The Haut de Cry is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the Rhône Valley in the canton of Valais. It is composed of several summits, of which the highest has an elevation of 2,969 metres above sea level. The entire mountain lies within the basin of the Rhône, which flows approximately seven kilometers to the south.

The nearest localities are Derborence and Ardon, on the east side of the Haut de Cry

Elevation 2,969 m (9,741 ft)
Prominence 525 m (1,722 ft)[1]
Parent peak Grand Muveran
Coordinates 46°14′25″N 7°11′42.4″E

Have you ever stood on a mountain top? Interesting how from that vantage point looking down upon our beautiful world?

From that point of view don’t our problems and drama seem to dim in light of the glory of creation?….How looking up toward the heavens do you feel to yearn for something higher, more glorious and perfect to somehow intervene to bring order to the chaos we call our messy lives?

Such has been the case at this geographic point for over 1500 years.

SWITZERLAND: ST MAURICE (AD 515 – PRESENT)

The origins of this 1500 year prayer vigil are fascinating: In the third Century AD Caesar Maximian sent a Roman commander of the Theban (North African) legion to quell an uprising in the Alps, but on arriving Maurice discovered that these rebels were all Coptic Christians like himself – his brothers in Christ. As a result, Maurice and his legion famously refused to attack fellow believers, telling Caesar: ‘Emperor, we are your soldiers but we are above all servants of God . . . You order us to put Christians to death. Search no further, here we are!’

Systematically all 7,000 members of the Theban legion were executed by their own emperor for refusing to break their highest vow of allegiance which was to Christ the King. On the site of this atrocity a later king, Sigismund, established the monastery in AD 515 as a place of 24–7 prayer in memory of the martyred Theban legion.

Comment from Steve at 12 Hours to Live: Men and Women saints and sinners have spent their lives in this region, sometimes in war, but mostly in peace have prayed on behalf of current events that moved toward historical events in our view, but continue to the present day as we write the history future generations will refer to….

Also note that Mauruce was a black african Coptic Christian in the employ of Rome….as true today as it was 1700 years ago that Black lives truly matter…they have a glorious history within world events.

Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion

A traveler on the highway that leads from Geneva to Rome, will notice a small and a very old Swiss town called “Saint Maurice”. This town was known in the Roman times as “Aguanum”, an important communication center. It was there that a Coptic officer named Maurice and 6600 of his fellow soldiers died for the sake of Christ at the hands of the impious Emperor Maximian (285-305 AD).

The story of these martyrs, commonly known as the Theban Legion (Alkateeba alTeebia or Alkateeba al-sa’eedia) has been preserved for us by Saint Eucher, the bishop of Lyons, who died in 494 AD. The bishop starts the account of the martyrdom of these valiant soldiers by the following introduction: “Here is the story of the passion of the holly Martyrs who have made Aguanum illustrious with their blood. It is in honour of this heroic martyrdom that we narrate with our pen the order of events as it came to our ears. We often hear, do we not, a particular locality or city is held in high honour because of one single martyr who died there, and quite rightly, because in each case the saint gave his precious soul to the most high God. How much more should this sacred place, Aguanum, be reverenced, where so many thousands of martyrs have been slain, with the sword, for the sake of Christ.”

Under “Maximian”, who was an Emperor of the Roman Commonwealth (Empire) with Diocletian as his colleague, an uprising of the Gauls known as “Bagaude” forced Maximian to march against them with an army of which one unit was the Thebian Legion composed of 6600 men. This unit had been recruited from upper Egypt and consisted entirely of Christians. They were good men and soldiers who, even under arms, did not forget to render to God the things of God, and to Caesar the things of Caesar.

After the revolt was quelled, the Emperor Maximian issued an order that the whole army should join offering sacrifices for the Roman gods for the success of their mission. The order included killing Christians (probably as a sacrifice to the Roman gods). Only the Thebian Legion dared to refuse to comply with the orders. The legion withdrew itself, encamped near Aguanum and refused to take part in these rites.

Maximian was then resting in a near-by place called Octudurum. When these news came to him , he repeatedly commanded them to obey his rules and orders, and upon their constant and unanimous refusal, he ordered that the legion should be “decimated”. Accordingly, every tenth man was put to death. A second “decimation” was ordered unless the men obeyed the order given but their was a great shout through the legion camp: they all declared that they would never allow themselves to carry out such a sacrilegious order. They had always the horror of idolatry, they had been brought up as christians and were instructed in the One Eternal God and were ready to suffer extreme penalties rather than do any thing contrary to their religion.

When Maximian heard these news, he got angrier than ever. Like a savage beast, he ordered the second decimation to be carried out, intending that the remainder should be compelled to do what they hitherto refused. Yet they still maintained their resolve. After the second decimation, Maximian warned the remainder of the Theban legion that it was of no use for them to trust in their number, for if they persisted in their disobedience, not a man among them would be able to escape death.

The greatest mainstay of their faith in this crisis was undoubtedly their captain Maurice, with his lieutenants Candid, the first commanding officer, and “Exuperius” the “Compidoctor”. He fired the hearts of the soldiers with the fervor by his encouragement. Maurice, calling attention to the example of their faithful fellow soldiers, already martyrs, persuaded them all be be ready to die in their turn for the sake of their baptismal vow (The promise one makes at his baptismal to renounce satan and his abominable service and to worship only God). He reminded them of their comrades who had gone to heaven before them. At his words, a glorious eagerness for martyrdom burned in the hearts of those most blessed men.

Fired thus by the lead of their officers, the Theban legion sent to Maximian (who was still enraged) a reply as loyal as it is brave:

When Maximian heard this, he realized that these men were obstinately determined to remain in their Christian faith, and he despaired of being able to turn them from their constancy. He therefore decreed, in a final sentence, that they should be rounded up, and the slaughter completed. The troops sent to execute this order came to the blessed legion and drew their swords upon those holy men who, for love of life, did not refuse to die. They were all slain with the sword. They never resisted in any way. Putting aside their weapons, they offered their necks to the executioners. Neither their numbers nor the strength of arms tempted them to uphold the justice of their cause by force.

They kept just one thing in their minds, that they were bearing witness to him who was lead to death without protest, and who, like a lamb, opened not his mouth; but that now,they them selves, sheep in the Lord’s flock, were to be massacred as it by ravaging wolves. Thus, by the savage cruelty of this tyrant, that fellowship of the saints was perfected. For they despised things present in hope of things to come. So was slain that truly angelic legion of men who, we trust, now praise the Lord God of Hosts, together with the legions of Angels, in heaven forever.

From: CopticChurch.net

My Journey in 2017 the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation

It’s one thing to read about it and another to see the actual graves of these hero’s……below are pictures I took at Saint Maurice 2017 (the last picture is the original monastery on the hill)

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Anabaptists and the Swiss Brethren In Zurich

The Swiss Brethren are a branch of Anabaptism that started in Zürich, spread to nearby cities and towns, and then was exported to neighboring countries.: 62  Today’s Swiss Mennonite Conference can be traced to the Swiss Brethren.

In 1525, Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock and other radical evangelical reformers broke from Ulrich Zwingli and formed a new group because they felt reforms were not moving fast enough.

Rejection of infant baptism was a distinguishing belief of the Swiss Brethren. On the basis of Sola scriptura doctrine, the Swiss Brethren declared that since the Bible does not explicitly mention infant baptism, it should not be practiced by the church. This belief was subsequently rejected by Ulrich Zwingli. Consequently, there was a public dispute, in which the council affirmed Zwingli’s position. This solidified the Swiss Brethren and resulted in their persecution by all other reformers and to a lesser degree the Catholic Church.

Because of persecution by the authorities, many Swiss Brethren moved from Switzerland to neighboring countries. The Swiss Brethren became known as Mennonites after the division of 1693, a disagreement between groups led by Jacob Amman and Hans Reist. Many of the Mennonites in France, Southern Germany, the Netherlands and North America, as well as most Amish descend from the Swiss Brethren.

The First Martyr

Site of drowning of Felix Manx the first Anabaptist Martyr of the Protectant Reformation I visited in 2017

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Climb Every Mountain?

Last night I was having a conversation with my son, was talking about the mountain you have to climb and you can only do it on your own.

Later I was considering that as it relates to myself, that the mountain I have to climb is narrow and steep and dangerous from my perspective. I have to face whatever trauma, incorrect ideas about God, incorrect ideas about how God is working on the earth My own personal trauma and the things that blocked me from seeing things the way God sees them. Being stuck.

Then the song climb every mountain” came to my mind because that was such an important story my parents taught me when I was young. Haven’t even thought about it for years .

So I searched YouTube and sure enough I remember the decision the protagonist had to take in the story… And the great advice this nun gave her in the convent. I totally forgot this all took place in the Swiss Alps. The Von Trapp family escaping the Nazis scaling the Alps…..… So funny because when I was young we used to go around and sing as a family like the von trapp’s to skid row missions and places like that.

On my father’s side we come from the Anabaptist’s in Switzerland, and I grew up hearing about all the death that happened and that was pretty scary as a child. But now from where I’m at I see the Anabaptist story correctly. These were people who are motivated by the holy Spirit to stand in opposition of anyone to come in and say “we’re going to tell you how to worship God, we’re going to tell you what the word says”…you bunch of stupid farmers! .

He told them, “It was because of your lack of faith. I promise you, if you have faith inside of you no bigger than the size of a small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move away from here and go over there,’ and you will see it move. There is nothing you couldn’t do!

Matthew 17:20 TPT

After 500 years of a memorial service focusing on the death of these people….trying to agree on theology …may I humbly suggest we focus on the LIVES of these humans. As we move forward to realize that TO HAVE ACCESS TO GOD IT’S SIMPLE FAITH IN JESUS AND A LIFE GIVING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and finally realize there are NO MOUNTIANS TO CLIMB!

Jesus accomplished everything at the cross and descended into utter darkness to return the keys to the Kingdom to you and I……

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The Charming Nancy

In 1765 my distant ancestors Jacob and Edna Mast were on one of the first wooden ships to cross from Switzerland to settle in the new world…..

They did this to escape the trauma and injustice of religion,.

It was my honor and destiny to make the trip back and fully explain soon the results of that journey.

Separation Of Church and State

For now I am very blessed to understand why our forefathers, the founders of our imperfect democratic republic had in mind when they formed our more perfect union by seperating the power of the state from religion….

The principle that government must maintain an attitude of neutrality toward religion. Many view separation of church and state as required by the First Amendment (see also First Amendment). The First Amendment not only allows citizens the freedom to practice any religion of their choice, but also prevents the government from officially recognizing or favoring any religion.

Let Freedom Ring

I’m posting these facts about world history as they come together in a very beautiful and simple way…..

I write this tonight being a product of 1500 plus years of sacrifice, prayers and hopes of the people whom have come before me. Tonight I am writing from Southern California USA in comfort, with air-conditioning and access to facts like these with a search on Google.

So for now let me leave you with this, the journey we have made as a people from beginning of this messy thing we call revival and the reformation that followed …..on to the International Space Station rising over Haute Dr Cry, to say the least is stunning….

Looking up I see the miracle of the human spirit in these astronauts and look farther out to seek the Father of Lights from whom every blessing flows.

PSALMS 121

God Protects Us – A song of the stairway.

l Iook up to the mountains and hills, longing for God’s help.

But then I realize that our true help and protection is only from the Lord, our Creator who made the heavens and the earth.

He will guard and guide me, never letting me stumble or fall.God is my keeper; he will never forget nor ignore me.

He will never slumber nor sleep;he is the Guardian-God for his people, Israel.

Yahweh himself will watch over you; he’s always at your side to shelter you safely in his presence.

He’s protecting you from all danger both day and night.

He will keep you from every form of evil or calamity as he continuously watches over you.

You will be guarded by God himself. You will be safe when you leave your home, and safely you will return.

He will protect you now, and he’ll protect you forevermore! – TPT