Brandon Neil Richards

Its inevitable, as we humans recognize that our lives are out of control, unorganized, imbalanced, and ignorant we strive to bring wholeness to our lives by re-inventing and building upon the same ideas, the same principles which we have forsaken in our previous efforts.

This is not a slam on Apple, I think they make great and useful ‘tools’, yet I think the emergent Apple technology’s popularity and other ‘like’ technologies are symptomatic of the spiritual condition of mankind. Beginning with the coming of the iPod we were promised a single place to keep our songs, a place that fits our song into our lifestyle or in this case, “our pockets”. With the coming of the iPhone and iPad, now you can not only keep your songs with you, directions, libraries of knowledge, whatever you’re searching for is right at your fingertips.

We love to keep things close enough that should we need them, we can just pull it out and listen to it, and then whenever we're finished listening to it, we put it back into its place.

We love the idea that we can build our own playlist and “shuffle” it around as much as we want, at anytime we want and it appear “changed” and if we get tired of that or have another need, there's an app for that. It will meet all your needs.

We think our lives are defined by what we wear, how we talk, what we can accomplish and do. In fact, to many people we seem Human2.0™ because we appear to have everything under control. Should we become insecure, we only need to shuffle around our appearance, our speech, charge a new car, or just come out of the closet to feel more self-confident, more honest. The reality is, no matter how many times we shuffle or how many times we change or “accessorize” ourselves, underneath we’re still playing the same songs, the same lies that we are in control, our own saviors.

We think having these gadgets will make our lives easier, free up our time to spend more quality time with what we care about and if used properly they can. Yet, in all truthfulness… they consume us, never let us rest with the constant reminders of its calendar… its tasks… its mail. Webster defines “immoderate attachment or devotion to something” as Idolatry [ http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/idolatry ] and with that we have created idols, symbols of our self serving efforts to save ourselves.

What if we shut off our gadgets, and take them from our pockets? What if we took the time to really see who we are and meant to be? What if we could recognize that the smudges are there to show us how blind we are to ‘The Playlist’... to help us recognize our need to change the Song we listen to? We know we can’t do this ourselves, we only have a limited knowledge. We need someone outside the iPod to synchronize our lives with in order to change our song, we need a savior.

There are a lot of religions in the world, and various sects within them. I’m not talking about ‘religion’, I’m talking about the only Savior for our lives, the only one who can give us life and that is Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. He is the only God, and the only way to peace, truth, life and know one can “synchronize” themselves with God but through Him. Not Buddha, not Muhammad, not Mary nor any other professed way to God… those are all man made, all idolatry, vanity and rely upon our efforts to save ourselves when we already know we can’t [ Proverbs 14:12, 1 Peter 2:24].

If you in all honesty realize that you are in need of Savior, the Bible states:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [ John 3:16 ]” and that “...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” [ Romans 10:13 ]

It’s as simple as that, Salvation through Christ isn’t complicated as there is nothing more that you have to do but cry out to God and turn from your own way to His way and believe that He is the Son of God, that He died for our sins so we wouldn’t have to die in them, and then confess with your mouth that He is your Lord. If you’ve done this, then God will send the Holy Spirit to bear witness that you are now a child of God [ Romans 8:16 ], then I encourage you to begin “synchronizing” with God through reading the Bible, “The Message Bible, The New International Version, and The Amplified” are great versions and easy to understand. Another way to “synchronize” is to pray and just talk with God, find a church and get connected with other Christian people.

Lastly, if have questions or you’ve made a decision to follow Jesus today, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment below.

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If I could choose anything to do and anywhere to go, I would choose sitting alone on an early spring morning just at the moment the sun spills over the mountain tops of my grandfather's mountain land. Perhaps its the way the forest comes alive. Orchestrated by the sunlight, the song birds begin to sing and the squirrels search for their hidden treasures. Having endured the night, they always seem to be full of mischief.

Often for me a feeling of hope invades my being as the Sun’s radiance shines upon my face. It’s warmth, removing the chill from my bones. As the wind blows the remaining fog into the still-dark hollows below, visibility increases and all reminders of the night are seemingly forgotten.

A friend reminded me today that no matter how hard times get or how alone I feel while in the wilderness of life - the tough times, God is still with me. Astonished and in awe of the realization God has planned my exact life and all my experiences including those alone in the woods on my grandfather’s land as opportunities to know Him.

I was reminded no matter what the previous night and dark times of the past and present have brought into my life; His light is greater than the darkness. His radiance kindles passion and birth’s new life into my being. The sin and confusion of the past and today are removed and cast into the abyss. In His presence there is clarity. Confusion cannot remain in His presence, for in it there is relationship, clarity of vision, and fullness of joy.

I urge my readers, to not let the sun set upon the day without having spent time with Him. You won’t make it out of the wild without Him.

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My earliest memory of my dad is in the 70's when he was in the Army. I remember him driving home in an Army van, I thought that was the greatest thing in the world. Those memories are only splotchy now, I can't remember his face from when I was child. When I look at old photos, I really can't remember them, but I assume since there are photos, it really happened. The harder I try to remember, want to remember, the more fleeting they are.

I don’t remember how old I was. I can only tell you that at the age of thirty-four it is as vivid now as it was then. My dad and I spent numerous nights together walking through pitch dark fields, guided by only the moonlight and occasional glow from my dad’s cigarette as he inhaled; we were fox hunting.

In the darkness I could only make out his form, his gestures, and the occasional words as I followed silently behind. My dad had explained to me how important silence is to being successful, how important following closely in his footsteps is to not falling. We often walked through fields spattered with manure, overtaken with sage grass and unfamiliar to both of us. It was easy to be separated in the dark or fall behind. My pace was quick and sure, stopping only when he stopped. Making no sound, not a breath. We listened for the call of our prey.

I’m not sure how my dad knew where to find them, but we increasingly managed to locate the fox’s hunting grounds. For our family, being successful meant supplemental income from the sale of the animal’s pelt. Our tools were a spotlight, a rifle, and an amplified call which played various tapes of animal calls. I still remember the pattern of the calls from one of those tapes. It was the best tape we had, and most often used.

The process was to play the tape in the darkness and occasionally scan with the spotlight at eye level to see the glowing eyes of a fox coming to the call. I often got to hold the light when a fox was spotted, while my dad aimed the rifle for the shot. I’m sure he missed occasionally, but I don’t remember it if he did. My dad was and is an extremely accurate marksman. A well aimed shot to kill a fox would be in a location as to not damage its pelt, typically the head.

Once the shot was fired and depending on where we were and who’s land we were ‘on’, we would either get the dead animal and move to a new property or stay for another.

Either way, arriving back to our home, my dad and I entered the basement of our small trailer. I didn’t enter the basement often and I’m not sure why now, but I do remember the occasional rat and spiders. On these nights with my dad, those things didn’t matter. I followed to help skin the foxes.

The process of skinning a fox isn’t really that difficult after you’ve seen someone do it. Basically, hang the animal from his back legs, loose the animals sleeves with a sharp knife, add a few other choice cuts and carefully pull the fur down and inside out (fur on the inside). Carefully cutting as to peel the skin away from the animal’s musculor-skeletal frame.

I remember my dad allowing me to help pull the skin and hold the animal in position while he made cuts to free the animal of its pelt. What was once a familiar furry animal became a gruesome monster-like beast.

I’ve often felt ill prepared for all the circumstances I’ve encountered during the thirty-four years of my life. I’ve often misplaced the frustration, the anger, the bitterness, the hurt and wanted to blame it upon my dad. Some of it is most likely justified, but 99% of it isn’t. My dad was big enough to take it. Now that I have my own children, I’ve learned a tremendous amount from them. It’s made me thankful that my dad is who he is [ Exodus 3:14 ] and I treasure the things he has placed in me [ 2 Corinthians 4:7 ].

I didn’t know it then but through fox hunting, my dad was teaching me valuable principles.

He taught me:

silence is important to hearing
how to follow when its dark
how to avoid falling
how to avoid wrong steps
how to avoid getting separated from him
remaining close insures I can see the path
patience leads to success
light reveals the truth
things which appear good on the outside, aren’t always pretty on the inside
hold still, while he carefully cuts
blessing comes, when something dies

Things I love about my dad.

he is a dad
a daddy
not a father who is distant
isn’t unapproachable
I can call him up anytime
he calls me son

Things I love about God.

He’s all those good things my dad is and more.

What are some things you learned from your dad, that have helped you understand more about your relationship with God?

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