Being Patient

Yes, it is the dreaded "P"word...patience. It's a word that I do not like very much and something I'm definitely not very good at. I have preached on this subject many times in my short preaching career but it is easier said than done. If you have read my blogs at all then you noticed that I lost my job a few weeks ago. It has been a little over three weeks now. I have sent resumes to several churches all over the states but I haven't heard much out of them so far. I keep wondering, "God, what are You up to? My pay will run out soon and I need to take care of my family!" Then I hear His reply..."Patience. Trust Me." It's tough. Really hard! Yesterday, the preacher at the church we visited preached on the Lord being Light and that He lights up our path as we take one step at a time. the Lord showed me something while I was in Iowa, an idea that I will share later on. right now it's in it's infant stages and I'm doing a lot of planning, thinking, and praying. We truly want God's will to be done. We want to walk in His blessings and not do something selfishly. I know God will take care of us...He always has. He has brought us through so much and when this test is over, we will be stronger and He will get all the glory. Keep us in your prayers...Randy

Road Trip

This past Sunday I got an opportunity to preach. It was great. After church my family ate with the youth minister and his wife. It was great fellowship. When we got to the car my wife and I made a spontaneous decision...we decided to take a road trip. We are now in Iowa where we used to minister at, 600 miles from home. We have surrounded ourselves with such great friends here. We haven't been here in over 4 years so we were due a visit. It's amazing how you can be surrounded by 200 people and be lonely in a town of 13,000 people and you can drive to a town in the middle of nowhere with 4,500 people in it and be surrounded with such great love! Jesus went through something similar to this. He was rejected by His hometown, even His own kind of folk yet He had 12 close friends that encouraged Him on a daily basis. True friends are great to have especially when you need encouragement. Even though it's muddy as can be, Osceola, Iowa is a great town to be in right now. Father, thank you for friends that lift up and encourage. What a friend we have in Jesus! Amen...

What does a Christian look like?

What is the first image that pops in your head when you hear the word "Christian"? How would you describe a Christian? Suit and tie, nice dress, someone who goes to church, quotes scripture, reads a Bible, sings praises to God…these are some words that comes to my mind. Maybe you think of things like hypocrite, stuck up, snobby, etc. or maybe you think of words like gentle, merciful, patient, etc. Drop me an email and give me some feedback.

I know that the word “Christian” means “like Christ” but do we, as Christians look like Christ? Do people see Christ when they look at us? Think about some of the things Jesus did. He healed people, He touched lepers, He cast out demons, He died for our sins, etc. In a nut shell, Jesus gave hope to the hopeless. What are we doing for those who have needs? Are we trying to meet them? We are a selfish people who have very little time for our own needs much less any one else’s. Christ was self-less and He made time for people’s needs. Even though He was surrounded by crowds of people every where He went begging for Him to help them, He always was filled with compassion.

I’ll ask you again…Do people see Jesus when they look at you? Lord, help us to “be Jesus” as I live my life today. Amen. Randy

trusting God

Today is my first day of not going to the office. It is really weird. I have preached for 7 years that we need to do God's will and we need to put our trust in Him. It's much easier to preach this concept than live it. For a while now my wife and I have prayed for God's will to be done in our lives but we had no idea that meant we wouold be jobless. I lost my position as a youth minister this past Thursday. I believe I am still numb from the shock. We have cried enough tears to fill up a bathtub. I have lost a lot of sleep. We have no place to go and yet we continue to pray..."God, Your will be done."

We have no idea what the next step is going to bring. We only have our faith. Faith that God will take care of us in this new journey. If you know of any churches that need a pulpit or youth minister, contact me. Just leave me a comment and I will get it. Please keep us in your prayers. Randy

Bottled up Jesus

What would you say is the biggest problem one faces in telling people about Jesus? What keeps a teenager at school from living like Jesus amongst their peers? What is it that keeps Jesus all bottled up on the inside of us when we know that people are in need of Him? What is it that keeps us from doing “good deeds” and giving God the credit? Why do we have so much trouble in sharing God’s Word with the lost, asking them for a Bible study?

I know at WinterFest the top answer was “we just don’t care,” but I don’t think everyone necessarily thinks that. I know I care about people’s souls but I still don’t do all the things I should. I don’t take advantage of all the opportunities that God gives me. For instance, when I was the Meat Department manager for a grocery store I was the first person at the store and I would be there alone for about an hour or so. Occasionally, there would be this guy that came in to buff our floors. He got there earlier than I did. He was very friendly and we would have small conversations when he was there. He liked to tell jokes and they were always clean. On this particular morning he had told me a joke and for some reason I decided to be brave and ask him about his faith. He told me he was a Jehovah Witness. All of a sudden a fear came over me like “what am I going to do?” and “what am I going to say?” after all I didn’t know how to talk to a Jehovah witness! (this story took place about 12 years ago) I locked up! I didn’t say anything about my faith and I didn’t mention Jesus. After he left I felt so terrible. I was ashamed because I could not “Speak Up For Jesus.” I even had a couple of chances before he left but I could not bring myself to talk with this guy. I did what most of us do…I said to myself, “I’ll talk with him another day.” That “another day” never came. That guy was killed in a car wreck just a couple of days later. I felt horrible. I had a chance to share Jesus with this guy and I blew it! It still shakes me up to this very day! The very next person I came in contact with that I knew was lost, I shared Jesus to them.

What was my problem with sharing Jesus with this guy? FEAR. Fear that I wouldn’t know what to say if he asked questions. Fear that I wouldn’t say the right words or things. FEAR! And because of my fear, I let a lost man go without sharing with him Jesus and he died never getting another chance! I still wrestle with fear. I have so many ideas rolling around in my head to do for ministry but I am afraid to step out and do them. We have a new coffee shop in town where people hang out. I wanted to go and just sit and meet people there but I was afraid. I am writing this blog from here now. Fear is one of the biggest tools the enemy uses. We MUST overcome our fears. If we want to be a servant of Christ we must conquer! Think of the early church. When Jesus was first killed on the cross, do you remember what they were doing and where they were at? They were hiding out in someone’s house because they were afraid (John 20:19)! But not long after that they were filled with boldness and they risked their lives to tell people about Jesus. And because of their boldness, even facing death, the church served Christ and His blessings were upon them. They church grew exceedingly and became stronger and stronger.
We have overcome. We don’t have to be afraid. We are the winners! We have been filled with the Spirit of Christ and in Him, there is no fear. There are too many souls out there, all around us who need Jesus and we have Him to give. Go out and conquer in Jesus name! 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Expiration date

As I got to work this morning I went through my normal routine like turn on my computer, check my desk for things I have to do today, etc. I brought my breakfast or lunch, depending on when I decide to eat it, with me today. I pulled the small cup of applesauce from my pocket and for some reason I read the writing on the side. It was an expiration date. Many things that we buy at the store come with an expiration date. I was a butcher for about seven years and we had to check our products on a daily basis to see if it was out of date or not. If it was out of date then it was pulled from the shelf and thrown in the garbage.

I know I think about weird stuff sometimes but the thought hit me as I was staring at my cup of applesauce…we have an expiration date! Unfortunately, it’s not stamped somewhere on our bodies so we do not know when our time will be up. What if it was? What if you knew when your expiration date was and you knew you were to be “taken from the shelf” in just a few days? Would you live your life any different? Are there some things you would change? Is there someone you would “make things right with?” Would you become more “selfless?” Would you try to make more of a difference in someone’s life or your community? Would there be some habits you would definitely break since you knew they were wrong? Or maybe you would give your life to Christ and live for Him knowing that eternity was a day or two away. Whatever you would do, why wait? Why put it off? Your shelf life could expire today or tomorrow. You may be good for several years but why take the risk? Live for Jesus and make a difference. Randy

Romans 14:10-12 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:

“ As I live, says the LORD,

Every knee shall bow to Me,

And every tongue shall confess to God.”

12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

One of the biggest problems people have with God, in my opinion, is the problem with evil. We have just completed a study in my Wednesday night class on “The Existence of God” and “The Problem of Suffering.” In this study we covered this very issue. Not to be a dooms-dayer or the barrier of bad news but in some point in our lives, we will be faced with a tragedy and usually the first words people say is “Why has God let this happen to me?” It doesn’t matter if they are Christian or not, God always seems to get the blame. This is a deep, deep subject but I want to share my thoughts from my meditation this weekend.

I opened my Bible to Acts 12 and read about the persecution that has arisen to the point where the apostles were getting killed. In verse one and two we see where Herod the king had taken James, the brother of John, and had him beheaded. It so pleased the Jews that he was going to grab another one and do it again. Peter was the lucky, well, unlucky catch of the day. It was the time of the Passover (Acts 12:4) so Herod would have to put killing Peter off for at least a week. I don’t know about you but if I was Peter, knowing that I was going to lose my life in a few days, never getting to see my family again, I’d be so upset. I’d be yelling at these guards trying to persuade them that I had done nothing wrong and to let me go! But what do find Peter doing? He is chained between two guards sleeping (vs.6). That’s a testament to the peace of God. As the story reads, Peter is rescued by an angel and ends up at John Mark’s house where the Christians had been gathered praying for Peter.

Here’s a question for you. What’s fair about this story? What if you were in James’ shoes? His brother was killed while Peter was saved! Is this fair? Some of you would say no, absolutely not but others would say yes. I say “yes” and here’s why: Isaiah 45:18-22 says that God is a Just God. Revelation 15 paints a picture of what it’s like in heaven after those who won the victory over the beast arrived and verse 3 says that God is Just and His ways are true. I will make it as plain and simple as I can and you may say it’s just a “cop out” answer but it’s the best I can give. God is perfect in all His ways. Every decision He makes is right, it is just. It doesn’t matter if we agree with it or understand it. We can question Him all we want to but He is still God and He is in control. I don’t know why He rescued Peter and allowed James to die. But I know that He was there to comfort and strengthen them, to help them prepare for what was ahead.

Where else do we have to turn to? Are you going to turn your back on God? How then will you be saved? How will you make it into heaven? How will our sins be forgiven because Christ is the ONLY answer (John 14:6)! If you turn your back on God, you lose and their remains no more sacrifice for your sins. Instead of questioning God “Why?” we need to run to Him for comfort and strength, not run away from Him. Read 2 Thessalonians 1. In these verses you will see where persecution and tribulation actually made the Christians stronger because it brought them closer together and they relied upon God to see them through it all. Their hope hung on the fact that someday Jesus would come to their rescue and their persecutors would be repaid by God. Friend, God is here to help not hurt. He is here to comfort, NOT condemn. Trust Him don’t turn away from Him. He will give you peace and He will help your understanding. Randy

Don't drop the ball!

As we were taking communion yesterday in our service, I turned to Matthew’s account of the “Last Supper” found in Matthew 26:26-29. As I read this passage I thought about how this was such an intimate moment Jesus had with the twelve. He has spent the last three to three and half years of His life with these guys. They have built a strong bond, not only with Jesus, but with each other. In just a short time, the friend they called Jesus, would suffer the most horrific death a man could go through and this “Supper” which was actually the Passover meal, would spell it all out for them. Jesus took the bread and said, “This is My body.” Then He took the cup and said, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” And after eating this meal, Jesus told the men that He would no longer drink with them again until they see him with the Father.

Then Jesus made a comment that struck a nerve with Peter, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” (Matthew 26:31-32 NKJV) Peter says, “I will never be defended because of you.” And Jesus replies back, “You’ll deny Me three times before the rooster crows.” Now this really upset Peter, “I will NEVER deny You, Jesus, in fact I will die with You.” Yet within a matter of hours, Peter, being the ultimate, super strong disciple, denies Jesus three times and the rooster crowed. And get this, the last time he denied Jesus Peter cursed!

What happened to “I’ll never deny You…I’ll die with You?” It was still there embedded in the heart of Peter. That’s why when Jesus turned and looked at Peter, after that rooster crowed (Luke 22:61), he ran off wailing in tears of sorrow. And we all want to blame Peter for being an idiot. We know he gets a little cocky sometimes as is the case here. I’m sure if we were in Peter’s sandals we would all say the same thing, “I’ll never be offended because of You and I will die with you.” In fact, if you read the text, it says that all the disciples agreed with Peter (Matthew 26:35)! Here’s my point, how many times have we said, and meant it at the time, “I will (You fill in the blank) for Jesus?” yet we never follow through? We had good intentions but we dropped the ball. It is so easy to blame Peter for what he did, yet are we any better? If we don’t follow through with what we promised Jesus, then, no, we are not!

Lord, forgive us for when we fall short. We “drop the ball” many times like Peter did. Thank you for Your patience with us. In Jesus name I pray…Amen. Randy