Inside Out

The Path lies ahead...

John Bunyan, not to be confused with Paul Bunyan and his big OX, pastored a church for a number of years and one day he was arrested for preaching. It turns out that he had failed to get a license to preach. It kind of makes the justice system there seem a little harsh. but to their credit...

They tried to let him go, all he had to do was promise to stop preaching, but he refused.

They let him preach in the prison - and they let him go home once in a while. They even let him travel once.

While he was in prison (13 years) he wrote nine books, including his most famous book, Pilgrim’s Progress.

(Seeking the City, J. Gurr Reed.

Since it was first published in 1654, Pilgrim’s Progress has been translated into more than 200 languages and it has never been out of print. This book about the adventures of the Pilgrim named Christian as he journeys to the Celestial City, has sold over 150 million copies.

I’m glad, I can picture Christian’s journey. He has so much to learn, and his journey becomes his classroom.

Pray

The book was a hit! In fact, “Samuel Taylor Coleridge [an expert in literature back in the early 1800s] called it, ‘the best [of the Evangelical Theology books] ever produced by a writer not miraculously inspired.”

Galli, M., & Olsen, T. (2000). Introduction. In 131 Christians everyone should know (p. 117). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Galli, M., & Olsen, T. (2000). Introduction. In 131 Christians everyone should know (p. 117). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

How did Coleridge know it wasn’t miraculously inspired? I think a book about a Christian’s journey to see God, one that has sold over 150 million copies, well I am sure that God inspired it. Miraculously.

In fact, I believe God still inspires - miraculously. Through the power of the Holy Spirit

Begin ‘Journey’

When i was growing up, my family traveled many times to go camping in Kings Canyon—any of you know where that is? it is located in the California Sierras, just south of Yosemite. It has much of the same beauty as Yosemite, without all the crowds.

When my husband and I were young officers we were introduced to it again, by a fishing buddy. We used to take our kids up there just like my parents took me. Back then we spent a week or two there every summer. Then we weren’t able to go as often - but when we served in California, we would still go there, even after the kids grew up. In fact, we spent a week there just two summers ago.

A couple of summers before that, my husband and I spent two weeks up there. Without kids or dogs, we were able to check out some places we hadn’t checked out before, like “Big Stump”. Big Stump was a huge sequoia stump. It was big enough to camp on. Sequoias are giant trees, and their stumps can be 15-20 feet across.

One day we drove down and checked out “Big Stump”, which was a big sequoia stump. It was big enough to camp on. Sequoias are giant trees.

After checking out the stump, while walking back to the parking lot we spied a trail head signpost. We decided to check it out. The sign said the trail was only a half mile. So off we went, on a little adventure.

This was new to us. My husband and I weren’t into hiking, but a half mile would only take a few more minutes, besides, the trail looked easy and since it was just us, we decided we would take a chance.

When many of us started out as Christians, we might have felt like that. It looked interesting, the preacher made sense, or maybe it was a friend - for me it was my mother - and it was easy enough. So we took a chance. But it may also relate to when you joined the women’s ministry in your corps. Maybe a friend invited you to some activity, or a Bible Study, or for coffee. And off you went on your Women’s Ministry Journey.

Have I mentioned that I love trails and paths? At least I do now. There is a real beauty about them. usually anyway. As we started down the trail, it twisted this way and that and the only way to know where it went was to follow it. Like when Jesus invited the disciples to follow Him. The only way to know what He was going to do was to follow him.

Involve Theme

Our theme for Women’s Ministry these days is INSPIRE, and that trail up in the California mountains, inspired my husband and I. And, just as we thought, it was an easy hike - more like a walk really. but it sure seemed a lot longer than half a mile. Eventually we came to a fork in the trail. One sign pointed left and said 2 1/2 miles, and the other one pointed to the right and said something like 11 miles to where it met up with another trail. What happened to the half mile? The best we can figure is that we missed a turn. We thought about just turning around - but the truth is we were feeling good so we decided to do the 11 mile hike. Just kidding, we did the 2 1/2 mile trail.

We thought about just turning around - but the truth is we were feeling good so we decided to do the 11 mile hike. Just kidding, we did the 2 1/2 mile trail.

With the decision made we continued our journey. The thing is, we came to some places where it wasn’t easy to keep going. In one area, a tree had fallen across the path. it was slow going for a bit, but the only way to keep going was to climb through the branches. In another spot, the trail had been washed out. It was rough, but it had dried out so we just had to be careful. And we were so glad we did.

Because we hung in there we got to see Lookout Peak. There was a spot where we came to a steep little trail, that lead up to a clearing where we were able to see for miles. It looked kind of dangerous, kind of hard, but the pay-off was an incredible view.

Further down the trail we came to a clearing, and there was a little cabin. Apparently, this is where a cowhand stayed during the summer when he brought his cattle up into the mountains to graze. Now it was a National Park secret, only seen by those INSPIRED like us to travel this trail. And we came across a giant sequoia that had been hollowed out - and we were able to walk through it - and it was still growing.

We saw a lot of great stuff. We had to work our way through some it, but near the end of our hike we came to a big meadow that was about ten feet below our trail. Along that meadow we saw people for the first time since we left the road, so we knew we were near the end. But every person we saw was staring into that meadow. There was another couple walking toward us, they told us the excitement was about a Big Mama Bear and her two cubs. They were hiding in the meadow’s 5-6 foot grass.

at meadow. There was another couple walking toward us, they told us the excitement was about a Big Mama Bear and her two cubs. They were hiding in the meadow’s 5-6 foot grass.

As we stared into the meadow trying to see them, one of the cubs suddenly burst out onto the trail and sat down on the side of the hill behind us. My husband grabbed the camera and tried to get me to move closer to the cub so he could take our picture. Well he got his picture and we were about to put some distance between him and us, when just in front of us the other cub suddenly appears. The cubs, one in front of us and one behind us, weren’t what really scared us though - it was knowing that their mother was surely close by.

There are many great songs and poems and books that have been Inspired by the beauty of mountains and forests and even bears. Obviously the bears didn’t eat us. A few minutes later we were back at our car filled with memories we will never forget.

Some of you may be new to Salvation Army Women’s Ministries, but I suspect many of you have been on this journey for while. Maybe you started on the short trail, but have been inspired along the way to keep attending, even when it wasn’t all that easy.

Well today, we hope to INSPIRE you to continue your journey. Keep it up. We hope to INSPIRE you to invite friends to join your journey. And we hope to INSPIRE you as you journey with Christ. In fact, though we all like to have fun, and like to learn new things and make new friends - it is your journey with Christ that INSPIRES US to keep doing rallies and camps and events.

And just as the Apostle Paul INSPIRED & INSPIRES Christians everywhere, so we too want to INSPIRE you. Let me encourage you in Paul’s words when he said, I exhort “each one of you and encourage you [or maybe, and INSPIRE you] and charge you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” ().