Camouflage??

Sorry it's been so long since I updated this. The face book thing has pulled me away. I' ve been debating weather or not to totally convert over, but haven't decided yet.

If you've seen my Facebook page, you might have seen the picture of the killdeer eggs we have in the driveway nest. Yes, I did say nest in the driveway. Killdeer are ground nesters and they rely on one single factor to allow the eggs and nest to survive and make it to hatching. That one factor is camouflage. The eggs match their surroundings so well, that predators don't see them....most of the time, that is. Something did happen to two of the four eggs in the driveway nest.

This got me to thinking about my life. How often do I sit back and blend into my surroundings - camouflaged, if you will? I mean, do people realize that I am not of this world and I don't want to be the same as it seems the world is sliding? I want people to know that I'm a Christian! I want them to know that I'm different. But I don't want them to think I'm weird or a fanatic, Do you know what I mean. Can anyone else relate?

I'm getting better at this as I get older, but why does it take so long? Because of the gift our Lord gave to us, we should be jumping for joy! We shouldn't care what the rest of the world

thinks!

So.......how bout it. Are you ready to join me in shedding the camouflage and putting on the neon???

Every Day is Easter

Cut off Catalpa tree stump.

I thought it might be time to start up the ole' blog again. I took a short sabbatical around Easter, so I could keep up with everything else. Thanks for the faithful readership (both of you! Ha!??)

As I was walking down by the creek a while back, I noticed that someone had come in and cut down my favorite tree that stood near the road and the creek bank. It was a Catalpa tree. To some of you, that name may not mean anything or be familiar to you. My brothers and I used to call it an elephant ear tree because of it's huge, elephant ear-like leaves. Anyway, these trees are native to Kansas and they bloom a brilliant white flower in early summer. Now, nothing is left of that tree but the stump. I don't blame anyone, and I really don't know who to blame anyhow.

But that incident caused me to start thinking, especially since Easter was still on my mind. It brought about the correlation of this tree and the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like Christ, this tree was a beautiful specimen. It was living what some would call a perfect life. It had a great future. But then, the tree was cut down. It was really causing no harm and was giving others joy. The parallels are interesting. Both Jesus and the tree were killed by man.

The difference, though, is that Jesus died and then came back to life after three days. (The tree's life is over.) And for believers, Jesus offers an eternity with Him, with no more sorrow, sickness, or pain. What a cool deal, huh? We've got a saying at our church that states, "Every Day is Easter!"

New Catalpa tree planted in our yard. (Happy Easter)

Conform Not

I took this picture last Saturday. Yup, that's right - the day it was really cold, windy and a bit snowy. It was ten degrees when I took this. But if you'll notice, the flowers are vividly blooming. These flowers are always the first to bloom in our flower bed. They pop up about the end of February and bloom for about three weeks. They are called Glory of the Snow or Snow Glories ( Chionodoxa forbesii). Tamra and I bought these bulbs from our nephew, Evan, when he was selling them for a school project. We really didn't know what we were buying for sure, but thought it would be neat to have some extra flowers in the front.

If you'll notice, there are no other flowers blooming in the picture, nor is there anything else that is even remotely a bit green. This flower is the first to bloom in the spring season. In fact it gets its name from that because it is often seen poking through the snow - again when nothing else is even thinking of blooming.

When I saw these beautiful blue blooms, I thought of the fact that those flowers are such independent little boogers. They just do their own thing. God made them that way. I also thought of the verse in Romans 12:2 that says, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

God's word tells us that we are not to follow the ways of this world. Hmmm.....just like the Glory of the Snow. If it bloomed when all of the other flowers bloom, it would quickly wither and die. So it is with us. If we follow the ways of everyone else, straying from the teachings and commandments of God, we soon "wither and die" spiritually. God gave us independence from others and the world so that we may follow Him and his will.

Isn't it great to be able to follow such a Savior who wants us to do our own thing? Take some time this week to ask God what that thing is you're supposed to do. You may just bloom in the process!

It's All in the Perception

Snow Creek

I got back Monday from a ski trip with our church youth group. Where did we go, you ask? How' Missouri grab ya? Yep, Missouri. Believe it or not, there's a small ski area just a bit north of the KCI Airport outside of the town of Weston, MO called Snow Creek. It has 12 labeled runs and 6 lifts, counting the rope lift. Sound interesting?

Collin on the lift

Well, we had a small portion of our youth group wanting to go skiing, but none of us had much of a budget. So we found out about Snow Creek and then got an inside rate on motel rooms near the airport, and away we went. I had my doubts about the area, and I had convinced myself that I was just really along to help chaperon anyway.

Guess what! I was pleasantly surprised! For man made snow, the skiing was really pretty decent. The temps were just right and it was busy but not overly crowded. Only Collin and I got to go (out of our family) and we both had a great time. There were people from several states there, including MO, LA, OK, TX, Iowa, & KS; some other countries also.

FBC Youth

We found out that Snow Creek was a great place for people to learn to ski; a good place for skiers to refresh their skills; or just a neat little place to go and save money. I guess it's just like other things in life. It's all in how you perceive it!

Collin & Yours Truly

Sacrifice?

We had a missions conference at our church this past weekend. There were 12 different sets of missionairies there, who present the Gospel in many different countries. It's incredible how these people have given to a walk that requires them to sacrifice so much.

I've been thinking about that lately. How is my walk? Am I giving and sacrificing for the sake of spreading the Gospel? At times, I think I do pretty good! I mean I have to alter my personal schedule once in a while and even miss out on "important" personal events as a sacrifice!

Could I be doing more? What is the meaning of sacrifice and being a "missionary" for God?

Romans 12:1 & 2 says, "And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Have a great week!

We've Got "Spirit," Yes We Do!

Well, we've spent the last three days going to basketball games in which Adam and Collin played in. The boys both played Thursday, then Adam went on to play in two more games at the El Dorado tournament, the Bluestem Classic. There were some good teams there. Even though we (the El Dorado H.S. Wildcats) didn't win any of our three games, I'd still say that the El Dorado ball club is a good team. After all, we only lost to the tournament champion (Wichita Collegiate) in our opening game by four points. And we only lost the other two games by a deficit of two and four points. Man, we seemed good enough. We basically did all the right things. Most people were happy with the team's actions. Man people, said we appeared to have what it takes. We just couldn't seem to win the game, though.

Maybe you can already see where I'm going with this. Do the last few sentences remind you of some people's description of their "religious" lives? Unfortunately, there are still people thinking that they are going to earn their way to Heaven because they appear to have what it takes. They seem good enough and, basically, do all of the right things. Most people are happy with their actions, too.

Wow! We' been talking a lot in church lately about being in the Spirit. One of the statements that our Pastor said today was: "If we live in the Spirit, we must walk in the Spirit." Walking in the Spirit doesn't mean just coming close to winning. Coming close to eternal life is not where I want to spend eternity. My idea of "winning" in life is ending up spending eternity in Heaven with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in the meantime, I want to be walking in the Spirit, not just talking like I'm there and appearing to do all of the right things. It's more than that. Letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace (Rom. 8:6).

It's my goal this year to live a Spirit filled life. As we're talking in Church: I'm going to be on the front line in '09.

Are We Listening?

Our Sunday School lesson last week was on listening to God. Now, if you're like me, sometimes I, not a very good listener. But when we were getting ready to leave, I asked the class to really listen to the Lord this week and come back and share their experiences. (That way we all could be encouraged and edified by the experience.)

Ex. #1: Well, I had prayed that I would be open to God's will for me and that I would obey, but you know - often we think it will probably be the other guy. It wasn't!

My supervisor and I were coming back from K.C. on the Turnpike, and we passed a car that was broke down on the side of the road. There were two girls outside of the car as we passed. I felt that we should turn around, so we did. Long story short.....the girls were headed back to school in California and the car was causing problems. We were able to get them started and followed them to a repair shop that I knew of in El Dorado where we always take our vehicles.

The girls were very grateful; I'm sure one of them was a Christian by the way she talked, which made me feel even better.

Ex. #2: I had been burdened with the sickness of an acquaintance of ours through our Church. Our S.S. class wanted to help them out in some way but we didn't know how and what the status of our "brother" was. I was able to obtain the cell phone number of the brother's wife and caught her in the grocery store. I told her that we were wondering how they were and if we could possibly help them in any way. She was so moved that I thought she was going to cry over the phone. She told me that she had been praying for help to see how she was going to handle this coming week, as our brother was needing to go to the doctor in K.C. and she was going to be tied up with her oldest daughter who just had a baby the day that I was calling her. Also, she was burdened with the fact that her grandson was receiving chemotherapy and all of the other aspects of life. (Wow!) I told her we were there for her and we would do whatever it took to help her.

If that isn't answered prayer on both sides, I'll eat my hat! But should I have been surprised? The Bible tells us when we pray to be prepared and expect answers. Yup! Awesome!

If you've got a story about hearing from the Lord, I'd like to hear it and maybe even pass it on to our S.S. class for their edification. Hey, you never know when God's going to give you that Elijah-type whisper or a little tugging at your heart! But when he does, go for it!! You and others will be blessed!

Resistant to Change? Me?

I guess I'm wondering why everybody is so resistant to change. I mean, it's really very simple - change is a necessary evil to make the world go round. But why is everyone so against it? It' not that bad of a thing! But I do have a few questions?

- Why is it so important for young people to have their cell phones on 24 hours a day, especially for texting purposes? Are they missing an important meeting or business appointment?
- Why do girls wear those furry little boots with their pants tucked in them when it's not even snowing outside?
- Why do boys not comb their hair anymore?
- Why do girls wear at least 6 or 7 shirts, making sure the bottom one is longer than the others so it sticks out farther than the others....and then, the neckline still doesn't cover most of what it should?
- Why do boys wear their hats cocked off to the sides of their heads?
- Why do girls pierce everything?
- Why do boys put major holes in the lobes of their ears with this wooden or plastic ring in there? (Do they have any idea how stupid that will look when they get older?)
- Why do young car owners put those loud "mufflers" on a four cylinder engine?
- Why do girls pay $75 for jeans with holes in the knees? (I'd do it for $10!)
- Why do middle-aged men and women try to act like they are as young as these kids in the previous questions??????

Living Water

While on my daily morning walk that last few days, my attention has been drawn to the sounds of the water flowing over the rocks in the small creek that runs near our house. The unique thing about this creek (properly pronounced "crick" where I grew up) is that it never freezes over and never quits flowing. You see, it originates from a spring back in the trees, so it gives continual water up from underground at a constant temperature (which by the way is usually the same as the mean annual air temperature: around 56 degrees in El Dorado).

I often walk in the dark, so when I walk over the little bridge, I can only hear the water. I still know it's there, though. (Just because I can't see it doesn't mean it's not there, right?)

This reminds me of the parallel between the Holy Spirit and living water. Remember the passage in John 4 & 7 where Jesus refers to His Spirit as living water? He said that it becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within you, giving you eternal life. (Is that cool, or what?)

I offer a challenge to you. When you see or hear water, meditate on these passages. If you don't know what it's like to have the living water within you, seek out a friend, Pastor, or contact me. We'd be glad to share that living water with you.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the spring fed creek near our house. Enjoy, and have a great week!

The warm water in the creek never freezes.

Cardinal Flowers bloom in the pool of the creek fed by the spring.

Christmas with Tamra's Family

It was another Christmas to spend with family. This time it was Tamra's side. We laughed, we ate, we opened presents, we ate, we told jokes, we ate, we took pictures, and did I mention we ate??



Collin gets a good morning hug from Taylor's (Tamra's niece) dog, Mocha.



Can you believe it? We all made it to one place at the same time!!




The kids and the Grandpa & Grandma - Collin, Taylor, Adam, Robert & Bonnie.



Taylor (Tamra's niece) and Adam & Collin unwrap the gifts.

You buy them dog toys and buy them dog toys and what do they play with? A milk jug!!

Troy (Tamra's brother) and his wife Tammie open presents.

The best gift was just spending quality time together. I pray that you may do the same with your family. Merry Christmas!

The Last Time??

Did anyone else see this spectacular event on December 1st? If you didn't, you missed one of the most beautiful sights of the night skies. Venus and Jupiter made the closest passes towards each other that they will make until the year 2042. I may not take a shot like this again??

This is not an unusual sight to many of us - a doe whitetail deer and a yearling fawn. But to many others, this is a rare sighting in the wild. Consider yourself blessed if you're able to see this on a regular basis. Another one of God's creations, made just for us. I have a tone of deer photos now.....maybe I won't take anymore???

Another sunset. I always say, I'm not going to take anymore sunrise or sunset pictures. I couldn't help myself on this one. In fact the D.J. on the radio was talking about it as I was clicking away with my camera. It was phenominal! God pulled out all the stops on this one! I may not take anymore sunset pictures for a while now!!???

In fact, I may not pull my camera out until I see another one of God's handiworks.........excuse me, gotta go! And where's my camera!

We Need Your Input

Thought you might enjoy seeing an evening at the El Dorado Just house. Collin had a friend over and he wanted to have his picture in here too, so I'll put that in too. This is Aaron. He played football and now basketball with Collin.

This is Aaron's friend Collin. He's kind of funny at times!

This is the oldest El Dorado Just boy, Adam. He's sorta silly too!

Here's Tamra watching Adam......she keeps a level head.

And here's what happens when Tamra doesn't watch over Collin:

As you can see, this is what happens when a family doesn't have cable or satellite. For those of you who do not wish to see my children and their friends grow up to be demented, please comment on this blog, urging Tamra to support her husband with his quest in acquiring ESPN.

Thank you and God Bless America and the sports networks! (I'm Randall D. Just and I approve this message.)

Perplexed

A quick question: how do we teach them? It has occurred to me that several of our community's youth claim to be Christians but are among those who "talk the talk, but don't walk the walk." When they are around their "church friends" they act and talk one way, but when they are around others, they act and talk the way of the world.

What has happened here? Why is this? I'm certainly not suggesting that I am perfect, or my earlier years were any better. I am suggesting that there is something missing in the lives of many of our youth.......I think that something is parental guidance and discipline. A number of these kids that have these issues don't have a Mom and a Dad to lead them down the path of righteousness. One parent may be a believer. Or one parent may be too soft in the disciplinary scene.

So what happens now? (I'm thinking out loud here.) Our church has the unwritten rule of, "it takes a village." It's up to us as Christian brothers and sisters to help out in this matter. If you remember, when babies are dedicated to the Lord, we say that we will help see to it that this baby is raised properly in the way of the Lord. Even if they don't go to your/our church, it's up to us as Believers to assist the youth to stay on the straight and narrow.

Now I've got to get busy. I've got a kid or two to talk to. If you would, say an extra prayer for the youths and for me as I go about the Father's business.

Thanks! Have a great weekend!

Unbelievable

We witnessed an event that we all thought couldn't happen here in little old El Dorado. Our church's associate pastor had the vision of bringing Judgement House (A walk through drama that presents people with choices and ultimately gives them a choice of accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ in their lives.) to town through El Dorado First Baptist Church. How could we do it? We've never done anything like this before. We don't have the money! We don't have the time!














The "Heaven" scene



Adam & Collin in the cafeteria scene.


The "Hell" scene

People went to work. Some organized, some cooked, some constructed sets, some prayed, some gathered snacks, some gave money, some sewed, and still some more prayed.

The results: It was like a mini revival. Groups came in from everywhere to attend. Walk-ins showed up by the scores. People returned for another viewing. People were on fire for God! They couldn't get enough!

"Teacher" Randy and students in the classroom scene.

Tamra in the home scene

All total, 1047 people attended the presentation of Judgement House. 111 people made first time decisions for Jesus. 142 people rededicated their lives to the Lord.

Unbelievable? Did we make all these preparations and do all this work just to see the Judgement House fail? Of course, not! But we really didn't think this would happen. Not here, with just our minscule group. You see, God accomplished his plan in spite of us, not because of us. Unbelievable, isn't it?

Too Busy

(This photo has nothing to do with the subject matter of this blog, but I thought some of you may enjoy seeing a photo of my class reunion. )

It was eighteen days ago when I posted my last blog. What happened? Where did the time go. I guess that I just got busy. Hmm! Too busy! Isn't that the story of our life?

We were studying in Sunday School this morning some of the things that prevent us from living a life of faith. The subject of being busy and caught up in life came up. It wasn't in the list, but I believe that it should be among the top five of the "barriers of faith."

So, what have I (we) been doing the last eighteen days? Try the following:

1) A Men's Retreat for all adult males from our Church. We got together at the World Impact's Morning Star Ranch near Cedar Point, KS. It was a great time of bonding, eating, learning how to love our wive's better, and good ol' fellowship. (I did have to take my camera and take a couple photos, of course.)

Some of the guys and me sat on the benches near the cross on top of the hill and swaped stories.

The cross on the hill at sunrise.

2) Football. Collin's last game was this past Thursday night. He really enjoyed the season and the team ended up with a respectable five wins and two losses. Collin says he's going to miss it. That's the way you want it - wishing you were still playing the game.

Collin (#78) put a block on a Hayesville opponent.

3) Practicing for Judgement House. Our Church will be ministering through the Judgement House live drama, with presentations starting Friday, Oct. 24 and running through Thursday, Oct. 30 (None on Weds., Oct. 29). If you have the opportunity to come to Judgement House, I think it will be worth your time. This will be especially good for those who don't attend church. (please pray for us during this time, and for those attending.

4) Working Cattle. This is the time of year when cattle are taken out of the pasture and taken home to the winter grounds. I missed the loading at the big pasture in Chase County because of the Men's Retreat, but I got in on the vaccinations and sorting.

Rod & Erika take a break from working cattle to pose for the camera.

Dad & Donny Hett run a cow out of the squeeze chute.

5) Just plain ol' work. You'd think it would slow down for us at the Park, but that's not the case yet. We shift to a different kind of work: training, trail work, resource management, special hunts, and educational programs.

Our handicap accessible hunting blind we made for the Youth Deer Hunt.


Tagging Monarch butterflies that will fly to Mexico.

Interestingly enough, our sermon in Church this morning was on waiting to hear on the Lord. WOW! Pretty cool, huh? So, my suggestion for us all comes from Psalm 46:10. I'm going to try to take my own advice this week!

This also has nothing to do with the blog content, but I thought Adam's latest drawing was neat.

Connections

As I previewed in the last posting, the story of the Elk Hunt II is about to be told. Since this was our (big brother/pastor Rick, younger brother/teacher Rod, western KS hunting buddy Craig and myself) second hunt together, we had high expectations and we weren't let down. The first full day of hunting found us in a high mountain meadow, each in our own little spot - camouflaged from our prey. I had no longer sat down and was trying to organize my hunting gear when.... KABOOM! "What in the world?" I thought! Did somebody already shoot at an elk or did a gun accidentally discharge? I sat a few seconds and I heard Rick whistle. I ran over to where he was hidden in a clump of Spruce trees and he pointed towards the woods. There lay a cow elk. He had hit it in the spine and dropped it in its tracks. So, we dressed the elk and carried it down the mountain. Craig went and got a pack horse while we went back up the mountain for the rest of our equipment. We got back to our upper camp with all of our gear and the bagged up elk by dark.

Rick poses with his downed elk in the edge of the woods.

We hunted the next day and went trout fishing between hunts. Rick was the first to wet a line and, you guessed it, caught the first fish - which just happened to be the biggest fish caught on the trip. (That's right, the Ranger and outdoors man got skunked.) We ate good that night, though, enjoying fresh trout and a big bowl of chili.

Rick shows off his big Rainbow Trout and Rod covetously looks on.

Our upper camp in the edge of the Spruce forest.

Other highlights of the hunt included: eating lunch at numerous scenic vistas (one being at the ever enjoyable 11,000 feet; following elk trails through the woods and realizing that those animals have to be part mountain goat; listening to the coyotes howl a nighttime mountain chorus; taking a bath in ice cold mountain streams; and getting snowed on in the woods and in our tent.

The view looking west towards Derby Mountain from our camp.

The four mighty hunters pose on an alpine meadow.

Now, brother Rick joked that his success was because of his direct connection he has with our Creator. Interestingly, my devotions this morning were talking about fairness. In fact, it was saying that we are not the arbiters of fairness. God is, and he knows far more than we do about His plans and purpose. The question isn't about fairness. In the end, it's about trust in a faithful God who knows what He's doing. (He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice. Deut. 32:4) Isn't it great to know that life is not always fair, but God is always faithful?

Rod grazes with the horses (he was craving some roughage).

How about you? Do you have "connections?"

A Taste of What's Ahead

Here's a little taste of my next blog posting. It's too late to post it all now so keep checking and I'll soon tell you the story of "The Hunt."