Podcasts about Merced River

Merced Irrigation District GM John Sweigard joined the show to discuss The State Water Resources Control Board's intention to divert billions of gallons of water from Merced and send it to the ocean for the possible benefit fewer than 500 new salmon on the Merced River. March 28th 2025 --- Please Like, Comment and Follow 'The Ray Appleton Show' on all platforms: --- 'The Ray Appleton Show’ is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever else you listen to podcasts. --- 'The Ray Appleton Show’ Weekdays 11 AM -2 PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 AM & 105.9 KMJ | Website | Facebook | Podcast | - Everything KMJ KMJNOW App | Podcasts | Facebook | X | Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on “Post Reports,” we join The Post's Lillian Cunningham on her journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America's most awe-inspiring places: the national parks. First stop? Yosemite.Read more:California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native American fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to Field Trip here or wherever you're listening to this podcast.Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

To hear the rest of the series, follow “Field Trip” wherever you listen. California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

To hear the rest of the series, follow “Field Trip” wherever you listen. California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

To hear the rest of the series, follow “Field Trip” wherever you listen. California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

To hear the rest of the series, follow “Field Trip” wherever you listen. California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

Practice practice practice! Just bear it! Merced River overflow San Juaquin Valley California --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fernando-m-de-oca/support

Kicking it off with the Buzz Question about renaming Polk Elementary. As the Washburn fire continues to burn, moving east along the South Fork of the Merced River, crews have gotten to 31% containment. As COVID rates increase, LA County could see the return of indoor masking. Leaked video of an Uvalde police officer checking his cell phone is absent of context. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kicking it off with the Buzz Question about renaming Polk Elementary. As the Washburn fire continues to burn, moving east along the South Fork of the Merced River, crews have gotten to 31% containment. As COVID rates increase, LA County could see the return of indoor masking. Leaked video of an Uvalde police officer checking his cell phone is absent of context.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In cryptids in the news and other oddities, Kevin dishes out some recent news about some astrophysical phenomena that appears for about 1 minute on space telescopes and then it disappears for 18 minutes. Maybe it is a new type of Pulsar or maybe it is something else entirely. Bill covers an encounter with a Bigfoot along the Merced River in California. And some great listener mail from many of you so please join us! Thank you for listening! www.bigfootterrorinthewoods.com Produced by: "Bigfoot Terror in the Woods L.L.C."

In cryptids in the news and other oddities, KJ covers recent news about some astrophysical phenomena that appears for about 1 minute on space telescopes and then it disappears for 18 minutes. Maybe it is a new type of Pulsar or maybe it is something else entirely. Bill covers an encounter with a Bigfoot along the Merced River in California. And some great listener mail from many of you so please join us! Thank you for listening! www.bigfootterrorinthewoods.com Produced by: "Bigfoot Terror in the Woods L.L.C."

Yosemite National Park, one of the ecological treasures of the United States, is located in northern California.  The seven square miles (18 sq km) Yosemite Valley is the most popular part of the park.  The park features granite monoliths, waterfalls, streams, and Giant Sequoias.Yosemite National Park offers breathtaking views, incredible rock formations, and the largest waterfall in North America. As one of America's most beautiful and beloved national parks, it offers an experience of a lifetime for the entire family.Yosemite National Park was literally carved into the earth by the movement of enormous glaciers. This created some unique topographical features not found anywhere else in the world, including five of the tallest waterfalls on Earth.Visit Yosemite in the Spring to see the waterfalls at their fullest, carrying the melting snow down the mountains. Whether you're a novice hiker or an adventure seeker, there are trails for everyone that lead to the waterfalls.Animal lovers and bird watchers should seriously consider making a trip to Yosemite. There are over 400 species of animals inhabiting Yosemite, and 10% of them have special protection status, including the beloved Sierra Nevada Red Fox. During a hike in Yosemite, you have a good chance of seeing bobcats, mule deer, and bighorn sheep.“Spectacular” does not adequately describe the sunsets at Yosemite National Park. Many opt to spend a day scaling the face of El Capitan to experience the world-famous sunsets from its peak. Other great sunset watching locations are Three Brothers peaks and the banks of the Merced River.You will find the full transcript at https://interspanish.buzzsprout.comAs always, I really appreciate your thoughts and feedback about the show. You can reach out to me :Email: InterSpanishPodcast@gmail.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUn1MRmbmxL0ePiYDGfsJVwFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/interspanishPodcast/about/?ref=page_internalInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/interspanish/

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/274 Brian Fischer, the headman at Sonora Fly Co., breaks down a season in the Sierra Nevadas - we dig into some of their world-class lakes and the most recent changes in the California fishing regulations. We discover the biggest draws at this time of year if you want to camp, spend a day or two, or get some good river time - plus the amazing people from all over the world hiking 2200 miles of elevations from Mexico to Canada for months, beating the weather in the mountains. Sierra Nevadas Show Notes with Brian Fischer 05:05 - Justin Thompson from JT Fishing is one of the best guides in Northern California 09:55 - The lakes are world-class around California - like New Melones and Don Pedro Lake 10:40 - They fish mostly Spotted and Largemouth Bass 11:45 - The Merced River in Yosemite National Park 13:50 - This year, California made a significant change to the high sierra fishing regulations 15:28 - Where you can fish for browns and the best times to fish them 18:52 - Brian talks about euro nymphing and how he combos his indicator with his sider 24:55 - The South Fork of the Stanislaus River is the best place as you get into the sport - Strawberry Town Highway 108 32:26 - Hiking the Sierra Nevada Mountains 35:48 - There is another fly shop around the area called The Trout Spot 36:40 - Check out Sonora Fly Co. shop to see what they have to offer 45:18 - The Middle Fork of the Teanaway and the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus are the biggest draws at this time of year if you want to camp, spend a day or two, or get some good river time 45:54 - The Beardsley Reservoir at the Stanislaus National Forest is where a lot of guys fish and camp 47:43 - Clarks Fork is a confluence between a smaller creek and the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus 48:26 - Kennedy Meadows 49:56 - The Golden Trout 53:03 - Phil Rowley was recently on the podcast at WFS 267 where we talked about Stillwater fishing and his new book Sierra Nevadas Conclusion with Brian Fischer Brian and I talked about the season in the Sierra Nevadas - we dug into some of their world-class lakes and the most recent changes in the California fishing regulations. We found out what are the biggest draws at this time of year if you want to camp, spend a day or two, or get some good river time. Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/274

“Water makes every sound imaginable and occupies every frequency audible to the human ear and certainly spans the dynamic range from the faintest sound to near distortion,” says Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker.The writings of John Muir can guide our ears, as we listen to the water music: “The deep bass tones of the fall, the clashing ringing spray an infinite variety of small, low tones of the current gliding past the side of the Boulder Island and glinting against a thousand smaller stones down the Ferny channel.”In this episode of Sound Escapes, walk in Muir's footsteps as you follow the sounds of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park. ID the birds in this episode: John Muir's Yosemite Bird List Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and TwitterSign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletterBirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote's conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

Steve Gregory has the latest on refugee Afghans heading to California. The latest on the Caldor Fire burning in South Lake Tahoe. Comedian Fuquan Johnson and two others are found dead in Venice after an overdose on cocaine laced with fentanyl. An update on the family that died from toxic algae while hiking in along the Merced River in Northern California.

Kevin looks does a detailed review of a pair of recent bigfoot video sightings. Bill covers a detailed Bigfoot encounter from along the Merced River in Northern California...a hotbed for hairy man sightings. And some great listener mail.

In cryptids in the news and other oddities, Kevin looks does a detailed review of a pair of recent bigfoot video sightings.  Bill covers a detailed Bigfoot encounter from along the Merced River in Northern California...a hotbed for hairy man sightings. And some great listener mail from many of you so please join us! Thank you for listening! www.bigfootterrorinthewoods.com Produced by:  "Bigfoot Terror in the Woods L.L.C."

This episode is dedicated to talking about some of the conservation of our National Parks. We obviously love National Parks but aside from all of the crazy stories we have shared we still want to make sure our parks stay as as they were intended... wild. Grace shares her expertise on how visitors can understand how the national parks, specifically Yosemite work with nature's natural process. We advocate for clean parks so everyone can enjoy so leave only footprints and take only photos when visiting these great parks.Some questions we are about to answer:  Where is Half Dome's other half?  What is Yosemite's Firefall?   How do ice cubes and the Valley relate?  What is Wildland Urban Interface?  00:00 - Saucy beat  00:19 - Intro  01:35 - Burp sponsor, a Woo shout out, and Bobby Shmurda?  02:20 - Intro to the topic, Park conservation  03:35 - Some of nature's processes we encountered, appreciating what we are given, perspective based in science  05:25 - Introducing our favorite conservationist  06:06 - Interview time! Talking trees and park life with Grace "The Blessed", our number one fan, hard kombucha   07:10 - Graces first impressions, living in Merced, a new experience in the park, enlisting new park rats, saying yes to new opportunities  11:30 - Grace's education and major, why she chose it, and her feelings on making the decision years later  13:31 - Top ten facts about Yosemite, Curry village and Horsetail Falls, birding, California quail and other Yosemite wildlife, announcing our blue heron sponsorship, Mirror Lake, Merced River  18:50 - Grace's takeaways after living in the park, Degnan's Deli coming up once again, going from people to Park Rats, Sorbet in the Awahnee, crazy park tenures  22:40 - Wildfires! Smokey the Bear, managing land and how nature adapts, differences in regulations, the apocalypse, keeping the visitors happy  26:54 - Doing your part in keeping the parks clean, no souvenirs, take only pictures and leave only footprints, drunk Europeans on the loose   29:18 - Grace's final thoughts   30:00 - Wrap up Follow Grace and her upcycle empire!@sprucegruce  Be sure to check out our website and follow us on instagram and (not this one) facebook! We will keep you up to date on new guest announcements, cool National Park photos and some straight up dumb photos of Matt, Josh and our guests.  If you or a friend have worked in a national park and want to share your story you can reach out to us on our website or DM us on instagram. We are trying to show all aspects of working in a national park and we are looking forward to hearing more of your stories!

“Water makes every sound imaginable and occupies every frequency audible to the human ear and certainly spans the dynamic range from the faintest sound to near distortion,” says Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker. The writings of John Muir can guide our ears, as we listen to the water music: “The deep bass tones of the fall, the clashing ringing spray an infinite variety of small, low tones of the current gliding past the side of the Boulder Island and glinting against a thousand smaller stones down the Ferny channel.” In this episode of Sound Escapes, walk in Muir’s footsteps as you follow the sounds of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park. Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

On this episode of Little Yo Pod, I discuss why a glacial moraine in Yosemite was blasted out and how that event would effect the Merced River for many years to come.

Description: This episode, number eight in our Yosemite National Park series, is for the geology geeks and climbing enthusiasts. If neither of those monikers interests you right now, just wait: you’ll want to pick up a rock hammer or clip yourself to a rope by the end of the show -- possibly both! To start, Bryan chats with Park Geologist and Ranger Greg Stock on the forces that shaped Yosemite’s stunning scenery and the toll our warming climate is having on the park. Then, Danielle dives into mountaineering with Dave Bengston, director of Yosemite Mountaineering School, to learn about the highs and lows of this perennially popular park activity.   Discussion includes the following: 0:01 - Introduction to the episode’s guests: Yosemite’s Park Geologist and Ranger Greg Stock and Dave Bengston, director of Yosemite Mountaineering School, plus Danielle reads a sweet note from a listener. 2:54 - Bryan exposes a geologist’s best-kept secret and gets to know Greg Stock 4:08 - Fatal rockfalls and shifting attitudes toward climate challenges drive the National Park Service to hire a geologist for Yosemite National Park 5:44 - A geological timeline: The formation of Yosemite’s iconic granite peaks El Capitán, Half Dome, Cathedral Peak, Lembert Dome, and Pothole Dome 7:26 - The Merced River 8:10 - A closer look at the processes of exfoliation, glacial erosion, and rockfalls 9:41 - The dynamic, year-round forces that trigger rockfalls 12:29 - Quantitative rockfall hazard risk and assessment and front-country campsite safety; an incident at Curry Village (2008) 15:20 - Yosemite’s fading ice: The Lyell and Maclure glaciers 16:38 - Replicating John Muir’s 1872 Maclure glacier survey 18:22 - The alarming truth about the future of Yosemite’s glaciers 19:51 - Greg tips his rock hammer to John Muir 22:23 - Hiking, rappelling, and taking modern measurements in the backcountry 24:39 - Dome upon cliff upon dome: Greg shares his favorite Yosemite memory 26:24 - Danielle dives into mountaineering at Yosemite and gets to know Dave Bankston 28:48 - From climbing to skiing: Four seasons of activity 31:18 - Universal language: Yosemite’s international mountaineering appeal 32:22 - Coming to terms with climbing lingo 33:20 - Newbies and indoor climbers welcome! 37:25 - Outdoor climbing vs sport climbing 38:56 - The perfect climbing spots for every level: From Toulumne Meadows, Swan Slab, and Puppy Dome for beginners to pitch climbing on East Buttress for intermediate climbers and El Capitán for advanced climbers 41:51 - All about pitch climbing 44:26 - Mountaineering School: Screening process 45:12 - Mountaineering School: Classes, climbs, and conditions 47:41 - Mountaineering tips for families 48:30 - Female climbers on the ascent 49:05 - Plan ahead for peak season climbing 49:51 - Free Solo Climbing 51:57 - A trip up Mount Conness: Dave shares his favorite climbing memory   For complete show notes, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to the other episodes in this Yosemite series including our trip report, a conversation with park naturalist Eric Westerlund, musician and historian Tom Bob sings for us while recounting the 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, and a wonderful conversation about Antal Adams' legacy. Episode 19.5 features park ranger Shelton Johnson and his alter ego Sergeant Elizy Bowman, a Buffalo Soldier with the ninth cavalry in Yosemite. Episodes 19.6 and 19.7 discuss visiting Yosemite in different seasons and planning your trip. Listen to the the complete Yosemite Series: 19.1 Yosemite: Trip Report 19.2 Yosemite: Curious Characters In Nature - Parasitic Plants, Psychedelic Salamanders, And A Yodeling Ranger 19.3 Yosemite: John Muir And Theodore Roosevelt Camping Trip Told Through Song, An Interview With Tom Bopp 19.4 Yosemite: Ansel Adams’ Legacy ENP 19.5 Yosemite: Ranger Shelton Johnson On The Buffalo Soldiers And Diversity In The National Parks ENP 19.6 Yosemite: Things To Do By Season With Yosemite Conservancy And Yosemite Hospitality ENP 19.7 Yosemite: Plan Your Trip With TripPossible   Actions: Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/ Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks Send us your national park stories, recommendations, comments, or questions to Hello at everybodysnps.com. Support us on Patreon Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Getting to know you, getting to know all about Parle. We sit town with another Parle team member, Marty Burns, who is one of our traveling sales consultants. As a child panning for gold in the Merced River, Marty was destined to be involved in the jewelry industry. We sit down and learning about his early beginnings in the jewelry industry and even tornadoes. 00:00:00 Story-time 01:01:50 Puzzles 02:22:00 Parle Team Member – Marty Burns 03:08:00 Tell us about your start in the jewelry industry 08:41:00 How did you get to Oklahoma? 11:59:00 So what you do for us is sales 12:30:00 What was the most interesting thing you’ve appraised? 14:14:50 How do you determine the value of a piece? 15:25:00 Did you ever have to go to court? 16:11:00 Insurance replacement value vs. cost/actual value 18:25:00 What does your day look like? 20:39:00 What is your earliest memory of a gemstone or piece of jewelry? 21:33:00 What’s your favorite gemstone? 23:19:00 (Down a rabbit hole) Let’s talk about tornadoes 30:59:00 Upcoming events with Marty

From running the trails of Yosemite Valley as a member of a local high school track team to driving for a competitive race car team, Kim Lawson has led an extraordinary life in Mariposa County. For the third Yosemite Can O Peaches episode of Season Two, John DeGrazio interviews Kim Lawson of Lawson Studios. Join Kim and John as they sit on a log over the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. They chatted about Kim's many Yosemite adventures that helped shape her entrepreneurial spirit.

The post Merced River Yosemite appeared first on Alexander Art.

Yosemite Podcast Show Notes   Today we’re going to talk about photographing Yosemite, the national park that Ansel Adams made famous and one of my all-time favorite parks. I still remember getting goosebumps the first time I came down the hill on Big Oak Flat Road and the valley opened up before me.  I’ve been back many times since, but still remember that first time.  Most people only visit the valley floor which is only a very small part of the entire park, but it’s where the icons are and not to be missed.  My favorite spots are Tunnel View, Valley View and Glacier Point.  Pretty obvious ones I guess, but we’ll also talk about some of the lesser known spots too. The park itself is about a 4-hour drive east of San Francisco and southeast of Sacramento.  I always recommend people fly into Sacramento because of all the traffic in and around San Francisco not to mention the hassle of flying into San Francisco International. If you’re driving, you have more options depending on where you’re coming from.  I live in NW Nevada, so I prefer coming down Hwy 395 on the east side of the Sierra’s and going over Tioga Pass when it’s open which is usually sometime in May.  But if you’re in California or the Pacific Northwest, you will want to use either the Big Oak Flat entrance in the NW part of the park on Highway 120 or the South Entrance on Highway 41. The best times of year to be there are spring and winter in my opinion.  Spring for the waterfalls and wildflowers; winter for snow and clearing storms. Summer is less than ideal with lots of tourists and in most years the waterfalls are a trickle or not running at all.  There is some fall color in Yosemite usually in late October and early November, but the trees do not always change color at the same time. It’s a time for intimate landscapes along the Merced River mostly. So, a typical day in the park usually starts before sunrise and ends after sunset.  The best color is frequently a half hour before sunrise and up to a half hour after sunset.  For sunrise, you have to be there early not only for the pre-sunrise color, but also to get the best spot or any spot at all.  You definitely want to be there before the tour buses arrive. Likewise, at sunset you need to be there 45-60 minutes before official sunset to stake out your spot at Valley View, Tunnel View and Glacier Point.  Sunset light hits Valley View first and then Tunnel View with Glacier Point last because of the differing altitudes.  You can do Valley View and Tunnel View in one day if you don’t dilly dally too long at Valley View, but Glacier Point is at least an hour from the Valley Floor and a separate trip. The best time of day to photograph the various waterfalls like Yosemite Falls, Bridal Veil Fall and Vernal Fall is mid-morning for Yosemite Falls, mid- late afternoon for Bridal Veil Fall and mid-day for Vernal and Nevada Falls.  This is because Yosemite Valley sits in a deep canyon several thousand feet below the rim, so light does not strike the north rim until mid-morning and the south rim until mid-late afternoon otherwise these falls are in deep shadow.  The same is true of Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall because they’re in the Merced River canyon. I usually recommend people plan to spend at least five days photographing the park to allow for a couple of sunrises and sunsets at Tunnel View and Valley View and 1-2 sunsets at Glacier Point.  Plus time to drive to the Mariposa Giant Sequoia’s, Tenaya Lake and Olmsted Point. Off the beaten path spots for sunset are Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake.  There are great views all around at Olmsted Point, but my favorite is the one of Half Dome at sunset especially if there are some nice clouds to reflect the sunset light.  You can shoot from the parking lot here or climb the rock on the west side or north side for a different perspective.  Don’t forget to look behind you or to the east for sunset lit clouds or mountains. At the Tenaya Lake parking lot, you have to hike a hundred yards or less to the east to reach the lake front.  There is a flat rock extending out into the lake which makes a good leading line for the lake and the distant mountains as well as spot to put your tripod. Night photography at Olmsted Point can be productive.  You have good views to the south and west and there are Jeffrey pines for foreground material.  The best time for this depends on the phase of the moon and the time of moonrise.  Ideally, you want either a new moon or a quarter moon at most and shortly after moonrise time wise.  If the moon is too full or in the wrong part of the sky the stars are nearly invisible. One other popular option is a moonbow over Yosemite falls which works best under a full moon in April and May.  Fortunately, the best times are pre-determined every year by Donald Olson at Texas State University at www.donolson.wp.txstate.edu  A new moon or quarter moon also allow for night shots of the icons from locations like Valley View or Tunnel View. My favorite lenses in Yosemite are the 24-70 and 70-200.  The 24-70 for the grand landscape view.  But sometimes it’s more interesting to isolate parts of the scene for a different perspective.  My go to camera body for landscapes is the D4.  Not a traditional landscape body, but if I want more megapixels I can shoot panoramas. I always like to recommend Michael Frye’s book “The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite” available through my Amazon A-store and his Yosemite app available at https://www.michaelfrye.com   Another useful app is The Photographer’s Ephemeris for figuring out sunrise, sunset and moonrise.  Available for iOS, Android and pc’s. Another useful app for national parks are the National Parks by Chimani available for Android and iOS both.  Apps are free and available for all 59 National Parks. Also helpful is www.npmaps.com where you can download free NPS maps for each park. If you like to hike, http://yellowstonehikes.com is a great resource. Here are a few photos from Yosemite from myself and Bill Naiman:  

  Jesus is Better “Help for Hard Hearts” Hebrews 3:7-15   Key Verse:  Therefore, as the Holy Sprit says, “Today, if yo hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion"(Hebrews 3:7-8a).   1.  The causes of a heard heart   a.  Deafness can cause a hard heart   b.  Doubt can cause a hard heart   c.  Deceit can cause a hard heart   2.  The consequences of a hard heart   a.  What you don’t get   b.  What you do get   3.  The cures for a hard heart   a.  Fellowship with one another   b.  Faith in One   When I was a senior in high school, I made a New Year's resolution. And the New Year's resolution was, that I was going to learn to play the guitar. And so with great gusto, I began playing the guitar.  It didn't take too many days of, hours per day on that guitar until the tips of my fingers were you form the cords on those steel strings were actually cut and bleeding a little bit. But, I didn’t give up and you know what happened with the passage of time those cuts became calluses.  I don’t play the guitar that much anymore but I still when I feel the ends of my fingers, my fingertips on the left-hand, I feel that callouses still today.  You know it's okay if some parts of your body get calluses on them. If you ever shaken working man's hand, you know you get that big old hand and you shake it and you feel those calluses, it serves them well because, his hand has become hardened to carry out the tasks that are his.   But there are other parts of your body that you never need to grow hard. That would be, chief of all, your heart. Your heart needs to always be supple and soft and flexible. In fact did you know, there’s a phrase, a lot of you are too young to recognize this phrase but its called, the hardening of the arteries. It’s really a term used for heart disease, when you get plaque buildup in your arteries and it restricts the flow of blood, as the passage narrows. Soon enough if you don't get enough blood to your heart, you can have a heart attack or you can have a stroke, you can die. And so you need your heart to always remain soft and pliable and supple. And so today I want to preach a message that takes that physical principle and puts it into the spiritual realm.   Just as your physical heart you cant afford it for it to get hard, spiritually; you can't afford to get a hard heart. You need a soft heart. I need a soft heart toward God. And so here's the title of today's message, help for Hard Hearts. I wonder, don’t show your hand, but I wonder how many of us would say, you know Pastor Jeff, I'm afraid, if I were to be honest, you know my heart maybe getting a little cold. A little hard. This morning I know God wants to soften our hearts so that they will be pliable in his hands and useful to Him.   So today were to get some help for hard hearts and we’re going to do so out of the book of Hebrews.  That’s toward the end of your Bible, so if you would please turn there. Hebrews chapter 3 and stand to your feet in honor of God's Word. We’re about to hear the King of Heaven speak and I want you given your best attention. Hebrews chapter 3, we’re going to start in verse seven. “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.” you see their there's the phrase. “Do not harden your heart as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart they have not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter my rest. Take care brothers. Take care sisters. Lest there be in any of you, an evil unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another, every day, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For, as we have come to share in Christ. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end, as it is said, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Lets pray.  God, thank you that you speak to us. I thank you that we can hear your voice today if we if we got a heart to here.  I pray that we will have soft pliable soulful hearts that are responsive to you. Awaken us to what you say today Lord and change for, Jesus sake, Amen.   Please be seated. Help for hard hearts. Let me advise you if you're visiting us today, if you’ll turn on the back of your worship guide, just flip that guide over, there’s a skeleton outline of the today's message, and really for all of our sake, it's helpful to follow along, and just jot down anything that you think God is saying to you. That you need to apply from what would we be hear today. All right. I will begin the message by talking about what causes a hard heart. What are the causes of a hard heart? First of all, a heard heart is caused by deafness. Now in the physical realm don't tend to think of hearing being related to heart. But in the Bible there's a huge connection between hearing and heart. And if were hard of hearing we will be hard of heart. God wants us always have an open ear to hear what he said. I take this from verse seven. He says, “Therefore as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.” what's the implication? That if you don't hear his voice, over time, your heart gets to be hard.  Soon enough, you won't be able to hear it.  So today, if you hear his voice, then respond to it, so that your heart will not become hard. Now heart disease, in the physical realm, can be caused by not listening to good counsel. For example, we all know that if you have a healthy heart, you need to exercise. Right? Every day do some exercise? Some cardiovascular workout.  You need to watch what you eat. You need to get plenty of rest. You need to let the stress in your life go down. All of these things, that’s the counsel that you get, and if you hear it, and respond to it, it will help you have a soft healthy heart. But, if you ignore that counsel, you may get the hardening of the arteries and you have a stroke or heart attack. You may get into trouble.   Now the same thing is true spiritually. God gives us council from his word on how to live. And if you listen to his counsel, then our hearts will be soft and will be spiritually healthy. We need to listen to God. It’s dangerous not to listen to good counsel isn’t it? Let me tell you a story about a church youth group. Now all you teenagers listen to me. There was a youth group very much like ours that went on a trip to Yosemite national Park. Way out West. They were from California. So it wasn’t that fare of a drive. They went up to Yosemite and they said we're going to hike the most famous of the hikes in that great park. In it's the hike up what's called Vernal Falls. We’re going to put a picture on the screen, of this beautiful waterfall. It’s the Merced River, it falls about 317 feet at that precipice and thousands of people every year make this hike.  It’s gorgeous. Well all along that hike, there are warning signs, because while it looks placid and beautiful and majestic, the truth is it's very dangerous. In fact the signs are actually in four languages, so that nobody misunderstands or fails to hear the warning. They caution about the force of the river and that the rocks are slippery. And of course, you can imagine with the falls and the mist that the bellows out from that, the rocks get slippery. And so the youth group start making its way up to the top of Vernal Falls and when they got up there, there were three of them that decided they wanted to get a picture for instagram. You young people know what I'm talking about? Something to post on Facebook I guess. And so one of the girls, well in fact three of them, the girl is the particular one that was leading the pack, they climbed over a guardrail that bordered the Merced River there the top. Now I think in part the reason they did it, is that when you're up on top, the water is actually kind of placid. In fact, they call it the Emerald Pool and other of the pictures of you can see online, I’m not going to put it on screen but either other pictures of it, and you can almost see that that placid pool of green water there at the top. It’s beautiful. It’s crystal clear and the girls said, come on ya’ll.  Lets Climb over this guardrail and we’ll just go out there and stand on a rock, and ya’ll can take my picture. Harmless enough. I really can hardly blame the young people, because I could almost see me doing something foolish like that. They climbed over, got out in the river, they didn’t know it but that year, there had been a real heavy snowfall and the snowmelt have been great and the Merced River had swollen with that extra water, and the force of the river was greater than even normally was.  Beneath the placid surface, the were currents that they couldn't even see. The girl got out on the rock and she slipped. She splashed into the water and her friend, alarmed of course, because they were only about 25 feet from the edge of the falls, he went out into the water to try to grab her, he lost his footing. So now the third guy was to take the picture, he goes in after those two. And before anything could be done. To the wailing screams of the whole group, those three young people were swept over the precipice to their deaths. That is a terrible story, but it's a true story. Fact, they couldn't even find their bodies for several days, because the force of the water was so great. They were pinned there on the rocks somewhere beneath the surface at the foot of the falls. What had happened? They had ignored the warnings that had been given.        Deafness can be deadly. You must listen to God's voice, because deafness can cause a hard heart, and a hard heart can be deadly. Now what else can cause a hard heart? Not only deafness, but doubt can cause a hard heart. I think most of you know the story that is in view here, in Hebrew 3. It’s actually looking back to the children of Israel, who had been enslaved in Egypt. You remember this. For about 400 years, they were enslaved there. But God never forgot about his children. He heard their cry. And he sent Moses to them to deliver them. And you'll remember that God, with miraculous power, sent plague after plague after plague and in patience, he was saying to Pharaoh, and the Egyptians, let my people go! But pharaoh was deaf to God's voice and he had a hard heart. And the Bible says he stiffened his neck against God. God continued to send those plagues until finally the night of Passover came, the death Angel came and all of the firstborn, both of the livestock and even of the male firstborn sons of every family, died in the Egypt.  God spared the Israelites. Finally Pharaoh and the Egyptians said please go! And out went the Israelites in great freedom. Well, they made their way down to the Red Sea. Once they became alarmed. There like, we're going to die here because Pharaoh had regained his courage, and you want to go back and capture them. He was in hot pursuit. On one side, had the Red Sea, and on the other side was Pharaoh bearing down on them. And mountain walls hemmed them in. it looked as though they were goners. Again, God heard their cry. And Moses extended his rod and the Red Sea opened. A strong wind blew and they walked across on dry ground. Then they went to up the wilderness there. Safe now from the Army of the Egypt that was destroyed. They were hungry and a cried out and God heard them. God sent manna. He dropped groceries from heaven. And then they ate their fill. They got thirsty and they complained against God. God caused water flow from the rock. Again, again and again God provided for them. But it was if if they'd never could get over their bellyaching. There murmuring. They’re complaining. Finally they came to the Jordan River, God had proven himself true to every promise, and he said “this land that you see that flows with milk and honey, where there are vineyards that you did not plant, where their houses to live in that you did not build, with their walled cities that you can inhabit, all of this I'm giving to you. The children of Israel, what did they do, the they doubted. They said that land is too mighty. There are chariots there. There are walled cities. We are as but grasshoppers in our own eyes. We can't do it. And they doubted and it gave them our atherosclerosis. I mean it hardened their arteries. It gave them heart disease.   Listen to what the Bible says in verse 12 of our chapter, Hebrews 3. Take care brothers, lest there be in any of you and an evil, unbelieving heart. Leading you to fall away from the living God. What had happened? They had they had heart disease.  Their heart had become evil, and it is rooted in, what the Bible says, unbelief. You know what God wants for us above everything? He wants us to believe him when he makes promises. He wants us to believe that they will come true. When he says what the Bible says, God so loved the world; he wants us to believe it.  That he gave his only begotten son; he wants us to believe that. That whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life; he wants us to trust that promise. That’s what he seeks above all. That we would trust and believe in him. But they doubted. It caused a hard heart.   Let me give you one other cause of a hard hart.  I've mentioned deafness and doubt but deceit can cause you to have a hard heart. Look in verse 13, but exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. You see sin is at work in us. The devil was at work to deceive us. To think that God is not good. That he is not faithful to his promises. And to pull us away from the living God. The deceitfulness of sin.   I heard a story years ago, about what was called the perfect crime. It’s a story set in New York, back in the days when they were building the skyscrapers. And there were two men that have become enemies of one another on the building site. But they worked, side-by-side, on the girders as they were building this mighty skyscraper. One of the men had the job of affixing the rivets to the girders so that they would be in place. The other man would pitch the rivets to the first man. He would pitch them. The man would catch it and he would attach the rivet and on they would go throughout the day, attaching those great steel girders. The one man thought of away to murder his coworker. And here was his plan. As he threw the rivet to him, with each successive throw, he withdraw just a little bit further out from the building. And so the man that was catching the rivet and attaching them, you know he caught the rivet, with the next throw he had to reach out just a little bit further, the next throw, a little further, and it was so subtle, it was so incremental, it was so sinister, he didn’t recognize he was reaching out further and further. Until finally that last throw came and he lost his balance as he reached out to get it. He plunged to his death. Now they called it the perfect crime because there was no trace of any misdeed. He subtlety, very incrementally murdered his coworker.     Now, why do I tell that story? That’s the way sin operates in our lives. The devil, he’s not going up and get you to like jump over to some massive evil like Hitler, but he's going to incrementally, very subtly, throw you a temptation that just close enough that you might bite. Once you've indulged in that, he may throw at temptation that's a little further out from God's will, in a little further out, until finally you take a great fall because sin is deceitful. I wonder today if I'm talking to some people whose hearts are becoming hard because you've been deceived by sin. You find yourself doing things that you never would've dreamed of doing, because incrementally, you gone there. Today if you hear his voice, awaken to the danger that is in front you. These are the causes of a heard heart. Now quickly, what does it matter? Are there any consequences for having a hard heart? Well you know physically, if you have hardening of the arteries, and your heart gets where there is not enough blood flowing to it. It’s deadly. In fact, did you know every 33 seconds, someone in America dies of heart disease?  In a year more than a million people die. It is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Physically, it's dangerous. There are consequences. What about spiritually? If your heart gets cold and hard toward God, does it matter? Well I am going to tell you today it does matter.  I’m going to give you two reasons it matters. First of all, it matters because what you don't get when your heart is hard. Now, remember I told you that God was taking the children of Israel to the Promised Land. They were going to go to that land of milk and honey. Those walled cities. They were going to inhabit them. Every good thing was going to be provided them. But because they did not believe, because their hearts were cold and hard, they did not get what God would have otherwise given them. Do you see how this is applicable to you and me? God of the Bible says Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly. The Promised Land is but a picture of the life abundant that we are to have in Jesus. But you don't get it if you have a hard heart toward God and if you ignore his voice.   I’m going to put on the screen a picture of fellow, you may recognize. Him his name John Candy. Here’s a famous actor, some years ago. He starred in the movie, Cool Running about the Jamaican bobsled team; Splash He was with the Blues Brothers and so a little bit dated. So you may know John Candy. He was actually well known for being a comedic character. He was a big man, physically very big. In his family that was a history of heart disease. His father, now get this, his father died when he was only 35 years old. Can you imagine? Almost 20 years my younger, dying of a heart attack. So John grew up in a family that should've known well the dangers of heart disease. But John, I guess it goes with that comedic, jovial feel. He loved to eat. He gave it a good Louisiana. He loved to eat and he would put on a big spread for everybody. He would smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. He just lived the life. Those in violation of every rule of good health and we was 43 years old, he too died. He didn't get the love out all of these years. He lost it. He didn't get what he could've otherwise had. He was making $4 million per picture. That was back in the mid-90. All that wealth.  All the future that was before him, but he squandered it, because of his hard hardening heart. In the physical realm.   The same thing can be true for us spiritually. God wants us to enter into a life of joy and freedom and purpose. We can’t have it, if we can have a hard heart. So the consequences are, what you don't get what the consequence is also are, what you do get. When you have a hard heart, what they get? Look again at your Bible and Ill show you. In verse 17 it says, “and with whom was he provoked for 40 years, was it not with those who sinned? Whose bodies fell in the wilderness. What did they get?  They got 40 years; listen to me, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Until every one of their bodies fell dead in the desert. All those that were of age that could've gone to the Promised Land, save Joshua and Caleb. Those faithful men who said “let's go.” all the rest died. What they didn't get was the Promised Land. What they did get was death. Spiritually, don't miss what God would give you and don't get what the world would give you. Right? I said before, I said again, God wants for us what we would want for ourselves, if we had sense enough to want it.  He wants a life of goodness for you in abundance and joy and purpose. But if you have a hard heart, you never going to get it. Well let me conclude. Is there a cure? You know physically, if you have a heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, which I have several those things, to some small degree, is there anything I can do? There is something that I can do. I can exercise. And I need to do more than I do, but I could exercise. I could eat better. And I'm trying to do a little better on my eating. You let the stress out of your life. You can rest better. We need these disciplines in our lives physically. But what about spiritually? Is there something that you can do? Is there a cure for the hard heart? There is. Let me give you two cures. Number one, fellowship with one another. Notice what he says in verse 13, “but exhort one another, every day, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, do you see that? When we exhort one another, when we encourage one another, it helps our hearts to be soft. That’s why it is so good for you to come to church.  Ill tells you something curious.  You know they have done a study and that regular church attendance actually prolongs physical life. It’s good for you to come to church. Even if that were the spiritual element, which is supreme, but even physically good for you to come. And spiritually, how good it is to be in the company of other believers. When I see you here, what does it do, it warms my heart. It softens my heart. It encourages my heart. And I know that you have that sensation as you gather with one another. And I hope you're part of one of our small groups.  We call them ABF’s, Adult Bible Fellowship. Or if you’re a teenager you’re in our student ministry with the table groups. We have to Thrive classes where you can come on Wednesday nights and exhort one another as the Bible says. Be one of our D groups. But get into the company of others. That will keep your heart soft.  Don’t get out there by yourself and be hardhearted. There’s one special night I’m going to mention, its November 2. I want all of you to please put this on your calendar, all right. On November 2, that morning were going to have Go Global Sunday. Dr. Dave Early is going to be here to speak to us and that night we going to gather back, we we don't normally come on Sunday nights, this is getting be an exception.  We are going to come together and our purpose is to cry out to God, to exhort one another, God bring revival to my heart.  I tell you something; my heart needs to be softer. I bet some of you if you were to be honest would say, me to preacher. I need my heart to be softened. Our church needs revival. Our nation needs revival. Our world is desperate for the peace and life that Jesus brings.  We are going to get on our knees, November 2 and I want to be here.  We are calling the night, The Power of One. The since of us being together. Exhorting one another. One Church, one heart, and one voice, an all campus prayer gathering on November 2 at 6 PM. alright now, the other thing that you can do to have a soft heart, and it's the chief thing, while it is important fellowship with one another, you to have faith in one. I mean you need to have your faith in the Lord Jesus, who gave his life on the cross. Who shed his blood? That we might live. Verse 14 of this chapter says.  “ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” he's talking about faith. He’s talking about belief. And he says we're to hold our confidence firm until the end. Does that mean that, by having firm confidence to the end, we save ourselves? No. We don’t save ourselves. We are saved by him. But our confidence to the end reveals the genuineness of our faith. And so were to hold that confidence firm. That faith that fate firm to the end. When I was a boy my preacher, used to say, “faith that fizzles before the finish, was faulty from the first.” you heard that? Faith that fizzles before the finish was faulty from the first. And so man look, don’t let your faith fizzle. Don’t get a cold heart man.  Stay in fellowship with one another and put your faith in the Lord Jesus.   Now conclude. In 2011, Steven Spielberg produced a wonderful movie. Some of you went and saw it.   I'm sure it's called Warhorse. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommended even for family viewing.  It one of those few Hollywood movies that you wouldn’t mind your children seeing.   It’s a story of a young boy and his horse. The horses’ name is Joey. Joey is a thoroughbred. And by a set of circumstances, Joey's poor family comes into possession of this prize horse. The boy's name is Albert, is it not? Albert.   Thank you.  He loves Joey the horse. And so he just raises up that thoroughbred. They’re the best of friends. Well, World War I comes along and Great Britain is in need of horses to pull the heavy artillery and for the chores of battle and are buying up all the horses. One day Albert was out and the Army men came and Albert's father needed money for their farm. He sold the horse while the boy was away the boy came back he was “Where is my horse” and they were taking them away to the Army. Well, with the passage of time the boy himself went into the Army. And he and the horse were scattered across was thousands of miles, far apart from one another.  He didn’t know where his horse was. But he never forgot him. As the battles of drug on and the war drug on, one day the boy was in a trench, and some poison gas was shelled his trench and it blinded the boy, temporarily. So he went to an infirmary to be nursed back to health. And he didn’t know it but the horse had been captured by the Germans and had been put into very harsh labor.  The horse, his health to become broken, his spirit had become broken, and in one scene that is very memorable, the horse tries the bolt across no man's land. And the horse becomes entangled in the barbed wire. You remember that horrific scene? The freed the horse but the horse is so wounded that they can't nurse him back to health it seems. And so there are going to just shoot the horse, to put him out of his misery, remember this? And the boys in the hospital, and it happens that now the horses is very close at hand. The boy hears some people talking about this, this ghost horse, this is miracle horse that had survived no man's land, which no one survived, if you heard them talk about the horse, he thought, perhaps that's Joey. Perhaps that's my horse. And so he staggers up out of his sickbed. In he makes his way into the alley and they're about to shoot the horse. And the boy Joey, he had this whistle the always use with the horse, from the horse in the earliest days.  [Whistles].  The old horse perked his head up. Looked about, showed some life and vigor that he never shown before.  And the blind boy begins to inch his way through the crowd of soldiers.  They are all just silent, because they are about to hear the gunshot, right. The horse neighs and the boy whistles again. The old horse begins to snort and gather strength up again and the soldier’s part like the Red Sea, and the boy in the horse are united. The horse was saved because he knew his master's voice.  He heard it.  He responded to it. His salvation.   What am I saying to you? Listen to the bookends of this passage, how does the passage start? How does it end?  Verbatim, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as your forefathers did the rebellion in the wilderness, instead be saved.  Would you bow your heads please? I wonder who here today would say, preacher my hearts been hard. I've been getting further and further away from the warmth of God. I've gone astray and preacher, I need, I name my heart softened. The Bible says that God wants to take out of us a heart of stone and put in us, heart of flesh. Like the heart of a new baby. He wants us to be born again and saved. Forgiven. Maid new. Warm. Responsive.  Would you just cry out to Him? Lord! Lord please; take out my hard stone heart. And God give me your heart, a new heart. New life. And for those of you who know Christ as Savior, and if you been away from him, would you just say Lord I repent. I come back to you. Lord from the deceitfulness of sin. I want to get away from those temptations and Lord I come to you, tower of strength and I run into you Lord. Revive me. Cleanse me. Help me to walk closely with you. All of these things Lord, we pray, in Jesus name, Amen.   

Pastor Jeff Williams: July 24, 2011 Going Beyond, Part XIII, “Beyond Our Differences.” (A video is played at the beginning of the service that is shown in two parts. The link to Part 1 can be found here: http://www.sermonspice.com/bundle/27225/the-source-one-bundle.) We're going to talk about that this morning. We only have one week left in the “Going Beyond” series. Next week, we'll be talking about “Beyond Death,” and then that's it. We will be moving on to other things. This morning, I'm going to tell you a story about a man who was flying his airplane and got lost. He ended up having to land the airplane in the ocean near a deserted island where no man had ever set foot. There the plane sunk into the ocean. He swam to shore and lived there for decades until he was discovered. The rescuers came, and he gave them a tour of the island. He said, “Over here is my house. I built that with my own hands with the things I found on the island. It survived storms and all kinds of things. I've lived there for over 20 years. Here's the church I built. I thought it was important to worship God, so I built a church with my own hands. I would go there and pray, sing, and worship the Lord.” The rescuer asked, “Well, what's that third building over there?” He said, “Oh that. That's where I used to go to church.” Even when you're on an island by yourself, apparently there are splits in the church, ha? That's where I used to go to church. I laugh about that story; it's funny, but when we really see division in the church, it's ugly. It's far from the cry of Jesus, the prayer of Jesus, that the church is one. One thing that really saddened my heart was years ago, we had the Day of Compassion. That's not what saddened my heart; that was a good thing. We pooled together a lot of churches from the area. We, as a church, were very involved. I served as a coordinator to bring together volunteers and also to sign new churches up and get churches involved. We had many, many churches from Rock County join us. We fed like 6,000 people. They had checkups, screenings, and haircuts. They took food home, and it was a wonderful thing. As we had our rally to kick things off, there was a gentleman out there handing out a brochure made specifically for the Day of Compassion. It was a rebuke basically saying, “Shame on you, bible-preaching churches, for fellowshipping with churches that are here like the Presbyterians who believe that you cannot lose your salvation. Shame on you for associating with Lutheran churches here. They baptize infants, and you should have nothing to do with the Lutherans. Shame on you for having Catholics here. Shame on you for associating with the Catholics.” On and on the list went of all the groups we should not be in fellowship with. It read that we should not have been joining together to help the poor and feed the hungry, and it said how wrong that was. I read that tailor-made brochure for that event and just shook my head. I thought, “How blind. How wrong that is!” Today we're going to talk about “Going Beyond Our Differences.” When differences lead to division and destruction, it's always because we have taken the secondary and put it in the place of the primary. We take the secondary, take the lesser, and put it at equal or greater than that which is most important. We see this in life. We'll talk about theology for a moment, but we see that happen in life. Whenever you see it happen in life, you see bad results come from it. Let me give you some examples from it. Let's start with some trivial things-well, it's trivial for some of us. For some of us, it's really important. One: [We see it when] players and owners put their own personal interests over the sport they represent, and we're seeing that right now and wondering if we're going to have football season or a basketball season this year. You say, “Put the game first. Don't put your pocketbook first.” Two: We see it with curiosity over safety. What's more important? Your safety or curiosity? We heard the tragic story in the news this week of the woman who just became so curious about what it would be like to step into the water at Yosemite. She lost her footing and two others came in to save her and lost their footing, and down the Falls they went. We were at Yosemite this past week, in fact, just a few days before that happened. We rafted in the Merced River. I can tell you: we got stuck on a little tree, and I had to get out of my raft to get us loose. I was only in a few inches of water, and I could feel the power. It looked pretty calm, but when I got in it, I was like, “Wow! This is intense for not being very deep.” I got the raft loose and got back in. We had to climb out at a certain point before the River got treacherous. He said, “Stay to the left.” Man, I was staying to the left with everything I had while getting out of that raft. There are people who take chances and people who get to the edge because they want to see over and see what's down there. There are guard rails there, and they're there for a reason. Sometimes hikers will get over the edge, get over those boundaries, just to see. They're curious as to what it looks like down there. They'll lose their footing, and that's it. We put curiosity over safety. Three: Partisan politics over moving the country forward. What is more important: moving the country forward or your party, your district? What is more important? Yet, this happens. I think maybe the last time we saw this happen was in, what? 1954? Or was it yesterday? I think it was yesterday, and it's probably going to be tomorrow too. It's very discouraging for us to witness. Let's look at some more examples. I just put these in random order. Four: Parents put business over family. We're not to sacrifice our families on the altar of career ambition, yet many do. Business is there as a tool. It's there to provide for your family. It's not to become your family. It's not to become your spouse, so for many it consumes them. Family gets the leftovers, so that's a missed priority. Five: Pleasure of the palate over our health. I'm talking primarily about the 11 o'clockers who are going to come in. I know you guys have no problem with that. That late crowd-they're probably coming to church late because they're out eating somewhere. When we were on vacation, we found this chocolate brownie sundae. That was amazing! We felt like we were entitled to that every night. We all shared it. It was like a huge bowl, and we'd all eat out of it, but still… It was like, “Well, we know this isn't good for us to have every day, but we are on vacation.” Honestly, we make choices to put things in our mouths because they taste good, but it comes at the cost of our health sometimes. That's just a fact. Six: Pleasing to our eyes over staying within our means. Something looks good-that vacation in Europe looks good. “I don't have the money, so I'm going to take out a loan to go.” “Boy, that boat sure looks good.” “That convertible looks good.” Whatever it is that's tripping your trigger, “It looks good and I have to have it, but I can't afford it,” America does that very well. We're sky high in debt because we make decisions like this. Let's look at a couple more. Seven: Political ideology over the value of human life. That's right out of the headlines. [This week we heard] the terrible story in Norway of a man who, because of his political beliefs, felt it was necessary for him to take and kill innocent young people. How in the world do we get so twisted that we think our political ideology is more important than the life of a human being? It's hard to imagine. Eight: We come to matters of secondary doctrine over primary doctrine. That's where we see divisions; that's where we see churches split. That's where we see Christians fighting with each other and saying, “I'm not going to associate with you anymore. I'm not going to have fellowship with you anymore.” We take secondary doctrine and put it over primary. First of all, we have to understand what primary doctrine is. The Bible is very clear that there is primary doctrine. There is Truth that is the most important Truth. We're going to talk about what that is. It's clearly identified and defined for us in Scripture. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:3 (page 1139 of pew Bibles). Paul says, “For what I received I passed on to you…” Whenever Paul says that-for what I received-we know from other Passages he is talking about direct revelation from Jesus Christ. He's saying, “I didn't get this secondhand. I wasn't taught this by man. I received this through direct revelation and understanding from the Lord Himself. What I'm about to say is from the throne of Heaven (Verse 3), “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” In the Greek, it means of number one rank or number one priority. Paul is clearly defining that Truth that is most important. He is saying, “If you want to be a Christian, if you want to be counted as a New Testament believer, what I'm about to say is absolutely essential for you to understand and receive.” “For what I received I passed on to you…” that it's important you understand that the gifts of the Spirit ended at the time of the Apostles and there's going to be Pre-trib [ulation] Rapture. Is that what it says? No. What is the most important thing? “…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared…” Paul says, “There are several things you need to understand. Number one, He is the Christ. He is the Son of the Living God, the Divine Son of God, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies. He is the Christ; He is the anointed One. He is the Messiah. He died for our sins. He is the Savior of the world. He rose from the dead. He really died and He really rose.” He said, “According to the Scripture,” he stressed that over and over again, “the Scriptures have divine authority in our lives. They are revelation from God.” Friends, that is the most important doctrine: 1.) Who is Jesus? 2.) What did He do? And 3.), understand that the Bible is the Word of God, and it's our authority. This is a special Book. It says, “The Holy Bible.” Do you know what the word Holy means? It means different. It comes from the root word hagios. It's a different Book because it was written by the hand of God. Paul makes it very clear: here is what is the most important. There are secondary doctrines as well. I think I'm safe to say that if we were to lay out all these secondary doctrines and discuss them, there are probably no two people in this room that are going to believe exactly the same about each of these secondary doctrines. The core doctrines that I've just read-the vast majority of us-somewhere in the upper 90 percentile-say, “Yes, I believe that. Yes, I stand on that.” But, in these secondary doctrines, sometimes it could be as much as 50/50 in this room. It might be “I'm this. I'm that.” Or, many of you would check, “I don't care. It's not important to me.” Let's look at some of those secondary doctrines. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on these. We're just going through them. 1.) Eternal Security. Can a Christian lose their salvation? Once saved, always saved. There are denominations that form over this. There are churches of the centuries. There are churches that have split over this doctrine. There are Christians that don't talk to each other over this doctrine. The second coming is really important to many people. “When is Jesus going to come back? How is He going to come back? Is there going to be rapture, or isn't there going to be rapture? Is there going to be a millennium? Isn't there going to be a millennium? Is Revelations symbolic? Is Revelations already fulfilled? Is it for the future? Is there an anti-Christ? Who is he?” There are all these questions about the second coming. Some churches will put it in their sign. “Welcome. Here are our service times, and here is what we believe about the endtimes.” It will be right on their sign. “If you want to be a member here, you have to believe this about the end times. It's extremely important.” Everything revolves around their views of the second coming. 2.) The gifts of the Spirit is another one. Are the gifts of the Spirit operational today, or were they only around for when the Apostles were here? Is there such a thing as a miracle today? Is there such a thing as the prophetic today? Does God still use the gifts of tongues? Does God still use words of knowledge? Does He still speak through the Spirit to the churches, or is that something that is gone? On each of these views we've mentioned so far, I know for a fact there are people who believe different things about these right here in this church and have been here for years. They're worshipping side by side the same Lord, and I think that's a strength. I know that's a strength of this church. We major in the majors. The gifts of the Spirit, are they operational today? There are divisions, denominations, and factions in churches over that issue. 3.) The sacraments-communion and baptism. Baptism-do we immerse all the way, or do we sprinkle? Is it for infants? Is it for adults? I remember a lady who had really long hair. She told me she had to be baptized seven times. I asked, “Why did you have to be baptized seven times?” She said, “Because my church believes that unless you're fully immersed, it doesn't count. The tips of the follicles of my hair would come out. They couldn't get me deep enough in the baptismal for all of my hair to go under.” People all around her were holding her hair down so it would count. There is an entire denomination that teaches that unless you are baptized and the minister says, “In Jesus' name,” during the baptism, it doesn't count and you're not saved. Going back to the gifts of the Spirit, there are people who believe that unless you speak in tongues, you're not a Christian and you're not saved. We're going to have baptisms today at our picnic. There are going to be some adults that are going to be baptized because they have repented of their sins. They have made a commitment to Christ. Did you know that what we're going to do today, centuries ago, Christians were killed for that? Did you know that? There was a reformation and a man by the name of Zwingli who got some guys named Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz. They were the founders of the antibaptists from which many of our denominations have sprung from. They said, “You know, Mr. Zwingli, we're not seeing infant baptism in the Bible. We don't remember it. We didn't give our permission. Why can't we get baptized again because of our faith?” They started to do that then. Antibaptist means to be re-baptized. They didn't like that term because they felt like it was their first baptism. That was their conviction. They got so up in arms that Zwingli ordered the execution of 5,000 Christians. Do you know how they died? They were drowned. Felix Manz and others were drowned because they were baptized as adults. That is so sad. Murder was committed in the name of Christ. It's hard to imagine. Communion-it should be something that unites us, right? Yet, there is division over communion. Is it the Body of Christ, or is it just symbolic of the Body of Christ? Is it just the power, the essence of Jesus in the elements; or is it just memorial? There are churches and denominations that have split on that topic. 4.) The role of women in the church. Should they teach in the church? Can they teach? Can they be pastors, elders, deacons? What is their role? Should they be silent in the church? We've had people leave our church and say, “You have women in positions of authority. I can't worship with you,” and they left our church. 5.) What is the nature of hell and demons? Can a Christian be possessed? Are there demons today? Do they possess people? I put etc because there are all kinds of other theological differences we have. Then there are other differences. Besides theological differences, let's take a look at that list. There are differences such as political points of view. Do you know that at Faith Community Church, we actually have Republicans, Democrats, and Independents worshipping together (congregation laughing)? There are educational-and I'm not going to tell you who is who-differences in this church. Some of us have degrees. Some of us dropped out of high school. What does the Bible say about our educational differences? There are socioeconomic differences. We have some who are affluent, most of us who are middle-class, and others who are really struggling. There are cultural differences. We bring out culture into our worship. I've worshipped with a few different cultures. I've appreciated them all. When I'm on vacation, we love to go to African American churches because they're so friendly. They're so lively, and their choir is powerful. The preaching is entirely different. I can't preach in that style. The congregation talks back. We're quiet in here; it's our culture, but they're talking back to their preacher. It's a conversation going on back and forth. It's not my thing, but I enjoy it. I enjoy being a part of it. One Sunday we were in a church in New Jersey. We were the only white people in the church. They said, “Any first time visitors today?” (Congregation is laughing.) We were sitting in the back, and everyone turned and looked at us and smiled. Then I smiled, and we had a great time. When we worship with the Haitians, they bring their culture. When we worship with the Dominicans, they bring their Latin culture. When we worshipped with the Swedes, they brought their culture-which was different than any of the above. It's one Body of Christ, but in some cultures, it affects how we dress. What is acceptable? Each culture is very different. In our culture today, there is fighting in the church among dress. There are churches that you have to wear a suit and tie to. You have to wear a nice dress because you have to look your best for God. I appreciate that. I understand where they're coming from. Others will say some people won't come to church because they don't want to come to a fashion show. The Bible doesn't talk about how we're supposed to dress when we come to church. It doesn't say anything about that. Maybe God didn't think it was that important. They say we can just come comfortably-dressed. There are two different schools of thought on that. What music do we have in our church? That's cultural. [There are churches where] all you can have is an organ, or you may have no music. Some churches have that culture-no instruments. Others say, “We can have guitar. We can have drums, but we just can't have it too loud.” Others are all out like you're going to a rock concert. I suppose one of these days some churches are going to have rap. That's where we draw the line right there! No rap in the church! I'm sure it's probably going on somewhere. We bring our culture. We have racially-different ethnic backgrounds. We have philosophical differences. How should we govern the church? What's our target audience? How do we reach that target audience? Where do we allocate our resources? There are all kinds of differences: theological, cultural, gender, socioeconomic. You name it, we have all these differences. How, then, do we overcome all those differences? By making the main thing the main thing-by keeping that which is primary, primary. I'd like us to look at some Scriptures this morning, and I want to read them in succession because I want you to see the commonality of these key Scriptures. First is Galatians 3:28 (page 1153 in pew Bibles). Paul writes and says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek…” It doesn't matter your nationality. “…slave nor free…” It doesn't matter your socioeconomic status. “…male or female…” It doesn't matter your gender. “…for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Let's look at another in Colossians 3:11 (page 1167). The Apostle Paul writes these words, “Here…” in the Church. “…there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” Now what is a Scythian? A Scythian was a barbarian. This was identifying a particular kind of barbarian. When we think of barbarians, we think of Conan the Barbarian and axes and spears and blood and guts-at least I do. Really, the word or the title barbarian comes from how they talked. It used to be said that when they talked, it sounded like they were saying, “Bar, bar, bar, bar,” so that's how it came to be called barbarian. It sounds like they're babbling because they were uneducated, uncivilized. Barbarian was code for uneducated, uncivilized. The Scythians lived in the area that is now Russia. They were pretty much warrior nomads, and they were looked down upon, “You're not educated like the Jews and the Greeks. You're barbarians! You can't even talk correctly!” We talked about educational differences. Paul was saying at the cross the barbarian is welcome. At the cross, the uncivilized, the uneducated, can come and receive the same gift as the educated. Basically, he's saying, “God takes away all of those barriers and all those labels, and He replaces them with the words brother and sister when we are in Christ.” In the Book of Ephesians 4:4-6 (page 1158), there are powerful Verses that Pastor Jesse read. “There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to one hope when you were called-one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” What is the emphasis there? What is the key word in that Passage? One. There may be many denominations, but there is only one church. There may be many different splits of churches, offshoots, and factions, but there is only one faith, one universal faith. What we have in common is greater than our differences. As I look out over this sanctuary, I see all different kinds of people. There are people who are young, and there are people who are not so young. Some of us are thin; some of us are not so thin. Some of us are introverts; some of us are extroverts. Some of us are musical; some of us are mechanical. Some of us are athletic; some of us are creative, administrative. There are just all kinds of temperaments, all kinds of talents, all kinds of different passions; yet at the core of our very being, what are we? [We are] human beings made in the image of God and unique expressions of the living God. The same is true in the church. Each denomination or each group has a different expression of what the church is supposed to be. This group over here teaches us the value of reaching lost people. Every time they go in there, it's an evangelistic kind of message, and altar call. This group over here teaches us about the importance of reaching out to the poor and ministering to those who are victims of society. Then there is another group that teaches us the importance of holiness and quiet reverence and worship. There is another group that teaches us to celebrate and have joy. There is another group over here that teaches us the importance of rightly dividing the Word of Truth. There is another group over here that teaches us about the power of the Spirit. This group over here teaches us that we need to minister to the homeless and reach out to the sick. This group over here emphasizes community and loving one another. Friends, they are all unique expressions of the Body of Christ, and they're all important; but those differences we have should not divide us. It's okay to say, “This is my style preference, and I have this set of belief on this secondary doctrine.” But to say, “I will not fellowship with you,” or “our church will not work with you,” or “we don't see you as Christians even though you believe 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 with all of your heart and you're sincerely seeking to follow Christ, because I differ with you on this peripheral doctrine and this secondary doctrine; because you dress this way and worship this way, I must disassociate with you” is wrong and unbiblical. What you are doing is you are taking secondary doctrine and you are placing it over primary doctrine. You and I are saying what is different is greater than what unites us. What is different is greater than what we have in common is our belief in who Jesus is, what He accomplished, and the importance of Scripture. When we do that, friends, division, destruction, and ineffectiveness happen. We could do so much more together. The Day of Compassion is just one example of that. Could this church- 650 or 700 people-have fed that many thousands of people, shared the Gospel with that many thousands of people? We would have had to be in 100 percent, and I still don't think we could have done that. In fact, I know we couldn't have. It took all of those churches pooling their resources together. Love in the Name of Christ is an ongoing ministry that came forth from that. Still today, all these churches in the community are working together to accomplish the same objectives. We can do so much more together than we can apart. When we take that which is secondary and we elevate it above that which is primary, we are saying, “These things down here are more important than the things that God has said are the most important.” That's wrong, and that's unbiblical. That's not the kind of church we are. Let's listen now to the second part of this media as he wraps this illustration up and just ties this message together for us. Let's watch the conclusion now (here's the link to the second part of the video: http://www.sermonspice.com/bundle/27225/the-source-one-bundle.) Father, this message is something vitally important to the Body of Christ. Your prayer is that we are one. Lord, many times we are divided over things that should not divide us. We must focus on that which unites us, that which we have in common, that which is the greatest; that is our faith in who You are, what You did, and the fact that You are Lord. Father, I pray that we as a church would continue to form bonds with other believers to mend fences with believers where there has been division and shouldn't have been. I pray that we will make things right and be able to have unity in the midst of our diversity. Father, we thank You for the unique gift to the Body of Christ, what each group brings to the table, what they all teach us and how together we are unique expressions of a whole. For Christ cannot be separated; His body is One. Help us now to apply what we have learned and live it. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. (This is a link to the video played at the end of the service today: http://www.strengthteam.com/outreach/content/development).

Nevada Fall A trip down the Merced river starting at the rim of Yosemite Valley, down the cascade at Illilouette Creek, then over to the top of Nevada Fall, down to Vernal Fall with a jump off Swinging Bridge into the river in Yosemite National Park.My new camera can shoot movie clips too and this movie was shot with this camera. As video cameras go, its pretty awful but it has a big advantage over my real video cam. Its small enough to fit in my pocket and as my main still camera, I'll carry it around with me a lot. A crapcam in the pocket is worth a TV studio at home. Maybe now I'll post to this blog more often.Download: Down The Merced River, 22MB, 3.5 minutes

Floods in Yosemite Valley aren't uncommon during spring runoff, when the Merced River swells with melted snow and overflows into meadows. The largest, least common floods occur during winter--most recently in January 1997. See what Yosemite Valley looked like during the floods of May 1996 and January 1997.