November/December 2009 Happy Holidays 2009! Christmas shopping? Please consider giving the gift of a new book to your family and friends this Holiday Season! To preview and/or order your copy of this new and untold tale of Jeremiah Johnson, just click on the book. This Holiday edition is also available at Amazon.com * Previous Newsletters    (Archives)  Website Home Page  (Trailheads) Contact  Hiking the Trail of Truth,  Mark's Trail Phone # 909-549-0068,  or e-mail   hikemark@hotmail.com Page 2 From the Editor Hello, and Welcome to the November/December 2009 HTTOT Newsletter!  We here at Hiking the Trail of Truth sincerely hope this year that you have allowed the loving Spirit of God to be active within your heart, and that you are perhaps able to get out for a hike and consider many of the wonders He has made. We are uniquely drawn to these wonders because we were formed from the very dust of the earth, and, because of that relationship, we have the ability to develop the understanding that will allow us to discover our unique balance with nature. Come along with us on a most profound adventure in learning... WEBSITE NEWS: Knowing God is first seeing Him through the things He has made (Romans 1:20).  Hiking the Trail of Truth is here to help you along in your journey of discovery and sharing. If you have been or are presently unable to get out this season for a physical hike, just visit our website's feature trail for this month; The High Sierra Trail. Your mental trek there can take you where you may be unable to journey physically. The eye-opening education, inspiration and lasting encouragement which you can find along the High Sierra Trail will be well worth your time... Just click on the High SierraTrail link in this newsletter, or click on the marker at the website's Hiking Maps and Trailheads page. — We sincerely hope that you will hike all of our devotional and educational trails at the website this year. Again, we are here to help you in any way we can and, as always, look forward to hearing from you. Hiking the Trail of Truth is currently one of the most truthfully informative Christian sites on the web. Please, be our guest; explore this truth for yourself and discover! The most important way to begin your day is with a short reading from the Bible. Today is indeed a good time to begin that resolve. For this purpose, the Mountain and Valley Trail was built. There you will find daily Bible readings for the entire year, with accompanying photos, created especially for you. To locate this picture/Scripture calendar, simply click on the Mountain and Valley Trail marker at Hiking Maps and Trailheads. You will find a compass there that will lead you to the calendar of months, and you can then choose a month to begin your day-by-day readings. Your daily journey through life is sure to begin in the right direction!  After all, we live only one day at a time, right?— Why don't you then take the opportunity now and begin a one-year hike along the Mountain and Valley Trail. You will not be disappointed, in fact, your journey will be full of enlightening, life-changing insights! Don't forget that HTTOT offers FREE COUNSELING to anyone who wants it (Lord knows we all need it). Your varied questions are also important, and are given the utmost consideration in answering them. For you to be aware of the truth, in a world where falsehood abounds, is very important to us. Your spiritual struggles are of our utmost concern—we can help!  We serve a loving and compassionate Creator. So just phone or e-mail any time. Contact information is listed at the bottom of the cover page of this Newsletter, or you can visit Questions and Answers Trail Camp at the website, where a ''submit a question" link is provided, or you can visit the On-Line Church to submit your inquiries or learn there how to understand the Bible correctly. Sincerely, the HTTOT staff.   November/December's Letter From the Editor : "SNOWSTORM" Oh Lord, You are our refuge from the storm...  (Isaiah 25:4) Winter seems to have hit a little earlier this year in the high country, but its beauty is certainly unmatched. I took a hike through the snow onto the Windy Gap trail just the other day, high in the Angeles Forest. It was most inspiring to say the least. This time of year it becomes very easy to track the bear, the deer and the coyote as they leave their distinct marks across the snow. A good size bear leaves his tracks under my window each night. He wanders from trash can to trash can throughout the campground with purpose. He or she is in search of some tasty morsel left by the visiting humans. There are no other humans up around the campground today, but there is another big snowstorm fixin' to blow in up here and I'm about to go out and hike in it. If you can come up and hike with me, perhaps we can track some animals together, watch them play and enjoy their life in this high country. You can always learn something from them. You will undoubtedly witness the natural beauty of many things while you're up here. Life goes on quite well, even amidst a snowstorm. — Com'on along, Hiker—I'm sure you need a break from that crazy world down below. If you are keeping an ear on local and world news, you know that things are in an uproar. There is mass starvation, there are earthquakes, fires, destructive weather, riots, bombings, wars, murders of countless people, disruption in our schools, failures within our government, failures and retaliation among foreign governments, and a general feeling of distrust and despair among the people of our nation and the other countries of the world as well. All of these events or tragedies I have mentioned are the predicted storms; the signs of our times... God has warned us within His only written revelation to us (the Bible) of the continued decaying condition of the earth and of the increasing depravity of the human race itself: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands. No one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have altogether become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear (respect) of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10-18) The Bible teaches us these things not for us to despair, but so that we may come to have both understanding and hope during times like we are now experiencing. These things have been and are the "birth pangs" which mark the end of the age (1st Thessalonians 5:3). Gods' plan however is to deliver we Christians from this present world, destroy this present world, and to provide us with new heavens and a new earth, where only peace and goodness and truth dwell. He has promised us these things (1st Thessalonians 4:16,17, 2nd Peter 3:10-14). Personally, I find both these warnings and promises, in addition to many others relevant to the end times, to be quite uplifting and even exciting during these troublesome days. In fact, I am looking forward to the end of things as we now know them, quite comfortable with my lack of dread for what is coming upon the nations. Don't get me wrong; I do grieve for their rebellion and their upcoming fate, yet hopefully my attitude in this matter will be an encouragement to you. Keep in mind if you will that Gods' vengeance is long overdue. Please consider this: It is not God's fault that the world is in the condition it is in. He has nothing to do with it. We, mankind, through our fallen nature, have caused our own dilemma. Each of us have, in one way or another, participated in hanging the Son of God on that cross. Our fate is as it will be because we have (1), forgotten to honor God as God, and (2), have refused to be thankful toward Him (Romans 1:21). We have indeed chosen our own way, followed false teachers, and have not taken the initiative to seek the Truth of God. Only true Christians; those who believe in God, repent and obey His teachings, will be saved and will, by His grace, escape the utter devastation at the end of this world.— On this earth, we are within the domain of Satan and his angels (John 14:30). In delaying His promised coming, God is allowing us time to see the living characteristics of this hopeless domain, and to escape it by the amazing grace which is offered through our obedience to His Son (1st Corinthians 15:24). With all that is going on through the upheaval in our world, why not learn something of Gods' patience toward us?  God is in control no matter how things look down here. He has in reality allowed Satan to roam and to rule the earth so that we might see the terrible consequences of rebellion, sin and evil. His hope is for us to see this dread, recognize the hopeless, destructive reality of it, which should not be difficult at all, and to discover within it our own individual contributions to this dilemma, which are many, and to change our minds, our direction of travel, and turn from our rebellious ways and literally run in repentance toward Him. (Romans 12:2) We need, with this sincere "turning about", to honor and to trust Him, both in His dealings with mankind and in His promises toward us. Those who come to believe in Him through His promises must endure. We must seek to commune with Him each day and trust Him in His personal dealings with us and in his undertakings with the world. His plan to return us to Himself and to peace is flawless. There is nothing then at this point in turning that can happen to us further up the road, seemingly good or bad, that He won't use to work for our own ultimate good (Romans 8:28). We shouldn't be fearful; we are destined to hike the trail of Truth amidst and through all these storms of life so that we might come to understand the reason as well as the hope behind it all. You must learn then to stand strong through the blinding snowstorms of life. To truly see is to not look at things through the eyes of the world. Learn to not be afraid. Learn instead to trust in Him, for He is with us (Matthew 28:20). Endeavor not to concern yourself with the decaying condition and material cares of this present world (Mark 4:19), for it is indeed fading away (Isaiah 24:4). Get out there and learn more about God through the things He has made. Look forward to His coming. Embrace those endeavors, letting them be your full time concern (Philippians 4:8). Take your Bible along with you on your journeys. Enjoy being in His presence while reading His words. Increase your knowledge regarding His truths. If you continue on in this valiant quest, which is every Christian's purpose in life, you will not only save yourself, but perhaps those who hear you as well (1st Timothy 4:16). Chase them with your fierce storms. Terrify them with your tempests. Utterly disgrace them, filling their faces with shame until they submit to Your name, O Lord... *Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last. I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. (Psalm 83:15,16 *Revelation 1:17,18) Thanks for hiking along with me today—see you next month for another letter from the editor! Sincerely, Mark S Taylor Questions? Please contact me. HIKING THE TRAIL OF TRUTH Mark S. Taylor Trail Phone:  (909) 549-0068 Home] [Hiking Maps & Trailheads] [Discovery Trail] [Bible Map] [Trail of Time] [New Birth Trail] [Mountain & Valley Trail] [Desert Trail] [Lake Trail] [High Sierra Trail] [Wilderness Trail] [HTTOT the book] [False Trail] [Monthly Newsletter] [Newsletter Archives] [Questions & Answers] [On-Line Church] HIKING THE TRAIL OF TRUTH Mark S. Taylor (909) 549-0068