Nude Hippies

... or the hike to Deep Creek Hot Springs.

So last night, after our Christian Medical and Dental Association meeting, some of my housemates and I decided to go for a hike on Saturday. We took out the trail book I had recently purchased and located a nearby hike that looked interesting. The hike was to Deep Creek Hot Springs outside of Hesperia, California. The drive up was interesting and involved a good amount of time on dirt roads. The first thing that made this hike interesting was that the trailhead was on private property. We arrived at the "ranch" payed a fee to park and got a free trail map. The weather was perfect for a hike to hot springs, being sunny but also breezy and cool. As we began the hike through the desert populated with agaves, ephedra and ocotillo, I began to think about some of my preconceived notions about the kind of people who hang-out at hot springs. The only other hot spring I had ever been were on the Owyhee River outside of Ontario, Oregon. At that time it had just been my family so I don't really know how I had come of formulate these preconceived notions short of reading about Esalen in Big Sur, Calif. So I had to laugh when we came into view of the springs and what is the first thing that I see? A big naked hippie.

The springs were actually very nice and are located right next to Deep Creek which is a sizable stream for the middle of a desert. When we got to the springs we were lucky to find that the top pool, above the few other people there, was free so three of us jumped in. The water was about the same temperature as your average hot tub and only smelled very faintly of sulfur. To make the conformity with my preconceptions complete, we smelled the scent of a certain herb being smoked down below as we enjoyed our time in the pool. Overall it was a very interesting hike and I was not disappointed by the hot spring. Here are some nudity-free pictures for your enjoyment:

Deep Creek, near the hot springs.

This is the top pool we found and hung out at for a while.

Tradition Bound

Last night I was reading my Bible and I came to a passage where it seemed strange to me that the word "God" in my NIV was not capitalized. I have a wide selection of Bibles in my room and I happened to pull my John MacArthur Study Bible off the shelf. This John MacArthur Bible was given to me by a customer with whom I had become friends at a bookstore I worked at a few years ago. After I had looked up the passage in question, I decided to flip to 1st Corinthians 14 to see what MacArthur had to say about that. I had just read the 14th chapter of 1st Corinthians the night before and I was curious to see what MacArthur, a strong Cessationist, would do with the passage. I was disappointed by what I saw. In my opinion MacArthur had to seriously twist the clear meaning of Scripture to deny that there is a God-given form of tongues which is not any intelligible human language, and to argue that even tongues, as the ability to speak a real language unknown to the speaker, had ceased. His arguments were weak and they involved assuming that Paul was speaking "sarcastically" over a good portion of the passage and that the singular "tongue" had a different meaning from the plural "tongues." I'm always very skeptical when I hear someone give an interpretation of Scripture where the writer is interpreted to be speaking in a joking or sarcastic manner. I think it is often a way of just avoiding whatever truth is being expressed there.

But on a deeper level, seeing MacArthur's commentary on 1st Corinthians showed me that MacArthur is just as tradition bound as any other Christian. His tradition is American Fundamentalism and in many ways I respect his tradition. I am thankful for the stress that the Fundamentalists place on the authority of Scripture, and the need for repentance and faith in Christ for salvation. I like the fact that Fundamentalists are about as far as you can get from post-modernism and relativism. But Fundamentalism is still a tradition that must twist Scripture here and there to hold on to some of its assumptions, especially its cessationist assumption.

The fact is that all Christians are in some way "tradition bound." I've always said that if a person could show me any place where the Tradition I am a part of, Anglicanism, conflicts with Scripture in any way, that I will leave that belief or practice behind. And I think that is the spirit of the English Reformation and the attitude all Christians should have. That where the Tradition conflicts with Scripture we will remove that aspect from our belief and practice. But where there is no conflict, where Scripture is silent, we will allow freedom. Personally, I am thankful for the kind of Tradition that doesn't conflict with Scripture. I believe that much of this Tradition, like the liturgy, is a gift from the Holy Spirit to the Church. If I am going to have any Tradition I want it to be the Ancient Tradition, accepted by all Christians before the division between East and West and confirmed as good and true by centuries of Christians.

The Wonderful Exchange

I live in a house with five other med students, all of whom are Christians, and lately the topic of the Eucharist has come up in our conversations. My housemates strongly take the typically Protestant "Symbolic" view while I've tried to argue for what would probably be described as a more Lutheran view, the Presence of Christ being spiritually, "with the bread, in the bread, and under the bread." So last night to take a break from studying I cracked open John Calvin's Institutes to look at his view on the Eucharist once again. It's not that I haven't looked at it before. When I was at Asbury Seminary I wrote a paper on it but Calvin's view was confusing enough for me that I felt the need to refresh my memory. This post really isn't about the Eucharist though because I simply wanted to post a wonderful sentence from Calvin that I came across while I was reviewing his theology of the Sacrament. So here it is:

This is the wonderful exchange which, out of his measureless benevolence, he has made with us; that, becoming Son of man with us, he has made us sons of God with him; that, by his descent to earth, he has prepared an ascent to heaven for us; that, by taking on our mortality, he has conferred his immortality upon us; that, accepting our weakness, he has strengthened us by his power; that, receiving our poverty unto himself, he has transferred his wealth to us; that, taking the weight of our iniquity upon himself (which oppressed us), he has clothed us with his righteousness.

- John Calvin, Institutes 4.17.2

Jenks Lake to Dollar Lake Saddle

Today I enjoyed a beautiful hike in the San Gorgonio Mountains. I went with a friend from Christ's Church, Frank, who has hiked the area extensively and suggested this trail. We had planned on a short eight mile hike but the day was so beautiful that eight turned into sixteen, eight in, eight out. We gained about 3500 feet of elevation and ended up at just about 10,000 feet at the Dollar Lake Saddle about five miles from the summit of San Gorgonio. After today's hike I am even more determined to summit San Gorgonio as soon as possible. As I hiked I ran through the list of pharmaceuticals I'm about to be tested on but I also enjoyed conversation concerning our faith with a fellow Anglican and brother in Christ. The scenery was much more beautiful on today's hike compared to last week's summit of Old Baldy. Here are some of the pictures:

Looking up at the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio, highest point in Southern California.

That's me at the saddle looking to the southwest. Behind me, in the haze, is the Inland Empire, where I go to school and where I'm currently writing this blog.

Frank and I at the saddle.

Old Baldy - Mt. San Antonio

Today I climbed Mt. San Antonio, the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains. At 10,064 feet it is also the highest point in Los Angeles County. I was lucky enough to find a classmate to take a break from studying and climb with me. It was an easy climb with a few steep areas and a round trip of about ten miles. Jon brought his Bible up so we took a break at one point and took turns reading out loud some of our favorite Psalms. We ended up reading the 1st, 23rd, 51st, 104th and 139th Psalms. As usual it was wonderful to be reminded of God's goodness and majesty in the beauty of the mountains. Here are some pictures from the hike:

Summit of Mt. San Antonio, looking West.

What Real Anglicans Believe About Scripture

If there were any word of God beside the Scripture, we could never be certain of God's Word; and if we be uncertain of God's Word, the devil might bring in among us a new word, a new doctrine, a new faith, a new church, a new god, yea himself to be a god. If the Church and the Christian faith did not stay itself upon the Word of God certain, as upon a sure and strong foundation, no man could know whether he had a right faith, and whether he were in the true Church of Christ, or a synagogue of Satan.

- Thomas Cranmer, leader of the English Reformation

H/T Northern Plains Anglicans

Defeat on Mt. Adams/Victory on Piker's Peak

On Tuesday I attempted to reach the summit of 12,256 ft. Mt. Adams for the 12th time in the last 11 years. Climbing Mt. Adams began as a tradition for me my senior year of high school when I climbed it with my younger brother Joey and my friend from Germany, Alex Jaeger. Since 1998 I've made it up every summer, doing a two-day hike up the mountain. The South Climb, the easiest way up the mountain, starts at Cold Springs Campground at about 5600 ft. and ends at the summit. After climbing this mountain 11 times in a variety of conditions, I thought I knew it well but on Tuesday I was proved wrong. I have always climbed between late June and the first weekend of August. This year was almost a month later than my latest ever climb and in that month this mountain morphed into a beast I could hardy recognize. On the way up to Piker's Peak, the false summit, the metamorphosis was caused by the lack of snow which normally gives a climber a nice, 2000 ft stairway of deep icy footprints from the Lunch Counter up to the top of Piker's. Instead of the stairway, I had an assent up a couple of thousand feet of loose rock. It was pretty miserable but I was determined not to let the mountain beat me. My determination to summit for the twelfth time was strongest when I reached the false summit, Piker's Peak, at about 1:45PM. It was extremely windy and quite cold up there but the summit was in sight and most certainly in reach, or so I thought. After a short break and some pictures at the false summit I headed toward the snowfield that one must cross to begin the last ascent up the summit. With my first step on the snowfield, I was flat on my back. I was afraid I might keep sliding on what had always been a field of deep snow before but was now a sheet of 2 inch thick ice. I did some walking around up there but the snow field was impassible. I have never taken crampons with me on Adams but this is the first year they might have come in handy. I think even with crampons though, the hike across the snowfield would have been a bit perilous. Even with the apparent defeat of not making the summit, I was still able to view the day as a victory. We normally do the climb in two days but this time we attempted it in one. I had an elevation gain of around 6,000 ft from Cold Springs Camp to above the false summit in six hours. I can certainly see that as a victory. It was a miserable day but I always enjoy a good test of endurance and for that I am thankful. Being home in Washington for this month has been made all the more wonderful by the amazing backpacking/camping/climbing adventures of which I have been able to partake. It's going to be hard to go back to California in two days.

Marker stone at Piker's Peak. Reads: (Aug. 27, 1923) You are a Piker if you stop on this summit. Don't crab, the Mountain was here first. Arthur Jones. Well, I guess that makes me a Piker.

Favorite Photos from the Wonderland Trail

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Random Update #2...

Well, I feel like I should write something. I haven't felt much desire to blog lately but I have been doing some interesting things. I finished strong at Officer Basic Leadership Course in San Antonio and returned to my hometown of Battle Ground, Washington in late July.

Since then the most interesting thing I've done was to hike most of the way around Mt. Rainier on the Wonderland Trail with two other friends. We spent seven days backpacking and camping and had a great time out in the wilderness.

I've picked up a few books this August which have been interesting and enjoyable. I'm most of the way through What's So Great About America by Dinesh D'Souza. I also picked up D'Souza's What's So Great About Christianity and have begun reading that also. David Bentley Hart's The Beauty of the Infinite has been on my reading list for a while so I finally picked it up and began digging into that recently also.

I went to a revival service being held by a local charismatic ministry in a barn a few miles from my house a few weeks ago and was blessed by that. I might go to another of those revival services this coming Saturday.

I head back down to Loma Linda next Friday, the 29th, to begin my second year of medical school.

Bathing? Who needs bathing?

My last eleven days have been at Camp Bullis, Texas in Officer Basic Field Training. I can only try to guess the ways I have been changed during those days. I have become more aware of my own capabilities. I have begun to form friendships with colleagues with whom I will probably work many years hence and I have begun to be formed into a soldier. Our average day started with a formation at about 500 and ended somewhere around 1930. The days were hot and nights short during those eleven days and we took only one shower. I probably sweated more than I have in the past three months.

I wrote a couple of weeks back about some of the negative effects that I think med school has had on me. But I think OBC has been a good antidote for some of those problems. Army discipline doesn't give you time to be self-centered. You are focused on following orders, having the right equipment, being at the right place at the right time and perhaps most importantly, watching out for your battle-buddies.

We did way too many things during our field training experience to write about here. They were eleven days that felt like a couple of months. Some of the highlights for me included some of the leadership exercises, becoming familiar with the M16 rifle and MOUT - which is similar to paintball except you're using your M16 using rounds made of wax.

One line of our "Soldier's Creed" reads, "I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my Warrior tasks and drills." This field training has begun to make those words a reality for us. When I joined the army I thought I would serve my required time and then get out but after the last couple of weeks I've realized that I probably wouldn't mind staying in longer term. That decision is a long way off but the experience here has been a good one.