The four most important words you’ll hear this Christmas

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One ubiquitous Christmas holiday phrase is “Peace on Earth.” As the hymn above shows, that is entirely appropriate; however, we tend to assign an earthly context to it by mistake. It’s not about peace between men at all; rather, it means peace between men and God. Those four most important words I alluded to in the title are the last four in the verse above: “God and sinners reconciled.” That is the source of peace on earth.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13-14)

That peace and good will didn’t transmit from man to man; it came from God to all men. Since the fall of Adam, that peace between God and men did not exist. By giving the gift of His son, however, God was offering that peace and good will to men once again:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

There’s your peace…

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:18)

Repeatedly in the Old and New Testaments, the Bible reminds us that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:23 points out that “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We need as Savior, one whose birth we celebrate each Christmas. As the angel told Joseph:

“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20)

This was the Savior foretold by the prophets. For example:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

God’s desire is to restore that fellowship and peace, reconciling (see those four important words once again) us to Him through his Son:

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled…”

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I believe what Jesus says in the Bible: “you must be born again.” He means that in order to be forgiven and assured a place in heaven, you must put your faith and trust in Him. We can not do anything to assuage the sin that we carry in our lives; only He can.

By placing your belief and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, acknowledging that He made the only sufficient sacrifice for them on the cross, you can be saved. Only then will you be able to truly partake in that “peace on earth” that the angel of the Lord spoke of when declaring good news to those shepherds.

I love the spirit of Christmas as much as, if not more than, the next guy… but the joy, the spirit, the family time, the celebrations, the lights, the gifts… those are all simply a by-product and a shadow of the joy that God extends to each and every person through His son, the one through whom we enjoy unspeakable joy and peace each Christmas and throughout the year.

Not gonna rail on about this, but…

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Rules are made for a reason. I mentioned in a previous post that one of my rules is that I stop my photo roaming during deer (rifle) season. First, I don’t want to be one of those folks on the news who took a stray bullet through the door of my truck. Second, I don’t want to be out roaming section lines and gravel roads when there are plenty of idiots irritating landowners.

Let me clarify that previous comment: I don’t think hunters are idiots. Most of my friends hunt, and I did at one time, too. I can say with confidence that none of them are idiots. There are, however, a number of exceptional idiots whose foolishness and lack of consideration vastly outperform their number. It’s those who put landowners on edge, and the last thing they need is me poking around – even on the road – during the hunting season.

I did run into such a landowner recently. They told me I was on private property (something I work hard to avoid). I pointed out that no, I was on a section line, and was told “Well, if you keep going, you will end up on private property.” After assuring them that all I wanted to do was take a drone shot of an old farmstead, they were satisfied…but still quite leery of my presence. I took my photos and left the way I came, chastising myself for violating my rule.

Naturally I am sympathetic to Columbus’ position on the importance of rules in Zombieland. Since everything with me is a movie reference, song lyric, or meme, I pondered this on the drive back to town, thankful that I got the shot without getting shot.

Breaking my own rule

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Normally I don’t do any photo roaming during deer (rifle) season. It’s a good way to catch a stray bullet, and landowners are generally pretty edgy with all the randos out looking for a place to hunt – with or without permission. Naturally I’m sensitive to the landowners’ point of view, and one less vehicle ambling down the gravel road or section line can help enhance their calm. But today I opted to roam.

I couldn’t help but stop by this old house, because I haven’t taken a photo of it in years for no particular reason. It’s been twelve years, in fact. This photo is a prime example of why I mark all my photo spots in my handheld GPS so I can revisit them later:

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Square Butte Shed

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This structure sits along Highway 1804 north of town, and it’s got a great view. The Square Buttes sit – well, squarely – to the west across the Missouri River. I happened to come by with my sweetie at a particularly beautiful time and was able to capture this photo of the moment.

If your name is Jake, turn around

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I roamed northwestern North Dakota yesterday, and I thought it was interesting when I saw a “No Jake Brakes” sign. I almost turned around and snapped a shot for a post like this, but I was on a mission to my next photo target. That’s okay…I encountered this one several miles later.

If your name is Jake, and you’re a scofflaw, I can direct you to the location of this sign so you can walk on the wild side. Otherwise, I suppose you’re safe to proceed.

Hazy shade of morning

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On a recent photo trip I was able to camp out at the beautiful Graham’s Island State Park, which I highly recommend, and then roam the area. The first thing I spotted in the morning was this farm. You can see how hazy the skies were from all that Canadian and Pacific Northwest wildfire smoke. This was a month ago, and much of the summer has been the same.

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Cleaning the undercarriage

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This old house is one of the few remaining parts of the ghost town of Trotters, which was one of the Bucket List destinations I finally reached this summer. You aren’t likely to find this house without The Google or a drone, however. It’s visible for an instant as you head up the highway, but it’s easy to miss. I’d surveyed the area from above before heading out here, though, and assessed whether it was accessible once I got there. But there was something I hadn’t counted on.

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