pastorrudytlc

                                                                               Kind words and the applause from those around us are nice and definitely feel good, but neither goes very deep or lasts very long.   We need to make sure that we have an audience of the right one in mind when it comes down to us personally answering the question in our hearts of “Why do we do what we do when we choose to do what we do where we just happen to be doing it?”

Who are we aiming to please? And could it be we are attempting to do the impossible by trying to make everybody happy all of the time by trying so dang hard to get everybody to like us all of the time?  It will never happen!  Even Jesus, who just happened to be the most perfect individual who ever walked this planet, had enemies.  If he did, what makes us think that there won’t people who will not only disdain us but dare I say even hate us? 

So we need to run our race at a pace that leads us to a place where we will end up collapsing with a positive face into the arms of a God who already loves us with an amazing grace.  As a matter of fact, the Lord already loves us as much as he ever can or ever will right now, no matter what we have done, or where we have been, or who we might have known or done those things with.

It is imperative that we learn how to run right now not to attempt to be loved but to go at it daily with an energy source that fuels us because we know that we are already loved!  We are already on God’s team.  We don’t have to play to not lose!  We are winners in the mind of the one who matters most anyhow.

There is a big difference between the two driving forces that could have the freedom to determine our destinies!  If we decide to look into the direction of the maddening surrounding crowd to be the definitive answer to the satisfying longing and yearning in our soul to be validated- we are in for quite the bumpy ride on a road that will unfortunately take us to nowhere.

We all know what it is like to be lonely and feel empty and not worth a dime and actually shunned for giving the very best we have to offer.  There is nothing worse than being booed for being good.  There is nothing more dangerous than us taking our diamonds to the wrong evaluator to summarize their true value.  Especially if the one doing the dealing is cheating with aces up the sleeve to trump our trick when what we really need is a heavenly treat. We need to stop in the name of love before we lose it all.

It is at my lowest that I have discovered God at his highest. The Lord has a knack of picking me up after I have nearly knocked myself out from exhaustion because I have tried doing a never ending dance of good deeds for an on looking community of disinterested patrons.  Jesus dusts me off and wipes away the tears and lovingly reminds me with an eternal truth that he promised would set me free not just for an hour, or only just a day but for always.

He will never leave me.  He won’t ever forsake me or stop believing in me.  Isn’t it quite ironic that God believes in us more than we have faith in him?  Why are we grasping at straws in the wrong stratosphere?  I need to bring my empty cup to the well of living water that God has assured me will never run dry or be limited to a frustrating falsely advertised earthly happy hour.

When I was growing up, the number 41 was the one that I picked to always wear on every uniform of all the sports teams that I ever played on because it belonged to my all-time favorite baseball player, Tom Seaver of the New York Mets.  But as I got older, I started to realize that I still wanted to wear the number 41- but no longer because of a human athlete.  I wanted to adorn 41 because it beautifully expressed that everything I do I want to do “for One.” 

I want my life, my being, my thoughts, my words, my actions, my deeds, my behavior, my victories and my gains to be done for the honor and glory of God. He is my audience that matters most.  He is my coach. He is the voice that I want to listen to and obey and please and make glad.  People are fickle and the group that loves you today will forget you tomorrow.

Humans are too into the adage of “What have you done for me lately- like in the last five minutes.”  To attempt to please that pressuring critical crowd will do us all in.  It will make many a good mind and precious heart get tossed into the blender of biased politics and shredded like wheat in the sheaf of prejudice. 

So no more looking around for my accolades and affirmation.  Today I honor and I thank my God for his endless encouragement and his majestic mercy and his fabulous favor and his longsuffering love towards me even though I have never ever deserved it.  I want to do all that I do 4-1!  How about you?  What number are you playing today?  Can I suggest you grab uniform 41 for One?  It will change not only the way you play but the outcome of the contest. If you like what you are hearing, I would love for you to come and visit us at The Lighthouse Church. Maybe it has been too long since you discovered that God is for you and not against you.

Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net

On April 29, 1932 my dear Daddy Rudolph Peter Sheptock, Sr. was born in Clifton, New Jersey.  Last Sunday, Pop would have been 80 years old. He graduated to Glory back in September of 2000 and there is still not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him terribly!  The other day I confidently and by genuine faith asked my dear Jesus to give my Dad a huge hug for me and to tell him how much I still miss him so.  Believe it or not, I dream of Dad almost every night and he is still very present in the words I speak, the things I do and pretty much everything that I am!

The reality of this truth leads me to discuss what I want to write about today.  Please permit me to spout off from the heart.  Consider these the ramblings of Pastor Rudy who was voted Class Philosopher of his senior year class in high school back in 1978!

 The other night, because of the kindness of one Denise- Denise who gave me two tickets, I had the privilege to attend the Neil Sedaka and Lesley Gore Concert at The Wildwood Convention Center and it was once again an over the top musical event that we get to experience right here in our own backyard.  I have always been a big Neil Sedaka fan since the early 1960’s.  Connie Francis who has recorded many of Sedaka’s songs, used to be on a television show out of New York City with my late Uncle Joey Sheptock.  Hence Neil’s music was very prevalent in my parents’ record collection that I raided as soon as I learned how to turn on the old stereo hi-fi!  Wanting to continue to pass on the legacy of my love for this classic era of music to my own children, I got to take my 8 year old son Joel along with me.  He already is playing the piano and writing songs of his own!  He recognized so much of the music because Joel listens to his Daddy on the radio on FUN 106.3 on Friday Night Live from 7 PM until Midnight!

OK, now that I have wandered a bit and have once again regained my focus so that I can return from my tangent, let me get back to the matter at hand and the thoughts that have been playing havoc with my brain. I do so knowing full well that I am about to step on some musical toes right now, but those of you who read this column with any regularity know me and are familiar with my need to share always and fully what is going on in my heart.

 During the performance that Lesley Gore gave during her set, “the sweetie pie from Tenafly” as Cousin Brucie calls her, sang the John Lennon classic song “Imagine.”  This Lennon song has always been controversial and has rubbed many an individual the wrong way.  I remember back at our 8^th Grade Graduation we were banned from singing it for reasons at the time I didn’t really understand.  I was so much younger than and I’m wiser than that now.  Now I want to give John the benefit of the doubt and I believe that when he wrote those lyrics he was really yearning for a world where everybody would take care of one another and live in true harmony and peace.  But the opening line has caused a great disconnect in me in my latter days.  “Imagine there’s no heaven- it’s easy if you try.”  Not for me John!  Not for me at all!

Heaven is not just a fairy tale thought of some mythical paradise way out there beyond the blue and up in the sky in the sweet bye and bye.  And quite ironically, I think that the genuine Heaven is the very place and ideal that Lennon was really singing about when he longed for a world that could live as one.  Heaven is the very hope and yearning and longing in our souls for a place of reunion and redemption and true rescue from all that has gone wrong with all that was once originally so right.  It is not just an outer environmental change of our surroundings and climate- it is an inside job where we become renewed and metamorphosed into who God intended us to be when He first designed and created us- and all without sin and hate and destruction and selfishness and all those other things that have violated the original masterpiece.  No more death and no more goodbyes!

“You may say that I’m a dreamer,” and you would be right!  But I cannot imagine there being no Heaven!  For if I did what John Lennon asked me to do and if I came to the place in my soul where I was going to settle for the only utopia found being some high here on earth, I would become a man of no hope! If there is no Heaven, then I will never see my Daddy again or my 5 children who departed this world so very quickly after they were born.  My wife Terri and I have more kids in Heaven than we have here on earth.  And if there is no Heaven then it would all but extract the purpose that I have for getting up every day despite living in such a broken and hurting world.  I know that I am running a race that has purpose in every step.  I know that I have been created to love God with all my heart and to love those around me as I do myself.  I know that God has called me to let my light so shine before men and women that maybe in me they might see that this whole thing called life is going somewhere meaningful!  So I keep running, but not as an athlete running aimlessly, but as one focused on a finish line that will eventually end in me falling into the arms of my Lord and my God!

So I can only imagine what Heaven will really be like!  But this I know for sure: Heaven will be!  Heaven must be!   

Do you want to fire me up and get my motor running on all cylinders?  Just tell me that I can’t do it and that’s all it is to it!  Tell me that something is impossible especially after God has clearly opened the door by faith for me to trust Him and walk His way even though I already know it might be a lonely stroll!  The impossible becomes possible when “I’M” out of the way!  The underdog becomes the winner when he or she doesn’t allow the crowd to call the shots but listens intently to the one voice that matters most- the voice of the One who created them in the first place!  God said it, I believe it- now let’s get going because nothing gets done when we just debate it over and over again!  100% of prayers never prayed always get unanswered every time!  Today is the day to get out there and prove the experts all wrong!  Today is the day to try- because that is the first and most important step if you are ever going to really fly!       

Why is my competitive blood boiling today? It has lots to do with all the negative press that one Tim Tebow has been getting since he first landed in the spotlight.  Tim Tebow is an outspoken man of faith!  He cares about his family!  He works hard at everything he does because almost all of his life he has been told that he won’t make it.  Even the doctors told his mother that she should abort Tebow before he was born because he had little chance to survive birth itself.  He survived all right!  Were the doctors angry they were wrong?  He doesn’t party at bars until dawn.  He doesn’t play with guns.  He doesn’t father babies out of wedlock.  He treats women with respect.  He humbly always puts the limelight on His Lord and his teammates and others after games during his interviews.  Now you know why it is so easy to hate him right?  It is the old adage that if somebody is doing it the way that you should be doing it- rather than stop and ask them to help you be lifted up- it is just so much easier to drag them down into the dirt with you!  He can’t be real!  He is a phony!  Nobody can be that sincere.  And to that nonsense I reply- yes they can be! 

Tim Tebow took over the Denver Broncos last year as the starting quarterback when they were one win and four losses.  All he did was take a mediocre team at best and finished eight wins and eight losses and then shocked everybody by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in a play-off game with lo and behold a touchdown pass of 80 yards! But the windbags in the media booths say positively that Tebow can’t throw!  It just blows me away how the critics can tell Tim Tebow that he can’t win in the NFL when he already has! How many of these so called “experts” have ever won a play-off game against a better team in dramatic fashion!  All Tebow has ever done is win!  He won two National Championships with the Florida Gators!  Oh that was college- and this is the pros say the more athletic than thou scouts!  And now Tebow who was unceremoniously but understandably dumped by the Broncos when Peyton Manning became available is a New York Jet!  Timsanity joins Linsanity on Broadway and I think that it is wonderful!  Where else but on America’s biggest stage should we see two wonderful young men of faith not only succeed but soar and show America that it doesn’t matter what others say about you.  You need to believe that God created you with talent and that holy ability needs to be used and shown and highlighted to let the watching audience around you see your good work and give a standing ovation to the God in heaven who has also done it for everybody else and they could know that if they would only stop looking around for their props and start looking up and fixing their eyes where they truly belong!       

Do you have a Parent telling you that you will never amount to anything?  Do you have a Coach who has labeled you as a lost cause and hopeless case?  Do you have a Teacher that has drilled into you that you are dumb and not bright and should start looking for a career that doesn’t demand much education?  Do you look into the mirror and see junk?  Stop it!  They are not right and you are not seeing clearly!!! Remember that it was the overly self-righteous Pharisees that told Jesus that he was a loser- a nobody from Nazareth- a hero in his own mind- and just look what He did!  Look closely at what He accomplished and he never had the approval of the media of his day!  But the regular people loved Him and looked to Him and were inspired by Him and He changed their lives forever! Jesus changed my life forever!  Jesus has made a difference in Tim Tebow and it might just be that the light that shines from his life makes those who are stuck in the dark uncomfortable.  But nobody has to stay in the dark if they don’t want to!  Anybody can live in the light if they will just choose to!  Your response is your responsibility! 

If somebody tells you that you can’t- don’t stop believing!  I have been told that I can’t do it again and again and again!  And every time some well-meaning “man of the world” calls me an idiot for being a man of simple faith- I use it as personal fuel to show them that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! As you can tell- it sure does fire me up!  I am praying that it will fan the flame under you also!  Brace yourself Big Apple- Timsanity has come to town and as long as God is directing this show- it can’t lose!!!!  I have my tickets- do you?

                                                I have the privilege of working with our teens on Sunday and Wednesday Nights here at The Lighthouse Church.  I have been doing so for the last two years and we have seen a regular crowd of 60-75 kids on Sunday Nights and about 50 for more in depth Bible Study on Wednesday Nights.  I love the energy and excitement and enthusiasm that come by just hanging out with these awesome kids!  I don’t know if you know this or not, but before I came here to become the Senior Pastor at The Lighthouse Church some 15 years ago, I was an exclusive Youth Pastor and worked with junior and senior high students, college and career young adults and singles at churches in north Jersey, Ohio and Nebraska!

The reason I share this is because last Sunday night the teens let me in upon what I would call really bad news!  We were playing games and participating in activities that included a giant cage ball.  The testosterone levels in the guys were rising with each slam of their bodies into the giant sphere and I loved seeing their faces as they intensely got involved in games that I remember playing when I was their age!  Cage Ball, Tag, Bombardment, Dodge Ball, Football, Kickball, Baseball were all part of the my upbringing and yes while we did get hurt from time to time- we loved the chance to go out and play and to do so not in adult organized league fashion- but in the sandlots and in our own backyards and any open piece of grounds that we could find which many times were the blacktop streets in front of our homes!  And the other night the kids were telling me that many schools don’t allow these games anymore.  Recess is becoming a thing of the past!

What is life without recess?  I am 52 years old and I have never gotten over my regular need to take a break from the sitting still part of life.  I couldn’t sit still back then and I have to admit, I am just as bad as it today as I was those many years ago.  Recess is an innate part of our DNA!  Even God instituted Sabbath to break the routine of working all the time.  And I might lose a few readers here but computer and video games are not my idea of winding down!  Let’s go outside and shoot some hoops or play catch or go for a walk even if it means that at my age I might just pull a muscle that I forgot I had!            

I can’t believe that kids who go to school can’t play dodge ball or kick ball anymore. What is this crazy world coming to?  I did some research to see if what was being shared had truth and proof behind it and lo and behold I read that State leaders in New York have identified the next hazards facing children. But it isn’t obesity or diabetes or illiteracy. Nope. In their infinite wisdom, officials at the Health Department have compiled a list of dangerous and risky play activities including — are you ready for this? — such classics as: Whiffle ball, Kickball, Dodge ball, Capture the Flag, Steal the Bacon, Red Rover, and Freeze Tag. The list also includes actual dangerous activities like archery, scuba diving and horseback riding.  Makes this guy want to sign up for summer camp real soon where all we will do is play Wii games and sit like nice boys and girls with all of the rungs of our chair on the floor and discuss over tea philosophy and world events!  Yack!!!  Makes me want to climb the highest tree in the neighborhood and fall out of it receiving many cuts and scrapes along the way as I soar to the floor in record speed- which I did by the way when I was 8 years old.  But I wore those scrapes like the medals of boyhood!  I was cool because I was living life! 

I remember when I got my first black eye playing baseball in the local sandlot with my friends after school- something we did on our own every day until we lost the ray of any source of light- and I showed up at the house and my Dad was so proud of me!  Nobody sued anybody or shut down the game or called for more adult supervision!  It was part of my initiation onto manhood!  This is part of boys being boys and you have got to allow them to walk that route and fall and crash and be bumped and bruised and take sticks as weapons and chew their graham crackers into little toy guns!  It doesn’t mean you have a bad boy on your hands- it means you have got a red blooded all American male who longs to compete and fight for honor and grow into a man who needs not to be ashamed to be the man that God created him to be!

Jennifer shares that “My son’s school has instituted a ‘no running’ policy except on designated grass areas with supervision. It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. A little girl fell and broke her arm on the blacktop and this was the school’s response! It is very sad!”  No running!!!!  You have never seen me preach!  I even climb on the pulpit from time to time!  Jan shared this thought tongue in cheek and it made me laugh out loud! “I’m sure they don’t play ‘Ole McDonald Had a Farm’, ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ due to the pressure of leaving children out, the socio/politically incorrect thinking that McDonald might want a man for a wife and not want any children, that the London Bridge did fall down and is in Arizona and don’t forget each game leaves a single child to be a piece of cheese standing alone or the bridge falling down and capturing that child….horrors!!! Nightmares could be blamed on this action. My daughter did fall while playing kickball and smashed her front tooth in half and the dentist scraped asphalt off her lower teeth, I made her get back out and play with a new fake tooth (I know I was a horrible mother) but right before she did a mission trip to Africa she had a bright white permanent tooth put on and today she has a beautiful smile! 

All children, but boys especially, need to run off energy for all that time they have to sit still in class. And what about all the cries for bodily exercise in order for our young people to stay healthy, do we just ignore them or substitute it with only nice and safe activities? What lesson does this teach them? Life is too dangerous to be active??  That is just plain ignorant!

Let the kids be kids and let boys be boys please!!!!!  Masculinity, with its predilection to adventure, rowdiness, and risk has is not a condition to be cured but a behavior to be mentored and encouraged and given many avenues to be acted upon!  We played tackle football growing up with no equipment!  We played jump on the guy with the ball during recess at school!  We all jumped on one another when we were together and wrestled on the floor until the house shook!  This is not abnormal!  This is not something that must be tamed- but like a wild stallion- it is harnessed for the good of that particular colt’s future calling! 

I wrote to my Facebook friend Amy the other day a thank you note for allowing her sons to be boys!  Mom’s there are times that boys need to climb to the highest point of the monkey bars or fall of the bike while trying a new jump or break an ankle while sliding into second!  it is part of being a boy that someday you want to grow up into a courageous man- one that is not afraid of danger- but has been well trained to walk into the fire if it means rescuing the ones that he loves!  Let the kids be kids.  Let them play!  And if they can’t play at school, I hope to see them at Youth Group real soon!  Because even at my age- I am still a boy at heart who loves recess the best!

I was listening to a Focus on the Family Broadcast on the radio the other day when the woman who was being interviewed shared a story about a young girl named Katie who was giggling as she waited for her date to come around and open the car door for her. She took her escort by the hand and together they walked happily into the local ice cream shop. She again snickered as the gentleman pulled out the chair for Katie to sit down at the table and as he proceeded to gaze attentively into her eyes while sitting across from her, he asked his sweetheart quite boldly, “What flavor would you like tonight, Princess?” 8 year old Katie smiled and said, “I think I’ll try the chocolate chip mint tonight, Daddy.”

Last Thursday I was walking through the new Books A Million store up by the Hamilton Mall when again I was emotionally moved by a scene happening in the coffee bar area.  Sitting there at a table for two was a Father and his girl who had to be about 10 years old and she was proudly wearing a crown upon her head.  She absolutely glowed as her Daddy very practically but yet so powerfully shared amazing words of affirmation cherishing the apple of his eye right before mine.  He listened to his angel not only with his ears but also with his face as she went on and on so animated speaking about a zillion words a minute talking of her experiences, her interests and all that was going on in her busy life.  If a picture is worth a thousand words than I was in the presence of a masterpiece!  I said a prayer of thanks to the Lord for this wonderful Papa who was not taking his responsibility for granted!   

More and more fathers are becoming aware of their important influence and regularly taking the quality time necessary to invest into building the self-esteem of their daughters. “The research clearly says that daddies make all the difference in the world,” says Kevin Leman, national speaker and author of What a Difference Daddy Makes. “I have tremendously more impact on my daughter than my wife does.”

Pete, a 38-year-old father from California, has already started taking out 9-year-old Cassie, hoping to get a jump on the dating scene. “I believe the openness she has at this age is only for a season,” Pete explains. “Right now I have an opportunity to love her or reject her. If I ignore her now, she isn’t going to come to me later with the tough questions. I’m hoping that doing these special ‘nights out’ will help her understand that she’s valuable and will stop her from even accepting attention from a guy who doesn’t treat her with the same respect.”

Conversation is the crown jewel of the relationship between a Father and a Daughter. The connection that you develop with your child during real times of heart to heart chemistry will pay incredible dividends just around the corner as she grows up to become a woman.     

I have been blessed with two wonderful daughters who I am immensely proud of.  Leah is 24 and is working as a Substitute Teacher until she can land a regular classroom position and Abbie is 21 and a college student preparing to become a Nurse.  Leah is my Princess and Abbie is my Puumpkin- pet names that I have had for them all of their lives!  Even though they are both now officially and legally adults, they still live at home for this season and I know what a gift it is for I also know that this time will not last forever!  I want my girls to know that they are incredible young ladies who don’t need to ever settle for just any guy!  I love the times that we get to hang out together and I know what a gift it is that they still don’t mind their Daddy tagging along!  And while deep down inside I know one day soon some nervous young man is going to approach me and ask me for my permission to take my girl away so he can welcome her as his wife- I want to always be Leah and Abbie’s biggest fan and supporter so they will never doubt how much I delight in who they are!

If it has been too long since you had some “just us” time with your daughter whether planned (“Let’s see that new movie Tuesday night”) or spontaneous (“Come on, let’s go out and run together”), dates with your kids are a great way to enhance the relationship. Do something different. Sure, your child likes it when you take her out for pizza, but how about getting a slice at a nearby venue where you can surprise her with tickets to a concert that she will remember forever?

If you need an idea or two- let’s go back to that Focus on the Family program that offered the following ways to pamper your Princess!  See the town. Go for a drive pointing out areas to avoid and fun places to hang out. Dine out. Eat at a restaurant that doesn’t serve toys in a bag. Make it a fancy evening.  You both can get dressed up! Drink hot chocolate. Visit your local coffeehouse or bookstore and talk. Get fit. Go bike riding, inline skating or play some tennis. Share a hobby. Paint or create something together. Play games. Go bowling or miniature golfing or hit the arcades. Shop till you drop! This may be the only chance you ever have Dad at helping your daughter pick out an outfit. It also provides a great opportunity for a healthy talk about the importance of modesty. Take a risk. Ask her what she wants to do. After all, you’ll expect her potential dates to think about her interests as he plans outings.

I just played the song “Daddy’s Little Girl” on my radio show.  I know that the days are flying by but today is here- right before our eyes!  It is a new 24 hours and a new opportunity to initiate a loving way to take care of your Princess.  The dance you have today will keep you from the regret that wants to steal tomorrow!  Don’t miss the chance because you were too proud or too afraid to cross a bridge to discover the heart of the royalty that God gave you!

How many times do you begin tackling a new project by praying something like this: “Dear Lord, please keep me safe and let all go well as I begin this task for you?”  I think that it is very difficult for us to comprehend and accept that all things going well is something God never guaranteed us this side of glory.  As a matter of fact, if we only take the time to do our spiritual homework, we realize that there have been countless individuals who were sold out to God and totally devoted to Him but they encountered one tragedy and tough experience after another.  Does that mean that God was not in what they were doing?  Does that mean that God had abandoned them?  Do we always have to equate God’s goodness with everything coming up roses for me- or is there ever beauty in the thorns?     

Let me share some words straight from the apostle Paul speaking in the Book of Acts.  He is sharing about an upcoming assignment that he knows full well the Lord is behind and in front of and all around.  Acts 20:22-24 reads, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”  Did you catch the sentence where it actually says that the Holy Spirit warns Paul that he is not going to be kept safe and sound on this mission?  He is actually facing an itinerary that includes prison and hardships?  How many of us would still sign up for that excursion if we knew what Paul knew?  How many of us are still willing to follow God even when it may cost us more than what we will receive personally from it?    

Somewhere along the line- I finally need to learn that the Holy Spirit is my Comforter in the midst of not being comfortable in this world that I find myself living and residing in.  If I find the life of comfort that my flesh seeks daily, I will not need God like I do and I will look to other means to meet my needs and that only results in coming up short of what I was designed for.  And yet, how many of my prayers are still focused on my asking God to take away the pain and protect me from anything that makes my path difficult or creates chaos along my journey.

This life is hard- period!  And if my number one goal is to look out for me, I will be looking away from serving and pleasing the God that I have claimed to surrender to.  His promises are for peace in spite of war and for hope in the midst of despair.  And no matter what trails my feet may tread, I am guaranteed a companion who will never leave me nor forsake me.  God is my promise keeper even until the end of the world- and my world will end!  I can’t sustain it or control it or fix it or hold it together or make it work properly- whatever that may be!  I can trust and follow and choose to obey a God who has promised me that He will work all things out for the good- if I let Him define what good genuinely means.     

This is a lesson that I am presently still learning again and again in my daily doings and it is that truth that while yes God has given us His Holy Spirit to comfort us- He has never given us the drive to be comfortable this side of heaven- because we should always feel a little restless for the simple fact that we are not home yet!  We should be risking it all to gain the life that we can only receive by letting Him lead!  And yes, He will lead us into some very scary terrain- but God is still Lord of it all- even when I can’t see or feel Him like I want to!

If athletes just look to be comfortable- what kind of practice sessions are they going to take part in?  Will they push their bodies to exhaustion, unless they have a purpose bigger than their own selfish gain?  As a Christian, I must be ready to turn over the reins completely to the God who has already given me His word that my story is not going to end in doom and gloom even though there may be some pages in the middle of my novel full of it!  I must hang on to the big finish!  I must not get antsy and attempt to steal the pen from the Master Author who has designed this living document to be a best seller where sales matter most! 

So lead on Oh King Eternal and get me through the hell and high waters that I know are just around my corner.  Don’t let me become done in by the flood, and when my body tastes the ashes resulting from the fire- help me remember that you bought me with your blood.  So in the days of my deep sorrow- please give me a song- so I can still hope in the night season and all the day long.  No matter whatever- God leads His dear children along!!!

                                                                   I just finished the book Courageous by Randy Alcorn yesterday.  And even though the movie is already out and being devoured by Christians and church groups everywhere, I am a stickler to always try to read the book first and then see the film afterwards!  It is the story of police officers Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their professional partners and their daily doings of having to deal with street gangs and dangerous crime on the streets of Albany, Georgia. But even when they remove their badges, they can’t check out from being responsible and caring leaders!  These men still must face the daunting challenges that fatherhood brings along with it. As their children begin to be pulled away in so many different directions by the temptation traps planted all around them, these brave men commit to finding a way to serve and protect and love unconditionally those nearest and dearest to them—and in the process, make life changing progress in their personal relationships with God!

When I wrapped up my reading yesterday of this emotional novel, the old hymn “Rise Up O Men of God” came to mind.  The lyrics go something like this:

Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things… Give heart and mind and soul and strengthto serve the King of kings.

 We live in a day when a man playing the blame game has become a very popular activity!  If I did something wrong, it must be somebody else’s fault!  And even when men make public apologies for mistakes made, more often than not- they are not sincere in their repentance but are only saying, “I’m Sorry,” so that they can move on and go right back to what they doing just moments before they got caught!   If we are serious about being men of integrity, then we must fearlessly embrace the responsibilities that God himself has called us to.  It is time to step up and speak out not run away looking for the nearest exit so that we don’t have to get involved!  Take it like a man needs to be redefined as a whole new younger generation watches to see what we are going to do!

We also need to be willing to move beyond past failures in order that we may be able to tackle the present problems that must not prevent us from staking new property and gain new ground in the future!  Forgiveness is key in setting men free from the prison bars that will attempt to hold them back forever!  The memory of a bad experience must not be used as an excuse but seen as a challenge to break the cycle so that your bike may ride free into God’s new promised lands!  We men must wake up and smell the daylight while we still have precious minutes left upon our game clock!  It is time to emerge from a life mired in confusion and apathy.  We men need to do more than just watch sports and allow other people to steal adventures that were meant for us!  As a matter of fact, God always has new assignments for those who show up to roll call!  And instead of wishing that the guy next to you will volunteer for the exercise- maybe today is the day you raise your hand so that God can raise the level of intensity in your very soul!

Hey men, do you take seriously your God given invitation to be the strong spiritual leader for your family?  This doesn’t mean attempting to be perfect or holier than thou or a fake and a phony!  Lord knows that we already have reached the quota in having enough wise guys play dumb when it comes to modeling genuine faith in front of their families!  Do you have the guts to be real?  Are you strong enough to be open and honest and share what you feel?  This strength also takes humility that we don’t always know what to do and we can’t fix everything and we need one another for the wisdom and council and accountability to get it done! If you are serious about leaving a strong legacy- you must be willing and courageous and committed enough to live intentionally.  It is not just going to happen by circumstance and chance!  You must be ready to sign up and show up and man up when it comes to the immensity of this task that stands before us. 

How would you describe your resolve as a man of God, Christian man, father, dad, and husband?  What do you want to see change?  Are you willing to throw your hat completely in the ring rather than the quitting towel?  It can all begin today- right now- right here- and start with you!  I don’t know about you men, but I am tired of playing church when God has empowered us to be His church!  Onward Christian soldiers- we are marching into war- and what is at stake is the souls of our wives and kids!  Is there anything more valuable than that?  We were meant to be courageous!  Cowards need not apply!  God has given us the spirit of dynamite for our spirit!  It is time for us to blow up those chains that have too many of our families in bondage and be part of Operation Freedom!  Who is in?     

The Lighthouse Church, 1248 Rt 9 South in Cape May Court House is showing COURAGEOUS: THE MOVIE- Sunday Night February 12^th at 6 PM…  Call 465-6690 for more information. 

I really don’t know why God gives certain people unique connections to very specific places but I am so married in soul and spirit to Ecuador in just such a manner.  Maybe it is because one of the first stories that I ever heard as new believer in Jesus back in 1975 was the heroic tale of how Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, who had such a passionate heart to reach the Waoroni Indians during their Operation Auca in late 1955 and early 1956, literally gave it all up to gain eternity not only for themselves- but a whole tribe of souls also.  “He is no fool that gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  That powerful quote came from the journals of Jim Elliot himself and I have hung on those words ever since.  All I know is that Ecuador for me is very holy ground and when I go there, it is like being on no other footing that I have ever set my giant size 14 shoes upon!  I become wholly emotionally joined to the people and the lands and the settings and I know that the reasons must be attributed to something very supernatural!  God has put this love in my heart for “El Mitad del Mundo,” and who am I to fight it?  I must go with the flow!

This was my fourth trip to Ecuador and it very well might be the best Missions Trip that I have ever experienced!  I was totally and fully immersed in the moments that God was allowing me to live and breathe and have my being amidst!  I don’t know if I can align my thoughts in any formal linear or complete organized manner so you might just have to hang on as I ramble a bit about the things that I tasted and touched and sensed and inhabited.

What I loved most about this adventure:  IT WAS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS…  Don’t get me wrong.  I respect the Mission Trips that have as its goal to go and provide by building or constructing a church or a school or homes or other essential items that will assist our brothers and sisters who dwell in harsh conditions in other lands.  I have been on my fair share of them personally.  But let’s face facts, a tool man I will never be!  I am a shepherd by nature. I exist to come alongside of others and walk with them. I have especially loved the times that I can go overseas and just be with people.  Hang out with them.  Live with them.  Eat what they eat.  Go where they go.  Do what they do.  Learn their hearts and sense their daily routines.  This was just one of those encounters.  I got to stay and sleep and eat right in the homes of the Ecuadorian People. I humbly accepted their over the top gracious hospitality.  Those who had little sacrificed out of the best of what they had to we total strangers.  It broke my heart and yet glued my soul to them for all eternity. 

We Americans are spoiled individuals who complain too much and whine too often and don’t share freely- nearly as many times as God gives us the opportunity to do so.  I don’t know how to wake us up out of our apathy and shake us up out of our animosity other than to challenge all of us to allow ourselves to be booted by God out of our comfort zones and be placed in circumstances where we are totally dependent upon only His blessings- as the Lord defines them- and as Jesus chooses to dispense them. 

I will cherish my few days- getting to be with God’s children in Quito, El Carmen, Bramadora and Huaticocha for as long as I live and I pray that for as long as I live, I will practically live the reality of what God instilled into me in these remote places of South America- to bring to my daily practices here in Cape May County.  If there is no lasting fruit that remains from this January excursion- then all I did was a work for God and didn’t allow it to become a work of God!  Works for God are nice but they are temporary.  Works of God define who we are from this day forward and they result in eternal doings that change the landscape for many! 

“Oh God, please don’t let this tenderness that I am feeling as I write these words at this moment to die.  Please water them and allow the root to go deep and please enable to grow to fruition and completion for your honor and glory…  Thank you Lord for making a dream of mine come true and allowing me to go back to Ecuador.  I pray that this is not the last time.  I sense there are other things that I still have to do from that country.  Maybe it is to serve from the Voice of the Andes Radio Ministry- HCJB!  Maybe it is to get to see my Compassion Child Samuel in person and spend time with him.  Maybe it is to set my feet at Shell Mera- where those 5 Missionaries set up base for Operation Auca.  Maybe it is just to be with my old friends Rich and Lisa Brown again or go deeper with my new friends Casey and Annie and Gustavo and Elmer and Carmine and Ivan and Nancy!  All I know Lord is that I am open to the next step, the next chapter, the next thrilling episode!  Thanks for allowing me the privilege to preach to your people there.  I want to learn how to speak Spanish so that I don’t need a translator anymore.  Thanks for letting me ride on the roof of a chiva!  Thanks for the worshipful time of singing in the van all the way back from El Carmen.  Thanks for giving me the privilege to swim in an Amazon River and bathe in a majestic waterfall.  Thanks for allowing me to do this all with my beautiful daughter Leah and my adopted girls Debby, Emily and Hannah!  Today I am numb still.  Not sure if I want to go back to the old routines.  I want to live to see and live to be more like Jesus because You are changing me and I like what I see but I know that You have more to do!  So please take my heart and my soul and my entire being and make it Your platform and Your stage for without You Lord, I don’t have a thing!  In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…  Amen!”