Over the next several weeks I will be trying a new format to share simple devotionals and communicate with our valued viewers here at Without Excuse Ministries. These will be simple stripped down videos filmed from my webcam on my laptop with no music and limited graphics. The feeling I am shooting for is "grab a cup of coffee and let's have a short talk". These will be 3-5 minutes in length and I hope they encourage you! What better way to start the first video than by talking about God's Amazing Grace! In His Amazing Grace, paul Romans 1:20
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This picture can not sum up the range of emotion and blessings I experienced this weekend hunting with my two oldest children Will and Anna. It was a tough weekend of hunting. In the middle of sever thunderstorm, tornado, and flash flood warnings we were still able to pull together two successful hunts with the Lord's help! This was Anna's first harvest! I am simply thankful once again for God's wonderful gifts of children and His majestic creation! I look foward to producing these hunts in order to share the love of God "Without Excuse". Look for the video versions of our hunts next week! Until then God Bless and I hope you have a great week! Paul Anna Walerczak (8) My Picky Little Girl!! By Paul Walerczak “Is it time to get up yet.” “I don’t know, I think it is.” “Is daddy up yet?” “I don’t think so.” “Let’s see if he is up.” “OK.” These were the soft whispers I heard outside my bedroom door April 2nd, 2011 at 3:45am!! My alarm was set for 4:15am, but my two little built in alarm clocks named Anna (8) and Will (10), had already beat it to the bunch or in this case the buzz. You see today was a special day and they couldn’t stand it any longer. Today was the opening day of the Kentucky Youth Turkey season and we had a date with some gobblers south of the Indiana border! This would be Anna’s first adventure into the dark woods in the early morning hours in hopes of bagging a wily old spring gobbler. Will and his first turkey Spring of 2010 The car was filled with excitement as we made the 1:15 minute trip in the dark from our home in Southern Indiana to a beautiful 300 acre farm located in Hancock Co. Kentucky. Will couldn’t help but recount to Anna the events surrounding the opening morning of the Indiana youth season in 2010. It was April 17th, 2010 when Will bagged his first spring gobbler around 7:30am. I can already tell my son is going to be a great hunter! Not because he has harvested a truck load of game already, but because he sure can tell a great story. Story telling is a requirement if you are going to be a really good hunter, right? We arrived on the property at 6:15 am, roughly forty five minutes before first light. We quietly tip toed down a log road which leads to a three acre field that is secluded amongst the hard woods. What a spot! We had enough gear on our backs to supply a small army I am for sure. A ground blind, calls, three chairs, video and camera equipment, a tripod, turkey vest, two decoys, shooting sticks, and did I mention two 20 gauge shot guns hoping to bring the sound of thunder to this farm shortly after first light! As darkness gave way to first light the woods began to magically come alive. It is one of my favorite times to be in God’s creation. Then, without warning, a thunderous gobble broke the morning stillness and literally shook the three of us out of our chairs. Man this bird is close I exclaimed! Will was the first to spot him. He was roughly 60 yards away in full strut way up in a pine tree. We had literally walked right under that bird on the way to our setup! Before we go any further simply watch this short video and you will get a vision of what we experienced that morning! Keep in mind this is Anna’s first turkey hunt! Well, needless to say it was an exciting morning. I couldn’t believe it when I heard Anna say “I don’t want a jake.” In my mind I was thinking “you whaaaattttt.” I thought for sure she would shoot pretty much anything that walked in front of our ground blind that morning. Will was ready to pull the trigger and I would have let him. I was hoping for a double on film, but it was her call and Miss Anna knew what she wanted and it wasn’t a jake. She wanted a wily old longbeard! Later that morning I gave my wife Lisa a call to practice my story telling abilities. Remember, every great hunter is a story teller, right? As I recounted the events of the morning to her, Lisa made this brilliant statement “I hope she is that picky with her men one day.” Wow, my wife sure has a way with words and the ability to cut straight to the point doesn’t she? Those words have stuck with me during the days since our hunt and I couldn’t agree with my wife more. Lisa’s words have not only caused me to pray harder for Anna’s future, but the future of all four of my daughters. Anna in a wedding in 2008 My prayer is they will first know Jesus and desire his fellowship more than anything! Then when God is ready, I pray they will seek companionship in a man who also has made his fellowship with Jesus the top priority in his life. A man who understands what it means to treat his wife in accordance with Ephesians 5:25 which says “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Another prayer I have is that I will do my part to model Ephesians 5:25 for them as I love their mother and my wife of 13 years. I am not perfect by a long shot, only their heavenly Father is, but I hope they see the deep love that I have for each of them even in the midst of my failures. Finally, one day in the not so distant future, I hope to hear those sweet whispers outside my bedroom door again. “Is it time yet” “Is he the one” “Oh I am not sure” “Daddy are you awake…I just want to talk.” Just think, all of this learned while on a turkey hunt with my oldest son and my “Picky little girl.” New Outdoorsmen DVD Bible Study! Today marks a big day at Without Excuse Ministries. I have been working pretty hard in the off season to produce an Outdoorsmen DVD Bible Study and a downloadable study guide to compliment each of the six video devotionals. The whole purpose is to take you and even your small group deeper in your "Hunt for Truth". We have added a new section to the website located in the top right hand corner of the navigation bar labeled store. You can order your copy of Without Excuse Volume 1 there and also learn more about the Without Excuse General Fund and Wounded Warrior Sportsman in the donate section. For now we are shipping within the U.S. and we are looking for solutions for international shipments should the need arise. We may also seek another way to make this content available to our international customers at a more affordable rate. As you can see I have devolped a new logo for Without Excuse Ministries as well. We have placed a small order for some hats and shirts to proudly display this logo along with our key verse of scripture Romans 1:20 If we begin to generate interest in these products we will make some of them available in the Without Excuse Store for you to purchase as well. In closing I invite you to watch this short video clip to learn more about Without Exucse Volume 1. In His Grace, pastor paul Grace Mildred Walerczak less than 1 hour old Grace...What a Miracle! by Pastor Paul As the doctors performed their precision work on the opposite side of the curtain there were two excited, nervous, and hopeful parents waiting to hear the familiar sound that they had already experienced five times over the past ten years. It is a sound that evokes joy, relief, tears, nervous expectation, and emotions that words cannot express. It is the simple sound of a baby's first breath and subsequent cry that these expecting parents were waiting to here. At 9:32am on Feb. 23rd, 2011 Grace Mildred Walerczak entered the world taking her first breaths to the joy of her parents. Lisa and I have experienced this miracle a total of six times now and it is humbling to say the least. I simply stand amazed at the handy-work of Almighty God. Grace is truly a miracle! When I look at each of my children I am continuously reminded of the fact that none of us spinning around on planet earth arrived here by random chances and processes. This is divine design at its best! It takes more faith to believe in the random events of evolution than it does to trust in the orderly creation by God as described in the Bible. God's word reveals so many truths about how God created us. Here are just a few examples of what scripture says about the creation of man: Gen 1:27 "So God created man in His [own] image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them". Psalms 139:13 "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb". Psalms 139:14 "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvelous [are] Thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well". Isa 44:24 "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I [am] the LORD that maketh all [things]; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself; During the first several months of this pregnancy Lisa and I contemplated what to name this precious gift that was forming in her womb. Once we found out it was a girl we desired to choose a name that would bring honor to God for this miracle He was creating. While setting over two large cokes and some chips and salsa at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants the name Grace was brought up in our conversation. From that moment forward that was her name "Grace". I could not think of a better, more suitable name, to honor our heavenly Father than Grace. Grace is the message of God's ultimate love letter the Bible. From the book of beginnings (Genesis) to book of Revelation the Bible is simply full of God's grace towards His prize creation, you and me. His demonstration of Grace culminates at the cross when He allowed His one and only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on a cruel Roman cross for my sin and yours. I know that the central theme in my relationship with God is His grace towards me. Grace simply being unmerited favor when I did not even deserve it. Each time I look at my daughter Grace it will be a constant reminder of that unchangeable truth. I am thankful today that I am Christian and follower of Jesus. Not because of anything I have done, but because of everything He has done! So I am reminded once again that God's grace is truly a miracle! Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God". Today I saw a miracle happen and her name is Grace! As I watch her grow I pray my life be a reflection of Peter's words in 2 Peter 3:18 "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen". In His Grace, pastor paul Romans 1:20 Author, Singer, Songwriter Steve Chapman Mentors by Pastor Paul In September of 2003 while on a Christian men's weekend retreat I was looking through the resource table at the various books that were for sale. On the cover of one of the books was a picture of a beautiful, large buck, standing in a field looking back toward the camera man. Being a whitetail hunter I "HAD" to pick that book up and learn a little more about it. It was a book titled "A look at Life from a Deer Stand" written by Steve Chapman. It is a wonderful book that I believe every outdoorsmen should read. I have read it several times over the years and it is always a blessing each time I read it. Steve simply has a way with words and illustrations. He is a master story teller in my opinion that really reveals God's word in a way that just warms the heart and soul. Photographer and Author Brad Herndon In the fall of 2008 a close friend handed me an article with a picture of a grey bearded gentleman with a wide smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eye. He had has hands wrapped around the horns of a beautiful whitetail buck that he had just harvested while set up over a funnel location. The wise ol' hunter in the photo was also the author of the article. He is also the author of one of the most well known books on how to hunt trophy whitetail using topography and terrain titled "Mapping Trophy Bucks". He is none other than Brad Herndon. Pastor Paul, Steve Chapman, and Brad Herndon Over the past couple years, God has given me the great honor of getting to know these men on a deeper, more intimate level. It has been really amazing to see the dots that God is connecting together here at Without Excuse Ministries. I had no idea what God had ahead of me when I started creating Biblical video devotionals for Bill Winke at MidwestWhitetail.com. When I was first exposed to Steve and Brad's work I never would have thought that one day they would actually help me with a growing web based ministry. Both Steve and Brad offered timely Biblical wisdom this past year as my wife and I prayed through a change in churches and ministry direction. This change was huge for my family and I. The wisdom Steve and Brad offered as I prayed through the situation was so insightful. A couple of times I thought "man you guys have been in my back pocket the whole week haven't you"? No..it is simply the Holy Spirit speaking to a couple of seasoned believers and their willingness to help a younger brother like me succeed in my walk with Lord. I am thankful for men like Steve and Brad who are willing to invest time building God's Kingdom by being a mentor to a younger generation coming up behind them. The passion these two men have for life is astounding to watch. I speak to them from time to time about their schedules, projects, and vision and it simply amazes me. They are like Joshua and Caleb from the Old Testament conquering lands in the years when they could have easily retired and set back to watch us "young bucks" do the work. I am thankful for thier unrelenting zeal for the Lord! If you are reading this devotion as a person without a mentor I would first like to point you to the greatest mentors of all, our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. You can learn more about them and their plan for your life by simply picking up God's love letter to you "The Bible". As you grow in your faith and relationship with God, it is also great to have men like Steve and Brad, come along side of you to impart their wisdom and life experiences to help you grow. As we close I would simply like to post a few verses that highlight what the Bible has to stay about male mentors and leaders. Tts 2:1-2 "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; Tts 2:6-8 "Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you". In His Amazing Grace, paul Romans 1:20 30 Seconds Back in December of 2010 I decided to try and produce my very first commercial for the Muddy Outdoors annual commercial contest. It is amazing how much time can go into producing a 30 second commercial. By the time I filmed, edited, and produced the commercial I had invested 6 hours of time in order to tell a 30 second story! I have included the commercial for your "entertainment". Once you have watched the commercial and finished chuckling I would love to share some thoughts with you that came to me after I had finished this project. In this short video I had 30 seconds to sell my idea. The message was pretty simple. Get rid of your old safety harness that is always tangled up, hard to put on, and uncomfortable. Then, buy a new tangle free, easy to put on, and always comfortable Muddy safety harness. By the way, I use this safety harness EVERY time I climb a tree, enter a tree stand, and descend the tree after the hunt. I believe in the product and that is why I made the commercial! A few days after I completed the muddy commercial project I had this thought come to my mind. What if I was only given 30 seconds to tell someone the most important message in my life? What would I say? How would I say it? Would the person be able to clearly see and understand the message I was trying to convey to them? Would I have taken enough time during the business of life to prepare the message and be ready to give it on a moments notice? If I were to ask you these same questions how would you respond to them? One of Jesus' disciples by the name of Peter captured this very thought in a verse of scripture that He was inspired to write under the direction of the Holy Spirit. "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be READY to give a DEFENSE to everyone who asks you a reason for the HOPE that is in you, with meekness and fear" I Peter 3:15 NKJV. If given 30 seconds to tell someone about Jesus Christ, what shoud be the most important relationship in your life, could you do it? Better yet can I do it? That is really the most important question. In closing the following verse of scripture has been a great encouragement to me over the years in helping me communicate the wonderful message of the Gospel and the change it has made in my life. Paul writes the following in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me". Until next time, share your faith "Without Excuse". paul God’s Wonderful Gift Today is January 18th, 2011 and as I sit here to type this devotional I am now officially 37 years “Young”. Yep today is my birthday and I was greeted this morning with a very simple gift that is worth more to me than any amount of money, fame, or fortune that I could buy. This morning while sitting over breakfast in a hotel lobby in Chicago my cell phone rang and as I looked at the caller ID I was excited to see that it was my wife calling from home. I answered the phone with a chipper “Hello” and there was a few moments of silence and then my five children, along with my wife, began to sing “Happy Birthday”. The sound coming from the other end of the phone immediately put a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. What a blessing to have your own personal choir sing sweet notes of Happy Birthday to you and only you! I look forward to the day when I hear another voice join the choir, “Baby Grace”, who will be born in later February or early March. A generation or two ago large families with up to a dozen children seemed more the norm and not the exception. Children were viewed as a blessing and not as a curse. In this generation it continues to amaze me how our culture views the blessing of a large family as a burden, an interruption, and a downright nuisance. In short we have taken what God gives as a precious gift and reduced it down to a choice based on our busy and selfish life styles as adults to say “1 or 2” children is all that we can handle. I know not every family is meant to be a large family like ours. My simple thought for the day though is why not let God make that choice for you and your family. Do not let the fear of man; our culture, or most importantly our selfish desires to live the “American Dream” make that choice for you and your spouse. The “American Dream” with all of its stresses and demands on the family is really the “American Nightmare” In closing I would like us to reflect on God’s word in reference to children. Psalm 127:3-5 KJV Psa 127:3 NKJV - Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Today on my 37th birthday I am a happy and blessed man with my “Quiver Full” family! In His Amazing Grace, paul Romans 1:20 Last week I received an email from a gentleman named Eric. In this email Eric simply shared some thoughts that he felt convicted to write down as we begin entering into this year's whitetail season. Eric's emal is very timely and a simple, yet profound, reminder that we must keep our priorities in line with God's will for our lives. The following was written by Eric and used by permission. Now that hunting season is upon us we will be spending countless hours perched up in a tree. We are focused on deer and everything around hunting the whitetail deer. Many of us will put off things in our personal life to get that extra hunt in. We make personal sacrifices because we want to go hunting so badly. We want to spend every spare minuet up in a tree over looking our favorite hunting ground. Yet we sometimes forget what is really important. We let some of the most important things in our life slip away because of deer season. We forget that God has provided all of this to us and at any moment he can take that away from us. We forget that He is the one who created this for us to enjoy, and yet we get so frustrated when we don’t see deer, or we miss a shot. We forget that this is all part of God’s plan for us. He has a reason why we are fortunate enough to tag out, or a reason why we did not tag out. Yet throughout the hunting season we push back family events and may miss a church sermon to go hunting. We put things on the back burner because hunting season only lasts for three months, so we “need” to hunt as much as possible. We need to find a balance with all of this. We have to remember that hunting is nowhere near the most important thing in life. Realtree has a famous slogan “Family, Friends, and the Outdoors”. I have a similar idea that we need to start following. “God, Family, and everything else”. Without a family that allows us the time away from home we would not be able to get out and hunt (at least not without many arguments and hurt feelings). But more than that without God nothing would be possible. He is the one who gave us all of this to enjoy. We need to keep that in the front of our minds, not tucked in the back and bring it out every now and then. We need to live with God in the front and everything else behind it. As the rest of this season rolls on Remember that God ALWAYS comes first, family and friends in second, and EVERYTHING else including hunting takes the backseat in third. Thanks Eric for the simple reminder to make Jesus the top priority in our lives! Pastor Paul Mark 12:30 KJV - And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. Rick Knochel and Wishbone A fellow pro-staff member at Midwestwhitetail harvested this great buck he calls Wishbone on the opening day of the Missouri bow season. He worked hard to pattern this buck and develope a plan to harvest him early. It all came together in one blessed moment with his brother running the camera by his side! Here is Rick's thoughts on the hunt. What a blessing to hunt with fellow believers who give God credit for all that He does for us! The following words are Rick's thoughts Date: September 15th (Openning day of Missouri Archery Season) Time: 6:30 p.m. Looking back on this day, it is obvious that God had his hand in this hunt. Too many things fell into place to say that it was just by chance. It is it foolish of me to think that the Lord of Lords, Creator of Heaven and Earth, actually cares about me taking a deer. Maybe, but when you have a deep personal relationship with God, you start to see that God can show his love in some of the oddest most personal ways you could think of. Anyway, the story of "Wishbone" started this summer when I sat over a bean field and filmed "Wishbone" and his running buddy "Rib Bone" up close and personal. I got within 30 yards of both of these deer, and even remember thinking how lucky I was to be withing bow range of such an interesting buck. Wishbone got his name because he has two giant brow tines on his right side that resemble a wishbone. Never did I think that I would have the opportunity to harvest this buck on the openning day of Missouri bow season. It was 6:30 and my brother and I were enjoying the night. Obviously we were shocked to look up and see "Wishbone" coming our direction at about 50 yards. My brother Joe quickly got on the buck with the camera and when he turned broadside at 30 yards, I let the arrow fly. I watched as my fletchings disappeared into the boiler room of the buck. What an amazing night! I was truly excited and have heard many people say that it is the greatest feeling ever, that nothing compares. They are almost correct. It is an amazing feeling, but nothing compares to a personal relationship with the King of Kings! The power of the Holy Spirit is truly Out of This World!! You can watch this exciting hunt here at Midwestwhitetail.com |
Pastor PaulSince a young age Pastor Paul has had a love for the outdoors. After he became a Christian in October of 1994 God began to use the great outdoors to demonstrate to Pastor Paul the eternal truths of scripture. In this section he will share some of these thoughts via written or audio devotionals. Archives
June 2013
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