Participants: Pr. Lyle Albrecht
Series Code: RIN
Program Code: RIN000004
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01:01 It's good to see you again.
01:02 Each evening at precisely this time, we travel together. 01:07 And I think that this evening you're going to especially 01:10 enjoy our journey because it's really 01:12 taken right in your own backyard. 01:15 We're going to go see Mount St. Helens. 01:17 And en route, we're going to drive through some of this 01:20 same country to get there. 01:22 Would you just lean back, relax and 01:25 fasten your seatbelts tightly. 01:27 We begin right now. 01:29 Mount St. Helens 01:34 Peggy and I, at the time Mount St. Helens erupted, 01:37 were doing evangelistic work in the city of Denver, Colorado. 01:42 And of course, it made national news, it made worldwide news 01:45 in just a matter of short hours. 01:47 And so, as soon as we were able to get back to 01:49 the Pacific Northwest, we decided we would take a trip 01:54 to go to see some of the damage, go to the area, 01:57 shoot some pictures. 01:59 We picked up my mother and our son Troy, 02:02 and made our way up, first through northern Idaho 02:06 up through Coeur d'Alene. 02:07 And this, by the way, is Lake Coeur d'Alene. 02:10 And we may have a shot or two of Lake Pend Oreille as well. 02:14 We crossed into Canada there above Sandpoint, Idaho. 02:18 And then we turned toward the west and moved across 02:21 over through southern Canada, and then over 02:25 about Brewster, Washington. 02:26 Do any of you know where that might be? 02:27 Yea, I thought so. 02:29 Then we came back down south and made our way over the mountains. 02:34 When I show pictures like these, by the way, 02:36 in certain parts of the world, they just can't believe 02:41 that we live in this kind of beauty. 02:44 And indeed, we are very, very privileged. 02:46 Aren't we, you and I? 02:47 These natural lakes, because generally when you see a lake 02:51 this large elsewhere, the folks say, "Well, where's the dam? 02:55 How deep is the water right behind the dam?" 02:57 And these are natural, and they're the result of snow melt. 03:01 And there's nothing else quite like them in all the world 03:03 that I'm aware of. 03:04 I remember, we'd just dropped over the hill down in toward 03:07 Wenatchee when I shot that picture. 03:10 And there we picked up another buddy. 03:12 And then go over the Cascades and come down 03:15 in and around the Toutle River. 03:18 This is Mount St. Helens, of course, before the blast. 03:20 That's Spirit Lake. 03:22 Some of you have been there. 03:23 How many of you, by the way, have been there to 03:24 picnic or have a good time? 03:26 My brother celebrated his wedding, he honeymooned 03:30 on the shores of that lake. 03:32 And he met the old character that managed the lots there. 03:36 Do you remember his name? 03:37 Not the President, but Harry Truman, exactly so. 03:40 We'll say more about old Harry in just a little bit. 03:43 One of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. 03:47 By 1979, the mountain was showing signs 03:51 of coming back to life. 03:53 In fact, the north face was, early in '79, beginning to grow 03:58 and bulge like a tumor. 04:00 From time to time, the mountain would give off a puff or two 04:03 of smoke and vapor and steam. 04:06 And then she would quiet down. 04:08 And then she would give another little bit of a puff, 04:10 and then quiet down again. 04:14 There was the real danger that the thing might explode 04:17 with an eruption that was unknown in modern times, 04:21 in the United States at least. 04:22 And so folks with an interest and a fascination in 04:25 volcanoes and volcanism, came by the hundreds. 04:28 Chief among them was David Johnston 04:32 who'd been studying the volcanoes up in around Alaska 04:35 and the Aleutian Peninsula's. 04:37 And so he came down and made a camp 5 miles from the summit 04:42 on the north face of the mountain. 04:44 He had a tent. 04:46 He had a number of cameras that were automatically triggered 04:50 any time there was either motion or 04:52 seismic reactions of any kind. 04:56 He would report to a radio station in Vancouver, 05:00 a little puff of smoke, a little steam. 05:02 And then he would give the hour and the time, and document it 05:05 in his own journal. 05:08 And those reports were going all across the Unites States. 05:11 And they were also simultaneously going 05:14 by satellite feed clear around the world. 05:19 Tourists began to flock to the area. 05:22 Many of them from the state of Washington. 05:24 Many others from the Pacific Northwest. 05:27 But lots of them from elsewhere across the United States. 05:30 And several from far, far away. 05:32 As far away as New Zealand. 05:35 Folks wanted to be there if something spectacular was... 05:38 When history is made, you want to be a part of it. 05:40 You want to be nearby where it happened and when it happened. 05:44 Any of you folks ever been in a time or place 05:46 where you got to see the President? 05:48 Any of you ever seen, yea, a President of the United States? 05:51 You'll always remember that. 05:52 And so, folks teamed in here, flocked in here, 05:56 and began to set up camps. 06:02 By the middle of May, the federal government 06:06 had put a cordon down around the base. 06:10 Yes, before the middle of May, by the first of it. 06:12 The last of April and the first of May, 06:15 the federal government had put a cordon around the base. 06:19 And they were allowing to go in and out, 06:21 only the folks who lived inside that perimeter. 06:25 And also, they were allowing the loggers to go in. 06:28 To cut the trees and trim them up, load them on the trucks 06:32 and take them down to the saw mill 06:34 over around Longview-Kelso, Washington. 06:39 During this period of time, you'll remember, 06:41 old Harry Truman, that salty, crusty character 06:45 became something of a folk hero. 06:49 The news people from around the world were fascinated by him. 06:54 They, evidently, hadn't met folks from the 06:57 Pacific Northwest in number. 06:59 But he was quite typical, I think, of a lot of the folks 07:02 who live back in the mountains and the valleys 07:04 of the Pacific Northwest. 07:06 He had a facade that was hill country, mountain country. 07:13 And he had a sense of humor that was wry. 07:16 And he had a vocabulary that could cause a sailor to blush 07:21 from time to time. 07:24 Well, there's a little puff and there's a little plume, 07:26 and then she would quite down. 07:27 Folks, when she would puff like that, would vacate 07:31 and make sure they were beyond the perimeter. 07:33 But then after she quieted down, they would come back again. 07:38 This is a bit of the bulge on the north face. 07:41 But if we back 4 or 5 miles, surely we're going to be safe. 07:44 Because, traditionally, when a volcano explodes, 07:47 and throughout history this has been the case, 07:49 she blows right out through the top. 07:52 The cone, you know it's like an inverted ice cream cone, 07:56 it's larger down at the bottom and then becomes more narrow. 07:58 And without exception, they blew out right through the top. 08:02 And so folks were quite sure the same thing 08:04 was going to happen here. 08:06 But of course, we know now, it would not and it did not. 08:10 There he is, old Harry Truman. 08:13 And the television people and and the reporters would 08:16 gather around him, "Aren't you afraid, Harry?" 08:18 "I ain't afraid of nothing. " 08:20 "Why," he said, "I've hand wrestled mountain lions. 08:23 I have, with my bare hands, killed bears and 08:26 I'm afraid of nothing. " 08:28 "Well what if the mountain blows?" 08:30 "If she blows, I've got a fifth of Jack Daniels whiskey 08:33 in the cave and I'm going to be fine. 08:35 I'll ride her out. " 08:37 Those who knew him best said that he did have a 08:40 sense of fear, he did have some trepidation. 08:43 But there was no place in the world he would 08:46 rather live or die. 08:47 He'd spent most of his life here in the shadow of the mountain 08:51 and on the shores of Spirit Lake. 08:52 And he'd buried family members in a little plot there. 08:55 And he was not about to leave. 08:59 I want to tell you another story about old Harry. 09:05 Here's before the mountain blew. 09:07 Another famous Washingtonian who became the 09:11 Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 09:13 Can anyone guess who I'm talking about? 09:16 Who was it now? 09:18 From Yakima, Washington. Do you know? 09:22 Chief Justice William O. Douglas 09:24 had climbed nearly every major mountain. 09:27 When he was 11 years of age, some of you may or may not know. 09:30 And by the way, if you haven't read a biography or two 09:33 on William O. Douglas, native of Yakima, 09:35 you need to do it. 09:37 When he was a very small child, he contracted poliomyelitis. 09:41 And his legs were withered and twisted. 09:44 And it was thought that he would never be able to walk 09:46 rightly or correctly, and certainly not run. 09:49 But his mother began, as any mother would, 09:52 to work on his legs, to massage his legs, 09:55 and to go walking with him. 09:57 And he'd go limping along as just a little boy. 09:59 And his mother, each week, would take him a little 10:01 further journey and a little further journey. 10:03 And then she began to encourage him with his friends 10:07 to go back up into the Cascades, the east side of the Cascades, 10:11 those that are west of the city of Yakima. 10:14 And by the time he was 11 years of age, 10:16 he was going on 3 and 4 day campouts, sometimes alone, 10:21 way back up in the Cascades. 10:23 And he climbed nearly all of the highest peaks. 10:26 And then he began to climb and study the Wallowa mountains. 10:30 In fact, he said of all the places he did climb, 10:33 including great mountains over in Switzerland, 10:35 the Wallowa's were his favorite. 10:37 And he had purchased a little property back up a certain 10:41 Wallowa canyon, and built there a little cabin. 10:45 He had gone fishing here at Spirit Lake. 10:48 Or he had gone in with the intention to fish, 10:50 I should better say. 10:51 And he stopped in at old Harry Truman's lodge 10:54 and purchased some fishing gear, some tackle. 10:58 And purchased a fishing license. 11:02 He happened to be wearing on that day, something that was 11:06 customary for him when he was out 11:08 hiking the mountains and camping. 11:10 A khaki shirt, and khaki shorts above the knee, and a straw hat. 11:17 And he strolls into Harry Truman's establishment. 11:21 And he says, "I'd like to buy this. " 11:23 And he made his purchases and Harry said nothing. 11:27 And then he said, "Sir, do you have any suggestions where 11:30 I might catch a few trout? 11:32 Any certain place that you would recommend?" 11:34 And old Harry looked him up and down and said, 11:37 "I can't imagine a sissy like you 11:39 catching anything anywhere. " 11:43 And Supreme Court Justice wasn't one to be backed down. 11:47 easily or he wouldn't become what he'd become. 11:50 And so he kind of bristled and gave it right back. 11:54 And at that time, old Harry Truman said, 11:56 "You get the... out of my joint and don't you 12:00 come back here you... " 12:01 And then he used some unkind words. 12:08 And so Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas 12:13 turned, went out through the door and started down the 12:16 pathway toward his car. 12:19 And one of Mr. Truman's friends said to him, 12:21 "Harry, do you have any idea whom you've just 12:24 kicked out of the joint?" 12:25 He said "No I don't, and furthermore, I don't care. " 12:30 He said, "Perhaps you ought care. 12:32 You have just kicked out Supreme Court Justice 12:36 William O. Douglas. " 12:37 And they said old Harry's jaw dropped 12:39 "Oh no," he said. 12:41 And he went running out and hollering after him. 12:43 "Excuse me sir, please excuse me. " 12:45 And he apologized all over himself and he said, 12:48 "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to take you fishing. " 12:51 And the Justice said, "Alright sir, we could be friends. " 12:56 And believe it or not, they became pen pals. 12:59 And they wrote together up until the time of 13:02 William O. Douglas' death. 13:04 They were pen pals. 13:07 And so that's just a little bit of the character of 13:09 old Harry Truman who lived up here and decided he was 13:12 going to die here as well. 13:14 Now this was one of the eruptions before the great blow. 13:19 This is a little bit of a picture of the cone style 13:22 of the original volcano. 13:24 The typical volcano, I should better say. 13:26 And by the way, we here in the Pacific Northwest 13:28 are circled around with them. 13:30 You know that, of course. 13:31 And beyond that, what is known as the Pacific Rim, 13:34 which includes those many places around the Indian Ocean, 13:39 are just pock marked with live but inactive volcanoes. 13:43 Some are active, some become active and then 13:45 go dormant for a while. 13:46 But, we're in the volcano part of the world, indeed we are. 13:52 And so it was thought that the volcano would blow 13:54 right out through the top. 13:55 It had some steam vents off to the side as you can see. 13:59 They had released a little pressure. 14:01 But it was not to be that way with this mountain. 14:06 On May 18, 8:32 in the morning, 1980, 14:13 David A. Johnston, from his camp set up 5 miles 14:16 on the north face, got on his two-way radio 14:19 and shouted into the microphone, 14:20 "Vancouver, this is it. Vancouver, this is. " 14:25 And he was blasted into outer space. 14:28 He was incinerated from a distance of 5 miles. 14:31 And the mountain began an eruption that would soon 14:35 blacken the sun. 14:37 This was an eruption that could easily be seen from 14:39 satellites in outer space. 14:41 Now this is a little bit of a diagram. 14:43 The dotted line there is what the mountain was 14:46 before the explosion. 14:48 Right up there, the summit a little above 9,600. 14:51 False summit over here, they say 9,677 ft. 14:55 And it was a bit higher than that over here 14:57 toward the South Rim. 15:00 And this is the hole that was blown out in that explosion. 15:04 Those who've done the study say that this mountain 15:09 blew out 1 square mile of rock, ash, and lava. 15:15 That means, we build a fence that is a mile this way, 15:19 and a mile that way, and a mile this way, 15:21 and a mile back this way. 15:22 And then it is one mile high. 15:25 And we fill that crib, if you please, 15:28 with rocks and ash and lava. 15:31 And that's how much was blown out of this mountain. 15:34 In terms of the timber that was blown down, 15:37 more than 1 billion board feet in that first initial blast. 15:43 It was something awesome. 15:45 It may be that some of your relatives 15:46 were logging up in the area. 15:48 Or maybe they went up to do some of the 15:49 logging afterward, I don't know. 15:51 I do know very well, that when I was working over along 15:54 the Columbia River a few years ago, I had the privilege to 15:56 baptize a man who was cutting logs a little bit south 16:00 from Mount St. Helens, just up above the Columbia River 16:03 And he said, "My ears are still ringing and I can 16:05 still feel the heat. " 16:07 It was awesome. It was earth shaking. 16:09 But it wasn't the greatest event the world would every know. 16:12 Now this, by the way ladies and gentlemen, is a picture 16:15 from outer space. 16:17 A picture taken from a satellite at the time of the explosion. 16:21 About 3 minutes after the initial blow. 16:24 Peggy and I were living, at the time, 16:26 if you can follow my pointer, right over here toward the 16:29 right and center of the screen. 16:31 This is the state of Idaho, of course. 16:33 And we were living right there, just north from 16:35 Boise and Garden Valley. 16:37 And we were fearful that some of that ash that was blown out 16:41 might settle on our house. 16:43 It might cause the decks to cave in. 16:46 You never knew how much was going to settle 16:48 or really exactly where. 16:49 And we were pretty sure it was going to kill the lawn. 16:52 There was nothing we could do about it. 16:54 But we were working, as I've said a bit ago, 16:56 over in Denver, Colorado. 16:59 By the following morning, 28 hours after the 17:03 initial explosion, I went out to our car parked on the 17:07 west side of Denver, and I scraped off of the windshield 17:10 and the hood, enough of that ash to fill a matchbox. 17:15 I have it somewhere still. 17:17 When we made our trip up here, we scooped up more of it. 17:22 And I had the opportunity to take it between 17:24 my fingers and to rub. 17:26 It looked like talcum powder. 17:29 But when you rubbed it just a little bit, it quickly took 17:32 the edges off your fingers and it would trim your fingernails. 17:35 It was a grit that looked very, very fine and very powdery. 17:39 But in reality was not. 17:40 How many of you had some of it in your yard, 17:42 you had it on your roof top? 17:44 Yea, you sure... How much was there here? 17:46 As much as a foot in places or more or less? 17:49 Yea, about that much. 17:50 That's my recollection of this part of the state of Washington. 17:53 Around a foot, some places more. 17:56 And there was a great worry here in the fruit growing areas, 17:58 over around Brewster and south from there, 18:00 and over in the Yakima Valley and over in the area around 18:06 Walla Walla, there was a fear that it would destroy the crops. 18:10 But we discovered later that there was 18:12 something nutritive about it. 18:14 There was an apple bumper crop 18:16 that next fall after the explosion. 18:19 And so it's curious what happens. 18:20 But at any event, not one drop, not one least bit of ash 18:25 fell on our home over here. 18:28 But the force blew that material way up into the stratosphere, 18:32 way up into the atmosphere, and the jet stream caught it and 18:36 took it over the Rocky Mountains and deposited a lot of it 18:39 on the other side. 18:40 So you didn't get all of it, not by any means. 18:43 I can remember so very well, however, watching on television 18:46 what was going on here and in Spokane and elsewhere. 18:49 How the state troopers were going into the equipment shops, 18:54 going into the mechanics, and they were putting those 18:56 great big truck breathers on the sides of the cars. 18:59 And the trucks and the trains had to put some kind of 19:03 special breathing apparatus so that stuff wouldn't be 19:06 sucked inside the engines. 19:07 And it would cut the rings, they said, out of an engine 19:10 in just a matter of a few revolutions. 19:12 It was something else, wasn't it now. 19:15 Well, the picture from outer space. 19:17 Now, this is the after shot. 19:21 This is from near the camp of David Johnston, those 5 miles 19:25 to the north where he thought he was perfectly safe. 19:28 But the mountain blew out from the north side. 19:31 It didn't go out through the top as had been expected. 19:34 But rather blew out from the north face. 19:36 We're going to see the crater now. 19:39 They tell me, and I know it's true because not too very long, 19:42 I flew over it, our jet went right over and so we could 19:46 have a look down inside. 19:47 And I know that bulge, that cone, is growing. 19:51 It's much larger than what you see it here again. 19:53 And from time to time, it puffs out a little bit again. 19:56 It's not gone to sleep entirely, not by any means. 20:00 This is looking down into the fire hole 20:02 about 3 days afterward. 20:04 This was taken, by the way, by a very brave helicopter pilot. 20:08 There's no way in the world you would have gotten me 20:10 to fly inside there just a few hours after the thing had blown. 20:14 But you can see the fire down in the fire hole there still. 20:17 Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is the timber. 20:21 It reminded me of being in the pet shop after they had 20:24 clipped a half a dozen dogs and 14 cats. 20:27 This is big timber. 20:30 Douglas Fir and other varieties of evergreens. 20:34 It was thought surely that it would be a waste. 20:37 But the loggers moved in. 20:39 And they had to pay big money to get anyone to go in there 20:42 to cut the logs initially. 20:43 If any of you have ever cut logs, and I have, 20:45 you know the danger when one is bent a little bit 20:48 and in a spring like affect, and nearly all of these were. 20:51 And lots of the loggers gave their lives. 20:54 And more than that, they had to change their chains. 20:57 There was a crew, by the way, of folk who were paid 21:00 a little less money to go in and to chop a ring 21:03 around the base of the trees. 21:05 They had to cut, not only those that were blown down, 21:08 but those that were still standing if they had been 21:11 ringed and encircled by the ash. 21:14 And we're going to see some that were affected in just that way. 21:17 They had to chop that away down to the core of the tree 21:22 to get the bark off and away. 21:24 And still yet, that grit would dull a chain saw 21:27 after 3 or 4 cuts. 21:29 And they'd either have to sharpen or completely change 21:32 the chain on the chain saw. 21:35 Now this is a logging camp 7 miles away, 21:38 ladies and gentlemen. 21:39 And it looks like a little kids play box, doesn't it? 21:41 It looks like the sand box, maybe. 21:43 But these are huge, huge off road log trucks. 21:49 And you see them here. 21:50 They've been blown away. 21:51 There are the trailers over there. 21:53 And the trucks blown and rolled, there's the gravel truck 21:56 where they've been putting gravel on the roads here. 21:58 And this will help you to get a little bit of a feeling 22:00 for the size of the timber, the logs in this log yard. 22:06 Amazing. 22:08 There's an airplane flying over the north side 22:12 a few days after the blow. 22:16 There were fascinating stories. 22:19 There were also tragic stories. 22:22 And during the lecture, we may say 22:23 more about that as time allows. 22:25 But some of you folks may remember the story 22:28 that was involved around this pickup. 22:31 There was a man who'd taken his two little boys for the weekend 22:34 to go camping up near the mountain. 22:37 They wanted to go up to be close to where she was 22:39 puffing and steaming. 22:41 And they paid the ultimate price. 22:42 They said when they got inside to where their remains were, 22:48 it was as if they had been baked 22:51 inside a microwave oven for about an hour. 22:59 Sixty folks lost their lives. 23:03 The fortunate thing, I think not just fortunate but miraculous, 23:07 in which we can again see the hand of God, 23:09 the miraculous thing was that it happened 23:12 early on a Sunday morning. 23:14 Had it happened on any other week day, 23:16 there would have been many more loggers and woodsmen 23:19 and forest service folks out in and around the area. 23:22 And the loss of life would have surely been far, far greater. 23:26 There is a machine like Lyle operated for about 6 years. 23:30 That's a big Link-Belt Log Loader. 23:32 We called them "the jammer". 23:34 And you can see it's over on its side. 23:36 Well it's not only over on it's side, it was blown about 23:38 175 feet from where it had been sitting before. 23:43 They talk about the power of tornadoes. 23:44 Nothing compared to this. 23:46 This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Toutle River. 23:49 The Toutle River was filled with logs because when the 23:54 explosion happened, it melted the eternal snows on the sides. 23:59 Mostly the north but also on the west side of Mount St. Helens. 24:04 Instantly it melted and the water ran down, 24:06 and there came a flood down the Toutle, and the Cowlitz as well. 24:10 And it picked up from the log camps these logs, 24:13 and they went down through the river and began to 24:16 hit those bridges like battering rams. 24:18 And I can still, in my minds eye, see the television pictures 24:22 of the people who were standing on the bridge looking over. 24:26 You know, they wanted to be there close up and personal. 24:29 And any moment, you know the bridge is 24:32 going to be smashed to bits. 24:33 And they're going to be washed out into the... 24:37 Amazing. 24:39 Nothing like seeing it first hand, is there? 24:42 Yea, I'll have a guess some of those folks were from Idaho. 24:44 I'm not real sure. 24:46 Now this is what it was like, when a few days after 24:49 the explosion Peggy and I and our friends and 24:52 our boy went up there. 24:53 Look at those trees. 24:55 Now we're looking up about 12 feet here. 24:58 And by the way, we're about 14 miles downstream the Toutle. 25:03 We're a long ways from where the explosion happened. 25:05 And there you see that white line. 25:08 That was the high mark of the ash and the lava 25:11 and the snow melt and the water. 25:12 There's ol' Troy, that's our baby boy. 25:15 And this is even further on down. 25:16 And there, by the way, is one of those rings that they chopped 25:19 around the bottom so they can put the power saws in 25:23 and be able to fall those trees. 25:24 They had to cut them if they had been encircled around 25:27 with that ash because they we're going to die. 25:30 The nutrients were sealed off, the air was sealed off 25:32 to the base roots, and they we're going to die. 25:35 There's Troy picking up some of that ash 25:37 that I mentioned to you a bit ago, 25:39 and rubbing it between his fingers. 25:42 Well, our then President Jimmy Carter came out and 25:47 flew over the place. 25:48 And then he said, and I shall never forget, 25:50 "It reminded me of the pictures that I had seen 25:54 of the soft landings on the moon. 25:57 It reminded me of moonscapes. " 26:00 By the way, would any of you folks recognize 26:03 this little lady here? 26:05 Who is that? 26:07 That's Dixie Lee Ray, your Governor at the time, of course. 26:11 And a good one she was. 26:15 I heard a couple of you laugh. 26:17 I heard you. 26:19 Well, this is downstream. 26:22 Downstream many, many miles. 26:24 And this is when the mountain first began to explode, to vent. 26:29 And then she darkened the sky. 26:31 And a lot of the folks thought, "This is it, this is the end. " 26:36 And it was for some. 26:39 I remember reading about folks who were camped 26:41 just upstream a little ways from here 26:44 who jumped in their campers, left their picnic supplies 26:48 left their water hoses, jumped in their campers 26:52 to make an escape. 26:53 And I remember very well one man saying, 26:56 "I took those 45 and 50 mph curves at 65 and 70, 27:01 and perhaps sometimes as fast as 80 mph. " 27:05 And he said, "I barely out ran our friends who were behind us. 27:09 They didn't make it. We made it. " 27:12 Amazing. 27:14 Amazing. 27:21 The awesome power. 27:24 They said it was akin they believed to the explosion of 27:29 50 Hiroshima bombs. 27:32 Remarkable. 27:33 I want to thank you for traveling with me. 27:38 En route here from Arizona where we were doing evangelism, 27:41 Peggy and I came up Highway 93 through Nevada. 27:47 We spent the night near Wells, Nevada. 27:51 A cold night. 27:53 Next morning, we got up early and drove on into Boise, Idaho. 27:57 We were home just a couple of days, and there came 28:01 the announcement, that you folks probably remember hearing, 28:03 that at Wells, Nevada there had been an earthquake. 28:07 And they'd had to shut down the schools and certain other 28:09 civil buildings and auditoriums because of broken pipe lines 28:13 and some downed electricity. 28:14 Places we've never imagined before. 28:17 Earthquakes, tsunamis. 28:19 And so we've entitled our remarks for this evening, 28:21 "Earthquakes, tsunamis: Shake, rattle, and roll. " 28:25 Back in the Rock 'n Roll era, that was a fun expression. 28:28 But it's not so much anymore, as we're going to see. 28:31 I want you, if you will please now, to open your Bibles with me 28:34 to Revelation chapter 6. 28:35 We're going to, from the book of Revelation, 28:37 begin with several scriptures, so leave a bookmark here. 28:40 And we're going to notice many, many scriptures 28:43 as we begin our study. 28:45 Remember now that we have said, every evening I believe, 28:49 that the book of Revelation is not the last book of the 28:52 Bible by accident, but it's for those who live in the last days, 28:55 in the end times. 28:56 And so we begin at chapter 6, you and I, 28:59 and with the 12th verse. 29:01 And then we shall move from there. 29:02 Revelation 6:12 29:06 "I looked, and then He opened the sixth seal 29:09 and there was a great... " 29:11 Now you tell me what it says. 29:13 Alright, I'm glad that you have your Bibles 29:15 and you're following along. 29:16 If you don't have a Bible, we'll be glad to give you one. 29:19 It's very important that we see this with our own eyes 29:22 and read it from our Bibles, and to even memorize 29:25 some of these verses. 29:26 "I looked when He opened the sixth seal and there 29:28 was a terrible, a great earthquake. 29:30 The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, 29:33 and the moon was turned to blood. " 29:35 Now we're going to go over just a couple of chapters. 29:38 Revelation chapter 8, and we're going to read verse 5 29:40 And we're going to see a similarity here. 29:42 And these are all last day prophesies, end time events. 29:46 Revelation 8:5 29:49 "Then that angel took the censor and filled it with fire 29:53 from off the altar and cast it into the earth. 29:56 And there were voices, and there were thunderings, 29:57 and lightenings, and there was a great earthquake. " 30:02 There it is again. 30:03 Let's go to chapter 11, shall we. 30:05 Just a page or two away now. 30:07 Over to chapter 11, and we're going to 30:09 notice verses 13 and 19. 30:12 Revelation 11:13, 19 30:16 "At about the same hour, there was a great... " 30:20 There it is, "... there was a great earthquake 30:22 and a fourth part of the city fell 30:24 as a result of that great earthquake. 30:27 And there were men who were slain, many by the thousands, 30:31 and many were frightened. 30:33 And they looked at the glory of the God of heaven. " 30:36 And then we drop down now, you and I, to verse 18 30:40 and we read these words, verses 18 and 19. 30:43 "The nations were angry, God's wrath had come, 30:47 and the time of the dead, that they ought to be judged, 30:50 and that You should reward Your servants the prophets 30:54 and the saints, and all those that fear Your name, 30:57 small and great, and that You would destroy those 31:00 who destroyed the earth. " 31:01 And then verse 19. 31:03 "The temple of God was suddenly opened in heaven, 31:05 and there was seen in His temple, 31:06 the ark of His testament. 31:07 And there were lightenings, and there were voices, 31:09 and thunderings, and there was an earthquake, 31:12 and there was great hail. " 31:14 Now, chapter 16, as we move on toward the end and 31:17 near to the last days. 31:19 Revelation 16, and we're going to notice together verse 18. 31:24 Revelation 16, and beginning to read now at verse 18. 31:32 "There were voices, there were thunderings, and there were 31:35 lightenings, and there was a great earthquake, 31:38 like there had never been since men were upon the earth, 31:41 an earthquake so mighty or so great. 31:47 I'm going to share with you briefly, my own experience 31:49 in and with and around earthquakes. 31:53 It was only just a few weeks before Peggy and I were married. 31:55 And by the way, for those of you who may be wondering, 31:57 this is not the history of civilization, alright. 32:00 This isn't ancient history of the world. 32:05 Not so long ago. 32:09 I was standing on a certain street corner in Payette, Idaho. 32:15 It was a wonderful summer evening, early July. 32:19 Some friends of mine had driven up, rolled down their window, 32:22 and I was leaning in and talking through when suddenly 32:27 I began to feel as if I'd become drunken, and I knew 32:30 there was no reason for that. 32:32 I looked up and there was a street light. 32:34 And the street light was swinging. 32:36 And I looked over and the telephone poles were swinging. 32:39 And then I knew that I was experiencing 32:41 my very first earthquake. 32:43 This, by the way, in 1960 was the earthquake 32:46 that killed a lot of folks who were camped over in Yellowstone 32:49 and changed the face of that park in many, many ways. 32:53 Much more recently and closer in place as well as time, 32:57 Peggy and I were doing evangelism over in 33:01 the greater Seattle area. 33:02 And we decided one afternoon that we were going to go down 33:05 to Olympia, to an RV store, and look at awnings 33:07 for a motor home. 33:09 We did just that. 33:10 We had parked our car and left Peggy's little dog inside, 33:14 up in the back window. 33:15 And parked next to us were 3 or 4 of those motor homes 33:19 that are about a half a block long and cost a million bucks. 33:22 Do you know what I'm talking about, alright? 33:25 So we were inside now and up against the wall 33:27 were the awnings, and we were looking at them 33:29 and looking at colors. 33:31 And a man came up and said, "Are these within your price range?" 33:36 And I said, "No. " 33:37 And then he said, "Do you hear that, do you hear that?" 33:41 And you've heard folks describe the hurricanes and the 33:43 tornadoes before, haven't you. 33:45 "Like a freight train was coming. " 33:46 And some others have said, "Like a jet engine 33:48 that was taking off. " 33:49 We began to hear this roar. 33:51 And I knew instantly what it was. 33:54 And the man that was there with us said, 33:56 "Maybe we ought to go run stand 33:57 in the doorway of the bathroom. " 33:59 I said, "Maybe we ought to run outside into the parking lot. " 34:03 And that's exactly what we did. 34:04 And we went out to where our car was, and I have a problem 34:08 with motion sickness in any event, and here I am 34:11 leaning up against the trunk, hanging on for dear life. 34:13 Reminded myself of old Fred G. Sanford, you know. 34:16 "Here I come Elizabeth, you hear that honey?" 34:18 And our dog was on the other side of the window, 34:21 and his eyes were this big and he was asking, 34:23 "What are you doing?" 34:24 And those huge motor homes that were parked next to us 34:26 were rolling backward and forward, 34:28 about 12 feet they said. 34:32 When we got back to our motor home, we discovered cans on the 34:36 floor, and one of our sliding doors was off its hinges. 34:40 But no serious damage. 34:42 When that one happened, and how many of you were in it? 34:45 Were any of you, yeah? 34:46 Here are folks that you were in it, you were there, of course. 34:49 And so this is very clear in your minds. 34:52 When this one happened, my sister's youngest son, Todd, 34:56 was in the top of Seattle's second highest building where 35:00 he had a corner office. 35:02 He is a computer genius. 35:04 And he'd help build a company there. 35:06 He was at his desk in the corner and up about 35:10 30 some stories, I believe. 35:12 And he said his building, in comparison to those around it, 35:16 was swaying, it seemed like, 30 feet. 35:18 And then he said, "I looked at the building directly across 35:22 from me, and there were two poor guys who were on one of those 35:27 frames washing the windows. " 35:32 "You hear that Elizabeth?" 35:36 I'm afraid to get on a ladder now for fear 35:38 an earthquake will come. 35:40 And so, that has been my personal experience, 35:44 with one little exception that I'll get to after a bit. 35:47 I want you now to open your Bibles please, 35:48 to Matthew chapter 24. 35:50 We've said on prior evenings that Luke chapters 17 and 21, 35:54 together with Matthew 24, are Jesus' sermons 35:58 on the last day events. 35:59 The disciples have asked Him, "Lord, what's it going to be 36:01 like just before You come back, tell us?" 36:04 And Jesus said it's going to be like this, and like this, 36:07 and this and this and this. 36:09 Matthew chapter 24 and verse 7. 36:13 Here, Jesus speaking of the very last days said, 36:15 "Nation will rise against nation, 36:17 kingdom against kingdom. 36:20 And there stall be famines, and pestilences, 36:23 and earthquakes in many different places. " 36:27 Now the original language, the New Testament languages here 36:29 is saying that in the last days, there are going to be 36:32 earthquakes where folks have never known them before. 36:35 Never heard of them before. 36:36 They've just not been use to them before. 36:38 It is an unusual, a very strange phenomenon. 36:41 Earthquakes in different places. 36:44 Now we're going to go over to Luke chapter 21. 36:46 This is Jesus' continuation on that very same subject. 36:49 "Lord, what's it going to be like?" 36:51 And Jesus said it's going to be like this and this and this. 36:53 "And when you see these things," He said, 36:55 "then know the end is very near. " 36:57 I'm going to take up the reading at verse 11. 37:00 Luke 21:11 37:04 The same theme. 37:06 "Great earthquakes shall be in different places, 37:08 famines and pestilences, and fearful sights 37:12 and great signs there shall be from the heavens as well. " 37:19 Nearly every week, I meet someone who says, 37:21 "Well, I think you're putting too much emphasis here. 37:23 I think you're going overboard. 37:25 I think you're kind of a calamity howler. " 37:26 And not so very long ago, by the way, 37:28 and to my own hearts sorrow, I read a Christian magazine 37:32 that suggested we really ought not to place any undue concern 37:37 on these signs, whether they're wars or rumors of wars, 37:40 or earthquakes, or signs in the heaven, for the end is not yet. 37:43 And what we ought to do is just to have peace and faith 37:46 in the coming of Jesus. 37:48 But Jesus said when you see these things begin, 37:51 then you know it's time to get ready. 37:54 And so I think it's more than of casual importance that we look 37:58 and that we study. 37:59 It's very vitally important, my dears, that we know this Book. 38:02 It's more important, however, that we know its author. 38:07 And when we conclude each evening, 38:08 we turn our eyes upon Jesus. 38:11 We must always conclude in that way. 38:14 But there are those who say, 38:15 "Well it's always been like this. 38:17 I mean, my great, great, great grandfather's. 38:20 I mean, the native Americans wrote about the earthquakes. 38:22 And in story form, they passed it down generationally. 38:27 It's always been, it's just the same as its always been. " 38:30 No, no. 38:31 Well, we're going to read a warning from God in 2 Peter. 38:34 It's time for us to turn together now to 2 Peter. 38:37 And we're going to read from chapter 3, verses 3 and 4. 38:41 2 Peter 3:3-4 38:44 God, in His omniscience, in His all knowing mind, 38:49 knew that this very thing was going to happen. 38:52 That folks are going around saying, 38:53 "Don't worry about it. It's always been like this. 38:56 Never any different from this. 38:57 Why, ever since the forebearers, since our... 39:00 Alright, let's read it. 39:02 "Knowing this first," 2 Peter 3:3-4. 39:06 "Knowing this first, there shall come in the... " 39:08 Which times, huh? 39:11 Yeah, not the days of the pioneers. 39:13 "... in the last days, there shall come scoffers 39:16 who are following after their own lusts. 39:18 And they're saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? 39:22 For since the fathers fell asleep, things have continued 39:25 since they were from the very beginning of creation. '" 39:29 No worse than it's ever been. 39:31 Ah, but wait a minute. 39:33 We read last night from Isaiah, and you "A" students will want 39:35 to now put it in your notes again, 39:37 Isaiah chapter 51 and verse 6. 39:40 There, God describing the world in its end time condition said, 39:45 "The earth will wear out like an old garment. " 39:49 It'll wear out like an old coat that you've worn 39:53 winter after winter until it's become threadbare. 39:56 Now, with that in mind, here are the facts regarding earthquakes. 40:02 From 1970 to the year 2000, disasters, natural, 40:12 affected more people than in the prior thousands of years. 40:19 But we don't go back thousands in our view of the Bible. 40:21 But hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, 40:24 we certainly do. 40:27 Natural disasters from 1970 until 2000 40:31 moved from 70 million, 1970 around 70 million, 40:40 to over 200 million. 40:44 In just 30 years, a little over. 40:46 Since 1900, ladies and gentlemen, there have been 40:50 578 earthquakes that measured 6 point or more 40:54 on the Richter scale. 40:55 And they say somewhere around 5.5 is a major earthquake. 40:59 That is something to take note of. 41:00 That's something that's going to rattle your cupboards 41:04 and spill your coffee. 41:05 In California alone, there were 475 earthquakes 41:11 along the San Andreas Fault. 41:14 I believe, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll study this further 41:16 on another evening, that God sent a great earthquake 41:19 to announce the end times and the last days. 41:22 And we're going to go back to Revelation chapter 6, 41:24 and reread a verse that we used just a little bit ago. 41:27 And we're going to see it in its true end time context. 41:31 Revelation chapter 6 and verse 12. 41:33 This happens to be, by the way, the context of 41:36 the seven last events. 41:37 The 4 horsemen and the 7 seals. 41:41 Chapter 6 and reading verse 12. 41:44 "I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and look, 41:46 there was a great earthquake, and the sun became as black 41:49 as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. " 41:53 Back about 1780, this thing happened. 41:57 And a short time thereafter, there was the dark day 42:00 and the bloody moon. 42:01 And God used this earthquake to announce the end time. 42:04 Now, by the way, in the Bible, there's a vast difference 42:07 between the last days, plural, and the last day, singular. 42:14 There is a vast difference. 42:15 And I'll say once more, I believe and have for 42:18 a long while, that we moved into the end times, plural, 42:21 the last days, plural, back about 1780. 42:25 And as we study further, we shall enlarge upon that 42:28 on subsequent evenings as we've already mentioned. 42:31 The epicenter of this terrible earthquake was Lisbon, Portugal. 42:34 Now there have been earthquakes that killed more people. 42:37 There was one over in China in modern times that we believe 42:40 killed as many as a million folks. 42:42 But the difference between the Lisbon earthquake and others, 42:46 the Lisbon earthquake, we believe, killed 42:48 somewhere around 90,000 people only. 42:50 But that's a lot, that's enough isn't it? 42:52 Alright, that's enough. 42:54 The vast difference between the Lisbon, Portugal earthquake 42:57 and others, perhaps in China that killed more folks, 43:00 was that the Lisbon earthquake shook fully one fourth 43:03 of the surface of planet earth. 43:05 All of the British Isles were shaken. 43:07 All of the western half of Europe, from the far side 43:11 of the Mediterranean Sea. 43:13 The north of the continent of Africa. 43:15 One fourth of the surface of planet earth was terribly shaken 43:19 by this earthquake. 43:20 And then soon thereafter, there was the dark day 43:23 and the bloody moon, and a meteoric shower 43:25 like there had never been before. 43:27 Between 1890 and 1900, ladies and gentlemen, 43:32 there was only just one major earthquake. 43:35 And by that I mean, somewhere around 6.0 on the scale. 43:40 But now, there are thousands of them every week 43:44 on a worldwide base. 43:45 Yea, times have changes. 43:47 Things have not continued as they were 43:50 at the time of our fathers. 43:51 There's a metaphor that I have used for the last 35 years. 43:55 And I think it's best understood by mothers. 43:57 It's first described in Isaiah chapter 13. 44:00 Well, we ought to read it. We have the time. 44:02 Let's go there together. 44:04 It's important, I think, that we see some of these scriptures 44:06 for ourselves and that I don't only just allude to them. 44:09 Isaiah chapter 13. 44:11 Isaiah was a major prophet, of course. 44:13 And God spoke to him about end time events. 44:16 Isaiah, just before Jeremiah. 44:20 And we're going to notice at chapter 13, verses 6-8. 44:27 Isaiah chapter 13. 44:36 "Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand. 44:41 It'll come as a great destruction from the Almighty. 44:45 Therefore shall all hands be faint, 44:50 and men's heart's melt, and they're going to be afraid. 44:54 Pangs of sorrow shall take hold of them. 44:56 And they shall be in pain as a woman that travails. 44:59 They shall be amazed at one another and their 45:01 faces shall be as flames. " 45:05 Now by the way, you read that same illustration 45:08 in Jeremiah 6:24 and in Jeremiah 22:23. 45:15 Jeremiah 22:23, the same illustration of the 45:19 end time events being likened to a woman 45:21 who's about to give birth. 45:23 And then you find the apostle Paul taking up that theme 45:26 and quoting from Isaiah in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3. 45:32 As a woman about to give birth. 45:34 Now, this then is the point. 45:36 You mothers know, and some of you men know 45:39 because you've had the privilege to go in. 45:41 How many of you men were able to go in 45:42 and watch your baby be born? 45:44 That means that you live in the modern world. 45:48 And our old doctor wouldn't let me go to see our babies be born. 45:53 And I was cleaned up. 46:01 The labor pains come nearer and nearer together. 46:06 The contractions, in terms of intensity, grow stronger 46:11 and stronger and stronger, and the pain is greater and greater. 46:17 And I must say that I certainly admire the lady 46:20 who still insists on having the baby without any kind of 46:25 anesthesia or spinal block. 46:27 I've been underneath a log truck. 46:31 I've had nothing like the birth of a baby, 46:34 I've been told at least, by a girl that probably knows. 46:38 Earthquakes to signal the last great events on planet earth. 46:43 I want to just take your minds to the way and time that 46:47 God has used earthquakes to announce great events. 46:50 Matthew 27:50 and following says that when Jesus 46:54 died on the cross, there was a great earthquake. 46:58 He shouted with a loud voice and there was a great earthquake. 47:00 And then it says in Matthew 28:2 that when Jesus, 3 days later 47:06 came out of the grave, there was a great earthquake. 47:10 And this great earthquake was so intense that it 47:13 wakened some of the dead that were in the graveyard, 47:16 in the cemetery around about Him, and they came back. 47:18 Some people believe that those folks who came alive 47:21 in that earthquake were taken to heaven with Jesus 47:24 when 40 days later He ascended. 47:26 We're going to have to wait a while, I suppose, to find out. 47:30 When it was time for the gospel to go to the Gentiles, 47:33 God sent a great earthquake. 47:34 And you read about it in Acts 16:26. 47:38 And the context, of course, finds the apostle Paul and Silas 47:42 in jail over in a little town by the name of Philippi. 47:47 And Gordon, you'll be interested in this. 47:49 That means the town where they love horses. 47:52 Philippi 47:54 Yea, the word Philip, the name Philip means, 47:57 one who loves horses. 48:02 When the time came to send the gospel to the Gentiles, 48:05 God sent an earthquake. 48:06 And God, He says in The Revelation, 48:09 chapter 6 verse 12, especially, He would send a great earthquake 48:13 to announce the last days, the final end. 48:17 Now, I want to talk to you for just a short while 48:20 about some of the major earthquake faults 48:23 here in the United States. 48:25 And we'll start over on the other side and then 48:27 we'll work our way toward the west. 48:29 Manhattan Island, they say, is on an earthquake fault. 48:32 I'd not want to be up in the Trump Towers. 48:35 I'd not want to be up on the top of the Empire State Building 48:39 as I once was, if that should happen. 48:42 Manhattan is on an earthquake fault. 48:45 One of the largest faults, second largest they say, 48:48 is the New Madrid Fault of Missouri. 48:50 And if you look for it on a map, by the way, 48:52 you're going to find it right down in what 48:53 they call the Four Corners. 48:54 That's where Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee 48:57 come together. 48:58 And the thing erupted, it shook, this earthquake, 49:02 several years ago. 49:03 And there was a guy back there that was in the middle of it. 49:06 He was lost, and took him 3 or 4 days to find his way out. 49:10 And when he came out, they found him still 49:12 with his coon skin cap. 49:13 Can you imagine who that was? 49:15 Davey, Davey Crockett. 49:17 Exactly, he was in the New Madrid earthquake. 49:20 And they say, one day she's going to spring loose again. 49:24 And then there's the San Andreas Fault in California. 49:26 And most of us, out here in the west at least, 49:28 hear quite a lot about that. 49:30 She goes off many, many times now every single day. 49:34 The largest earthquake on the North American Continent, 49:37 ladies and gentlemen, is the Cascadia earthquake 49:40 which runs from Northern California up through 49:43 to British Columbia, Canada. 49:45 It runs from about 14 miles to 50 miles off the Pacific coast. 49:50 That means, it's in our backyard. 49:52 The Cascadia Fault. 49:55 Volcanoes, you probably know, are the result of earthquakes 50:01 and those faults, and those tectonic plates 50:04 that push together. 50:05 And the Pacific Rim is lined with the volcanoes, 50:10 as we've mentioned a bit ago. 50:11 Therefore, also in this part of the world we have 50:14 more earthquakes than elsewhere. 50:16 Certainly out in the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines, 50:19 and all around the Indian Ocean. 50:22 I want to mention to you briefly now, some of the earthquakes 50:25 here in the Pacific Northwest. 50:26 There is Glacier Peak. 50:28 Some of these, by the way, are inactive and have 50:30 been for a long while. 50:31 Others of them are active, and some what they call semi-active. 50:35 Glacier Peak here in the Northwest. 50:37 And then Mount Baker up in the Washington 50:39 and British Columbia border. 50:41 And then Mount Rainier, and then Mount Adams, 50:43 and then Mount St. Helens, and the Three Sisters of Oregano, 50:45 and Mount Hood, and Mount Newberry, 50:47 and Crater Lake, and Jefferson Mountain, 50:49 and Shasta Mountain in California, 50:51 and Lassen Mountain, and Garibaldi Mountain. 50:54 Quite a few of them around, huh? 50:57 We talked during the travel log about Mount St. Helens 50:59 and its eruption on May 18 at 8:32 in the morning in 1980, 51:04 and about David Johnston shouting into the microphone, 51:06 "Vancouver, this is it, this is it. " 51:09 I'm going to read to you, and you'll forgive me for reading, 51:12 but it's far better said than I could say it. 51:14 And I think it's important that we read it. 51:16 And so, I'm going to read to you now about Cascadia. 51:18 "This fault is 680 miles long and it runs from 51:24 Central California clear up the Pacific coast and down onto 51:28 Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 51:31 Plates move at a relative rate of about 51:33 10 millimeters per year. 51:35 At a somewhat oblique angle to the subduction zone. 51:41 Because of a very large fault area, 51:43 the Cascadia subduction zone can produce very large 51:47 earthquakes with a magnitude of 9.0 or even greater. 51:50 If a rupture occurred over this whole area, when the lock zone 51:55 stores up energy for an earthquake, 51:57 the transition zone then, although somewhat plastic, 52:01 can suddenly and without warning rupture. 52:04 Unlike most subduction zones worldwide, 52:08 there is, along the Cascadia, no real oceanic trench 52:12 that's present along the continental margin. 52:15 Of Cascadia, instead, there are terraces. 52:19 There's an accretionary wedge that has been uplifted to form 52:24 a series of coasts and exotic mountains out in the Pacific. 52:28 A high rate of sedimentation from the outflow of 52:31 three major rivers; the Fraser, the Columbia, and the Klamath, 52:34 which cross the Cascade Range contributes to further obscuring 52:38 the presence of this trench. 52:39 However, in common with most other subduction zones, 52:42 the outer margin is slowly but surely being compressed 52:46 similar to that of the tightening of a giant spring. 52:49 When this stored energy is suddenly released by a 52:51 slippage across the fault at irregular intervals, 52:54 the Cascadia subduction zone could create 52:57 a very large earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 or more. " 53:02 There have been 11 eruptions of the Cascadia zone 53:06 in the past 4000 years. 53:08 Seven in just the last 200 years. 53:11 But the big one is still out there. 53:14 "Even as death and destruction toll, from the tsunami 53:20 that struck the Southeast Asia a few weeks ago, 53:23 continues to mount... " 53:24 And, by the way, it killed around 300,000 we now know. 53:27 "... the potentiality of the Cascadia Fault is that of taking 53:31 far, far greater life. " 53:33 And then they go on to tell how along the Oregon coast, 53:36 they're now putting up signs of danger over in Seaside 53:39 and on down the coast. 53:40 Because there are places on the 101 Highway where there is not 53:44 a high enough area to get out. 53:46 And they further say that if this one ever releases, 53:49 when the spring goes, we're going to have a warning 53:52 of only 15 seconds. 53:55 Fifteen seconds, and the wave that is going to... 53:57 The wave, by the way, of the tsunami that was out in 54:00 the Southeast Asia, that wave was 30 feet high. 54:03 They say this one is going to be from 50 to 200 feet high. 54:09 And San Francisco, and you go on up to British Columbia, Canada, 54:13 and you can see what could and what will happen. 54:18 Isaiah 2:19-21, God says in the last day, 54:23 "I will arise and shake terribly, the earth. " 54:27 The only question tonight is, are our priorities in order? 54:33 Are you studying and praying? 54:36 Are you witnessing? 54:37 Are you talking to your kids and your spouses, your neighbors? 54:42 Are you attending church and prayer meeting? 54:45 Now I'm going to get very practical with you here. 54:51 Hebrews 10:24-25, speaking about the last days says 54:55 that we ought not forsake the assembling 54:57 of ourselves together, especially as you see the 55:00 end time approaching. 55:02 We're going to need to draw strength from one another. 55:05 It's time to come to church, not only on worship morning, 55:08 but on Wednesday night as well. 55:10 God is giving us the warning, "It's time to get ready. " 55:14 Psalm 46:1-3, there we, though, have God's promise. 55:19 "I will be your refuge and strength, 55:21 I'll be a present help in the time of need. 55:24 You need not fear, though the earth moves 55:27 and the mountains are cast into the sea, 55:29 though the waters roar and the mountains shake. " 55:32 And so we Christians need to come together, 55:34 to worship together and be here for prayer meeting. 55:37 And sing lustily and loudly together, 55:39 "On Christ the solid rock I stand, 55:43 all other ground is sinking sand. " 55:47 "Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee. " 55:57 When Jesus comes, 56:04 there shall be an earthquake 56:08 that will waken the dead in Christ. 56:12 And those who've died with their faith in Jesus 56:16 are going to come out 56:18 and breathe the breath of eternal life. 56:25 Instead of fearing this one, 56:30 I've come to long for it. 56:35 A few weeks ago, Peggy and I put our boy 56:41 in a cemetery in eastern Oregon. 56:48 And soon, there'll come the quake, 56:57 a voice that says, "Awake, time to get up. " 57:03 And we who are alive and remain 57:10 shall be caught up together with them to meet our Lord 57:13 in the air. 57:16 And so shall we always be 57:21 with our Lord. 57:23 Let's pray. 57:31 "Let not your hearts be troubled," You promised. 57:35 "You believe in God, believe also in Me. 57:43 I'm coming. 57:48 I'm coming with a shout, 57:54 with a trumpet blast. " 57:59 With the greatest natural collision, calamity, 58:03 that the world has ever known. 58:06 The saints will gather around the ruins. 58:11 Open graves where their loved ones have 58:16 come back to eternal life, and shout, "Hallelujah. " 58:23 Even so, come Lord Jesus. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17