Sam's 1st Deer

The beast is dead...let there be meat! I decided to take Sam hunting with me Monday evening as it was windy & any 'extra noise' made by a 3 year old would be masked by the wind. We hiked to a box stand overlooking a beautiful food plot. Sam climbed right up & was excited to actually be deer hunting with Dad.

He was great about talking in a whisper. We even practiced standing still in the corner in case Daddy saw a deer (which I doubted with the wind & Sam noise all around) Sam played with an old wasp nest & spider web. You'd be amazed what a kid can do with such 'toys'. He ate graham crackers & enjoyed drinking from my hydration pack. He also enjoyed looking through my "spotting scope".

Sam was in the middle of telling me that deer can climb trees when I saw movement on the logging road to my right. I could see a deer behind some pine branches. Sam did just like we practiced & stood stock still in the corner. When I placed my rifle on the window sill, I made a bump & the deer was alerted. I quickly leaned into my rifle to view it through the scope. Another 'bump'! I figured it was over but instead of bolting away, this curious buck stepped out for a better look at the source of all that 'bumping'.

I immediately counted 8 points, dropped the cross hairs to his front shoulder & squeezed the trigger. He dropped right there in the road. "Did you got him?" was Sam's excited yet sort of whispered question. I picked him up & let him see the deer laying in the road. Sam headed right for the ladder. When we got to him, Sam went right over & touched the eye (which every seasoned hunter knows is how you check for life). When he was satisfied that the buck was down he looked up at me & said, "We got a nice buck Dad!"

We walked the trail back to camp to get the deer cart. I put Sam in the cart & rolled him back to the deer. Then I put the buck & Sam on the cart for the trek back. Thankfully Paul Jr. heard the shot & showed up as I was trudging back to camp.

Last night was the stuff of dreams. The buck is a great 8 point chocolate Georgia deer but the hunt was the real trophy. Oddly enough, I was nearly overwhelmed with a sense of God's favor. Just as Sam looked at me with amazement, I too look at my Father in heaven with the same wonder.

Opening Day Harvest

A huge opening day doe
Today was opening day of rifle season in the Peach State. God has so blessed me with 450 acres of prime hunting land this year. Paul Jr. & I were up before 5 am this morning & we headed out to Forsyth. In the a.m. hunt, Jr. had a doe right under his stand on the wrong side. After nearly an hour she caught his scent & left the area. I saw some amazing birds that morning but no deer. This evening Jr. was again harassed by the SAME DEER & was still unable to get a shot. Now it is personal & he's going back but will hang his stand on a different tree.

I hunted from "the Library" stand. A 20 foot climb on stand set right in a transition strip between some small planted pines (the deer bedroom) and a hardwoods bottom (deer dinning room). I was bushed as Jr. & I walked for several miles in the middle of the day doing some scouting. Long about 7pm I had that weird feeling that I was being watched. I looked to my left & a doe was staring at me. She knew I didn't smell right & that I shouldn't have been up that tree but she walked out anyway. I had just awakened from a nap & I didn't even have my rifle in my hands. As soon as her head was behind a tree, I quickly picked up my rifle which she heard & she began to trot. She stopped in some very thick bushes. I thought I could see her through my scope but your eyes play tricks on you in the evening light. But sure enough, she flashed that white tail. As she began a slow walk away, I put my scope in the only place I could have a shot & she went right there on cue & then STOPPED DEAD BROADSIDE! I really wanted to get home to watch the Red Sox whip the Rays but I just couldn't pass it up. I squeezed the trigger & she ran about 25 yards & I heard her fall.

I found her about 15 minutes later with the light fading fast. She fell in a hole in the creek edge about 3 feet deep. She was so big that I couldn't even get her out of the hole. So I set one of my reflective clothes pins on a branch over the hole & I went to get Jr. & the deer cart.

When I reached the truck, Jr. was just about there already. He had heard my shot & was coming to help. I love that about Paul. He is always anticipating what needs to be done & he just does it. I told him tonight that this trait will serve him well in his life.

My dear friend & brother, Don Metcalfe & his son Josiah, each took a deer today too. I called to congratulate him & he invited me to come & process my deer at his place as he was all set up.

What a HUGE BLESSING!!! Don is amazingly gifted in so many physical tasks. I learned so much tonight just by watching & helping him.

This doe weighed well over 100 pounds. We all estimate between 125-135 lbs. That is huge for Georgia. The meat wouldn't even fit in my extra large cooler. The hams weighed over 20 lbs each!

Thank you Lord for a great day with my son in your creation & for providing meat for our table & friends to be so blessed by.

Watchman Nee

Watchman Nee was an interesting & salty disciple of Christ. His eastern mindset & logic 'flavors' so much of his writing. I have yet to read ANYONE who understands grace & faith like this man. The vast majority of his work is centered around Romans 6, 7, & 8.
His book, The Normal Christian Life, is a classic & should be read annually by EVERY BELIEVER. As with so many great men, Nee got off a little in his later life. This book was written in what is called 'the middle years' which produced some of his best works. Please let me encourage all of you to check out Nee's Writings online. His disciple "Witness Lee" is now a cult leader. I would caution you not to delve into his writings which are available on this site as well.

I've been teaching on Romans 6 & 7 for the past three weeks. This thought just came to me late Saturday night: "The Law CANNOT EXTEND Grace to you but it can ESCORT you to Grace". The most loving thing God can do is to see to it that sin wins out every time I set out to "do good" in the flesh - ie with out reliance/trust in Christ. I told the church Sunday that Romans 7 is the best bad news you'll ever hear. We fail when we go about the Christian life from the resources of the flesh - Romans 7:14. Go check out that message on the Church of the Wildwood website.

Eight Years & Counting

CWW's 'New' Sign in the Spring

Eight years ago on October the 3rd we arrived in Lake Wildwood with a u-haul pulling a station wagon. The group that assembled to unload us would have been a great advertisement for AARP. Not one of them was under 65. Some were in their late 70's. I learned real quick that these folks were hard workers & young for their respective ages. The thrill of standing in that pulpit that first Sunday of October 2000 was amazing! We had around 50 folks that comprised our Sunday Morning crowd. Man did I have plans to explode that church & become the next mega church in Macon. My philosophy was a blend of Willow Creek & Saddleback - 'Willowback' if you will. Well, it's eight years later & the only thing that's been exploded is my vision & I have realized that I am a Mega Mess. We grew to a high of a 125 average and a low of around 40 average. Of the original congregation that was here when I came, I can count on one hand those that are left.

We're pushing 100 again & I must say that we probably have the most diverse & interesting congregation that you could imagine. My pulpit philosophy has done a complete 180 along with much of my theology in the past 8 years. Now I delight in expository preaching every week. It is much harder work on one hand & easier on the other.

I love the study, sermon developing, service construction & the preaching. I enjoy the fellowship with my people & especially being able to help them in times of need. The rest of ministry I do not enjoy very much. I see the need for solid administration but doing it daily is one of the most joy sucking parts of my day. Some days are entirely dedicated to this task & frankly, I'd rather eat ground glass. God has given me many people with the gift of administration & I do delegate as much of those tasks as possible but I have discovered that even that delegating needs administration!

Well, now I'm rambling. I don't know what the next 8 years at Wildwood will bring. If its anything like the first 8 then I don't want to know. The glasses I wear today have almost no rose color left in the lenses. I've tasted the ugliness of sin & the trauma of body life but I've also experienced changed lives & the power of the Gospel to mold unlikely candidates into the express image of Christ. And because of that last part...I'll gladly renew my contract.

Guys Only E-Book

Wow! Every 'Christian' guy age 13 & up needs to read this e-book. WARNING: You will be offended by Driscoll's starkness & language. This book is free & is being released a chapter at a time. Here's a brief excerpt:

In 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, Paul says, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters . . . will inherit the kingdom of God.” Clearly, God takes the sexual sins of his men so seriously that men who remain enslaved to sexual sin will die in their sins and wake up in the eternal torments of hell. Sure, the naked people you like looking at are hot… but so is hell.

This book is NOT for the fainthearted & is geared towards men specifically. I hope every guy I know has the guts to read it.

I wholeheartedly recommend "Porn-Again Christian" to all my guys. Check it out for your self

Praying for Dad Adrian

My Father in law, Bob Adrian, has been quite sick for the past week. He has been the Pastor of the Liberty Baptist Church for the past 11 or 12 years. He's got flu like symptoms with pervasive weakness & high fever. Mom Adrian is not a worry wart at all but she is very concerned. "Dad is just totally exhausted. Everything has caught up with him." I understand in a very small way. Ministry is tough. Being a Pastor is hazardous to your health...literally. My Father in law is one of the best pastors I know. I have always considered him to be my Pastor. The longer I'm in the ministry, the more respect I have for guys like Dad who have somehow been able to gut it out all these years. Dad is my mentor in ministry. So much of my pulpit ministry is flavored by his example. When I served with him in Florida (the good old days) I would get after him for being so down when people left the church. Most of the time these folks 'needed to go' & I couldn't for the life of me figure out what his problem was. Well now I am the Senior Pastor & I TOTALLY understand his grief. Even now I still grieve the death of relationships that I've experienced in my eight years here at this church. One of my best friends recently left the church & I don't ever expect to get over it. The pain is deep and stark. Well meaning people (like I was in Florida) try to 'help' but it doesn't work because they don't understand. You add up a lifetime of that kind of regular suffering & it explains why a strong, faithful Shepherd could be emotionally & physically wiped out.

I owe a great debt to Dad for so much of my current blessings. My wife being the first & greatest of those blessings. He was & is a wonderful Dad & I have reaped the benefit from his parenting. Please pray for him. Pray that God would not only restore his health but also his heart. Pray that he will be filled with a holy boldness & an unshakable faith. Pray that God will answer Dad's fervent prayer that he will 'finish well'.

We love you Dad and we are all praying for your complete restoration.