Jefferson Baptist’s “Five Days of Prayer” started today. The time I spent in the prayer room today was spiritually renewing. If I were to write a biography of my life, my growth in the discipline of prayer and my level of faith in the power of prayer would be the foundation of all that has happened to me as a Christian. God has blessed me in every area of my life, and I am sure that most of those blessings, especially in my ministry accomplishments and my family, are a result of prayer. I didn’t do many extraordinary things to accomplish what I have in ministry or in my family, no more than most others have done. However, I have prayed a lot, and the amount of praying I have done over the years has increased steadily. My faith that God hears and answers my prayers has also steadily grown. My devotion to prayer started in February 1989 at the first Pastor’s Prayer summit at Cannon Beach. I prayed before that, almost everyone prays, but that event jump-started a whole new level of devotion to prayer in my life. After the Prayer Summit, I wrote out seven clear goals regarding prayer. Even though I didn’t have a lot of faith in prayer at that time, I prayed faithfully, privately, corporately with my church family, with other pastors, and with my wife. I kept up the commitment to praying because I made the goal and was faithful to what I wrote down that I would do. As I continued faithfully in prayer, my faith in the power of prayer grew. As my faith grew, prayer became less and less a duty because I knew God would work in me, through me, and around me the more I prayed. I began to pray more and more because I was greedy for more blessings, fruit, and growth, and I knew that the more I prayed, the more God would bless. Praying became a “no-brainer.” Praying seemed a small price to pay for success in life, my family, and my ministry.

It is September, and everything starts up. My leadership classes, Wednesday night service, and meetings for various ministries, the younger kids in our house are starting school, and the older ones are starting college.  Many things have changed over the years of my life, but when I was six, school began in September, and now that I am 76, school still starts in September. Many things have changed, but September is still the month of “starting.” I enjoy the summer with reduced responsibilities, increased fishing, and enjoyable activities, often with friends and family. But by September, I am getting bored and ready for some meaningful activity. My personal goals go from October to October, so I am getting several new goals set in motion. I have some new challenges, new learning situations, and new experiences planned for this next year, and I look forward to them all. I only wrote 50 goals this year instead of my normal 77 because I will be 77 on October 27th. I don’t know if it is old age or just the number of goals, but 76 was too many for me last year. Instead of motivating me, they demotivated me. I am hoping that 50 is the perfect number for me this year. I have only two B-HAGs this year instead of the usual six. The hardest one is to climb Mt Adams. I have tried three times in the last eight years and have failed to reach the top each time. I want to climb it to the top before I quit. Another is to walk two half-marathons. I am planning one of my own that will start at my house. It will take place November 29th.

How are your goals coming? If you start pursuing them on January 1st, now is a good time to start thinking and writing them. Those who thoughtfully write out their goals and read them regularly will accomplish more than those who do not, learn more than those who do not, and grow more than those who do not. Let me know if you want to climb Mt Adams with me, July 11th. Plan on walking my half-marathon with me November 29th. There you go, two goals.

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, the opening day of the NFL. I enjoy watching football very much, keeping track of my favorite teams, reading the various sports writers, and watching the multiple sports experts discuss the teams and players on YouTube. I used to be in a Fantasy Football league, but it took too much time as I got very involved in trying to win, so I dropped out. I limit my watching of games to Monday night Football with many friends and snacks at the church. It appears that the Apostle Paul was a sports enthusiast by the number of sports illustrations he used in his writings. He didn’t have to contend with cell phones, iPads, computers, and television in managing his time with the addiction to sports. I have a greater struggle with this now than I used to because sitting and doing nothing but watching an iPad screen is so much more attractive than it used to be with my reduced energy level as an old man. I am still very much committed to bearing much fruit and managing my time well, but it is a much greater struggle than it used to be. I have to set goals and keep track of my time accurately. The primary key is the desire to bear fruit, the passion, the want to. In Revelation 3, Jesus says He wants us hot, not lukewarm. I can keep my fire hot by reading my Bible daily, spending time with God in prayer daily, memorizing and meditating on scripture, attending church regularly, fellowshipping with other hot Christians, worshipping Him, and reading good books and listening to motivational podcasts. Watching Monday night football and watching YouTube videos is a reward I give myself when I finish my Spiritual Disciplines.

Our son Sam has been archery hunting at the Steens Mts this past week and today he shot a five-point bull elk. He sent a picture of it lying dead with his bow on top of the elk. I showed it to Patty, and she said, “I hope they find it.” I looked at her and said, “What did you say?” She then realized that having a picture of a dead elk with a bow on it pretty much guaranteed that it was found. I started laughing and she did too. She then said, “Please don’t write about this in your blog!” I assured her that I wouldn’t! My boys and I have hunted with archery for years, and often hunted with other family members and friends. One of the things that occasionally happens with archery hunting is that the shot isn’t a good one, and the blood trail is so poor that we don’t find the animal. So Patty’s response whenever she heard that someone shot a deer or elk was, “I hope they find it.” So today, she couldn’t help herself. An arrow doesn’t kill an animal by shock like a bullet does, sometimes they don’t even know they have been shot. If the arrow goes through the lungs or the heart they will die pretty soon but they will still often run a hundred yards. If the arrow doesn’t go through the lungs or heart they can run for miles so then the hunter needs to be able to track the wounded animal from small spots of blood on the ground. We usually find them, but sometimes it takes hours of tracking. Most archery hunters have honed the skill of tracking and finding a wounded deer or elk; it is part of archery hunting. So, if you see Patty in the next few days, ask her if Sam found the elk he shot.

I am fishing for tuna on a big boat out of San Diego in about one month.  We will live on the boat for ten days. There will be over 20 people living on the boat and fishing. My friend Scott Haven and I are driving down and rooming together in one of the state rooms. I have purchased three different fishing rods and reels for the trip. One of them will have 30-pound line on it, the second 50-pound line, and the third 80-pound line. We will use the rod that best fits the size of fish we are targeting. The reels are made for saltwater, so everything is made of aluminum or stainless steel. They are two-speed reels. On the high speed setting, one turn of the crank brings in four feet of line, and the low speed brings in only one foot per crank. The reels also have what is called a lever drag system. There is a lever on the side of the reel; the farther forward it is pushed, the higher the drag. The drag setting is the amount of pounds the fish will have to pull so that the line is pulled off the reel rather than going on. The drag system allows us to fight a hundred-pound fish on a 30-pound test line without breaking the line.  The bend in the rod and the stretch in the fishing line are also shock absorbers that help keep the fish from breaking the line. The recommended drag setting at its highest setting is 1/3 of the line rating. I had my grandson help me, and with a scale tied to the end of the fishing line, we set the drag on my three reels to the proper amount. The rod is bent over a long way when you get 25 pounds of pull on it. The reels are large capacity reels holding over 500 yards of line so the fish can run a long way. Five hundred yards is over a quarter of a mile. The hope is that the big fish will tire out pulling out all that line, and then I can reel him in. Usually, a fish goes on two or three long runs, each shorter than the previous one, until you get them up to the boat, and a deck hand gaffs them and pulls them up on the boat’s deck. 

I am also a fisher of men because of the assignment I have received from Jesus. As I talk with people trying to convince them to follow Jesus as their savior, I recognize that I can pull too hard and break them off, so they walk away and possibly never come to faith in Christ. I always pray and ask God for wisdom to say just enough, but not too much. Having a built-in drag system would be nice, but I have to rely on insight gained from experience and the wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

I am fishing for tuna on a big boat out of San Diego in about one month.  We will live on the boat for ten days. There will be over 20 people living on the boat and fishing. My friend Scott Haven and I are driving down and rooming together in one of the state rooms. I have purchased three different fishing rods and reels for the trip. One of them will have 30-pound line on it, the second 50-pound line, and the third 80-pound line. We will use the rod that best fits the size of fish we are targeting. The reels are made for saltwater, so everything is made of aluminum or stainless steel. They are two-speed reels. On the high speed setting, one turn of the crank brings in four feet of line, and the low speed brings in only one foot per crank. The reels also have what is called a lever drag system. There is a lever on the side of the reel; the farther forward it is pushed, the higher the drag. The drag setting is the amount of pounds the fish will have to pull so that the line is pulled off the reel rather than going on. The drag system allows us to fight a hundred-pound fish on a 30-pound test line without breaking the line.  The bend in the rod and the stretch in the fishing line are also shock absorbers that help keep the fish from breaking the line. The recommended drag setting at its highest setting is 1/3 of the line rating. I had my grandson help me, and with a scale tied to the end of the fishing line, we set the drag on my three reels to the proper amount. The rod is bent over a long way when you get 25 pounds of pull on it. The reels are large capacity reels holding over 500 yards of line so the fish can run a long way. Five hundred yards is over a quarter of a mile. The hope is that the big fish will tire out pulling out all that line, and then I can reel him in. Usually, a fish goes on two or three long runs, each shorter than the previous one, until you get them up to the boat, and a deck hand gaffs them and pulls them up on the boat’s deck. 

I am also a fisher of men because of the assignment I have received from Jesus. As I talk with people trying to convince them to follow Jesus as their savior, I recognize that I can pull too hard and break them off, so they walk away and possibly never come to faith in Christ. I always pray and ask God for wisdom to say just enough, but not too much. Having a built-in drag system would be nice, but I have to rely on insight gained from experience and the wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

Several years ago, I was working on helping to build the first chapel that Jefferson Baptist Church had. I was coming down from the roof of the building when my feet slipped off the ladder, and I fell, but I didn’t fall very far because my wedding ring got hooked on the top of the ladder, and I hung there by my finger. I managed to get my feet back on the ladder and took the weight off my finger. I pulled the ring off because my finger was starting to swell noticeably, and it hurt like the dickens. I iced it well and wrapped it up with a towel. It was a couple of months before it was back to normal. I put my ring in Patty’s jewelry box, intending to put it back on when the building project was done. Several months later, our house got burglarized while we were at church. One of the things that got stolen was my wedding ring. Several years passed, and I still hadn’t bought a replacement ring. I was in at Les Schwab’s waiting for new tires to get put on my rig, and a lady started flirting with me a bit. I smiled and said, “I need to check on my car.” I shared that with Patty, laughing about it, and she declared that we would buy me a ring soon, even if it were cheap. Patty’s Dad died of a heart attack soon after that, and I inherited his wedding ring. The cool thing is that it had also been Patty’s grandfather’s ring. I got it sized to fit me and have been wearing it ever since. Last night, my son-in-law was working on the shop/house we are building next to our home for him and his family to live in, and he had a very similar experience, except he hooked his ring on the head of a nail instead of the top of a ladder. The result was the same, though, severe pain and immediate swelling. He also pulled the ring off before the swelling made it impossible to get off. Our wedding rings are special and symbolize our relationship with our wives.

The Bible says that we have crowns. ” Revelation 2:10 says that one of those  crowns that we have comes from Jesus, and it is a statement of our special relationship with Him, much like our wedding rings; ‘Be faithful  until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” In Revelation 3:11 in the passage written to the church of Philadelphia, Jesus says, “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” In the same way I lost my wedding ring, I can lose my crown. I suspect that the world and the devil are the thieves. I don’t think that losing my crown means I have lost my salvation, but I do think it means that I have lost eternal rewards from Jesus.

We have a bunch of apple trees in our front yard. We make cider out of some, dry some, can some, store some in our “cool room” to eat later,  and make apple sauce out of a lot. Patty has been busy picking, peeling, and slicing apples for applesauce this last week. I love her applesauce. She doesn’t use any sugar, so I can eat it; I do, I eat a lot. But her last batch tasted terrible; it was super hot and spicy. She usually puts cinnamon in her applesauce, but accidentally put in cayenne pepper instead. The jars were the same size, and the ingredients were close to the same color. I like spicy, but it was too hot for me. I don’t think the chickens will like it either. One of the problems we have in our world today is that people believe things to be true that are not. They make decisions and choices based on foolish information. As a result, they end up with messed-up lives.

 2 Corinthians 11:3  “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 11:14 “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

Some things may look reasonable, sound true, and appear to be wise, but don’t be deceived; it is cayenne pepper. It won’t taste very good. Be wise.

I was 12 when I killed my first deer and have hunted all of my life since then. I have killed a bear, a mountain lion, an antelope, three caribou, six elk, a bunch of deer, including five axis deer in Hawaii, geese, ducks, turkeys, pheasant, quail, coyotes, sage rats, and other critters. But the highlight of my hunting career was being with my boys when they got their first deer and elk. Several of my grandkids have shot their first deer in the last couple of years, as well as elk, and one of my grandsons has killed several wild pigs and some axis deer. My grandson in Idaho killed his first elk a couple of days ago, and he just turned ten. After the kill, there comes the field dressing and the pack out, often many miles in rugged country. When you get the elk home, you cut it up, grind it, vacuum seal it, and put it in the freezer. We usually processed all our games on the dining room table, and the whole family was involved. I think the camping we did as a family on our annual hunting trips was one of the most powerful parenting tools we had as we raised our eight kids. When God delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt, He promptly took them on a forty-year camping trip. God planned to develop character in His people. Hunting is like life. You have a goal, some accomplish it, but most do not. The ones who work hard, plan well, and acquire many skills usually succeed, just like in life. 

I took my granddaughter skydiving on Saturday. I was also going to jump, but decided that it might be a bit risky with my new hip. Usually, everyone lands by sliding in on the grass, but occasionally someone will have a hard landing. I have gone twice in the past, so I was content to watch, cheer, and take pictures. I was proud of my granddaughter because many people are too spooked to jump out of an airplane at 14,000 feet. We will do it again next year and take a couple of other grandkids who have had their 18th birthday, and my hip will be all healed and good as new. One of my life principles is continually looking for hard things to do. I don’t always succeed at accomplishing them, but it is always an adventure trying. It is good to see my grandkids adopting that principle in their lives.