Merry Christmas

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. 5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will beno end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isiah 9:1-7

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the place of dwelling.
Glory in the Highest 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “ Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
Luke 2:1-15

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14


Merry Christmas

He Is The Same Yesterday, Today And Forever

And as for you Son of Man, thus says the Lord God;
Speak to every sort of bird and every beast of the field:
"Assemble yourselves and come;
Gather together from all sides to My
sacrificial meal
Which I am preparing for you,
A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of
Israel,
That you may eat the flesh and drink the blood.
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty,
Drink the blood of the princes of the earth,
Of rams and lambs,
Of goats and bulls,
All of them the fatlings of Bashan.
You shall eat till you are full,
And drink blood till you are drunk,
At My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you.
You shall be filled at My table
With horses and riders,
With mighty men
And with the men of war,"
Says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 39:17-20

Tragic, But Preventable Death

For those who do not know the story of the Kim family, here is a link to the story.
They found Mr. Kim's body today. All day I have been wondering just where they were, so when I got home I jumped on Google Earth(which is about the best download...ever.) and got out my trusty Oregon Recreational Atlas and found the area they got lost. Keep in mind they were lost for about a week.
They were on a Forest Service road approximately 12 miles from a town, Galice. Now, I'm not too familiar with that area, but from GE it looks like a small village. There is a resort there. At least there might have been someone around. I looked around some more, and they were 5 miles from a lodge. Granted, the terrain is mountainous, but they were far from being in the middle of nowhere. They found Mr. Kim's body a mile or so from that lodge.
Reports are speculating they might have been using a navigational system in the car that told them to go on Forest Road 23. Being from San Fransico, they were unfamiliar with the area.
Here are where my questions begin.
1. There is a sign at the bottom of Rd. 23 that says it is not advisable to drive on in the winter, as it is unplowed. Why did they continue on?
2. When they became stuck, why did they simply stop? Why not back up? Even if you have to dig the snow out to get out, why not?
3. Why did Mr. Kim go the opposite way they came in, not back down Rd. 23? It was at most 10-12 miles from Galice. Instead, he went down an extremely steep ravine.
I think the point at which they decided to go on, past the sign telling of the potential difficulties of driving on that road, is the point at which this tragedy could've been avoided.
I cannot understand the thinking in this situation. They had very little supplies, and were unfamiliar with survival techniques (one of the first things they say is STAY PUT! A person can live around 2 weeks on water alone, and moving makes it exponentially harder to find you.), and seemingly making poor decisions (Mr. Kim's route after leaving the car).
Someone on the radio said there are two types of people today. There are those people who depend on themselves alone. They are the rugged people who settled and built this country. They compose(he hypothesized) about 10% of the population. Then there is the other 90% of people. They are dependant people. Food is at the store for them. They do not equip themselves to live on thier own. While I sypathize with the family, I think the evidence points to the Kims being in the 90% group.