Kill It & Grill It: How Does God Feel About It?

Recently I had an email from a fella named David Caddell in KY. He's an avid outdoorsman, and we got to talking about how to respond to people who are anti-hunting.

So I wanted your insights. Let's don't hammer the "anti" people for being stupid, elitists, etc. No time for that. Let's talk about the theological issues. None of us here are professional theologians anyway. So let's talk about it in real world ways.

What kind of justification do you think there is, from a Biblical perpsective, on the allowance of hunting and fishing?

Passion Or Obession

Mossy Oak has long since had a marketing slogan ... it's not a passion, it's an obsession.

For those of you who read this blog and are of the non-outdoor type (we pray for your salvation), Mossy Oak is one of the greatest camo companies ever.

Today I've just started a new read. A John Piper book, "When I don't desire God." It's a book about fighting for joy; the struggle for it, all that good stuff. I've not read a lot of Piper, but I am fixed on this topic and have been for years.

A verse that has meant much to me over the last 5 or so years comes from John's gospel. He recorded Jesus saying, "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come to give you life." (10:10)

For so long I believe Christians have been told that pursuit of joy is selfish. So I've always had this guilt from enjoying anything too much. Like it was as if I was enjoying "the world" too much. Which I've always hated that phrase anyway ... the world. Pretty much every person I've ever been around who was constantly using that phrase didn't live on the same planet I did. They lived in some remote spiritual village in their mind where they were just, quite simply, better and more holy than anyone else. I know what they mean by "the world" and I agree that we should not find our eternal hopes in it. Agreed.

Yet I must say that I believe God put things on this earth and in this "world" to be enjoyed. Like steak. Like a good SunDrop on a hot day. Or sex (with your wife). Like my son's "tough face" whereby he shows me how tough he really is. Like fishing. Like shooting a big bull elk while standing at 12,000 feet seeing vistas never before encountered. We could go on for hours.

See I believe that God is not offended if we get happy. I believe He's offended because we aren't happy enough.

Nietzsche, that great atheistic philosopher, once said that he would have given more thought to Christianity, yet he never met anyone at his father's church who seemed to be happy.

So where is all this random stuff headed? Let me tie it together.

I believe that Jesus wants to give us joy, and He's the only One who can do it. And yet I don't think that having a passionate obsession with the outdoors, or car racing, or wood work, or riding Harleys, is bad or wrong. I believe it's when we look to those things to bring us joy or as a substitute to our spiritual nourishment ... that's when it's an obsession worth reframing.

Several years ago God liberated me from my guilt of wondering if I loved hunting and fishing too much. So He told me to put a Kingdom agenda on it ... and the rest is ...

'Round The Table

Recently I received an "anonymous" post to one of our blogs. I thought it raised some interesting issues. Thought I'd paste it here so that it doesn't get buried, and thus keep the conversation going.

Anonymous said:

Jason, I'm a boomer pastor who is with Paul in bottom lining these issues under as long as Christ is preached I will rejoice; however, outdoor ministry is a limited, niche market and, frankly, is old hat. Wild game suppers, bass pro ministry guys, hunters, you-name-it, have been out there for a generation now. It appears to me, perhaps wrongly, that after a few personal experiences with such ministries that such are mainly a hobbies under the rubrick of ministry. No offense...but I'd be interested in your dissuading me of that opinion.

Well, give us your thoughts.

I've already posted mine.

Next Level Churches

Man the response lately has been super. I'm actually glad to get in the mix now. Our turkey season just ended. God gave us above and beyond what we anticipated.

We had a total of something like 22 toms we captured on film; by that I mean, there were basically 18 kills and 4 misses. It was super. Enough to make some great footage for our ministry DVDs. And man do we have a ton of production work to do now!

So back on ministry issues for men.

When I speak of Next Level Churches, what I'm talking about is churches that are looking outside the radar. See, my beef with most churches, regardless of denomination, is that they are bound by the framework of yesteryear. I recently told a pastor that I have long been frustrated with the lack of creativity within the church. I don't think it's because all the creative people are outside God's family. It's just the opposite. When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in a believer's life, dude, that's when a person's real creative potential is finally unleashed. Creativity at its best is empowered by God Himself.

No. My feeling is that the creative people within the church are, in southern english, "skeerd." Afraid. Bound by decades of macabe preaching that God is OFFENDED by the world's ways.

Believe me when I say that more often than I care to recall I've had men who tell me they take flak for "using the world's ways to reach people." (a reference to using the outdoors to do ministry).

Recently I had a pastor friend of mine tell me that one of his church members, a woman, say to him, "There is no way you can turn a turkey hunt into a ministry opportunity." I suppose that she also feels that there is no way you can turn a basketball game into a salvation experience. Thank God Caz McCaslin, founder of Upward, never met her when he was pondering God's call to the greatest sports ministry ever founded. Thousands of kids have been saved for eternity through Upward.

I believe you should steer clear of those kind of folks. And I also believe that you should steer clear of those kind of churches. Seriously. You and I only have so many days on this planet. I cannot, for the life of me, believe that it would be God's will for your life that you waste time in a church that is, by intention, waiting for 1951 to come back around. I'm not saying this to be harsh. I'm saying it because if you want to reach men for Christ, you are going to have to invent your own road map. Because there is no road.

The one thing Outdoor Ministry Network has taught me is that God honors those who pioneer for Kingdom causes.

Bound. Tied up. Redeemed people with unredeemed imaginations. That's what's hurting us. And yet that's not you. Because you are in this conversation.

What do you think?

Many of you responded to my last post about Men: The Fogotten Audience.

Obviously, I'm passionate about that subject. And I am going to be curious as to what you guys are actually going to "do" about what we are "talking" about!

I think Jay, who responded to the last post, has a good point. Discipleship is experienced as much as it is taught. It made me think: Jesus said, "Come follow Me." Those guys were not in a class room. Yes, there were taught as students, but they walked with Jesus for 3 years. They had their discipleship put to immediate use in how it came to play out in their daily lives. They experienced ministry, not just learned about it.

Let me run this past you: at Outdoor Ministry Network, we are in the process of a new project. Many men who do go to church are not connected in a small group bible study. They just attend church. And it's not an issue where they don't love God as much as they should! I honestly believe they don't see that a "Sunday School" is going to add value to their lives. Whether we like that or not, that's the deal. And we'd better respond with that knowledge in mind.

So our concept is that we are going to take the hunts we are filming, as well as fishing segments, and turn them into small group bible study material. Basically, you'd watch a hunt or a fishing segment, and it would lead you into a bible study. There's no "homework." You watch the segment on DVD, and then your group interacts with the DVD that takes you beyond a hunt or fishing moment and into spiritual development.

What we want to do is encourage churches who really do want to reach outdoorsmen to go the extra mile. Have a bible study room that has the look and feel of an outdoorsmen. Make church a place where a guy is challenged, and yet a place that speaks his language.

What do you think?

Men: The Forgotten Audience

So I really want to know your thoughts here. And should you read this blog, and not respond, I'm internalizing a spiritual virus for your computer that will go out automatically!!!

I do actually want to know you feelings on this issue:

Every single day, or there about, I get a phone call or email from somewhere in the nation from people wanting to reach men. And that cranks my tractor. Yet I have some serious questions, and I want your thoughts.

For years I've heard preachers rant and rave that the "men" should be stepping up. Serving. Doing God's work. Loving Jesus. Being an example. All that stuff. I agree.

I'm not going to preach here. I'm just stating some observations from years of church service. Some of these were mistakes I actually made, so this isn't complaining as much as it is "educated confession."

When I look around at the church, here's what I see:

1 - Churches are decorated for women and by women. Nothing appeals to the man's eye when he walks in the door

2 - Worship services are built around words like, "have an imtimate relationship with Jesus." Now I'm not playing word games here, but come on, if that is a stretch for me, a seminary educated fella, then how does that translate to Mack's ears who works in construction? Seriously. Think about it.

3 - When preachers talk about "areas where you can serve God" - it usually has to do with either teaching a bible study, or working in the nursery. Now I'm an author. I talk with publishers all the time. We all know that men aren't huge readers. Which means that as a pastor, we're asking guys to commit to reading more (not gonna happen) or somehow gain the desire to change diapers. (really not gonna happen).

And then as preachers we'll scream that if they don't love those 2 things, they don't love God.

I think guys should help with nursery. I do. That's just part of being a servant. But it is NOT a call to ministry. That's a call to serve and help out.

So I think ministry has been narrowly defined and wrongly represented to men all together.

*** why is it that when I threw out the call for chainsaw relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, I had men climbing the pews to get in on it?? They took vacation to do it. Hint. Hint.

4 - Churches want men there, but they won't lay down the coin to see it happen. If you want to reach men, you must spend the money. You must do things that speak of testostrone.

5 - We want to reach men, but we are not willing to do the things to make it happen. We want to reach them, but on our terms. Again, nursery, teaching sunday school, nursing home visitation, be a deacon. Etc.

We've got a serious epidemic on our hands with lack of male presence in today's churches. Promise Keepers and George Barna have told us that for years now.

In fact, Barna reports that when the man is a believer and in church, over 80% of the families of those men are rooted in a church as well.

When a man is not saved or marginally committed to church life, only 13% of those families are in a church.

Hint. Hint. Hint.

If you want to keep families rooted in Kingdom work, go after the man! Keep his fire hot. Make him feel relevant, needed, challenged, accepted; and give him things that speak his language.

Why is it that we all will agree that men are the missing demographic in most churches, and yet all we do is complain and condemn them over it????

So here's what I want to know:

what has your church done, or is honestly going to do, for men?

I'm not asking a loaded question. I really want to know your insights, failures, successes, etc.

Am I Dreamin' or What?

Long time no blog. I know.

Imagine strapping on a pair of spikes, grabbing a piece of hand carved lumber from Louisville Slugger, and stepping to home plate to take batting practice at Yankee Stadium. That's what happened to me yesterday.

In this journey I have seen a dream come true. Yesterday I hunted with a man who is a legend; he's mentored me for years in turkey hunting and didn't even know it. David Hale. He's now become a great friend and encourager.

David is literally the Mickey Mantle of the hunting world. A man who's name in the industry has no rival. And even bettter, David is a fully devoted follower of Christ.

Several decades ago David Hale and a man named Harold Knight, two good ol' boys from Cadiz, KY, decided to start marketing game calls. Goose calls, turkey calls, all sorts of stuff. They basically pioneered the game call revolution. Knight & Hale Game Calls was born. Even to this day, their TV show, Knight & Hale's Ultimate Hunting, is seen by 225,000 actual viewers per week.

David and I have gotten to know one another over the last 2 years. And recently, we have partnered together for a really neat concept, again, of which I cannot tell you just yet. Even still, stepping out of his truck and into the woods to chase turkeys was surreal. He's no idol. Those are dangerous to your health! Yet he is a man I admire. And to call him a friend is an honor.

So we headed out into the Bluegrass state to chase Kentucky gobblers. And the chase ended at 7:02 am when I slung a bunch of lead at this old tom. This tom had 1 5/8 spurs and an 11 1/2 beard. Dude. That's a very, very old turkey and a true trophy. And I killed it with David Hale running the camera. What a day.

That makes our 5th turkey this week!

A few days before Chris Littrell and I headed to Oklahoma to hunt down Rios. And man did we hunt 'em down. Killed 3 in 2 days. Which included this double where he shot first, gave me the gun and I gave him the camera, and then I slammed the 2nd tom. Unbelievable footage man. It was one of the most fun hunts I've ever had. And fast action, too.

Chris is the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, Lawrenceburg, TN. One of the resources we provide for churches is outdoor ministry DVD production. The concept is that churches can take their hunting footage, and we'll produce if for them as a way of sharing the gospel with their local community. Chris and his fellas at Trinity are doing just that. And let me tell you brotha', they are going to take the gospel to some ol' boys in Lawrence County that have never heard it before. It's creative, cutting edge, and it's the only way guys like these are ever going to listen.

So that's where I've been in the past 2 weeks. Hunting hard. We've got one more week. I hope to see a few more toms gobble their last day!