God's Great Outdoors

Our nation has taken manhood and diminished it to something that is a bad thing.  Our media has made strong men look like fools to take away the role of men in our families, communities and even in our churches. On last week's program we met Ray Howell.  Ray was abandoned by his father at 5 years old and then his grandfather tool over as a father figure, just to pass away when Ray was just entering his teen years. These losses left him in a bad place emotionally. Today we'll hear from both Ray and His wife Krysta about how God showed Ray how He was looking out for him for years and preparing him for His service in leading children through archery,  to a walk that will change their lives for all eternity

Many professional athletes can only dream of retiring at the top of their game.  A few have been able to do that but when they do go out it is because they have reached an age where it is no longer possible to compete at the level where they have in the past.  Most of us would stay at the top as long as we possibly can.  We claw and scratch to do all we can to not lose our place at the top. But there are a few that could go on and maintain their top production for a much longer time and they step down anyhow.  Today’s guest is one of those that step down, still holding world records in archery and powerlifting as well his business career.  He was hunting all over the world and had collected nearly every species of big game with his bow and many of them scoring high in the record book.

There are places and times in all of our lives that are special to each of us.  We cherish memories spent with others throughout our personal life or our married life that will always bring us back to where God did something special. There is such a place, nestled into Northwest Ontario Canada on the banks of Populus Lake… a place called Rushing Wind Resort. This week we will meet a couple that first came to Rushing Wind Resort together 10 years ago on their honeymoon.  The husband had been there several times and he wanted to show his wife where his life had changed.  Now they are back for their 10th anniversary celebration.  We’ll learn about how God worked in their lives when a father figure was needed in the lives of some children and then father figure later became a husband as well.

So many times, in our lives we put restraints on ourselves for adulthood.  For the male of our species, it is possibly the hardest to live up to what others think we should be to be truly a man.  Having been raised in a Northern Michigan rural area, our host walked through trails to adventure that he felt showed him as being a man.  The first time a boy catches a large fish or shoots a buck and then brings them home to hear, well done…  For many in the outdoors world, those feel like big steps to being a man.  But manhood is much more. There are also self-imposed hurdles that all men and women set so that we can feel successful.  On today’s program we won’t hear too much about hunting and fishing, but we’ll hear a great story of a city boy that had finally made it in the music world, just to see that it was not all he had thought it was.  He felt like there had to be more than the victories he had been striving for in life.

High country elk camps and the sounds of bugling bull elk draws 1000’s of hunters to the mountains each fall.  People are different when they’re in the mountains.  They drop their guard and relax more than most any place on earth.  Relationships grow in amazing ways when we allow God to move in lives. God has used the mountains in the life of today’s guest as well in the lives of those that he has shared elk camps in the Colorado and Wyoming mountains.  We’ll hear of miracles that were the answers to prayers.

Every one of us has a calling in life.  For many of us, our calling is self-directed and, if we allow, many are God given.  Callings can change from year to year as we move into new places in life. On today’s program we will meet with a man that has been called to reach out to men to disciple them.  He loves the outdoors and enjoys spending time with others on the water and in the woods… especially in those times sharing what God is doing in his life and the lives of others. God is using this friend now to get others out in places where they can share their relationship with God to others as well.  He is stepping up in his calling and shares how you can as well.

To some it might seem dangerous or foolish, but to others it's something they look forward to all year.  People lose their trucks, their ATVs and occasionally even their lives doing it, yet each year they venture out on frozen lakes, ponds rivers and streams to pull a fish through a hole drilled through the ice. It takes a tough person to sit all day on a bucket on a frozen body of water and stare into a hole in the ice.  Makes you wonder about their sanity.Today, we'll meet such a man... a man with a passion for ice fishing.  He's out on the ice every chance he gets.  He'll share his passion for both ice fishing and for growing big Whitetails. 

Deer hunting is probably the number one hunting sport in the world.  In the 2021/2022 season alone more than 6 million deer were harvested in the United States.  Most of those deer were never scored for any record book.  A very small percentage of those deer were scored and entered into a record book of some kind. Today, we’ll revisit a story of a world record whitetail buck that was taken in 2006 in Grant County Wisconsin.  We will hear from the mouth of the lucky hunter that was lucky enough to pull the trigger and down this massive buck.   Then we’ll hear of how that buck became one of the most important things in another man’s life and how it caused strife in his life, before it finally pointed him to Jesus Christ.

Many of us grew up going to hunting or fishing camps from our youth.  For many it’s been a lifelong tradition to hunt with a bunch of others.  Our host grew up where several hunters came together to work as a team to harvest deer.  Then there are others that would much rather hunt and fishing on their own. There are blessings and challenges in either style of hunting, But it our daily lives we need to understand that while there are times to seek out God one on one…  digging into his word and spending time in prayer.  On today’s show we will meet up with a good friend of our host and the two of them will talk about different ways of deer hunting, with a focus on tracking mature bucks in some big woods settings.  This is a solitary sport that takes a lot of stamina and concentration… But is so very rewarding  in the end.

Hunters and fishermen have a serious passion for their sports.  If you mention to a deer hunter what is their favorite day of the year is, most would say opening day of hunting season.  Ask a fisherman what is their favorite day of the years is, you’ll hear, opening day of fishing season.  Many of these say outdoors people also share another passion.  That passion is riding motorcycles. For many of us, when we think about bikers, we think about bikers “gangs” and all that goes along with that crowd.  But there is a different side to bikers, and that is a giving side.  You’ll hear on this program about how giving and caring the biking community can be.