"You'll starve to death before you catch those caribou." Ira Krueger was an experienced hunter and didn't want me wasting time and energy. It was November, bitterly cold, and I was on my first caribou hunt. We pitched our tents in the snow, melted snow for water, and wished we had brought warmer boots. Even from the air we hadn't seen a single track much less an animal, but overnight a small band ...  Read More

Being made in God's image also means that we were created to create. God gave us the ability to imagine things that do not yet exist, and to draw and paint and build and write. And for some, these talents flow out of them as naturally as the air that they breathe. My eight year old granddaughter Harper painted a picture last year of a famous building in Russia that I couldn't paint today. While ou...  Read More

Have you ever done something just for the challenge? Something that took time and effort and money and in the opinion of some people didn't make lick of sense? Many years ago a friend and I built a paddle boat that you pedal with your feet. It was an engineering disaster, heavy and slow, and we took it all the way down the Mississippi River from the headwaters in Minnesota to New Orleans. It was d...  Read More

So often in life we come to a place of decision. They range from as simple as, "What shirt should I wear?"; or, "What do I want for dinner?"; to extremely important- "Where do I want to live?"; or, "Where will I go to church?" So let me ask you, do you simply 'float' from decision to decision or do you actually HAVE A PLAN for your day and week and life? Trust me, your life is much too valuable fo...  Read More

There is no shortage of evil in the world, but remember this- there is also no shortage of the OVERCOMING of it. 1 John 4:4 "He who is in us is GREATER than he who is in the world." What does this mean in a practical sense? Because our FREEDOM has been purchased by the blood of Christ, the devil can no longer lay any claim on you or me. In the face of every temptation, of every attack, of every wr...  Read More

The human body is an amazing machine. People who have virtually destroyed their lungs smoking find tremendous healing within a single year of quitting. Skin that is cut and bones that break grow back together. Even a level of fitness and strength can be reclaimed and restored. But none of those things can be made brand new- not in this lifetime. The opposite is true spiritually. 2 Corinthians 5:17...  Read More

As you read through God's commandments you discover that every one is intended to make sure that we LOVE well. "Don't lie, don't steal, honor your parents, worship God..." In fact, Jesus acknowledged that the first and greatest commandment is this: "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind and all of your strength." He said that the second greatest co...  Read More

I took my granddaughters for a walk in the woods yesterday. Naturally we went 'off trail.' I don't know where she got it, but Ember (who is 3 years old) said, "Will you hold my hand so a bear don't bite me?" I taught them how to walk quietly and to stop and be completely still to listen. At first we heard nothing... but then a woodpecker and a song bird and a squirrel chattering. I taught them to ...  Read More

My dad used to say, "I've never been lost in the woods, but once I was bewildered for about 4 days." Being lost is an unomfortable feeling for anyone, but people have very different thresholds for when and if panic sets in. While most of the world (understandably) finds security in the familiar, there are a certain few who love the challenge and the adventure of being completely 'out of their elem...  Read More

Each person leaves a legacy. For some, it's a legacy of joy and love and generosity. For others it's a legacy of selfishness, anger, and bitterness. But for MANY in that first group, their ultimate legacy is not the joy or love or generosity, it's the fact that they have loved to their children and grandchildren to DEATH. They have led their families away from Christ (The LIFE) rather than toward ...  Read More

Laura's dad, Jon Davis, will be 89 years old this summer. He still drives his Thunderbird convertible to church. Last night he played his accordion for his great-grandchildren. It was a blessing to see him letting all those little girls push the buttons while he made music. The young and the old- what a beautiful picture of God's grace. Our bodies- these earthly tents where we live- grow and matur...  Read More

As I read the Word of God, I'm always finding something new. Though I've read a passage dozens of times I will open it up and go, "Wow, I never saw that!" Some things the Lord only reveals as we DRAW NEAR to him. Other things are revealed at a time in life when WE NEED them. This is the beauty of a written word that is alive. That's right, I said ALIVE.Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living...  Read More