Changing Course

A while ago I was out bowhunting when I witnessed something I had never seen before. One of the biggest fox squirrels I had ever seen was working his way toward me as he meandered at a steady pace as a "rodent on a mission." I was sitting in a ladder stand on a black walnut tree, to which the squirrel finally jumped onto above my head about twelve feet. Before, I've had gray squirrels hit those walnuts and knock them down to the ground. Yes, I felt like ducking for cover when they came falling to the ground!

This fox squirrel didn't do that. He was only interested in getting across to the other side of field to the red oak tree. As he made his way out on one of the limbs, he got ready to jump by hunkering down, but he didn't proceed. He backed up, jumped up to a higher limb that reached across the field more, and then he jumped with all his might to the old oak. I pondered to myself as to why he decided to change course.

The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that we could learn a lesson from that squirrel. He changed his position before he jumped because it was too far for him to jump. What would happen if more of us human beings contemplated that certain moves wouldn't be the best for us to make? That squirrel knew he might fall if he jumped the first time. Many times I think we don't take into consideration what might happen if we act without thinking. Let's learn from the fox squirrel as I continue to look for little things in nature to teach us lessons.

Hunting Report

This was my fourth time to go hunting this season, and I was bowhunting within the city limits of Columbia, TN. There were three does already out in the field when I got there about 3:45 this afternoon. I watched several more does throughout the evening, as the rain began to fall lightly from the overcast sky. The problem was I couldn't get the does within bow range. My comfortable range is out to about thirty yards, but it wasn't happening.

About ten minutes before dark, I began hearing a deer walking up the bank from the creek behind me. If you can picture my setup, I was dressed in camo sitting in a white plastic chair in the woods about five yards off the edge of a field. When I heard the deer, I knew I was in trouble if the deer came straight toward me; he did! I had simply turned my head around to see what came out, and I watched a small spike appear over the rise. He walked up within three yards of me sitting in this white plastic chair. As he got behind me, I began moving intentionally because I thought I heard another deer in the field. He finally spooked, but he only ran a few steps further.

I don't like shooting young bucks, but as he sat there staring at me, I can't say the thought didn't cross my mind. Nonetheless, I waited until he left before I walked back to my car. It was truly a nice evening to be out there.

I Hadn't Noticed That Before!

Do you ever see things that you knew were there all along but seemed like they suddenly appeared to you? I'm sure you've heard people use expressions such as "I couldn't see the forest for the trees" and "if it would have been a snake, it would have jumped up and bit me!" Sometimes we just don't pay enough attention to our surroundings to see something important. The reality is that although we might not have noticed that something, it was really there all along.

Such was the case with me yesterday while I was out looking for another treestand location at a spot I hunt here in Columbia. I had been looking for a spot to put an extra ladder stand, but I was having trouble finding the right tree. I don't know how many times I had walked by this one spot, but it had never entered my mind that it could be the one spot I wanted to find. Covered up by quite a bit of brush and smaller trees was a humongous red oak. It was only when I fixed my eyes on it that I realized how good of a stand location that could be, especially given the cover that is around it. I immediately began to think ahead to next year thinking what I would be planting to hold the deer there.

The tree had been there the whole time, but I never got a good enough glimpse of it due to all of the brush in front of it. Somtimes Bible study is like that. How many times have you been reading a passage of Scripture when you discover something new? I've heard many people utter a phrase similar to this, and I've even experienced this myself. God's Word is so full of information, we can't help but discover new things if we continue to study it. Are you going to look for things that you haven't noticed before?

2 Tim. 2:15
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

Why Did the Lord Pick Peter?

I love being around senior citizens; I guess that's why I teach four classes at assisted living homes during the week, as well as one at West 7th on Sunday mornings. They say some of the neatest things at times, and they also make some very good observations. Sister Ravenelle Hale, a sister in Christ and a resident at Morning Pointe in Columbia, asked a question this morning as to why the Lord picked Peter as one of the twelve.

We had just finished discussing how Peter is so much more familiar to us than his brother Andrew, who brought him to Jesus. One of the observations that I made was Peter's diagnosis of what I call the foot-in-mouth syndrome (you know, where you open mouth and insert foot by speaking before thinking). Many times we see Peter's outspoken nature lead him to say things that he doesn't really understand. From statements such as "God forbid it, Lord" (Mt. 16:22 - rebuking Christ as He told of His upcoming death & resurrection) to his words "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head" (Jn. 13:9 - misunderstanding the lesson of service Jesus was teaching by washing the disciples' feet), Peter shows his true colors. However, we see Peter do many great things such as making the great confession, preaching the first gospel sermon and becoming an elder in the Lord's church.

So what was it that Jesus saw in Peter? An observation from my perspective is that Jesus picked Peter to show how the Lord can use and imperfect person to accomplish His perfect plan. Peter had a lot of imperfections that are laid out for us in Scripture, but he played a major part in advancing the cause of the kingdom. Peter shows us how to grow and mature in the Lord, for we too all have character flaws that hinder our paths to spiritual maturity. Why did the Lord pick Peter? Deuteronomy 29:29 says "'the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.'" We don't know exactly what the Lord was thinking, but we know what outcome He had in mind. What flaws can the Lord mold in your life to further His cause?

"And what about the baby's rights?"

There are some television programs that I do not watch, and Boston Legal is one of them. I'm sure there are some good lines and moments on it, but I also know that it is very obscene at times. While I don't follow the show, I do catch many of their previews while watching certain programs on the tv. This morning I saw a preview for this week's show that provided one of those good moments.

It appears that this week's show deals with a prospective abortion. A young girl comes to the law firm because she can't get an abortion without parental consent. Her mother will not back her in this decision, as she feels it isn't right. In a discussion between lawyers, James Spader's character has a disagreement with William Shatner's character. After being asked about the mother's rights, Shatner's character says "and what about the baby's rights?" Why are more people not asking that question today?

The Bible clearly teaches that an unborn child is still a life, whether certain people in today's society admit it or not. Under the Mosaical Law, anyone who struck a woman causing her to go into premature labor and lose the child was to be executed (Ex. 21:22-25). This was an accidental death. If God felt this way about the accidental death of a child, how do you think He feels about abortions where innocent lives are being taken deliberately?

Even though Shatner's line was acting, I hope that it might cause people to open their eyes and see what they're doing by aborting, I'm sorry, I mean murdering, these babies.

Is It Bird Hunting Season?

I ask this question due to something that happened to me today. Mike Kesler (one of our elders at West 7th) and I were traveling to the VA community living center in Murfreesboro to visit a brother in Christ who just moved into his new home there. Before we arrived at the facility, a truck came squealing out of a gas station in front of us, and he shot the proverbial bird out of the clear blue sky (I'm not talking about dove hunting, either!).

He made a very obscene gesture as he wanted to make sure to get his point across. Not only was he firing one-handed at us, but he was also yelling something as well. Mike and I were totally puzzled at what unfolded in front of our very eyes. Our first reaction was to ask what he was doing. Our next reaction was wondering if it was even targeted at us. I looked back at the gas station to see if there was anybody there, but there was not. What had we done to deserve such flippant and vulgar use of human ammunition?

We were just traveling down the road minding our own business, so I personally think the guy was crazy - a few sandwiches short of a picnic if you ask me! I have no idea why he did what he did. I think if nothing else, it just goes to show you that you never know what you are going to experience each day. I'm really thankful that we could not make out what he was saying, as that probably would have really ruffled our feathers!

When Did Hunting Begin?

I pose this question, not to be silly or frivolous, but to point out some things from Scripture. Some people in the world are animal rights activists who continually bash outdoorsmen who hunt, whether for sport or for food. As long as there are people in this world, this conflict will exist. I want us to ponder this question, partly because of a recent post where a friend of mine was inquisitive about my comment on hunting being a part of stewardship. Let's see if we can tackle this one.

Upon the creation of man on day six, Adam and Eve were not given instructions to eat anything they wanted. Prior to the first sin in the garden, mankind and animal life was given plants and fruit to eat. "Then God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life; I have given every green plant for food'; and it was so" (Gen. 1:29-30). Yes, it was a vegetarian diet at this point. There were no meat-eaters; this even included the dinosaurs!

When did this change? After the flood, God changed the diet of mankind. God gave the charge that all of the creatures had been given over into mankind's hand. "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant" (Gen. 9:3). Not only did we have dominion over them as God said in Gen. 1:26, but now we would be a cause of fear for them. This would have changed things drastically in the animal kingdom.

We go on to read about Nimrod, who was a great-grandson of Noah, and he was a mighty hunter (Gen. 10:9). Fast-forward to today, where hunting abounds as ways to acquire food solely for some, but also as an outdoor conservation method. The fact that God gave us rule over the fish, birds, cattle and every other creeping thing has not changed. When we talk about stewardship, we mostly think about money and what we give back to the Lord. However, I proposed a few years ago that hunting and fishing is a part of our stewardship. How is this?

One of the reasons we hunt is to control the animal population. How many of you have come close to hitting a deer while it is crossing the road? If hunting were to stop, can you imagine how many more automobile accidents would happen as a result of this? Take Tennessee for example. A few years ago, the TWRA increased the limit on deer to three does a day. This has really not even made a dent in the population, as many hunters are only able to hunt on weekends. Deer are still being hit by cars and they are still contracting certain diseases. If hunting were stopped, there would be so many ill effects on the human population that it wouldn't be a laughing matter. I wish everyone could go back and read an article by John Sloan in Reader's Digest. It will make you think!

Don't think of it though only in terms of keeping the population in check. Think about it in the sense of continuing to do what God told Noah upon exiting the ark, as well as understanding what God said early on about us having dominion over them. So, when did hunting begin? Hopefully I answered any questions you might have had about this subject about its necessity and beginning. We can surely say it is scriptural!