Disciple

Time to Go!

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Those of you who know me well, are aware that I get really excited about helping equip other leaders. I’ve had people spend hours upon hours pouring their wisdom and knowledge into me to develop my ability to lead and to develop other leaders. I’ve worked for organizations that have sent me around the country to help hone my leadership ability and spend tens of thousands of dollars doing it. I’ve embraced the ability that God has gifted me to lead and to develop others. I have been able to use my ability in corporate and consulting settings on and off for years now. However I get a genuine thrill in using my gifting to develop God’s Kingdom! Whether it be one on one or in group settings, this is where I feel empowered and needed.

My calling in ministry has been to help Him equip and develop leaders and teams to be prepared to grow His kingdom. So far, it has been something that I could do without leaving the country. I have developed friends and contacts globally through technology and of course have been involved in the local Church in the Charleston area and the Tampa area. I have never been “called” to go on a foreign mission trip. Well that has changed this year. For those of who don’t know, we have been attending Baylife Church in Brandon Florida for about 2 ½ years now. We have developed a strong core community here. Earlier this year I was approached about joining a very small mission team to go to Uganda. My first reaction was that I have close friends, which have become my family, who do great things in Uganda so if I was supposed to go it would be with them. A week or so later I got the details of the trip and immediately I knew that it was my time to step out of my comfort zone and go to Uganda in June and July. This trip is another step in the path that God has been leading me on for years.

I now have the opportunity to travel to Uganda and help train and teach a large group of African pastors. The trip is through Baylife and is partnering with ALARM. This area of Africa has had decades of war, famine, genocide and great humanitarian need. ALARM is an acronym for African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministry and they are doing just that! They are developing leaders and bringing the churches of east Africa together to function as The Church. You can check out their ministry here https://alarm-inc.org/

So, I leave at the end of June and I am desperately seeking your prayers! Our team will be teaching 50-60 pastors and we are diligently preparing to fulfill God’s Will. We are asking for prayers of obedience, direction, protection and an open heart so that we may be available for God to work through us in this ministry. I would love to know that I can count on your for prayer, so please reach out and send me an email rusty408@gmail.com so that I can keep you up to date personally on the preparation progress and also update you throughout the trip. This isn’t a call to help fund my trip, I will be covering the cost of my travel. However, part of our fundraising is to help subsidize the many African pastor’s travel costs for their week of training. If you would like to read more about my trip through Baylife or if you would like to help fund the travel expenses for the local leaders and pastors, you can follow this link https://fcsmnstry.io/2k/0jcs7L

Thanks for taking the time to read my long thoughts! Check back regularly here, I will be updating the blog to help keep everyone informed and to share the truly miraculous events that God has in store for this adventure!

Acts 1:7-8

If I asked you who you are

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If I asked you who you are, how would you answer? Are you defined by your profession? Are you single or married? Are you a wife, husband, mother or father? Are you defined by your hobby or activities? Are you a sports fanatic, a hunter, a cook, a writer or a gardener? Are you short or tall? Blonde or brunette? Christian, Muslim or atheist? The list goes on and on. The answer can be some, all or none of these things, but that is not who you are. Too often we are defined and identified by things in our life that are only a small part of who we are. In our highly “technologically” connected society, we are sometimes known more for what we are against than who we are. Our political affiliations, our heritage, our afflictions, our issues and our opinions are all more visible to others than the person that we are. We wear these like a badge, ready to debate and hate when the opportunity arises. We should take a stand on things that affect us and we can control, but we cannot let them define who we are.

I have to love everyone and accept the fact that some people are going to disagree with me on almost everything. I also have to remember that I can still love them even if we disagree. Social media and the news media have polarized us into thinking that everything needs to be a fight. I have fought enough over stupid things in my life and I am over that. I still may disagree and offer an opposing viewpoint because honest discussion and debate are still valuable tools for growth. I can’t place my identity in any of these things. If they identify me then I lose who I am! My identity comes from one place, that I am a child of God. Jesus never said we would have it easy. In fact he said we would be persecuted and face many trials. God loves us too much to leave us as we are. He will continue to grow us into who we need to be, but my true identity was established long ago on a cross.

1 John 3:1-3

Love them??

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I can think back over my life and make a list of 3 or 4 people that I never would like to see again. I am at the point in my life where I no longer wish for them to burst into flames. I just would not like to be reminded of the situations that caused these feelings. I forgave them years ago and I wish them well. However, do I love them? Wait a minute, love them, do I have to? Forgiving was fairly easy over time. Forgetting is more difficult. Loving them would take more grace than I alone have. Most of these people live 400 or more miles away from me, so I don’t have to deal with them on a regular basis. What about people that we deal with daily? Maybe there is someone at work that we just don’t see eye to eye with. We all have a neighbor that we could live without. There is a grumpy, rude, unpleasant individual that works at store where I buy lunch. I don’t really have anything to forgive these types for but, do I love these people?

In Matthew 5:43-44 Jesus says to love them and pray for them! Ok, now I have to love them and pray for them? Not just the people we don’t want to be around, but our enemies also. Just for the record Jesus doesn’t mean that we pray for their brakes to fail or anything like that. But wait….there is more. Proverbs 25: 21-22 says that I have to feed and give my enemies water. Now I have to feed him and give them water also? We not only have to do this but we have to do this with a pure heart. We have to want to do it. Wait for it….there is more! Leviticus 19:18 says some stuff about not seeking revenge or holding a grudge. OK, so we have to forgive them, love them, pray for them, feed them, give them water and do this without holding a grudge???? And we have to do this because we want to not because we have to????

No problem (sarcasm)! I said earlier that loving them would take more grace than I had alone. I need to pray for myself also. Pray that my own pride, resentment, selfish issues be moved out of the way or better yet taken away. I will never do this perfectly. I’m so thankful that God forgives me, loves me, talks with me, feeds me, gives me water, doesn’t seek revenge, doesn’t hold a grudge and does it all because he wants to!

John 15:12

Love Had to be Patient

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Our relationships through life are a huge part of who we are. Usually, we don’t consciously think about what we are learning from them. We spend our lives around people and that creates our environment. We are a product of our environment. Everything from our mannerisms to our interests are usually influenced by the people around us. We respond to situations and make decisions based on how we have seen others do the same. We have emotions and feelings when we are born; the people around us are the ones that teach us how to deal with them. We can be taught the proper way of reacting to our emotions or to allow them to do harm to ourselves or others. Also we can miss the benefit that they can bring to us and the people around us.

I can’t imagine going through life without being loved and loving others. I’m one of the lucky ones. I have people in my life that love me and taught me to love. My parents, grandparents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all showed me how to love in their own unique way. Today most of those people are still teaching me how to love and are joined by my wife, kids and new friends. God showed me His love long before I was ever born by saving me from myself! Love is a divine gift that we benefit from. 1 Corinthians defines love in verses 13:4-7. My mother is one of the most unselfish, loving, kind hearted people I have ever met! If you used God’s definition of love as a check list for my mom…….

Love is patient

Love is kind  

Love is not jealous

Is not proud

Is not conceited

Does not act foolishly

Is not selfish

Is not easily provoked to anger

Keeps no record of wrongs

Takes no pleasure in unrighteousness

Rejoices in the truth; love bears all things

Believes all things

Hopes all things

Endures all things.

She doesn’t miss one on the list! I think she has those written down someplace and refers to it frequently. She shows me how awesome it is to be loved and to love others. She takes care of everyone in the family without hesitation or complaint. She has taken care of me, disciplined me, supported me, cried with me and laughed with me. She is beautiful inside and out. She puts everyone ahead of herself and always has. My mother is a constant in my life. We live 440 miles apart and only see each other in person 2 maybe 3 times a year, but I know she loves me and is there for me. Sorry I was and still am a hardheaded boy. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for me and everyone else. Most of all, thanks for loving me and showing me how to love others! Love you!

1 Corinthians 13:4-7    Psalms 22:6