Ride the River: The Candidates

 The Candidates

When you Ride the River, a relationship with God the Father, with Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit can be clearly established, maintained, and deepened. What is missing or deficient can be made up.

Lewis and Clark had no lack of candidates for the Voyage of Discovery. According to Stephen Ambrose, a sense of sheer excitement spread through the country west of the Allegheny Mountains when the news of the expedition became known: “what young frontiersman could resist such an opportunity? It was the ultimate adventure.”

Before the two captains met in the Indiana territory, each of them began to interview candidates for the expedition, subject to the approval of the other. At one point Clark wrote Lewis that several “gentlemen sons” had applied to him. He declined to accept them; they were not prepared for the discipline that the journey would require. Lewis wrote back, “I am well pleased that you have not admitted or encouraged the young gentleman you mentioned. We must set our faces against all such applications.” This was no expedition for dabblers thinking to add a touch of adventure to their lives.

The men chosen for the Voyage of Discovery came with a variety of talents and skills, but they had one thing in common: they were ready to follow Lewis and Clark into an unexplored wilderness.

The call to become a Christian has never changed, it is the same today as it was when Jesus walked the roads of Galilee. To any who would become his disciples, he says “Follow me.”

 

Luke 9:23-27 FNV

“If you want to walk the road with me, each day you must also be ready to give up your own life and carry your own crossbeam with me to the place of ultimate sacrifice. The ones who hold on to their lives will lose them, but the ones who are willing to lay down their lives for me and my message will live. How will it help you to get everything you want but lose what it means to be who Creator made you to be? Is there anything in this world worth trading for that?

If anyone is ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the True Human Being will be ashamed of them when he comes in his bright-shining greatness to be honored by the Father above and all of his Holy Spirit-messengers.

I speak from my heart, there are some of you standing here with me today who, before you cross over to death, will see Creator’s could road.”

Riding the River is Hard Work!

Riding the River is Hard Work!

Riding the River requires discipline, courage, and persistence. It is no accident that the Bible speaks often of the need for endurance. The temptation is always at hand to stop, build a cabin by the Riverside, and settle down, rather than follow the river to its headwaters.

How do we overcome this temptation? More than anything, it depends on the presence and leadership of our divine Captains. Our own resolve and good intentions might get us part way up the river. For the expedition to fully succeed, the captains must be in charge.

As Christians today, we need to be on guard that the forceful experience of the early church does not shrivel into a historical memory or a lifeless system of intellectual beliefs. That would be like members of the Corps of Discovery Heading upriver with nothing more than anecdotes and lecture notes from Lewis and Clark. In the day-to-day business of riding the river their captains would be a memory rather than a presence.

 Ephesians 3:11-13, 16-17 FNV

This good story gives full meaning to the ancient purpose he planned before he created all things. This purpose has now been made clear through the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus). Our trust in him opens the way and gives a strong heart to move close to the Great Spirit. So do not become weak of heart when you hear about how much I am suffering for you, which is proof of your great worth.

My prayer for you is that from the great treasures of his beauty, Creator will gift you with the Spirit’s mighty power and strengthen you in your inner being. In this way, the Chosen One will make his home in your heart.

 

"We Proceeded On..."

 

 “We proceeded on.”

Before Lewis and Clark launched their expedition, there had been considerable talk about exploring the Louisiana territory and even a few attempts, but none successful. Lewis and Clark turned talk and speculation into a victorious experience. Their expedition replaced the “pipedream” of a northwest passage with firsthand knowledge of the vast new territory that had been added to the United States.

For the 4 months (after leaving Fort Mandan, near the current location of Bismarck, North Dakota) the Corps of Discovery traveled through country of breathtaking beauty, teeming with game. Lewis wrote, “the country on both sides of the Missouri continues to be open, level, fertile, and beautiful as far as the eye can reach.” They encountered herds of buffalo numbering in the tens of thousands. They had some encounters, and a few close scrapes with grizzly bears. They managed an exhausting portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri.

In much of contemporary Christianity the focus is locked in on people and their needs. Churches are encouraged to be user-friendly; “Tell us your needs. Bring us your problems. Let us show you how God can bless you.”

Having one’s immediate needs taken care of, however, is not the primary focus of Christian discipleship. Jesus said, “To walk the road with me,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to his followers, “you must turn away from your own path, and always be ready to carry your cross with me to the place of ultimate sacrifice.” (Matthew 16:24 FNV) when Jesus took up his cross, he followed his Father’s will, unto death.

Under the leadership of Lewis and Clark, personal needs and concerns never detracted from the primary focus of the expedition, which was to complete the journey assigned by President Jefferson. In the summer of 1805, Clark wrote, “All appear perfectly to have made up their minds to succeed in the expedition or parish in the attempt. We all believe that we are about to enter on the most perilous and difficult part of our voyage, yet I see no one repainting; all appear ready to meet those difficulties which await us with resolution and admirable fortitude.”

Similarly, you are to discover – and to follow with determination – the plan that God has set out for your life: to become the person he has created you to become and to do what he calls you to do personal needs and problems find their place in relation to this central purpose.

One remarkable phrase, recurring over and over in the Lewis and Clark journals, tells perhaps as well as anything why the voyage of discovery succeeded: “We proceeded on.”

 

The Message of the Good Road: Mark 1:14-15 FNV

Then later, after Gift of Goodwill (John) was arrested, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) traveled to the territory of the Circle of Nations (Galilee) to tell the good story.

“The time has now come!” He said to the people. “Creators could road is right in front of you. It is time to return to the right ways of thinking and doing! Put your trust in this good story I am bringing to you.”

The Plan; Our Life Journey

The Plan; Our Life Journey

In our life journey, the unexplored wilderness of Western America in the early 19^th century represents the undiscovered possibilities that lie before us in life. With the Louisiana Purchase, at least on paper half of the West belonged officially to the United States, though no one knew for sure exactly what President Jefferson had bought.

In our life journey, the Louisiana Purchase represents the life of an individual person and God’s claim upon that life. Jefferson named Meriwether Lewis, together with another experienced military officer, William Clark, to head up an exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.

In our life journey, Jefferson, Lewis, and Clark represent divine leadership: the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ the son, and the Holy Spirit. The commission of President Jefferson represents life plan that God has for each person. Each one of us has a particular River to Ride.

In our life journey, the experiences dangers, and adventures that the Corps of Discovery encountered along the way represents challenges, difficulties, opportunities, decisions, joys, and sorrows that we meet along the river of God’s will for our life. The Indians that they met represent people or situations we encounter that play a role in God’s plan for our life. Sacagawea and Charbonneau, like fellow members of the Corps of Discovery represent people to whom we are more closely drawn who share significantly in our life journey.

 

Matthew 10:5-13 FNV

Instructing His Message Bearers

Before Creator sets free (Jesus) sent out his twelve message bearers to represent him, he gave them these instructions:

“It is not the time to go to the outside nations or to the villages of the people of the high place (Samaria). Instead go to your own people-the lost sheep of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).

“This is what I want you to say to them: Creators’ good road from above is close. Reach out and take hold of it! Heal all who are sick, cleanse the ones with skin diseases, raise the dead, and force evil spirit out of people. Give away the things I have given to you and ask no price for your service. Take no trading goods with you or coins for your money pouches. Take no traveling bundle, moccasins, or extra clothes to wear, not even a walking stick, because the ones who work hard and the harvest fields deserved to be fed and cared for.”

“Whenever you enter a camp or village, find an honorable person who will give you lodging. When you come to their dwelling, greet the family with respect. If they are people of honor, your greeting of peace will rest on them.”

Ride the River, Day Two - The Plan

God has a specific plan for your life journey.

A Voyage of Discovery

The Christian life, from beginning to end, is a voyage of discovery.

        The destination is known: the Bible calls it the kingdom of heaven, or eternal life;

        The route is certain: it is the “River of God’s will,” a life plan that God has for you;

        The way is not yet charted: every day you push forward into the unexplored territory of God’s plan for   your life.

Every person has a river to ride the basic direction is clear at the onset. God has laid out a plan for your life, a river that you are to follow. You are like a person who was signed on with the Corps of Discovery. As I said yesterday, “You are to Ride the River.”

FNV Matthew 19:23-26

“I speak from my heart,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then said to his followers, “finding the way onto the good road from above is a hard thing for the ones who have many possessions. It would be easier for a moose to squeeze through the eye of a beading needle.”

His followers could not believe what they were hearing. “How then can anyone find and walk the good road?” they asked.

Creator Sets Free set his eyes firmly on them and said, “With two-leggeds this is impossible, but all things are possible with the help of the Great Spirit. Nothing is impossible for him.”

30 Days on the Trail: Readings from "Ride the River" and the "First Nations Version" for the Adventurous Christian

 

 

For the next month, until the end of August, I will be posting quotes and suggested readings from Pastor Larry Christenson's "Ride the River" and the "First Nations Version (FNV) An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament," starting with the quote found below. The FNV can be found on Audible, Kindle, and purchased on Amazon. I am communicating with Baker Book House, successor to Bethany Book House which published "Ride the River" in hopes of getting it on Kindle as well. Welcome aboard the keelboat Discovery, as we Ride the River together into uncharted territory.