TOP OF THE WORLD

There is the story of a youth pastor in California by the name of R. Kent Hughes who went on a hiking trip with some of the High School students. They hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney in California, the highest spot in the continental United States at 14,495 feet above sea level. They exulted over the wonderful panorama of the Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert. What a spot, with its rare field, crystal-clear air, its indigo and turquoise lakes-vista giving way to vista as far as one could see. As they gazed together from what seemed to be the top of the world, one of their party pointed out that only eighty miles southeast was Death Valley, the lowest spot in the United States at 280 feet below sea level and the hottest place in the country with a record 134 degrees in the shade!
What a contrast! One place is the top of the world, the other the bottom. One place is perpetually cool and the other relentlessly hot. From Mt. Whitney you look down on all of life. From Death Valley you can only look up to the rest of the world.

Sometimes it seems as though we are on the top of the world looking down, and sometimes it seems that we are in the valley looking up. When I was in high school we lived in the San Luis Valley in Colorado, my brother and I went to the top of Mt. Baldy, a big mountain on the west side of the valley. We drove as far as we could, stopping to move fallen trees, driving around some and finally we had to get out of the truck and walk the rest of the way to the top. What a view from the top, we could see for miles, looking down to the valley floor we couldn’t see anybody, but we knew they were there. As great as it was to be on top, we had to come back down, you see, we didn’t live on topof the moutain. We seem to think that we should always be on top of the mountain and never in the valley, but the valley isn’t such a bad place to be. It’s in the valley that we listen to God as never before, in the valley we can get still, quite and really listen to God. When we are on that mountain top we are too busy looking around, going from this side to that, thinking about what we are going to tell others. Mountain tops are great, but valleys are great also, get quite this week and really listen to God. As the song says, If the blessings are in the valley, then in the river I will wait.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT SIN

What should the church do about sin? Should we confront it in hopes that the person who has committed the sin will repent or just ignore it in hopes that it will just go away? I believe that for way too long churches have been afraid to confront sin, they preach about, talk about it, even teach about it; but when it comes to confronting a brother, or one that calls himself a brother, who is intentionally doing something that will bring himself and maybe others harm, and gives the Church a black eye, all too often the church is not willing to confront it. It’s almost like a parent that wants to be a buddy instead of a parent. We must be willing to do the hard things in the church as well as the easy and fun things.
Did you know that when you join the church you enter into a covenant relationship with the church? You are a covenant member; this is for your protection as well as the churches. How is this protection for you? As a covenant member you know that you have people, including myself, praying for you, also as a covenant member you know that if I feel that you have stepped out of line too far I will come to you in love and talk to you. Jesus was always rebuking Peter in love, it isn’t wrong to be rebuked in love; this is one of the ways we learn. We all need someone to help us in this way; I have the deacon’s to help me. I have on many occasions gone to a member of the church and talked with them in love. Most of the time I am met with a sense of gratitude, but once in a great while anger or resentment and even a threat or two.
So what should we do? Should I just keep my mouth shut and let you believe that whatever it is that you are doing is alright. By doing that we are giving that person the seal of approval from the church, and by rebuking them in love maybe a stronger Christian will be serving the Kingdom.
Now weigh your answer carefully, because what if, by some strange twist of events, it was you approached by me or even one of the deacon’s, what would your reaction be? Think about it, pray about, what would your reaction be? It should be our desire to have stronger Christians, a stronger Church and a stronger Kingdom. What should the reaction be of a Christian??
In HIS Service, Bro. Randy

COMING EVENTS

Did you know that we go from the laziest days of the year, Summer, now I know that we have been busy around here this summer with VBS, Father’s Day Cook-out, Youth Fish Fry and Fund Raiser, Youth Habitat for Humanity camp, Open House & Fish Fry and vacations, to the busiest? Summer is called the lazy days, kids are out of school and things seem to be more relaxed. So we have gone from the lazy days of summer right into possibly the busiest time of the year, that being fall and all of the holidays. Looking at the calendar I am thinking of all of the things coming up in October, November and December; September just seems to getting us ready for it all.
A quick rundown; we have our On Mission Celebration (OMC) on October 5, we will have a missionary here on Sunday morning and then we will all go to Vernon that night for the Annual Red Fork Jubilee, and I will actually have the honor of speaking during the 4:00 pm session. Also in October we have the Teachers Banquet and Harvest Party. November we will host the After Game Fellowship for the High School students; church-wide Thanksgiving Dinner, Thanksgiving and of course the Hanging of the Greens. We will need to have all of the Christmas decorations up and in place and everything cleaned up on that night because on December 1st we will host the Annual Red Fork Staff and wives Christmas Dinner. We will need people to help with this as we host all of the pastor’s and staff of the Red Fork, we need to all work together to make Carey Baptist shine. Also in December we will have our Carey Christmas program (begin practicing now), do our food baskets (we need to begin bringing canned goods for this) and our Christmas Eve Service.
Just so you know, in September we are doing the Reach Texas offering, all of the money raised for this stays in Texas and goes directly to mission work in Texas. I am also forming new 4 X 4 groups that will begin in October. If you would like to be in one of these please let me know, I need your names, address and phone numbers. Also if you are in a group and do not wish to be again let me know. Also this month is See You At The Pole for our students, and the Brotherhood work day at the church on the 27th. Let’s all get involved, see you there.
In HIS Service,
Bro. Randy

ONE OF THOSE WEEKS

Do you ever have one of those weeks when everything happens at once? You know what I mean, you have all of those things that you need to be doing, all of the things that have to be done by a certain day, you are under the gun, feel the pressure, have the responsibility, these things must be done. But then everything else happens that keeps you from doing them. This seems to be a weekly event in my life. I have learned that the bulletin will get printed and my sermon will still be ready, even if I am still working on it at 3am Sunday morning. God has never failed me just because I felt too pressured or too busy. He always comes through, always has, always will. Jesus felt this kind of pressure from people also, only worse. He had people pulling Him in several directions at once, heal my son, come and heal my daughter, touch me and I will be healed, teach us, feed these people… I’m glad I’m not Jesus. Even Jesus felt it, and sometimes He had to get away, He had to be alone and let God talk to Him. Sometimes we also need to get away and have some alone time with God. What is your alone time, or quite time? Time when your brain can unwind, it is important that we all do this. Find your alone place, it doesn’t have to be a far away exotic place, it can be your bathroom, bedroom, yard, garage or wherever. Find a place for yourself.
Next week is going to be a great week, we will have a Gideon with us in church, telling us what all the Gideon’s are doing. And then Desert Reign will also be with us in church, it will be kind of like Desert Reign unplugged, they will be doing some music and sharing what God had laid on their hearts. You may see Desert Reign like you never have before.
And then on Sunday night at 6:00 pm we will be doing the free food and free concert with Desert Reign in the park. Why am I telling you this? Because all of this takes money. The man from Gideon International will take up an offering at the door to help buy the bibles they give away. We need to give Desert Reign a generous offering and we need to give Morris and Carolyn money to cover food expense. I know; give, give, give. But you do it so well. Let’s show everyone what we are made of, and make this the best outreach ever. What do you say??
In HIS Service, Bro. Randy

NEW BABY

Isn’t it amazing how much you can love someone you just met? It would seem that you would need to get to know someone for a while before you love them so much. After all isn’t that the way it was when you fell in love and got married (if indeed you are married or ever have been). You saw that special someone, found out who they were, hit them in the back of the head with a snowball, (that’s what happened to me), began dating, fell in love, got married, and all of this takes time. But on Tuesday I fell in love at first sight...again. It’s happened 5 times in my life, 2 times with my kids, 3 times with my grandkids. When a man has a son he walks tall with his chest stuck out, knowing that someday this little boy will learn to play catch, wrestle, hunt and fish with him. He can teach his son to be a man, how to love and how to work. When a man has a daughter she immediately takes his heart and wraps it around her little finger, and he doesn’t even mind. Granddaughters are much the same way, and now we have 3 of them. When you have a baby, grandbaby and I’m sure great-grandbaby, you fall in love with them immediately, and you wonder how you can love so completely, but you do. You know that you will do whatever you have to do for that baby, even die. That’s the way it is with God, as a matter of fact, He loves you even more than that, He loves you so much that He let His Son die for you. What on God’s green earth makes you worth that? Absolutely nothing! There is no way that you or I are worth the life of God’s only begotten Son. It doesn’t matter how well you can sing or dance, or how handsome or pretty you are, how much money you have, what kind of car you drive, who your mother is or anything else you can think of, we are not worth the life of Jesus. But there it is, the fact that His life was given for you and me. So what are you going to do with it? Will you live for Him, sacrifice whatever needs to be sacrificed, give up whatever is in your life that keeps you from being close to Him, worshipping Him, from having a personal relationship with Him, you know, really living for Him?
After all, He really does love you that much!
In HIS Service,
Bro. Randy

FOR MORE PICTURES GO TO MY BLOG; randalwilson.blogspot.com

DESERT REIGN & FREE FOOD

Why do we spend money on things like the Father’s Day Cook-out, the Fish Fry, Swim Party, and the Desert Reign Concert (Sept. 14)? Why would we want to buy food to cook and give away to people who don’t even come to our church? Why would we want to spend our time and money on them? After all, a lot of people we come in contact with never darken our doors, so why should we be wasting money on them. And further more, why should we waste our time even if some others are helping with it?
It’s called Outreach. I believe that we need to always be trying new ways to reach the lost and unchurched. Our Father’s Day Cook-out was great, we had over 100 people here, people that came to church, heard the Word, felt the love. The Fish Fry, we had over 110 people here who also heard the Word, felt the love, saw what fellowship is all about. Our Swim Party was a success, we had a good number of young couples come, some who are active in our church, some who will be and some who want to start coming to church here. We also had a lot of Kidzone kids present, getting ready for Kidzone to kick off. Our people had a good time and we had contact with a number of unchurched.
Maybe you believe that church isn’t about having fun, and that if the only way we can reach some people is to give away food or have a swim party, then maybe those people are not worth reaching. Jesus thought everyone was worth reaching. He went to the Pharisee’s house to eat, the Pharisee’s were religious bigot’s, he talked to the Samaritan woman, Samaritan’s were hated by the Jews. He went to the tax collector’s house, they were hated by everyone. He showed the woman who was caught in the act of adultery mercy, and he paid the ultimate price for you, His life.
So is outreach worth it, is it worth spending you time and money on? YES!
By the way, if you think that we should be doing outreach that doesn’t cost any money be at my house tonight at 6:00 pm for Visitation. See you there!!
In HIS Service,
Bro. Randy

NEO-NAZI FOUND FREEDOM IN PRISON

This is an artic that Russ Rankin of Lifeway wrote about Steven Neil, Paul Harris and myself concerning "Share Jesus Without Fear." It has been in many publications, enjoy.

By Russ Rankin

MINERAL WELLS, Texas—Seventeen years of prison and a lifetime of hate, violence and racism is mapped on Steven Neill’s body. Druids, swastikas, skulls and symbols of the occult circle and mesh darkly up his arms and disappear into his shirt; the letters “skinhead” are tattooed across the knuckles of both fists. Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous phrase – “God is dead” – stands defiantly in black, inked into his wrist.

But God is very much alive to Neill, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Mineral Wells, Texas, and his markings weave a visible testimony of a life transformed.

“These are the roadmap of my life-story,” he said unashamedly, running a rough hand up his arm. The tattoos are an easy way to share Jesus, just like Share Jesus Without Fear – the witnessing method that stopped Neill in his tracks and led to his salvation.

The hate and resentment came at a young age for Neill, festered in a broken, abusive home and reinforced in Houston’s dangerous 4th Ward district. After a violent conflict with Hispanic gangs, a 13-year-old Neill found brotherhood with a group of American neo-Nazis. The abuse and neglect crystallized into hate as Neill studied the teachings of radical supremacists.

“We were extremely violent and militant,” he said. “We wanted to wage the racial holy war that Nietzsche spoke about.” Needing paramilitary training to advance in leadership, Neill joined the Army. The white supremacist attachments weakened in the discipline of the military until another altercation changed Neill’s life forever.

The fight started as an argument, but “I stabbed him,” Neill said. “Punctured a lung, severed the small intestine. He died four hours later. Aggravated murder with a deadly weapon gave me a 40-year sentence.”

Going to prison catapulted Neill back into his past. “It was a fight for survival,” he said. “I fully embraced my past and became violently racist.”

Following the teachings of Nietzsche, who blamed Christianity and Christians as the cause of all ills, “I was going to do anything I could do to eradicate Christianity,” Neill said. “In prison, society is organized into predators and prey. I was a predator. I could sense without a doubt who was prey.”

Neill said religious lines in prison were also obvious. Groups would organize based upon what particular ministries had come in and won converts. Converts were weak prey-types, he said. Some would become embolden and share their faith, an exercise Neill relished.

“If I couldn’t verbally convince them their faith was wrong, I’d beat them up,” he said. “But I didn’t have to do that very much because I knew every bit of anti-Christian philosophy – and I enjoyed a good argument – so I would utterly crush them.”

Faced with the Truth

Against his will, Neill was signed up to attend a prison ministry weekend. With his attendance now mandatory, Neill decided to be as offensive as possible.

“I’m rude, belligerent and I go off on how hypocritical everyone is at this thing,” Neill said. “I cussed everyone out and stormed off the stage. Then this guy jumps up into the aisle and jabs a finger in my chest.”

Up until that moment, Paul Harris had begrudgingly endured the prison outreach. His pastor made him come to the prison. Harris had only recently recommitted his life to God after years of charting his own course. But sitting in the prison yard listening to man after man speak about how much they loved God, feelings of condemnation and hypocrisy overwhelmed him.

“And all of a sudden I’m hearing this guy on stage calling us all hypocrites, and I’m agreeing with him,” Harris said. “As he’s stomping out, I jump out of my seat and stick my finger right in his chest and say, ‘You’re the reason I’m here!’

“As a former atheist, I had dabbled in everything he’d been in,” Harris said. “We locked horns that first night. We were both determined to win.”

Neill said he knew he was in a place of heavy discontent. “I came in unhappy, knowing I needed to change. But I went in with a combative attitude and Paul met me on that ground.

“It was intense,” Neill grinned. “Everything he threw at me I had an argument for.”

After an entire day of arguing, Randy Wilson, Harris’s pastor, stepped in and changed the game plan. “I hadn’t read all those books,” Wilson said. “Steven and Paul are both so intelligent. They sat there arguing and contradicting each other with humanistic philosophy. I told Paul it was time to present the Word.”

Wilson is a longtime fan of the Share Jesus Without Fear, produced by LifeWay Christian Resources. The resource offers three simple steps for sharing the Gospel: Five questions to determine where God is working, seven verses to let the Bible speak for itself – which the unbeliever reads for himself – and five questions that lead to the point of discussion.
“What’s so appealing is that it’s not about memorizing a thousand verses and quoting them all,” said Wilson, pastor of Carey Baptist Church, located outside Childress, Texas. “It’s easy. You ask five simples questions; the last is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.

“Steven Neill could argue all day against [the Bible], but he’d never read it,” Wilson said. “And so we walked him through this simple process – with him reading the Scripture for himself. At the end, it’s a simple question: according to what you’re read, are you a sinner? Steven wouldn’t answer.”

That night back in lockdown, Neill said his life came into view. “I saw my life as it really was. But I saw everything as God would see it. I saw that I had gloried in active rebellion against God.

“There was no relief that night,” he said. “There was no hope. If I was prone to suicide, I would’ve have done it that night.”

Freedom

Neill said he walked back into the meeting the next morning a broken man. Harris and Wilson could only stare at what was a literal physical transformation. “The darkness was dropping from his face,” Wilson said.

“Randy pulled out his Share Jesus Without Fear Bible and had me read the Scriptures,” Neill said. “By the end, I was bawling like a baby.”

“We didn’t lead Steven to the Lord. We just witnessed to him,” Harris said. “That’s what is so good about Share Jesus Without Fear. When I first used it, it triggered something in me – it wasn’t about me or what I knew anymore. It was up to the Lord, His Word and the Holy Spirit.”

Neill knows it was the Holy Spirit that opened his eyes that day, but “I think the [SJWF] method is the only way I would’ve gotten there,” he said. “Instead of arguing, I was sitting there reading the Scripture. I’m honest enough with myself to reach for the truth.”

Unable to counter the Truth, Neill gave his life to Christ and immediately began a journey of growth. After beginning a Bible study with two other prisoners, the group grew to 26 as lives change and people began to come to Neill for spiritual matters.

“God wanted something more from me than just going to church,” he said. “He was calling me to something bigger. I was studying Scripture 14-16 hours a day and some amazing things happened. I would dream Scripture passages rolling through my head. I would wake up refreshed, often praying even as I woke up.”

Neill earned a Diploma of Pastoral Ministry through Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s extension program and a Diploma in Biblical Studies through Amherst College. After 17 years in prison, Neill was paroled, and he immediately submitted himself to further discipleship under Wilson. A short time later, Neill was ordained into the ministry.

“I want to see this church walk in freedom,” he said, speaking of Northside Baptist, the small West Texas congregation that accepted him with open arms. “I want them to know they can walk with the vilest of sinners because they have in them He who is stronger than the world. Then, lives will change.”

On June 29, Neill, along with Wilson, ordained Harris as associate pastor of Northside to serve alongside the former prisoner he introduced to the Lord. The foundation of the two men’s ministry is grounded in their mandate to share Jesus with boldness and confidence.

“Bill Fay (the writer of SJWF) truly had a great vision,” Harris said. “I believe it’s probably the best way for witnessing. And Share Jesus Without Fear has affected the mindset of our entire church. I believe it’s going to be a catalyst as we look outward.

“The radical power of God to transform lives is what amazes me,” Harris added. “Jesus was a radical man. And that’s why I love to share the Gospel.”