Cleft of the Rock

A couple of weeks ago I paddled at my favorite lake, Hillsdale. On this trip I had a casual paddle around several coves and cliff-lined shoreline near the Marysville boat ramp. The water was calm and carp were sun-bathing in the shallows, while bass were jumping after their next meals. I didn't see, but I could hear deer in the woods near the shoreline. As I traveled along the cliffs along the shoreline, I noticed a duck sitting in a cleft of the rock. I immediately thought of Exodus 33:22. In the book of Exodus, Moses requested to see the glory of God. God counseled Moses to hide in the cleft of the rock, and then covered him with His hand as He passed by. Moses, of course, was never the same after having such a close encounter with the glory and presence of Jehovah God! The cleft of the rock is a very good place to dwell. In Scripture, Jesus is the Rock! We should hide ourselves in the cleft of the Rock! The duck hiding in the cleft of the rock that day reminded me of this Bible truth. I have included a picture of the duck in the cleft of the rock, and some other pictures from that same paddling trip.

The Life Changing Gospel of Jesus Christ

I am sitting in the Country Bean in Paola, KS enjoying a vanilla latte. This is usually where I write this bi-monthly blog. The temperature is about 70 degrees and the door is open allowing a refreshing cool breeze. I was thinking about the nature of the gospel of Christ and how it has changed the course of my life and many others that I know. I preached last Sunday on the text "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation..." I know that when I accepted Christ as a 16 year old in Kansas City, nothing has ever been the same. One cannot come face to face with the living God and it not affect their life in tremendous ways. I have never regretted coming to know the Lord many years ago. The gospel certainly transformed my life, and consequently the lives of my family and churches that I would pastor. I have been concerned with modern day believers, though, who seem content to live in defeat. With some, there seems to be no regard that they do not reflect the victorious power of the gospel by living with addictions, defeat, and sub-normal Christian living. I have determined to live in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verses such as "The people of God shall be strong and do exploits", and "God is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think" come to mind. I refuse to live a sub-normal, status quo, barely getting by, powerless, just enough, careless, apathetic, non-sacrificial, convenient kind of Christian life. With God's help, I want to live in the power of the gospel. Would you join me?

Hard Turns on the Road

As Jesus commissioned His disciples in Matthew ch. 10 to be His representatives and witnesses, He warned them that there would be some suffering and hard turns on the road. Jesus said that the disciple is not above His Master, and the servant is not above the Lord. As Jesus faced trials, hardship, adversity and problems, so would we. This has been a tough year for us personally, but, I have noticed that it has been a tough year for just about everybody in the church I pastor. Trials and heartache seem to be across the board. As pastor, I hurt when my sheep hurt. I wish I could just pray and all the hardship would be lifted. But, I know that if that were to happen, we would not learn the lessons that God wants us to learn. So, my prayer will be that God would go with us through the adversity to the other side. It is at times like these that the promises of God's Word become real and precious. Verses like, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Christ Jesus", and "There hath no temptation (test) taken you but such as is common to man...make a way of escape", and "When I am tried, I will come forth as gold". It is at times like these that we realize that when the Lord is all we have, we will find He is all we need. When we come to some hard turns on the road, let the Lord have the wheel.