church that saves you, but it’s Jesus Christ dwelling in the heart, appropriated as personal Saviour.” To catch beautiful, brilliant, jumping golden trout, you must use a bait. Perhaps it’s salmon eggs, worms, a spin ner, or a brown hackle fly. To draw a man to Christ, I used Romans 3:23, “ all have sinned;” Romans 6:23, “ the wages of sin is death;” .Ephesians 2:8,9, “ by grace are ye saved;” John 1:12, “ as many as receive Him.” To effectively use the bait, you must make the cast. The important thing—the fisherman must be hidden. To fish for men or boys, you must be hidden behind the “ Rock.” Only in that way can you present Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men. To have golden trout frying brown on a griddle over an open camp fire, the fisherman must set the hook when r the fish nibbles. For men to become new bom creatures, they must make a decision. This is the work of the Spirit of God. You can assist by prayer and a tactful “ dipping of the net.” “ Brilliant Stars” . . . so close at night one could almost reach up and pluck them; a Milky Way that looked like a highly traveled freeway at night; shooting stars racing across the heavens—this was the sight as we lay on our backs in a warm sleeping bag. This scene spoke of Heaven with God; of space and planets, which men strive i to conquer; of mansions in glory being prepared for those who love Him. How foolish to build mansions on earth, to accumulate wealth, to build empires when Heaven is our home, and r earth . . . “ we’re just a passing through." Those stars caused us to think, “What are we really doing for Christ, and how are we building for eternity?” The lost man on a rock at Lost Lake—he is typical of men and boys all around us. As he suddenly had a strike and had to move along the shore to net his fish, he hollered back, “ Don’t go away; I appreciate what you y are telling me; I’ll be back.” The world is waiting for us to tell “ The Story.” The “ Presence of God” was manifest around the camp fire each night. It was difficult to secure wood at the high altitude, but young men formed search parties and brought it in—huge loads of it. The nights were cold, but we donned sweat pants and hooded shirts. Around a blazing, roaring fire young men and older men glorified the Saviour with their testimonies. God’s presence there on the mountainside spoke to our hearts; we asked His help for our problems; asked Him to make us real men; told Him and each other what we would like to be in the future. When the fire had burned low and the heat was almost gone, we crowded close and talked to God who was there. This was a new kind of praying—just conversing with Him. One prayed, then another, still another; perhaps the first one talked with God again. This was a family of ten in “ the Presence of God” talking with Him. Is there a roaring fire on your hearth each evening as the family gathers around the Bible and reads it together? The wood may be scarce, the night cold, the day may have been rough, and you are tired; but what a blessing to share His Word together, before you retire. When the fire bums low, have you Dad, Mom, Son, Daughter, tried talking to God as a family and listening to Him as He talks to you? The story.you have just read was bom at a time like this. There are eight boys and two men who long for sum mer and another trip to the majestic Sierras again. Meanwhile the spiritual truths of “ BLUE SKIES, BRIL LIANT STARS, and THE PRESENCE OF GOD” will linger on, kindling a blaze to make us torch bearers for the lovely Christ, until another summer with its trip rolls around.
Along the trail in the High Sierras
He learns to fish and to “fish for men” Sights like this are worth the long miles of hiking.
JULY, 1960
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