White As Snow

“White As Snow”

Dear Fellow Children of God,

Many of us host out of town family and visitors in the summer as they visit Alaska, but how many visitors do you have during the Alaskan winter?  (I do have one friend who especially likes to visit during Fur Rendezvous.)  Maybe even you make sure to travel outside during the winter yourself.  Winter is not as popular as summer is for many.  Yet, my experiences of the last week remind me that God can speak to us clearly and even more uniquely through the beauty seen in our Alaskan winter. 

Most of you know I like to fish and enjoy ice-fishing. But, because I had fished a number of times recently, this last Monday I drove to Alyeska Resort to ski.  With the temperature between 15-20 degrees and the skies above mostly clear, I stood on top of the mountain around 3:15 in the afternoon and watched the sun set over Turnagain Arm behind the Chugach Mountains to the south.   The snow was powdery.  Clouds drifted below those of us who were skiing.  Just being outdoors in this beauty fed my soul.

However, my favorite recent winter experience happened the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I went ice-fishing with my son Josh and his two oldest children, Jake and Emmalee.  I also invited 4 other families from church, but only Grace Miller was able to join us that day.  As we began our fishing outing walking across the Kepler – Bradley Lakes, snow fell gently on us from the clouds above.  My grandchildren, Jake and Emmalee, giggled as they threw snow on each other while we pulled them in a sled across the lake.  But, the clouds quickly cleared, the temperature dropped some, and the sun shone brightly out of the clear blue skies.  All around us new fallen snow hung on the trees.  Eagles watched us from the far edges of the lake.  Then, as the sun skirted the top of Twin Peaks, crystals of ice drifted out of the sky like diamonds falling through the rays of the sun.  The gently falling snow at the beginning of the day had changed into the sparkling frost falling out of the clear blue sky at the end of the day.  All the noise of the world seemed to hush as God covered the world in a white blanket . . . and we caught fish!  It was easy to remember the verse from Isaiah 1:18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

God speaks to us most clearly from His Word found in the Scriptures.  But even Scripture tells us that God also speaks in other ways, such as through the beauty of His Creation.  On these two days God reminded me that, in spite of the noise of the world around us and the failure of my sin, God covers my sin with His love in Jesus.  "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

The Alaskan winters can be tough, but I pray you can also hear the voice of God’s love from the beauty of the Alaska winter.

A Child of God, reminded that my sins of scarlet have been made white as snow in Jesus,

Pastor Jonathan

P.S.  Here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving week. https://picasaweb.google.com/jonrock53/ThanksgivingWeekWinterFun?authuser=0&feat=directlink

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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