In the Footsteps of Jesus

A Hard Pill to Swallow

2009-11-05T13:32:00.000-05:00

To grow in Christ, we must look closely at ourselves and see what we really are. The problem with that…it’s a hard pill to swallow. We don’t like what we see, and therefore excuse away the problems. We try hard to justify the things we do wrong. We try and hide our sins under a rug, not realizing that others can see the lump in the middle of that rug. They might not know what the problem really is, but a problem is evident in the person’s life. It’s a visible lump in our rug. As it’s been said, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” And my take on this is, live your life as if someone is always watching, because He is. Hard enough pill to swallow?

Rodney

How Do I Study the Bible?

2009-11-03T12:48:00.004-05:00

First let me say...while reading the Bible, a text with no context is pretext. When you read a verse, ensure that you read those verses around it, thereby understanding the passage and the context in which the verse is used. Misinterpretation is usually the product of singling out a verse from within a passage and making an interpretation out of context. This is why Inductive Bible Study is my favorite method of study.

Inductive Bible Study is to Observe, Interpret, and then Apply what’s learned. Here’s the plain English version…

First off...Surround your Bible study in prayer, and allow for a two way communication between you and God...leave your self open to His word.

Read a FULL passage and take note of the following (some example questions):

Observe

a. When was it written, around what year?
b. Who was it written to, or who was it written for?
c. What are the key words in the passage?
d. What is the main subject of the passage?

Interpret – How would someone from that time period interpret what was written?

Apply – How does it apply to you?

Like I said, this is a very basic explanation of Inductive Bible Study, for more information go to: http://www.intothyword.org/pages.asp?pageid=53489

Also, make sure you document (write down) everything from Observation thru Application.

Rodney

IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT!

2009-09-14T12:03:00.002-04:00

Proverbs 1:10-19 (NIV)

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul;
12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

When I read this passage, it made me think about when I first got my son started in BMX racing. We’d go to the track to practice, and I constantly had to fight with him about keeping his helmet on. He used to use the excuse, “The other kids aren’t wearing them.” Which is an excuse, not just used by kids, it’s an excuse that adults use as well. The hardest concept for him to understand was, “Just because a lot of people are doing something wrong doesn’t make it right, it makes a whole lot of people wrong.” And we have to ask, are we going to be wrong with them, or are we willing to be strong enough to do the right thing even in the face of ridicule and the possibility of loosing friends? The truth is, we can easily make new friends…and if they would lead you astray are they really your friends to begin with?

When we take this passage, and keep it in mind as we read the New Testament, we notice something amazing about Jesus. Living, eating and drinking amongst sinners, Jesus never once sinned, even though he was faced with temptation. Jesus is the prime example of being in the world, but being not of the world.

Rodney

A Sad Day for the Body

2009-08-28T08:00:00.003-04:00

I grew-up as an ELCA Lutheran, as did my father and my grandfather. Matter of fact, my grandfather was baptized in the same church that he has been a member of for more than eighty, yes...that's correct, more than 80 years...St. James Lutheran Church in Holland, Indiana. However, his hart is now broken, along with a mojority of those that are perishoners in the ELCA. As the clergy have cast aside the Scripture to apeise the world. And for those that would say that "Times have changed." understand, God does not. And for those that say that it was an Old Testement issue, and that the New Testement takes away the law, read Matthew 5:17-20

17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Pray for the ELCA.

Rodney

God Disciplines Those That Are His

2009-05-20T08:20:00.002-04:00

I had an interesting evening last night. We went to BMX practice, and everything was going great! As I was sitting on the starting hill, resting with my helmet off, I decided to do an easy lap…so I didn’t feel that my helmet was necessary. (HA!) This became a wonderful opportunity for God, our Father, to teach me a good lesson…and he did. The one time that I went with-out the required safety gear, I went down hard, and face first. I give him thanks for not messing me up to bad, I have a small sand burn on my chin and cheek…it could have been a lot worse. So, when we are doing something wrong, and we get caught, in trouble or hurt…remember, God does love you, and He wants the best for you. And sometimes…we need disciplined to learn our lessons.

At the Gates

2009-03-24T07:27:00.005-04:00

While sitting at the gates for a race, we sit there thinking through every hill, every table-top, and every turn. We run the start through our heads making sure that our bodies will react with precision and every ounce of skill that we possess. The amount of concentration taking place at the starting gate is so thick you can smell it. And when that gate drops we push with every spark of energy we have to make the best run of our lives. On the other hand, we wake up in the morning, take our showers, eat breakfast and get dressed for work, with very little enthusiasm. When we get to work, we approach it with distaste and mediocrity. We slowly push ourselves through our day trying to utilize as little energy as we can get away with. When we get home we straiten up the house and plop our selves down in front of the Television for an evening of slacking off, only moving from our Lazy-Boy to refill our glass of tea…and even that takes weighing our options.

The questions: Which way do we approach our relationship with Jesus and the path that he places before us? Do we approach it the way we approach the big race, with excitement and our absolute best? Or do we approach it with a slothful dislike as we approach a job that we really don’t want to do? Think on it.

Rodney

Getting Back on Target

2009-03-20T07:48:00.000-04:00

For the last few post, I’ve been off the target for this blog…I’ve become very passionate about the ADA Tour de Cure and BMX4C. Which by the way…we hit our $1000.00 goal for the Tour de Cure! Okay…back on target…

The purpose of this blog is to answer the questions, “Why do Christians…?” There’s several ways that this question can end, and I’ll make sure that my next post hit’s the blog’s mark. Thanks.

Rodney

Coming Soon...BMX4C!

2009-03-15T19:48:00.001-04:00

I’ll be starting a new Blog very soon. Don’t worry; I’ll still be posting on this one. We got some great news the other day. J and I have started BMX racing…yes at 35 (almost 36) years of age…I’ve started BMX racing. J will be racing, and I figured, if I’m at the track all day with him, I might as well be racing. ANYWAY...back to the point of this blog entry.
We’ll be starting a BMX Racing Ministry…and it was J’s idea! We’ll be providing bikes, helmets, jersey’s, gloves and NBL Licensing fees for 10 – 20 Kids in low income families or foster care. On a whim, I sent an email to SE Bike Company (BMX Bike Manufacture) to see if they would be interested in participating. In less the 24 hours I got a call from SE’s local area representative, not only do they want to help, but they are very excited about the project! It’s so amazing, how God opens doors for us when we are following His will! I’ve started putting together a lot of what we need, the Board of Directors, By-laws, Name copy right, 501C3…BMX4C is hitting the ground running (errr…Biking). We’ll still need prayer support, so one of the biggest ways people can help right now, is keep praying for BMX4C to be a success! I’ll be putting together a BMX4C website and blog very soon, so you’ll be able to track our ministry progress. I’ll try to get some pictures next weekend from the track with J and I. See y’all later! Go to: www.bmx4c.com

Rodney

WinterJam

2009-02-25T12:33:00.004-05:00

We took our youth to Winterjam this last Sunday night and the 13 year old boy that my wife and I are adopting got to go. It became a very profound night for him, as Tony Nolan shared his story, a story of living in foster care and adoption. J didn't really talk about it, but you could tell by the look on his face during the story that he was deeply affected. I'm glad that he got to see that Children from the system can succeed in life.

Link: Winterjam09

Rodney

American Diabetes Association: Tour de Cure

2009-02-13T09:37:00.004-05:00

I know this one is a bit off from the purpose of this blog, however…

I recently accepted the challenge (with Cyclist for Christ) of cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. The Tour is a ride, not a race; it features different route lengths from a family-friendly 10-mile course to a challenging 100-mile journey. We’re doing the full 100 miles! I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

I am asking you to help by supporting my fund-raising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 23 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and over 57 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes.

It's fast and easy to support this great cause - you can make your donation online by clicking HERE to support me.

Any amount, great or small, helps in the fight against this deadly disease. I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. If you want to do even more to help, please consider joining me in this great event. Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes.

To go to the Cyclist for Christ page click HERE.

More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs and diabetes in general can be found at the Association's Web site: http://www.diabetes.org/

For more information on Tour de Cure, please visit www.diabetes.org/tour.

Thanks!

Rodney

India

2009-01-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

Remember to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in India.

Rodney

God's Time

2009-01-27T13:31:00.001-05:00

My wife and I have been in the adoption process for the last 13-14 months. We’ve been trying to adopt an older child who’s been in the system for over 2 years. And to bring things to light I’ll give you some nation wide numbers to chew on that I got from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, Administration for Children and Families:

In Foster Care: 510,000 Children
Goal for Adoption: 117,380 Children
Actually Adopted: 50,379 Children

Those numbers are right here in the United States. When you look at those numbers, you wonder, why does the adoption process can take so long? We have become a Fast Food and internet nation, we want everything to be done “RIGHT NOW!” We want everything at our fingertips with no delays from the time we push the button to the action that we are requesting. However, with adoption, you can’t be like that. If you jump at the first child that comes across, you may have settled for a child that has more problems then you can handle.

Through this process, my wife and I have learned what it really means to wait…and wait…and…uhm…wait. We’ve had to accept that we needed God to bring us the child that he wants for us. Sometimes we just have to let thing happen in God’s time, not ours.

Rodney

The Flying V

2009-01-26T09:44:00.004-05:00

I started cycling not to long ago to keep in shape. A friend of mine asked me to join in on a Saturday group ride, which I wasn’t sure I’d be ready for. I had been Mountain Biking; however, the idea of riding 30 plus miles worried me. I didn’t feel that I’d be able to keep up with the group. Saturday came…my anxiety level was a little high, as had stated…I was a little worried about keeping up. We started the ride, and it wasn’t log before I discovered that I was barely pedaling. We had formed into a line and I began to understand that the man in front was pulling everyone else along…like the geese flying south for the winter in their well known “Flying V”. When the lead rider would get tiered, he would drop out and file back in line at the rear to get pulled along by the group and a new leader would take his place keeping the same pace. When we got done with the ride, I was shocked…I could of done another thirty miles.

A few days later, I figured I’d ride my bike to work. It was 18.7 miles and mostly flat. The weather was looking good with no real wind to speak of, so I thought I’d give it a shot. What I didn’t count on was how hard those 18.7 miles were going to be without the group. I made it to work, but my legs were spent, and I did it at about three quarters of the pace. WOW! Major difference!

The same can be said for our walk as Christians. There is this overwhelming dislike for Churches (Organized Religion, as some would call it) amongst people that call themselves believers. The number of unchurched Christians is staggering. But how are they really doing with their walk? Who is helping them stay accountable? And who is rejuvenating them when they get spiritually tired? And who helps them through the tough times when the devil tries to turn their lives upside-down? It’s said that a coal that falls far from the fire only burns half as long. Hmmm…..

After my experience with cycling…I’d much rather ride in a group...spiritually...then by my self anyday.

A Little More on Adoption

2009-01-21T13:22:00.003-05:00

If you’ve ever thought about adoption of an older child, you need to consider the way we treat God and His adoption of us. When a child is introduced into your home, at first there might be a lot of, or an appearance of extreme joy from the child. There’s this fairy-tale vision of how things will be in a family, as if, they will get what ever their little heart desires…a dream world…a fantasy, that there’ll never be another problem. But as normality set’s in, the children take on a different type of behavior. We start to see the self centeredness, and start to get some rebellion, or maybe a better explanation, complacency to the house rules. They seem to loose interest in the family. Now, this is not about every child in an adoptive home, but simply some.

The same can be said about our adoption by God. When we first become Christians, we are so excited! We are beaming with Joy! Then as time goes on, we become complacent with or try to reinterpret God’s house rules, we become rebellious and fight change. We forget about the grace, God’s Grace that allowed us to be adopted in the first place. We forget that God did not owe us anything and we start treating God as if he does. God does not owe us anything, but he gives to us simply because he loves us, just as we give to our children out of love.

Rodney

2008-11-19T12:51:00.003-05:00

Last night, my wonderful wife fixed me. I have this custom cyclocross bike that has no decals on it, so I thought it would be cool to order a custom made decal set to make it even more so an original. The decals that I ordered said, “INSANITY ELITE” for the bottom tube, and “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” for the top tube, and Man, I thought this was going to be cool. After I told my wife what I ordered, she calmly looked at me and asked, “So, how does that forward the cause of Christ?” I stood there with my mouth open, but nothing could come out. She was right, it didn’t do anything for the cause of Christ, and it didn’t bare good witness. My decal set has been canceled and re-ordered to say, “Live4Christ” for the bottom tube and, “Jesus Freak” for the top tube.

We must always remember that what we do reflects back on Christ…and can either move forward or backward His cause. So, do you want to be a help or a hindrance to the cause of Christ?

His Will

2008-09-24T11:21:00.002-04:00

We paint this picture in our minds. We get it all set-up in our heads, how everything is supposed to go…and then poof…everything is upside-down and all wrong, well, according to us. We get so wrapped-up in the idea that God is in control, but when He doesn’t do it the way we think it should be done, we get angry or just confused. We start asking, “Why, God?” and “Isn’t this what you wanted me to do?” But we forget, “In His way” and “In His time.” We forget that He has a plan, and though we might not understand it, it is His plan. We need to stay the course and stay faithful to God’s will, that is where we belong…in His will.

Rise and Shine!!!!!

2008-07-31T08:22:00.003-04:00

“If a man loudly blesses his neighbor in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.” - Proverbs 27:14

Need I say more?

Rodney

Jammed Airwaves

2008-07-02T11:08:00.001-04:00

My back’s been hurt fairly bad for a little while now, and I’ve had to kind’a step back from a lot of my (Physical) activities. This has lead me to having more time to think about what’s really important…Time with God. It’s amazing how we’ve surrounded ourselves with stuff, not just possessions, but entertainment. How much time do we spend in front of the TV? How much time do we spend listening to music? How much time do we spend at the gym with head phones on? How much time do we spend with our brains clouded with stuff???

Psalm 37:7 states, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” and Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still, and know that I am God” How is it then that we can fill our lives with so much noise, and then complain that we cannot hear God’s voice in our lives? It’s like a man that while he’s lighting up a cigarette, asking God to help him quit smoking. If we block out his voice with all of this stuff, we’re not going to hear him. We try and justify the noise, “Well, it’s Christian Music that I listen to!” Great, but have you taken the time to be still before the Lord? “But I only watch CBN!” Great, but have you taken time to be quiet and listen to God? I think there is a big reason that people before the industrial age were able to hear God’s calling more clearly then we do now. We all HAVE TO BE ENTERTAINED at all times in our life.

I’m just as guilty as the next man with this. It wasn’t until my wife made a comment about my new cell phone that I realized how drawn to entertainment I was. I just got a new Phone that had all kinds of media options that included Cellular Video (CV). It’s a cool phone, I can now watch Video TV anywhere…or is it cool? Have I been so distracted? Have I been off the mark? YES, I have. Not so cool anymore. I’ve also started (and not all the time, mind you, but most of the time) turning my radio off in my car when I go to and from work…Time with God. When I mow the lawn, I don’t where head phones anymore…Time with God. I try to keep the TV off as long as I can when I get home from work…Time with God. I’m not saying that everyone needs to do as I do, but the clarity in my life is getting so much better. When the airwaves aren’t jumbled, that single whispering wave, the Spirit of God can be heard. Stop and listen.

Rodney

Why do Christians… (Part 1)

2008-06-18T09:44:00.003-04:00

…believe in the Six Day Creation Theory?

In the book of Genesis, when the statement is made, “God created the…” The Hebrew word for “created” that is used literally means “created from nothing” or “Spoken into existence” which understandingly is a hard thing to swallow when it comes to critical thinking. However, when you add in that God is an all powerful God, meaning infinite in power and ability, we have to take away all physical boundaries that we as humans have. In other words, He speaks and it happens or it exists. The other way of thinking on Gods infinite Power, is by understanding that our level of or our ability to understand is limited due to a maximum brain capacity. If for example, you take a business card, and say that the business card represents the maximum level of understanding of the smartest and wisest man in the world; God’s level of understanding in comparison is the size of the universe. So, trying to figure out how God creates something from nothing is like an army ant trying to figure out space travel. This doesn’t mean that a Christian doesn’t use critical thinking. We are inquisitive, we do ask questions like, “Wow, God, how did you do that?!” And though God may not give us the how, through the Bible and Prayer, we can find out the one question that Science (which may someday give us the how) can never answer, “Why?” We believe in the six day creation, not because we've given up on critical thinking; we believe in the six day creation because that is were critical thinking has lead us, to an all powerful God.

Rodney

Answering Their Questions

2008-06-17T13:48:00.000-04:00

It’s interesting to me how we as Christians treat the Non-Christian and their questions. We sometimes forget that some of the people that we are talking to were not raised in the Church. They don’t have a solid foundation in anything spiritual. So, how do we reach them in a manor that is not overwhelming or pushy in it’s approach? Let’s get real folks; we often come off as raving loons that try to cram Christ down their throats with very little thought of the big picture. Then when they tell us to get out of their face, we take offence, brush the dust off or feet and leave, thinking that we’ve planted a seed…well, not so much.

The Non-Christian mind doesn’t think the way you and I do. Matter of fact, most Non-Christians think that you are trying to get them to go to YOUR specific church, which in some cases (not all)…GUILTY AS CHARGED! As much as you are trying to lead people to Christ, if there is an underlying attempt to get them into your Church, you’ll more often then not, loose them and quick. You might ask, “How do you know this?” Because I was one of them; I was an adult Non-Christian that couldn’t stand to have people invite me to THEIR Church. It was always, “Come to our Church and see! Our pastor will…blah, blah, blah.” At that point I was lost. I didn’t need to hear how their pastor was going to answer questions…I needed Christ in my life!

The question you need to ask yourself is; are you leading people to Christ because you care about their salvation, or because you’re trying to fill pews at your local church? If you’re trying to fill pews…you’re on the wrong path. You have to care about their salvation…you have to LOVE people, which is why Paul told us that love was the greatest gift of the Spirit; without love all others are useless. Now, don’t get me wrong, bring a friend to Church to help lead them to Christ is not an over-all bad idea, but you might want to call the pastor first and see what the sermon is going to be about. There’s nothing that turns a non-believer off more then a good deep sermon on the evils of drinking or living a sinful lifestyle. It’s better for them to hear a “Good News” Sermon; how about giving them the salvation story first.

Other things that need to be thought about are the ways in which we approach the non-believer. If I give the non-believer the idea that I want him/her to change their way of thinking RIGHT NOW! They’re lost; they become unreceptive to anything that I’m telling them from that point on. However, I’ve found that simple discussions on topics like, “Here’s why Christians believe what they believe.” Or, “Here’s why Christians try so hard to convert other people to Christianity.” Or, “Here’s why Christians believe their way is the only way.” Tell it in a manor of, “Here’s our point of view,” not, “You should believe what I’m saying because….” This usually brings on a multitude of questions from the non-believer…which is not a bad thing. If they’re asking questions, they want to know who Jesus is…they’re seeking.

When the non-believer starts asking you questions, always start out with, “If I can’t answer a question, I’ll find it and get back to you.” You don’t have to be a PHD to tell someone what Jesus has done in your life. You just have to know where to find the answers.

Tell people why we believe, tell them about what he has done in your life, and most of all tell people that we love them.

Rodney

The Joy Thief

2008-06-02T20:59:00.002-04:00

"However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." - 1 Peter 4:16 (NIV)

For the last two weeks I’ve been working the swing shift at work (3:00pm – 2:00am). I found out tonight that I was going to have to come in at 6:00am tomorrow morning and be here all day then through my normal swing shift. So in laymen’s terms, I’ll get home tonight at 2:00am, have to be back to work at 6:00am (that’ll be after only 3 hours of sleep) and then work from 6:00am until 2:00am and then finally get to go home. So, on three hours of sleep I’ll have to work a twenty hour work day.

Anyway, I was getting a bit down about the whole ordeal, and I’ll have to admit a bit irritable, when I realized, being angry was not helping my situation one bit. Why should I let my boss’s steal my joy?

Some times things get hard and out of our control. We cannot let these things get us down, because that’s when the devil get’s to us. When we become angry and irritable, we become quick to speak and slow to listen. We become defensive and sometimes down-right mean, and letting our frustrations out on others is bad for the Christian witness.

This can be a hard thing for a lot of Christians to get through, and why is that? Part of the reason, we don’t spend enough time praising God in the good times. If we never praise him in the good times, how will we remember to praise him in the bad? This is a question that we all need to ask ourselves, “Have I thanked God today for loving me and giving me the gift of salvation?” Thank God every day for giving you another day to achieve the purpose that he called each and every one of us to, being his children.

Rodney

Older Child Adoption

2008-05-30T16:49:00.003-04:00

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” - James 1:27

In the U.S. alone there are thousands of Children living in foster homes and group homes that now qualify for adoption. I will be the first to tell you, that they do arrive with emotional issues, separation anxiety, learning disabilities and some physical disabilities. These children have been neglected, physically abused, emotionally abused and even sexually abused, most by the very people that brought them into the world. Allowing these children to grow to adulthood as wards of the state, without a forever family is troubling. Here lately in the news we’ve heard a couple big cases where some of these children were even being abused in there foster homes, this is due to the lack of availability of proper homes for these children. We as Christians have a responsibility to lend a helping hand, either as foster parents or adoptive parents.

Nikki and I looked to the guest room that spent most of it’s time unused and made a decision that, not only was it time for us to have a child, but it was time for us to answer God’s calling to, “look after orphans” as James wrote in his epistle. We started the adoption process approximately nine months ago and we are only a few weeks away from our son, J coming to live with us on a permanent basis! It’s very exciting, and the transition period is going much smoother and taking less time then his therapist and social worker thought. There is a true anointing from God on this adoption which has been an amazing and exciting experience! I had originally had doubts, doubts about myself; would I be able to love an adopted child as my own? Will I be able to handle a child with emotional/anger issues? Will I make a good dad? The answer to all three of these questions is, “yes.” All I had to do is place all of these doubts at the feet of Jesus, and how he has blessed us. J volunteered (all on his own) to pray at dinner time last Monday night. He has changed from a little boy trying to act tuff into a little boy.

These Children need our help, even if it’s one child at a time. Are you willing to open a place in your home? Are you willing to open a place in your heart? Please, be a part of the healing process for these children. Help turn their wounds into beauty marks.

Rodney

Reasons

2008-05-28T18:09:00.014-04:00

This first entry is very special to me, it's the reason why I decided to start this Blog and it’s something that is very near and dear to my heart. It’s about misunderstanding, and it’s about reason…our reason, the Christian reason for spreading the Gospel, the reason for spreading the Good News. And I cannot forget, it’s the reason behind telling the lost the truth about Heaven and the truth about Hell; the truth about salvation and the truth about condemnation.

The Canoe Trip

Two men decide to go down river in a canoe for a fishing trip. Nether of the men knew anything about the river they were about to embark on, but they figured, “What could go wrong?” they were just going on a fishing drift. As they were floating down the river they were catching a multitude of catfish, and were having the time of their lives, not recognizing that the water was moving faster. An experienced river guide spots these men from shore and decides to…

Now, let’s say you’re that experienced river guide on shore, and you know that there’s a 75 foot waterfall approximately 500 yards down river, what do you do?

a) Yell out and warn the men to come to shore, that there’s a vicious waterfall ahead.
b) Just pray for them, that somehow God will miraculously lead them safely ashore.
c) Do nothing; I wouldn’t want to stop there fun.
d) Do nothing; they’re not hurting anyone but themselves.
e) Do nothing; they may not like me anymore if I interfere with they’re lives.
f) Do nothing; if they were stupid enough to go on the river with no experience, they deserve what they get.

Now ask yourself, which of those answers shows the most love for the men in the canoe? The sad thing is, we “Do nothing” everyday with our friends and family that are headed down a river toward Hell, simply because we don’t want to offend them, they’re not hurting anyone but themselves, or we wouldn’t want to stop their fun. Sometimes we just opt to just pray for them and other then that still do nothing.

I personally would rather offend someone telling them about Jesus, because I love them, then their blood being on my hands because I decided to do nothing.

True followers of Christ love lost people enough, to take action and tell them about Christ Jesus. We love them enough to tell them the truth about Heaven and Hell; we love them enough to tell them about Salvation and Condemnation; we love them enough to tell them we love them.

Rodney

Biblical References For This Post:

1. Matthew 5:43-48
2. Matthew 10:14-16
3. Matthew 28:18-20
4. Mark 16:15-16
5. Acts 20:25-27