How can I say no?

This is such a simple question and one usually used when attempting to be compassionate. You come an old man asking for help opening a door, how can you say no? You walk past a homeless woman who sincerely looks in need of something to eat, how can you say no? You see a cute little Girl Scout selling chocolate mint cookies, how can you say no? OK, maybe the last one has to do more with your sweet tooth than anything else!

For close to 21 of the 24 years that I have been on this earth, I have lived for myself. While in those years, I have yielded my wants and desires to help others plenty of times, my main focus was satisfying me. I lived for myself and only for myself. When you are a selfish person, you tend to think you are anything BUT selfish. I was truly a selfish person. I still struggle with this today, but it is amazing the difference a few years can make.

I have had people ask me the following questions:
· Why would you want to move back to Selma?
· Why would you want to work at a church when you could be making more money somewhere else and not working on Sunday?
· Why? Why? Why?

My overwhelming response is, how can I say no even if I wanted to?

Many times in my 24 years of existence as a human being, I have more than tried to ruin my life. At one point, I was on a direct course for the destruction of my life. For people on the outside looking in, I was nothing more than an irresponsible, immature boy, who acted like most others my age. To them I wasn’t an angel, but I surely wasn’t the devil either.

Inside of me was a different story completely. My heart had become hard and black. I treated my parents and friends badly, but nothing compared to the way I treated my physical and emotional well-being.

In my darkest of times, when I knew I could go on no further, that is when it happened. Jesus had given me life so many years ago to only watch me completely throw it away. He was always there, always calling, always encouraging….all of His words seemed to fall on deaf ears. And now, at the culmination of my selfish life where I did nothing but throw away the gift He so preciously bought for me, He was there. He did not show up with a spirit of condemnation, but one of acceptance and compassion. Exactly like the father of the lost son (Luke 15), He came running to greet me with a hug and a kiss. He had reached out to me in the darkness of my life and had come to MY RESCUE!

He has been, is, and will always be “my Rescuer.”

How can I possibly say no to anything He asks of me?

Orphans

What did I learn from spending two weeks living with orphans?

I learned that you can be spoiled even when you have nothing. You can believe that everyone should give you a handout at every turn. I saw how someone can feel sorry for themselves and believe that they will not have to do anything to earn accomplishments.

I learned to not take everything for granted, even the small things. Work, hard work, is required for success in this world, whether you are in school, playing sports, working, or maintaining a family. No one is going to give you everything you need. You have to have the will power to go out and get it.

I learned to not waste time on yesterday, not worry about tomorrow, and to spend time making the most of today. Live each day to the fullest and not spend it as just a necessary time before tomorrow.

I learned to examine myself and ask, “What is the desire of my heart for this life?”

James 4:13-17 – Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Maybe I am not encouraged by the fact that I am “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” But this is the exact reason why I should be making the most out of my days. I only have a finite number of days in an infinite world of God’s. This is all the more reason to be striving to do His will every day of my life. There is not time to waste. There is not time to sit on the sidelines when I can be on the field playing.

Days 4, 5, & 6

We arrived home this afternoon about 2:30. One stop for lunch and it did not take long to get home at all. I finally got home after returning the van to find my house had no power, what a lovely surprise! It's all good now, I have power.

Starting Wednesday, this was our prayer: Pray for us, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. - Colossians 4:3

Wednesday - We had a little trouble getting up and getting moving but we still arrived at New Covenant at 8:35. It felt like quite a hot day and later we found out it was a record high for New Orleans (104 degrees!). After returning to the hotel for lunch, we headed downtown to Jackson Square. As soon as we finished walking the French Market, a huge rainstorm showed up. What better time than to hit up Cafe Du Monde for some beignets. We walked around Jackson Square and ended with taking a carriage ride. Six guys in a carriage is always a lovely sight... Tower of Pizza in Metairie was the supper choice, followed of course by Coldstone Creamery.

Thursday - Once again, there was trouble waking up and loading the van. Arrived at New Covenant at 8:40. It was our last day with the kids so we made sure to spend time giving extra attention to every child we could. We really enjoyed singing the songs they taught us (I Am A Promise, Christ In My Vessel, Oh Soldier, & If You Can't Hear Me Singing Down There). Pastor Chip and the ladies of the church presented us with a framed certificate of appreciation for the work we did. After lunch, we visited Harbor Ministries. It was an awesome ministry that works with all the seafarers that travel in and out of New Orleans. Ice cream/sorbet from Sucre on Magazine Street,after offending some lady by parking on the bricks, was a perfect snack to hold us over until supper. New Orleans Hamburgers & Seafood was a great choice for supper. They give everyone free vanilla soft-serve (second ice cream of the day). After worship and having a sharing time with our group, you guessed it, we hit up Baskin-Robbins.

Friday - We ate breakfast by 8:00 and loaded up the van and headed home.

Thank you to everyone that has been keeping up with us and praying for us. Your prayers were most definitely felt. I ask you to keep New Covenant Community Family Church and the New Orleans area in your prayers.

Day 3

Had a good morning of working Sports Camp with the kids at New Covenant. After lunch, we decided everyone had enough sun for the day, so took it easy at the hotel in order to gain back some of our energy. This was nice but also led to everyone not wanting to go to sleep last night.

Ate supper at Acme Oyster House, followed by some riding around while checking out boats and houses near the lake, ending with the all-important Ben & Jerry's, before heading back to the hotel for group worship last night.

One more thing, the late night Krisy Kreme run succeeded in bagging us 5 dozen donuts of assorted variety....in other words, no one is starving!

Day 1 & 2

We arrived here safely yesterday around 4:30, checked into the hotel, ate a good supper at Deanie's, and had orientation at 9:00.

I drank my first coke in 4 months at Deanie's. It was somewhat of a let down.

Today, we ate breakfast together and were in the van rolling out of the parking lot at 7:33 AM. That is quite impressive for our group!

We traveled to New Covenant Family Church in Harvey to help with Sports Camp.

This afternoon we did a little sightseeing and then ate supper at my cousin's house followed by going to a couple of innings of a softball game.

NOLA

This Sunday, June 21, I will be headed to New Orleans with a van load of people and suitcases.

We will be working with New Covenant Family Church in Harvey, LA. They run a Sports Camp every summer for kids. We have been blessed to be able to work with them this summer in ministry towards these kids. We will be playing different sports with them along with helping them with some academic tasks.

There are 12 of us making the trip. Cora Smith, Trent Smith, Kasey Green, Alena Bearden, Heather Thomas, Sterling Etheredge, Hain Beers, Hunter Henson, MaCain Levins, Ashley Palmer, Evelyn Stewart. Please keep us in your prayers this week. Pray for safety and more importantly for us to be willing for God to use us in anyway He wants.

I will attempt to update this while we are down there, no promises though.

ARM Walk

Alabama Rural Ministries has been walking across the state the last two weeks to raise money for their ministry. They mostly help people repair homes that otherwise could not afford it. A couple of them are walking 111 miles in hopes of raising $111,000. It is an awesome cause and truly wonderful people that are working towards it.

ARM stopped in Selma this past weekend. Some Church Street UMC members along with the Jr High Youth of First UMC Daphne joined the walk as they entered Selma. It was exciting to see about 50 people walking across the bridge for such a great cause.

On Saturday, 702 Church Street began the morning as an absolute jungle and turned into only something of an unkept yard (which is saying a lot!). I will try to get some pictures of the before/during/after.

Thank you to the ARM staff and volunteers, First UMC Daphne Youth, Church Street UMC members, and everyone else that came out and supported this cause.

Picture: First UMC Daphne & Church Street UMC Youth gather infront of City Hall with the ARM walkers after arriving in Selma.

Check out pictures here: http://www.churchstreetumcselma.org/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=64&g2_itemId=1252

And the other picture is proof that I actually looked like I was working if nothing else...

Time = the one thing we can never get back.

My life has consisted of a lot of periods of waiting. I waited in 10th grade to turn 16. I waited junior year to become a senior. I waited senior year to get out of Selma. I waited freshmen year to get football tickets. I waited senior year of college to get out of studying, writing papers, and taking finals.

It seems that I have spent a majority of my life waiting for the next thing. I have always had OLD people tell me, “Grow where you are planted.” That always seemed like an excuse to do nothing and not seek the adventure beyond where I currently am.

I know that God has provided for me throughout my life, and He continues to every day. Where I have been in my life and where I am now is not a mistake. It is not like God has a “Rand dart” and blindly threw it at a map and I happened to be where I am right now.

To be completely honest, I have struggled at times wondering what the next step is. I find myself spending too much time making plans for my future while I know that God is up there looking down with a huge grin on His face. “That’s an interesting idea Rand, but it doesn’t even touch what I have in store for you.”

The time is now. It is not next month, next week, even tomorrow.

God has kindly reminded me that now is not an accident. Now is what it is all about. If I sit idly by while the now passes me by, I have accomplished nothing.

Will there be times that I have to walk away from situations and more importantly people that I care deeply about? Possibly. I do not know and using time, precious time, to think about the possible scenarios now is doing nothing but wasting time. God has brought me this far, I trust that He will carry me through.

It is my time.

It is time to become the Church.

Church – noun – a building for public Christian worship (according to dictionary.com)

Yes, the church is a building, but is that all?

Most people will agree that the body of believers in Christ is the church, and not the actual bricks and mortar.

Now let us go beyond the entity of the church and bring about the church that was created by a Man. Jesus started the church with 12 ragtag fellows. Seriously, they were fishermen and one was a tax collector. They were not scholastic geniuses or prodigies of a great musician or political leader. These guys were ordinary men. Jesus did not hang out with the rulers and powerful people when He was ministering on earth, rather he spent his time with the normal folks. This fact gets me excited and it should get you excited too! In summary, he invested his life into leading regular people just like you and me. Twelve, unimportant, every day laborers, were the founding members of a body that has grown to 2 BILLION!!!

If you have read this and are still saying, “So what? That doesn’t mean that God can or will use me in any special way.” Here is a verse that gets me pumped up.

James 5:17 – Elijah was a man just like us.

Go check out Elijah if you need some encouragement.

Ephesians 5:29-30 – After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church, for we are members of his body.

How can we take the church to the world?

This sounds like a complex question that will take many essays or several books to answer completely. BUT, the beauty of this possibly complicated question is found in the simplicity of the answer. If we, as disciples of Jesus, were able to love others as He first loved us, this world would be amazing. Now, I said the answer was easy, I never said carrying out the answer would be painless.

First, we have to be able to accept love in order to give love. Stay with me here, Jesus has paid the ultimate cost for you in an act of unadulterated, pure love. If you cannot receive the love that He has paid so dearly to give you, you cannot provide it to others. You are not able to give something that you do not have.

This is harder than it seems on the surface. The world has whispered a lie in your ear for as long as you have been a Christian. You are told, “You are nothing but a wretched, good for nothing, pitiful sinner that is only going to be saved after your death because some guy had mercy on you.” While we are sinners saved by grace, that is not it! God isn’t throwing a pity party for us! He is rejoicing in His children! This isn’t a heavenly guilt trip, it’s a “you are stinking amazing and wait til you see the plans I have for your life” event!

If we are to love one another as ourselves, we must first love ourselves!
Also, we live in a world that encourages us to put ourselves first, then others a distant second. Everywhere you look, you are influenced to take care of yourself foremost before you even consider other people.
Putting others before ourselves is a daily activity, not something that can be done one afternoon then forgotten.

Luke 9:23 – Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Each and every day we must take up our cross and deny ourselves. Not every Sunday, but EVERY DAY!

I challenge you to put others before yourself for a week. Make a conscious effort to put yourself second and see what affect you have on the people around you. You do this and YOU will be the church.

Stay strong and stay in the Word. Give it all you’ve got, it will pay off in the end.

Wake Up!

I was reading a book this morning and something that has weighed on my heart lately made me put down the book and write this. I have come to the realization, that for me, I am in the midst of a great battle but at times acting in such a way as if it didn’t exist.

Ephesians 6:12 – For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We dismiss distractions and disappointments as, “that’s just life.” Most of us have been raised to believe that life isn’t fair, and in all honesty, it isn’t. This is more than the fairness of life. We cannot fight an enemy we cannot see. There is nothing more frightening to Satan than someone who is truly living a life for Christ. He runs in fear at the very mention of God’s name. The devil will stop at nothing to attempt to derail your God-given mission. He will attack from every conceivable angle. There will be attacks at your job and school, from your friends and family, and in your self-worth. The people and things you most deeply care about are fertile grounds for seeds of self-doubt and disappointment to be planted. I bring this to your attention not to scare you, but to make sure you are not living in ignorance of the fight surrounding you.

Jesus spoke of “turning the other cheek,” but the Bible also tells us of fighting.

1 Timothy 6:11-12 – Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.

Yes, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and they need to be upheld, but we seem to be missing the point. I believe God’s greatest commandment that we in large part ignore is, Enjoy your God (I can write a whole entry about this and will eventually).

We quietly sit on the sidelines while inwardly we are being beaten down by the world around us. We idly watch as we are defeated and become a shell of the man or woman God created us to be. We turn a blind eye to the suffering around us and write it off as bad luck.

We take so much time to feel sorry for ourselves. Disappointment, sadness, and fear, causes our hearts to become hardened. We build walls around our hearts in order to protect them. The fear keeps us from letting God’s joy in, or our true selves out.

Fighting is not a defensive strategy, but an offensive one.

It is time to get off the bench, stop straddling the fence and stand up and fight for our life.

It is time to start ENJOYING YOUR GOD!

Fitting the mold

I have been giving this subject some thought lately. Does the church or Christian culture at times force people to believe they have fit a certain mold?

I think things are better now days than they used to be. There might still be the stereotype of Christians as being Bible carrying nerds who only enjoy Bible studies and Sunday School sessions. They only listen to gospel music and never laugh at funny jokes or watch great TV shows.

Going beyond stereotypes, have you ever experienced being at a revival, conference, retreat, etc. and it seems like everyone is experiencing God except you? Have you left that weekend on a “spiritual high” and came home and struggled mightily while it looks like everyone else is easily gliding through this new lifestyle?

I know that I have been there. I have personally come home and went through the exact same steps they did and I sure couldn’t have the same results.

I will call this the “Mama’s recipe phenomenon.” Allow me to explain. My mom is known for her baking skills. She is always baking things for holidays, birthdays, funerals, and just for no other reason at all than to fill the freezer at my house when she runs out of room in her own. She’s always prepared for the unexpected need for baked goods. Many people enjoy her goodies and look forward to receiving them throughout the year. Mama isn’t like head chef that closely guards her family heirloom recipes. I have witnessed her on many occasions give out her recipes and even give advice on how to prepare each dish. I have also witnessed on many occasions these same people come back and say they have done exactly what she has said, yet their food does not taste nearly as good as Mama’s. Now the answer is one of two things: #1 Mama ain’t telling the whole truth about her recipes OR #2 Recipes just do not work the same for everyone (different brand ingredients, oven, pan, etc.)

We can also look at the ministry of Jesus to see that not everyone is ministered to in the same way. Take for example the way that Jesus healed blind people.
· Matthew 20, says, “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”
· Mark 8, reads, “When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him……then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”
· Mark 10, tells us, “The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’ ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight.”
· Lastly, John 9 states, “He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.”

Jesus healed blindness by touching, spitting, speaking, and placing mud on their eyes. Four different ways to get to one result, sight. Why then do we allow ourselves to believe there is only 1 or 2 certain ways to minister for God?

What we need to realize is that God created each and every one of us different from everyone else. There are no cookie cutter molds we must fit into. There is nothing wrong with being a Bible-toting nerd, but that isn’t what Christianity is all about. A life lived for Jesus isn’t about following rules simply because we fear a mighty backhand from the Man Upstairs. People give Jesus followers a boring image by insinuating they don’t explore, laugh, or enjoy life.

This new life is the complete opposite of boring! It is about adventure, it is about searching, it is about putting God’s will above our own. It is the essence of excitement, to live a life for something that is far greater than we are alone.

My Future (Current) Life

One of my very last classes before graduation from Auburn was a Logistics class. Our final assignment was to write a paper about our "future life" after graduation. We were asked questions about where we saw ourselves in 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now and what kind of family we wanted to have. The last day of class our professor gave us back our papers, but before he handed them out, he read three of them to the class. The first paper was by a guy in the front row that clowned around all the time and he described the flying cars and spaceships he would own in 30 years. The second paper was written by the guy with the highest average in the class and outlined his plan to work his way up through management to become a CEO of a logistics company. The third and final paper read aloud was none other than my own.


Here is my last college paper (by the way I scored 5 out of 5):

Rand Smith
AMLG 3710
9:45
7/25/07
Case #2

My career goals have nothing to do with my major (accounting) or minor (logistics). In the spring I felt lead to work with the youth at my church in Selma. There has not been an actual youth minister there for some time. This summer I have had the privilege of serving this position. Some people have the goal of becoming a pastor of a several thousand-member church. My number one goal for my career in the next 5, 10, 20, and 30 years is to go where the Lord leads me and walk in His will, no matter what that entails. If this means that I live in Selma all of my life and never make much money, so be it. Also, if I become blessed by being wealthy and moving somewhere else in the world I will not complain. My justification for this belief is my strong faith. The Bible says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). I am really excited about this field of work. I know there will be times that I will become discouraged, but this is true with all jobs. If I were to be an accountant, a good day at work would mean I was making money for myself and for the company I work for. A good day at work as a youth minister can translate into growing the kingdom of God. This fact has brought great joy in my life. Psalm 85:10 says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” I completely believe this and know that I will be provided for no matter where I end up or what I am doing as long as I continually strive to make God’s will the number one priority in my life.

The personal goals that I wish to achieve in my life have changed very much in the last year. I look forward to marrying a female. Second to being a female, her being a Christian is the most important quality she can have. I believe two or three children will be enough. Two little Rands might be too much for anyone to handle. In the near future I know I will be living in Selma, Alabama. I prefer small towns because that is where I’m from. There are advantages to living in a place where everyone knows everyone. There are also disadvantages, but I believe the good outweighs the bad. At the same time, I am open to larger communities. In the past I had the desire to retire relatively early like my parents. Now I have no certain timetable of when I would prefer to retire. I look forward to doing the Lord’s work until He has no more use for me on this earth. After I have passed away, I would like people to know me for several things. I want them to remember me as friendly, loyal, caring, selfless, and loving among other characteristics. Currently, I need two more classes to be eligible for the CPA exam. I may decide to pursue that qualification later. Also, I might end up going to seminary to become better qualified for work in ministry.

Honesty, integrity, loyalty, and building meaningful relationships with others are all values that I hold very dear. I hope to be able to adhere to these for the rest of my life. I desire to be known as an honest man of high integrity to everyone I come in contact with. Loyalty to my family, friends, and church is a very important issue to me. Being able to have meaningful relationships that last a lifetime with people is something I strive for.

Things I want to do before I die:
· Take the gospel to people who have no heard it.
· Start a family of my own.
· Spend more time with my parents.
· Visit more countries and parts of the U.S.
· Coach basketball.
· Go to baseball games at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.
· Become better at barefoot skiing.
· Go fishing in different parts of the country.

My next goal is to make a new list since I have already accomplished some of these things on this one.

What holds you back?

What holds you back?

What is keeping you from living the fulfilling life that is promised you in God’s word?

Philippians 3:7-10 – But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.

Think of everything you own, every iPod, computer, TV, backpack, shirt, shoe, hat, everything. Are you willing to lose all of it in order to attain the life God has for you? Are you ready to let go of every selfish dream of riches, fame, and glory to gain a life that God has promised you as his child? What if God told you, “I want to give you the best possible life you can imagine? It will be so great that you cannot even dream it right now. All you have to do is part with every single possession you have.” Could you throw it all in a pile and watch it burn or be taken away by strangers?

The Bible doesn’t tell us that if we tell God he can have all of our possessions that he will just swoop down on a fiery chariot and take it all away from us. But we get too comfortable with what he have. Before we had an iPod we seemed to live alright. We didn’t just get by because we were waiting on the iPod to come feed us and clothe us, right? Most of us have been blessed with a lot of different and usually nice things. We collect these things and use them until they break or a new thing comes along that are newer, nicer, and better. We carry these around with us all the time. Some of us haven’t gone 30 minutes without our cell phone in over a year. We are so busy lugging all these things with us everywhere we go. We can’t go out of town without taking the Xbox with us.

At some point our arms get so full that nothing else will fit. That is when we make decisions on which things we can let go of. You know like every spring when mom wants to clean out your closet. All of these things provide some kind of joy, pride, entertainment, security, or pleasure. But these are only temporary. They do not last and before long you must go in search of something new and better.

What if God is standing right in front of you waiting to give you the biggest and best gift that you have ever received? He wants to give it to you. It is so big that you can’t hold it with one hand. He is waiting until both your hands are free so that you are able to grab hold of this gift, this thing.

The life of pure joy, of unadulterated pleasure, of amazing love, and marvelous grace is waiting for you. The only question is, are your hands full? If they are, are you willing to take the risk, the risk of being left empty handed? Do you have the faith to take that risk and know that no matter what, God will provide?

The Warrior of the Light is a believer.
Because he believes in miracles, miracles begin to happen. Because he is sure that his thoughts can change his life, his life begins to change. Because he is certain that he will find love, love appears.
Now and then, he is disappointed. Sometimes, he gets hurt.
Then he hears people say: “He’s so ingenuous!”
But the Warrior knows that it is worth it. For every defeat, he has two victories in his favor.
All believers know this.