Since I have been working on the Bible studies, I have not been able to keep up with any posts or updates on my blog. So I put together this video update. It is a bit rough around the edges, but I suppose that it is better than nothing! LOL
I began to write another sketch about my wife, but the Lord forbad me. Nevertheless, with the few that I have already written, I think you can see that I truly do value, honor, and love her. How could I ever deny all that she has meant to me and the great influence that she has had on my life? Thus I find myself in a great straight! God has put it into my heart to sacrifice myself for you. How do I reconcile this paradox? I only have one life to give. If I had two lives to give, I would gladly give them both so that God’s love would be made real to you and to her. It is a great conflict to my soul! … but in truth, I have never actually had a choice in the matter.
For many hundreds of long agonizing days and nights, I felt as if it were a test. How would I chose? I did not understand the reality of the situation. Indeed, it was a great while before I was able to comprehend what it was that God was telling me, and then my eyes were opened so that I was able to see what God was showing to me all along. There has ever only been one door open! This is not because God is limited. All things are possible with God. If He had wanted to use me to show the perfect love of God to her, He would have made it possible at some point in the last 25 years. Yet, despite all my tears, prayers, and supplications to my faithful God and Lord! … it never did happen!
In my last post (titled, “Treasures New and Treasures Old”), I gave you a Bible passage from John’s 2nd epistle, written to the “elect lady.” I would imagine that you read that section of my letter and wondered in yourself, “How could God truly mean that Bible verse to be directed to me?” I can assure you that it is indeed meant for you, and you alone. You may wonder how that could be possible, right?
My blessed friend! Do you not understand that it is a promise from God?
It is God’s message to you, but He wants everyone to see what it is that He has promised. He will bring it to pass, and everyone that sees it will know that He is faithful and true, and that His love and His mercy endures forever.
“6Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. 7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. 8The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.”
Yesterday I published a blog post (titled, “Sleepy Head …”) where I was going to begin discussing the preparations required for the conquest proper. However, before I was able to get to that subject, the Spirit of God diverted me into a much greater and more urgent subject. I am sorry if it seemed a bit strong. Please do not think that I get any satisfaction out of delivering tough messages or preaching judgment … or that I am trying to belittle you. Nevertheless, I do it out of obedience to my Lord and God, but also out of the love that I have for you.
It is all important that you understand that none of this is for my own glory. It is no mystery to me that very few people think that this endeavor is anything other than pure foolishness. I do not expect that sentiment to change anytime soon. I am nothing more than a spectacle in the eyes of most that see these posts or stumble into the Website. That is perfectly fine with me. I am more than willing to bear the shame and reproach for your sake and the sake of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am nothing more than a vessel … a messenger.
It is not important if you take me for a fool or not, because I am not the one that is important here. God, the creator of the Earth, the cosmos, and everything beyond our cosmos is giving specific place and attention to you. He is using me to send that message to you, but that is my end. I am only the messenger, and the message to you from God is that He loves you. Listen to Him, not to me.
I do not know why God wants me to give you these verses at this moment, but for some reason He wants you to have them:
“1The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; 2For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. 3Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”
A tired black-footed ferret kit yawns for USFWS photographer, Kimberly Tamkun 2012
My dear friend,
I have already established that the starting point will likely be in Singapore, in the summer of 2022. To be more specific, it would be undesirable to depart out of Singapore any later than the end of July 2022. If I left any later, then it would certainly dictate a stay in Tasmania for the winter of 2023. (Winter in Tasmania runs from June to September.) If I leave Singapore in July (or earlier), then I may have a shot at making it all the way to Cabo de Hornos, Chile before the fall of 2023 fully sets in (around May or early June).
That could only happen if everything were to go perfectly. If I were able to average 50 miles (80 km) each travel day, it could be possible. 50 mi/day on the water is achievable when conditions are good, but expectations for perfect weather somewhat diminish the closer one progresses towards Antarctica. By land, that rate of travel is slightly more attainable; however, 50 mi/day on the snow and ice is pure fantasy. Therefore, the overall conditions would need to be especially perfect and consistent, and I would need to be able to maximize my travel days as much as possible.
Therefore, I suspect that I may have to winter in Tasmania (or perhaps in McMurdo, Antarctica) in 2023. Then when the weather improves, I would be able to move forward with my crossing of Antarctica in the summer of 2023/2024. God only knows! The idea of traveling from Singapore to the South Pole to Cabo de Hornos, Chile in a single year is preposterous! Even still, I do not want to limit the arm of the Lord. If it is His will to make it happen, then it will come to pass.
Many of you have seen the notifications of my eight previous articles that I recently posted to my new blog site. If you have not been following from the beginning, you are probably mystified by what you have seen thus far. Therefore, I thought it would be good to give you a recap, so that the purpose is made clear, without any additional reading of my previous posts. Obviously, I cannot condense all 30 minutes of reading material into this little post. Therefore, you would like to understand more, please follow the embedded links to the other articles.
The summary of it all is this: God has blessed me with an errand to do. He wants me to travel around the world preaching the Word of God … literally! Not like Paul the apostle or any other great preacher of the past. No, God is sending me on a conquest to circumnavigate the Earth via the South and the North Poles using nothing but my own human power. Wherever I go, I am to proclaim the Word of God on this blog and by any other means of communication that will accomplish the task.
The Merlion statue and the Marina Bay Sands Singapore
My dear friend,
You may be wondering why I chose to start the quest in Singapore. It’s a good question, and, truthfully, I am not exactly sure why I did. It was the first city that came to my mind, but I honestly did not think that it would be the ultimate selection for the start and end point. It really was the providence of God. I have a good friend of mine who is a commercial airline pilot, who flies to Singapore on a regular basis, and he has shared many stories, pictures, and text messages from and about Singapore. Additionally, when I went to the RSA conference last year, I spent quite a while at the Singapore booth, learning about the city/nation. As time has passed, the advantages and benefits of starting in Singapore continue to multiply.
For some reason, it reminds me a bit of the way that my wife and I came to a decision to marry. When I first met her, she made it abundantly clear to me that she was not interested in getting married to anyone, at any point in her life. At the time, I was not especially concerned about that statement. She seemed to be genuinely interested in me, and it was no more than a couple of months later before we had established a solid monogamous relationship. Then my father passed; I was working 65+ hours/week non-stop, after which I started up my own business. Before I really knew what happened, we had been together for about three years, and I started thinking to myself, “I really do want to get married someday!” With that self-realization, I had to seriously consider why I was still dating her. I thought to myself, “If she never wants to get married to anyone, perhaps, I should end our relationship, so that I can begin looking for a woman who does want to get married and raise up a family?”
However, I was too busy with life, and our relationship felt far too comfortable. Therefore, we continued on like that for another year or more.
  Then one day, out of the blue! … she asked me when we were going to get married! … as if we had already made the decision to do so!
Perhaps when I use the term “Solo human powered polar circumnavigation” you are not so sure what I mean by the use of those terms. I am confident that pretty much everyone is a bit foggy of what that means. In actuality, there is not complete agreement among the experts of what any of these terms mean. There is not even a consensus of what constitutes a true circumnavigation of the Earth.
Therefore, with this post we will take a brief look at a few circumnavigations in the annals of history to get a little better idea of what the terms mean in application. In subsequent posts, I will expand on these topics as they come into view. The whole business is surprisingly complicated. It is not something that we want to fully analyze in a single blog post. If you look at the Wikipedia page on the topic, you will see what I mean. It is a fairly lengthy article, and it does hardly more that scratch the surface of the subject.
In the 1500’s there were a number of adventures that made attempts at circumnavigating the Earth in wooden sailing vessels, including Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake. There is no lack of debate about who completed what journey, what ship they were on, and if it constituted a single voyage or not. Ever since then, men have debated about every circumnavigation that has ever been attempted. Is it a circumnavigation in the truest sense of the word? Was it completed in a single set of consecutive uninterrupted voyages? Was it completed in the same vessel? Were the crew members all the same? On and on are these types of questions are bantered about. They are all good questions; however, there seems to be a great deal of splitting hairs among the experts and the onlookers and very little regard for the actual accomplishments.