May

Flipped by Randy Rowley 05/21/25 ©

In mid-May, Kurt DeRuiter announced at an FCS Sporting Clays Shoot that he was going fishing the following morning on a small reservoir near Taylor. Mark Deloach, the owner, needed 1,500 lbs. of bass taken out of it (as it had too many). Kurt said that kayaks were needed as the reservoir was too grassy to fish from shore. Unfortunately, I was committed to taking a couple of people fishing on Lake Bastrop, or I would have jumped at the chance.

But late that evening I received a text from the lady who I was going to take fishing with her son, informing me that she had to cancel. I had no one on my waiting list, and I deplore fishing by myself, so I called Kurt and let him know that I’d join him after all.

At 6:00 AM the next morning, I met Kurt and Russ Gibbs at the McDonald’s in Hutto. From there we followed Kurt to the ranch, a short twenty minutes away. We arrived shortly after first light, and I immediately liked what I saw. The 20-acre reservoir was ‘U’ shaped and almost surrounded by approximately six-foot-tall canes/reeds. It was indeed grassy and there was a small island around sixty yards from shore.

We quickly launched our kayaks and started paddling. Kurt’s kayak had an elevated seat on it, which was a big advantage over the standard seats on my two Ascend 12R kayaks. I used Blaze my orange one and Russ used Bluey Chris’ blue one.

Kurt started fishing and almost immediately caught a bass on a frog. But we were too close together, so I went to the opposite side of the reservoir. I threw a Lunkerhunt Prop Frog and had hits on my first four casts, including a bass hitting the frog three times on the fourth cast, but none of them were serious about it.

On my sixth cast I had a big blowup that took my frog under the water. I counted to ‘two Mississippi’ and felt for the bass’ weight before setting the hook but there was none. Apparently, the bass took the frog under and spit it out, where it got caught in the weeds.

After seven hits on my frog with no bass to show for it, I decided to switch to a popper, which proved no easy feat, as the wind kept blowing me towards the canes. I finally let the wind have its way and tied on my lure.

I tried the popper for a few minutes and then switched to a dog walker. With both lures I got the same results – a lot of grass on their hooks within a few inches of working them back.

I felt a presence and turned and saw that Russ had drawn near to me. He said that he had caught a bass on a Zoom Brush Hog (soft plastic creature bait) but hadn’t had any other success. He was frustrated with the minimal back protection on my kayak. He said that he’d forgotten how much work it is fishing from kayaks when it’s windy.

I went further towards the creek. Russ looked like he had had all the fun he could stand and started heading back the way we had come.

I resumed my casting and pulling grass off the hooks routine for a few minutes, then I heard a big splash – Russ’ kayak had flipped! (He had called out to Kurt to help him, as he was exhausted fighting the wind without back support to row against. As Kurt was towing him back to shore, the angle of the wind and the current caught his kayak, and he couldn’t hold on.)

Fortunately, his inflatable life jacket did its job – inflating when he was submerged in water. He held unto the kayak while Kurt and I headed his way. Kurt got to him, and Russ grabbed onto the back on Kurt’s kayak. I got to Bluey and flipped it back upright. I then retrieved Russ’ two rods, tackle box, spare stringer, and cap.

I used his stringer to tie my kayaks together and started heading towards where we launched. Kurt got Russ close to shore, but Russ’ feet had a tough time finding traction. Finally, he got himself upright and, holding onto Kurt’s kayak, he made his way through the sticky mud.

As Russ’ was making his way to shore, I got my spare kayak onto my truck and secured Russ’ equipment. Kurt joined me and we then drove over and picked up Russ. We took him to his SUV, where he cleaned himself up the best that he could and called it a day.

Kurt and I resumed fishing. We decided to fish along the dam, to hopefully get out of the wind, but the wind was too strong. After an hour or so I had only one more hit on my frog and no hits on my soft plastic swimbait, so I called it a day.

Kurt got on the far side of the island, which served as a partial windbreak. He put his kayak into the grass, which served as an anchor. At this time, he had caught four bass and three crappie, mostly caught on small Zoom Flukes.

After I left, Kurt continued to fish, ending his day with twelve crappie and ten bass!

Saul’s conversion is one of the most profound events in the New Testament. It initiated a chain of events that changed the course of history – Saul, a persecutor of the early church, became instrumental in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul described himself before his conversion in his letter to the Philippians as “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.” Philippians 3:5–6. Paul was looking back at how he used to be before he met Jesus. He was a Jew who took his faith very seriously. From a first-century Jew’s perspective, Saul was righteous. He followed the law and, as a Pharisee, was respected by his people.

When Luke introduced Saul in the Book of Acts, those who stoned Stephen “…laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” Acts 7:58b. Stephen’s martyrdom kicked off what Luke calls “a great persecution” of the church (see Acts 8:1), led by Saul. After Stephen’s death, “…Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.” Acts 8:3.

Luke picked Saul’s story back up in Acts 9:1–9, saying, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So, they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.”

The results of this encounter were astounding. Acts 9:19b-22 says, “Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.” Saul had flipped who he was.

But that was just the beginning. Saul (who was also known as Paul) led three missionary journeys to the gentiles, led hundreds of people to redemption through Christ, started several churches, and wrote almost half of the New Testament. And all of this came about after Paul flipped who he was after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Have you ever flipped who you were? It’s never too late to embrace Jesus. But he’s a gentleman who won’t force you to establish the relationship. His simple plan is for us to believe and repent (turn from our sins). John 11:25 says, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die’” and Matthew 4:17 NLT says, “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’”

Did you once flip who you were but slipped away and need to flip again? The relationship can be renewed by repenting again.