My Last Sermon ... For A While

This is no normal weekend for me.

The thing about being a preacher is that no matter what's going on in life, Sunday's coming!

You can go to the Caymans if you want; head to the Rockies for a ski trip. Fine. Great. Sunday's coming. And it's not that it's a bad thing, it's just that it can wear on you.

This Sunday I'll preach my last sermon at Belmont Heights. I'm calling it "What Every Pastor Wished Every Christian Knew: Helping You Help Your Next Pastor." I figure that I can give all my church family an inside look at a pastor's life and what he goes through.

I know that some pastors read this BLOG. I'd be interested to see your thoughts on the grind preaching can bring. I know we all love it. Yet I heard a guy say it this way one time: it's not that I get tired of it, I get tired from it.

They are having a party for me after church. You think it could be a "holy cow I'm glad he's gone" party??!!!! No. Really, it's a super gesture.

We leave straight from there and head to Mississippi to film another week of turkey hunting. Jason Brooks, our Kentucky State Ministry Field Rep will be my camera man. I hope we get on some birds; we need the footage.

There's A First Time For Everything

Today was a day of firsts. I sat in as a guest host on a radio show this morning. It was kind of cool; I've done radio before. It was a promotional spot they wanted to do in conjunction with my new book, Into The High Country.

Funny thing was, halfway through the show, who steps into the studio but ... Porter Wagoner.


Porter & Chet Atkins

The legend himself. He loves to bass fish, and so he fit right in. I can't believe my promo spot was upstaged by Porter Wagoner! I tell you this: he was a gentle soul. Such a nice man. We talked some about his nifty outfits that he is famous for in country music lore, and we even talked about fishing some, too. I wish all celebrities were as nice as he was when you meet them. So that was a first.

From there I moved on to do something else I've never done. Film a TV commercial. I now know what actors mean when they say that sit around the set for hours to shoot 10 minutes of film. It took them 90 minutes to set up for a 30 second commercial. Yet that's not their fault. You have so much to do ... lighting, camera angles, shadows, props, audio issues, and then finally the commercial itself.

The line of "firsts" doesn't stop there. No. Today was unique in that it was the first, and hopefully last time, that I have to wear makeup. You got it. Just like a girl. Here I am the guy who left his church to start an outdoor ministry for guys who love to hunt and fish and yet I find myeslf sitting very still in a chair while bright lights light up my face as they apply makeup so that I look better on camera.

I told them that if they even mentioned lipstick I was leaving the set with no discussion!!

What a day. And it ain't even close to over yet!!

Go Ahead And Rain On My Day

Woke up to the sound of rain beating on my gutters this morning. Great.

Today I've got to film a TV Commercial, and it's the second coming of Noah.

We get asked all the time if we are a TV show. We are not. The "Network" comes from the fact that we try and pull churches together as we partner with them to provide a network to reach outdoorsmen for Christ.

Yet we do film a lot. DVD stuff mostly. And today we are filming a commercial that will run on a nationally recognized TV show, which will let people know that finally there is a place for "all things Christian outdoors."

And it's raining. Can't do it inside ... it's about the outdoors!

So we'll see. We got a cool set we use, built for us by Old Timer Log Homes. It's really cool. We're going to use that as the scene for the commercial ... if we can ever shoot it!!

So if you read this BLOG, pray back the rain my friend!!!

Fast and Furious In The Delta

So my relentless pursuit to send turkeys on to glory has had yet another chapter added. I've been hunting the last two days here in Mississippi with our Arkansas Ministry Field Rep, Carl Weatherford, who was the camera man.

We'd not even heard a tom gobble for two whole days, until today at 11:45. At 11:50 I was placing my fiber optic bead on his nice red and white head. I've never had a turkey hunt start and stop that fast. This bird was hot man.

So I shoot, and down he goes. Problem was, Carl did not have him in the camera, like I had thought. It was just a complete cross up between camera man and shooter; it's happened before. Ultimately, it's my fault. The camera man should call the shot.

So that's what's on my mind right now. I'm about to go eat dinner with Gerry Spears, and good friend of my ministry partner Ken. A good ol' boy Gerry is. Born in Mississippi, got a degree in engineering, and went right back to farming.

You honestly have to respect that. Farming is a tough life, and we need more of them.

So I'll be back in 9 days to Mississippi. Hunting toms again. Perhaps I'll get to hunt again with Bradley Brown, and Farm Bureau insurance agent. Another Mississippi home grown super nice ol' boy. It's neat the people you meet doing this. I don't know that I've ever seen as many people so eager to let me hunt their property for the sake of our ministry efforts. It's really cool.

I'm speaking tomorrow night in Olive Branch, MS, at a Wild Game Dinner. Then back home, and leave again to speak in Thomasville, GA on Thursday. Then I'm done speaking for a while.

I'm tired man. People think I have a cool job, and I do. Really cool. But it's tough work behind the scenes. Definitely worth it. No complaints. Not ever!!

Sunshine In The Swamp

Our turkey hunts are underway. We traveled down just a few hours north of Miami to get started filming our 2006 turkey season.

As you can see, it wasn't a water haul. We came back with one at least. Dad took this fine Osceola.

Osceola's are 1 of 4 subspecies of of the Wild Turkey. And they are only found South of the Central Florida line. How 'bout that for some wildlife knowledge ... don't you feel smarter?!

I'll try and keep you posted on our hunts and what's going on. We leave for Mississippi in a few days to continue chasing toms.

All of the footage we are capturing is going toward our DVD projects for 2007. The Osceola footage will go toward a project I'm really stoked about ... we're calling it "My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad."

It's going to be a DVD that is in book form, and we're calling it "the only book you'll never read." It's a father/son story that uses turkey hunting and flyfishing to relate the different aspects of a father raising a son in the outdoor world.

I think you'll really like it. It's aim is to try and help fathers and sons develop close relationships, and so we're modeling that by how dad accomplished those things with me.

Watch Out For A Moose ... And A Guy Named James

Just got back from Idaho. Went there to speak at a Wild Game Dinner. Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Right up about 30 minutes from the Canada line. Let me tell you bro, that is one long flight from The Music City. I speak at wild game dinners all across the nation, and this time of year I get slammed because most churches are holding their events between January - March.

So get this. I go to leave this morning from Idaho, and Theresa, the pastor's wife, tells me, "Watch out for Moose in the morning when you leave." It just hit me hard and funny ... I don't think I've ever heard those words. I've heard watch for deer; cows in the road, horses, drunk drivers. But never "watch for Moose." It got me thinking ... should I collide with one of those, my Hertz Ford Explorer would most likely lose!

I board my plane in Spokane at ... yes ... 7:30 am; meaning that I had to leave Idaho at 4am. Fly to Oakland, and then connect non-stop from there to Nashville. It was then that I met James.

Oh how I wish I'd had one of my camera men with me. You talk about a reality show.

Flying Southwest, you know that you line up in rows A, B, or C. Well I always board online the night before so I can get line A. First on the plane.

So I step on board, and sure enough, I strike pure country gold. There's an empty seat in the front row, and on a 4 hour flight, that means something when it comes to leg room.

I sit down, and my man James begins conversing immediately. No problem; I'm a talker for sure. Yet before the first few syllables could hit my ears, the alcohol hit my nose. 10:30 am Oakland time, and James was already on the sauce.
Nice guy though. Except that he looked like Dave Chappelle, and talked like Richard Pryor. I have to admit, there were times he was funny. And the most hilarious part of all was that he literally ... literally ... never stopped talking for 4 1/2 hours. Even when I had my iPod and headphones on, James was ... literally ... talking to himself. I laughed constantly, even through my George Strait, George Jones, and Bob Seger.

Somewhere over Colorado, James clutches his carry on bag, and pulls out ... literally ... The Tasmanian Devil. A stuffed Taz with a boxing glove on his right hand. For his ailing Aunt who apparently was dying. He told me that he was going to give it to his Aunt to remind her to fight to live when he's not around. A man of heart was James. I admired him for that.

Somewhere over Oklahoma James leaned over to me and said, "Do you know what you got to have to make it in this world?" "Tell me James," I said. "You've got to have 3 things. You got to have love in yo' heart. A smile on 'yo face. And a dolla' in 'yo pocket."

Yep. I get up tomorrow morning at 5am and head to south Florida to begin our filming for this turkey season. I've got love in my heart, a tired smile on my face ... and a dollar in my pocket just for James.