Does God still use parts of His creation, some we consider inferior, to accomplish His purpose? For example, the Bible tells us how He had Balaam's donkey speak, a great fish transport Jonah, and ravens feed the prophet Elijah. He even used a gourd and a cutworm in the life of Jonah. In ONE CHOSEN, God appoints Firstborn, a young Whooping Crane, to help biologists save his species from extinction. It has been said that three years of hard work would have been wasted if God had not helped. Gone like water twisting, twirling, disappearing down a sink drain. It shows how much He loves His creation. A blackbird and owl tell Firstborn that the one he calls "Mom" is really a mankind. Catapulted from a humble beginning in captivity, he is visited by the Spirit of Living Creatures (Ezekiel: chapters 1 and 10) and given supernatural abilities to help accomplish his divine assignment. Struggling against fear, flock rebellion, resistance from adversaries like Midian, and aided by faithful friends Raham, Gad, and Ono, he forms his disorganized flock into a Team. They must train like athletes for a marathon race. In October, following man's ultralight aircraft, they migrate south from Montana across the Rocky Mountains while battling eagle attacks, crushing downslope winds, winter blizzards, and aircraft problems. Released in New Mexico, they must adapt to the wild, experience unfamiliar foods, and escape coyotes, bobcats, and hunters. Will any survive to migrate back north in spring and thereby confirm this technique for starting new populations of this endangered species?
Jim's first professional positions included being a field biologist and Research Supervisor for the Tennessee Game and Fish Commission. Later, while employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he was an Associate Professor at Oklahoma State University, an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia, and an Endangered Species Biologist. For forty years he worked and taught about research and management of wildlife. He is author of The World of the Wild Turkey (Lippincott), chapters in six other books, and numerous nonfiction scientific articles. He has received a dozen awards for his conservation work and was an invited speaker at International Conferences in the USSR, China, and South Africa. A church Elder for the past 14 years, he formerly was President of a Gideon's International Camp. He has been an officer of the Whooping Crane Conservation Association since 2002. An avid hiker, he continues to favor time with the wildlife in God's creation.
