Live Between the Steps

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 

                                                                                   Psalms 118:24

There’s a built-in danger in goal setting. What is it? It’s believing we’ll only be happy when we reach those goals. We tell ourselves: “When I graduate, get married, have children, own my own home, etc.,” so we keep postponing life.

University professor tells of being invited to speak at a military base and meeting an unforgettable soldier name Ralph at the airport. After they introduced themselves they headed toward baggage claim. As they walked down the concourse Ralph kept disappearing, once to help an older woman whose suitcase had fallen open, once to life up two toddlers so they could see Santa Clause, and again to give directions to someone who was lost. Each time he came back with a big smile on his face. 

“Where did you learn to live like that?” the professor asked. “Oh,” Ralph said, “During the war, I guess.” Then he told the professor about his last tour of duty, how it was his job to detect mines, and how he watched his friends died one after another. “I learned to live between the steps”, he said. “I never knew whether the next step would be my last, so I learned to get everything I could out of the moment between when I picked up my foot and put it down again. Every step I took was a whole new world, and I guess I've been living that way ever since.”

Ralph had it right! To get the most out of living we must live by the scripture: “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

www.royalwood.cc

Dan Castleberry is on the Pastoral ministry team and leads various ministries at Royalwood. He is married to Robyn and has three beautiful daughters.  You can  follow Dan on Twitter.

A Strong Man - Part 2

The year was 1988.  It was a cold evening and our family had just finished dinner.  Before we left the table, my Dad announced that he needed to speak to us as a family. I remember glancing at my brother wondering what had Dad found out?  Had he looked behind the poster in the back of our closet to find the target we had painted on the wall for Chinese star throwing practice?  Or had he found out that we had been taking his ax out of the garage in the attempt to chop down a giant tree in the woods near our house......a project that we had been working on for about a month.  It was a seriously huge tree.  My father was not known for random conversation or long speeches so with trepidation my Mom, my brother and I joined him in the living room for what was to be a life changing conversation.

               

As I sat there figuring out how I was going to blame my brother for one of the yet unrevealed transgressions, I heard these words, "Boys, I'm sorry."  Immediately the gears of my mind stopped spinning and I focused fully on my father.  Sorry? That was supposed to be my line!  My dad continued on, "It is my responsibility as your father to make sure we, as a family, are doing the right things.  Recently, I have not done that.  I have let my guard down.  I have let our family participate in things that we normally do not do - things we don't believe in.  Things that have been convictions of your mother's and I since we were married.  Just as important, our new Pastor, Bro. Macey stands against those same things and we must be under the leadership of the Man of God.  I'm sorry I've allowed these things to happen.  Today we will get back to doing the things that we know are right."

Wow!  That was pretty heavy for two boys, 12 and 10 years of age.  In fact, we were a bit disappointed because we had been enjoying the "freedoms" that had been denied us so long.  All of my life we had served the Lord.  It was safe to say that we were very conservative in our walk.  Just ask my cousins who came to stay with us from time to time...always having to pray before they ate, go to church 3 times a week and no TV to watch!  It was more like boot camp for them.  But an overwhelming relief came upon me as I lay in bed that night.  Our ship was back on course.  Sure, I would miss some of those things we had experienced for a while, but things in our family were again as they should be.  As young as I was, I knew how we believed and how we should live.  I knew that our convictions were valuable and sacred.  And I knew that following the direction of your Pastor was even more so.  My Dad had taught me that all my life but that night, he proved it to me.

I called my father recently and asked him if he remembered that night and he said that he did.  As I tried to explain how much it meant to me, his courage and his love for us,  I choked up and could barely talk.  I told him that so many times in my single life, in my marriage, with my children and on the job, I had come to the realization that I had ventured down the wrong path.  Each time I have thought of that night 25 years ago, I followed exactly in his footsteps.  He taught me that a strong man will say he's sorry and correct the course immediately.  He is willing to show weakness and will expose mistakes, even his own, in order to make those around him stronger, to strengthen them against the times to come.  A strong man influences others, so that his values become their values. 

The values and principles that my father stood for long ago are the same values I love and hold dear today.  They are the same values my wife and I teach to my daughters daily and will teach to my infant son who sleeps in my lap as I type.

Thank you Dad for loving our family. Thank you for being a strong man.

Click here to read "A Strong Man - Part 1"

www.royalwood.cc

PJ Dial is a husband, father and servant of Christ. He grew up in Royalwood and is involved in several aspects of ministry including Praise & Worship, Anthem Student Ministries and currently serves on Royalwood's Board.

The Strength of Resolve

It has been 50 days since most of us made our New Year's Resolution. And by now, most of them have fallen by the wayside. 

Why do we make resolutions in the first place and what exactly does it mean to resolve? Is it a wonderfully useful cleaning product for carpet? I know I have a bottle of that in the cleaning liquids stored under our kitchen sink. I can not quite help but wonder how the manufacturer decided upon that name for this product. Most likely they reached this decision because one of the definitions for resolve is to dissolve, melt or break up. With “Resolve,” your carpet mess can be cleaned up in a jiffy. Is this how we view our resolutions - a way to make things right that are wrong in our lives? 

Another definition for resolve is "to deal with successfully and to reach a firm decision about." It is from these definitions that we draw the concept of our New Year resolutions. Whether or not you believe in making any resolutions at the beginning of each year, you must believe in the importance of resolution.

Here is the important part: A resolution will do you no good without the necessary amount of resolve. Not the carpet cleaner variety to be sure. Our resolve must be firm and our conviction inescapable when making a decision to move forward in a life changing direction. Too many resolutions flame out because the one making it has done so without the necessary amount of fortitude.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi to give them encouragement. Part of what he said gives us a proper background for making any resolutions at all:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Any and all resolutions we have made for 2013 would be greatly enhanced if we made them with the priority of drawing closer to the call of Christ. When our first task is to fulfill the will of God, the rest becomes much easier. May God bless us this year with the resolve to carry out the task before us and may we find this year the strength to carry out the mission of our Lord.

Mitch Gallaugher is a minister and serves in many capacities at Royalwood. He is married to his lovely wife, Tammy and has three kids.

Leaning Towers

I had the amazing privilege of seeing the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa when I was in Italy several years ago. It’s such a beautiful architectural structure. It was built as a bell tower for the city of Pisa. As you probably know, the tower was not meant to lean. This was a defect in the structure and foundation from the very beginning. Although this structure is celebrated, it was never able to fulfill it’s full purpose and was unable to be used at all for many, many years.

As they continued construction on the tower it began to get worse. Because there was a defect in the structure, as they built, it began to lean more and more. There were many people who wanted to tear down the tower and rebuild it with the same materials so they could fix the problems in the structure. For whatever reason, they left it and tried there best to stabilize it.

How often do we find ourselves a structure that has a defect at the core? We go through life and we build our spiritual structure with bricks of brokenness and stones of sin on slabs of selfishness. We make mistakes. Sometimes big ones.

I was looking at pictures of a devastating storm recently. Almost every building was completely destroyed. It was so terrible, but in that moment the Lord spoke to me about storms. God allows such devastation to come through our lives sometimes because we have built a broken structure, much like the Leaning Tower. We keep building, trying to move forward in Christ but as we build, we get worse. Our structure is unable to fulfill it’s purpose. We have become so defective that we are almost useless for His kingdom. So, God allows the storms to come. It seems to destroy us; to end us. BUT, God always has a purpose for what He allows in to our lives.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  This scripture gives us the opportunity to look at the devastating storm in a NEW light. The old things are passed away, and ALL things are becoming new. You want to be used of God? You want your life to be more than a leaning tower of disappointment? Then do not begrudge the storm that has come through. Let it bring forth a new start; a clean slate. He wants to rebuild you. He wants to make all things new in your life. Once that crippled structure is torn down, He is able to rebuild you stronger than you’ve ever been before. Don’t give up after the storm, instead, begin rebuilding through Christ and you will be everything that God intended on you being.

www.royalwood.cc

Lorna Brittany Wells leads worship at Royalwood and is also a youth leader in Anthem Student Ministries.  She is married to Tauren Wells and is expecting their first child in 2013.

Free Fall

Do you feel as though your life is caught in a free fall?   Don't be discouraged! These are the times that build your faith. Take a look at the video below from Tauren Wells on how these moments in your life are the best time to trust God.

www.royalwood.cc

Tauren Wells is the lead singer of the band, Royal Tailor. He serves as the Creative Director for Royalwood and is also on the youth staff. He loves interacting with students and building relationships. Follow Tauren on Twitter.

What Does God Want From Us?

I tweeted the other day that the fig tree was cursed because it did not produce and that we needed to be productive in this new year of 2013 for His kingdom!  This really got me wondering what God really expects from us.  I think we all struggle with what is good and acceptable, what is our reasonable service, what we are doing with our talents, and to whom much is given, much is required. 

So, what is required from us in our walk with God?

The first rendering of Jesus cursing the fig tree is in Matthew.  He is walking along hungry and sees a fig tree with no fruit on it and curses it by saying, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.”  And then the fig tree withers away right before the disciple’s eyes.  The fig tree looked good because the scripture said that it had leaves on it.  It looked alive and healthy but it was not doing what it was made to do and that was to reproduce the fig.

The second rendering of the fig tree being cursed, Jesus is speaking in a parable and the dresser of the vineyard has looked for fruit on the fig tree for 3 years and he finds none.  He says, “Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?”  In other words, why are we letting this take up space and use good soil?   This is pretty hard hitting to us as born-again Christians!

I don’t think we have to expound on this!  It seems to me to be pretty plainly spoken.  We may look like a Christ-follower but we cannot only be a hearer of the Word, we must be a doer! 

How can I be a doer?  We can be fruitful by telling people about the goodness of the Lord and compelling them to come in but also by using our talents in our churches.  Is there a Sunday school class that needs a teacher?  Does our church have enough greeters to give a smile and welcome new guests into the house of God?  Does the media team have enough people to help make our webcast the best it can be and minister to people that may never walk through our church doors?  Does the children’s ministry need help to make sure our children grow up to live for the Lord?  Does the choir and praise team need others to help create an atmosphere for guests to receive the Lord?  What about ushers, connect team, sound team, youth workers, bus ministry, hospital visitation, teaching Bible studies, mentoring and counseling, or the follow-up team who continues to call the people who have visited the church?  I could go on and on about things that need to be done.  All of these things work together to help bring people to God. 

Jesus really does not give us a choice in this!  We must reproduce!  I will leave you with this scripture.   In Col. 1:10 it says, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  I challenge you to find a place in your church that you can work for His Kingdom that “ye might walk worthy of the Lord and please Him.”

www.royalwood.cc

Jeanna Macey is married to Pastor Ron Macey. She is the Chorale Director for Royalwood and serves as Advisor to Royalwood's various ladies ministries. Follow Jeanna Macey  on Twitter 

Royalwood in the Community: Tauren Wells

On  December 21^st, Family Christian Academy in Houston invited Royalwood’s own Tauren Wells to sing at their Christmas Assembly. 

Tauren, who is the lead singer of Royal Tailor, performed acoustic versions of their Grammy nominated album, “Black and White.”  His wife and Royalwood’s Praise & Worship leader, Brittany also joined Tauren on stage to perform a Christmas carol as the duo “Hearts and Crafts.”

Tauren & Brittany Wells

“Royalwood has several students that attend Family Christian Academy so it was a special treat to be able to perform for them as well as their classmates.” said Tauren. He was also able to share about his own experiences in both private and public school. “I wanted them to know that we have to always be aware of the fact that as Christians, we are making an impact on our peers whether we realize it or not.”

When asked why Student Ministry has a special place in his heart, Tauren said, “It’s simple. I enjoy getting out into the community and sharing hope with others.” Get to know Tauren by following him on Twitter. Make sure to check out Royal Tailor and Hearts and Crafts on Twitter as well!

www.royalwood.cc