An Encouraging Word

            Many years ago a man was visiting Niagara Falls on vacation. While he was there, the great Charles Blondin was attempting to walk over the falls on a tightrope. A large crowd quickly gathered to watch him perform this dangerous feat. The crowd started cheering for Blondin and encouraged him to commence his walk across the falls. Before he began, Blondin turned to the crowd and shouted, “Do you believe I can do it?” The crowd responded, “Yes, we believe! Yes, we believe!” With the encouragement of the crowd, the great Blondin walked across the falls to the applause of the people.

            On his next attempt, Blondin planned to cross the falls while pushing a wheel barrel. He again asked the crowd, “Do you believe I can do it?” And the people cried out, “Yes, we believe! Yes, we believe!” Blondin skillfully maneuvered the wheel barrel across the tight rope to the other side of the falls. The crowd went wild.

            Blondin returned yet again to speak the crowd. This time he had a wheel barrel and a blindfold. He told the crowd he was going to push the wheel barrel across the falls on a tight rope while blindfolded. Blondin looked to the crowd and said, “Do you believe I can do it?”  The crowd responded, “Yes, we believe! Yes, we believe!”  The tourist was standing on the front row. Blondin looked him in the eyes and said, “Do you believe I can do it?”  The tourist replied, “Yes, I believe. I believe!”  Blondin said to him, “Well then, will you get in the wheel barrel as I push it across?” Suddenly, this man wasn’t sure if he really believed.

            Do you believe in Christ? I mean, do you really believe? Most people say they believe in Christ but like this tourist, their belief is superficial at best. Simply saying you believe means nothing. The Bible says that even the demons believe in God. So what does it mean to truly believe in Christ? It means to totally trust your life to Christ. It means to turn from your sin and your old way of life and place yourself completely under the control and power of Christ. Very simply, it means to crawl into the wheel barrel and trust completely that Christ will carry you to the other side. That’s what it means to believe.

            So let me ask you again, “Do you believe in Christ?” If you have never trusted your life to Jesus Christ, I want to encourage you to do that today. I am praying for you today that you will truly understand what it means to “believe” in Christ.

Be encouraged,

Pastor Rob

An Encouraging Word

“It was the Christian thing to do.” Those were the last words I heard her say. Her name is Bessie. That’s all I know. She said she lives somewhere in my neighborhood. She rang my door bell at 8:00 pm last week. She had my billfold in her hand and asked me if it was mine. She had found it fifteen minutes earlier in the parking lot outside CVS drug store. She opened it, saw my address on my driver’s license, and came directly to my house.

I didn’t even know my billfold was missing. I had run a quick errand minutes before to CVS and I must have dropped it getting into my car. When she handed me my billfold, I hugged her and said “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” In my billfold was over $100 in cash, two credit cards, and many other items of great value to me. She didn’t have to return it. No one would have ever known. I was a total stranger to her. She could have kept the cash, charged my credit cards, and thrown the billfold away. But she didn’t. She looked up my address, drove to my house, and returned my billfold to me.  I offered her a twenty dollar bill for her kindness but she refused. She wouldn’t take anything. As she walked away she simply said, “It was the Christian thing to do.”

It was a random act of kindness. I so want to thank her again or do something nice for her as she has done for me. The kindness she demonstrated to me means more than you can ever imagine. I hope to run into her again someday but it happened so fast that I don’t even know if I would recognize her. If you know her, please let me know. I desperately want to do something for her to let her know how grateful I am for what she did for me.    

As I think about Bessie, I am reminded that we have opportunities every single day to show kindness to others. It takes so little of our time and so little effort but it can mean more to that person than you will ever know. I want to encourage you this week to look for ways to show kindness to a stranger. I want to encourage you this week to do something for someone else without getting anything in return. Show kindness to a stranger. It’s the Christian thing to do.

Be encouraged,

Pastor Rob

An Encouraging Word

Have you ever had a dream or a goal in life that you desired with all your heart but it just wasn’t meant to be? You strived and strived but the doors kept closing in your face. You don’t know why God didn’t allow you to have it, but you do know that it wasn’t in His plans. When I was in college, my one dream was to become a successful Christian businessman. I promised God I would honor Him, I would serve Him, and I would give Him all the praise and glory if He would allow me to be a successful businessman. I had plans to be a positive witness within the business community. My motives were pure. My dream was noble. But it just wasn’t meant to be.

I graduated in accounting and quickly got a job with a CPA firm. It didn’t take long to figure out that I wasn’t a very good accountant. I was an auditor and we would go into businesses and go over records and try to find mistakes that people had made. I didn’t like that. I didn’t want to find mistakes. I wanted to encourage people and not discourage them. I had a partner named Woody who loved to “question costs” and find mistakes. He was a good auditor. He had an auditor’s mindset and I did not. After two years of trying to pursue my noble goals, God made it clear to me that I was not going to make it as an auditor. Through a series of events, I found myself using my vacation to go on a mission trip and was asked to preach a Sunday sermon at a church in Jamaica. I was a nervous wreck but agreed to give it a try. Once I finished that sermon, I knew without a doubt that God wanted me to be a preacher. I went home, quit my job as an accountant, and entered seminary to train to be a pastor.

When I look back on my life, there was nothing wrong with my desire to be a Christian businessman. That was a good goal. And although it was good, it was not God. Two simple words: Good and God.  At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between them. In reality, there is a world of difference. The difference is settling for good when God has something much better waiting for you. What I learned from my life is this: Never settle for anything less than God’s very best for your life.

As you think about your dreams and goals in life, I want to encourage you not to settle for good, but to strive for God. There are a lot of good things you can do with your life but there is one plan that God has designed specifically for you. It doesn’t matter if you are age 15 or 75, God still has a plan for you. And if you settle for good, you might possibly miss out on Gods very best for your life. I love the words of God in Jeremiah 29:11-13 when He says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”

Be encouraged,

Pastor Rob

Two Days at Lake Tahoe

An Encouraging Word

            Last week I spent two days at Lake Tahoe. It could possibly be the most beautiful place in the world. Early on Monday morning, I left my house in Las Vegas headed to Lake Tahoe. As I sat at a traffic light, I found myself breathing the exhaust of an industrial truck while listening to the sounds of sirens all around. When I made it on the freeway I saw congestion yet again. There was an accident ahead and traffic was at a standstill. With no place to move, I found myself staring at the X Rated advertisements on the billboards and the back of the taxi cab in front of me. The Las Vegas airport on a Monday is indeed a popular place as everyone from everywhere is desperately trying to board a plane home. The crowds are large. The lines are long. The people are on edge. And everyone is in a hurry.  After what seemed like an eternity of hustle and bustle I finally boarded my plane for the 60 minute flight to Reno.  

            As I drove up the mountain to Lake Tahoe, everything seemed to change. The emptiness of the desert was replaced by beautiful trees. The smog was replaced by mountain air. The chaos was replaced with calm. The frenetic pace of Las Vegas was replaced with the slow serenity of Lake Tahoe. The hustle and bustle of city life was replaced with the slow moving ripples of the lake. The noise and congestion of traffic was replaced by the sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. As I looked out of my window at the beautiful snowcapped mountains and crystal clear lake, I paused for a moment and thought about the beautiful world God has made and how different Lake Tahoe is from Las Vegas.

            It also caused me to think about Heaven and how different it is from earth. For many of us, our lives are much like the city of Las Vegas on the day I left for Lake Tahoe. It is noisy, congested, busy, harried, and filled with pressures. We enjoy much of it and we struggle through the rest. Yet as I reflected on the beauty of Lake Tahoe, I was reminded that this world is not my home.  For not to long from now, I am boarding a flight to heaven. And when I arrive, the emptiness of this world will be replaced by the beauty of Heaven. The chaos will be replaced by calm. The frenetic pace of this life will be replaced by the slow serenity of the presence of God. The noise and congestion of traffic will be replaced by the harmonious singing of the angels. The X rated billboards will be replaced by the beauty of the river of life. The hustle and bustle of my Las Vegas life will be replaced by presence of God on the streets of gold in the New Jerusalem.

            As you wake up in the morning and begin your week, I encourage you remember that this world is not your home. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are on a Journey of Faith bound for a better place. God has a ticket with your name on it and is waiting for your arrival. Where is your destination? It’s even better than Lake Tahoe. It is the Kingdom of God!

Be encouraged,

Pastor Rob

An Encouraging Word

            Last fall I went on an Adventure Sport Mexico Deep Sea Fishing Trip with thirteen men from our church. This was not for the amateur or faint of heart. This was for men who possess courage, bravery, a sense of adventure and a lot of money!  I met our guide when we arrived and he asked us “Why are you here?” To which I replied, “To catch fish.” That was the beginning of a great adventure. The next morning I put on my fishing clothes, gathered my fishing equipment, and climbed aboard our first class fishing boat.

            We were fishing for Marlin, Sail fish, and Tuna. By the size of the hooks and the bait we were using I knew we were going to catch some “big” fish. The anticipation was mounting as we traveled over 30 miles from the shore. We spent nine hours on the sea that day. We listened to our captain tell stories about all the great fish he had caught. We even shared some stories of our own. It was a great three days spent with good people in a beautiful setting.

As I returned to Las Vegas, I told Lisa about our trip. She knew I was hesitant to go on this trip and was delighted to hear I had enjoyed myself. She then looked to me and asked a question I will never forget. She asked, “Do you have any regrets about the trip?” I thought for a moment and replied, “Yes I do. I wish I had caught a fish!”

            In the Bible, Jesus tells us that we are to be “Fishers of Men.” If Jesus were to ask you why you are here on this earth, you could say, “to catch fish.” That’s your purpose in life. So how do you accomplish this? You put on your fishing (church) clothes. You familiarize yourself with your equipment (Bible). You even go once a week and listen to your guide (Pastor) talk about the intricacies of fishing. And through this process you develop deep friendships, share great fishing stories, and have a lot of fun. But when life nears its end and someone asks you if you had any regrets, you may reply, “Yes I do. I wish I had caught a fish!”

            What I learned on my Adventure Sport Mexico Deep Sea Fishing Trip is that there is a big difference between “going fishing” and “catching fish.” I pray you will remember why God placed you here on this earth. He wants you to be “fishers of men.”

When your time on earth is over, and your fishing trip is done;

Did you catch a lot of fish, or just have a lot of fun?

God put you here for a reason, He has a job for you to do;

He wants you to catch a lot of fish, and don’t stop until you do.

Life is like a vapor, a mist that is in the air;

Before we blink it is over, and we’ll meet with God up there.

And you will stand before the Righteous Judge, who will ask you what you wish;

I hope you do not say to God, ‘I wish I had caught a fish.’

Be encouraged,

Pastor Rob