Phil. 3:13-15 “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should take such a view of things”

Here I sit a few days away from the end of rifle season here in Maine.  It has been a long and hard season this year.  The weather has been against us most times it seems.  It’s either super warm or windy.  The deer seem to be “rutting” later and later each year.  Here we are in the last week and I am just now seeing some sign of the rut happening.  The lack of deer in my hunting area is not the problem.  The area is saturated with deer sign.  It appears to me though that due to the circumstances they are just bedding down during the day and moving at night.  The problem with that is I have not located where they are bedding down I guess.

This will be my second year in a row without harvesting a deer unless the next couple days turns out to be productive.  Something happened to me a little over a week ago that I have never experienced in hunting.  I was sitting in my stand and began to think how “useless” this was.  I pointed out to myself I had not seen anything.  Nor had my hunting partner.  After sitting that morning I came back and told my wife, “I’m done deer hunting. It’s pointless.”  My wife almost fell to the floor in shock.  I said “Yup, I’m just going to go duck hunting and turkey hunting.  Atleast, there’s some action in that.  Turkey hunting you can call and do things rather then just sit there.”  After a few minutes I came to my senses and was planning and thinking about my next deer hunting outing.

How many times does this happen to us in our walk with Christ?  We have things keep piling up on us.  We continue to go out and “sit” and do everything right, yet we see no results.  We then give up and say, “God, it’s just not worth it.”  I know this has happened to me so many times in my life.  I lose focus of the goal.  I lose faith in God and begin to focus on distractions outside of the goal.

Through this experience I have found a renewed passion for  Christ.  I had begin to think what is the point in doing many things that I know God has placed me here to do.  I have also rediscovered why I deer hunt.  It’s ultimately not to shoot a deer.  It’s the challenge of going out into his living room and trying to outsmart him.  It’s getting outdoors and enjoying God’s creation.  It’s getting away from “life” and enjoying a long standing tradition.

Don’t give up.  Don’t let life’s distractions get you down.  Stay focused on the goal.

II Timothy 4: 7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”.

How many times have you heard people talk about “buck” fever.  What does that mean?  Well to me it means that the hunter has become overwhelmed with the trophy sitting in front of them.  The most common one is those who focus on the antlers of a monster buck.  Has this ever happened to you?  You see movement.  Then you realize that it’s a deer.  Then you look for the antlers.  Alright, it’s a legal buck.  You try and focus in on the target, the shot placement in the vital area.  You then pull up your weapon.  You realize now your shaking.  Your heart is about to jump out of your chest.  Then your focus goes back on that massive rack.  You try and focus on the target area.  This goes on, back and forth a few times.  Then usually one of two things happens.  We are so intent on the “trophy” that before we know it the deer has walked off without a chance for a shot.  Secondly, we take a shot but our focus was on the trophy and not on the target, resulting in a missed shot.

The apostle Paul spoke a lot about “the prize” and “running the race.”  He longed for those crowns that was there to reward him, but was never distracted by the trophy.  He realized what the true prize was.  He realized that the trophy came with the prize.

We then should focus on the target.  Realizing that the “trophy” will come with the prize if we remain focused on the target.  While our salvation is secure, that certainty shouldn’t get in the way of our aiming for the target.  We should always remember that we need to focus on the “target”.  Why?  So we don’t miss out on opportunities that God has given to us because we focused on the trophy instead of the target.  Remember, the trophy comes with the target.

“1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God, 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

- Psalm 42:1-2 NKJV

As I was sit here this morning  the Lord brought this question to my mind, “Are you thirsting after me as the deer pant for the water?”

Boy this was a question that gave me the dead deer in the headlights look. Why? Because I had to answer this question that the Lord asked me in a truthful manner. “Yes, Lord I do thirst after you. But I have to be honest I could thirst some more.”

Then the next question came to my mind. “Are we thirsty for Jesus?”

Just as our physical bodies need water to keep us hydrated we also need to thirst after righteousness and truth to keep our spiritual being hydrated.

Judah sought after the Lord with all their hearts and their desire was to live for Him. The result was that they found the Lord and the Lord gave them rest. “And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.”(2 Chr. 15:15 NKJV)

Many of us have seen a Deer drink at the waters edge and there is something magical about that seen that our creator has aloud us to witness.

Can you imagine the smile that our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have when they see their us standing at the fountain of living water drinking.

We are truly blessed with the very Word of the God at our fingertips. We need to keep nourished and be able to be aware around us as that poacher, the Devil tries to take us down. Whether it be by a direct vital hit with an arrow or by snare.   We need to flee from the danger of the poacher when alerted to his presence.

We as Christian hunters need to make sure that the grass of our fields does not wither and the deer move on. “Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass.” (Jer. 14:5)

The prime example of this is if the Lord gives us the opportunity to witness to unbelievers and we don’t then the field will wither up and die. Then the deer will move to another field where they may find the “Great Poacher” in a blind ready to ambush them.
We must encourage one another and uplift one another. To keep our fields healthy and green or as deer we will lose interest and move on.

“As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after thee
You alone are my hearts desire
And I long to worship thee

I want You more than gold or silver,
Only You can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy Giver,
And the apple of my eye.”

This is a question that was recently asked to me.  My response was, “why would I be scared of him?”

Come to find out this person was in complete fear that Jesus was out to get him.  The Bible does teach us to “fear”, which to me means “reverence” God.  That is “religion” coming through when people are scared of Jesus.  Jesus is my best friend.  Jesus left Heaven to come to earth to suffer and die for me.  With that said, why would I be scared of someone that did that for me.

The problem is we look at Jesus through “religious” eyes.  My challenge today is for you to get to know Jesus on a personal level.  He wants to be your savior and friend.

Romans 8:16-17
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ . . .” (NIV)

For the past couple years, I have been searching for information about upland bird dogs. I have researched types, traits, pedigrees, anything and everything that has to do with bird dogs. Through my search, I decided that my pup must be AKC and/or NAVHDA registered. On top of that, I wanted my pup’s pedigree to have several SH (seniors hunters) or MH (master hunters) with the AKC. For NAVHDA, I wanted the VC (versatile champion). When we come into the saving knowledge of Christ, we become part of a special pedigree. Romans tells us that we become “heirs” of God. Once we accept Christ into our lives on a personal level, we are part of His pedigree. This pedigree is full of MH, SH, and VC titles. (NS)

If you need encouragement today, remember you are part of God’s pedigree. You are part of something great. You have been chosen to do only what He has designed you to do. You were hand-picked by God to be part of this lineage.

Hello, let me start by saying sorry for being away a few days.  Things have been super crazy with graduations, kids getting done school, work, etc….

Today I want to focus on my favorite scripture.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” 

I have used this scripture in many areas of my life including outdoor activities.  No matter what you are facing quote this scripture.  Say it out loud.  Whatever life throws your way you can do it as long as you are focused on Christ and letting him lead and guide you.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

As I sit here I think back to so many times faith has come into play in my life.  The biggest situation was when my son was born.  Shortly after arriving in this world things started to go bad for him in a hurry.  After being cleaned up the nurses brought him in for my wife to hold him and feed him.  This took place for less then a minute when my sister realized that Kolten was turning a funny shade.  The nurses came in and rushed him out of the room and into the nurses station.  Of course I was directly behind as I had planned on NEVER letting my son out of my sight in the hospital.  With my wife in the room recovering from just giving birth and now worried to death about her new baby I stood around listening to the doctor and nurses talk.  After some discussion they told me that he had low blood sugar.  He was born in Blue Hill hospital which is a small coastal hospital.  After doing a few tricks of the trade on him they decided it would be best to transport him to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine.  This would mean EMMC would need to send a special five person team down to transport him.  Then they told me I would not be able to ride with him in the vehicle.  After spending a bunch of time with him trying to comfort this new guy it was the dreaded time to go in and tell my wife our baby was needing more attention then the hospital could give him and he was going to be transported to Bangor.  So, I went in and told her in those exact words.  She cried and had a look on her face that will always be vivid in my mind.  I told her that I would need to go to the hospital and be with him, even though this would mean leaving her alone.  It took some time for the team to show up.  They put him in an incubator and wheeled him in for my wife to see him again.  This was a quick visit and they wheeled him out.  They told me I would need to give them a half hour lead as they did not want me to follow them because they would need to move around a lot in the vehicle and this would be dangerous for me.  Well, I did listen to their commands for the most part.  From Blue Hill to Bangor there are two main routes.  I knew they was talking one way so immediately after they left, I kissed my wife and my mother and I was out the door.  It was a super foggy night and very hard to see.  I did not rush to the hospital but was not taking my sweet time either.  I arrived at EMMC and checked in at the nursing station.  I asked about Kolten Sargent and was told he was not there yet.  What?  How did I beat an ambulance?  Then the million things go through your mind…is something wrong? What is taking them so long?  Shortly after that I was told he had arrived and I would be able to go in and see him once he was set up.

I was lead into the Neonatal Intensive Care room and showed how to scrub up.  Then led to a bed where my son was lying.  He had wires and different things hooked up to him.  He needed a breathing tube, they was testing his blood sugar level every half hour which required a prick to his foot.(by the time they was done his foot looked like hamburg)  I asked the nurse how long he would be in there.  She told me it could be three days or more depending on if he eats on his own.  She then added boys usually have a hard time in this area.  I sat with him for majority of the night only taking a couple breaks to go into the waiting room.

Throughout the night and the next morning not much changed.  They was still testing him, he was still requiring a feeding and breathing tube.  About noon my dad showed up with my wife.  I showed my wife how to check in and brought her to see Kolten.  We spent the next several hours with Kolten.  About 8 p.m. we decided to travel the half hour home so my wife and I could rest(at this point I had been up for 40 straight hours).  Throughout the night we called several times to check on him.  Early the next morning we was back in Bangor to spend the entire day with our son.  On this day we was able to remove him from his bed and sit in a chair and hold him.  He was still hooked up to all kinds of machines but to me this was progress.

On Sunday things were looking really good for him.  He was moved out of the room with the really sick babies down to a room that had regular cribs and some of the bigger babies.  We held him and talked with him, fed him, and bathed him that day.  We were told he is doing really good and should be able to go home on Tuesday.  Wow! This was great news.  Again on Sunday night we came home.  Monday morning up and at it again early.  It was January in Maine and super cold on this morning.  EMMC has a road leading up to the main entrance.  The road is surrounded by buildings making this like a wind tunnel.  Due to being so cold, I decided to drop my wife off at the door and I would park out in the lot and walk in.  My wife told me she would meet me in the NICU.  After parking the truck I went up to the NICU and peeked in the room where he was the previous night.  I did not see Kolten or my wife, Michelle.  I thought that is kind of funny but maybe they are doing a bath or something.

In the NICU there are five rooms.  The fourth room had a space age looking table and was the only one in the room.  I saw several people standing around the table working on a baby.  I thought to myself, oh that poor baby.  My thoughts and prayers immediately went out to the family of that baby.  To be in the room by himself that was not a good sign.  Then all of a sudden I realized one of the people standing around the table was my wife.  I scrubbed up and entered the room.  There was literally six medical people working on him.  I was told they didn’t know what was going on but they would be doing test to find out.  After what seemed like an eternity they told us he had spinal meningitis.  This would require them to treat him with anti-biotics for 21 days.  This would mean putting a pic line in him.  Which is a long tube that goes in his arm, head, or leg into his stomach area.

The day before we had what appeared to be a healthy kid that would be going home in two days to a very sick kid that may not live.  The doctors as they have to told us what could happen.  Of course the worse being he could easily die.  He could be blind, deaf, mentally impaired, have learning disabilities, and several other areas of risk.

Over the next several days nothing changed.  His pic line stopped working a couple times, one time he ripped it out, and they needed to put it back in each time.  After about a week of this it appeared as though he was kicking it and he started to come around.  He was moved into the furthest room again with a regular crib about 10 days after.  He was now eating good and was getting stronger and healthier each day.

Finally on Superbowl Sunday a little over a month later he was able to come home.  We would still need to take him back for developmental testing for two years as we was instructed.  We did this for a year and they told us, he’s fine.  Unless you have concerns in the future don’t come back to see us.

Now, Kolten is 2.5 years old and is doing great.  There are no developmental concerns and he is the typical two year old.

As I think back to this event the only thing that got me through was faith.  I remember crying and telling God not to take my son from me.  I remember going through the feeling sorry for myself.  Asking God “Why me”?  The great thing was God was telling and teaching both my wife and I to “trust me”.  Here we had what was the most precious gift to us, I could not do anything.  I was helpless.  That is not a good feeling for me.  One time riding home in the truck it was real clear to me, God was telling me to “trust him” completely.  So, from that day on that’s what I did.  This at times meant trusting him even if it meant he was taking Kolten home to Heaven.

God has everything in control.  We need to learn to let go of the reins sometimes and trust him.  Now that this is a distant memory I can say thank you  God for teaching me this lesson.  Thank you for letting Kolten remain in my life and thank you for having him on par in every aspect of his life.

Faith in God will lead you to great places.

Here is today’s devotion from the Sportsmens Devotional.

This past weekend I had my step son graduate high school. I think about all the horror stories I hear about teenagers. Then I think about my step son. I am truly lucky to have a kid that I never had to worry about doing something stupid. I never had to worry about if he was drunk, stoned, or out doing other things he shouldn’t be doing. Of course he did the typical boy stuff like, driving to fast, going down roads that his car was not meant to be and ripping the exhaust system off and tearing his oil pan.

Although all in all he was a great kid. He taught his mom and myself with great respect. He has grown into a fine young man that loves the Lord. This devotion reminded me of my experiences and life with my step son over the past six years. Without the Lord helping his mother and I this would not have been possible.

Ephesians 6:1-3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”– which is the first commandment with a promise–”that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on earth.” (NIV)

Have you ever watched a wild animal with its young, maybe in person or on an outdoors show on TV? There is no question that the young do what momma says; they do it, or very probably die. And when mother speaks, the young obey right now! So, let’s apply that to mankind. God said to honor our parents, that we’ll be blessed for doing so. Notice, it doesn’t say anything about obedience. It’s just a given–if you honor your parents you’ll also obey them. Now, let’s talk about our relationship with our heavenly Father. If we’re to honor our earthly parents, isn’t it much more important to honor our heavenly Father, God, with our absolute love and obedience? And, isn’t it also true, that if we don’t honor God, if we don’t obey Him, and accept His gift of forgiveness for our sins, that we’ll die? God loves us as no other parent can, even those of us whose parents loved us more than anything else. He loved us enough to send His Son to die in our place. He deserves complete honor!

Godly parents are a gift. Honor them every day of your life. Honor God, as He is our heavenly Father, and gave us the greatest gift of all–eternal life through Jesus Christ, His one and only Son!
If you want your children to treat you with honor, you need to be honorable. Follow your personal “hunter’s code of ethics”, and set an example for your kids to follow.

Tomorrow is my step sons graduation from high school.  This has been a long hard road through high school for him and us.  The kid just needs a lot of motivation because he doesn’t have it inside himself to do it on his own.  It started his freshmen year when reality sank in that high school is different then grammar school.  In grammar school they pretty much carried him along and let things slide.  In high school they have not, nor should they.

As I sat here thinking about this road it reminds me of our walk in many aspects of our life.  The road traveled in the outdoor world.  From my starting point of hunting that first time with my grandfather to where I bring and introduce youngsters to hunting now.  It has been an amazing journey and no where’s near done yet.

Then there is our Christian walk.  We started as babes in Christ.  Each of us have reached different levels in our walk with him.  Again, this is another journey that I have had a great time experiencing.  There has been many ups and downs and I have had to learn the hard way many times.  Although, it gets better and more exciting everyday.

It has been a crazy couple days around the house.  We had a little family emergency pop up, we are preparing for my step sons graduation, we have family members arriving daily, and getting the house and land set up to par for everyone.  This morning I had to drop my wife off at work and go and pick up some stuff that my mother needed moved.  I had about an hour or so in between times to waste.  So my son, Kolten and I went to Birdsacre.  We strolled around and checked out the birds penned up.  Then we set off jogging through the trails in order to get rid of some cooped up energy my two year old son and I had.

While walking and jogging through the trails it came to me, the amazing beauty that God has given us.  What beauty there is in the great outdoors.  I often take the time to thank God and realize that he has given us such a great gift.  But, there are still times like this morning that just make me step back and say WOW GOD!!!

Get outside today and take the time to look around at God’s master work.

As I sat here this morning reading through Matt Moslers “scribblings” I came upon an article that I could certainly relate to.  I have two Golden Retriever dogs that are awesome dogs.  They are very well trained and are amazing with my two year old son.  They are brother and sister and are now four years old.  My wife wanted her female golden puppy and when we went to pick her up the male was so darn cute he ended up in my lap on the way home.  Earlier on I spent many a times walking the road in search of where these pups had run off to.  It did not seem to matter what I did to the kennel, they would always find a way to escape.  Here is Matt’s experience tied into our walk with Christ.

“Stupid dog,” I muttered over and over to myself as I walked around my neighborhood leash in hand blowing my whistle, the sound of which was supposed to make him immediately stop whatever he was doing and return to me his owner and master!!  It wasn’t working. 

 

For the second time in two days my beautiful, pure bred, extremely large, AKC registered, yellow Labrador retriever puppy with unlimited potential had escaped from my back yard.  The first time he had jumped over the gate…the five foot tall gate!  So I went to Home Depot and made the gate 6 feet tall.  This held him in for oh, a day or so.  Apparently the pull of the outside world was so strong that he devised an escape plan that included jumping on top of the bar b que grill then over the fence to freedom…or at least what he perceived as freedom. 

 

As I contemplated his latest feat while I walked, whistled and called his name between fits of anger and bouts of tears I realized maybe he really wasn’t that stupid…just short sighted and impatient.  In his quest to explore the world outside of the fence; to smell new smells, run at full speed and chase birds all day long he never once considered the reason for the fence in the first place. 

 

I mean it would take but a second for him to get hit by a car or picked up by an abusive owner or worse someone else who would never again give him the chance to duck hunt.  That would be tragic.  My dog had just finished his first duck season and for a puppy did very well.  With continued training and discipline there’s no telling how great he could be.  But if he can’t stay inside the fence he may never get the chance to realize his unlimited potential.  Stupid dog!

 

That’s when it hit me.  I am so much like my dog…without the hops.  How many times do I jump outside of my fence in search of happiness?  How many times do I break the rules because of “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life?” (I Jn. 2:16) And I wonder…how many times does my Father walk around leash in hand blowing his whistle exasperated at me for not seeing the purpose of the fence? 

 

Stupid man!  I’ve been reading a lot about “fences” these days although the author of the book doesn’t call them fences.  He calls them disciplines and there are many; prayer, fasting, meditation and study among others.  In his book, Celebration of Discipline author Richard Foster says the purpose of the disciplines is not to rob us of our joy or “exterminate laughter from the face of the earth” but rather to liberate us from the stifling slavery that comes with self interest and fear.  (pg. 2)

 

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:20, “The wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.”  Foster writes, “The sea does not need to do anything special to produce mire and dirt; that is the result of its natural motions.”(pg. 4)  Because of the effects of sin in our lives we don’t need to do anything special either to produce mire and dirt.  That’s the natural motions of our lives as well. 

 

The solution is not to “kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14) but to embrace the fences in our lives.  God created us.  He knows best how to utilize our gifts, talents and abilities.  “His commandments are not burdensome” (I Jn. 4:3) but they must be obeyed.  Failure to do so results in our own peril. (Prov. 13:15)  Despite what the enemy tells us joy is fleeting outside the fence.  But within the confines of the spiritual disciplines we can run as far and as fast and as long as our heart desires.

 

It took a while but I eventually found my dog.  He was nabbed by the telephone man working down the street.  He’s back now in a 10 x 10 x 6 foot dog fence with a tarp tied across the top.  He’s only escaped three times…smart dog.

You can check out more of Matt’s scribblings on his website.

My friend Matt at over Cross Heirs Ministry posted a great devotion on the Christian Outdoorsman recently.  I found this so true, we treat God as though he is Burger King.  We just stroll up and expect it to be “our” way.

Here is what Matt had to say on this matter:  By the way this trip sounds like an amazing experience.

 There we sat around a campfire in the high mountains of Colorado. There were about 15 of us from several states on a “Christian” elk hunt, the purpose of which was to reach guys on a level where they were comfortable then encourage them to grow up into the person God created them to be. Each night after dinner or actually during dinner after we had embellished the events of our day we would wrap up with a devotion. Most of the guys on this trip were first time or still relatively inexperienced elk hunters so the organizers of the trip thought it would be a good idea to bring in someone who’d harvested lots of elk to inspire us.

This guy looked like an elk hunter. He was rugged, handsome and tall. (Why does it always come back to tall?) In any case the gist of his devotion was that each morning before he hunted he would pray that God would give him an elk and guess what? He did! Apparently every time this guy went into the woods with a bow or a gun he came back with meat, but not just any meat; great, big, huge trophy meat. And the reason why? Because he prayed and God rewarded his prayer because that’s the kind of God we serve.

Now, I had a few problems with that. For starters I had prayed the past two days that God would give me an elk and guess what? No elk. Didn’t even see one. Did that mean God didn’t love me as much as he did this guy or worse that God was not the omnipotent God I always thought he was since he didn’t do what I asked him to do?

This is what I call Santa Claus theology and more and more preachers are preaching it and more and more of us in this prosperous culture are embracing it. After all the Bible says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart!” (Ps. 37:4) And “If you abide in me and let my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” (Jn. 15:7) And one more for good measure, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” (Mt. 6:33)

While all these verses are true I don’t believe they mean we can treat God like a drive-thru restaurant; put our order in for success, prosperity and peace, pick them up at the window and go on with our lives. But in a culture where we seem to be marketing Jesus as the best of many viable alternatives to a successful life this seems to be the case. But Jesus never said he was the best choice he said he was the only choice; The way. The truth. And The life. (John 14:6)

The biggest problem with this mini-mart approach to holiness is that it’s backwards. It exalts us and our needs over God and his desires for us. God is there to serve us as opposed to us serving God, right? Wrong! In Jeremiah 2:13 God calls this evil, “For my people have committed two evils; they’ve forsaken my, the river of living water, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.”

The point that God’s trying to make is instead of focusing on “the desires of your heart” or “having all these things added unto you” focus instead on “delighting in him”, “Abiding in him” and “Seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness.”

It may not make a whole lot of sense at first but I believe we’ll find as we draw closer to him and gradually fill our hearts up with him and his word we’ll discover that our desires will be to do what he’s called us to do. Our delight will be to serve him. And all those things we receive in return we’ll just want to use them to further his kingdom. This, not some trophy elk that our wives don’t want in the house anyway, will bring us the true joy, peace, and contentment we’re missing from all that stuff that’s piling around our feet.