>The Rocks Cry Out Picture Truth Series #6 By Gary Fultz

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Famous-landscape and I was There!
I took this picture a couple hundred yards from elk camp. 
Son Tim in the steep mountain timber

Not much has changed from when the movie “true Grit” starring John Wayne, was made. The trees have changed. Some are new and some are gone. The rock looks to be the same as well as the rock tower in the backdrop. 
 
  Those rocks are more famous than most of us will ever be. In fact a good trivia question would be…”Who shot John Wayne off his horse from behind that rock in the movie True Grit?” I’m not telling. You have to look it up if you don’t know and want to know! There’s a remake of the movie anyway.
  Many of you who watch movies have seen the twin peaks and chimney rock from other angles and never thought “I wonder where this was taken?” It’s all just backdrop to the real action right?
  So what are we seeing here? To the movie buff, rocks with some great history and stories. To the landscape photographer, a perfect rock in the fore ground and background to give the mountain scene an added rugged context in all it’s beauty. To the hunter it’s a good place to hide and watch the valley below for game. Maybe that’s what the mountain lion tracks nearby were suggesting. It’s a great place to lie in wait for the hunt!
  We so much want to give meaning to our own lives don’t we? I know I do!
  I stood in the same place as Robert Devalle when he shot from behind that rock. That made me feel so good I wanted to tell somebody!
Look closer though and I see just normal rocks that are wearing down with the elements and time. They are not going anywhere. Change is slow for now. They are just a bunch of rocks that majestically line the landscape. Or is there more to it than that?
  Jesus saw the rocks as ready to cry out in praise and worship if his disciples were silenced (Luke 19: 37-40). They were being loud! Too loud for the Pharisees who demanded Jesus quiet down those obnoxious disciples!
Maybe Whole Mountains will cry out

 A friend of mine wants to put a big boulder in front of our church with a message on it “If you don’t, I will”. I think every church should have a big rock out front. When the children or strangers ask what this rock is for, everyone should be able to tell them.

  Someday whole mountains of rock may roar out in worship to our creator if we do not.
Could it be that they litter the hills and valleys, stand guard in the peaks, and strategically lie everywhere for the signal? How sad if God finds our heart a rock and the rocks more fit for worship.
Elk Camp…The rocks won’t cry out around this bunch
Your comments are appreciated below and on my face book page
Check out COFA Christian Outdoors Fellowship of America
Have a buffalo Burger (When going by the COFA hunting area) at the True Grit Cafe
If you want to learn more about blogging Check Out Kristen Lambs advice on Blogging
I follow a good friends blogs and video messages from  Leary Gates. Sign up- it’s worth it!
Another good read is Gary Millers Outdoor Truths  We are spending some time together soon.
More to come on who are you? The steak or just the sizzle?

Gary D

>Firestarters of the Soul by Gary Fultz Picture Truth # 5

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Watching the snow fall outside my window stirs the desire in me to go winter camping!
     I’m serious; it can be an unbelievable great time. Some of you would start planning and packing if I invited you on the next outing! For others the very idea glances off their brain like a bug on a windshield in a Nascar race.
     I can assure you that snowshoeing on the lakes is completely safe as most of the ice is 2 to 3 feet thick (except where the water is moving underneath and tends to keep the ice very thin).
     I could tell you that the snow is so bright that you can travel at night through the woods by moonlight and not get lost (unless the clouds move in and it’s so dark that by flashlight you will still get lost).
     Our adventure proved that even in 3 feet of fluffy snow, snowshoes stay high enough to get you and your gear sled safely through the unmarked trails…most of the time.
There are some dangers to be aware of while winter camping. Some dangers are actually more subtle. Did you know that every breath of air you take has very little to no moisture in below freezing temperatures? There is a high percentage of moisture in every breath of air you exhale. This means you dehydrate fast just by breathing cold air!
     Did you know that when you settle by a nice cozy fire… your body quits making heat for itself and begins to rely on external heat? It only feels good till you walk away no matter how warmed you were. Then if you climb into your super high technology sleeping bag that’s supposed to keep you warm, you could die in your sleep. Your great sleeping bag is the temperature of the great outdoors until your body heat replaces all the cold that the bag is now storing. If your body has shut down by the fire it won’t start up by climbing into a super cold sleeping bag.
I know people who claim to be spiritual. They look like good Christian people and do all the right things. I would suggest to you that only going to church and listening to the right music is like sitting by the fire. 
    Life is as dangerous as winter camping. Unless the fire burns within because we walk and talk and worship our great God daily, we shut down. 
Firestarters of the Soul
 
I took this long shot picture of my friend Brad snowshoeing and pulling a sled full of gear. He is as rugged as the rocks behind him. His sense of adventure in winter camping and his walk with Jesus is attractive. He is a good guy to have in camp and he will probably out-fish you.
 

     Somehow it got dark before we found the hidden trout lake in the wilderness. The sun went down and the clouds rolled in and there was no trail or markings other than a spot on the wilderness map. Our compasses went every direction because of the iron in the rocks. Somewhere on a hillside in the very dark woods, in three feet of snow, the four of us made camp. We built a fire, cooked a gourmet supper over it (steaks, potatoes, vegetables, peppers, and …wow did we eat). We ran in the deep snow to super heat our bodies, climbed into our bags, and had a great nights sleep under the stars. We were prepared and we would find the lake in the morning.

     Are there any good guys in your camp? Do you have friends or a group of people who are not content to let you just sit by the fire spiritually in your walk with God? Are you trying to live life alone and relying on your own perceptions and inner compass? I wouldn’t consider winter camping alone. Some do but it’s too risky for me.
     I would suggest that Life is much harder and the stakes are too high not to have good people around to keep us walking with God. People who love us enough to be motivated to keep our marriage healthy, mentor our kids, and pass on healthy legacies to the next generation. We all need someone to get us away from the fire and make us run in the snow. Those encouragers of developing our own walk with God… Fire-starters of the soul.

Tell us how you stay close to God and Grow. What is the hardest part of your spiritual journey? Do you have any firestarter people in your life?
Gary D

>Sowing your wild oats? Picture Truth Series #4 by Gary Fultz

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A sea of weed seeds ready to sow
The bulldozing strip was perfect. I stood in a sea of white weeds while deer hunting last November in wool pants. I spent a whole evening, after hunting, picking out all the various types of weed seeds that stick to the wool.
Like the dandelion, these seeds get blown by the wind and try to plant themselves wherever they land. The old saying “nothing planted, nothing harvested” is not totally true. The real truth is that we would have to do quite a bit of work (or quite a bit of spraying) to get rid of these weeds. The soil is now quite full of weed seeds for years to come. It is one thing to let a weed grow; quite another to let it go to seed. Even if we wanted a simple mixed crop of grasses and legumes for the deer, we would be fighting weeds for years until the crop could choke the weeds out.
Crop farmers know that seed bed preparation is absolutely important; one must understand it, and get it right. You might as well not plant anything if there has been no preparation, and your soil is full of weeds and weed seeds. The weeds you can take care of; the seeds are another matter.
When I was young, one of the neighbors disk ed a field of weeds and grass to plant to a grain crop. He made the soil black; it looked good! Then He planted his crop and let it grow. My father couldn’t resist making a comment and laugh about the field every time we drove by that year because it was a great crop of weeds, grasses and a few oats sticking up.
                    You do reap what you sow
There are so many lessons in life that can be drawn from this little weed picture. How about the weeds in a marriage? We see the weeds but the seeds seem to go unnoticed till they crop up in other areas. What does a proper seed bed look like in a good marriage where two people are growing in love and respect together?
Happy Couple
 I can say from experience that you cannot coast in your relationship; it takes work. It’s why some just start over, not realizing they are just bringing the weed seeds with them.
How about your job? Maintaining your house? Your teenager’s bedroom? Shall I continue? OK how about your walk with God? Is the three year old the boss of the house? Every one of these is brought into a proper relationship through daily discipline (especially the three year old).
“Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.”
Don’t ever think that a weed here and there is OK. They plant seeds by the hundreds after a season. They lie dormant in the soil and grow when you least expect it, sometimes years later. Best to take care of your soil (heart?) in the first place! Do you have a couple of good friends who can help you do some soil testing? Your pastor might do it for free!
Have you ever thought how much your relationship with God is the foundation of all other areas of your life?
Think about it! If God created us, He is the one who knows the what, where, when, how of each of our lives. Jesus said in John 10:10 “I came to give you life and life more abundantly”.
So how are you keeping your life free of weeds and seeds?
Gary D

>Solitude Picture Truth 3 by Gary Fultz

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 Auras of mystery surround places of solitude. The very word fills pages of novels, entices the busy, and secretes fear into the lost. Solitude hides a secret ingredient in the discovery of inner peace. She whispers of fulfilled longings and whisks sweet fantasies into the souls of dreamers.

Solitude begs the wilderness to conspire. “Let the open places call and the forests invite the seeker”. No answer is heard as nature awaits it’s own peace.

Seekers reach for solitude. I slid the canoe into the water quietly at 4:30 am in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. Getting away from camp for my own sense of solitude. 3 portages, a river, and part of a floating bog later I was met by the early morning sunrise on Sema Lake. Crystal clear calm water looked like I was floating on air 40 feet above the rocky lake bottom. It was that moment when I realized that being totally alone without anyone knowing where, did not give me the solitude I was seeking. Only God knew where I was and only His peace could fill me. Of all the places in the world to discover the place of solitude was on the inside. How ironic to find one must be still and get alone when they are already alone. Even more to find out one can be still in the middle of a busy street or wherever you are in whatever you are doing.

   Solitude is not found in the rocks, trees, skies, or seas. She hides in plain sight while we are distracted by all that surrounds us. The fact that we are searching is a seductress. Could it be that solitude is always there waiting for us to slip away from all our distractions into the quiet place of our own heart?
You don’t have to get to the mountain top to find solitude

 

how do you get alone? Please share in the comments at the bottom

Gary D

>Angry Beaver — Picture truths series #2 By Gary Fultz

Vicious beaver
            Here I was, minding my own business on an absolutely calm evening with the lake all to myself. I was    catching a load of crappies from a canoe barely drifting through the moon lit evening. I just about tipped the canoe when the water was torpedoed by this angry beaver. This beaver demon was acting out the lake equivalent of road rage. Evidently the lake was not big enough for the two of us even though it is almost a mile long. This big old beaver stalked me wherever I went and would get by the canoe and slap the water with his tail. It sounded like someone was throwing big boulders off a cliff into the water. He was acting like he overdosed on sugar maple trees!
I finally went after him because the crappies quit biting. The beaver dove and disappeared; the frogs started croaking “jaws” music as daylight was gone. Even the moon was trying to get behind a cloud as its normal aura was being disgraced. A strange sense of evil settled about me so I quickly turned to look for the landing.
I began having visions of the beaver eating my only wood paddle as I picked up the pace to get to the safety of shore, all the while pronouncing blessings on the early beaver trappers in this country. Crappie fishing might never have been discovered without those trappers. I realized that as the light was fading so was my grip on reality!
Strange things happen in the dark! Our mind adds to the strangeness, and literally if unchecked, the mind can become completely irrational. I don’t remember feeling fear for my life or anything (and I wouldn’t admit it if I did), but that beaver surely became a monster in the water that I didn’t want to agitate anymore. I would really rather face a bear than a vicious underwater monster that eats big trees for a living! Lately I have solved the problem by bringing three paddles!
These are the things people laugh about by day and yet experience by night. What is it about the mind that can manufacture embodiments of fear in dark places? Is it possible that darkness has its own powers? Could it be that the absence of light is a camouflaged environment for evil? Whatever people think about the darkness, it’s easier to do wrong in the night. It’s easier to deceive and be deceived in the dark. It’s easier to imagine that unseen and undiscovered evil feels ok in a totally darkened and depraved mind.
What a shock to discover that our inner being is naturally a dark place without light as we are born that way! The sin condition (and a totally darkened mind) has infected all mankind and has deluded our thinking, reasoning ability, and our ability to see truth in this ever-present darkness. We in essence have become the monsters while pretending to be the angels to the rest of the planet! Why? Because it’s easy to deceive ourselves in the dark, and think we have some light in us that can be fanned into a source of light.
All over scripture, light is associated with the presence of God and darkness is associated wherever God is not present. Look it up; 2 Samuel 22:29 says “the Lord turns my darkness into light”. Psalm 18: 28 “My God turns my darkness into light”. This is a thread from cover to cover and part of Gods daring rescue of mankind through Jesus, to let God’s light shine in our inner being through the person of Jesus! “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1; 4)
Light came into the world again
 
 
When we believe in Jesus we let Him, and all He is (The way, truth, life, and light itself) come in, Jesus says to the Father “We’re in! The Holy Spirit is already starting to clean up! Let’s see how many no trespassing signs we can take down!” “Let’s see how many dark places we can light up.”
About that beaver; He is back at the lodge telling the little ones a bed time story about his latest dangerous mission, driving away a terrible threat to the beaver kingdom and their way of life. The little beavers ah… in unison as he brings out a piece of a canoe paddle and lays it on the mantel.
Truth: 1) I took a picture of an angry beaver, he followed me everywhere and ruined my fishing, and I have a bit of an imagination sometimes.
2) God is light, we are not.
3) If there is light in us; it’s Jesus himself shining through us (that’s a lot of lumen s).
4) I really was catching a lot of crappies till that beaver started stalking me!
              Gary D

A Case for…Outdoor Adventures

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            46″ pike… Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
I’m a thrill seeker in the outdoor arena. Adventure stirs and wakens brain cells my teachers thought were missing. It’s not enough for me to to read adventure stories and fantasize surviving the “call of the wild” lifestyle. I want to live it and tell the stories. I love to take people with me and share the adventures as well. As competitive as I am I feel a greater glory when someone else catches the monster fish, takes a great picture of a cow moose with her calves, or gets to chase the bear away from the campsite. Raw rugged adventure… and it’s great! So let me build a case for seeking an outdoor adventure.

I realized early on that everyone’s quest in the wilderness was often quite different. Some wanted to see as much country as possible while others wanted a nice view and contemplation time, from spiritual revival to competitive fishing. Individual quests often form as the trip progresses.

  Some gain what they don’t seek.

 Self confidence, outdoor chef training,  muscles, a reality check and our smallness in an indifferent environment take some by surprise. Perfect weather and no mosquitoes can become a killer storm and black fly hell in a matter of minutes. I have concluded one must die to become one with nature (dust to dust). Black bear often feel entitled to your camp food and may invite themselves at any time, so I always build a stash of throwable rocks by my tent entrance. No trip is even close to predictable…therefore…it’s an adventure! Why would anyone not do this?

So why go to all the work of having a wilderness adventure?
I realize some people have their adventures in the mall looking for deals, while others sense of adventure is on par with going to the other end of the hall for ice. The answer for me is a compilation of many things. I want to know myself when all pretense is stripped away, I want to know my creator and experience His living artwork, I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie (high on the Richter scale),  and I love $100 plates of food (trust me you would pay it) at the end of the day around the campfire.
Bottom line: These kind of adventures began to morph the boy into a man of character and a girl into a woman who can hold her own anywhere.
    Another Bottom line: Honesty and reality happen.
That lake (15 portages and 35 miles in) you wanted to get to? No short cuts, or any other way to get there; you have to do the work to get to those lake trout. Forgot your matches? Oh well! Weatherman said five days no rain? So much for sleeping under the stars (it’s you and a zillion mosquitoes under the same canoe). You thought God was magically encountered in nature? Guess again…God is a person and not a rock, tree, beaver, or storm (a very good place to see his art work and experience Him in person however).

    Bonds: A worthwhile quest
While nature works through a balance of give and take, people work better through relational bonds.
I’ve watch the father-son, husband-wife, family bonds grow. Poor relationships, selfish behavior, and personal discomfort bring out the worst and best in people. When the storm hits, when the wind blows high waves, when the bear walks into camp, people tend to work together. 
     There is plenty of talk time in the wilderness. plenty of bonding time for your relationships to grow.
Sitting around the camp fire one evening a teenager shared how she had met with God while sitting on a rock looking over the lake. She had never talked with God informally(and out loud) before. Another teen talked about getting to know his dad “I didn’t know my dad was so cool”! A dad gave his son a hug and said “son I’ve been protecting you too much, you are carrying the canoe tomorrow!”
I leave you with one more reason for taking a wilderness adventure…

Five minute exposure from an island in crooked lake BWCAW

Gary D
  

 

 

Food for Thought

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                               Scrambled eggs, coffee after a good Time with God by the fire this morning
I heard it….I heard it again…then again….
    How I start my day has become important to me. I have had to discipline myself to listen to all the voices vying for the days attention starting now. E-mails, weather reports, morning coffee, breakfast, and reading my bible jockey for position while I wander around in PJ’s or less wondering where to start.
Me first…
    As I sat up to the computer to read Kirsten Lamb’s Blog so I can learn how to blog.
Me first…Again..It was distinct and I didn’t need to look around. A couple of months earlier I had heard the same thing, same voice, same request, not urgent but a compelling…”Me First“.
    No coffee, no breakfast, or fire in the fireplace; just getting alone with the creator of the universe who whispers “Me First”. I have to admit the other voices are louder and more demanding. I guess I let them do that to me. So I read and wonder if God can communicate to me this morning. Does God need some backround music to set the tone? Do I need the backround music to hear God’s voice? “Me First”…guess not!
    What do you do when life seems like a barren  wasteland or frozen lake…dead but for the springs?  Can I really hear Gods voice?

   I had been rereading the passage from last sunday’s sermon from Isaiah 55

Invitation to the Thirsty

 1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,                                      
   come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
   and your labor on what does not satisfy?                                     
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
   and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
   listen, that you may live….
    I never realized how many times we are told to listen and how many ways God talks to people. I am going to spend a season of time in study on the subject but I already get the sense that God feels we don’t listen very well. I guess the “listen, listen” is a clue. I feel like I’m a four year old being talked to.
    So this morning I listened, spent time with the amazing creator, talked a little myself, and then my parameters were reset for the day. Planning my next adventure fishing, reading and exploring the social networking world with the latest greatest book on the subject, and of course making a fine breakfast (pictured top still steaming hot).
    In what ways does God call you? Do you listen? Let me leave you with a song that often comes to my mind…Whatever it takes…Is quite a call…yet probably comes as a whisper.
    So find a spot, take a walk, get alone, listen for God’s voice in his recorded word, Listen for his voice in your busy world, Then invite Him into the rest of your day.
Gary D

>Of monster Trucks and Joy Juice by Gary Fultz

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     We live as in a fog, only seeing the immediate, yet the universe and beyond is navigable 

     Her face radiated joy underneath a peaceful wrinkled face. Recognizable in the wistful words coming from the upside of the half droopy mouth and a body held partially intact by the shored up wheelchair. It took time for the visiting pastor to get beyond this fragile lump of clay and the waning life within to understand she had become a portal beyond time, space, and matter. He was shaken to the core as he experienced her presence of God. An old women who was far beyond what he had ever experienced.
She was already in the presence of God…connected by a lifetime of relational experience to Her Jesus and and the discipline of “Practicing the Presence of God”
To the spiritual underworld she had become a Monster Truck of destruction. This old woman with no obvious potential quality emitted a peace beyond understanding. One felt an eternal presence near her. The lies so many believe and live out in the physical world, were dented beyond repair.
To the nursing home she was the envy of those with no hope or love left in their being. She was hope, love, and Joy as she refused to leave the presence of Jesus to wipe off the spit or do more than cry at the rough hands. In pure blindness some could only explain her radiance by looking for her stash of joy juice.  
    To the heavens she was on display as an eternal living triumph over a mere slow death of clay. The ancient enemy of death was being beaten soundly by one who so entrusted herself to the resurrection power that mightily worked within. The power of Jesus within who overflowed to touch and heal searching hearts drawn. She had joined the ranks of those in whom the world was not worthy (Hebrews 11:38).
There was no turning back even given the choice to trade places with any soul on earth. Would she trade with you and your great life; acquiring your health, wealth, loving family, security, conquests and adventures yet to be realized? Sorry but no! Would you trade places with her to stand on the edge of eternity already endowed with elements that cannot be contained in the (average mini-sized over-exaggerated) id’s mistaken for the soul? I’m sorry for those who would say no.
I have my desires ambitions and dreams before I get older but as I evaluate 2011 coming on I want to experience the presence of God. Truthfully I’d like to become a monster truck in the realms of the spiritual. I’d like to make some think I had been sipping on joy Juice rather than a green plum. I’d like to have within me a peace and joy that constantly begs the question “can I have some of what you have?”