Posts with the category “daily-devotions”

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

All five of our children have a wonderful sense of humor. It is a blessing to be in a home filled with laughter. Did you know that on average, a child will laugh more than a dozen times for each one time that an adult laughs during the day? How did this happen? How can that be? Have YOU forgotten how to laugh? Nehemiah, though a slave, had been released by his king to rebuild the walls around Jeru...  Read More

Seven. That's how many days it snowed at my house in May. I only bring it up because yesterday (August 31) it not only snowed, but it snowed so hard that I had to change my hunting plans because of dangerous ice and inches of snow on the highway. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying...  You don't get to choose the weather. What do YOU do when life interrupts your plans? Get angry? Curse? Mutter un...  Read More

They call them 'wisdom' teeth because they come in when you get older. If this was true, then the people serving in congress would be full of wisdom. Yet over half of them have NO wisdom- not as God defines it. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." This means the 6 year-old who loves Jesus has far more wisdom than the 66 year-old who opposes Christ's teaching. Wise...  Read More

One of my goals when my brother Jim came to visit me in Alaska was to take him on a climb 'above the clouds.' Having lived and hunted elk in Colorado for years, he was accustomed to being in the mountains. Even so, Alaska is somehow different... wilder... more extreme. There is a perspective- a view- that comes only to those who climb. As you get higher the view changes again and again. Your perce...  Read More

Eleven people, three rafts, two kayaks, a mountain of camping gear, a 250 mile drive, and three miles across a frozen lake, dragging all of it. Our aim was to float the Gulkana River from Paxson Lake to Sourdough, but on Memorial Day weekend, the lake was still frozen. In Alaska's interior at the end of May, you need to be prepared for hot weather, cold weather, and continuous rain. At times you e...  Read More

Several years ago, when my uncle Jim and aunt Kathy came to Alaska with my mom and dad, my friend Dan took us fishing on the Kenai. We had missed the run, but through persistence we were able to land a few fish. When fishing salmon in Alaska, TIMING is everything. When Jesus called his first disciples (who were commercial fishermen), he said, "Come! Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!" ...  Read More

Lifting a bear off the ground is kind of like trying to pick up a handful of jello... that weighs hundreds of pounds. Everything moves away from whatever spot you are trying to lift. Even so, with two men working, we were able to lash the entire bear on a pack frame. That's when the real work started. If you are going to be successful and happy in life, you need to learn to carry your own weight. ...  Read More

The thing about hunting in Alaska is that if you don't find what you're looking for you might find something else. You may be moose hunting in an open area and go home with a caribou or a black or grizzly bear. You didn't get the 'good thing' you were after, but you got a different 'good thing.' This is so often true in the life of a Christian. We are PRAYING for something, LONGING for something, ...  Read More

Three times in my life, friends have flown myself and one (or two) of my kids in a Supercub to go hunting.  Skilled pilots are able to land and take off in a very short distance on extremely difficult terrain- gravel bars, mountain tops, and open tundra. You see, Alaska has many places (including more than 100 villages) that are only accessible by plane. It's true that a person could say, "I'm goi...  Read More

Backpacking Crow Pass was an annual adventure for our high school youth group for several decades. The night before this four day adventure was our annual 'gear check.' This is where 40 students would lay out every item from their backpack on the floor and our leaders would go through each pack- item by item- to make sure that students had every single piece of gear that was on our official packin...  Read More

What really matters to you? Making money? Having fun? Finding the right person to marry? Getting a good job? Those are all good things. But think about the only PERFECT life- consider Jesus. He wasn't focused on making money or having fun or stepping into the right career, and he never got married. When we devote ourselves to pursuing GOOD things in life, it is easy to miss out on the BEST thing- ...  Read More

It seems a lifetime ago that my good friend, Dan Marshall and I spent the night on the snowy ground to fish Montana's Ruby River. Growing up in mountain country, Dan well understood the importance of good gear. After building a roaring fire, Dan laid a quality sleeping pad down on the snow, crawled into a heavy down sleeping bag and went to sleep. Growing up in Minnesota, even though I had been hu...  Read More

Why is a glacier blue? I don't know, maybe for the same reason that the sky is blue and in many places,that the ocean is blue. Color is a wonderful thing, isn't it? One thing we know- it's all wrapped up in how  the addition of LIGHT impacts 'matter'- the substance of a thing. There is something stirring to the soul about a blue sky after days of rain, a blue ocean at the end of a desert, or even ...  Read More

It is a little known fact that caribou love the high places. What I mean is that they love to be on the very top of the tallest mountains, and are very often seen higher than the Dall sheep. When you look up at the cliffs and grey rock, it doesn't seem that there would be anything for them to eat, and yet when you climb those high mountains, you discover that there are tufts of grass and tundra ev...  Read More

Being alone in the wilderness is something very few people ever experience. And yet... there is something about the wilderness that has always drawn me. As a young man I was out continuously. My life largely consisted of packing, going, unpacking, and dreaming of going again. As I have grown closer to the Lord my priorities have changed. I still love the wilderness, but I go much less often. Why? ...  Read More

I've never seen anything like it. It was flat- perhaps twenty feet off the ground at its highest point- and it was below me. I could see it touching the ground on both sides. I could easily have marked the spot. Having a large, full rainbow beneath me and hovering, just off the ground was a new experience. But the purpose of the rainbow has never changed. That part wasn't new. God gave the rainbow...  Read More

Over the years, I couldn't tell you how many times i've found 'life' in unexpected places. I was snowshoeing across a smooth blanket of snow at −30°, when all of a sudden little white heads started popping up through the surface of the snow. Ptarmigan had been living under the snow. I would never have imagined it. The first time that I saw Dall sheep living up in the craggy gray cliffs, I was surp...  Read More