Here We Go................!

It is a happy day to be a Steelers fan. A great day to be a part of the AFC! Also, if you watch the news, you might want to hold on as this could be one of the greatest matchups ever in the Superbowl!!

As all of the crying winds down on the missed calls and what should-have-been, the reality is that the Arizona Cardinals led by Kurt Warner and the Pittsburgh Steelers led by.... an awesome defense, are heading to SuperBowl XLIII!!
Last night we knew that it would be a shootout in the desert and a slugfest in the snow! These two games did not disappoint anyone! Each of the four teams had opportunities to take control of the game and turn the outcome to their favor. There is, however, tons of speculation surrounding the officiating crew and penalties given and not given. The reality in my mind is this... No matter how a game is called, you have to do what it takes to win! The Cards and the Steelers did just that. In the Cardinals game there was a botched kickoff that looked for a moment that it went out of bounds and then bounced back onto the field of play. What really happened though was that the ball bounced in bounds and fell onto the feild of play and was recovered by the kickoff team (Arizona). They didn't cry a river! They simply played on!! The correct no call was made at the end of the game when no pass interference was called on a throw to Curtis who got tangled up, and the ball hit him in the hands. You have to play through adversity in the NFL. He makes the 4th down catch there may have been a different outcome??

In the other game there were multiple times that the officials "took control" when they should have left the flag in their pockets. How about the two touchdowns that the Ravens got. On both occasions the Steelers were flagged for pass interference in the endzone! Wow, both were questionable calls. Then the running into the kicker call at the end of the half that gave the Steelers the ball back, aweful. Then the no call that everyone is crying about today was the hit on McGahee at the end of the game. It was not a helmet led hit! The shoulder hit first and the unfortunate result was a knocked out cold McGahee! After a scary moment the game was won by the Steelers and McGahee should make a complete recovery.

All in all the best teams won yesterday and Superbowl XLIII should be a good one!!

I am Resolved to be Resolute!!!

I write this today very humbly because I recognize how God has blessed my life over the years. I look at where we are at in our lives and I see areas that we must work on. I have resigned myself to the fact that I need to work on my physical body over the next few months. Ouch, that sounds like pain doesn't it?? Yes it will hurt some days, but with some consistency I will look and feel better about myself in no time.

See, we often work hard at the spiritual things in our lives, setting aside daily time, and taking time to be with the ones that we love. But there always seems to be a side of us that gets a little (or a lot) neglected. A couple of years ago I got it in my mind to "get in shape" and I did a pretty good job of it. I lost around 30 pounds of excess weight and was doing very well. Since then there has been a lot of bad habits formed. I have not done much work to take care of this old (getting older) shell of mine. I think that it is important for me to be healthy so that I can be everything that God wants me to be. Soooooooooo I have decided to try to get to a target weight of 215 pounds. Wow, right now that seems insurmountable, but with God's help and encouragement from others I will be able to do it. My current weight before I began was 265!! I have a lot of work to do here. I trust that you will pray for me for strength and courage as I go after this goal. I am going to really push myself to be in much better shape by 3 months time. I am hoping to be back to where I was a couple of years ago after three months. We will see! Thanks for allowing me to be transparent with you in this matter! We can all be better together!!

Blessings,
Pastor Carl

Love Your Church!!

You know as I sit in my office today and think about the last few weeks of ministry. I think of the hustle and bustle of getting things done. I think about our Children's ministry on the 7th of December. I think about our Contatta last week, and I think about our services yesterday. I am completely overwhelmed by the things that God is doing. What a great job Charlotte does with our kids!! What a great, dedicated, choir we have. Many churches across the country do not have the resourses to even have a choir. Joyce really works hard at pulling them together. I am so thankful for these two, and their leadership and direction. If you agree take time to thank them in a quick note this week!!

I have been doing youth ministry for 12 years now and I can see God doing great things in the lives of our young people. I have been here at Gospel Tabernacle for 7 years this February!! I have seen God do great things in our church as well. We have some Great... I mean Great people that attend this church. Most of which are involved in ministry. These are the people that make the church what it is. The church not only takes on the personality of the Pastor and staff, but also the people that are doing ministry.

This Holiday season I am so proud of each one that has worked so hard this year to make this chruch (Gospel Tabernacle) Great!! God's Kingdom is advancing in this area! He is faithful and He has a perfect plan for this church. I love our church.... Can you say that you do as well?? If not, get involved, forgive those that have wronged you and move forward into ministry. Encourage those in leadership to move forward in advance!! Remember, it is not about us, it's about how He wants to use us to see His will done and the Kingdom pressing forward this coming year!! Will you do your part along side of us?? I trust that you are already and you will continue!

Blessings,
Pastor Carl

I Am Soooooo Ready for Christmas....

I can hardly believe that another year is gone and this Christmas day 2008 is upon us. When I think about Christmas I think of all of the fun things that we do, some together and some by ourselves.

It can be crazy around black Friday and you had better stand clear or you could get run over and even hurt badly when the doors open. Or you can be like me... I ran to Wal-Mart last night to shop for my precious wifey!! I had no clue what I was after, but I got the job done. I think that she will be very happy this year! I cannot tell you what I got her yet for fear that she will find out! I do think that she will be suprised and happy though. Her joy helps me to be encouraged, and my kids on Christmas morning are amazing! I love to see their joy as they open their gifts from us. I really believe in the reason for this season in our lives and our kids know that these gifts are for them from us and we are celebrating the birth of the greatest Man to ever walk the earth. He is the one that has changed everything!

I downloaded the Christmas album by Faith Hill this year and the song that struck me was "A Baby Changes Everything." You can see a video of it here. This song moves me! There is so much truth here that I wish people would stop and hear the message this Christmas!! He has changed my "everything" in my life and I am so grateful for that truth that has changed me.

This Christmas before my family opens their gifts we will take time to make sure that our kids know the WHY of this great season. I pray that you will do the same. Don't leave the greatest gift out of your family's Christmas!! He is so near and so precious to us.

Blessings,
Pastor Carl

No internet for you!

I sit here in my office this morning with tons to do but no internet service to work with! I have upgraded our service to a higher speed but they shut us off until they can switch it over. They said that they will have it done by Monday!! One of my first questions was will there be any downtime?? O, absolutely not sir, you should be able to plug your new modem in and be fine! Well, not so in this case! They have to send a tech into town to do the switchover! And here we wait! O, well! We will wait..... and wait.............. that's all we can do for now!

Just Thinkin'

We just finished up with a funeral for our friend and fellow pastor, Rev. Chester Tennant. What a time of celebration for this man's life. He was a great man of God and leader in our community and our church. What a legacy he has left his wife and family. Anyone who has ever know Pastor Chet would tell you that he was a great guy who loved God and loved people. He was a pastor for many years in West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. His kids are living out his legacy. One of which currently pastors a church that his dad pioneered!! I write this with the anticipation that one day I can sit by him in heaven... more likely we will be running around and kicking and shouting praises! He was filled with the Holy Spirit and really let people know what a spirit filled life was all about. I am trusting God for just a small measure of Chet's faith and fire!! His boldness was contagious, as was his love and kindness. What a great guy, I am glad that I had the opportunity to know such a great man! God find favor on him and comfort this amazing family through their time of loss!!

Blessings,
Pastor Carl

I Know The Suspense is Killing You!!

This is the part where I tell the story of how I killed the Biggest Buck of My Life!!!

It was a very cold (37 degrees) Monday afternoon. November 10th, which just happens to be one of the best days of the year to kill a good buck (according to the experts- druryoutdoors.com). Anyway as I pull onto the road that leads to the parking area where I enter the woods, I look up to see a very nice buck pushing a doe across a backyard!! I immediately thought... come back here cross back over the road to my stand area!! Please!!! I got parked and it was about 2:40pm. I should have been in the woods already but I couldn't get out of the office any faster. I pulled my bow from the truck and quickly noticed that my 20 yrd. pin was messed up! I looked at it closer to see that the fiber light gathering element was shattered. I drew it back and determined that the deer would have to be close and there would have to be enough light to be able to shoot. I was a little bothered by it but what else could I do?

I made my way to the tree that I had climbed several times this season with it in my mind that I was going to move to a new tree down on a flat where I had been seeing deer moving through. As I approached the tree that I had climbed many times before I heard that sound that every hunter hates when walking to the stand. I quickly crouched down only to see a large doe, tail up, waiving at me as she ran down the point! Immediately behind her was a large buck at least an 8 pointer and then behind him was another smaller 8!! I stood there in amazement as I watched them disappear down the ridge line. The woods quickly became quiet again. I thought please, please come back later!! They didn't seem too spooked and you never know what will happen when the rut is on!!

I quickly headed past the old stand location to the first flat that I came to. I had seen several deer here in the past working out to the point where the deer just ran to. With fear of pushing out more deer I began setting up there. I noticed a scrape on the ground about 15 yards away and by the musty stink of rutting buck in the air I quickly recognized that a big buck recently worked it! I also noticed several rubs all around me.

I quickly and quietly climbed as high as I could, probably 25 feet or so. My Summit tree stand will climb just about any tree I want and just about as high as I have pull rope for. I got settled in just a few minutes and sat down in my comfy stand.

Not more than 15 minutes passed when I heard the sound that makes every deer hunter's skin stand up on the back of their neck. Running... through the leaves coming to me! I quickly grabbed by bow as I stood to my feet. I watched as two doe ran in to where I was and began to feed. I thought it somewhat strange that they ran in, and they bedded 50 yrds from me within a few minutes. I watched them for a while and then sat down again. This time for only about 5 minutes before I heard the sound again. Only this time it came from directly behind me. It was close and I didn't dare move until I saw it.

The deer got closer and closer till it was directly underneath my tree. I struggled to bend my neck to be able to see it, and as I got the first glimpse of it I saw that it was a gnarly little seven pointer. He worked his way out to where the doe were and nudged them in the butt to get them up only after he rubbed a nearby tree! It was pretty cool watching him work. From that point on it was one buck after another. I saw three more small bucks come up from the bottom and they sniffed around where the does were laying. Then a pretty decent shooter 8 pointer came and started really pushing the one doe around. They came within 20 yards and I almost drew up on him but he was moving too fast. He then chased her into the bottom out of sight. I thought wow that was close!

I then pulled out my grunt call and this is when it got really interesting. I let out a series of grunts on that call and immediately two more bucks came out of the bottom heading my direction. One was a pretty nice 8 pointer that anyone would shoot around here. He got about 50 yards and started sniffing around where those does were and he got hung up. I let out a couple more grunts and he headed right to me. He was crossing about 15 yards in front of me when I raised my Hoyt to draw up on him, it was perfect! Just as I started to put pressure on the string I heard walking off to my right coming down the ridge!

I turned my head trying not to lose focus on my target when I saw him. It was a GIANT coming right at me. I quickly repositioned my body for the shot. I had to turn all the way to the right as he was going to pass directly under my stand but behind me slightly. I drew up on him and bleated softly with my mouth to try to stop him. He stopped after taking three more steps, right behind a large tree. I couldn't shoot, I even leaned out to try to see if I could see the vitals but no dice. He began walking again, and I had to spin all the way around the tree to the other side. He stopped again literally at 3 yards. I ran the pin down his back to the vitals and eased pressure onto the trigger of my release. WHACK, the arrow hit exactly where the pin was on him. He ran a little and quickly slowed and stopped. I thought in my mind, go down big boy!! That's when I saw his body collapse backward into a pile and I began the victory dance in the tree! He was the biggest buck that I have ever killed and possibly the largest deer that I have ever had a chance to kill! What a memorable day it was! I can't wait to get the mount back and celebrate some more that amazing day... November 10, 2008 4:45 pm!!

Thanks for reading, leave comments if you like!
Pastor Carl Redding