It was the most unbelievable night of fishing I'd ever had. Being in the middle of Alaska's interior in the middle of June, it was light all night and we fished from 11 PM to 6 AM. I went to the same spot on the same date a year later with a different friend, and we didn't hook a single fish. My partner the second year was an exceptional fisherman and had much better gear than me. It didn't matter...  Read More

By the time we quit fishing at 6 a.m., my dad and I had each kept one giant king. The limit was one each, so though we caught many, we were releasing these huge fish to continue on their way to their spawning grounds. Catch... and release. Once again, we have a picture of the Christian life. Jesus tells us to 'fish' for men. But this isn't so that we can gather a huge collection of followers for o...  Read More

After an epic battle, my dad landed a 45 pound king. Over the course of the next hour and a half he landed a second, then he landed a third, then he landed at fourth, set his rod down against the raft, sat down and said, "I'm all done." He was utterly exhausted from fighting those fish. That lasted about 15 minutes. Watching us hook and fight fish was more than he could take. He was 'compelled' to...  Read More

It was around midnight when we pulled our rafts into a gravel bar, hooked up our oki-drifters and began fishing for Kings. It couldn't have been more than a few casts before my dad hollered, "Fish on!" The other three of us reeled in our lines and stepped out of the way so that he could fight this salmon in the strong current. For me, this made all of the time and work worth it. This is exactly wh...  Read More

My dad has always loved to fish, so after picking him up at the airport, we stopped to get him a license and then, drove hundreds of miles with a raft and gear to get to a river. I had two friends meet us there with their own raft. The road did not go next to the river, so we had to portage rafts and gear trip after trip to get to the riverbank. By the time we pushed off into the water, it was 11 ...  Read More

It was a short, perfect stalk, and I soon had my first antelope with a bow. The statistical odds of being able to stalk an antelope with a bow and arrow are remote. I knew how fortunate I was. Sometimes things just work out. I had resigned my teaching position the previous spring and enlisted in the Army, but I had delayed my entry until after hunting season. I wouldn't necessarily say that I LIVE...  Read More

I was hunting in central Montana with my bow and arrow. I had tags for elk, deer and antelope, and was hunting in country that had all three. I was an 'instinctive' shooter. I had never shot a bow that had sights. In those days our arrows were very heavy, so between 30 yards and 40 yards my arrow would drop over a foot. Estimating distance properly was the most critical piece of bow hunting once y...  Read More

God gave me great responsibilities this weekend. He was trusting me with the souls of many unbelievers and with the leading of many others who know him. This is a sacred trust. It's not to be taken lightly. It's not a 'job' or a 'task' or a 'career'- it's life itself. We're talking about the eternity of children created in the image of God.I spoke at the funeral of my good friend, whose sudden dea...  Read More

Since we couldn't fish for money, we decided to drop a subsistence net off the back of the boat where we were tied up in front of the South Naknek cannery. Even though the commercial fishery was shut down, we were still able to fill our freezers with fresh salmon. The Lord will provide. Many years ago a man named Abraham- a man God tells us is the 'father' of our faith- was given a difficult test....  Read More

I was crew-handing on a salmon drift boat in Bristol Bay. Because of a lack of fish making it up the river to spawn, we were shut down. As a crewhand my entire pay was a percentage of our total harvest. I actually earned less money that summer than it cost me to buy gear and fly to Bristol Bay. You see, if you're aren't fishing, you can't catch fish. If you don't catch fish, there's no reward. Jes...  Read More

Our goal was simply getting to the machines. We had our caribou and with the meat divided three ways, each pack was 'comfortable.' Add to that the highly unusual benefit of getting to walk out on a game trail. This was HUGE. Not having to fight 'tundra walking' and brush made this a very easy pack. We didn't even have to look where we were going. All we had to do was STAY ON THE PATH.One of my par...  Read More

Jesus said, "Come to me, you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Jesus never pretended that this life would be easy for us. He never painted a picture of a rosie Christian life that is always trouble-free and happy. But God DID say, "Be joyful always." God DID say, "Pray continually." He DID say, "Give thanks in all circumstances."I had an unbelievably heavy pack- ...  Read More