As I thought about this crafty critter, I began to see the parallel of how sin continues to rear its ugly head to not only control us, but to also destroy us.  In all reality, my spider this morning wasn’t poisonous; however, you never know what he had in mind.  Now, Satan is referred to, among many things, as a roaring lion seeking to and fro for whom he may devour.  If you’ll allow me a different metaphor for a moment (thanks…): sin is like a spider (forgive me if you like spiders…) - poisonous with a propensity destroy the believer every time unless it is put to death.  Paul wrote to the church at Rome that as believers we are to put to death sin and put on Jesus (paraphrased).  You see, if we don’t put to death sin, it will come back, just like my little spider this morning, and rear its ugly head with one goal in mind: your death!

    So, what does all this mean?  Go and take out as many spiders as you can…no, not really.  Rather, as believers, may we have David’s heart for the Lord to search our heart to determine if any wicked way (…spider…) is present, have Him remove that and give us the propensity to depend upon that Holy Spirit of promise within us that He might create that special people, His holy nation…to proclaim His amazing wonders!

Pastor Randy

“Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42

I’m still walking on water after my big trip to Alaska. One of the highlights was an all-day fishing excursion for salmon and halibut, which turned out to be fruitful. We all limited out (3 salmon and 2 halibut each.)

I’d love to take credit for that, but the fact that all six of did is a credit to our captain, John Moline. Captain John is a student of fishing, and a passionate one at that. I might add that few other boats all limited out the day I was there; not only that, but wherever we went, other boats would end up as well. John is a fisherman’s fisherman. Which brings me to my point.

During the run out to our spot, John received numerous radio calls from other skippers. One, in particular, was looking ling cod, a delicious bottom-dweller. This skipper was a few miles from us, near a small island, and reporting no results. John encouraged the man to seek other species, as it was mid-tide, a fact that was lost me (and apparently the other fishless skipper.)

Finally, he relented and went out to one of the many halibut spots. A quizzical look from me brought an explanation. It seems that at the time, the tide was racing in, creating swift flowing water, especially on the rocks below the waterline, creating an environment where the bottom fish would be forced to drift with the curent away from the island, and also made it nearly impossible to feed, or to fish for them. Better, John went on, to wait for the slack tide at high and low tides. The water is still, the fish move and feed during this time.

It’s when things are quiet, undisturbed by the cares of the day, that you and I can feed. Feed on the very Word of God, (My flesh is true food, and my blood true drink, John 6:55) When the tides of life flood in, the eddies and roils of life upset aour ability to take spiritual nourishment, an we are committed to dealing with them.

My friend, feed during the slack water.

     The other morning, I was reading in the book of Joshua, chapter three.  The Priests were instructed by Joshua to step into a bulging river; the Jordan River.  At this time of the season, this Jordan River became a River of Impossibility.  Specifically, the river was at the very least a level 4 and without Divine intervention, the Children of Israel could in no way enter the Promised Land.  You see, Joshua, the Priests and some 2 million Israelites had to trust the Lord, relinquish human reason & understanding and simply rest in the promise that God had already given them the land.  Their role: believe!  And, guess what?  God delivered, just like He did for them the previous forty years in the wilderness and now they were able to enter from an Impossibility to a Land of Possibility, if you will, a land of Great Promise.

     Likewise, today you may be faced with an impossibility.  That river called life is not only a level 4, it is crashing in on you like never before!  And, you need Divine Intervention and help or else, you’ll succumb to drowning.  Listen closely: just like the Israelites were confronted with an impossibility and exampled faith for us, you too must rest in His promise, relinquish your human reason and understanding & watch the Lord part your personal river in a most intimate way.  Be comforted that God is the Philippines 4:19 Deliverer and as you trust Him to take your River of Impossibility into His hands, He will be to you that Ephesians 3:20 Savior He loves to be!

     May the Lord bless you today as you seek to bring Him Glory with your life!

 Pastor Randy

The application for us removed, at least physically, from the Laurie’s is also simplistic in nature, yet profound in reality: may we remember our lives are a shadow, a blade of grass that is here and gone & may we as a people who love God solely glory in this: that we understand and know Him!  You see, death is an eye opener, no question about it!  And in this eye opener, may we hit our knees and praise and glorify our most precious God, through our Savior Jesus Christ as we are moved by the Holy Spirit of Promise.  And further, may we take this truth we’ve been given and share this Love Story everywhere we go!  Lord bless your day…

Pastor Randy

A dear friend of mine named Brad Hirst gave me an article from J. Vernon McGee entitled, “Whittling Your Life.”  Brad knows my propensity to accomplish, my Triple A personality that barrels through life with a reckless abandonment and a desire to check off my daily to-do list that defines my existence.  Nevertheless, the article has a quote that really nailed me.  It says, “In this day, whittle down your life, as you would whittle down a pencil, until you can write with it.  Our lives are very complicated, so just keep whittling.” 

As I’ve thought through this, it dawned on me that the Lord is telling me to slow down, be still and know He’s God and to whittle my life down to what is important.  My two favorite men in the Bible seemingly mastered this art.  And by the way, by God’s strength and Spirit, they accomplished much Kingdom Fruit during their time on this earth. 

• David - Psalm 5:3 = In the morning, David, with a flute, sought the heart of God
• Paul - Philippians 3:10 = At the end of Paul’s life, he had a passion to know Him

Wow, what legacies these saints left for us to bask in!  You see, if I am understanding this correctly, both David and Paul went to that secret place to be sharpened spiritually so that they might leave a mark for the Glory of God in their respective lives.  And you know, it is no different for us today, some 2,700 years removed from King David and some 1,950 years removed from the Apostle Paul: God is still in the business of sharpening His people to write history with their lives for His Glory and Purpose. 

Here’s the application.  Grab a pencil…come on, just grab one.  I have a #2 from RoseArt!  Okay, do you have your pencil?  Great…go to your sharpener and make it razor-sharp.  Do you see the principle?  If you’re in a hurry, you’ll miss it!  James 4:8 says, “Draw near unto Me and I will draw near unto you!”  Oh, do you see - the sharpener does the work, you simply show up!  Likewise, just like David and Paul, they came to that place to be sharpened, that place called intimacy with their Maker and He did the work…they were simply willing.  Jon Coursen has a quote, “Without Him, I can’t.  Without me, He won’t!”  In other words, He desires us to show up and He’ll do the whittling.

May we show up to worship our God and be willing to have Him whittle our life down, just like a pencil that needs to be sharpened, such that our lives are sharpened by the Spirit’s power and Almighty God can write Eternal History with our very lives!  Have a great day with Jesus and thanks for listening to me share my heart!  And, thanks Brad for the gentle reminder!

Pastor Randy

Top Gun is another favorite. After going inverted (flying upside down over a Russian MiG military jet) and later assisting a spooked pilot land his F-14 Tomcat on the heaving deck of an aircraft carrier and nearly running out of fuel, “Maverick”, the hero, stands before his commanding officer, who berates him with this line: “Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash!” for putting himself and his aircraft in needless jeopardy.

So I’m wading through Leviticus. In chapter 27, God is instructing Moses about keeping promises, the writing-checks-I-can’t-cash kind. Being a corn fed, 21st century American, this all sounds like Urdu; it makes no sense at all; why would anyone go and open their mouth and bind themselves to such a an oath. Specifically, if anyone made a promise to God of themselves, their family(!!) animals, fields, or whatnot, they either had to put up the goods, or redeem them, if possible.

It made no sense to me until I flashed forward to Acts chapters 4 & 5. The baby church, filled with the Holy Spirit, bands together in the midst of intense persecution, selling all they had, and using the proceeds to help all the brothers and sisters. Barnabas is cited, specifically.

Ananias and his wife Sapphira, in contrast, sell off some land and pass only a part of the money, but representing that they had given the Apostles all the loot. We know what happens next: they both drop dead for lying to God and discount self-glorification gone bad.

Duh! Now it made sense. If I promise God something, I need to make it good. But you might say, isn’t God killing Ananias and Sapphira (can we call them A & S, my fingers ache) a bit over the top (drastic)? Let’s consider. What if Peter had let them get away with it? Consider the poor pastor, a big sack-o-cash is dropped on your desk from two of your flock. The s-t-r-o-n-g temptation would be to say thanks and ignore it. But that would compromise the pastor’s integrity.

A & S have had their integrity compromised. And they’ve sought their own glory, something God takes a dim view of. (Isaiah 42:8 & 48:11, look it up. I double dare you.) No doubt word would have gotten out that A & S fudged on their contribution. They must share the blame if no one steps forward.

And most importantly, God is being slapped in the face. By A & S, their pastor, their church, and any unsaved person who finds out and despises those whack, self-congratulating hypocrite Christians.

So no. God can’t let it stand. He protects His glory by recalling A & S home a bit earlier than they originally planned. And we can’t compromise either. Why just this morning I promised Pastor Randy I’d play for three Thursday nights. I could blow it off and not show up…

I think I will keep my commitments.

John 7:38,

Randy P.

Well Rock Harbor - this is where we are.  The question we must ask ourselves is simple: what will we do with this Time of Change?  We can be like most - grumble, complain, cast aspersions, be negative; or, we can be like Jesus - pray, fast, speak blessing and trust the Lord.  Why all these changes came at once is a quandary to me; contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t orchestrate these changes and fully believe they are part of God’s plan for Rock Harbor, as well as the previous staff members (yes, God has an amazing future for our dear friends; a future that wouldn’t have materialized if they stayed and a future, because of their obedience in faith, Hebrews 11:6, will be rewarded greatly!). 

So, my encouragement is simple: let’s choose the later and allow the Spirit of God to make us like Jesus so that we can be positioned to be a Proverbs 3:5-6 type of people fully knowing that unless the Lord builds this house called Rock Harbor, we will labor in vain!  May the Lord bless you as we together trust Him during this time of great transition!

Praying for the flock,

Pastor Randy 

AS I AM WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR, I glanced down and saw a coffee stain on my shirt rivaling San Bernadino County in size. No sweater, no time to go back for a new one, I busily try to damp clean the really bad parts, (I think it was the spot that looked like Colton, CA) only to have a shirt that that was not only filthy, but wet.

Well, the meeting went well, anyway, L— is a gracious person, and actually thought it was pretty funny. I groaned inwardly and swore off coffee, (ya right!) and vowed to check the mirror as my dear wife and older daughter do before leaving the house.

What does that have to do with Charlton Heston coming off the mountain with those two big stone dudes? Had I bothered to check the mirror, the Map-of-San-Berdoo-stain would have revealed to me the need to deep six the shirt, put on a new one, and wake up more than 15 minutes before work. But noooo!

Well the Ten Commandments are the same way. They tell me when I need to clean things up in my life. When I look into the “mirror” of the ten Big Ones, they tell me I need to wash up, like Jesus told Peter to do in John 13:10. I can’t claim Heaven by keeping them, but I sure can see where I need to make some changes in my life.

So no, I don’t take the mirror to work, and I don’t wear 2 heavy burdensome tablets to earn Heaven; I just check the mirror, for crying out loud, and change that shirt!

    As I was contemplating this scenario, it dawned on me that a leaky roof is like a leaky life!  Seriously, water will find its way to the easiest path of resistance and will always find a hole, a gap or a path that will follow a gravitational flow down.  Unless an area is sealed and protected, water will worm its way in every single time.  Likewise, as Christians, its important for us to ensure that our lives are sealed and protected against the schemes, the wiles and the darts of the enemy; and, against our own flesh – against anything that is not of Him.  Why?  Because sin, like rain, will find its way to a hole, a gap or a path into our life & will follow the natural progression of spiritually pulling us down to render us ineffective for the Master.  Makes sense, hah?

     Here’s my encouragement today: 1st Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and my your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is Faithful, who also will do it!”  My point with this — the Lord desires to seal us up and preserve us from the stuff that pulls us down!  May we rely on Him to do this work of rendering us effective for the Master by securing our individual leaks with the Power of His Spirit, His Love, His Grace and His Mercy.

Have a great day with Jesus,

Randy