Merry Christmas....
We are heading to Tulsa to celebrate Christmas with my parents this year....
I hope everybody has a Good Christmas...
Be Blessed and Encouraged...
Randy & Michelle... and the Boys!!!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Moving Soon...Into Our New Home!!!
Sorry for the late updates... We have been frozen in Time lately or so it seems...
Freezing rain....soon the snow is coming and we are closing on the house on the 27th of this month...
Here are some pictures...
Michelle's Truck...
Our Grass...
So you can see it's been cold around here...but we are doing fine!
Stay Encouraged!!
Randy...
Freezing rain....soon the snow is coming and we are closing on the house on the 27th of this month...
Here are some pictures...
Michelle's Truck...
Our Grass...
So you can see it's been cold around here...but we are doing fine!
Stay Encouraged!!
Randy...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
On the Death of a Preacher...
The word came the old man had died.
The young pastor called everybody who was connected with the church and planned the funeral for the Elder who had pioneered the work. The town wasn't large but everybody knew the Man of God who had been there for them even when they weren't in his church. He had shouldered the church when it cried and danced when they rejoiced. He had worked to support his family and the church family when the funds weren't there. He had picked up kids for Sunday School and went to funerals for family members that weren't coming to church. He had loaned money to those who suffered tragedy and never asked for a penny in return. He had cried with mothers and with fathers who had lost their kids both physically and spiritually. He had rejoiced with the young as they would fill the altars after receiving what he was given by God to preach. He had watched as the church grew from infancy to adulthood but soon he realized he couldn't keep the pace he had once kept. Time began to catch up to him and soon his mind and body told him he had to let it go and give it another. He had searched diligently and finally found the young man who could keep his burden alive.
Sixteen years later he died alone in a rest home for the elderly. After his fifth year there his beautiful wife of forty years of marriage had gone on to be with the Lord. When he had first got there the visitors seem to never end but then as time waned they slowly trickled down to one or two. Time was still unkind to him as he battled different sickness's and illness during his time there and he passed away into the night and was received into glory.
When he woke up he looked down at his gnarled twisted hands and saw that wrinkles that were once there were now smooth and supple as young man's hands. He saw the great light and entered in. He looked at the Kingdom of Heaven and was overwhelmed by what he was seeing. He felt ashamed because he felt like he didn't belong there. He knew he wasn't worthy to see such a place because he had always been a humble man. There was an angel standing nearby and the Man of God went over to him and told him,
"I don't belong here".
The Angel looked at the man and asked him, "Why"?
The Man of God said, "I didn't do enough and got old to soon. Some of my visions for God were never realized and some of the goals and dreams I had of doing for God what I could weren't met and the Church never really grew the way I had planned for it to"
The angel smiled a knowing smile and said, "Come here and let me show you something".
The Angel walked over to the door of heaven and opened it and said, "Look down there".
The Man of God walked over and looked out the door as the angel opened it.
He saw the Earth and it was beautiful, he saw the clouds and the oceans and the lands as it was spinning slowly.
The Angel said, "Just keep watching"
And as the Man of God watched a little point of light would flicker and shine bright like a star and then another would do the same and another. One, two, ten, one hundred, two thousand and they keep flickering until there were to just many to count.
The Man of God looked quizzically at the Angel and said, "They are flickering in every state and all over the globe why am I seeing this"?
The Angel looked back at the Man of God and said, "Do you remember Johnny Webb and Pete Thompson and Susan Willoughby"?
The Man of God answered,"Yes, they were Sunday School kids I picked up and brought to church and they received the Holy Ghost"
The Angel said, "Every light you see across the Earth is a person who was filled with the Holy Ghost birthed from your Ministry"
The Angel Continued, "Johnny, Pete and Susan went on to become ministers and teachers and are still winning souls for the Kingdom of God and they are just three of the lives among the hundreds you touched by your ministry and there are thousands of lights flickering because of your work for the Kingdom of God".
The Man of God fell to his knees there on the banks of Heaven and was overwhelmed for a moment. He looked up and told the Angel, "I had no idea, I was just working for the kingdom".
So many times we only see what we see and never realize that the lives we touch can affect the world. The work that we do for God while feeling may never rise to the level we would like for it to may reach farther than our life may ever know. So many times we feel like we not doing enough or we can't see those goals met and yet God uses what we do to reach farther than time will ever allow us to see. And while this story is just using some imagination I do believe that our ministry is greater than who we are and farther reaching than we could ever imagine.
Stay Humble before God do what you can for the Kingdom and let God do what He does best.
Just some thoughts....
Randy
The young pastor called everybody who was connected with the church and planned the funeral for the Elder who had pioneered the work. The town wasn't large but everybody knew the Man of God who had been there for them even when they weren't in his church. He had shouldered the church when it cried and danced when they rejoiced. He had worked to support his family and the church family when the funds weren't there. He had picked up kids for Sunday School and went to funerals for family members that weren't coming to church. He had loaned money to those who suffered tragedy and never asked for a penny in return. He had cried with mothers and with fathers who had lost their kids both physically and spiritually. He had rejoiced with the young as they would fill the altars after receiving what he was given by God to preach. He had watched as the church grew from infancy to adulthood but soon he realized he couldn't keep the pace he had once kept. Time began to catch up to him and soon his mind and body told him he had to let it go and give it another. He had searched diligently and finally found the young man who could keep his burden alive.
Sixteen years later he died alone in a rest home for the elderly. After his fifth year there his beautiful wife of forty years of marriage had gone on to be with the Lord. When he had first got there the visitors seem to never end but then as time waned they slowly trickled down to one or two. Time was still unkind to him as he battled different sickness's and illness during his time there and he passed away into the night and was received into glory.
When he woke up he looked down at his gnarled twisted hands and saw that wrinkles that were once there were now smooth and supple as young man's hands. He saw the great light and entered in. He looked at the Kingdom of Heaven and was overwhelmed by what he was seeing. He felt ashamed because he felt like he didn't belong there. He knew he wasn't worthy to see such a place because he had always been a humble man. There was an angel standing nearby and the Man of God went over to him and told him,
"I don't belong here".
The Angel looked at the man and asked him, "Why"?
The Man of God said, "I didn't do enough and got old to soon. Some of my visions for God were never realized and some of the goals and dreams I had of doing for God what I could weren't met and the Church never really grew the way I had planned for it to"
The angel smiled a knowing smile and said, "Come here and let me show you something".
The Angel walked over to the door of heaven and opened it and said, "Look down there".
The Man of God walked over and looked out the door as the angel opened it.
He saw the Earth and it was beautiful, he saw the clouds and the oceans and the lands as it was spinning slowly.
The Angel said, "Just keep watching"
And as the Man of God watched a little point of light would flicker and shine bright like a star and then another would do the same and another. One, two, ten, one hundred, two thousand and they keep flickering until there were to just many to count.
The Man of God looked quizzically at the Angel and said, "They are flickering in every state and all over the globe why am I seeing this"?
The Angel looked back at the Man of God and said, "Do you remember Johnny Webb and Pete Thompson and Susan Willoughby"?
The Man of God answered,"Yes, they were Sunday School kids I picked up and brought to church and they received the Holy Ghost"
The Angel said, "Every light you see across the Earth is a person who was filled with the Holy Ghost birthed from your Ministry"
The Angel Continued, "Johnny, Pete and Susan went on to become ministers and teachers and are still winning souls for the Kingdom of God and they are just three of the lives among the hundreds you touched by your ministry and there are thousands of lights flickering because of your work for the Kingdom of God".
The Man of God fell to his knees there on the banks of Heaven and was overwhelmed for a moment. He looked up and told the Angel, "I had no idea, I was just working for the kingdom".
So many times we only see what we see and never realize that the lives we touch can affect the world. The work that we do for God while feeling may never rise to the level we would like for it to may reach farther than our life may ever know. So many times we feel like we not doing enough or we can't see those goals met and yet God uses what we do to reach farther than time will ever allow us to see. And while this story is just using some imagination I do believe that our ministry is greater than who we are and farther reaching than we could ever imagine.
Stay Humble before God do what you can for the Kingdom and let God do what He does best.
Just some thoughts....
Randy
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Transition of Manhood....
Accepting responsibility is a big thing. Accepting responsibility when you are wrong is a greater thing. Responsibility is a heavy word we use when we are building people up and encouraging them to do better.
When a boy becomes a man at whatever age he begins to act responsible and accept responsibility. Sometimes it's not an easy thing to do, being responsible also means being accountable. So many times when trouble comes the easy way out is to blame others. Not accepting the responsibility that so often still falls on us. Many have capitalized blaming others so much until they are eaten up with bitterness and worry and have driven everybody else away.
It is human to make mistakes. Adam and Eve were born into a perfect world where there was peace and God communed with them daily. Walking together in the cool of the day with the Creator of the Universe and yet they were tempted and cast out because they made a mistake. Mistakes often times come with a heavy price tag. I've often wondered what God may have done if Adam instead of blaming Eve would have just accepted the responsibility of eating the forbidden fruit and apologized to God. But he didn't, he just blamed her and here we are.
I will tell you that God restored men through His great love for us. Complete forgiveness comes by repentance for the sins we have committed just by asking Him to forgive us. Accepting responsibility for our lives many times is the first step to overcoming whatever problems we may have.
Finding forgiveness in others often times is hard because our mistakes are farther reaching then we may think at the time. But if we do our part to accept responsibility and prove ourselves accountable to them then many times the relationship while not returning to what it may have been, can still be repaired enough to make it work.
The transition to Manhood often times is replete with mistakes and problems but complete when the boy understands he is responsible and the Man accepts that he is accountable. The transition is supposed to have mistakes and problems because without them we could not grow into what God wants us to be. Adversity while problematic and hard on us many times will shape us into who we are whether good or bad. That is what Life says. But there is a greater power than life at work in our lives and that is the Spirit of God. God will form us and shape us according to His will when we allow Him to work in our lives. He will not force himself on us but when we accept Him by receiving His Spirit into our heart and mind He goes to work and many times what life will try to destroy God will build a giant testimony of His Greatness through us so that our light shines before men in the darkness where they live.
Many have been made an overcomer or winner by allowing God to work through them by accepting the responsibility and growing into manhood versus retreating from it.
If today you are in the heat of a battle and you feel that you may not be winning it try accepting the responsibility for your life before God and repent of your sins and you will find yourself in transition from boyhood to manhood and let God do what God does best... Work in your Life today...
Just some thoughts... Be Encouraged....
Randy...
When a boy becomes a man at whatever age he begins to act responsible and accept responsibility. Sometimes it's not an easy thing to do, being responsible also means being accountable. So many times when trouble comes the easy way out is to blame others. Not accepting the responsibility that so often still falls on us. Many have capitalized blaming others so much until they are eaten up with bitterness and worry and have driven everybody else away.
It is human to make mistakes. Adam and Eve were born into a perfect world where there was peace and God communed with them daily. Walking together in the cool of the day with the Creator of the Universe and yet they were tempted and cast out because they made a mistake. Mistakes often times come with a heavy price tag. I've often wondered what God may have done if Adam instead of blaming Eve would have just accepted the responsibility of eating the forbidden fruit and apologized to God. But he didn't, he just blamed her and here we are.
I will tell you that God restored men through His great love for us. Complete forgiveness comes by repentance for the sins we have committed just by asking Him to forgive us. Accepting responsibility for our lives many times is the first step to overcoming whatever problems we may have.
Finding forgiveness in others often times is hard because our mistakes are farther reaching then we may think at the time. But if we do our part to accept responsibility and prove ourselves accountable to them then many times the relationship while not returning to what it may have been, can still be repaired enough to make it work.
The transition to Manhood often times is replete with mistakes and problems but complete when the boy understands he is responsible and the Man accepts that he is accountable. The transition is supposed to have mistakes and problems because without them we could not grow into what God wants us to be. Adversity while problematic and hard on us many times will shape us into who we are whether good or bad. That is what Life says. But there is a greater power than life at work in our lives and that is the Spirit of God. God will form us and shape us according to His will when we allow Him to work in our lives. He will not force himself on us but when we accept Him by receiving His Spirit into our heart and mind He goes to work and many times what life will try to destroy God will build a giant testimony of His Greatness through us so that our light shines before men in the darkness where they live.
Many have been made an overcomer or winner by allowing God to work through them by accepting the responsibility and growing into manhood versus retreating from it.
If today you are in the heat of a battle and you feel that you may not be winning it try accepting the responsibility for your life before God and repent of your sins and you will find yourself in transition from boyhood to manhood and let God do what God does best... Work in your Life today...
Just some thoughts... Be Encouraged....
Randy...
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