Thank You!

What an awesome weekend we just had! I would like to thank all of you that poured out to assist in the Memorial Day Parade. Many people were touched by all the young people that we had out there. I would also like to thank everyone for your support in the park. Seeing all the ROCC t-shirts in the crowd made it much easier for me to deliver the address. We are truly blessed to have such a supportive church!

What Is A Christian?

I love being in a church where you get questions like this! Yesterday I received this question in response to our Becoming a Contagious Christian series. The great thing about this question is that the person did some research to find where the term came from and really had a good point to his question. I love the fact that answers are being sought and it causes all of us to reflect even more and seek the answers through the Word of God.
The term Christian was probably a derogatory term in the early church used by Gentiles to describe Jewish believers but it quickly became a common term for all people that would follow the teachings of Christ. Now that brings us to a good point. Those of us that claim to be Christians…are we really following the teachings of Christ? I believe we have really distorted the term Christian just as we have with the word Love. Do I really love tacos as much as I love my wife? Are the feelings even remotely similar? Now I really like tacos but I would be the first to admit that while I say I love them…my feelings for tacos are not even close to the feelings that I have for my wife! However, let me just say when I can have tacos that my wife has prepared and is sitting at the table with me eating the tacos…now that is love!
I hope you get the picture here…We have so miss used the term love that it is difficult to place a real meaning with it just as we have so miss used the word Christian. I almost wish that it was derogatory again so we could see how many people would be happy to wear that label!

Foundation

Monday night Rev. Gary Blanchard gave an encouraging message about setting up our foundation each day with prayer and the word of God. Now I know this is a message we hear often but how many us actually apply it? When we set our day upon this foundation then we have the support in place to handle every situation that our day will bring. As I was driving back and forth to Peoria the Lord laid this thought on my heart…

Our bodies are supported by our skeletal system and it is absolutely essential that we do all we can to maintain strong bones. The word of God and our time with Him in prayer is the skeletal system that God has designed for us to exist in this world. When we place Him as our priority then we are doing all that is needed to maintain a strong bone structure.

Open up your Bible and allow God to speak to you through His word!

Walking with Integrity!

I will sing about mercy and justice. O Lord, I will make music to praise you. I want to understand the path to integrity. When will you come to me? I will live in my own home with integrity. I will not put anything wicked in front of my eyes. I hate what unfaithful people do. I want no part of it. I will keep far away from devious minds. I will have nothing to do with evil. I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor. I will not tolerate anyone with a conceited look or arrogant heart. My eyes will be watching the faithful people in the land so that they may live with me. The person who lives with integrity will serve me. The one who does deceitful things will not stay in my home. The one who tells lies will not remain in my presence.
Psalm 101:1-7

Pastor Dave Short shared verse 6 with me as a reminder that King David learned a very important principle. We will always have slanderers and hurtful people among us yet David learned to keep his eyes on the FAITHFUL. We need to make sure that when we face any trials we keep our eyes on the faithful and remove anyone that is conceited or arrogant! We are here on the earth to serve God and to encourage others to do the same and not seek our own agenda and the things that we find satisfying. Who is it that you can serve today? Ask the Lord to show who you can serve and by serving them share the fact that God loves each and everyone of us!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day is here and I pray that all of our mother’s will have a blessed day! Mother’s are the cornerstone of our world and we often do not do a very good job of showing our appreciation to the women around us…So make today special!

God is Amazing

I am excited about the Becoming A Contagious Christian series because I know that we will have opportunities to lead many new people into a loving relationship with Jesus! What I did not expect was that the excitement is beginning even before we start the series.

Monday at the Family Christian Bookstore I had an awesome encounter arranged by God to meet a young man seeking some understanding in his life. Tuesday he came by the office and we had a great opportunity to talk and share the loving grace of Jesus! Then last night in the youth meeting I was told that we had two more accept Christ in their hearts and another one that is very close to making a life changing decision!

I love the fact that we are adding new souls into the kingdom of God…I am excited about what God is doing and I thank Him that He is arranging divine encounters for each of us at ROCC. Keep your eyes open today and ask God who it is that He is placing in your path today so that their life will be changed for eternity!!

Awesome Weekend!

What a great weekend for ROCC! The women really did a great job with the Women’s Ministry Banquet and I was please with the effort that the men made to make that event a great success! Thank You for everyone that sacrificed their time and energy to volunteer. Great things are happening and we are continuing to see God move in mighty ways.

Even Bad Situations Are Used For God’s Glory!

Many of us know the story of Samson whether you are a devoted church member or a holiday attender chances are you have heard of Samson. Samson was big and strong yet his lustful eye caused him to desire women that he should have stayed away from. However in my devotional reading I was once again knocked off guard by something I had never noticed before. Judges 14:3-4 ” His father and mother asked him, “Aren’t there any women among our relatives or all our people? Do you have to marry a woman from those godless Philistines?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She’s the one I want!” His father and mother didn’t know that the Lord was behind this. The Lord was looking for an opportunity to do something to the Philistines. (At that time the Philistines were ruling Israel.)”

Now when I think about how messed up Samson was by giving away the secrets of his strength to a pagan woman yet God was working something out! No matter what we mess up God has a plan to use it for the good of His people! I am amazed at all the things God has used in my life and I know that He is not done. Our God is constantly working things out behind the scene so stay encouraged regardless of the situation you find yourself in knowing that God has a plan!