Made Complete by Our Union With Christ

Christianity is not a philosophy, a system of rules, or an austere way of life.  It is a vital union with Christ.  The believer is in Christ, and Christ is in the believer and in God the Father. (John 14:20)  Through our union with Christ, Christians are also able to fellowship with the Father. (Colossians 3:3)  When we live in Christ, we have fellowship with God.

As followers of Jesus Christ, God is working in Christians to give us the desire and power to do what pleases Him. (Philippians 2:13)  We ascribe not to a religious system, but rather we surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit.  When led by the Holy Spirit, the Christian is no longer irresistibly drawn to serve sin.  Our desire is to please the Spirit.  (Romans 8:5-14)

“I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally.  I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.  In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.  For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.  Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.  For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.  So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.  For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.  In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.  For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.  Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,  and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,  ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!’?  Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.  These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.” [1] (Colossians, Chapter 2 NLT)

 

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[1] https://biblehub.com/nlt/colossians/2.htm

 

The Owyhee Mountains

The Owyhee Mountains are located in Southeastern Oregon and Southwestern Idaho.  The highest point is Hayden Peak, (8,403 feet or 2,561 meters).  Although a number of peaks reach 7,000 – 8,000 feet in elevation, most of the range is somewhat lower. [1] My own estimate is that those elevations range from 3,000 – 6,000 feet. 

Some of the higher elevations are forested with evergreens, but the rest of the range is covered with sage, other kinds of brush, and with grasses. In the spring the grasses are green, but they turn yellow and tan by mid-June. 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) leases the public land to ranchers for grazing.  It provides revenue to help with the cost of managing the land.  In the past, overgrazing damaged the native grasses.  Consequently, the land is overrun with invasive species of grass and weeds.  That contributes to the rapid spread of wildfires in the dry months, and large wildfires are not unknown. 

The climate is dry to desert-like in the Owyhees, and so is the scenery. The average annual precipitation in Owyhee County is 9.04 inches. [2]  It is dryer down by the Nevada border.  In July and August temperatures can exceed 104 F (40 C). 

The Owyhees are beautiful, but their beauty is an acquired taste.  There are incredible rock formations and deep gorges. Your first impression, however, may be that they are desolate. 

Lower elevations notwithstanding, the Owyhees can be very rugged.  There are a number of wilderness areas where travel by motorized vehicle is prohibited.

Although there are maintained dirt roads that can be driven with regular passenger vehicles, high clearance four-wheel drive vehicles, or Off Highway Vehicles (OHV’s) and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s), are needed on the backcountry roads.  In some areas, there are no roads at all, or there are only “two tracks.”  The BLM restricts vehicles to established roads and trails. 

Much of the Northern part of the range is public land, but there are also large tracts of privately owned land.  These are mostly ranches and irrigated farms.  A few areas are owned by mining interests.  The Southern part of the Owyhees is primarily public land that is managed by the BLM. 

Some parts of Southwest Idaho are remote.  There are places where you may stand on ground that almost no one has stood on before.  It’s quiet there … so quiet that it can bother people who are not used to it. For me, it is a tonic for my soul. You can have some good talks with God there.  What is truly important is seen more clearly in remote, rugged places. 

If you like to observe birds and animals, viewing is good in the early morning and late evening.  My opportunities are limited because I am the primary caregiver for my wife, who is disabled.  Nevertheless, I have seen birds of prey, quail, pheasant, rabbits, a rattlesnake, foxes, coyotes, deer, and antelope (pronghorn).  God is good – all the time. 

I cut my backcountry teeth backpacking in the high-country wilderness in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.  It would be a mistake, however, to compare the Owyhees to those areas.  The Owyhees are an entirely different environment and should be taken on their own merits.  I have come to enjoy the Owyhees for what they are … a challenge. 

I’m not necessarily urging people to visit the Owyhees.  A lot of people wouldn’t like it.  If you do visit, bring extra food, water, and gas.  There is no place to get them once you leave the highway. 

Always pack out everything you bring in.  Please pack out any trash others may have left behind as well.  Ethical use calls for the land to be preserved in its natural condition. 

The Owyhee mountains may appear to the uninitiated to be a “wasteland.”  They are not.  They are a large, arid ecosystem, much of which belongs to the public.  Public lands belong to each and every American citizen, and they must be preserved in their natural condition for use by the public.  Our public lands are our heritage, and public ownership of these lands is our children’s inheritance.  If federal agencies mismanage public lands, then we must fix it – not give it to the state governments to parcel out to moneyed private interests.  That is my last word on it. 

 

Note: Owyhee is an early anglicization of Hawaii.  The area is named for three Hawaiian trappers who entered it in the 1800’s and were never heard from again.

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[1] https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/6338-2/ 

[2] http://www.usa.com/rank/idaho-state--average-precipitation--county-rank.htm#google_vignette