The last couple weeks

Sooooo….

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind and super busy, all culminating with a long awaited Labor Day weekend at the beach. I’m sunburned, I smell like fish and squid guts, and I’m more full on pulled pork, collard greens, and bacon wrapped/jalapeno stuffed tator tots than I have been in a long, long time.

We said goodbye to what has been our home for the past year at four in the morning on Monday, August 22nd. We will, no doubt, miss it. Our experience in Canada has been, for lack of a stronger word, invaluable. I say that for several reasons. First, the growth that Rachel and I both experienced was unreal. On a spiritual level I feel that we have both grown tremendously. The Lord has shown me things over the past year that I don’t think would have been revealed had we not been obedient and ventured out on this journey of faith. I have learned to become all the more reliant on Him for everything; provision, direction, guidance. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “trust in the Lord with all our your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all you ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” I’ve learned through many experiences this past year how true that really is. Aside from our spiritual growth on an individual level, I feel we have grown in maturity. We have had to leave all we know and every bit of comfort that we can cling to in turn cling to the Author and Finisher of our faith. We have moved to a different country, had a baby there, raised our family there for a year, adapted and fit in. I believe that one of the reasons, if not the main reason, the Lord had us do this was the unbelievable growth that would occur through Him. On top of all this our marriage has grown so strong. What a beautifully orchestrated plan by our Maker to have us in a situation where we would have to cling so tightly to Him and to each other. He knew what He was doing. Secondly, the friendships. The Lord led us away from our family and friends in Florida and filled the gap with some of the most amazing people I have ever had the privilege of being able to call friends. We have developed irreplaceable friendships that will last for eternity. And lastly is experience. God has given me some ministry opportunity and experience that have developed who and where I am now and will continue to act as a mold for who the Lord will have me be. I’ve always been a big believer in on the job experience as greater than any classroom you may sit in. You may know what your textbook says about a three point turn but that knowledge is pretty useless if you don’t intend drive. I have been given a ton of opportunity for “on the job training” over the past year and I am so thankful for it. Thankful to God, to Rachel, Andy, Brett, Jon Ruby, and many others. If I had the chance to go back and talk to myself before I made the decision to move our family to Canada I would have said to do it exactly like we did.

So we left Canada at 4am on the morning of the 22nd. As soon as we got on the Queensway I noticed that my tail lights were out. Turns out the trailer blew a fuse. After driving for three hours with the hazards on so as not to lose time, we found an open wal-mart and fixed the fuse. We drove for 17 hours on the first day. I couldn’t sleep until we were south of the Mason Dixon Line. The second day we drove for nine hours from Roanoke VA to Atlanta. We stayed the night with our brother, Chris Robinson. We had an amazing dinner with Chris and our good friend Drew. The next day we left early and trucked it home. Crossing the Florida/Georgia border was such a sweet thing.

As we were finishing out the last leg of the trip my excitement started to mix with knowing that I was going to have a few days of tough, solid moving ahead of me as we get situated at our new place in Palm Harbor. My mom and Rachel’s mom called and wanted us to meet them there so they could show it to us, we hadn’t seen it yet. I was exhausted and the plan was to stay at my parents the first night and to move stuff over the next day. Our mom’s were excited, though, so we went to the house. As we pulled up I saw a bunch of cars out front. Turns out that a bunch of the dudes got together and moved our stuff for us and the girls cleaned the house for us! We are so blessed by our friends and family. I can’t explain how big a relief it was to have that stuff done.

Since we’ve been back we’ve been busy. We are settling into our house and a new routine. I am getting used to my schedule at the church and have found a part time job that will be starting soon to supplement my income a little bit. It’s really been crazy and awesome so far. I’ve only run a couple times as I’m trying to nurse my foot. I think it may be back though, we’ll test it with a good long run in the morning. A few weeks before I got here, Andrew Chung came to join us at the church as he leads worship. Andrew is super talented and I am pumped for the chance to serve with him. He lives right down the street from me and is Korean, meaning that he is a good cook. I’ve already walked to his house. And the answer to what everyone is wondering, yes, I’ve been to Taco Bus. I’ve been to Brady’s. I’ve already eaten conch fritters and alligator nuggets. I’ve had pulled pork, collard greens, biscuits and gravy, Ted Peter’s smoked fish spread, cole slaw, bacon wrapped/jalapeno stuffed tator tots, sweet tea, and a few burritos as big as my head. I’ve already caught a few fish and lost a few more. We’ve been to a Ray’s game. We are back in Florida.

A few ministry updates. I am starting a men’s discipleship group that begins tonight and Rachel has a woman’s group that is also starting tonight. Please be praying for those. I am still beginning to settle into my role here at CCPH. Although mine and Rachel’s location has changed, our hearts haven’t. We are both seeking the Lord and looking to Him for guidance. We just want to serve Him in whatever area and capacity He has planned for us. Over the past year my heart has really grown for men and women in addiction recovery. I, along with some men at church, are praying for God to equip us and give us the resources to pursue some longer term, more full time recovery ministry. Please be praying for that as well.

I think I covered a lot and I don’t want this to get too long. If anyone, Canadian or other, has any questions for Rachel and I please feel free to ask or tell me if I have left anything out.

We miss Canada and our family there. We are happy to be home and are so thankful for our family here. We are excited to see what the Lord has planned in this new season that we are in.

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

God bless!

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Jeremiah 29:11

I just had lunch with Jon Ruby and the guys from the Jericho Road “D-house”. What a blessing. When we moved up here I had no idea the impact that those guys would have on my life. I sat with a couple guys today and was completely blown away by what the Lord is doing in and through them. I sat with a real good friend of mine, a brother, and told him how he’s been such an encouragement to me. This guy, who just a few months ago without hesitation would rob his own grandmother for crack, is sitting in front of me and showing me what God has been showing him in his quiet time. Understand this, my friend has been nothing but a statistic since he was 12. In and out of group homes as a kid because his parents gave up on him. In and out of jail. Living in crack houses. Abused young so he became a violent adult. An addict. A nobody. Loved by no one. Hated by everyone. He opens his Bible to Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” In tears he turns to me and says, “God has a plan for me and a future. I’ve never had a future. I’ve always been told by everyone that I’ll never have a future. Now I have God telling me that He has a plan for me, and it’s not a plan to harm me.” My friend has come from a place so dark, a place that very few have ever experienced, and has walked right into the light and has been blown away by the love of Jesus.

My heart breaks for the lost. It absolutely breaks. But I thank God that I have the opportunity to know these guys and to be a part of their stories. I have no doubt that God has plans for my friend. Great plans. How many more are out there like this guy? How many more are lost and hurting, searching for this freedom from what enslaves them. This freedom and joy that I have and that my friend has. Please take some time and pray for God to give you an opportunity to be a light to someone. As Andy likes to say, “We need to keep praying for God to bring us broken, messed up people.” Amen. The fields are white and the clock is ticking.

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Wanna buy some bus tickets?

Someone tried to sell me and a friend some crack the other day as we were in the middle of talking about struggles with sobriety and victory over the power of addictions.

I had a super encouraging time the other day with a friend of mine who attends the Bible study that I teach on Sunday nights at Jericho Road. I didn’t tell him I was going to write about this so I’m gonna leave out details and his name, obviously, but I wanted to share how encouraged I was. This was the first time that we were able to sit down and talk outside of Bible study. We were both really open and he shared some serious personal stuff with me about his background, as did I. He shared with me how he has battled with alcohol, drugs, and mental illness for over 20 years and how the only reason he is sober today is because after all that time he has realized that when he tries to maintain the control he goes off the deep end. However, when he relinquishes control to God he gains clarity and realizes that the universe doesn’t revolve around him. I am very encouraged for this dude and pray that God can really use him and his story. Furthermore, I pray that he can truly understand who Jesus really is and the power of what Christ did on the cross. It’s amazing to hear someone with that story and history say “I try so hard to live like Christ.” It encourages me to press on and it shows me the value of true investment. I’ve been rocked by Psalm 127 lately, especially verse 1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Anything that we pursue in this life apart from God is worthless.

Seek first the Kingdom!

Grace and Peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Love Wins, thoughts

I have read a lot of reviews written about Rob Bell’s new book, “Love Wins”. Some were long, some were short. Some were pretty harsh making it seem as though some others let him off the hook a little easy. I’ve always been leery of Rob Bell and as a result I’ve always just avoided him. I’ve seen some of his videos and heard others talk about his books. I’ve seen close friends buy into his “theology” and the fruit, or lack thereof, that has been produced. I’m good with my Bible and the black and white gospel that has been given to us. The Bible has its mysteries but there are a lot of things that are simple and, therefore, have not been left open to question. I believe that the black and white areas, specifically the gospel, are the way they are because God loves us. Sometimes I tell my kids things and they have freedom to make a choice or question why I am saying what I am saying. However, when I tell them not to cross the road without looking, or not to get in that strangers van, or not to drink the drain cleaner under the sink, and they begin to question my reasons and even go a step further to figure out a way they can do these things, there is going to be real danger involved. And with those real dangers also come real consequences. What Rob Bell has done in Love Wins has been to question these very clear, very black and white truths that God has given us because He loves us. I don’t intend to give a commentary on this book, just my thoughts.

I just finished reading CS Lewis’ “the Screwtape Letters” this past weekend. The Screwtape Letters are a series of letters written by Uncle Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew and junior tempter, Wormwood. This book chronicles Wormwood’s experience with his first human “patient”. His main goal in his line of work is to do anything and everything possible to keep his patient from entering into the Enemy’s(Jesus) camp. Each letter from Uncle Screwtape is in response to a letter from Wormwood, these letters we don’t see. Wormwood’s patient begins as an unbeliever and throughout the book becomes saved and then grows in his relationship with the Enemy and people in the Enemy’s camp. To the frustration and disappointment of Uncle Screwtape, Wormwood ends up losing his patient in the end to the Enemy. Now this post isn’t about Screwtape and his letters but about Rob Bell and his book. The reason I wanted to bring up Lewis’ book is this: throughout this book, Screwtape is giving suggestions, advice, and proven methods to separate the patient from the enemy. Once the patient becomes a Christian the methods change. They go from all out debauchery to subtleties that will take time to take root but will ultimately drive this “Christian” to an unintentional disdain for Christ and His followers. He offers advice on making the patients prayer life very self focused, and when he does pray for others he is praying for their sin as he looks down his prideful nose at them, rather than praying for their needs. He encourages church hopping, making the patient believe he needs a church that “suits him”. There is a lot of pride, deceit, subtle twisting of the truth and tickling of the ears. All of these things done with patience and cunning with one goal and that is separation from the Enemy. Eternal separation.

The methods used to drive or pull the patient away from the Enemy get more desperate and more risky. As I started reading “Love Wins” I felt as if it were a continuation of CS Lewis’ book. It reads as though Satan has had a pow wow with his closest advisers and they have come up with one last plan, one last method, one last strategy to develop a wedge between patient and the Enemy. One last shot to convince mankind that there is salvation available apart from Christ and that there will always be an opportunity to choose God, even after death. Yes, Rob Bell says that we will always have a chance to “choose God” even after death.

In chapter 1 Rob Bell uses the classic emergent church argument of the phrase: “personal relationship is found nowhere in the Bible”. I agree, if you search for the words “personal relationship” you will not find them in the Bible. However, if you read John 15 you will see very clearly that Jesus desires a personal relationship and wants for us to abide in Him and He in us. That idea of no necessity for personal relationship is nothing other than a cop out and a very dangerous one at that. He goes on to talk about Heaven and and insists that Heaven is here on earth. That in the end all things will be restored and the earth we currently inhabit is our Heaven, minus the evil. That we need to get clean water to the billions who don’t have it and by doing that we are participating in the clean water that will be enjoyed by all in the age to come. Bell says there are no mansions in Heaven by affirming that “mansions, a word nowhere in the Bible’s description of Heaven”. I guess Rob Bell hasn’t read John 14:2. Bell goes through a serious of scripture from Old Testament prophets reiterating the idea that this earth is Heaven and what we do now as far as being conscience of the environment, distributing clean water, etc will carry weight in what the age to come will be like.

Perhaps the most controversial chapter in this book is the one on Hell. Rob Bell’s “Hell” is a very real and present Hell. When the young girl is raped, she is literally experiencing hell. When the family finds out that dad just committed suicide, that family is literally dealing with hell. Hell is this earth that we live in in the present state with all the evil and murder and rape and greed. Bell is vague about a lot of things but he is very clear on his belief of Hell. He believes that in the end all things will be restored. He likes to use Matthew 25 a lot to back this up. He says that in the day of judgment the sheep will be separated from the goats. The sheep will go on into Heaven and the goats will be placed into a period of pruning(pg 91) where they will receive correction but ultimately be restored.

As I read this book I got the sense that it was written by either a child or someone who is extremely immature in their faith. That this person doesn’t like the idea of Heaven being a long, drawn out, boring church service so they have made this Heaven into what they would want Heaven to be. Bell says that heaven will be doing those things that you can get lost in, the things that you say you could do forever. I also got the impression that this author is unsure of his salvation. That, combined with being terrified of hell has given him an opportunity to develop in his mind a hell that isn’t that bad. One that we can deal with for a little while. A “time out”, so to speak. After we have learned our lesson, we will be restored and then we can rejoin our friends on the playground playing kickball or basketball or whatever you can get lost in. Bell is fickle, unsure, uneasy. He wavers in his belief. He is not confident in the saving power of the cross and the desperate need of a Savior. According to Bell, “The Christian faith is big enough, wide enough, and generous enough to handle that vast a range of perspectives.”

He asks a lot of questions and gives few answers. Usually his answer is in the form of another question. I think that Rob Bell was let off the hook easy by the reviewers. This book is poisonous. His theology is poisonous. This isn’t a eat the meat and spit out the bones type of book. There is no meat. If you read it, read it with discernment.

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Priorities

With the addition of a new member in our family and having some time home to think, one tends to refocus on priority and perspective. During my time off I have still been teaching the Bible study for Jericho Road on Sunday nights. There has been a theme that has been carried over the past few weeks and was kind of climaxed this past Sunday night. This theme is the reality that there is a day coming when everyone will be face to face with our Creator and the fact that you are going to be in one of two camps. The one who believes and the one who does not believe, and trust me, no matter how self righteous or hard headed you are right now, you are going to want to be in the camp that has laid down their life at the feet of Jesus and placed their faith and trust in Him. At the end of Mark chapter 8 Jesus lays out the cost of following Him. He says:

“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

This is heavy. If we are ashamed of Him than He’ll be ashamed of us. Thankfully, in Revelation 3:5, He shows us the alternative:

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

And again in Matthew 25 we get a glimpse of what that day will be like:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

To me, this shows where the importance is. Where “success” is found. It isn’t in your parents version of the American Dream or what your peers may have told you. Satisfaction will never be achieved by something we do here on Earth. Rockefeller was once asked, “How much money is enough?” He said, “One dollar more.” Success, joy, freedom, satisfaction, and rest will not be found outside of Christ. Period.

So what perspective or priorities have been re-focused during my time off? I have been reminded of the importance of serving Christ and serving Him by serving others. Amazing how quickly pride and self can creep in! When we are focused on ourselves we really lose focus on everything else, but when we focus on Jesus we are able to notice the subtleties of life that we would normally walk past. We are able to notice the thirsty and the hungry, the strangers and those sick and in prison. It’s natural and encouraged to take care of #1 when the fact is that Jesus has already taken care of us through His grace so that we can feed and clothe those who need it. The song is so true when it says “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” Christian, I want to challenge you to refocus and turn your eyes upon Jesus. Take a moment and understand what is important. Read God’s Word with urgency and the knowledge of its reality. Get some perspective and know that your house and your car and your career and the things of this Earth that you work so hard to attain are going to burn away one day. When that day comes I want to be able to rest in the fact that I took Jesus seriously when He said that “whatever you do unto the least of these you have done to me.” Lord, equip us with wisdom, understanding, boldness, and opportunities in Jesus name!

Grace and Peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Saul Update

If you clicked this thinking it was a baby announcement, I’m sorry. No baby yet.

The update is that, after a huge amount of prayer and counsel, Rachel and I have made the decision to move back to Florida at the end of August. Our year will be up here and we believe that the Lord is calling us back and we are going to be obedient. We will be returning to Calvary Chapel Palm Harbor and I will be going into a full time ministry position there. We are working on the arrangements right now. I am super excited for the opportunities that will come of that and the ministry that the Lord is already stirring. Please be praying for that.

We have been in Ottawa for seven months now and have a whole new family and home here. The reason for telling you this news now is that I wanted to make sure that it was heard from me. We still have five months here and a lot of learning, work, and ministry yet to do. I am so thankful that the Lord brought us here and I can’t wait to see what he still has planned for us. I am so incredibly thankful for the family that we have here now and even after we go Ottawa will always be our second home.

You may be wondering why we have made this decision so early. We are here on a one year Religious Workers Visa. In order to extend our visa we needed to make a decision six months in advance. Believe me, this is a decision that was toiled over in prayer and the Lord has given us a clear answer.

So what does this change? Nothing. Like I said, we still have a lot of work and a lot of ministry left. The reason for the announcement now is that I wanted to be sure that this looming question wouldn’t be a distraction or a hindrance to the ministry that the Lord has us in.

The body of Christ is amazing. The family of God is awesome. We are so thankful to have a place in the body and to have the opportunity to be used by Him. We are thankful that we have been obedient and will continue to be obedient to Him. The Lord has blessed us beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Our marriage, our family, and our friends are a few examples where the Lord has really blessed us but they pale in comparison to the His amazing grace and the salvation that is made available to us through faith in Jesus Christ. They also don’t compare to the joy that comes with bearing fruit that is pleasing to the Lord. And what’s really amazing is that it’s not even your works that bear the fruit but the works of the Lord through the natural fruit that is a result of your faith. Even more awesome is that to bear fruit, you just need to abide in Him and in His word(John 15:1-8). Lay your burdens down at His feet, abide in Him, rest in Him, glory in Him and His word and fruit will happen. As we have made the decision to continue to abide in Him and to be obedient, I want to encourage you consider what the Lord has planned for you. The fields are white with harvest but the laborers are few. We are praying hard for more laborers. If the Lord is calling you out to the fields, go. Don’t count the costs, don’t worry about establishing a “plan b” or a safety, don’t look back, just have faith that God will equip you and go. If you are obedient the Lord will make opportunity for you that you never thought possible. I love this family.

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Jericho Road Bible Study

I’ve been teaching the Sunday night Bible study for Jericho Road for a little while. I’ve talked about it before on here and I’m sure that I’ll talk about it again. We have gone through five or six weeks of a weird time where it seems as though the study has gotten a little stagnant. It seems that way to me, anyway. It may be that we took a week off for the Super Bowl, then I was gone for a couple of weeks so the adjustment back has been slow or something. Because of this we decided a couple weeks ago to mix it up and put the chairs into a circle instead of a classroom look with rows of chairs and me at the front. I like this change.

This past week I made another change that I think will stick. Instead of opening us up with prayer and getting into it, I opened and Randy closed and we gave everyone the opportunity to pray if they wanted. I honestly thought that it was going to be just Randy and I but after I finished someone else piped up, then someone else. I think we had four guys jump in. It was awesome and encouraging. I taught through the beginning of Mark 7 and we got to take a good look at what the difference between religion and a relationship with Christ is.

Mark 7:6
He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

After we were done we opened for q&a, which normally doesn’t generate much, and got the opportunity to get into a great discussion. It was such a blessing. I think we have a new format that we will be following from here on out. Please pray for those guys, and the ministry at Jericho Road. Pray for the Ruby’s and the others involved there and that the Lord will deliver these guys from what they are slaves to.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach these guys and I’m thankful for the relationships I’ve made there. I read Matthew 9:37-38 and I can really understand the urgency in what Jesus is saying. The fields are white for the harvest but the workers are few. Are you a worker?

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Contentment

I’m really encouraged this morning by what Paul has to say to the church in Philippians 4:12-13.

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Contentment is not something that we are normally taught in our Western culture. In fact, it is more often than not the opposite. We are taught that we can always have more and that we can always do better than our current circumstances. Parents want kids to do better than them and often times place unreasonable pressure on what their view of success is. When worldly success is priority we quickly lose sight on the only thing in this life that carries any long term weight and that is the gospel. What’s more is that not only are we shown what we can have but we are told we deserve it. We are told and believe that we deserve better, or that we didn’t deserve for that bad thing to have happened to us.

I thank God everyday for what He has given to me and my family and at the same time I thank Him for the stuff of this world that He has purged from us. I realize that everything I have has been given by Him and belongs to Him. If the Lord decides that I need something, He will give it to me. If He decides that I don’t need something, or that He will be glorified if He takes something away, He will take it and I am totally cool with that. I am in a position that the world will tell me is not a good spot to be in. I am completely, unequivocally dependent on Christ. I am dependent on Him for my finances, for my family, for my health, etc. I have laid it all down at His feet and it is all His to do with what He wants. I will tell you this, as you read this and wonder how this is freedom, that I have never been more free. I am free to be used by God in whatever capacity he chooses.

Just to be clear, however, this freedom is in no way a carelessness. Because I have been redeemed and have given my life over to Christ, I will approach every aspect of life with a passion towards giving God glory in all that I do. Achievement for the sake of self is worth nothing at the end of the day, but achievement for the sake of the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel can have lasting effects that will continue far beyond any worldly “legacy”.

Be encouraged today and consider your circumstances. Are you content where God has you?

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

Florida, pt 1.

As hard as it was, we let go of Florida again and are now back in Canada. We had an incredible time with friends and family that we miss a lot. This trip wasn’t just a vacation, though. Rachel and I both had a bit on our plates while we were in town. Here is a rundown of the first half of our trip, from my perspective. I’ll do the second half on Tuesday. Maybe Rachel can add to this…

I won’t get into the travel woes that we experienced in New York but let’s just say we spent the night at JFK airport and got into Tampa nine hours later than scheduled. Rachel went on to Lakeland and I went to Clearwater to meet my brother, Cory, and to pick up the CCSP missions van that they were so gracious to let us use. Cory and I went to Orange Blossom Groves to get a giant cup of OJ and look at the alligator heads. Then we went to Acropol in Clearwater for lunch. After lunch I headed to Lakeland to meet Rachel and the kids.

We spent the first night at Rachel’s dad’s house in Lakeland. We had a great visit and had an opportunity to really share what we have going on in Ottawa and how the Lord is moving up here.

We woke up Sunday morning and went to church at our home church, Calvary Chapel Palm Harbor. We are so blessed by our family there. It was a great reminder of how fortunate we are and how much the Lord has blessed us with the people in our lives. After church, Rachel and I went with James and Brooke to the park for a youth group picnic. I miss those guys and girls a ton and I’m really thankful that I got to spend a good amount of time with some of them. Sunday afternoon, myself, Johnny, and Jim got to get out and fish a little bit and Johnny caught himself a decent trout that is now in the freezer.

I’m totally drawing a blank on Monday. Weird. I do remember that Rachel and I and Jim and Barbara went out for sushi for dinner though. Amazing, sushi is.

Tuesday morning I was given the opportunity to share at the Calvary Chapel St Pete’s men’s breakfast. What a sweet time. Jim Bourland and Zac Copple were kind enough to come with me to the breakfast even though it was at 6:30am on a Tuesday morning. I miss Zac a lot. We used to see each other everyday so being away from him has been one of the harder transitions I’ve had to make. We also got the chance to get breakfast a few times while I was in town. I am very thankful for him and his family. After the breakfast I met with Art Dykstra, the missions pastor at St Pete. This was the first time I’d met Art. I like Art. You may have read in an earlier post that I went to Taco Bus for lunch with my good friends Rob Schwager and Jimmy Likeness. If you didn’t read it, go back and look at the pictures. For real. I got a chance to spend a lot of time with James on this trip, too. That was a great blessing. Tuesday afternoon I got to pick my sister, Kasi, up at the airport and then we waited there for the crew to get back from the mission trip to Kenya. My mom and dad were part of that crew so when they arrived our week became SaulGood. The whole family went to Acropol for dinner. I was so nice to have everyone back together again, even if it was for a brief time.

Wednesday was a good day. I went up to church a bit early to study because I was given the opportunity to teach on Wednesday night. Brett and I went out to Brady’s BBQ in Safety Harbor for lunch and got some amazingness. Again, please refer to previous post. Wednesday night was an awesome night. It was an huge honor to have the chance to share with everyone in Palm Harbor. I shared a bit about Ottawa and what we have going on up here and then I taught through Romans 12. I have personally been so convicted by this chapter and it was amazing getting to share it to a big group of people who I love and I really wanted to hear it, too. God is good. When the service was done, I had everyone break up into small groups and pray with each other. I regret not taking a picture because it was really cool to see.

Thursday morning began with breakfast with Zac. Then I went up to the church and helped for a little bit in getting the sanctuary ready for the women’s conference. I went to lunch with Brett, Jim, James, Daniel, Chris, and Justin. I miss our Thursday lunches and it was nice getting to join everyone this week. Rachel was spending a good amount of her time up to this point getting prepared for the conference. Thursday night Rachel and I, accompanied by our good Canadian friend, Chelsea Gardiner, got to hang out with the Palomino’s small group from CCSP. What an awesome group. We got to share a bit, eat together, and pray together. I’m thankful for the new relationships we have there. Thursday night I was going to go fishing with my good friend Steve Musha but the wind was a bit out of control so we decided to grab some coffee, go to the Safety Harbor pier and talk. I had such an encouraging time with Steve. He is one of my best friends and I am so thankful for him and his amazing wife, Darby. There are some people that you know the Lord has placed in your life solely for the purpose of sincere friendship. Steve is one of those people.

I am so thankful for our family in Flroida. I am also so thankful for our family in Ottawa. This is the beauty of God’s family; it is so abundant and without bounds. There is nothing that you can share in common with someone that will bring people together bore than the common bond of a love for and a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you’re not, you want to get in on this family. Trust me.

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

About Fathers, pt 2

I have been beyond fortunate to have the men in my life that I do. Aside from my dad and grandfathers, there are others that have had an influence on me. There are some other men who it just seems have always just been there and I have been able to learn from them, too. A couple that come to mind right away are Brett Robinson, Jim Nelson, Danny Fretto, Arry Housh, Mike June, Darrell Faber, Greg Pas, Doug Newland, and Rob Jenkins. Of course there are more but my point is that I have been lucky enough to have a solid, powerful male influence in my life. A rarity these days, unfortunately.

The good news, though, is this: We have a Father in Heaven that loves every single one of us so unconditionally that He sent His only Son to die for us so that we have an opportunity to be saved. We are all the prodigal son. We have all turned our backs on God and He is standing there with open arms waiting for each of us to come home. We could have been raised in the best of homes, with the greatest parents, going to the best schools, given everything we have ever needed but without a relationship with Jesus Christ it is useless. Our righteousness aside from Jesus is that of a filthy rag. It’s heartbreaking to know that you can come so close and still fall so short. The only hope that we have as humanity is the hope that is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:12-14

I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.

There is no better time than now. No matter how amazing your father is, he will at some point disappoint you. Man will always disappoint you. The beauty of our Heavenly Father is that He will never disappoint. He is all knowing, all loving, all powerful. He is so madly in love with us and wants nothing more than to spend eternity with you.

There is no better place to be in this life than to be able to rest in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ, our King. If you are at all skeptical, I dare you to sincerely call on His name. If you are reading this blog and you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or have no clue what I’m talking about and would like more information or some questions answered, I would love for the opportunity to talk more with you about it. Feel free to email me with any questions at all ryan@tokyofish.com

Grace and peace,
Ryan