Alone . . .

I have spent the last couple of days pretty much alone. Dan is out west having a blast getting re-acquainted with his old high school classmates as they celebrate their 30 year class reunion. Burke has been with his maternal grandparents in South Bend.

I don’t like being alone, but there are times when God arranges it that way. I stubbornly submit! Having this time has brought me face to face with certain reality checks. I realize that being who I am has it’s consequences. When Jesus told His disciples, “Take up your cross and follow me,” there was more than just a directive being given. His statement to them was actually a clue for all future disciples.

There are certain crosses to bear in this Christian life and journey. Sometimes it will be lonely. Sometimes there will be sacrifice involved. Oftimes, friends will be scarce—depending on the weather. There are times when the Lord will want you to Himself. And, if we listen and cooperate, He will speak to us and give us exactly what we need to sustain us.

I feel I experienced some of that this weekend.

I’m not a loner and never will be. But, my weekend of solitude has given me a little more confidence and developed my character just a little bit more.

Blessings to you……Pastor Randy

“You’ve got to be willing to do the things today that others won’t do, in order to have the things tomorrow others won’t have”!
–Les Brown, Motivational Speaker

Just Stay

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.”Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened. He was heavily sedated because of the pain from his heart attack; he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lit ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength.

Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine take a break and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and the night noises of the hospital. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son’s hand all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. “Who was that man?” he asked. The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered. “No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”

“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?” “I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”

The next time someone needs you…just be there. Stay.

Blessings to you……Pastor Randy

From The Pastor’s desk…

Did you ever ask yourself what significance, if any, will my life have after I’m gone? The following true story came my way. I’m passing it on to you…

The Little Woman Who Stopped Hitler
Empowering Generations We Will Never Know

Little is known of Sarah Barney Belcher. She was born in Taunton, Mass., June 26, 1771. Sarah married Benjamin Belcher on New Years Day, 1792. They had a son, Benjamin Barney Belcher. Sarah died October 14, 1867 at age 96. Though the details of her life are sketchy, if Sarah had never been born, WWII might have had a different ending. This remarkable woman was a common ancestor of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, President Franklin Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Thus, Sarah, through her descendants, not only helped stop Hitler, but also Italy’s Mussolini and Japan’s Hirohito. With Sarah as a common ancestor, her great, great grandson, MacArthur, was an eighth cousin of Churchill and a sixth cousin of FDR. Sarah could not have known that three of her descendants would be prominent leaders in a global war. The Lord only knows what qualities and virtues Sarah passed on to these great men—we are all surely composites of our parents and grandparents, as they were of theirs. Singer and songwriter Sara Groves grasped this powerful generational concept in her profound lyric in her song, ‘Generations.’ (“Remind me of this with every decision—Generations will reap what I sow—I can pass on a curse or a blessing—to those I will never know.”) The choices we make in serving the Lord, or in not serving Him, may affect not only us, but also the eternal destinies of the generations that will follow us. We may never know our great, great grandchildren, but it has been proven many times that their chances of serving the Lord will be greatly enhanced by our continuing to live for Him today. Will you pass on a blessing or a curse? The choice is yours.

Blessings to you. Have a great week!

This Came Across My Desktop This Week…

As we travel down the road on the journey called LIFE, we sometimes run into a fork in the road. It is not like the fork you find on the dinner table, though; usually this fork requires a decision. It is a place where we have to make a choice.

Sometimes choices are not as clear as we would like them to be. In fact, in most cases, the choices are very difficult. What has been discovered is that the road less traveled might just be the right road to take. Sometimes we have to take risk, we have to pave a new way. In some cases, it is for our best that we go down the road that is less traveled. It could possibly be a road that has some potholes and maybe a rickety old bridge that needs to be crossed. But, what we might discover could be greater than anything we ever imagined.

So next time you are confronted with a fork in the road in your life, check out the two paths. Just don’t always pick the one that looks like the best path. It might look and be “easy” but it may take you to “no where”! Trust God; He will lead you the right way on the right path.

Pastor Randy

“Lead me Lord, I will follow. Lead me Lord, I will go. You have called me, I will answer. Lead me Lord, I will go.”

THE PRICE OF SUCCESS…..

What is it that brings one person success in life, and mediocrity or failure to others? It can’t be mental capacity. There is not the difference in our mental abilities that is indicated by the difference in our performance. The answer is, some succeed because they cheerfully pay the price of success while others, though they claim ambition and desire to succeed, are unwilling to pay that price.

THE PRICE OF SUCCESS IS….
1. To use all your courage to force yourself to concentrate on the problem in hand; to think of it deeply and constantly; to study it from all angles; and plan ahead.

2. To have a high and sustained determination to achieve what you plan to accomplish, not only when conditions are favorable to its accomplishment, but in spite of all adverse circumstances that may arise.

3. To refuse to believe that there are circumstances sufficiently strong to defeat you in the accomplishment of your purpose. Hard? Of course it is! That’s why so many never reach for success, they yield instead to the siren call of the rut and remain on the beaten path that is for beaten people. Nothing of note has ever been achieved without constant endeavor, some pain, and ceaseless application of the lash of ambition.
THAT’S THE PRICE OF SUCCESS… Everyone should ask themselves: Shall I accept the uneasy and inadequate contentment that comes with mediocrity? Or am I willing to endure the pain of this struggle for the rewards and glory that come with achievement? Author unknown.

Pastor Randy

Pass This Along Today…

New Life Family:

There was a lady driving from the South Texas Retreat that tool place a few weeks ago. She saw a man walking down the road. The Lord told her to stop and pick him up. She hesitated because of the world that we live in, and the dangers in picking up strangers. The Lord spoke to her again, and told her to stop and pick up that man. She did. The man climbed in and sat on the back seat of her car. The first words out of his mouth were, “Gabriel has the trumpet to his lips. The Lord’s coming is soon!”

The lady was so overcome with excitement as they both conversed about the coming of the Lord, so much so…that she was speeding unknowingly. An officer came up behind her and pulled her over. She began to tell hem that she didn’t realize that she was speeding, but she and the man in the back seat were talking about the coming of the Lord, and she became so excited that she lost track of how fast she was going. The officer looked in the back seat, and no one was there. No door had been opened. The man had simply disappeared.

The lady then told the officer, “I promise you…someone was in that back seat, and we were having a conversation!” He replied, “I believe you, ma’am. You are the eighth person who has repeated this story, so I know that it has to be true.” The lady went home all excited. The LORD is speaking to His people.

I’m passing this on just as it came to me. I am just the messenger…take it and do with this info what God, in prayer, would have you to do! We know He will return someday. Could it be sooner than we think? WRD