Dear RBC Family and Friends:

Wow, summer is here!  It’s so hard to believe that already one month has passed since school ended.  Before we know it, summer will be over and the new school year will have begun.                                                                                                                                                    

I trust that you are enjoying the summer time and vacation time.  But, don’t enjoy it at the expense of your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Body of Christ—the Church.  We still need you and hopefully you still need us; and we all need HIM (Jesus).  Don’t forget that even though you may be away, your Church is still operating.  So please remember to pray for us, and also to continue to be faithful in your giving as Holy God blesses you.                                                                                                                       

Recently, I heard of a man who filled up a gasoline can and put it in the floor of the passenger side of his car.  As he was returning home, he lit up a cigarette.  You don’t need me to tell you the rest of the story.  KABOOM!  There is a name for folks who do such things—STUPID is what I would call them.  Perhaps you’d be kinder than me and call them ‘incredibly dumb’ or say of them that they were ‘a few French fries short of a Happy Meal’ or ‘their elevator didn't quite make it to the top’.  But, the truth be known, there are folks who do things much more incredibly dumb than that.  “How can that be,” you ask?  Here it is:  They alter scripture to fit their life-styles.  They walk on a spiritual tightrope.  Whenever they run across verses or principles of God’s Word that attack their position or life-style, they change them to accommodate their practices.  That way, two things occur:  1) All desires (no matter how wrong) are fulfilled.  2) All guilt (no matter how justified) is erased.  That way everyone can do their own thing and nobody has any reason to question another’s actions.  Often this person falls back on the old line:  ‘Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff.  We’re not under law, but under grace.”  If that is true… if that is right, then what does it mean “to be holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16)? Or “be pure” (1 Thess. 4:3; 5:22)?  Or “be under grace” (Romans 6:15)?                                                                                                                       

The simple fact is this:  we reap precisely what we sow.  If we sow a life-style that is in direct disobedience to God’s revealed Word, we ultimately reap disaster—see:  Gal. 6:7.  The consequences of sin may not come immediately… but they will come.  And when they do, there will be no excuse, no rationalization and no accommodation.  God doesn’t compromise with consequences.  By the way, did I mention that we have been studying just this in Wednesday Bible Study—you need to be with us.  My dear friends Holy God loves you and is jealous over  you.  Be wise and don’t BLOW yourself up!                                                                         

I love my Church family and want Holy God’s blessings on you and your family.  Know this:  our God “will not leave you nor forsake you.”  You are important to Him and to me.  Be faithful and fruitful in the things of our Lord.  And when we get to the end of this place called  time we can hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…”   Continue to have a God blessed and safe and enjoyable summer.  And don’t forget to be active in Kingdom work.  See you in Bible Study and Worship, my friends.          

Pastor John

P.S.  Don’t forget to be a proud American, as we celebrate our nation’s “Independence Day!”  Have a happy and blessed ‘4th of July’!