RickPage

Kenny August 8, 2016 I noticed something yesterday as I was packing.  I was packing the workshop and garage.  As I wa packing my third circular saw...don't be judgmental!  There was a redundancy of three computer systems on the Space Shuttle.  If triple redundancy works for NASA, it can work in a hobby workshop.  Well, as I was saying, I was packing my third circular saw and it still seemed as if there was a long way to go in packing.  It was shortly afterwards that I noticed a change in my packing method from the beginning of this adventure. It all started with my model train room.  I was fastidious in my packing.  Trains and accessories were carefully put back in their original packaging.  You're being judgmental again.  There is nothing wrong with keeping original packaging.  Next came the guns, and yes, original packaging.  The room was quickly emptied.  Next came my office with dozens and dozens of boxes fi...

"You Don't..." July 6, 2016 It was the summer of  1972.  I was a 14 year-old boy living on the east coast of Florida and Jim Croce released his latest big hit, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim."  Perhaps you remember the title song.  the chorus went like this,      "You don't tug on Superman's cape,       You don't spit into the wind,       You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger,       And you don't mess around with Jim." The lyrics are set in a pool hall in New York City.  "Big Jim" Walker is the titular character - note, I did not say hero.  He's portrayed in the song as big, bad, mean and not particularly bright.  The story in song ends violently when Willie "Slim" McCoy ambushes Big Jim and slays him.  The pool hall regulars then change their advice to strangers by saying, "You don't mess around with Slim." Croce's song makes popular street wisdom....

Change June 28, 2016 As we face change.  By "we" I refer to both you and me.  Maybe you wonder what sort of change I might be talking about.  Well, right now there is a lot of change.  For me, we look to once again crossing the country and joining a new ministry.  There is lots of change there, and uncertainties as well.  For the congrgation we leave, there is lots of change.  a minister to whom they have grown accustomed.  There is also plenty of uncertainty, "Who will we get next?" "What if we can't find anyone?" "There is danger facing us when you leave!" "What if?" For the congregation we journey to, "He looks good now, but will he fit here?" "What if I don't like him?" "What if?" Oh, I nearly forgot about you.  Yes, I'm referring to you, those who are not part of the groups i have mentioned thus far.  you are facing some sort of change.  If not n...

Hello, Goodbye June 26, 2016 This week has been an emotional roller coaster.  We started the week saying yes to a new congregation and ministry.  We ended the week bystarting to say goodbye to another.  Now we begin the long process in ministry of moving from one to the other. We made the very emotional announcement to the congregation here at First Christian Church.  It did not help that they had planned a birthday celebration for me for after service.  There were tears, kind words and prayer.  Some were shocked, a couple were not surprised.   We had the elders and wives over for dinner last night to break the news to them - it was hard, much harder than I thought.  We said goodbye to another congregation eleven years ago.  One would think it gets easier.  It does not, and I don't think I would much like myself if it did become easier.  Paul's farewell to the Ephesian elders comes to mind: "And when he had said t...

Appalled June 20, 2016 I was preaching in a Tennessee congregation while traveling from Raliegh to Nashville on Sunday, June 12, 2016.  One of the congregants shared about the Orlando shooting that morning.  Having eschewed television news last year, and long had the practice of avoiding anything beyond the study of Scripture on Sunday mornings, the announcement was a surprise to me.  Perhaps the greatest surprise was that I was not shocked by the news.  I guess it is possible that the acts of terrorism, even on domestic soil, have become too common. It did not take long for practically everyone to opine, for the attention hounds to stand in front of a camera, seek having a microphone thrust in their face, or for those embracing the electronic age - to resort to social media.  Ironically, just as I am doing now.  However, I did want to be different.  I wanted to wait until the dust had cleared somewhat.  Too often what is reported by the ...

Character June 6, 2016 I've stopped watching television coverage of the elections - too painful.  Our local paper and what is gleaned from news apps on my phone and computer have sufficed.  Still, it's painful.  A father defending his son for what some - apparently Dad is one - would say is a minor indiscretion.  Others object, saying what he has done is particularly egregious.  Parents on trial in the court of public opinion for lax supervision; yet others for making an emotional, rather than logical decision in discipline. It's the finger pointing which makes it all painful.  Politicians hurling vicious accusations against one another.  By the way, is a lie still a lie when despite proof otherwise, one still believes the charge against another to be true?  I wonder if this is the real casualty in a relativistic society.  Have we reached the point that we destroy each other because we have abused truth to the point not that ther...

See Me! May 25, 2016 A friend was sharing about his and another friend's depression recently. Both men had long struggled with depression. Through the years they had a daily conversations, and as they moved apart, it was most often by phone.  In the conversation in question, our common friend said, "I don't have a friend in the world."  The irony was that he had thousands of friends - including the friend on the phone.  At that moment he just could not see anything, except the enormity of the issue before him. Such is the nature of depression.  It makes the seeing blind - to hope.  It is a wind so fierce, it whisks away words of hope and encouragement from perfectly functioning ears.  Reason is nearly gone, if not gone completely.  The onslaught of depression is merciless.  The ravages to mind and spirit are further complicated by an assault on the body.  Vitality is gone.  Lethargy sets in.  Work, play and worship is a...