RUSSJONES.US

What a great day we have had today. So much was done to clean and maintain the church both on the inside and outside. A little problem with the lighting in the sanctuary that we didn't anticipate, but we will fix that this week. Thanks to everyone who came out and made today a great success! If you read this blog, you have to ask Tim Jarrett what happened to his BBQ!

Jerry Cook says that,"The church is people, equipped to serve, meeting needs everywhere in Jesus' name." Now I'm not disagreeing this his statement. I just want to carry the thought a little farther. When I woke up this morning the first thought in my mind was, "What is the church?" In my morning haze (I'm not a morning person) I tried to comes to grips with a decent answer - but in the end it didn't make any sense. Then an answer came to me, I believe by the Holy Spirit (he is a morning person). The church is a living, breathing entity. Like all living and breathing things they need a purpose, a plan to fulfill that purpose and the right attitude about the purpose. The churches purpose is to do the will of God in this world. Simply, let others know the Good News about Jesus, show them His love in real and practical ways and influence their lives to accept Him into their lives. To worship and love Him the way He wants to be worshipped and lo

I've never had a root canal. When my wife had one years ago it didn't go well. Now she has to have another one. Except this time the doctor has said, "This is the most difficult case I have ever seen in my career." Just in case you're wondering, that isn't good news. A 1 - 2 hour procedure has turned into 4, with more to go. Then today they found an rare 4th root! Oh yippee! Rare, difficult, unusual. I'm not the one in the chair but I can only imagine the look on the dentists face as he makes these rare and unusual discoveries. Why do I get the feeling that my wife's legacy on this earth is going to be recorded in dentistry textbooks? Anyway, pray. Pray well and pray hard. This is about as much fun as a . . . . well, you know.

"Always Low Prices, Always" is now, "Save Money, Live Better." Now the fact that I was raised in Rogers, Arkansas, worked at the Wal-Mart home office (during my senior year of high school) and met Sam Walton a few times has nothing to do with this. So don't try reading between the lines on this one. The message is simple. In a time when we the American public didn't believe that retailers were not doing the best that they could do for us, the consumer, a goal became a ad slogan. Wal-mart would always offer you low prices on everyday items that you need. Well times have changed. We want to live better lives now. So we recycle, volunteer, give to charitable organizations, help those who cannot help themselves and protest when human rights are violated. OK, you may not do all those things, but it's not a bad list is it? We go to Wal-Mart because they are suppose to be cheaper, but we can now go to live better!?! True you may have more money to do

I've been in crowded rooms when someone walks in and makes their presence known. Sometimes it is a warm welcome, other times it is obnixous, in your face introduction. But their goal has been accomplished. You know who they are. In the Bible it says, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3) An Old Testament prophecy that came true in the life of John The Baptist. He told the people again and again to repent because Jesus, the Messiah, was coming soon! When Jesus did come, it was JTB who baptized him in water, marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry. I was reading the other day about evangelism, outreach, missions and personal witnessing. The author pointed out that the presence of God always preceeds the Good News about Jesus. The question is, how do we make the presence of God known? Another way to put it is, how can we be more like a JTB? Now if you get the idea that you should start wearing camel hides

For those who attended church this morning, you know that Joe McCutchen was not feeling very well. In fact, he was just plain sick. Had been for the last few days, but he wasn't going to let this get him down. Well I am glad to tell you that he is feeling much better this evening. Keep praying that he makes a full recovery. In his own words, he hasn't been this sick since 1981. Really! He is going to be staying here through tomorrow. If you would still like to get one of his t-shirts or albums, just stop by. God Bless!

It's 2 a.m. and I'm still up. Why? I really don't know. I didn't have any coffee. I didn't sleep in late this morning. I just can't sleep. I'm not worrying about anything and I'm not overly excited about anything. I'm just awake. So I have been working on the website. Go check it out. (Some of you who can't resist, I know will be emailing me my spelling mistakes) I wrote a couple weeks worth of Sunday School lessons. (See faithSKILLS on the churches website). I've been working on some new ideas for the rest of this year. WOW! I'm getting a lot of work done! Oh great! Now I'm sleepy. Nighty night.

During the month of September we have committed ourselves to prayer, fasting, evangelism and tithing. Sounds like a lot, but it's something we should be doing everyday. For some of you, fasting is a little know practice of your Christian faith. That's no surprise, I've never heard a sermon about fasting that ever filled the church up with eager listeners. Matthew 26: 41 says "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." (NIV) So this struggle between our heart and our body is one we are familiar with. Ever been on a diet and spied a slice of your favorite dessert? Have you ever struggled with not looking at something you know you shouldn't be looking at? Fasting is a way of discipling our body to do what God wants. I suggest an excellent web page at http://youth.ag.org/discipleship/fasting.cfm for more information about fasting. As we fast personally, we change personally. As we fast corporat