Accepting Christ Helps Catch Fish

You just never know when God is going to come. My friend Jeff is convinced He speaks to him through billboards and he has more than once told us stories to back it up. Sometimes you will meet someone and a conversation with this perfect stranger will turn into an answer to a prayer or confirm something you felt God was telling you. Before fish camp this year I was praying for His direction, what scripture to teach, how to teach it and what would it look like. OH He answered and He blew me away, again.

This year the eight boys who came to fish camp were mostly new to a KOZ summer camp. We did have Samuel who came last year and Chance who had been for a couple years. But Jake, Drew, Gunner, Garrison, Dylan and Derrick were pretty much first timers. I love that. 

God brings exactly he right boys to KOZ at just the right moment. Some of the boys come from intact families, some from hard places without male role models. Lots of time they will be mad that their father is a non-participant and they can be mad at men in general for breaking promises and abandoning them even to just their jobs. They don't always know that that is the demon that binds them to anger, frustration, confusion and distrust, but it is. 

When God gave me the scripture Luke 15:11-32 The Parable of the Lost Son,  I was a bit taken back. I know that lots of boys who have never experienced a loving father or even a stand-up man in their lives don't get the concept of a loving Father in stories, much less heaven. My first reaction to God was, "ugggg."

So "Fathered by God" was what He wanted me to teach them and we let the Holy Spirit lead us through scripture and the concept of God being our father. The boys we open to talking and each morning, afternoon and evening we led the conversations from stink bait and lost fish to God and His love for us no matter what.

The fishing was slow the first day or two. We studied the Freshwater Fishing Manual of North America and had a teacher come in for a class on cat fishing. Once the boys got in the groove they started to figure out how to catch the fish. They caught perch and drum, catfish and carp. They took some of the fish and learned how to fillet them and we ate them that night. Luckily we had planned our meals around the chance our fish catches were on the slower side.

I am a guy who believes in being intentional in my work for God. I can be fluffy and colorful and tell a good story but when it comes down to it, where is God in your life, do you know Christ in your heart and what would life look like if He was there for you, is where I like to go. Some folks will argue that people need to learn, understand and study for a period of time to be ready to accept Christ into their hearts. I am from the belief that if the thief on the cross next to Jesus could accept Christ, (Luke 23:43) into his heart without a three week study then it must be a heart issue. If it is a heart issue then when a kid at one of our summer camps is broken or feels led through his heart to ask Christ to father him, then I say yes.

One morning, about the third day, the boys were catching fish. Garrison had not had any luck the first day or two but on this morning he caught two in a row and they were nice catfish. That day I walked from boy to boy checking on them and talking fishing. Garrison was sitting on the back corner of the dock. He was the most patient of all the boys I think. He sat still and rarely took his hook out of the water, where most fish are caught by the way. I sat next to him, a cool breeze still blowing from across the lake as the morning sun began to crest the lake cliffs.

"You did good today," I told him. We sat quietly looking at the ripples and reflections. Garrison is a young man of few words. "This morning I prayed for Jesus to come into my heart and that is why I think I caught them," were his words back to me. I was stunned. I fumbled around in my mind. "You said you prayed for Jesus to come into your heart this morning," I repeated. "Yes," he said. My heart soared. God, You did that to show me. You did that to let me know You were with us. You showed Yourself to him. I could barely hold back the tears of joy. 

Later that night we sat in a group. A long day of fishing and swimming behind us. We talked more about how God will father us if we ask Him to and told the others about Garrison's decision. We stopped and I asked the other boys if they wanted to pray Romans 10:9 and ask Christ into their hearts and if so we would just begin to pray and they could read it if they felt their hearts led to.  Four of the boys joyfully read the words: Romans 10:9, ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  My heart raced. After we prayed I asked them if they wanted to be baptized tomorrow at sunrise in the lake, they all agreed it would be cool. God, you are cool.

The sunrise didn't seem so early the next day. The boys acknowledged their new life in Christ and desire to be fathered by God as the pink sky turned bright and warm on the horizon. 

Not every camp or outing is as powerful as this one. I pray they are and have seen Him come for the boys in many ways, healing, lives saved, bonding, release from agreements that were untrue and more. I love how He is joyful and playful. I love how He takes these times and uses them to do mighty things. 

  

Lord, thank you. Thanks for loving on these boys, on me, on the men and women who faithfully pour into these times for You. See ya soon? Maybe hunt camp? I pray we do.

Core Living and a Butt Blister

I have a sit spot. No it’s not a blister on my butt from being lazy. It is what “Coyote Mentoring” calls a place in nature you sit regularly and learn about nature, tune into nature, leave the electronics behind and sit still and quiet. In one spot, the same spot and learn it. I love it.

Recently when my daughter and I were walking in some public area, I don’t remember exactly where it was, a mall parking lot or festival grounds, she told me to “walk faster.” “Dad, you’re walking like an old person, let’s go”. She said partially aggravated, partially laughing. I told her I was just taking in the moment with her. Really I was thinking and really not in much of a hurry to be anywhere any faster. I was content. But, I sped up my pace.

It wasn’t long after that the same thing happened, “Dad, you’re walking slow again.” This time it concluded with “you’re walking like an old man, let’s go.” Now, I am laughing. I find myself comfortable in a different pace than this 16-year-old kid and I like it. I like that it aggravates her first and foremost. I am always looking at ways to aggravate my kids with a purpose and this was a good one. “Slow down, enjoy this time with your dad.” I said. Didn’t work, she was trying to get to the truck to get home, a comfortable seat to text from or something along those lines I guess.

Now first of all, my kids are loving and caring as any kids ever. They are also teens and oblivious to a lot of things that don’t include their current life needs or crisis. I lived that way for almost all my life. To this day I find myself caught up in a whirlwind of electronics and business that means absolutely nothing when it comes down to the core things of importance.

Core level is living in the beauty of the moment but tends to only happen when someone is dying, coming back from tragedy, living in pain or hurt in one form or another. We as humans tend to have to have a brick to the side of the head to see life’s true core beauty.

I wanted to say here that there is something to be said for the hippie way of life. I wanted to find a correlating lifestyle that defined what I am trying to describe. I looked up hippie to see if that fit, peaceful, introspective and compassionate but most of the definitions for hippie were anti-establishment and included drugs. That doesn’t fit. But then I realized that in the bible Jesus often went to find still quiet places to pray and be comforted. He would spend the day talking to thousands then jump in a boat and go across the lake to a quiet wilderness area. He often went to the garden to be still and quiet. He found sit spots to connect to His Father and His creation, to reflect on the core level things important to us all.

When I called my daughter at work, Callahan’s General Store, and asked if she would bring me a bird feeder home and some seed she laughed. She joked with the other employee’s at the store who know me about my new obsession with bird watching.

I am liking trying to figure out my humming bird feeder and my new seed bird feeder. I get up early with a cup of coffee and sit on my porch swing and watch in anticipation of a bird coming to the feeder. It is exciting to see the different types.

Oh man, did I just say it is exciting to see birds coming into my bird feeder? Did I just reveal that I am enjoying sitting on my porch swinging in an old swing? Oh geez, I am getting old. But ya know what, I would not change this time in my life for all the youth and muscles and hair in the world. Thanks God for core experiences I will have today through You.

Peanut Butter and Lamb

The last few years of my dad’s life, he ate a lot of peanut butter. I can’t remember if he was partial to crunchy or creamy but, whichever, he ate a lot of it. Peanut butter is one of the all-time perfect foods. It has protein, it fills you up and is fast and convenient to prepare and eat. I think, for him, all those things were why he ate so much of it. Those are the reasons I do.

For many people there is a food they remember eating a lot of when they were kids. Spaghetti is a big one, chicken of all sorts, meatloaf, Hamburger Helper and pizza are all on the top most-eaten list.

When I was a kid, easy to make out-of-the-box foods were new and just coming to the forefront. We were a modern family and, like most of America, were trying them. Hamburger Helper, mac and cheese, cereals of all flavors. However, my mom, for the most part, always reverted back to the old-fashioned home-cooked classics, and nothing ever went to waste.

My kids laugh at me when I tell them we ate white bread torn into small pieces, sprinkled with sugar and then covered in milk for cereal. Although I haven’t had it in many, many years, I have fond memories of tearing the bread and pouring on the sugar – mmmmm, sounds good right now.

Sometimes on Sunday we would stop and get a box of fried chicken -- not a bucket from the famous Colonel Sanders but a box from another “fast food” chicken restaurant. The drive-through idea was relatively new in the early ‘60s, but it was something America was beginning to embrace. I remember we had a Jack in the Box close by, and it was a special treat to get a burger and fries from there. They actually had a giant jack popping out of a box turning around and around as their sign back then.

Jesus probably had a favorite food. Growing up with a Jewish mom, there had to be traditional foods he enjoyed and things he probably didn’t. I can hear her now, “Jesus, eat your dinner. You are not going to grow up and be a strong Savior if you don’t eat all your fish and lamb.” “Ahhh mom, I don’t care for lamb you know that, but I will honor you and eat it all, as it is written.” “That’s my little lamb of God,” she would reply, pinching his cheek.

Dr. Don Colbert, in his book “What Would Jesus Eat” said because Jesus was a Jew, he would have followed Old Testament dietary laws -- for instance, laws governing clean and unclean animals and fish. These laws were specific: cattle, sheep and goats were allowed, hogs were not. Fish with fins and scales were allowed; catfish, crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, shrimp), mollusks (clams, mussels) and others were not.

Colbert says Jesus would not have eaten an Easter ham.

Other staples in Jesus' diet, according to Colbert's assessment of the culture, would have been bread and other whole grains, vegetables, fruits and olive oil. Some say, however, that in those times he would have had to fend for whatever he could get.

Food group staples at our house are kinda weird. Ketchup is an old favorite and staple. Over the years my kids have covered just about everything with it. Of course salsa and picante is just about a must-have for meals. Then there is the newest and fastest growing food staple at our house -- ranch dressing. Ranch, as us regular users call it, has taken our home by storm the last few years. Our oldest son puts it on everything, and I do mean everything. Now his little brothers and sisters are starting to do the same. We go through bottle after bottle of the stuff every week. I know it is not the healthiest thing to put all over your food, but you have to pick your battles with your kids.

Robert Redford once said, “Health food may be good for the conscience, but Oreos taste a heck of a lot better.”

Man, do I get that. I love food and time around the table with friends and family. I enjoy a full kitchen when I am cooking and eating as we go. When I eat certain foods, I also reflect on my days as a kid and my dad’s last years. It’s like hearing a song from the past that takes you to that place where you heard it -- it can be an emotional thing for me in a weird kinda way.

Remember Saturday mornings in front of the television watching cartoons and eating cereal, popcorn at the drive-in, a kid’s burger from Jack in the Box, hot dogs at the ballpark, peanut butter and bananas while watching Fox News? Good times.

If you are blessed and want to give back, check out the Capital Area Food Bank – www.AustinFoodBank.org -- or the Water to Thrive Ministry – www.WaterToThrive.org.

God Bless,

TJ

KOZ Pink Summer Fishing Camp 2010

I said all along that the summer camp with the KOZ Pink girls was going to be a vacation for me. This first foray into the summer camps for the girls side of KOZ was so much more than I had ever expected.

We have two really wonderful new leaders for the KOZ Pink girls, Cindy and Nicole. They had both been bugging the heck out of me to go on a KOZ Pink adventure and when I asked if they would take a week from work and go, they jumped at the chance.

Bob Lusk and his wife hosted the camp at their home north of Dallas on lake Texoma. Bob is president of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association and is known as the Pond Boss after his highly successful business and magazine. Bob and I had been talking about the opportunity and he was very interested in hosting the program. The only week I had to do it began two days after the boys fish camp. It was ugg for me, wash my clothes, one night of rest and off again. To the last minute we added a girl and passed our limit of eight to nine but turned out each seat in the two vehicles were used, so obviously we were suppose to take each girl that came.

The first morning we left to go boating, well I guess if you can call a 44’ yacht a boat. The day was spent on Lake Texoma swimming and tooling about. We anchored on a sandy island, had sandwiches and swam, a fantastic time bonding and getting to know each other.

The next three days we fished different ponds Bob had on his property, perch in one, catfish another, bass in another. If there was ever a place you dream of fishing and catching, it looked like this. Guest speakers came and taught the girls about habitat and wildlife. They zip lined, swam in the ponds and laughed from early morning to late into the night.

During the late night chats God spoke clearly in so many ways. It was an amazing time of caring, sharing and tears. Girls fought through fears and worries, they let go of things that had kept them from who they wanted to be. On the last night as we sat around the living room seven girls accepted Christ, two reaffirmed their love for Him and I can honestly say it was one of the most powerful times of my life.

I was blessed to see the love of God and the Holy Spirit move mountains over that week. To top it off we prayed on the way home for God to lead us to a small café for lunch. Why pray for that you ask, I am not sure, we just did. He took us off the highway to a small café at two-o’clock in the afternoon and we met the most wonderful couple who had been praying for customers!

To just absolutely show us “When He Reins, It Pours” they told us they had been saving a portion of their earnings at the café to donate to a nonprofit Christian group and they handed us a check for $200. Wow.

As we move forward with this program He is convicting us to make sure we stay on point, that as long as it is about Him – He will pour out His blessing upon us. Right when we think we know where He is taking us, it changes.

Lord we pray for your will in all our works, we pray for You to bring us the kids we are charged to love on. Fall hunting and adventure begins soon. We leave the summer camps with one saying that He gave us that sticks with us, “when He reins, He pours.”