Doing God's work, one step at a time

Has anyone ever told you that you have a big mouth? Some probably more than others I would imagine. I get told that all the time. Ryan, you have such a big mouth!!! Not necessarily a big mouth in the way of telling secrets, but, man, I’m just plain loud. I like to make my presence known! You know when you go out to eat, you’re sitting there quietly with your spouse having a pleasant conversation; ok so really you’ve got the kids with you and their being really loud. But then all of the sudden, the hostess seats someone 3 tables over and it’s a guy who’s talking louder than all of the other people in the restaurant combined, including the kids! Chances are that guy was probably me…I know I’m loud, I’m working on it! But in all seriousness, how many times do you see people like that? They’re all over, laughing and carrying on conversations that you can’t help but overhear about John and Susie’s relationship, what sport his kid excels at, or how crummy his job is. Today, it’s the idea of ...

I know...you're thinking it too...what in the world is going on? It always seems stereotypical for the preachers and religious zealots to proclaim the end is here. Well, I'm not quite suggesting it is HERE...I am saying it's NEAR. No matter whether you're a dispensation premillenialist, pretribulationist or an amillenialist, we all agree on something. Someday, however it happens, Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Well my friends, I say the end is near. After the recent events in Japan, I believe that what I've been saying for a while now is reality. The events that happen in the world; wars, famines, earthquakes, tsunami's, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, temperatures, weather extremes, all of that stuff will get worse until Christ comes again. Yeah, there have been death tolls higher in the past...but the quakes weren't this strong. New Orleans was devastated by Katrina by a category 3...not the strongest, but hey, look at the after...

{This was a post from my current class "Dynamics of Evangelism and Missions." I wrote this in response to the question "Discuss how the 2 Great Commandments and the Great Commission intertwine with each other." I am choosing to post this response to the question because it is something that we need to hear. Not just non-believers, but believers as well. For me, this was painful to write because I fail here too...May God help us to be bold in sharing Jesus.} If all of God's commands flow down into 2 Great Commandments, Love God and Love others, then the Great Commission has to be involved somewhere. I mean, how can we profess to love God and love others if we don't share the Gospel? I love how Bowland said on page 22 of "Making Disciples", "After all, it is the Great COMMISSION, not the Great SUGGESTION." I immediately thought, oh no...he didn't just say that. Well, um, yes, he did. I had to laugh...but the truth is, I laughed because ...

If I were to say the word renovate, what would you think of? Expensive? Lots of work? A pain? Worth it, not worth it? New cabinets, fresh paint, new carpet, new bathroom…remodel…I know what I think of. Two years ago when my mother-in-law did some renovations on her house, I was involved in the process. She had to have a new roof put on and some work done in a back room of the house. It then reminded me of some years back when I was a kid and my parents wanted to renovate the basement into a good living space. We started with the game room, did the frames for the walls, but that was about all the further we went. It stayed that way for a while; well, it depends on what you consider a “while” to be…in this case a “while” was about 11 or 12 years. Yeah. But once it got done, WOW!! It looked really good. It was definitely worth all of the hard work and wait. Renovating houses are a huge undertaking. It seems as if it were a onetime thing or even a once every so often. But really we tend to...

Here we are! It’s the final week and I was not sure what to leave you guys on, but as I was reading through my daily devotion, John seemed to point something out. In John 2:1-11, Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding. For so long I have wondered why is this event so important. I mean, what is the significance of this not only in their world then, but our world today! I mean, agriculturally, water is turned into wine on a yearly basis at the wineries. But still, there is more to it. I’ve titled today’s sermon “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”…I know, grammatically incorrect as it is, (it is driving me nuts too by the way), there is something to be said for that phrase in this Scripture. When we hire babysitters for our girls, we always warn them ahead of time about Hannah and her unusual ability constantly to stay moving and talking. As weird as it is, the first time she is with a new sitter or person, she is quiet, reserved and rather well behaved. I reme...

(Disclaimer to those not of the OSBC congregation: If you are reading this sermon, it is a little different than my normal. This week I got news that my Interim Ministry is coming to a close and I have two weeks left. I had a sermon series planned, but I am changing it due to this fact. God directed me this week to preach on this Scripture to the OSBC congregation for the change that is ahead. It is very specific to them and if there are parts you do not understand I apologize! Thank you for reading and we'll be back to normal soon!) I have to apologize before I begin, because I am deviating from the plan. We had some fun with that this past weekend at the “Souper Bowl” Supper. You had to be there to get that joke! This week I was going to continue on our trek on “The Life of Christ: The Temptation”, but I got a phone call this week saying a candidate had been chosen and God led me to a different set of sermons for the last two weeks I preach. Right now I am in the class Acts. It i...

From the time Jesus was born until he reached the age of 30, not a single word was spoken of his childhood, except for the story we read and looked at last week. What happened to the first 30 years of his life? Were they not important? What happened? Well, we know that shortly after Jesus was born, Herod issued the decree, which prompted God to tell Joseph to take Jesus and Mary westward to Egypt for safety. They did come back, but by the time we see Jesus again, he has aged to 30, Joseph is nowhere to be found, and he is appearing before John the Baptist in order to be baptized. Today, we are going to look at the circumstances and event of Jesus baptism. Before we go further, let’s read Matthew 3:13-17. 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. ...