The Ice

Josh and I hit the water Sunday afternoon.  As we pulled up to the ramp, there were two guys pulling a boat out of the river.  After we put the boat in and I parked the truck I was heading to jump into the boat.  As I walked by the guys who had just pulled the boat out they stopped me.

The guy explained that his boat had been frozen in the river for the last few weeks, the small cove he lived in had frozen quickly and he had not gotten his boat out before it happened.  The boat was beat up and looked like it had been around since the 50’s.

It made me stop and think.  We as Christians can have the same thing happen to us.  Things can start to take a down ward spiral quickly and we may not even realize we are straying away from the Lord.  Just like that guy and his boat we can become frozen in (far from God) before we even realize it.  The guy told me that he had to break a lot of ice to get his boat to the main river and run to the ramp.  We as Christians can have to break a lot of ice to get back to the Lord.  Just like the boat it is important to get out of the ice.  Having your boat sitting in the ice all winter can damage your haul and even put a hole in it.  Staying in the ice as a Christian can do the same.  We are venerable to the attacks of the devil and he can put holes in us.  We can start doing things we know are wrong and are not of God.  We need to make sure we take care of ourselves just like we do with are boats.

Waiting

Where do I go next?  That’s what keeps going through my mind.  I want to do more than write blogs and fish.  I want to go to men’s groups and talk about God with a little bass fishing.  I want to do seminars and that sort of thing.

So how do I get there?  How do I go about sharing God and bass fishing with others?  How do I get people to book me for this sort of thing?  I don’t know, but I guess if that’s what God has planned for me then he will open the doors.

It’s hard to trust the Lord sometimes.  I know for me I want things now not in time.  It is hard for me to sit and wait for God to do his thing in his time.  I know that if God has something like that planned for me he will open the doors for it to happen.  I’m not going to lie it is still hard to wait but I will.

The Fog

I was out fishing the other day and since I live in Michigan bass fishing in December is not a normal thing. It was 27 degrees outside and the wind chill was 15.  I have come to the conclusion I am crazy or just really driven to fish.  Maybe it was the two products I needed to test out and get some reviews written for but I went fishing in the cold regardless of the reason.

To be honest I didn’t really want to brave the cold and hit the water, but I did.  I find most of my inspiration for writing my blog when I’m on the water but not Thursday.  Fishing was tough that day, I caught 10 bass and got to use my new Skeet Reese bait-casting reel which I have been wanting to use since I saw an article about them.  So that opportunity in itself was awesome.  Despite the new reel, I was still in a funk, standing on the deck of my boat casting, bundled up, and thinking why do I write this blog? When I got home, like I wrote about recently, I was blessed and renewed by an email.

One of the coolest things about fishing in cold weather with warm water is the steam rolling up off of the water.  There I am casting and because of the steam rolling up off the water, I couldn’t see the exact place I was casting to.  It was eerie and peaceful in the same moment.  As I cast into the steam, I could not help but think about the fog I used to live in.  That fog was my life without Christ.  I spent more than half of my life in that fog. Through God’s grace and the gift of salvation given to us by Christ’s death on the cross, I came out of the fog.

Out of the fog I became a new person, a new creation in Christ.  I threw my crank bait into the fog, not sure of where it landed or if I’d hit the target I was looking at and aiming for.  Then as I reeled in the crankbait I felt a violent bite, set the hook and fought a 5 pound bass to the boat. This bass had a big red blemish on its head, much like me because I still have scars and wounds that only God can heal and he is still healing.  But out of the fog comes a prize, whether it is a 5 pound bass or a new creation in Christ.

Thank You

When I started this blog I did it so I could share a few silly thoughts I had about God and fishing.  I never expected people to really read it or even care about what I have to say.  In September I never expected to write as many posts as I have.

I was out fishing Thursday in some really cold weather and I wondered why do I write this blog?  Does anyone really care?  I had not decided to stop but I have to say that the thought had crossed my mind.  When I got home I had an email in my Facebook account from Tim Law, telling me that he read my blog and thanked me for it.  I felt renewed.  To be fair, I have had a few guys from school tell me those things I had written meant a lot and that they had needed to hear what I had said.  But Thursday what Tim told me came at a time when I needed to hear it and that made it stand out more.

When I was 21, I started a career as a plumber following in my grandfather’s footsteps and I fell in love with my job.  However, God put on my heart that I needed to go back to school and be a pastor.  I still remember the first time I felt God leading me down that path; I fought with God because I did “mix” well with school when I was younger.  Following God’s lead I started school to be a pastor a few years later.

Now, what I’m about to say may cause some of you to frown, I’m not sure that being a pastor is my passion.  I like teaching people about God and the Bible, but I don’t have the drive in me to do it for a living.  Last year I had the great honor of being a youth pastor, I felt alive, and I had a passion. However after problems arose and I was attacked by some people in the church I once again followed God’s prompting and left my passion.  Since then, I have had a jaded view of the church in America and my passion for being a pastor has all but faded.  I still miss each and every one of those teens I spent time with each week, wondering about them and how they are doing.

The other day one of them contacted me on Facebook and asked about my blog.  I don’t know who told him about the blog, but the message he sent me said he was glad I was preaching again.  I guess I don’t think of my crazy ramblings about God and bass fishing as preaching but maybe in some ways it is.  So, thank you, Gregory; thank you, Tim; thank you, Dave.  Thank you everyone that thinks my crazy blog about God and bass fishing is worth reading.  If something stands out to you let me know, please, it may just be what I need to hear at that moment to remind me it is worth writing and to keep going.

Cleaning out the old in with the new

Winter is the off season for a fisherman, unless they like to sit in the cold and ice fish.  It can be a time of anticipation waiting for spring to come and the opportunity to hit the water.  It can also be a time when a bass angler can get ready for the next season.  They can work on sponsors re-signing, getting new ones that sort of thing.  They can figure out when to plan a trip to the lake of their dreams.  It is also a great time to do research for lakes they might have to fish the next year.

One of the things I do during the off season is go thru my tackle and figure out what I need and get rid of the stuff I don’t use.  It can be a great time to get all of that tackle you need for the following year at a lower price than normal.  Anglers can evaluate what they have and what they need.

Christians don’t need an off season to figure out what we need to get rid of in our lives.  We have the Holy Spirit to help us get rid of the things we don’t need in our lives.  Much like tackle we have accumulated over the past year of fishing there are things in our lives that we don’t need.  The Holy Spirit is there to convict us about things in our lives that are harmful to our Christian lives.  It helps us to identify those areas in our lives that need to be changed.  Just like our tackle boxes there are things in each Christian’s life that need to be cleaned out. 

My Love of Crankbaits

If you have read my blog it is no secret that one of my favorite lures to fish with is a crankbait.  I love how fast you can reel in a crankbait and I love how hard a bass hits the lure.  I have partnered with BB-Lures and Bill (owner) is an artist when it comes to transforming a normal crankbait into a custom painted crankbait which is a work of art.

There is a reason that fishermen spend that extra money to get a crankbait painted into that custom color they want.  The reason is simple, an edge over the competition.  Tournament anglers are always looking for that edge, that new lure or color that will out-fish the other guy.  That’s what a custom painted crankbait does.  I don’t know any anglers that would throw a crankbait that is pink or some color that is natural to fish.  The idea in fishing lures is to match the hatch.  That’s what a custom painted crankbait does; it matches the hatch of the bait fish in the body of water you are fishing.

I was thinking about our lives.  Before I became a Christian, I was that plain crankbait you buy at the tackle shop.  Yes they look good and have a little flash, but they are all plain and pretty much alike (generic).  Yet when we choose to give up our lives and follow Christ we go through a change, much like the crankbait does when it gets a custom paint job.  Just as we are stripped our old ways, the crankbait goes through a similar process when Bill at BB-Lures strips off the old paint.  As we change and live our lives for the Lord we become lights for the Lord.  We change from old to new.  Yes, there is still our old body like the crankbait it is still the same bait but with a new color, a color more alive.  Just like us, when we follow the Lord we become more alive and get a new custom painting from the Lord.

Thoughts from Jimmy Wayne Cox and myself

I was on Facebook this morning when I can across this from Jimmy Wayne Cox and I wanted to share it with you.  “When I was in high school I was involved in an auto accident. I remember the oncoming lights, I remember no pain. I could have opened my eyes in heaven; instead I opened my eyes looking at an emergency room floor with blood dripping. Praise God my injuries were minor. I was told later that after the accident I was found under the car that hit us. Yes I have "Guardian Angles" working to protect me!”

I was watching a fishing show as I read this from Jimmy, and the guy landing a fish at the moment I read this was saying “please God, please don’t come off.”  Not to be cynical but I wondered to myself is that just a saying or does he really believe that, does he believe in God?  Now as Christians we are not to judge others that’s reserved for God himself. I know I have said please God keep that fish on when I’m fighting a fish to the boat.  But I truly believe that God can do that if he is willing.  Sometimes after I say it, I think about the fact that in the grand scheme of things does it matter to God if I land that fish or not.  I truly believe that God cares for us and wants the best for us, but does me landing a fish or not really affect my well being?  I would have to say no.

But when I read something like I did from Jimmy, I stop and think about all the situations in my own life that God has cared for me.  I have some great kids, an awesome wife and a good life.  Like Jimmy I have been in car accidents that I don’t know how I survived, in my mind there have been a few times I should have been dead and now looking back I know the Lord had something planned for me.

Once again I need to share something else Jimmy Wayne Cox shared on Facebook which I feel sums this all up, “GOD'S  SALVATION, MERCY, GRACE, PROTECTION, LOVE-That's who I am-That's why I am.”  Thanks Jimmy for what you shared on Facebook.