Standing in the Gap for Oregon

Eagle Cap Wilderness, Wallowa County Oregon And there is no creature  hidden  from His sight, but all  things are  naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we  must give  account.  Hebrews 4:13 Wallowa County, in the northeast corner of Oregon, is one of those places on my Wish List, along with Crater Lake. Nope, never been there, but hope to visit someday. The geology is fascinating, and unusual, like a little piece of the Swiss Alps stuck up in the corner of the state. The Snake River and Hells Canyon run along the eastern edge between parts of Idaho and Washington. To the west is Union and Umatilla Counties with Baker County to the south. It was established in 1887, carved out of the eastern section of Union County. This is Nez Perce country, the home of Chief Joseph, one of our most well-known Native Americans. The Nez Perce were forced to leave their homeland, the Wallowa Valley, in 1877. Instead of going to the reservation in Idaho,...

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them!  Isaiah 42:10   In no particular order, we are exploring each of Oregon’s 36 counties. We’ve gone from Malheur, in the extreme southeast corner of the state, to, now, Clatsop in the northwest corner.   Clatsop is another old county, created out of the Tuality District, one of the original four districts established by the first Provincial Legislature. Clatsop County was established in 1844 and by 1853 had assumed its present boundaries.  The Columbia River lies along Clatsop’s northern border and empties into the Pacific Ocean to the west. Washington State is on the other side of the Columbia, Tillamook county is to the south and Washington and Columbia counties to the east. With Clatsop County we get even further back in Oregon hi...

Malheur Butte, Malheur County Oregon The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose ;  Isaiah 35:1 The story goes, in 1826 a trapper left a cache of furs beside a nameless river in the high desert of the far west and someone stole it, so he named the river “misfortune” in French: Malheur. Later, they named the county after the river.  Malheur, established much later than the counties of the Willamette Valley, was created in 1887 from the southern part of Baker County. It is in the extreme southeast corner of the state and borders the state of Nevada to the south and Idaho to the east. At nearly 10,000 square miles it is the second largest county in the state, but only has about three people per square mile. It has the distinction of being the county with the highest poverty rate in Oregon. The county seat is Vale; the largest town is Ontario. And yes, I have a personal con...

Image by  ErikaWittlieb  from  Pixabay   Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Isaiah 30:21   In writing this series of blog posts on Oregon counties, I’ve had to do some historical research. In looking at some counties, particularly those with which I have little personal experience or knowledge, I am sometimes at a loss to suggest a prayer focus. What is really going on behind the scenes? Most importantly, what are the spiritual roots of poverty, or corruption or a high crime rate in certain areas?   While it is always good to pray general prayers, asking the Lord to bless a certain city, to reveal truth, to encourage honest, faithful folks and prosper those who are seeking to earn a living for their families, sometimes we have to dig deeper, not just in research but in prayer.  This is where we hone our skill in hearing God’s directions, and following His plan. Image by...

Image by  David Mark  from  Pixabay   While I only live a short distance from the Marion County line, until I began researching for this post, I was unaware Marion County was named for Francis Marion, the Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina known as “The Swamp Fox.” The Disney TV series was one of our favorites when my brother and I were kids. The Provisional Legislature named the county after The Swamp Fox in 1849, but it was originally created in 1843 at the same time as Clackamas. There were four Districts created by that Provisional Legislature, Clackamas, Twality (Washington), Yamhill and Champooick, later renamed Marion. As with Clackamas it was much larger at first, then was reduced to its current size in 1856. Salem is the county seat. Salem is also the state capital, having been moved there from Oregon City when Oregon became a state in 1852.  It’s a pretty place, Marion County, very agricultural with lots of farms and orchards. It...

Image by  ljlabarthe  from  Pixabay                    Shaniko,OR Trust  in   the   Lord , and do good;  Dwell   in   the   land , and feed on His faithfulness.  Psalm 37:3 We began by praying for Clackamas, a county with a lot of early history. Wasco county is just to the east of Clackamas and was also created early in the formation of Oregon state by the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1854 out of the parts of Clackamas, Marion, Lane, and Linn counties that were east of the Cascade Mountains. It was named for the Wasco, a Chinook tribe that lived in the area. Celilo Falls, on the Columbia River in Wasco county, was a gathering place and trading center for many western tribes for thousands of years. Celilo Falls was flooded by the creation of The Dalles dam in 1957. I have a family connection with Wasco county, since my father, as a young boy, lived with his family on...

Image by  PublicDomainPictures  from  Pixabay   So, I can’t seem to get away from the movie   Labyrinth . Something I came across recently reminded me of the line Sarah finally remembers to say to the Goblin king, “You have no power over me.”   What triggered that was a statement in an article to the effect that our spiritual enemy is wicked but has no power. Really? Looking at the news, or just at my own life, my natural human response is, “coulda fooled me.”  But, also (Don’t you love how spiritual lessons link together? One of the Lord’s teaching methods, I believe) I have been meditating on communion lately, at least more than just our traditional monthly celebration at church. During my own private prayer time I had begun to focus more on what the bread and wine actually mean. One thing I realized is that the bread bestows salvation, healing and provision; the wine (Blood) bestows power and authority. It represents the New Covenant....