Hunter's Field Notes

Houston Jay, Medley Roger

Description

Tapping into the market of more than 12 million hunters in the United States alone, avid sportsmen Jay Houston and Roger Medley team up to encourage men to open their hearts and share their values, beliefs, and wisdom with their families. Through stories of hunting and outdoor adventures, they reveal the significance of a man's legacy and offer thought-provoking questions to help him start journaling:How do the traits of bull elk relate to walking with Christ?Hunting prayers center on goals, but is that the best approach?How can hunting skills draw us closer to God?Readers will also discover specifics for creating legacies:using birthday cards to highlight qualities they admirejotting down insights in the margins of hunting books to give as giftsteaching hunting lore while enjoying a venison feastJay and Roger urge men to grow spiritually, make their faith known, and pass on their knowledge about life and hunting to the generations to come.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736943666
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Hunter s Field Notes
JAY HOUSTON
ROGER MEDLEY

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
In Part 1, Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New International Version.
In Part 2, Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Verses marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked HCSB are taken from Holman Christian Standard Bible , Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible , Holman CSB , and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Verses marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation-Second Edition 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
The elk hunting story in part 1, chapter 1, Be Prepared! appeared in Jay Houston, The Ultimate Elk Hunt (Creative Publishing International, 2008). Used by permission.
Italics in Scripture quotations indicate authors emphasis.
Cover design by Koechel Peterson Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo iStockphoto / Thinkstock
A HUNTER S FIELD NOTES
Copyright 2012 by Jay Houston and Roger Medley
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Houston, Jay, 1953-
A hunter s field notes / Jay Houston and Roger Medley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-7369-4364-2 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4366-6 (eBook)
1. Christian men-Religious life. 2. Hunting-Religious aspects-Christianity. I. Medley, Roger, 1961- . II. Title.
BV4597.4H68 2012
248.8 42-dc23
2011038141
All rights reserved . No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 / BP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A man after God s own heart is measured by his selfless sacrifice for others . This book is dedicated to my good friend Steve Chapman , whose life and love for his family, in my experience, continually exhibit the selfless character of Jesus Christ .
J AY H OUSTON
To the sportsmen who, like me, are hungry to hear God s voice and are surrendered to be changed in the process .
To my partner in this journey, Jay Houston, for providing encouragement when I felt unworthy of even being used by or spoken to by our Lord .
To my wife and friend, Shasta, who has encouraged and supported me to pursue the outdoors and endured countless seminars and hunting trips knowing all along what He has in store .
To the author of my story, God Almighty, who has changed me through the many high-country experiences in His creation and given me real , tangible stories that shape me, my family, and those under my care. I am grateful .
R OGER M EDLEY
Acknowledgments
We want to give any glory for this project to God. Were it not for the sometimes gentle and other times not so gentle leading of His Holy Spirit, this book would never have seen the light of day. His gentle leading came in the form of many phone calls where what is God saying to you? and really? Me too were the topics.
Authors write books for all sorts of reasons; however, in this case we agreed we were only God s tools and He wanted to do something much bigger than the two of us. In A Hunter s Field Notes , God has used some of the stories that have come from our travels along our life trails as well as lessons learned along the way that will speak to men who, like us, love the hunting life and the outdoors.
Our prayer is that if this book makes a positive difference in your life you will do two things: give God the glory and pass the book along to a family member or friend.
We want to thank our good friend and fellow hunting buddy Steve Chapman for his encouragement and for opening the publishing door, our editor Barb Gordon for her amazing skill with words and loving patience, and Harvest House acquisitions editor Terry Glaspey for taking a chance on us.
Jay
Roger
An Opportunity for You
by Steve Chapman
T hrough the years I ve received some very inspiring and encouraging letters from individuals who have read the hunting books I ve written, including A Look at Life from a Deer Stand . But there s one letter that will always remain among the most unforgettable. It was from a young man who knew his dad loved him supremely, but because his father was not the kind to verbalize his thoughts, the young man was resigned to the likelihood that he would never hear them.
Then one day the son got the heartbreaking news that his dad had suddenly died. All hope was lost that he would ever know what sentiments filled his father s heart. That is, until the day he found one of my books with some handwritten notes on the open spaces inside the front cover. They were from his father s pen and written for his son s heart. The young man wept as he read the words. He could almost hear his dad s voice in the writing that revealed his father s carefully chosen expressions of love and appreciation for his son. There is no way to measure the depth of joy the son felt. And I was moved to tears when the son shared his story with me and sent scans of his dad s writing.
When Jay Houston and Roger Medley mentioned the idea of creating a book called A Hunter s Field Notes that focused on passing down thoughts and hunting lore as legacies, I immediately remembered the young man s story. I thought of how many sons, as well as dads, moms, husbands, wives, and other family members and friends, might someday be deeply touched by reading the thoughts from the hearts of people they love. For that reason, I m thrilled this book idea has become a reality.
When you get into A Hunter s Field Notes , you ll find it is much more than just ink on paper. It is your opportunity to create a priceless heirloom-one that contains the incredibly valuable gems of the feelings that fill your soul. Keep in mind that as you write on the pages, you ll be blessing those who come behind you in time and encouraging those who continue on after your hunting days are over.
Steve Chapman
Contents
Acknowledgments
An Opportunity for You-Steve Chapman
Two Trails, One Destination
Part 1: Jay s Trail
Introduction-Jay Houston
1. Encouragement for Every Hunter
2. Be Prepared!
3. A Continual State of Prayer
4. A View Through the Trees
5. Just Between God and Me
6. A Most Memorable Elk Hunt
7. Talking with God
8. It s Always Been About Relationship
9. The Trail Less Traveled
10. Hunting Buddies
11. 10 Great Tips
Two Trails Coming Together
Part 2: Roger s Trail
Introduction-Roger Medley
12. A Little About My Journey
13. Memories
14. The Moment of Truth
15. Nose to Nose
16. Facing the Challenges
17. Bless What I Do?
18. The Story Behind the Mount
19. Passing Wisdom On
20. First Elk Hunt
21. Herd or Satellite Bull?
22. The First Time
23. A Little Fun
24. Resolve and Character
25. The Simple Joys
26. Dwell
27. Finding the Treasure
28. The Right Perspective
29. A Strong Heart
30. Stopping to Think
31. Danger, Risk, Faith
32. Lesson or Frustration?
33. Making Memories
34. Where To?
35. Warning!
36. Off the Beaten Path
37. Listening
38. Life Is Precious
Part 3: Your Trail
Your Legacy
Hunting Field Notes sample pages
My Field Notes sample pages
Contact the Author
Two Trails, One Destination
Isaac said to Esau, Now then, get your equipment - your quiver and bow - and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing (Genesis 27:3-4) .
T he original concept of creating an easy-to-do journaling guide for those who love the outdoors came years ago when Roger and I first met over breakfast at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Colorado Springs. A Hunter s Field Notes is the result of nearly three decades of personal journaling and prayer, along with a collaborative collection of high-country and backwoods stories, biblical parallels, lessons learned, and personal encouragement extracted from two separate yet Christ-centered lifetimes. As a team, Roger and I pledged to remain loyal to one imperative: to only write as God s Holy Spirit inspired and directed us. After nearly a year of prayerful writing, we got together to combine our respective efforts. It became clear that while we originally thought it would all blend together into one voice, so to speak, God clearly had something else in mind: two distinct trails leading to the same destination.
We invite you to journey into the hunter s woods with us, moving along the separate trails that we pray and believe will give you plenty of insights, encouragement, and know-how to preserve your own thoughts and stories for the generations to come.
A Hunter s Field Notes is a how to bo