Life Stones Ministries

It's been a while since I've touched on my book, "Life Stones." I've just received our latest review stats from Amazon, and we have a 4.8 star rating out of 5 stars. I'm so thankful that folks are finding it an encouraging and challenging book to fortify them for the giants that life tends to bring. Even though we launched shortly after the COVID outbreak, and many opportunities were cancelled or not permitted at all, God saw fit to get it into the hands of those who might benefit from it. If you haven't got a copy yet, or if you need multiple copies for a small group or Sunday School format, contact me direct. We're providing discounts right now, and the more you order, the bigger the savings! Keep slinging, my friends! Rick

Missing Christmas Wow, I’m thinking that a lot of people missed Christmas this year…again! Of course, we know that isn’t unusual. Actually, I’m convinced that more people miss Christmas each …

Some years ago I was having a cup of coffee with a co-worker before clocking in for my daily shift to begin. As my friend was communicating an amazing play he saw while attending a sporting event, he lifted his coffee mug and proceeded to pour his coffee all over his head. I couldn't believe it...nor could he. In his enthusiasm, he forgot he was holding a cup of coffee. His gesture simply took precedence over the reality of the moment. I offered a paper towel as he tried to collect himself and tidy himself up a bit. The stain on his shirt would remain throughout the day, however.

I have often thought of the church of Jesus Christ in that illustration. Those of us that have experienced Jesus in a life-transforming way through repentance and faith comprise His church in this world. Oftentimes, however, we surely cause the unredeemed world around us to wonder what we are doing. This will also cause them to dig in a bit firmer in rejecting our message.

Consider the day of Pentecost. It is recorded in the second chapter in the book of Acts. Go ahead...when you hear about Pentecost, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? What is the second thing you think of? I'll wager your thoughts don't include one of the first series of building blocks that enabled the Day of Pentecost to be all that God had enabled it to be.

The first thing we find is an assembled congregation praying. They were ALL there praying. Not just some. It's not the Holy Spirit we are first introduced to. It isn't signs and wonders that we read about. Nope, the first thing needed is a praying congregation. En masse. EVERYONE is there. See, God isn't going to pour His Spirit out just anywhere. He needs a prepared vessel. If God's Spirit was poured out just any old place, the world would have a similar mess like my friend had just pouring his coffee out any old place.

The second thing that we find is that this assembly wasn't told to GO. They were told to WAIT. They had to wait until an assembly was formed that could contain and minister all of Jesus' actions. In John 17, in what is referred to as Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, He prays five times for His followers to be unified. If they aren't unified, they need to wait until they are. If they don't wait until they are unified, they will mess everything up. They will pour coffee on their head.

Satan didn't try to take on the Spirit's power. Satan is after the Church's unity. You can see that in Acts 5 where two members of the local church lied about the offering they had given, making it to be much larger than it was. After God killed them, the unity was restored and the church moved on. Read Acts 5:12. I, for one, am glad God doesn't execute those who aren't faithful in their stewardship on the spot anymore. But the example was given.

Maybe it's time to consider our need to wait until there is unity in the local assembly. Maybe we need to wait until the members are not only in unity and agreement but also in one place in prayer. Maybe we should wait until the vessel is adequately prepared so that God can pour His Spirit into it. We don't want our enthusiasm to take precedence over the reality of the present, that perhaps being our unpreparedness in unity and oneness. That seems preferable to charging ahead and pouring coffee on our head.

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Boy, if we knew where the finish line was, what a help that would be. If we just new when our race was going to be over, we could plan much better financially. And emotionally. And relationally. Basketball players can tell exactly when their game will be over. They can put it all on the line for the final few seconds. Hockey players can go all out physically and mentally for the last few ticks on the clock knowing that the end is just that far away. We don't know where our finish line is. But do you know that some competitors never actually get to see the finish line at all? Do you know about sculling (or rowing) teams? Have you seen those people straining with synchronized motions pulling their oars through the water? And they have their BACKS to the finish line. They don't even know where it is. How can they possibly finish strong? Well, the answer to that is the "coxswain." He's the guy with the megaphone sitting at the end shouting out orders to the rest of the team. And he's the only person that knows there the finish line is. So the other folks listen to him, and obey him, and count on him to coach them to the finish line. He paces them, doesn't exact more from them than they can give, and keeps them on track to finish strong. So how do we finish strong? In our marriages? In our parenting? In our faith? By fixing our eyes on Jesus! That's what the twelve men that hung around Jesus did. And they had a better ratio than the twelve guys that went into the promised land and didn't think they had enough to defeat the giants that inhabited it. Ten of those twelve failed. The disciples weren't perfect. They lost a member to unbelief. They didn't get it right more than once. Someone once said, "A failure is a person who has blundered but has not been able to cash in on the experience." The disciples blundered. So do we. But they finished strong. So can we...if we're in the boat with Jesus. He will pace us, and instruct us, and chide us, but when the race is over, we won't just finish. We'll finish strong.

Choices, my friends. I just read two totally different posts on my morning Facebook excursion. One was whining and moaning about a temporary reaction to a shot received at a doctor's office. (No, it wasn't a covid vaccine so let's not go there.) The other was rejoicing in a life situation that most sane people would identify as awful. A simple temporary ache causes one adult person to whine like a five-year-old. A far worse malady causes praise and worship to flow from another person's redeemed soul. Life results in the choices you make in facing it. The picture? This is my wife, Pat, with degenerative arthritis in her neck and lower back. She had a knee replacement about eight months prior to this event. The other knee is in need of a replacement and achy all of the time. Stairs are difficult. So are long walks. She struggles with a thyroid condition that is monitored all the time. Constant medication adjustments. She tries to walk a mile each day. Or at least so many steps so that her Fitbit congratulates her. Here she has just launched from the top of the rain forest in northern Thailand. This is a half-mile zip where she will reach 50 miles per hour on her way to the next treetop platform. There are 17 sections on this adventure called "The Flight Of The Gibbons." She's determined to live life on her terms as long as she can. Whine or win? It's a choice we all have to make...through the pain and discomfort and setbacks that we all face in this journey on planet earth. It's your call. God can transform us to truly be alive. "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent."--Psalm 30:11-12

Most people are afraid of snakes. While living in Thailand, I got good at removing them from our mission compound. Call the fire department. They live for the opportunity. There is a lot of fear in our world today. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it in my 71 years on the planet. And it is stoked by equally educated people proclaiming polar opposite solutions to the problems. I'm reminded that one of the Hebrew concepts of fear involves "a fear of imagined things." It is worry about things that might happen. Those Thai firemen never seemed worried...at all. Generally five or six would show up just to be in on the action. Why? They were prepared to meet their foe...which breeds confidence. Confidence tends to expel fear. I've found if you listen to the ever-changing instructions from anyone that can get a spot in the limelight, you're probably not ever going to be prepared or confident. Trust in what is never-changing and time-proven. The truths of God's Word. "Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident...for in the day of trouble, He will keep me safe in His dwelling...and set me high upon a rock." Psalm 27: 3-5 And that is the polar opposite of imagining things that might happen.

I saw this guy all tucked in for a nice nap...in the center of a very busy roadway. He didn't even suspect the danger he was in...but I did! When I picked him up for relocation, his head poked out and his feet began flailing wildly. He didn't like it one bit. But I placed him in a shady spot away from danger, and he seemed okay with that. Friends, do you know someone whose soul is in danger? You see the hopeless future before them while they do not. Don't be fearful about sharing your concern for their soul. Eternity will bear out whether you cared more for them or those myriad of voices that are lulling them into a fearful eternity.

We've just had another Sunday School class in Columbia City, IN, choose to use "Life Stones" as an Adult class elective. If your Sunday School class or small group has some of the giants in life hindering your progress, consider "Life Stones" as an insightful, humorous, and practical way of slaying your obstacle to a more victorious life. It also works great in a personal devotional time or with anyone that you might be walking through life with!

Be kind. It will be a gift to yourself!

Act Appropriately During the first twelve years of my working life, I spent my time in the grocery business. I learned a lot during that time. One thing I learned is that for every positive or complimentary comment …

I've often been asked about how long it takes to come up with a message for my congregation on Sunday. It's hard to say. I've got to add up all the places I am when God brings something to my mind or lays something on my heart. I tend to jot things down to help me to not forget to spend a little more time in prayer and the word and meditation on whatever it is that has been planted in my mind. God is everywhere all the time. Do you hear from God during your lunch time? Do you hear him in the words that a friend speaks which go deeper for you than his intent was? Did that article trigger an idea? We generally find ourselves operating in the natural. But God constantly inhibits our natural processes to inject His truth. It's part of the ministry of His Spirit. Maybe you want to jot that down.