Outdoor Truths

Gary Miller

    I have been privileged over the years to spend time at some hunting and fishing trade shows. These shows are where retailers come to meet those who have products for sale. The exhibitors set up booths and displays in order to expose and tell about this year’s new model or the latest new gadget. It really is fun and you get to meet a lot of nice people. You also get to meet, or at least see the faces of, some of the hunting industry’s most famous people. I’ll not throw out names but most of the people that you and I watch on all the outdoor channels are there supporting those who sponsor their programs. Some of the names take me back many years when I first started watching hunting and fishing videos. These men were larger than life and seemed untouchable. To meet them now is still an honor.

    As a kid, I used to think that everybody on T.V. was literally larger than life. I mean I thought they walked around taller than everyone else. I thought they all were in perfect shape, ate the right foods, were gentlemen, and climbed trees to rescue cats. (Don’t laugh bud; I’m spillin’ my guts here!) What I found out was they were real people just like you and me. Some were tall and some were short. Some were built like I imagined but most had a small case of furniture disease (you know, when your chest has dropped down in your drawers).  And none had ever rescued a cat from a tree. They were just normal human beings without any super powers. They laughed, cried, hurt, bled, made mistakes, had some success, raised a family, and had their ups and downs. I was relieved to find out that I could fit into their crowd.

    Many people view those who attend church as a people who always choose the high road. They think they have their life in order, never make mistakes, never have road rage, and never get mad when the lady forgets to put ketchup on their Krystal burger. Unfortunately, many churches have portrayed that picture by excluding those whose sin seems to be more egregious than theirs or others. But nothing could be further from the truth. The church is made up of those who struggle with the same things others struggle with. And sometimes it takes years to overcome those struggles. I go not because my wife needs to be a better woman or my friends need to be better people, but because I need to be a better man. And the Person of Jesus, found in the Bible, is the only one who can bring that about in me. It happens as I come to know Him and allow Him to work his power in me. While those who attend church do not have super powers or abilities, there is Someone there with supernatural powers who will take us the way that we are and make us into something that we thought we could never be.