Mentors

Mark 4:26-29

“And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then and the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once, he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

I’ve confessed this before, and if you knew me it comes as no revelation, I’m slow in my thinking and have often spoken before my thinker catches up with my giving thought to what is the subject matter.  I am so guilty of reading God’s written word and not letting my thinker contemplate on what the Spirit who lives in me is saying.  But as I read these verses this morning this thought came to my mind, am I a scatterer of seed?  And after thinking about that question, I’ve come to believe we all are in the seed scattering business.  So if that is true what kind of seeds are you scattering, those that will produce a crop of nourishment and encouragement, or is your seed contaminated with anger, hate, and requires the harvester to spend time removing it from the good crop?

First, we must come to this agreement, we all live in the Kingdom of God, and our role is to plant seeds, and God’s part is what happens to the seed.  I enjoy gardening, I’m not a master at it and though I’ve been doing it for about 49 years as I understand it is my job to prepare the soil, buy good seed, and put them in the ground.  At this point, I water and wait for God to do His thing, and that is to make the seeds sprout and grow.  After the crop comes up it’s going to require me once more to mentor those seeds, in the same way, we do with our children.  I spend time with those seedlings, I water, and I pull up the weeds that would steal their nourishment, and I feed them what is needed to help them grow. 

As a man who was blessed by other men who scattered seeds, and was willing to invest in seedlings, they listened to God and poured their lives into mine, I am incredibly blessed.  Ken Ryan taught me that I was to be a 2 Timothy 2:2, a man of God’s; “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

Let me take a moment to give thanks to my mentors, some had wealth, and even titles and others were as poor as I was at that time in life.  My very first was a man who was an independent oilman, Jack Archer, and Jack was in his mid-forties when he asked Jesus into his life.  Jack taught me that God loves me and that was big.  Next was Greg Hood, who came to Corpus Christi with the “Here’s Life” campaign and started the “CBMC” the Christian Business Men’s Committee. Greg was younger but very wise to the faithfulness of God and the importance of listening and doing what God said to do.  Next came Ken Ryan also an independent oilman, a marine in WW11 and a Navigator who loved teaching men what God’s word said.  Of all my mentors Ken was the one who had little time for an unfaithful man, he often asked me if I understood and believed what God’s word was saying?  My reply was sure I believe, and I knew what was coming out of his mouth next, then why do you not obey it with your actions.

Then came Carroll Ray Jr. a CPA and Vice President of Tandy Corp, who came to Christ at a Lay Witness Mission I lead at the church he served in the role of deacon.  Carroll came to understand he knew a lot about God but did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and in that weekend he invited Jesus into his life. Carroll became not only my mentor but a very dear friend, it would require a book to share all that I learned from this very insightful man, but most of all he helped me by showing me how to love my wife.

And last is John Davis, and John is the only man of my mentors still living on planet earth, all the others have ejected out of their earth suit and are at the feet of Jesus.  John has been CFO and CEO of huge Corporations and asked me to be his prayer partner many years ago at Spring Baptist.  He moved from that church and then we also did years later, but our relationship of trust and learning and praying for one another has not changed.  Much of what I learned about being a man of integrity in my walk with both God and man, I’ve learned from John.

Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for, these men had a mess on their hands, and they kept pulling the weeds, watering the ground, and praying that God would open my eyes to the truth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Do Something

February 21, 2018

Mark 4:21-25

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Last year we had a series of sermons and lesson on “Do Something,” and someone from outside of the Christian Church might wonder what is that all about.  Well, it is all about obeying what Jesus has said, and it is clear from this paper written by Jon D. Wilke.

“When it comes to discipleship, churchgoers struggle most with sharing Christ with non-Christians according to a recent study of church-going American Protestants.

The study conducted by LifeWay Research found 80 percent of those who attend church one or more times a month, believe they have a personal responsibility to share their faith, but 61 percent have not told another person about how to become a Christian in the previous six months.”

Mr. Wilke, states 20% never pray for their family and friends who they know are not believers in Christ.  I believe Jesus ask some questions each of us who claim to be followers of Christ need to give thought to. “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?  One would assume the lamp in this parable is Jesus, and we who are followers of Christ understand it is not our story but His that is so important.  It is Christ in me that is the hope of glory, and each of us should have a story to share about what Christ has done for us.  Why do we hide that story from people we care for, is it not as if we have put it under a basket only to share with others who believe as we do on Sundays. 

Jesus goes on to say this; “For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”  One might ask is the contempt shown to Christians and the Church today tied to that 61% who go by the name Christian but have hidden what He has done for them under a basket?

Then Jesus states; “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.”  The Church in the USA must have a listening problem, and if not, we have an obedience problem.  The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.”  Could it be that because we have not used what we have heard, that it's taken from us?  But the reverse is for us who will listen and obey; we will be granted more revelation and understanding.

From The Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Dead-End Street

Mark 4:1-20

How does the lesson on the Sower and the seeds or the word, play out in life, in your life?  I’ve never given any thought to that question until today, how did the Sower’s words take root in my life?  Now from the time I could walk and remember when the church doors were open at Ebony Acres Baptist Church we headed that way.  We lived on Liberty Dr. and no matter how you went to Hall Street it was a two to three-mile walk.  And we did not own a car, so we always walked at least to church, and sometime in lousy weather someone would bring us home.

Now at home mother and dad were the sower of the word, Mom more than Dad, and at church, it was the pastor and my teachers. Through my teachers and at home we heard the many stories of what God did for Daniel, David, and about Moses, Abraham, Jacob, and Jesus, and His disciples, and many others.  I liked those stories, I liked being with other kids, but all that sitting still and being quiet when we could be climbing a tree or being an Indian scout, I did not enjoy.  So though I heard the word, and I often was required to put it to memory, I was not thinking about applying it to my life.  So that was a time in my early life when I did not come to Jesus, and He states, “And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.”  I now understand that Satan has a goal for each of our lives just as God does; yet his goal is very different from God’s.  Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it to the full.  But Satan’s goal is to steal, kill, and destroy, and it was his goal to keep me seeing my teachers as preventing me from having fun.

As I got older say five or six years old, there were times of conviction, and yet my soul was full of me by this time, and it fell on rocky ground, and there was time of what looked like spiritual growth, but it did not take root.  I was about 12 or so when a young man who worked with the youth ask in a church service, if I was a Christian, I was sitting with all my friends and it was a small building, I just knew everyone heard him.  I said no as quiet as I could, and then it seemed even lower he ask, don’t you want to be a Christian?  I was so embarrassed and without replying I did what mother always said never to do, I walked down to the front of the building and told the pastor I wanted to be a Christian.  It was a very emotional time, I became a Baptist, I joined the church, but I did not come seeking Jesus, I did what was expected of me.  And I believe it was like the rocky ground.

In High School I was willing to hunt with anyone who was popular, I was seeking the world and what it offered, and carried that into my early twenties and marriage.  But what I did not understand about God is that He loves me too much to allow this deception of Satan to keep stealing all that God had planned for me.  God first changed the man who had cut my hair since I was thirteen from a man of the world to a messed up guy who wanted to please Jesus.  Bob my barber asked me to a Bible study and I went because I could not believe He would go to a Bible study.  It took place every week on Wednesday at noon at the Holiday Inn on Hwy 9, and first we went to the buffet and got our food and then into a room, there were only six of us.  It was not a fun time, and I made some decisions that day never to come back, and not to go back to Bob’s shop for haircuts.  The very next week I was back for more, and I would change my schedule to make those meetings.  Six months later in a hotel room in Victoria, Texas, I ask Jesus to come into my life, and He did, and it was the beginning of Him changing my desires and heart.  And this is the excellent news He is still doing that today.

I was 27 years old before I listened, before I understood I was on a dead-end street headed to Hell.  I’m now 75 years of age and still open to listening to what God and His word have to say, and my goal is to obey and bring honor to my Redeemer, my Creator, and my LORD.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It seemed so disrespectiful

Mark 3:31-35

“And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

I was very young in the faith the first time I gave thought to what Jesus was saying and this seems so disrespectful to His mother and family.  I did say I was young in my new faith, not in my belief that Jesus was the Son of God, not that He was born of a virgin.  But moving from knowledge to a relationship of asking Jesus to forgive me for being the lord of the ring, looking to myself and others and not to Him. 

I was on a new journey of learning and unlearning much of what I took for truth.  I had convictions I had never had in the past, and I often came under the discipline of my Father, and it was not to harm me but to change me into a man who walked upright in the presence of both God and man.  I’m now 76 years of age and understand how little I know about many things, especially the ways of God.

I often hear people talk about a life verse, and I assume they mean a verse that gives direction to their life, if so this is mine.  It's found in Micah 6:8, “He has told you O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” 

Now with that information, one might think Bob is doing great, what a life verse, just to do what God requires of you.  It has not been, and I hope you understand my battle for I also believe it the struggle of all who choose to walk by faith and not feelings.  My largest fight is with me, with pride, and arrogance, wanting you to have a much higher opinion of me than both God and I know to be true.  Next comes the influence of the culture, and the deception of the devil, but it is pride that will keep you from being and meeting the requirements of Micah 6:8.

So how does all I stated above tie into Jesus’ questions: “Who are my mother and my brothers?”  It should be apparent that those who love Jesus and are a follower of Christ must follow Him.  It is becoming clear that I’m a mess, but I’m Jesus’ mess, and in spite of my weak faith He loves me.  It is also becoming clear that the desire of my heart is to do His will, and that makes His answer to the question above include me into His family.   “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

He is possessed by Beelzebul

Mark 3:20-30

When it states in the gospel of Mark 3:20 that Jesus went home we believe it is referring to Capernaum.  At this point in Jesus’ ministry so many had heard of what He had done that they wanted to be there to either be healed, have a demon removed from a family member, or to see what is going to happen next.  Now if you’re the priest in charge of the treasury and few are coming to services, you begin to be alarmed.  This new Rabbi is the center of attention and He is not one of your boys, and that always makes religious folks fearful.  They have been the central authority and the only show in town and now someone who is not part of their team is getting all the attention.

In these first verses we see the results of all Jesus’ popularity; “Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”  A crowd of people can be very dangerous, and they have expectations and Jesus and His disciples sitting down to a quiet meal is not on their schedule.  Jesus’ family are keepers of the Law and Jewish, and that means they have grown-up under the authority of the priest and it looks as if they are being pressured to get Jesus under control.  Only Mark makes this statement; “He is out of his mind.” 

I’m sure it was not long before the scribes that came from Jerusalem understood the family of Jesus had no authority over Him, for Jesus’ focus was only doing the will of the Father.  (Note: how different it would be if the Church had the same attention to just doing the will of the Father, how different it would be if you and I had that as our only goal.)

So the scribes go to plan B, and that is to attack the messenger of God, that is still the plan both Satan and religion use today.  “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”  Now the religious guys are the ones who are under the control of demons and we are told in Scriptures the demons know that Jesus is the Son of God, but they are saying Jesus is under the control of Satan.

Jesus reply; found in Mark 3:23-30, “And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Let me close with this statement, neither you nor I can stand in our strength against the powers and schemes of the devil, we need Jesus to do it all for us!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Could it be?

Mark 3:7-19

In these first five verses, we see Jesus leaving the synagogue after healing the man with the paralyzed hand.  It is essential to recognize the very human part of Jesus, His emotions when they would not answer His question; they were both anger and sorrow.  Angered at how stubborn they were and grieved that those who were the teachers of the Jews were so blind to the Scriptures.  So He leaves that area with His disciples and heads for the sea, and we are told a large crowd follows Him from Galilee to Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and beyond the Jordan.  It looks like the whole Jewish world was following him.  If you have not read the account in Mark 3:7-12, do so now.

But why was such a large crowd coming from so many areas of the Jewish world, Mark reported they had heard the stories and many came hoping to be healed?  Jesus had given orders for His disciples to have a small boat ready for Him so that the crowd that wanted to touch Him would not crush Him.  How once more we see what takes place when unclean spirits or evil spirits come in contact with Jesus in verses 11-12, “And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.”

As we move into verses 13-19, we see Jesus going up into the mountain and summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him.  It seems like when you read this that more than the twelve were called, but only the twelve were chosen to be His apostles.  Mark gives us their names and the names Jesus gave them, and when Mark comes to Judas Iscariot’s name, he states he is the one who betrayed Him.

Verses 14-19, “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

I’m still amazed that those evil spirits or unclean spirits have disappeared from our culture.  Could it be we are deceived when we see a person on a significant T.V. network making fun of our Vice President because he talks to and hears Jesus talking to Him?  Could it be she is under the authority of an evil spirit, and could it be that when a 19-year-old goes into a school in Florida and kills 19 people that he might also be under the authority of an evil spirit?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Religion's End Game

Mark 3:1-6

Often I’ve stated that religions endgame is to destroy or kill anyone that they fear or are opposed to them.  The Koran is very different from what Jesus taught, Jesus taught to love your enemies and to pray for them, but the Koran teaches to put them under subjection or kill them.  One is a religion and the other a relationship, in one the leader came and destroyed all who would not submit to his teaching and the other came with this promise in John 10:10b, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  They both died, but Jesus rose in three days from the grave and took His rightful place at the right hand of the Father.  It is amazing that one offered life and the other submission or death, yet many have chosen to go with death.  My high school friend, Buddy shared this quote with me from Blaise Pascal, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”  I’ve also become a fan of Blaise, and this quote is needed at this point; “In faith, there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”

So with that background let us explore Mark 3:1-6, “Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.”

Religion has rules; lots of rules, and in my youth as a member of small
Baptist churches, it became apparent we had our share of don’ts.  We preached loving your neighbor as yourself, but it was rare when this teenage boy saw it lived out by the members of those small churches.  Have you ever wondered why the world is not knocking down the doors of our Churches, could it be we talk a good story but faith without works is dead, I believe Jesus’ brother James said that.

Well, the Pharisees were professionals at being religious and would have dragged a Baptist to death trying to keep up with all the don’ts and especially about the Sabbath.  So look at this set up on the man with the withered hand, and Jesus’ question to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”  It seems like a no-brainer, it is always good to do the right thing and it is always good to save a life.  But when trapped the Pharisees did what religion always does, and it also comes from John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”  Religions end game is to destroy or kill anyone that they fear or is opposed to them.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice