Posts with the category “daily-devotions”

Our last day of August and last day of September snows have all melted from my yard, but the fresh snow on the mountains keeps getting closer. Strange as it may seem, I honestly love the snow- l love being outside in winter. Don't get me wrong, I would also love two more months of fall. But hey- we get what we get, don't we? Every season has its advantages. In the winter we don't have to deal with...  Read More

It was my first extended hunt in Alaska's wilderness. I didn't have a single piece of high quality gear and carried in everything but the kitchen sink. I had the large arctic army pack, which to this day has far more volume (and less comfort) than any pack on the market. I was pleased to get my pack down to just over 70 pounds, and I, of course, had a rifle that weighed 10 more. I hiked in more th...  Read More

What is a kingdom? We usually think in terms of a geographic area, but that isn't exactly right. A kingdom is comprised of those who live under the rule of a king. When Jesus began his ministry by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand," he was uttering a profound truth. Jesus is King. To repent is to turn from the sin of a self-ruled life, and to embrace Christ as, not 'THE' King, ...  Read More

The problem with a 'walk in' hunt is not the walking in, if you are successful it's the walking out. The moment the animal is down everything gets hard- really hard. This is also true of bad life choices. Whether we're talking about abusing alcohol or drugs, immorality, or dishonesty- 'walking in' is easy. Walking OUT, on the other hand, can be incredibly painful. Sin always takes you farther than...  Read More

One of the great rewards of climbing a mountain is being 'on top of the world.' After the non-stop grind of the climb, there is suddenly this RELEASE- this FREEDOM- that is hard to describe if you've never been there. The young people I take climbing are like calves released from a stall. They go bounding in every direction and forget that only moments beneath the summit they were in pain and mayb...  Read More

Snow draws kids like a magnet. In central Alaska we have a full six months of winter, and often a bit more. In early June, with the snow finally gone, we treasure our long, sunny days. For years I have taken a group of teenagers to climb a mountain. With our snow gone for barely a month, where do those kids race when we reach the top of the mountain? To the snow, of course! There are some things i...  Read More

I was officially bowhunting for elk or a nice whitetail or mule deer in Montana's Little Belt Mountains. The country I was in seemed absolutely desolate with no sign of game. An early snow and cold temperatures completely changed the hunt- from 'pleasant' to 'not so much.' Suddenly I came on bear tracks in the fresh snow. At this point in my life I had never shot a bear, and don't remember ever ev...  Read More

When the Army sent me to Alaska, I had no intention building a life here. They say, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." I had no desire to go to Alaska and no desire to stay, but decades later here I am. I had 3 critically important meetings in Alaska that changed my life. First, I met Jesus. He began to change me for the better immediately. Though it was more than a year before ...  Read More

If you've read or watched "The Hobbit," you are familiar with 'second breakfast.' Here in Alaska, I refer to March and April as 'second winter.' Our 'first winter' starts in mid-October and runs through the end of February. It's our cold, dark winter. Our second winter has long sunshiny days and warmer weather. When I have the opportunity to get outdoors, I actually enjoy all of it. After winter w...  Read More

While food, clothing, and shelter (even money) are life's necessities, the richness of life is found only in RELATIONSHIPS. We were created to LOVE and BE LOVED. People who sacrifice relationships on the altars of fame, talent, adventure or wealth always wind up empty. The Reverend Billy Graham once spoke about meeting with one of the world's wealthiest men on an island paradise. The man spoke of ...  Read More

Years ago our dear friend Lana offered to do an outdoor family portrait for us. The night before the photo, the skies cleared and the temperature plummeted to well below zero. In order to get the photo she (and we) wanted, we had to race outside, smile, and then race back in to warm up. Then we would do it again and again. Originally we tried to stay longer, but our faces, fingers and toes were so...  Read More

As non-residents, my dad, John Rud, and his hunting partner, Roger Stevens, could only get 'over the counter' doe tags. They had driven over 800 miles to hunt pheasant and grouse, but decided to go after deer as well. When they walked down to the creek behind my house, they were carrying fishing rods in one hand, shotguns in the other, and had their rifles on a sling. They were fishing Brook Trout...  Read More

Six cows bedded together during the rut- that has to be a good sign. The next morning, there WAS a bull with them right where my hunting partner, Ray, had been standing the day before. But... once again, not a legal bull. Life is filled with 'near misses.' At times that leaves us disappointed, while at other times we are very thankful! I have had numerous 'near misses' over the years while driving...  Read More

Back in those days, central Montana was largely undiscovered and the hunting was the best I'd ever seen. You didn't even need permission to hunt small game on property that wasn't posted, and the upland game birds were so abundant that success was certain for anyone who could shoot straight and didn't mind walking for miles. So when Brad Griebenow's brother Mike and his friend came to visit us, we...  Read More

It was the day before the archery elk season opened in Montana's Little Belt Mountains. My friend Brad Griebenow and I had grown up together in Minnesota, and he was living with me in Montana (he's still there). We found the perfect valley. The bulls were bugling from all directions. We only had to wait one more day. Just before dark, two men walked into our valley, stood in the middle of an open ...  Read More

As a young school teacher in rural Montana, I rented a house from a local rancher. In the front yard was a pond with large rainbow trout, and in the back yard was Ross Fork creek bottom, filled with Brooke Trout, pheasant, duck, whitetail and mule deer. This was the rancher's 'second' place, and consisted of 1,100 acres of mostly wheat and barley. He told me that he was going to sell the place (fo...  Read More

They say that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then. Many years ago, that was my experience, along with my Children's Pastor and good friend, Joshua Tiner. After 9 days of horrible weather, the skies finally cleared and the temperature plummeted. I called until dark as the raindrops froze solid on our tent. At the break of day, I was calling again, and soon, we heard the splash s...  Read More

I have a love/hate relationship with climbing mountains. When the sun is shining and I can set my own pace, it's mostly love. In wet weather, when my feet are slipping, it's mostly NOT love. But here's the thing- every single climb has a moment on the summit of 100% joy, and a moment of 100% satisfaction at the bottom when the climb is done. You see, the experience isn't always pleasant, but the g...  Read More

The other night near Talkeetna at 2 a.m. we had an unusual sky. No visible stars, complete blackness and an amazing, bright moon. Just a single light shining in the darkness. This is the way the Bible describes Christ. John 1 begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. Without him nothi...  Read More

My dad, John Rud, is pretty remarkable. He took his first deer in Minnesota 75 years ago at the age of 11. He took his first deer with an arrow about 60 years ago, and this week added one more to his archery success. Yesterday the family went to my younger brother Jim's, ordered pizzas, and enjoyed the time together as they processed the deer and got it in the freezer. I wish I could have been the...  Read More

One of the great privileges of living in Alaska is the ability to harvest salmon for our families. In some places people put out subsistence gill nets, in some places fish wheels, but for urban Alaska, our opportunity comes through dipnetting. A family of four can take over fifty Sockeye, which provides a good meal twice a week for a year. But here's the thing- only those who have packed gear for ...  Read More

A young bull moose walked into our yard and fought it out with my whitetail deer archery target. Though he clearly won, I can't help but think that he was disappointed. Like that moose, it's not uncommon for you and me to be deceived- to be tricked- to believe something that simply isn't true. 'Scamming' people is now a global industry. While there is a degree of corruption throughout politics, ly...  Read More

Last night I enjoyed a view that few ever experience. Though the trees blocked most of my view, Mt. McKinley was right there. The Athabascans call it 'Denali,' which means, 'The Great One.' A more fitting name would be 'The Great Mountain,' because the God who placed it there is truly 'DENALI'- truly THE GREAT ONE. When Noah and his sons and their wives came off the ark, they began to repopulate t...  Read More

Sometimes the best course of action is to let opportunities simply 'walk away.' You are offered a better job, but you would be away from home so much that you'd miss your kids growing up... so you let it walk away. You have the opportunity to date a person who is interested in YOU but not in Christ... so you let that opportunity walk away. You are invited to go on vacation with friends to Hawaii a...  Read More

By the time I shot my first moose in Alaska, I had already taken a lot of deer... but this was different in a BIG way. It was impossible to lift and impossible to drag. I didn't have a saw or a hatchet, and by the time I quartered it and got it home I discovered that I didn't even have room in our tiny apartment to process the meat. That's when a random hunter recommended that I take it to a local...  Read More

The bull was ALMOST legal. I ALMOST came home with a moose... but not quite. You see, to ALMOST get something is to NOT get it. To ALMOST get the job is to NOT get the job. To ALMOST go on vacation is to NOT go on vacation. This is the story of literally millions of people in America who go to church every Sunday. They are ALMOST saved. They are ALMOST followers of Christ. After all, they believe ...  Read More

My priorities have changed over the years. I still love to hunt. I still try to fill the freezer, but if I'm going out for a few hours to call for a moose, I bring my Bible along. Jesus said, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." I feel that intensely. No matter what I'm facing, I open my Bible and God speaks directly into my life. After all, "T...  Read More

Four days in the wilderness and we've pretty much seen it all. Heavy rain, fresh snow and warm sunshine. The sunshine is my favorite. I'm at an age where hunting out of a 'lodge' is starting to sound really nice. Go out and hunt hard all day and then come inside to a warm meal, dry your clothes, sleep in a bed...It's only wishful thinking, but hey, a guy can wish, can't he? At the moment the sun i...  Read More

There were so few deer in Southeastern Minnesota when I was growing up, that the 'gun' season only lasted 2 days. It was absolutely unheard of for someone to 'pass' on a legal deer. Even a 'spike' buck was highly prized. When I graduated from college and moved to Montana, I took this perspective with me. I shot the first whitetail buck that I saw, not realizing that it was a long, beautiful fall a...  Read More

Fall. Crisp, cold mornings and (on occasion) clear, spectacular, sunny days. The colors have changed, leaves are starting to fall, blueberries are ripe, and hunters are in the wilderness by the thousands. Winter will soon be here. Jesus once challenged his disciples by telling them that though they could read the changing weather they failed to understand the spiritual signs that were all around t...  Read More

Black bears are excellent climbers and can get comfortable almost anywhere. They are also able to adapt to nearly any climate as long as they have food and water- whether the red rock deserts of Arizona or approaching the Arctic Circle. How about you? Can you get comfortable almost anywhere? Are you adaptable to any climate?I don't simply mean the weather, I'm talking about changing life circumsta...  Read More

Growing up in Alaska, all of my kids became excellent snowboarders... but not the way you might think. On our budget, they usually went to Alyeska Ski Resort at most once a year, and to a small lift in Anchorage or on the military base once or twice. How, then, did they learn? By climbing small hills (and sometimes mountains) carrying their boards, again and again and again. If you want to do some...  Read More

A number of years ago, my good friend Chuck drew a lottery bull tag. John, another good friend, and I traveled over fifty miles into the mountains on four wheelers with Chuck. It was a great hunt- good weather, good friends, and Chuck got his moose. John spent the better part of a day slow-cooking a huge rack of moose ribs over a fire. This was entirely new to me. I had always boned out my ribs an...  Read More

Fish on! As a young man living in rural Alaska, fishing for King Salmon was an annual adventure. To be successful, you first have to go where the fish are. That may seem obvious, but in Alaska, the salmon travel from the ocean up the rivers. It is very common to go to a place where they were catching fish yesterday and not have a single bite- the fish are gone. The guys who are most successful use...  Read More

The majority of my success over the years has been on 'solo' hunts. Even on my first Dall Sheep hunt my partners and I split up, camped and hunted separately. My solo hunts are driven more of necessity than choice. As a public school teacher, I was only given two vacation days a year. That prevented me from joining with the vast majority of hunters who go out for at least a week. Now, as a pastor,...  Read More

As a young man teaching school in rural Montana, I loved spending time in the Missouri Breaks hunting Sage Grouse. A person who was willing to walk all day would find some, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they are so smart that it was hard to get near them. If YOU saw them- THEY saw you. Drawing near to the things we want isn't always easy. You want a better job, but can't afford to ...  Read More

When driving across America (or Alaska), everyone experiences something different. I have always been fascinated by EVERYWHERE I've been. I look out the window constantly and don't want to miss a single thing. And here's the thing- it doesn't matter how many times I pass through the same country, it always inspires me. I found myself constantly waking up my kids saying, "Guys! Look!"One of them wo...  Read More

I walked the edge of the vertical cliffs, looking into every possible cut that could hold a Dall Sheep. I saw exactly 'zero' Sheep, but had a wonderful climb. When I returned to camp, however, I looked up and saw five sheep where I had just climbed. Where did they come from? How did they hide? So often in life the things that we are pursuing seem to be hidden from us. Where do I meet the right per...  Read More

When my boys were young, I always made a big deal out of cooking and eating anything they brought home. I wanted them to feel the pleasure and satisfaction of being a provider. And it wasn't just me. Whether they snared a rabbit, shot a ptarmigan or grouse, or caught a fish, Laura was their biggest cheerleader. At mealtime we 'announced' who had provided dinner. Do you celebrate one another for pr...  Read More

When my kids were growing up, we had a 'teacup ' Toy Poodle named Spike. Hewas very well trained and loved to be around people. One fall in the midst of fun and activities at our cabin, someone let him out to go to the bathroom and forgot to let him back in. Because the kids slept in a separate bunkhouse, and the dog was commonly there and in the main cabin, no one noticed that he was gone. We did...  Read More