If you haven’t yet heard, the word on the streets is that Bro. Rob and his family are moving soon. For some this may be unhappy news, but for the rest, please try to contain your excitement at least until we’re gone. LOL!
Let me say first of all that we have truly, truly enjoyed our time in Ridgway. The community has treated us with warm, neighborly kindness and has welcomed us as friends. Ridgway has been a safe and caring place for us to raise our boys, and we have made close connections with many of you. Thank you for making us feel at home in your town for these past seven years.
I also want to emphasize how grateful we are to the Lord for the opportunity to serve at the First Baptist Church. The church has been so gracious and loving toward us – spoiling us, really – that it makes our transition so difficult. If you don’t belong to Ridgway FBC, you need to know that this body of believers took us in with great faith and became family to us. I wholeheartedly encourage you, if you don’t have a loving church home, to come and experience the fellowship of God’s people here.
For the record, our move comes about not because of any problems in the church, but simply in our desire to be faithful in following the will of God. The Lord has opened a door for me to serve as pastor at First Baptist Church in Petersburg, IL, and though I’ve given Him plenty of opportunities to close it, He hasn’t. And so it is by faith, as best as we can discern the Lord’s will, to go where He’s leading.
We often sing the song, “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go.” The chorus ends with this line: “I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so // Wherever He leads I’ll go.” That’s a song, if you sing it sincerely, you’d better be willing to put into action. Otherwise, you’re just offering lip service to God, and He knows your heart. If He calls us to go – wherever that may be – we must be willing to go. And since we know that He loves us with an unfailing, steadfast love, He makes it easy for us to trust that He will never lead us astray.
With that said, I hope it’s clear that I’m not interested in trying to climb any corporate or church ladder, nor are we making this move to be closer to family. Again, it’s simply a matter of faithfulness and obedience. Yes, we will be closer to my wife’s parents, but further away from my side of the family. It’s a trade-off in terms of geography. But the Lord could have called us to North Dakota or New York City and we’d have gone. Our preference of location has nothing to do with it.
The truth is that every believer must be willing to go wherever the Lord leads. He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him. If we’re not willing to give up anything and everything for the sake of His name, if we’re not willing to leave comfortable homes, if we’re not willing to leave our families and our farms, if we’re not willing to sell off all of our possessions and give to the poor, if we’re not willing to die to our own ambitions, then we cannot be His disciples.
That’s a tough call to heed, but sometimes Jesus asks that we do hard things. And it shouldn’t be that difficult for us to give our lives to Him. After all, He endured the agony of the cross for us. He suffered and bled and died as an innocent man so that we could be reconciled to God. Our sin demanded such a sacrifice, and apart from the forgiveness Jesus offers to us by His blood, we would face God’s righteous wrath as the penalty for our sins, which is death and hell.
But God loved us so much that He has made the way possible for us to be saved – if only we’ll believe in His Son, Jesus, yielding our lives wholeheartedly to Him. Why not repent from your sins and trust in Christ as Savior and Lord today?
My last Sunday here will be August 7. I want to invite you to come to church that morning. I’d love to see you there.
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