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I am living a season of life where this word is the foundation of my search. So many people my age are going through the same thing. What is it that defines you? What are you? Do you define yourself by your friends? By what you own? By what you wear? How is it that this is the most important thing about you, and yet we feel so confused and scared of what defines us?
You see, the only thing that can define us is the affirmation of God. It is what we long for. You remember being a kid and creating something so amazing that you just had to show Mom and Dad? They would come and look at what you made. Sometimes they’d praise the work you did, others they would be disappointed because it was creatively destructive. But isn’t that what we’re trying to do with our lives? Don’t we live in such a way that we are asking anybody to come and look what we did? We’re searching for affirmation that our lives mean something.
It doesn’t matter whether you have faith in God or not. We are wired this way. We want to know that our lives have meaning. We need to know that we are living out our purpose. What I believe is that until we can surrender our lives that we are creatively destroying to God, that we can’t define our lives in such a way that generations will recall. Our definition must come from God. He must be molding our lives and we must remain moldable.
For a long time I have wanted to have something to offer. I have longed to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. I wanted to get out and be somebody. I don’t want to be overlooked. Often times I feel like I’m not doing enough. I feel like if I’m not the one in charge or the one who is needed that I don’t matter and that God doesn’t use me. That’s wrong. I’ve thought that if I can’t evangelize, that I must not be a strong Christian. There’s something wrong with me.
I’m beginning to learn just what my life means to God. It is a beautiful, wild, and scary thing. It is strong, it is passionate, and it is full of life and freedom as only God can give. I want to live in that. I’m am trying to take the steps to walk in that relationship with God. I keep messing up. I keep losing sight of God in the midst of stress, in the midst of the storm. I feel like Peter saying “if it is you, Lord, then tell me to come out to you!” And Jesus replying “Come.” I get out of the boat and start walking towards Him, then I look away for only a second and sink. It takes faith that sometimes I just don’t have. I doubt. We all do. And if you don’t, what is it that you see?
I think that we need to realize our definition in life doesn’t come from what we do or who we are. We need to know that what we’re building and what we’re working toward is something only God can create. God will define our lives if we let Him. When we let him do that, we won’t always see the results, and maybe we never will. But it is that definition that we are longing for. That definition will fulfill our lives. That definition is what gives us a purpose. We need to stop trying to build our own lives. We need to realize that we just can’t mark the world like God can.
Look at Jesus. Jesus was the son of God and he is still the most controversial, most well known figure in the history of the world. Abraham, allowed his life to be molded and marked by God. God defined his life as being Man of God and he is the father of nations. David surrendered his life to God at a very young age. God defined David’s life as that of a leader, of a warrior, of a man who passionately followed HIm. We know David as a man after God’s own heart. David was also blessed as he ruled over the nation of Israel and that time is known as the golden age of Israel.
We are defined by God, and that definition leads to actions that we take. That definition leads to the choices we make and how we live our lives. If you’re thinking to yourself “Well, I don’t know how God is going to define my life” or that maybe you just don’t know if you’ll be able to find what God’s definition is, I’d encourage you to go beyond just praying or looking through the Bible. Start talking with a mentor, a pastor, a group of friends, or find a lifegroup and let them know what you’re looking for. Sometimes we must let other people carry us before the feet of God because we’re too scared or weak, or we just can’t get there period.
Available on lhcfishers.com beginning May 26th!
I figured I’d better post on here eventually since it is a rare event when I do.
If you had doubts about the wild world we live in, please, just look around. Take notice of what’s happening right here in our little corner of creation. We’ve encountered our 2nd winter this year. It’s the middle of April. I woke up with snow falling this morning. It didn’t stick. That’s ok. The fact that there was a frozen mix falling from our skies is proof of our wild world. We live in the ‘mild’ Pacific NW. Most of the time I find the ‘mild’ to hold true. Not this year. This is the first year I remember having a late polar blast. Ever.
Go do something wild today. Climb a mountain. Drive to the coast. Revel in God’s creation and thank Him for it.
Or are there people actually checking up on this blog? That’s amazing. We may not have much yet to described to you what we see as a wild world, but keep checking back. Maybe leave us a comment or two. Hey – we like to feed our egos every once in a while too. Also – be checking back the last full week of May. We’ll be releasing Washington Week right here on World Is Wild!
Hey, our inconsistent blogging has led to a fan base of 1. Sometimes. But good news – be looking for Washington Week in May. Wild Wolf and Washington Man will team up to bring you their version of Alaska Week (Discovery, week of Apr. 20th) in their home state of Washington. We won’t have those hour-long shows you’ve come to expect from Discovery, but hey, we’re amateurs and 5 minutes should be long enough, right? We’ll be taking you across one of the most geographically diverse states in the nation.
We’ve all encountered those times. You get an idea that’s just great and you have an incredible vision for what that idea will become. Then you begin to work towards realizing that and you lose interest. How many have fallen there? I know that I have. This blog page was created to inspire people. It was created to encourage those who read this to dive into the Wild of God. To encourage you to follow your creator and share your journey with us. Is it that? No.
Somewhere along the way that vision was lost. Somewhere along the way, that passion was lost. Somewhere the fight stopped and energy was shifted toward other things. I pray that you may never lose sight of God. I pray that you may find strength and passion in the presence of God to go out and change your world; that you may not be afraid. May fear not hold us back from the promise and the work of God.
~Washington Man
I don’t know if [he] truly gets the point of this blog… The World Is Wild. Think about that statement. What does it really mean? You see, God created the universe, this earth and everything in it and it was Wild. God called it good. He created man, Adam, in the wild. And it was good. Before He created woman though, he placed man in the Garden of Eden. A place where things are not all that wild. And he created woman out of man, in the Garden of Eden.
But the World, everywhere outside the Garden, is wild. Why are we continuously trying to tame nature? Wouldn’t you think that despite our “technological” advancements we would be smart enough to look back at history and realize that we can’t tame this Wild, this earth. How many civilizations have ended because of the Wild? One doesn’t have to look far in history or distance.
I believe that God created the the world to be Wild so that we may catch a glimpse of His awesome nature. C.S. Lewis put it best in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe “Safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good…” You see, we have to get to the place where we see God for who he is – look in to the Wild, and you might just catch a glimpse…
I’ll admit it, this blog is off to a really stupid start. But hey, at least we’re trying right? How many of your are fans of Leopards? Puma (cougar)? Lions, anyone?
Well, those are all cool and stuff, but none come close to being as majestic as the Amur Tiger. Although this big cat is referred to as the Siberian tiger, these animals are almost never found in Siberia. In fact most of the animals can be found in the Amur-Ussuri region of far-eastern Russia, Northern China, and along the China-Korea border.
As I am an Environmental Science Major (with some Biology background as well) I’m always interested in those crazy scientific names. For this particular subspecies of Tiger it happens to be “Panthera tigris altaica.” That first word remind you of anything? How about a secular metal band? Their habitat includes some of the Russian tundra, but most the boreal forests of the region. Their main prey are various species of deer, boar, and even bear. Amur Tigers are known to hunt bear up to 600 lb!
In the 1940s it was estimated that only about 40 of these animals were left in the wild, and through conservation efforts and international breeding programs, the wild population is now up to an estimated 400-550 individuals. Each individual’s territory is massive; at up to 1600 square km (or 618 square miles). This is due partly to the intense territoriality of the animals, partly to habitat fragmentation, but mostly to the relative lack of prey for both these animals and for hunters in the region.
The physical characteristics of these animals are highly impressive. Remember Sundar? The Bengal Tiger we had on stage at Living Hope Church? Sundar was 350 pounds of tiger. That’s a big cat. Amur tigers have been known to reach up to 800 lbs for males, 500 lbs for females and with a length of up to 10 feet. Unconfirmed reports include a male Amur Tiger of almost 1000 lbs and over 14 feet from nose to tip of tail!
There are cases of Amur Tigers attacking humans. But whose fault is it? Most reported attacks are the case of a failed attempt to capture one of these animals. All other reports found indicated human provocation of these hunters, much like the incident at the zoo from last December.
While there are international efforts to protect these animals and conservation and awareness of their current situation, they are far from being OK. They are listed as critically endangered and there are still many cases each year of illegal poaching.
Continued conservation efforts and education along with enforcement are required to restore this creature to a comfortably sustainable population size. On a positive note, the Amur Tiger has “thrived” in captivity and currently holds the largest captive population of tigers and largest captive genetic diversity. They are also an easily bred captive animal.
I hope someone found this interesting, informative, and maybe you even learned something too! For more information on Amur Tigers and conservation efforts, please visit www.amur.org.uk or the World Wildlife Foundation.
We’ll bring you a new show once Josh can get his accent back… shouldn’t be too long. It’s really bad.
