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I believed that God created the heavens and the earth. I even argued, “How could someone not believe in God after looking at the colors in a wood duck’s head or the beauty of a sunrise in the water?” For years, I used examples like these to justify why I was in the woods or on the water on a Sunday morning. I would tell people that I could worship God in the great outdoors from a deer stand or a duck blind better than in church. Then, one Sunday morning, in a church with no walls in North Georgia, God spoke to me through a visiting preacher. The preacher’s message was “to worship the Creator, not the creation.”
That simple message helped to start a journey for me that changed my life. I got involved in church and made a point to be there on Sunday mornings. If that was the end of the story, it would have had a good ending, but God had just started to work in my life. It wasn’t long before God had a wonderful surprise for me. He showed me how my love of the outdoors could become a ministry.
God brought together about twenty men in my church who, like me, loved to hunt and fish. He has shown us how we can take our love of the outdoors and combine it with our desire to serve him and create a ministry; I encourage you to look at what gifts God has given you and how you can make them into your ministry.
Ernie Mitchell
January 22, 2005
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