Are You Listening Now…

Mark 4:9 (NLT)…Then he said, “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!”… Mark 4:23-25 (NLT) ²³Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand! ²⁴And be sure to pay attention to what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand—and even more, besides. ²⁵To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them.”…

Jesus seemed pretty serious about listening…He listened to His Heavenly Father, but in these passages He encouraged us to listen as well. His topic was the Kingdom of God. What better topic to listen and learn about…Not only does He desire for us to listen and understand He says that if we do more will be given and if we do not knowledge will be taken away…

I want to be on the side that is learning all I can about the Kingdom of God…listening is important in everything that we do…when it comes to the Kingdom of the one we serve it seems to one of the vital keys to unlock some wonderful stuff…

More on listening tomorrow…have a good evening…

Listening Now,

Rodney

Listening Part 2…

Proverbs 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control…This is a listening scripture for me. If you were a city of old and you had broken down walls anyone could come in and take anything that they want. It is the same with us…when we lose self-control the enemy steals our peace, joy, love, gentleness, kindness, patience, faith, and goodness!!! This is besides what we do and how we treat others around us when we lose self-control.

Pray for self-control and allow the Holy Spirit to keep you in accountable every time you read this scripture…this should be a scripture that you try to memorize!!! It has really helped me a lot through the years. Listen when you read it and allow the Father to minister to you…have a good evening…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Listening…

Go for it!!! Just a word to all the volunteers at Crossway Church…what a day yesterday…yall made everything work smooth even in the midst of some chaos and problems with…the well, mic’s, monitors and some other things but you did it!!! Thanks and go ahead and pat yourself on the back…go ahead it is okay…

I know if you are not a part of the Crossway family you don’t even know what is going on and you want to know about listening…so here goes…We have all heard messages about listening from time to time! I believe that we just need to be reminded we have to listen in order to obey. I don’t know how it is around your house but I have 2 teenagers and an 8 year old (my baby turned 8 on Friday) and you know if they do not listen they will not obey…sometimes this can lead to trouble…you know what I mean…but the same is true for you and I…

If we do not listen when the Father is speaking…we could miss some very important points that He is trying to make. Do not tune Him out He is trying to help you, protect you, guard you, basically just take care of you. If Nehemiah had not listened to God with several of his decisions he would have placed a lot of people in danger…in Nehemiah 6:1-14 people were trying to tell him one thing but God was telling him something else…people were trying to distract him from his mission but as he listened God showed him the right thing to do…let us be like Nehemiah today and do the right thing…Listen…Listen…Listen…remember it takes patience to listen!

Listening,

Rodney 

We Won!!!

We did win last night 26-14!!! Not only did we win, but you can win too! Do not give up…do what the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”  We need to position ourselves to stand…remeber WE WIN!

Until all have heard,

Rodney

This is Thursday’s Blog…

Friday Night our high school football team is up against the toughest opponent that we have played yet…I was looking at all of this teams stats today and realized that they have really had a good season so far…but so have we…both teams are 3-0…both teams have high scoring offenses…and both teams have held their opponents well so far…they have not allowed any touchdowns and we have only allowed one. To say the least it is going to be awesome tomorrow night in Tattnall County as we face the Warriors…

So what does this have to do with you and me? Thanks for asking…My question today is who or what is your opponent? Ultimately our opponent as a Christian is satan…the devil…beelzubub…or if you are from the south…beelzububba…you knew it was coming you should have went ahead and laughed! Then there are several other opponents that we face daily like…our own selves…time…other people…our past and the list goes on and on…

Tomorrow night’s ballgame will be over in about 2 or 2.5 hours but our life goes on. Someone will win the ballgame and I will let you know who…but the things in our life seem to keep coming in day after day! What do we do? No…Really…What do we do? If you are on the grid-iron…football field for all of you non-sports fans…tomorrow night you will not give up until the last second of the 4th quarter…if you are in the game of life and especially if you are a Christian you should not give up until the last second of the 4th quarter…no matter what!!!

Why? Because unlike the game tomorrow night which we do not know who is going to win…in the end we win according to what God has told us in His Word! That is the beauty of the God that we serve…

How do we win now? Just a few things…Talk to God in prayer and sit and listen for Him to speak back to you…Read the Bible and listen for God to speak to you through what you are reading…allow other people who you trust to speak into every area of your life, especially areas that you are weak in…Get into a church that preaches and teaches the Word and dig in…do not just be a spectator be a participator…in other words be a servant…people need what you have to offer… and have faith and trust God! This is not an exhaustive list but maybe it will help you a little bit. No matter who wins tomorrow night…You are a winner!!! Do not allow any opponent to tell you any different!

Winning,

Rodney

This is Wednesday’s Blog…

We have been having problems with the internet at our home and I am 2 days behind on posting…We had an incredible service tonight with Pastor LA Joiner from New Covenant Church in Valdosta, GA. He spoke on church government and the New Testament model of the 5 Fold Ministry Gifts out of Ephesians…I am so grateful for his knowledge and experience on this subject…again if you missed me saying it the first time it was awesome…If you are in the Crossway family and missed Wednesday night we will have you a copy of the message ready on Sunday.

I am even more excited about Sunday’s message (Do Not OPEN Til Christmas) now because some of the material he covered tonight I will be able to use as a catalyst then. I hope that you are ready for Sunday…come expecting, because it will definitely be different.  God bless you and have a good evening…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

All of Your HEART…

In my early morning spin class we had one of the hardest workouts that we have had in awhile…As we were working out a couple of times I almost got to where I felt like my heart was going to explode…Like…not in a bad way but it was a saying that we always used in the military when we were training hard…It really meant I am giving it my everything and I know in the long run it will be good for me…my thoughts exactly this morning…

Matthew 22:37…Jesus is questioned about which is the greatest commandment…His reply…”Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.”…Much like the spin class this morning…I want my walk with Jesus to be so passionate as I love Him with ALL of my heart, mind and soul that I will be ready to explode with His presence in everything that I do!!! I believe that all in this statement means all…Father give me the power to live with an exploding heart all of the time!!!

Have a good evening,

Rodney

Wonderful…

The last 2 days have been wonderful…Our Sunday service was awesome…thank you Heavenly Father for showing up and ministering to people in our church…I personally want to thank all of our leaders for doing such an outstanding job all day long…I know I say it alot but you guys truly are wonderful!!! Thanks for all of the hard work! Having Forrest Gump show up in our service was a little different but you never know who might come to our service…always be prepared!

I had a meeting in Valdosta, GA today with lots of friends in the ministry…it was wonderful…Our time together was very anointed and meaningful with a lot of good truths on how to minister to the culture we are living in. I am so grateful to have such wisdom that we can lean on as we push forward with the mandate that God has for us in this area of the nation…Thanks to my spiritual father LA Joiner, and his Papa in the Lord…Ken Sumrall…I am grateful for their covering and all of the other ministers that we serve with in accomplishing this great mission…the Great Commission!!! It really has been wonderful these last two days!!!

A very big thank you goes out to our wonderful staff for staying so late with Renee’ and I tonight…we appreciate all of you standing with us in this hour of history…Count how many times I said wonderful…have a good evening!

Doing Wonderful,

Rodney

Who Am I?

I realized after looking over some of my posts that I really have never established much about myself…So I thought that I might put some info out about me…

• I Love Jesus with a passion that is unquenchable except by Him!

• I am married and have been happily for 19 years!

• I Love spending time with my wife!

• I have 3 wonderful children…I enjoy being with them and learning from them…

• I like hanging out with my friends…

• I enjoy being with people and meeting new people…I never meet a stranger.

• My wife and I pastor Crossway Church, www.crosswaychurch.com in Blackshear GA…

• I enjoy being a local Life-Giving pastor…

• I was born and raised in Waycross, GA…

• I spent 10 years in the US ARMY…

• I really like to workout and stay fit…

• I am a NASCAR fan!

• I am a High School Football fan…GO BEARS!

• I like college Football…GO DAWGS!

• I LOVE to read books on…Bible, Leadership, Revival, History, Culture, being Relevant…just to name a few.

• I cannot sing or play an instument but I love to worship!

• I am very excited about the new series that we are in at church…”Thinking Inside and Outside the Box”…Crossway family please invite someone this week…they will love it.

Just a few of the important people in my life along with some of my interests and hobbies…hope that you have a great evening…I enjoyed my SPIN class today!

Until all have heard,

Rodney

A Father’s Heart…

I come away amazed day after day as I read the writings of the Apostle Paul. Truly he had a Father’s Heart. Tonight in our men’s Bible study group we started studying the book of Philippians….Just a little background…This book expounds on having JOY no matter what your circumstances are…There are 16 references to the word joy in these 4 short chapters. …”Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (4:4)Joy in suffering, serving, and giving. What amazes me the most is that he is in chains as he pens this.

This letter was penned approxiamately 10 years after his first visit there…but his father’s heart is so evident as he writes…he is so thankful for the much needed gift that this church had sown into their spiritual dad…

I would encourage you to read these 4 chapters slowly and out loud in order to get the full effect of his heart as he pours into this group of people…the part I like most is his concern for Euodia and Syntyche dealing with unity. A true father desires unity for his children…I know I do with my 3 children…These 2 women were great assets to spreading the good news in Phillipi and he wanted them unified for the sake of being able to represent Christ well. I believe we could all learn from his heart for unity in this province. The Apostle Paul truly had the Heavenly Father’s heart in mind! That’s enough for tonight…hope you like the new face of my blog!

Trying to have a Father’s Heart,

Rodney