Children…Part 3

This Sunday I will be talking about PARENTING…not because I am a know it all on the subject or have the best parenting skills…I am doing this for all of our benefit… My message will touch on pretty much all arenas of parenting…so I hope that you can make it!!! I will look at what the Bible has to say on the subject not what Rodney has to say…

I will get the chance after 11.09.07 to parent all three of my children for 14 days…My wife is going on a mission trip and I will be Mr. Mom for a little while…I have already asked our small group and anyone else that can feed us to please take care of us!!! I will probably have some more posts on this subject during the time that my wife is gone…really we are going to be fine!

My encouragement today is for all of us to hang in there for our children…they really need us no matter what the say…they desire our supervision and guidance…It is on us to figure out how to properly apply it and allow them to understand what is best for them. This may sound like an easy out or a cop-out but one of the best things that we can do is PRAY for our children and allow God to intervene in their circumstances…that is it for the night…if you have not already you really need to check out my wife Renee’s Blog it has really been good lately…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Quick Post…

I will officially start posting again tomorrow. I have had major computer problems among other things the last five days…so I have not been able to post. I will start back tomorrow though…

My weekend was awesome…FRIDAY…PC Bears won and that puts us in a tie for 2nd place in our region…SATURDAY…GA DAWGS won and that puts them at #10 in the nation…and the highest ranked 2 loss team…GO DAWGS…SUNDAY…another spectacular  service at CROSSWAY…thanks to all of the teams and leaders for all of the hard work…Blessings to all…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

More on Children…

I left you with…Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. I believe the key word here is TRAIN! I love to workout and have for many years…but one thing that I know about physical fitness is you have to be disciplined to TRAIN! It is not easy getting up early or taking the time out of our busy schedules daily to stay in shape but if you are going to stay in shape you have to TRAIN! It is the same with our children.

The cool thing about how God set this up though is that we are the trainer and they are the trainees. Two days a week I go to a cycle class that is led by a trainer…these two days are easier for me than the other 3 days of the week where I am training myself. It is the same with our children God gave them to us to train…specifically to train them up in the ways of the Lord! First things first, if we are going to train then we must be following the Lord…I would not allow someone to train me in the gym who was not fit or at least training as hard as I am to stay fit!

So parents let’s set the example for our children…let’s be good trainers. Jesus set the example for His disciples and they in turn did the same…we need this kind of passion in training our children…Training is HARD work!!! Training involves discipline, endurance and stamina…God does not quit on us and we cannot quit on our children! If we are going to see them succeed we must stay focused and make wise choices and decisions along the way. Just like in physical training where individuals need different things to assist them in weight loss or building muscle all of our children will need different styles and techniques to train them in life skills.

I close with this…do not give up…TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN…You will see results it just might take a while. Do not fall prey to the gimmicks of this world because most of the time there are no quick fixes…it is just like physical training…we pace ourselves at a marathon pace not at a sprinters pace and the results last for a lifetime…Blessings until tomorrow…we will talk more about our children!!!

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Children…Part 1

We are in a series currently on Sunday mornings called “The Functional Family”…this past Sunday we talked about HONOR…So I thought for a couple of days I would talk about children. The neat thing about the message on Sunday was that we talked about honoring God, honoring parents, parents honoring children, and people honoring one another. I think a lot of the time we tend to be good at honoring God…we desire to honor our parents…but when we as the parent have to honor our kids we struggle somewhat… I am no expert on this subject but I have been married for 19 years and I have 3 kids ages 15, 13, and 8… When I talk about honoring kids I am not talking about bowing down to all of their wishes and commands or anything goofy or not Biblical. I am talking about honoring them as human beings, like God says to do…Matthew 7:12 (NLT) “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets”….let me explain…

There are times where our children have to do what we ask because we said so and that is it…those are the times where we know what is best for them and it could possibly be a life or death issue…disobedience is never an option though and it should be corrected as soon as possible…but remember…reward in public and rebuke in private… Try to never embarrass your child in public; you would not want God to do that to you…would you? Remember (Matthew 7:12) even when you are dealing with your kids. Psalm 127:3 (NIV) Sons are a heritage from the Lord. Children are a reward from Him. It should be an honor for us to have our children and get the opportunity to raise them not a burden. At least that is how I believe that God sees it. So what am I saying in all of this…be thankful that God has given you your children, be thankful that they are healthy and see them as a blessing not a burden. Remember the scripture says…Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. I believe the word train is the key word in this scripture…we will talk more about this tonight but….Training is hard work!!!

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Words from the Weekend…

Just a few words…it is late I am tired and bored with the presidential debate…

• The PCHS Bears and WCHS Gators both won Friday Night…
• My son Aaron killed his biggest deer ever yesterday…an 8 point …Go AARON!!!
• I made the quickest shopping trip ever to Jacksonville FL yesterday…we had to buy my oldest daughter a dress for homecoming this weekend…she found it in the first store that they went into…wow!!!
• It was an awesome service at Crossway this morning…Renee and I are positive that we serve the best church in Southeast GA!!!
• Jimmy Johnson won at Martinsville Speedway this afternoon…
• The DAWGS were off yesterday…
• We had a very in depth and conversational small group this evening…it was a lot of fun and fellowship!!!

Hope that you have a great evening and Monday…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

My Thoughts…

I do this from time to time…but here are some tid-bits of things that are going on with me and the family right now…

• If you have not already you need to check out my wife’s blog…reneethrift.wordpress.com…it is awesome!!!
• Our new series “The Functional Family” kicked off with a bang last Sunday and we are expecting the same this week…we will look at HONORING one another…you do not want to miss it!!!
• Do not forget to keep inviting people to our services Crossway Family…
• USF lost tonight I was really pulling for them…
• Hunting season starts around here on Saturday…I hope my son gets a BIG deer…
• The PC BEARS are playing out of town tomorrow night hopefully we will be 6-1 after the game…GO BEARS… WC Gators play at home…it should be an awesome game…GO GATORS … not sure about the BC Herons…
• This week flew by but I am glad that tomorrow is Friday…
• Be Jesus to someone over the weekend…remember we are His hands, feet and mouthpiece…do not be afraid to be a witness…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

It is just LIFE…

I have come to realize over the last few years that a lot of things and or stuff that we deal with on a daily or weekly basis is just LIFE…for example…I had a meeting this morning at 10:00 am that I had scheduled for 1:00 pm…what do you do get mad and pitch a tizzy because someone messed up when we planned the meeting? I do not think so…all that will do is make your blood pressure go up and stress your heart, brain, lungs and every other major organ in your body out…it is just life…

This afternoon I got a call that Renee’s  grandmother’s washing machine went out and there was water in it and it was stinking up the whole house…what do you do with that? My schedule was already set for the afternoon and evening…I had an appointment and then prayer at 7:00 pm. What do you do? You call one of your friends and see if he will do life with you after prayer to take care of your widowed grandmother-in-law…it is just life…nobody is to blame for a washing machine going out but it needs to be out of the house…besides the scripture mandates us to take care of widows and orphans…Thanks Brian V. for being such a great friend!!!

I said all of this to say…sometimes I believe if we will settle down and “stop and smell the roses” God will give us awesome opportunities to be blessed and be a blessing to others. In leadership we would say “walk through the crowd slowly” in other words people  matter to God and they should matter to us…nothing is more important than  ministering to the people that God brings into your life everyday…it is just life…I challenge you this week to slow down and look for the people that God brings into your life to be a blessing to…you will be amazed!!! Settle down this week and let the peace of God rule and reign in your life…after all it is just life…make the most of it!

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Amazing…

I want to just say thanks to all of the volunteers and leaders for making yesterday an AMAZING Sunday…because of all that you do 3 people reconnected to Jesus and got back on the JOURNEY with a whole heart…what an AMAZING God that we serve!!!

In the “church world” we use this term a lot…amazing grace, amazing God, amazing service and on and on the story goes…The word really means…inspiring awe or admiration or wonder…There is no doubt in my mind that the God I serve is amazing. One of the ways that I know this is because he uses someone like me to minister for Him!!! Now that ladies and gentlemen is amazing…week in and week out He totally amazes me with how He never gives up on people and His love for humanity is magnanimous…slowly but surely after 18 years of serving this AMAZING GOD I am beginning to catch a glimpse of His heart for us…

I was asked recently in a pastors meeting what my favorite scripture was…well I have many but the one that I cannot get enough of is Luke 19:10 (NIV) For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.”  This was Jesus’ purpose and it is my mission! Maybe it can be better translated like this…Win the LOST at any COST…or Make the name of Jesus famous again…because we live in a society where His name is not famous or amazing and Hollywood and sports figures are leading the way…What about turning on the nightly news and amazing things about Jesus are the top story and then everything else follows…this is reformation…this is what I am looking forward to…these are things that are stirring in me as I start this week…count how many times amazing or any variation of the word was used…Did you do it? Are you wondering why I used the same word over and over? I am just getting us ready for heaven…the angels and the 4 living creatures never quit singing holy…read Revelation 4:8 you will get the picture! Have a great day…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Friday and Saturday…

Just a quick update…

• Pierce County Bears won Friday night 14-0…Go Bears!!! Ware County Gators and Brantley County Herons won as well…Go Gators and Herons!!!
• DAWGS!!!…pulled off a sweet win against Vanderbilt with 0 seconds on the clock…
• Jeff Gordon won in Charlotte tonight…he looks like the man to beat in the chase!!!

Thought I would let you know how things settled out on the weekend…hope to see ya at church tomorrow…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

New Series…

Sorry for not posting yesterday but it was a bit hectic between church business, a sick child, a child on homecoming court and Wednesday night church….BUT…We are very excited about our new series starting this coming Sunday…it is a family series that we are calling the DisFunctional Family!!! We will explore interesting things about relationships, family, friends, finances, attitudes and many other issues that we face daily as a family in Southeast GA…you will not want to miss this series…every week we will be looking at Biblical concepts on relationships!!!

It is Thursday again and that means we are only one day away from Friday Night High School football in South GA…we are are facing another tough opponent and our guys are really going to have to play with their A game…I will let you know how it turns out!!! The DAWGS are coming off of a big loss and they must step it up to be able to contend for anything in the SEC; they play Vanderbilt in Nasville..NASCAR will be @ Martinsville in two weeks…woo-hoo you gotta love them short tracks!!!

I think you might here from me again this evening…

Until all have heard,

Rodney