Men of the Outdoors

  This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Deuteronomy 8:6-7 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land -a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills. (NIV)  Thoughts: The land is flat and the woods are thick in northeast Maine. I was hunting with Tim, a buddy of mine. We stayed near a railroad bed and saw plenty of deer tracks. One day I decided to get off the tracks and go into the woods to see if I could push anything across to Tim. I was about 200 yd into the woods when I lost my sense of the direction I needed to return. I wandered around shouting, but the thick brush absorbed my voice. Finally, I heard a faint voice shouting back, and I headed toward that voice. Whether living in dense woods, a desert wilderness or by mountain streams, we all live in a moral wilderness. The Bi...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Deuteronomy 8:6-7    Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land -a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills. (NIV)  Thoughts: The land is flat and the woods are thick in northeast Maine. I was hunting with Tim, a buddy of mine. We stayed near a railroad bed and saw plenty of deer tracks. One day I decided to get off the tracks and go into the woods to see if I could push anything across to Tim. I was about 200 yd into the woods when I lost my sense of the direction I needed to return. I wandered around shouting, but the thick brush absorbed my voice. Finally, I heard a faint voice shouting back, and I headed toward that voice. Whether living in dense woods, a desert wilderness or by mountain streams, we all live in a moral wilderness. Th...

MOTO Northern Wisconsin Fishing Trip The recent fires in the Boundary Waters forced MOTO to cancel our planned trip to the wilderness. In leu of doing nothing we came up with Plan B. Our new plan was to fish a number of different lakes in the Northern Wisconsin area. The plan called to fish a variety for different type of lakes that would present different challenges. Day one we ventured to Bearskin Lake which is a 400 acre that holds musky’s, walleyes and panfish. We found the lake to have a lot of green algae which didn’t help our search for fish. We did manage to bag several fish but no were near enough for a meal. Day two we took off to the Willow Flowage which is a 5,000-acre flowage. The flowage has a variety of different structures; a number of islands and the Tomahawk River runs through the flowage. This was our biggest challenge with the flowage was the water level was down 8 feet. Virtually all of the structures were above the water and the only safe place to fish was in the ...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. NIV Thoughts; Go ahead and do it—no one will ever know; have you ever whispered this to yourself? Let’s face it; sportsmen face temptations: slip to the pond that no one fishes, cross the property line and go to a gobbling tom, take a shot at a buck just after legal shooting time, or ride an ATV across posted land. The temptations are numerous, and you have probably faced many in the outdoors. How have you handled these temptations? When I have met the lure of similar things, I’ve often wondered if anyone else knows what it’s like or fa...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Colossians 3:2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. NIV. Thoughts: Turkey hunters spend a lot of time chasing spring gobblers, myself included. We think about it long before the season opens. We get up early mornings for pre-season scouting and listening to locate gobblers to hunt. And when the season arrives, we’re obsessed. We scout, put out trail cameras, burn vacation days at work, drive many miles, and do whatever it takes to try to fill our tags for the monarch of the spring—we put in the effort, and it’s our primary focus during the season. If you’re not a turkey hunter, you can swap turkey hunting for whatever your passion might be: deer, elk, duck, or pheasant hunting; maybe it’s fly fishing, camping, hiking, or any outdoor passion you enjoy. The point is, we focus on what we love to do. Action Point: I often ask myself whether I am hunting for Jesus with more...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Romans 6:23 (NASB) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Thoughts: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease affecting deer, elk, moose, and other cervids. It is a prion disease, caused not by bacteria or viruses but by misfolded proteins the body cannot destroy. As prions build up, they damage brain tissue, leaving microscopic holes that give the brain a sponge-like appearance. This damage disrupts coordination, behavior, and the ability to eat and drink. The disease progresses slowly, during which infected animals may appear healthy while damage continues unseen. CWD is always fatal. There is no cure, vaccine, or natural immunity. Once symptoms such as extreme weight loss, loss of coordination, drooling, and abnormal behavior appear, death is inevitable. Prions persist in soil for years, allowing the disease...