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You pursue your passion and you’ve found that it’s far more than something you really enjoy. It sparks life, creativity and vision in you. The pursuit isn’t just something fun to do. It is a way to be true to yourself, connected to others and in fellowship with God.
You explore the places new and familiar. You explore the moment and in it find evidence of both the lingering and present presence of the eternal. You’ve come to realize that exploration is much less about being curious and far more about following the Spirit.
You celebrate both the route and the destination, the effort of going and the satisfaction of getting there, the success and the failure. That celebration is intrinsic to who you are but it needs to be celebrated with others.
Shout! Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine is the place where all of us can pursue – explore – celebrate together. It’s a community of outdoor pursuers, explorers and celebrators sharing their experiences and inspiring and educating others. It’s a place to ask questions, learn and draw closer to each other and God.
This is the invitation for you to make it your place. It’s the invitation for you to respond to God’s calling to write, photograph, interview, video record, journal, teach, and simply communicate.
It’s a platform to do what you do and share it much further with those who share your ambition, understanding and devotion already as well as with those how haven’t yet discovered what it’s about and where it can lead. It’s a tool to help you transition from doing something meaningful to discovering and then growing a God-driven ministry where you get the privilege to equip others.
CONTACT US to learn about hosting your own monthly blog in Shout! Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine. It’s time to pursue, explore and celebrate the ‘something more’ God has placed in you.
2 Responses
Murray, Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts.
Allow me to say that my reply here and my position as publisher of Shout! OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE isn’t to ‘defend’ every perspective or position presented by contributors. The magazine is intended to be a forum for conversation and discourse and a tool for which each of us can more deeply consider, “What would God have ME do?”.
From a “practical” aspect for meat eaters, moose hunting is indeed a source of healthy and flavorful food. From an “ethical” aspect, I believe many people find killing animals to be something they would not want to watch, do or contribute to (although if they eat meat then they do contribute to killing animals). From a “therapy” aspect, this article suggests that hunting has value. You however, bring out a good point that it could be a “trigger” for PTSD and I suspect there are research and writings to that end.
I’m certain, based on my observation of how many people I’ve found who are both enthusiastic hunters and passionate Christians, that there surely has to be (publicly available) some very thoughtful perspectives on why they value hunting and don’t find it to be in conflict with their faith in God. I should be more familiar with their thinking but I’m not.
I’ll simply say that throughout the Bible there are references to animals being killed, not the least of which is the story of Jesus Christ blessing the loaves and ‘fish’ to feed a mass crowd. I know in Old Testament writings some classes of animals are identified as unclean and not to be eaten. I don’t think the Bible says anything specifically about recreational hunting etc. But certainly the simple commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” is a compelling call NOT to hunt.
For the record, I’m not a hunter. Personally I’m a big advocate that hunting should ultimately result in human sustenance and not be recreational only.
I’m pretty certain that expressions in the Bible like, “who can know the mind of the Lord” and notably in Romans 12:18, which states, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” and Ephesians 4:2, which advises to “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love,” are some key biblical provisions to help us pursue after some sort of peace with others.
I really appreciate you sharing your heart on this matter and pray that your shared insights will challenge all of our readers to pursue after God’s Spirit more deeply.
-Brad Bloom, Publisher