Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: redemption

destined for dog food!    — May 28, 2025

destined for dog food!   

/pickleheavenpress

Harry de Leyer was on his way to the horse auction.  He needed an additional steed for the use of his riding students.   But, due to a vehicle breakdown, the auction had closed by the time he arrived.

This had been the last hope for the horses.  The unpurchased leftovers had already been loaded and were bound for a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse where they would be processed into dog food. 

Harry rapidly surveyed the neglected animals.  He spied a bulky, broken down, white horse who had spent his life pulling an Amish plow.  He pulled him out of the truck and walked him around.  They seemed to connect. 

Harry bought the horse for a meager $80.00 and gave him the apt name Snowman.

Snowman found new life on Harry’s farm.  Without the burden of a plow, the horse took to the air.  He loved to jump.  Harry recognized his talent and cultivated it.   With Harry in the saddle, they made their way to competitions and were soon beating out horses who had been bred to be jumpers.  

By 1958, Snowman had become a champion, winning the Triple Crown of jumping.  He continued to beat out his competition for many years after.

Like Snowman, we Christians have been plucked out of an auction of sorts.  The Bible portrays an unsaved person as being a slave to be sold.  The Scripture employs the word “redemption” to describe the process, using three different Greek words that help us to understand what it means to be redeemed.

Our journey begins at the slave market.   My only exposure to a slave market has been through the movies.  I remember seeing, half naked people, with an emptiness that seemed to seep through their eyes.  They possessed nothing, not even control over their own bodies. 

It’s a gruesome but fairly accurate picture of our situation.  Potential bidders poke and prod us hoping to take possession of our souls.   But Jesus sees us and decides to buy us.  This is the first word for redemption, “agoradzo” which means to buy.   It is found in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you were bought at a price.”  Jesus gave His life blood on a cross to purchase we who were formerly slaves to sin. 

The second word is “ekagoradzo” which mean “to buy out of.”  This word is used in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”   This carries the idea of first buying and then removing us from the market.  Once Jesus purchased our souls, we would always remain His, never to become available to be resold to another.

The third word translated as redemption is the word, “lutroo.” This carries the idea of removing the chains from a slave and then giving the slave their freedom.  This word is used in Titus 2:14, He “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness” NIV.

Snowman was destined to become dogfood.  We also were headed to the slaughterhouse, to spend an eternity in the unquenchable fires of hell (Mark 9:43-45)

Snowman was overlooked by every other buyer at that auction.  Likewise, Jesus saw us not for who we had been but who we could be. 

Snowman was acquired for $80 when the average cost for a jumping horse at that time ranged from the thousands to the tens of thousands.  But Jesus paid even more – the ultimate cost – His laid down His very life to save us. 

Liberated from the plow, and saved from the slaughterhouse, Snowman was then free to do what he enjoyed the most, running and jumping with His Master in tow.   And we the redeemed are also free indeed (John 8:36).  We have the privilege of joyfully serving and doing life with the sweetest, kindest, most benevolent Master ever.

– a way better destiny for us than dogfood!

A PRAYER: Lord, help us to better understand what it means to be redeemed.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are taken from the NETBible ®

Photo by VentnorNJ – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107870915

to hell and back — March 18, 2020

to hell and back

/pickleheavenpress

The first time I visited Jerusalem, our tour bus rounded a corner and I was shocked to find myself in hell.  

picture taken in the year 1900

We were passing by a place called the Hinnom Valley.  This valley had somewhat of a ghastly history.  King Manasseh of Judah had designated it as the site where children would be placed on a burning altar and offered to the pagan God Molech.  And not just any children – his own sons were put to the flame. (2 Chronicles 33:6)

Good King Josiah succeeded him and outlawed the horrifying practice.  He put a permanent end to it, by desecrating the valley.  He ordered that it be made unclean by scattering of human bones and so on throughout.

From Josiah to Jesus, the valley was used as a garbage dump. It was the cesspool of the city. Waste and refuse and the carcasses of dead animals and unclean objects of any kind were brought there to be destroyed.

Which is why there was always a fire that burned there.  24 hours a day it was kindled to dispose of the refuse.

Because of the ever-burning fire, the Jews named the valley Ge Hinnom or “Gehenna” and it became a symbol of the place of eternal torment.

Jesus made the connection between the burning in the valley of Hinnom and hell.  When He spoke of hell, he actually called it Gehenna.  In Mark 9:43 He said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell (Gehenna) to the unquenchable fire.” NETBible ®    

A place of perpetual fire that burned in a place where living human beings once were also cast into the flames. That’s what Jesus used to help us understand the concept and horror of hell.   It makes sense that He called it a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Ironically after Judas had betrayed Jesus, he fled to that same valley and took his own life. (Acts 1:18-19) He seemed to understand that hell is the only alternative for those who reject Christ.

So, what would you find in the valley of Hinnom today?  A desolate, ugly place full of ashes and bones?   Not at all.  The valley is covered with plush, thick, green grass and colorful playground equipment.  It is a park – a place for children to frolic and play. 

Isn’t that like the God of redemption?  He saw to it that the valley where children were annihilated became a place where they are nurtured.

God is in the redemption business.  He does it with valleys and he does it with people.  He takes broken, hell bound sinners like us, saves us and transforms us into beautiful people who bless Him and benefit others.

I am grateful to Him for that and for my field trip to hell.

But I still need to tell you about the highlight of that trip.   When I rounded that corner in Jerusalem, it happened to be in the month of January, and it was snowing.  I was shocked. I wondered if Jesus’ sandaled feet had ever trudged through the snow. 

But there it was.  The Hinnom Valley was covered in 2 inches of snow.  That’s when I realized that – I was there when hell froze over.