Not that the dust has settled, things are finally out in the open and I can now hear myself think I want to finally write out some thoughts about the last couple of weeks.
Sometimes in life change can be very easy, it can be moderately difficult and sometime it is down right difficult. In ministry we always use the phrase “If God is in it, then it will be ok!” This statement is so true. If God is in everything that we think and do then there aren’t many areas in life we will go wrong. Sometimes, though, when God is involved it makes making decisions a little difficult, especially when you don’t see it coming.
A few weeks ago a friend called me to tell me that he was being voted in as the Interim Pastor at his church. He has been serving at the church for going on 13 years now as the Student guy and because of his dedicated service to God, the church and the community the church had gained enough trust and confidence in him to make this move. His call wasn’t just about the news of his new assignment but along with this great news came a difficult question that I never saw coming. Have you ever heard the old saying, “God will do something when you least expect it” or “God will drop something in your lap when you stop looking for it?” I heard this comment a lot when I was dating. “God will place her in your life at the very moment you stop looking for her.” Point is I didn’t see the question coming, I didn’t see the opportunity coming but man did it ever get my blood going when it did! Lee, called not only to tell me his great news but to make a suggestion to me that has since changed the direction of the next how ever many years for both Emily and I. The question he asked led to the events over the last couple of weeks and led to this past Sunday when I resigned from Woodlawn to move to Barnwell and begin ministering there to the students at First Baptist.
What an awesome God we serve! A month ago I never saw it coming and now I see clearly the assignment that God has placed before me. What an awesome God I serve because He has designed a plan for Emily and me to go to Barnwell and do His work there. What an awesome God I serve! This change will be difficult because I will miss the relationships that I have built at Woodlawn. But thinking about new beginnings, thinking about new ministry opportunities, thinking about new adventures with my wife, I can’t help but exclaim, what an awesome God we serve!
I’m ready for Barnwell; I hope Barnwell is ready for me! I’m ready to learn from my mentor in Barnwell, I’m ready for ministries to continue to flourish and for new ones to begin! I’m ready for new relationships and new ways of doing things. I’m ready because I serve and awesome God and no matter what comes my way He will have me ready, He will have the path cleared and in three weeks the new journey will begin and God is already clearing the path for His greatness, for His work to be done. WHAT AN AWESOME GOD WE SERVE!!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
When one door closes, does God open another?
This past week my family lost my Uncle Terry, my dad’s twin brother, to cancer but Heaven gained a believer, a fisherman, a grandfather, an Uncle, a brother, a dad and a husband. My Uncle Terry was all these things and many more to so many different people. I heard stories last week of things that he did for others. Stories that told the story of a man’s life that helped others, who ministered to others without realizing he was ministering to others. A man that loved his job and while working with his crew he shared food and penned words that often times was meant to help them out of a hard time. There are a ton of stories that I could share with you about my Uncle Terry but I’m going to be a little selfish and hold them for myself so I can enjoy talking about him with my cousins, my aunt and especially my dad.
In the midst of all the pain, all the suffering, the crying, I have realized how close I am to my Dad’s side of the family. We all love each other in a way that is unique to us, in a way that some have to experience in order to fully understand, just ask Emily. My family is a group who accepts all new people and as long as they never hurt one of us they will always remain accepted. We are a family that loves to be together, loves to hug, give a kiss on the cheek, shed tears with each other, share laughs, food, and deepest inner feelings and thoughts. We are a close family.
Even though we are all mourning the passing into heaven of our great friend, father, uncle, brother, son and husband I am thankful to know that I have such an awesome and unique family. I am thankful to know that my mom and dad love each enough to have been married 40 years, to have the example of Pat and Terry’s 42 years of marriage, the example of love that each of them has given to myself, my brother and all of my cousins. Theirs is a love that I hope Emily, Erin, Jerry and I can learn from, a love of unselfish giving of each other, a love that places faith in God and family before anything else. It’s the type of love that God created for us to have.
In John 14:27 Jesus promises us that we will always have Peace that the Holy Spirit gives to us and the Spirit’s peace for me through all of this has been found in the life my Uncle Terry led, the love of a huge family, the example of two great marriages and now the reconnection of my family to my dad’s younger brother Charlie. How awesome is our God because nothing would make my Uncle Terry happier than knowing that my dad and Charlie were together this past Friday and that a new connection has been made, a new friendship found and a new member to our unique family. My God is awesome and I am thankful He is Lord over my life.
In the midst of all the pain, all the suffering, the crying, I have realized how close I am to my Dad’s side of the family. We all love each other in a way that is unique to us, in a way that some have to experience in order to fully understand, just ask Emily. My family is a group who accepts all new people and as long as they never hurt one of us they will always remain accepted. We are a family that loves to be together, loves to hug, give a kiss on the cheek, shed tears with each other, share laughs, food, and deepest inner feelings and thoughts. We are a close family.
Even though we are all mourning the passing into heaven of our great friend, father, uncle, brother, son and husband I am thankful to know that I have such an awesome and unique family. I am thankful to know that my mom and dad love each enough to have been married 40 years, to have the example of Pat and Terry’s 42 years of marriage, the example of love that each of them has given to myself, my brother and all of my cousins. Theirs is a love that I hope Emily, Erin, Jerry and I can learn from, a love of unselfish giving of each other, a love that places faith in God and family before anything else. It’s the type of love that God created for us to have.
In John 14:27 Jesus promises us that we will always have Peace that the Holy Spirit gives to us and the Spirit’s peace for me through all of this has been found in the life my Uncle Terry led, the love of a huge family, the example of two great marriages and now the reconnection of my family to my dad’s younger brother Charlie. How awesome is our God because nothing would make my Uncle Terry happier than knowing that my dad and Charlie were together this past Friday and that a new connection has been made, a new friendship found and a new member to our unique family. My God is awesome and I am thankful He is Lord over my life.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
"Where's the love, man?"
“Banks, bailouts, Wall-Street, Obama did what, she said who are extremist, AIG gave how much in bonuses, the United States used torture to protect us, our taxes are going how high?”
This is all we read, turn on the news it’s all we hear on a day to day basis and honestly for me, enough is enough. I’m tired of politicians not listening and doing what they are placed in office to do (representing the people.) I’m tired of the arguing, I’m tired of the finger pointing, and I’m tired of it all. We are in a mess, we are in a fight, and we are in need of change. The change that we need though goes far beyond a political slogan, the change that we need is true change that we can believe in. The true change that we need is a change in attitude, a change in thoughts, and a change in decision making. We should all agree that change needs to come to America. However, there is something more that needs to come to America, something that we have forgotten, something that has been buried in the midst of all that is wrong with this country. We need sympathy to return, we need compassion to return, we need love.
Lost in all of this nonsense are the people who are hurting because they have lost jobs, lost their homes, their families and earlier this week a little 5 year old lost her daddy because of the pressures of work. People are literally being thrown into the streets yet the media doesn’t cover those stories. Instead we get constant news lines about Obama’s weakness as a President and everything that Bush did wrong. More care is given to the environment than to hurting and sick people who are living on the streets. More care is given to protecting this political agenda and protecting politician’s jobs than to those who are dying from sickness in our own backyards because they don’t have the money for medicine. We have turned on ourselves, we have turned on our brothers and sisters, and we have forgotten them.
As believers we are taught that love conquers all things, especially evils of this world. We live in a nation where evil seems to rule and prosper. We are hated because we are conservatives, because we believe in traditional values, hold to biblical morals and principles. They are hated because they are okay with gay and lesbian marriage, they believe it is okay to perform abortions and live a life free from any morals or values. Man, Satan has done his job on us. We forget that the bible teaches us in Ephesians 6:12 that this battle, this war isn’t between us as brothers and sisters but that our fight is against Satan and his cronies. To quote Cheech and Chong, “Where’s the love man?” Where has the love gone? Where has the compassion gone? As Americans, as believers in Christ Jesus, something that most don’t understand, we need to be out there in the streets helping the poor and forgotten to find a home. We need to be taking people who are on the verge of losing everything they have worked hard for and helping them salvage whatever we can. We need to bring something to these people that they do not have right now, something that nobody is talking about, something that they need desperately, HOPE! Christopher Reeve once stated that, “Once you choose hope, anything is possible” and in a way he is right as long as that hope is placed in the firm hand of Jesus Christ.
People need to know now more than ever that there is much more to life than what MSNBC tells them, more to life than what politicians are failing to do for them and more to life than waiting on the government to swoop in and rescue them. They need to know that God has already rescued them and it’s on us as Christians to show them that truth. We need to give the media no choice but to start running stories about love and hope not for our gain but for the gain of the kingdom. Our fight isn’t against each other, our battle is against Satan and we have something that Satan does not have, God on our side.
This is all we read, turn on the news it’s all we hear on a day to day basis and honestly for me, enough is enough. I’m tired of politicians not listening and doing what they are placed in office to do (representing the people.) I’m tired of the arguing, I’m tired of the finger pointing, and I’m tired of it all. We are in a mess, we are in a fight, and we are in need of change. The change that we need though goes far beyond a political slogan, the change that we need is true change that we can believe in. The true change that we need is a change in attitude, a change in thoughts, and a change in decision making. We should all agree that change needs to come to America. However, there is something more that needs to come to America, something that we have forgotten, something that has been buried in the midst of all that is wrong with this country. We need sympathy to return, we need compassion to return, we need love.
Lost in all of this nonsense are the people who are hurting because they have lost jobs, lost their homes, their families and earlier this week a little 5 year old lost her daddy because of the pressures of work. People are literally being thrown into the streets yet the media doesn’t cover those stories. Instead we get constant news lines about Obama’s weakness as a President and everything that Bush did wrong. More care is given to the environment than to hurting and sick people who are living on the streets. More care is given to protecting this political agenda and protecting politician’s jobs than to those who are dying from sickness in our own backyards because they don’t have the money for medicine. We have turned on ourselves, we have turned on our brothers and sisters, and we have forgotten them.
As believers we are taught that love conquers all things, especially evils of this world. We live in a nation where evil seems to rule and prosper. We are hated because we are conservatives, because we believe in traditional values, hold to biblical morals and principles. They are hated because they are okay with gay and lesbian marriage, they believe it is okay to perform abortions and live a life free from any morals or values. Man, Satan has done his job on us. We forget that the bible teaches us in Ephesians 6:12 that this battle, this war isn’t between us as brothers and sisters but that our fight is against Satan and his cronies. To quote Cheech and Chong, “Where’s the love man?” Where has the love gone? Where has the compassion gone? As Americans, as believers in Christ Jesus, something that most don’t understand, we need to be out there in the streets helping the poor and forgotten to find a home. We need to be taking people who are on the verge of losing everything they have worked hard for and helping them salvage whatever we can. We need to bring something to these people that they do not have right now, something that nobody is talking about, something that they need desperately, HOPE! Christopher Reeve once stated that, “Once you choose hope, anything is possible” and in a way he is right as long as that hope is placed in the firm hand of Jesus Christ.
People need to know now more than ever that there is much more to life than what MSNBC tells them, more to life than what politicians are failing to do for them and more to life than waiting on the government to swoop in and rescue them. They need to know that God has already rescued them and it’s on us as Christians to show them that truth. We need to give the media no choice but to start running stories about love and hope not for our gain but for the gain of the kingdom. Our fight isn’t against each other, our battle is against Satan and we have something that Satan does not have, God on our side.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Why do I.....
continue to watch the news every night? Just about every day I will sit down to watch a little fox news and after about 15 minutes of it i am furious with Washington D.C., the world, Barack Obama, the liberal media and so on and so on! I am now beginning to ask myself why I continue to sit and watch the shows because they get me so upset. I don't want to completely shut them out because I don't want to be stuck with my head in the mud, but good grief man the junk, the mundane lives, the terror and horror that they spew out from behind the glass screen is amazing and overwhelming. Even as a believer in Christ and knowing that all evil is defeated I can't help but be a little scared while listening to the news. But I can't stop myself from watching, I can't help it, I am addicted. "Hello my name is Ryan and I am addicted to Fox News."
I wake up, I watch Fox and Friends. One my days off, I watch Fox and Friends and then America's Newsroom. I get in my car and turn on XM radio and I listen to Fox News. I even sometimes listen to Fox Talk radio. I come home, it's time for Your World with Neil Cavuto. Spend some time with Emily, watch American Idol and Chopped, then at 11pm it's the re run of the O'Reily Factor and then Hannity. I can't stop myself. Somebody help me. I am addicted to fox news. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I mean I read books, I spend time with Emily, I play Xbox, I text, I check emails, I facebook, I twitter, I blog, but there is always time left in the day for Fox News. I even get caught up in the rivalries between MSNBC's Keith Oberman and Bill O'Reily. What have I become?
Well, I guess it's better than watching the Weather Channel all the time!
I guess it's better than watching the Weather Channel all the time!
I wake up, I watch Fox and Friends. One my days off, I watch Fox and Friends and then America's Newsroom. I get in my car and turn on XM radio and I listen to Fox News. I even sometimes listen to Fox Talk radio. I come home, it's time for Your World with Neil Cavuto. Spend some time with Emily, watch American Idol and Chopped, then at 11pm it's the re run of the O'Reily Factor and then Hannity. I can't stop myself. Somebody help me. I am addicted to fox news. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I mean I read books, I spend time with Emily, I play Xbox, I text, I check emails, I facebook, I twitter, I blog, but there is always time left in the day for Fox News. I even get caught up in the rivalries between MSNBC's Keith Oberman and Bill O'Reily. What have I become?
Well, I guess it's better than watching the Weather Channel all the time!
I guess it's better than watching the Weather Channel all the time!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Being an Explorer
Recently I’ve been reading and teaching through the book Wide Awake by Erwin McManus. For those of you that don’t know Erwin is my favorite leader to watch and learn from because many of the ideas and principles he believes in I hold to as well. He has an intriguing faith, an attractive faith because in his heart of hearts he knows that there is nothing impossible with God on our side.
The general idea conveyed in the book is that there is a hero within us all waiting to be unleashed on humanity. That the problem with most people is that they are too disconnected from God to realize the untapped potential He created within them. The book also discusses how we are a source of greatness and that humanity needs us all to realize our potential because humanity needs heroes.
Right now I am not only reading the book but I am teaching through it with my youth. I want them to discover at their early age that if they were to connect their lives to God the way we are designed to be connected to God that there is nothing in their future that they cannot achieve. I am hoping they will see that with God at their side their dreams will be God given dreams, God driven dreams, God sized dreams and living life to fulfill those dreams will always give them a sense of purpose, meaning, and belonging. What else can we convey to you students today other than they belong, they mean something?
Too many students today felt they are worthless, have no meaning to society. They are bombarded at home with problems that they shouldn’t be dealing with, they go to school and most are picked on and made fun of on a consistent basis. I believe that through the Word of God we teach them that they have an unlimited, God given capacity to become whatever their dreams desire them to become. I believe that with God as the fuel all things are truly possible. I believe we can teach them and learn ourselves for that matter, that God desires greatness from us, expects great things from us and expects us to expect extraordinary things from Him. Imagine a world where people are looking to solve the problems of humanity. Not for selfish gain but in service to others. How much more can we “love God and love People” than to demonstrate God’s love of humanity by connecting our lives to His and living out purpose fueled by His greatness. I don’t believe we can.
I am learning that Humanity, the future of Humanity, is relying on God’s people to figure out that we mean something, that we can change things, that there is a hero within us all waiting to be discovered. A hero waiting to be tapped into, waiting to do something great for others and whether or not movies are made or books written for what we do for humanity means nothing. We need to live a heroic life an extraordinary life because God created us to live that way. Don’t think it can happen? Then you need to ask yourself whether or not you truly believe the scripture when it says that “all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me.” All things are possible through Christ who fuels my every desire, my every passion, my soul, and my dreams. Now that is a cool life to live!
The general idea conveyed in the book is that there is a hero within us all waiting to be unleashed on humanity. That the problem with most people is that they are too disconnected from God to realize the untapped potential He created within them. The book also discusses how we are a source of greatness and that humanity needs us all to realize our potential because humanity needs heroes.
Right now I am not only reading the book but I am teaching through it with my youth. I want them to discover at their early age that if they were to connect their lives to God the way we are designed to be connected to God that there is nothing in their future that they cannot achieve. I am hoping they will see that with God at their side their dreams will be God given dreams, God driven dreams, God sized dreams and living life to fulfill those dreams will always give them a sense of purpose, meaning, and belonging. What else can we convey to you students today other than they belong, they mean something?
Too many students today felt they are worthless, have no meaning to society. They are bombarded at home with problems that they shouldn’t be dealing with, they go to school and most are picked on and made fun of on a consistent basis. I believe that through the Word of God we teach them that they have an unlimited, God given capacity to become whatever their dreams desire them to become. I believe that with God as the fuel all things are truly possible. I believe we can teach them and learn ourselves for that matter, that God desires greatness from us, expects great things from us and expects us to expect extraordinary things from Him. Imagine a world where people are looking to solve the problems of humanity. Not for selfish gain but in service to others. How much more can we “love God and love People” than to demonstrate God’s love of humanity by connecting our lives to His and living out purpose fueled by His greatness. I don’t believe we can.
I am learning that Humanity, the future of Humanity, is relying on God’s people to figure out that we mean something, that we can change things, that there is a hero within us all waiting to be discovered. A hero waiting to be tapped into, waiting to do something great for others and whether or not movies are made or books written for what we do for humanity means nothing. We need to live a heroic life an extraordinary life because God created us to live that way. Don’t think it can happen? Then you need to ask yourself whether or not you truly believe the scripture when it says that “all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me.” All things are possible through Christ who fuels my every desire, my every passion, my soul, and my dreams. Now that is a cool life to live!
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