knowledge and experience as well as the equipment he takes with him. The main piece of gear for safety through all of climbing history is the rope. The rope is the safety line that connects partners together. If the leader falls, his partner, the belayer will stop his fall. The climber also carries many other devices to protect him in case of a fall. In the end, the climber depends upon himself, partners and equipment for his safety.

How does the Christian face difficulties and protect him or her from the dangers of the world? The Christian is just the opposite of the climber: he or she must depend upon God and His Son, Jesus Christ. People, even partners as well as family and friends, will let you down. Equipment will fail. The material things of this world will not satisfy one, whether it be wealth, power, being famous or any physical pleasure. Since you are a fallible human, you will often fail. For the Christian, his safety line is prayer. 'Safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of Christ.'

For some climbers, climbing is their life. It becomes their god. Nothing else seems to be as important. They continually need new routes, new mountains, more challenges, to keep them satisfied. However, climbing does not satisfy the emptiness they truly feel inside their hearts and souls. Whatever first ascents or new routes they established, or the number of climbs they have made, or the difficulty level they've attained, in the end it will not satisfy. As Ecclesiastes 2:11 states: '...all was vanity and a chase after the wind, with nothing gained under the sun.'

As a Christian, I realize I must keep climbing in the right perspective in relation to my faith, my family, my friends and other important aspects of my life. Climbing does have risk. One can be injured seriously or killed.

To walk the long, narrow road of a Christian is a risk. There is a risk of being ridiculed, ostracized and in some places of the world jailed or killed. However, the payoff for this risk is all eternity with God."

Modern martyr

Just over a week ago, the sole Christian member of the Pakistani cabinet literally gave his life for Jesus Christ. Shahbaz Bhatti, 42, was assassinated by Muslim extremists outside his mother's home. Pamphlets by al-Qaeda and a branch of the Taliban were found at the scene, claiming that anyone who blasphemes Muhammad must die. Bhatti's declaration that Christ is the son of God apparently sealed his fate with members of the Taliban branch active in Pakistan. Christian martyrdom is not a thing of the past. Each day, attacks occur against Christians around the world.

When a brother prayed a prayer of thanks the other morning at a Bible study, I recall the realization that the American freedom to worship ... and witness to others ... is a precious gift. I give thanks for the knowledge that God, who desires relationship with all, welcomes all believers who pass from this life into life eternal with Him. I give thanks for the powerful witness of courageous believers like Mr. Bhatti ... now called to heaven ... and for the fact that the Father provides comfort and hope to the loved ones of those who are martyred in His name.

Philippians 3:12-14a
"I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize ... I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven."

Philippians 1:21

"For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain."

Christ's "coronation hymn"

This hymn, titled "The Coronation Hymn of Christ," was written by the Rev. Edward Perronet in 1779, to a tune composed by a carpenter by the name of Oliver Holden. Perronet wrote many hymns, but according to author William Lee Hunton ("Favorite Hymns" 1917), "... he wrote only one really great hymn. That hymn was enough; the man did not live in vain who taught Christ's Church her grandest coronation hymn in honor of her King."

All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,

Ye ransomed from the fall,

Hail Him who saves you by His grace,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David's line,

Whom David Lord did call;

The God incarnate, Man divine;

And crown Him Lord of all.

Ye Gentile sinners, ne'er forget

The wormwood and the gall;

Go, spread your trophies at His feet,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Let every kindred, every tribe,

On this terrestrial ball,

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Oh, that with yonder sacred throng

We at His feet may fall;

We'll join the everlasting song,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3

Pilate (the governor) questioned him, and asked, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' And He answered him, 'It is as you say'."

Christ in the Passover

Rich Robinson, a Senior Researcher with Jews for Jesus in San Francisco, visited Anacortes Wednesday, March 31 to worship and preside over a presentation titled "Christ in the Passover." Robinson was co-hosted by Anacortes Christian Church (ACC) and the Bridge Christian Fellowship.
Robinson told his audience of about 150 that he grew up in a Reform Jewish home in Brooklyn, New York. As a student at Syracuse University he came to faith in Jesus as the Messiah in 1973. He went on for the M.Div. (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1978) and the Ph.D. in Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics (Westminster Theological Seminary, 1993).
Robinson has been a missionary at several of the Jews for Jesus branches, has traveled with The Liberated Wailing Wall music team as pianist and songwriter, and was integrally involved with the Jews for Jesus website team for a number of years.

Notes from a young child of God

Today as I was sorting through documents on my computer God directed me to one titled: "The Greatest Lie Ever Told." I opened it out of curiosity, only to discover a gem written almost 10 years ago by my daughter, now 28.
Much of the writing focused on the enemy's lies, beginning with the question he whispers: "Does Satan really exist?"
She wrote about our natural inclination to seek after things that are pleasing to us, impressive to others. There were words about "idols," and "chasing after the wind."
This morning I will share just one section of the writing, inspired by the Holy Spirit in a season when He was revealing great gifts, sharing great insights with a cherished daughter of God just learning to bask in the wonder of that reality:

"My question is: "Is your cup overflowing? Is it running over with the love of Christ, so that others might see His love pouring out from your soul? Is there a burning fire of Christ that consumes all death and doubt and restores you to a new life? Do you have that hope, that desire to love and be loved with the kind of love only Christ Jesus can provide?"
"Only you can make the choice," she continued. "Only you can take responsibility for your relationship with Christ. When judgment day comes, it is between you and God. Only you can take responsibility for the relationship you have had with God -- your actions, your choices, your openness to being the Child of God He created you to be. Take the responsibility to open the word daily and let Him fill you overflowing, and in turn share that love with others.
"Don’t let the things of this world choke your relationship with the One and Only true love we’ll ever have, and that is God. Pull out the worldly weeds such as gossip, slander, filth, hatred, and discord. Instead, fill yourself with the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control."

Wise words delivered by God through a young woman stepping boldly onto the path He has chosen for her.
1 Peter 2:2
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."