RUSSJONES.US

In a few days, most likely, Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron's record for most home runs in a MLB career. Where you will be and what will you be doing when that happens? Each of us can remember details about what we were doing when tragedies or personal life changing events took place in our lives. I can tell you exactly where I was when Elvis died, Challenger blew up and 911. I can also tell you when and where I accepted Jesus as my Savior, was baptized in the Holy Spirit, called into the ministry, and when God moved in such a phenomenal way that no one left church until 1:10 p.m. That's right 1:10 p.m. The only thing that I can think of that compares to yesterday's service is in the Old Testament. On a few occasions, the glory of the Lord filled the temple so mightily that even the priests could not remain standing in His presence. Yesterday that glory just filled this place. People were repenting, weeping with joy, praising God, and worshipping Him like I have n

I just wanted to take a few moments to let you know that I'm exhausted. Really! No, don't feel sorry for me - that wasn't the point of my statement. There is so much that God is doing in my life and through my life that I can honestly say - WOW! Betty too! While she is my companion on all my trips and such - God is doing things in her life that are just amazing. Something else about this summer that I have noticed? I believe that God is setting us (the church) up for something terrific this fall and winter. This whole summer has been about laying a foundation to do something great for the Kingdom of God. Why would I say this? Some God given opportunities have come our way to reach into our community. The church leadership has been coming under some heavy attacks from hell. Satan has tried to distract this church from it's God given goal with depression and discouragement. And we're not at full speed yet! So what am I going to do about my exhaustion? G

Now I'm originally from Arkansas, therefore I can tell you that dancing isn't in our genetic makeup - or anything else for that matter. The whole time growing up I never saw anyone dance. Unless you count that time a snake went up my aunts pant leg (I had nothing to do with it). So I am at this birthday party the other evening. It was a great party. I had lots of fun, and there was dancing. I'm 43 years old and I cannot remember (or even know of a time) when I was that close to dancing. Everyone was having so much fun, they kept stopping by my table and saying, "Come on pastor!", trying to entice me out on the dance floor. Now I'm always comparing life's experiences to the Word of God. Particularly to the life of Jesus. You know, WWJD? All I could think of was Jesus' first miracle. The wedding party in Cana where He turned water into wine. Did Jesus dance? Maybe, after all they did dance at these kind of occasions. Then I wondered, did J

There I was, sitting at my desk, working on my computer (Macintosh ibook G4), the lights go off for one second, the lights come back on - my computer didn't. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, dead in the water, it will not start. Sundays music, my sermon, the announcements video - everything - gone. Grrrrrrrrr! My reaction to this has been interesting to me. Did I cuss? Nope. Am I in mourning? Actually yes. Not so much for the computer, but what's on it. (Yes I backup, but I probably lost about a months worth of work if the hard drive is fried.) Now is where it gets interesting. My first thought was, "Devil, you lousy thief, give me my computer back!" Now I know that FPL has issues, and I have surge protectors to protect me from their issues. (Notice that none of the printers or any other piece of equipment was harmed last night.) But the computer that is currently working on some God given plans for this church over the next few months is the one that gets atta

For my friends "up north", there is something you have to understand. July in Florida is depressing. I'm not talking regular cloudy, I'm just feeling a little blue today depressing. I'm talking full blown, jump off a bridge and get it over with depression. Why do I say this? Well in the the 18 years that I've been pastoring, I know for a fact that I counsel more people with suicidal thoughts during this time of the year. The other reason I know this is because, I get depressed. Why does this happen? I really don't know. Yes it's hot. I mean fry an egg on your forehead hot. It's slow. The snowbirds are all up north. It rains. You can almost set your watch to it. Some people say, "Go to Disney or SeaWorld". Nah, to hot. Others say, "Go to the beach!" In 20 minutes you will look like a lobster. You know what it is? We're bored! Yup, that's it! Here in the land of Mickey and Shamu, with wide open beache

Currently I am reading a book by Mark Batterson entitled "In the Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". Great book, I highly recommend it. If you cannot find one locally, go to our online bookstore and have it shipped to you (ffwc.us) It's a book about having the faith and courage to chase the lions that have been chasing you. I don't know about you, but I think that one of lions we have to face is the stress of being a Christian. That's right, being a Christian is stressful. There I said it. Some people may think that I have just committed sacrilege. But there is no getting around it, when God becomes a part of your life, he will complicate it. This is a lion that you have to face. I'm sure that Abraham, Noah, Moses and many more thought on more than one occasion, "Why me God!" The answer is simple, they were the ones who would chase the lions that no one else would chase. God will call you to chase lions that no one else will touch. Chase the

The phones at church are dying. I mean, day by day it's just getting worse. Some of you who know me know that I will not just go out and buy anything for any price. So I've been looking, but the right deal just hasn't presented itself yet. I'm at one of the local office supply stores and I'm looking. After checking if anything is on sale I decided to look for the clearance section. There I find something that my wife is looking for. A collapsable cart. It is blue. If I were you, I would remember this. I show it to my wife, who is just excited about this great find - so she takes it to the front desk to find out how much it is. I am left there with Anneka in the kids education aisle, there she is reading Dora. As I am waiting for my wife to return the general manger of the store walks by and begins to talk to Anneka and I. We had a pleasant conversation, in fact I was rather impressed that he would talk to us for such an extended time. A few minutes late

Today Betty and I had a wonderful lunch with some friends of ours. There in the restaurant we started to share with each other what God has been doing in our lives. I have no idea how long we were there, but our waitress had gone home and most of the restaurant was empty. As the conversation went on, we allowed God to be glorified as we expressed our frustrations, our dreams and our dilemmas. Here's the great thing about it. Nobody was griping, nobody was gossiping and nobody was complaining. Honesty among Christians should be a healing salve on the wounds of life. Loving one another, sharing each others burdens and ministering to each other in the Holy Spirit can give great hope in the midst of lifes battles. When we finished, we prayed. We took our time and we really prayed. When I left the restaurant, I felt better, I was renewed in Christ and I loved it. Here is something that God showed me. This experience is suppose to be normal among Christians. I didn't des

Some of you are morning people. My understanding is that only 25% of the worlds population is like this. The rest of us "normal" people sleep in. Well this morning, I had a 6:30 a.m. meeting that was about 30 minutes away. There I am up at 5:15 a.m. As I walked outside to get in the car I thought I could hear the birds go "huh"? Well, I arrived early and so I took advantage of the time to read from Exodus. In 13:17-18 I read where God directed the children of Israel to leave Egypt by the long route. Why? Because they might get into a war with the locals, and go running back to Egypt for their old jobs. As I read on, they get pinned between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army. Now wait a minute! Were not going to take the short route because it might run everyone back to Egypt, so were going to trap them against the Red Sea? Their response isn't a big surprise. Ch 14 vs. 11... "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to th

Today is the 4th of July. In a little while Betty, Anneka and I are going to see the fireworks. Anneka loves to watch, but she is afraid of the "BOOM"! Being a student of history, I wonder about those farmers and shopkeepers who fought for our independence over 200 years ago. What did they do when they heard their first cannon shot, or the dying screams of a fellow solider? Forward 200 years to Iraq and Afghanistan. Not much has changed. Anneka will get over her fear of loud noises as did I. Today I am remembering those who are defending our freedoms and facing their fears. May God Bless them!

If 20 years ago you would have told me I would be posting my first blog. I would have thought you were speaking a foreign language. (Or at least, as a Pentecostal, I would have prayed for the interpretation) Then again if you would have said I would be the parent of a 3 year old, pastoring in Palm City, managing the church website, driving a Korean car and loving all of it, I would have been forced to have you committed. 40 years ago I was 3 (just like my daughter is today) and the Summer of Love was in full swing. Times were changing. Those who changed with those times did well. Those who did not adapt, well . . . So here I am, adapting. Not as easy as it looks, but it will happen. So as you read these blogs and it seems that I am trying to find my way through this, please forgive me. But keep coming back. This will get better and my prayer is, that it will bless you.