Posts Tagged With: outdoors

It’s Book Launch Week for Backcountry Devotions!

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Doug Gilmer

backcountry-3DIt is officially launch week of my new book, Backcountry Devotions! What started out as a daily devotion on my BackcountryChaplain.com page well over a year ago quickly morphed into a book idea through the urging of a number of good friends. When Darin Letzring, owner of Backcountry Press, happened about the online daily devotions he immediately contacted me with the idea for a book which might appeal to backpackers and general outdoor enthusiasts. As a matter of fact, Backcountry Devotions was written for the person who might be heading into the backcountry for a couple of weeks on a solo trip or who might be leading a small group on an extended backcountry adventure. Outdoor themed devotions for each day, some additional more in-depth Bible studies, as well as resources such as a list verses in the Bible which talk about the outdoors and the words to a number of outdoor or creation themed choruses and hymns are also included.

While the devotions are outdoor themed, meaning each one is illustrated through various aspects of creation or forms of outdoor recreation (hiking, backpacking, camping, hunting, fishing, etc.) the message and application behind each chapter and each study is relevant and applicable to anyone. I think you will find not only encouragement but also personal challenge as you live your life each day in the grandest adventure of all, faith.

This week I am headed to South Carolina to the Professional Outdoor Media Association’s annual conference. What a better way to spend my launch week then surrounded by the best outdoor communicators in the country, or the world for that matter. So many of my friends in POMA encouraged me throughout this process and I am looking forward to sharing the final product with them.

Thanks also to Becky Robinson, Carrie Koens and the other great people at Weaving Influence  and Team Faith Builder for all your hard work in creating buzz! Thanks as well to my Adventure Leadership & Outdoor Ministry students at Liberty University who provide me with continuous encouragement, motivation, and a source of illustrations. Of course, I have to thank my family as none of this would have been possible without their support.

If you are interested in your own copy of Backcountry Devotions it is available online through Amazon as well Barnes & Noble in print, Kindle, and Nook formats.

I will be doing some special book promotions over the next month through BackcountryChaplain.com and the Backcountry Chaplain Facebook page where I will be giving away some cool outdoor gear. In order to win you will have to read the book though!

Thanks for your support!

Doug Gilmer

The Backcountry Chaplain

Categories: Daily Devotions, Gear, Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Scripture’s Most Repeated Command: Fear Not

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Doug Gilmer

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3 ESV

Remington BearDo you know what God’s most repeated command in the Bible is? It might surprise you. Here is a list of what it is NOT:

  • Do not lie
  • Tithe
  • Help the hurting
  • Love you neighbor
  • Love your spouse

Each of these, and many, many more commands in scripture are important. Yet I find it interesting the most repeated command in scripture to you and I is, “fear not”, or “do not be afraid.” We are given this command over 100 times in the Bible. David obviously understood this and maybe more than anyone. Consider the situations he faced over his lifetime. As a young boy he had to fight off dangerous animals threatening his flock of sheep. Later, and still as a teenager, he squared off in an epic battle with Goliath. At one point he was forced to run for his life to the mountains and caves surrounding his hometown as so many people were out to kill him. Still later, he faced an uncertain future because of evil plotting family members. David was a mighty warrior yet he knew his strength did not come from within, his salvation was not his own, his life was not in his own hands, it all belonged to God. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

For most of us today, we are not going to face off against a giant, square off against a dangerous beast, of be forced to survive while evading capture and certain death. Our struggles are going to be with more common fears such as, finances, job uncertainty, a job interview, having a difficult conversation with a friend or loved one, or maybe just the fear of being alone. Being an outdoor educator as well, I see people facing fears all the time; getting lost, wild animals, heights, rushing water, the dark, and the list goes on. Fear, however, provides such a great learning opportunity, whether in day to day life or in the backcountry, for something called faith.

David knew all about it. The Bible repeats it. Faith is seeing things that have not yet been realized as if they already have, regardless of our circumstance.

The other day I was reading a post written by Sandi Krakowski. I have never met Sandi but I enjoy reading her lessons on faith, business, leadership and living out daily life. She made the following statements in her post, “Fear is faith in the wrong god. Fear and faith cannot co-exist. Fear is false evidence appearing real, an allegiance to the wrong Kingdom. Fear exits, when faith is the habitual choice.”

She hit the nail on the head. When we focus on fear we take our focus off the One who said, “Fear not.”. We are reminded in 2 Timothy 1:7, “ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”  We cannot escape uncertainty, risk, and hardship in our lives but we can choose how we face these circumstances. When we choose to face them under our own power we give way to fear. When we place these circumstances in God’s hands, we give way to faith.

As Sandi said, make faith the habitual choice. Follow the lead of David who says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”  And should you need reminding, there are enough “fear nots” and “do not be afraids” in the Bible you can have at least two for every week of the year. More than enough for most of us, even if we only need to believe it once.

 

Categories: Christian Living, Daily Devotions | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Suffering Sucks, for Now.

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Doug Gilmer

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18 (ESV)

Suffering sucks. There is no sense in sugar-coating it or trying to put a good spin on it. No one likes to suffer. The reality is, however, suffering is a reality. No way around it. We are all going to face times in our lives when the pain of suffering from some life experience is going to feel overwhelming. Since we cannot ignore it and pretend it will never happen, we must then determine to understand it.

 This verse reveals to us a few of things. First, suffering is temporary. The verse mentions the sufferings of this “present time”. This means suffering isn’t forever, just for now. It may come in seasons and there may be more than one season of suffering in your life but they are all temporary.

 Second, we are promised glory that will follow suffering. It isn’t the other way around. After all, how miserable would life be if we that in the end we had nothing to look forward to except an eternity of suffering? How terrible would it be if life started out wonderfully only to know it would end horribly. We, however, are promised a future, permanent glory in response to our present, temporary suffering.

 Third, the magnitude of our suffering now is not even “worth comparing” to the magnitude of the glory we are promised. A glory made not at the hands of men but by the hand of God and delivered in eternity to those who choose to put their faith and trust in Him. I love the promise we are given in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

This brings us to number four. Today’s verse tells us the glory will be revealed to us. It hasn’t yet. We may not be able to see it from where we stand right now. Our present suffering may even cloud our understanding of this promise and we may question our faith and ask God “Why?” but it is still a promise. One day, it will be revealed.

The lessons from this verse are something I try and teach students while undertaking outdoor adventure and endurance type activities. Of course I don’t try and intentionally make anyone suffer but spending any length of time in the outdoors for some is uncomfortable at best. Extend that time to a few days and you create an environment in which many participants often reach a breaking point. When you finally make the final turn at the trail and re-emerge back into civilization the recent discomforts pale in comparison to the glory they know they are going to soon feel with a hot shower, a meal that is not prepackaged, and of course, Internet service. The students with the right attitude focus on the glory that awaits them.

Suffering is for a season, but also for a reason. It teaches us something. C.S.Lewis once said, “God whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.” How true that is. And just like the future glory that we cannot see now the reason for our suffering may not be clearly seen either. However, in my experience it is the reason we suffer, that once understood, is what often helps push back the clouds and gives us a glimpse of the glory that awaits us.

No matter what you are going through now or may go through in the future please know I agree, suffering sucks, but it’s only for now. Glory awaits.

 

Categories: Christian Living, Daily Devotions | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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