Digging Deeper

You knew it was coming didn’t you? And now, the rest of the story.

“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in  pouch of his  shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.” -I Samuel 17: 40

The big man, Goliath, had a big mouth. The Philistines, descendants of the Greeks, who were great warriors  and worked the intimidation thing to the max, were. talking trash, insulting your heritage and basically being obnoxious. While the armies of Saul were cowering in the hills, David was becoming more and more incensed at the Philistine trashing the church and His Lord. The mode of war back then was to choose a champion to fight for the whole nation, kind of an Olympics with a really bad ending and the Philistines had chosen Goliath. Israel had no champion or at least one that they understood was their champion David loved God and this was very disturbing to him. This is the first lesson  for us to learn, when people insult us we can cower if you like, if they insult God that is entirely a different matter. Maybe I’m just getting older but I don’t stand for that anymore. Something will have to be said. I digress (again)! I am not mean about it but I do speak the truth in love. When people are changed by the power of God, it gets under your skin to have your dearest friend being insulted, much like my friend and brother that I played football with in college. His name is Jimmy Cardone. He runs God’s Gym in Indianapolis and an inner city ministry for street kids. I want to give you a mental image of Jimmy. He was our middle linebacker, 5’8” 248 lbs.of solid meanness. I say meanness because Jimmy grew up on the streets of the West Side of Chicago as a gang member and street fighter. When Jimmy found Christ, the word got around that he was going to church and dating a Christian girl. After much nasty kidding and insulting His Christ, he stood up on the weight bench and said “I don’t want to die and go to Hell with the rest of you guys, anybody got anything to say?”. Gutsy stuff right there! Nearly everyone in his workout gym had accepted Christ by the time we graduated. Awesome! I tell that story because Jim used what God had given him to go to war, just like David. The generals tried to put the king’s armor on David but it didn’t fit. So David went to what he knew he was good at..slingshot. Slingshot and staff, oh, yea and  five smooth stones. God provided the five stones. Why five stones you might ask? Tradition has it that Goliath had four brothers and they would come out to avenge his death when David killed him. David knew his God would provide the victory but he still had to walk into the valley of the shadow of Death. Because of God’s promise of the Spirit in our lives, we can face anything in our path knowing that God will be praised and victory is ultimately ours.

Prayer: God who made me, I trust in you to be with me in every battle, every time because you will never leave me or forsake me…….

by Rick Drake

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go,  so that they may worship me.” -Exodus 8: 1

Have you ever felt that pang in your heart about some terrible injustice and wanted to do something but the odds were really stacked against you? Let me bring it home to you. How about a landlord, neighbor, relative, or boss?  Do you ever see things that just aren’t right and you know something needs to change? So what do you do, call the shop steward, go to HR, call the city commission? Moses and Aaron went to God.  The fight  or freedom is not a new one. The people of Israel had worked in abject poverty and horrible working  conditions for years under the rule of the Pharaoh. Carcasses of old women just pushed aside for the monumental task of building for the Pharaoh’s own worship of himself. There were children without parents  and starving to death. Maggots and flies are astounding because of the unclean conditions and the rotting   corpses not to mention violating their very belief system of sanctity of life. One man with a mission from God changed all that. God fought the Egyptians with plagues and eventually decimated the armies of Pharaoh  at the bottom of a really deep channel. I have some really great pictures of an archeological expedition that found chariots and bones of hundreds of people of possibly Egyptian dissent at the bottom of a channel in 1600 feet of water. (Did you think this stuff was all made up?) I digress! When confronted with terrible injustice, first, go to God. Get His advice first. Jehoshaphat did that, Moses did that, Elijah etc. You get the picture. Some of you have a great heart for missions, some for kids and young people, others of you want to see your neighborhoods change. God will change them from the inside out…starting with you!  I could tell you endless accounts of people who beat the odds but this is not about them. They already proved who God is in their life. What about you? Trust Him! He loves that kind of stuff. That’s why we say around the Ridge, “It’s a God thing”  Duh!

Prayer:  Father, I believe you can do anything in my life and my world, change me to listen to your voice and give me the courage to proceed from there…

bt Rick Drake

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3: 14

As I sat in my office, across my desk was one of the sweetest women I have ever known. I could tell she had been crying, maybe a little sleep deprived and these were the first words from her lips “Well Pastor, I’ve messed up again”. She was in her early 80’s and had lived the life of a believer most of those years. If I had not yet met what I considered to be a saint, it was her. She was always loving, caring, helpful, kind and faithful. I had never known her to say a cross word to anyone. She was devastated because a neighbor she had been trying to share with, had let her dog get out and into Fern’s yard and while taking a prayer walk through her garden, stepped in a little present left by the dog and she came absolutely unglued. The great witness that she had been portraying in front of this neighbor was gone. Three years of building bridges undone in a moment. Yea, I have had those moments too. We all have those moments when that big, ugly beast rears its nasty, destructive head and we too fall into its trap. In our scripture above, the apostle Paul does not see true spiritual holiness as something that can be grasped this side of heaven but he is not deterred from striving, straining, and reaching for the wall in the 1600meter butterfly of life. God loves us, even when we fail. Just like when learning how to ride a bike, sometimes you fall, that’s why we wear helmets to this day and maybe other padding as well. Put on the full armor of God and get out there and live. Leave the results to God. Oh, about Fern’s neighbor, God was able to use the incident to win the neighbor and she became one of our lead teachers. You see, our mess becomes our message.

Prayer: Father, forgive us for all the time we mess up and all the times we quit….

by Rick Drake

“Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in war.” But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” – 2 Chronicles 18:3b-4

There are times in this life when there is no other alternative except “go to the mattresses.” We best know this phrase from the “Godfather” but here is apparently where the phrase comes from and the meaning behind it. In 1530 the combined troops of Charles V and Medici Pope Clement VII lay siege to Florence. The bell tower of San Minaito al Monte was part of the defenses. Michelangelo, as he was good at most things, was put in charge of defending the city. He used the ploy of hanging mattresses on the outside of the tower to minimize damages from cannon fire. Because of the siege, the townspeople would hire soldiers to sleep in their houses and always had extra mattresses in their living rooms near the front door. Everyday that we live, we are going to war about something. Some things are unimportant, some things of eternal importance. The thought of taking to the mattresses is that we take the battle to the enemy…where he lives..in his house..maybe while he sleeps. No I am not talking about your significant other.. the real enemy. Complacency, non-involvement., laziness, busyness, lack of passion for the work of Christ is the real enemy. Oh, yea, let’s talk about Satan! Peter said he stalks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; resist him (I Peter 5:8). The bad thing for us is that the lion never sleeps! However, we were not given a spirit of fear but of power, sound mind and get it done attitude courtesy of the Holy Spirit. When you feel that you are losing your nerve, go to the mattresses for the Kingdom of God. We can do this together and then have some fun. I love you guys! You are the best.

Prayer: Lord Almighty, as with your servant Jehoshaphat, let us go to war but never without seeking your counsel…..

by Rick Drake

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” – I Kings 18: 21b

Have you ever gotten tired of people who talk and talk and talk but never walk the talk? I have played, listen to, and watched baseball for at least fifty years now and have discovered it is the number one trash talking sport of all time. Yak, yak, yak! That’s all you hear and then everyone is surprised that someone hurls a ball into a dugout at point blank range? It starts when you come up to bat with the catcher trashing your family heritage, the first baseman seems to have some first hand knowledge of your sister’s social life and then the umpire will make mention of your inability to run fast. Maybe this is new to some of you about our nation’s pastime but all this stuff goes on and we think we need to get our kids involved shortly after they learn to walk. New stuff? Nah! Our scripture lesson shares about some dudes from the church of Baal trash talking the Lord Almighty (I could see why they were a little jealous) but come on…He Is God! Unfortunately for them, penalties for trashing the object of our affection were quite severe. As we see the story, the prophets of Baal were given an opportunity to put up or shut up. They tried everything to convince the people that their god was the all powerful, great guy. They even mutilated themselves in an attempt to call attention to their god but to no avail. You see, sincerity can be terribly misguided and seriously wrong. Elijah was really in a spot with all the hoopla but he knew his God would come through no matter what the odds. After defying basic laws of pyrotechnics (don’t put water on the barbeque before cooking) God accepted Elijah’s prayer and offering and proved again that he was the Almighty. I really like Elijah’s attitude here…it’s a bit edgy! As Christians, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have every reason to be confident in our God. God will come through for you as long as you trust in His Power and Love. Got Giants in your life? Got God?

Prayer: Father, whenever I begin to doubt you, help us remember that your power is perfect in our weakness…….

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. -Ephesians 6:10

I have often drawn my strength from Ephesians 6:10-20. I heard from a friend once that he used it as a prayer that he recited every morning. It is a great way to start your day. It is empowering and strengthening. It has often given me power through Him to go through what I knew might be a bad day or tough times. And through this prayer, these words from God Almighty given to Paul, that day or situation, was frequently turned into a blessing or a lesson. It has given me the courage and strength to “Stand My Ground”. Please join me in this prayer Ephesians 6:10-20 The Armor of God (paraphrased)

Finally, I will be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. I put on the full armor of God so that I can take my stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore I put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, I may be able to stand my ground, and after I have done everything, to stand. I stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around my waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with my feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, I take up the shield of faith, with which I can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. I take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And I pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, I will be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

I pray also, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Amen

Many thanks to Joel Penton for your message. Thank you and God bless you for sharing your time and story with us this week. May God continue to inspire and drive you to carry on in your ministry and what He has called and continues to call you to do.

by Rick Phillips

… Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. – 1 Samuel 17:23

Of course we all know the story of David and Goliath. The part of this story I like isn’t the battle, or the five stones or good verses evil. It’s how David got all fired up when he heard what Goliath was saying. Here was Goliath, this 9 foot + giant, trash talking God. Read it again, “Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.” (This is where the ominous music would play if this were a movie.) Now David had had enough. He says “Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?” Now it says Goliath had been doing this for forty days and Saul’s army, a whole army, just sat around and listened to him, too scared to “Stand Their Ground” and go kick some giant rear end. But David gets all ticked off and says, are we going to let him talk about our God this way? The God? Not me! I’m going to do something about it. So, here’s little David, nothing but a young boy that tended his fathers sheep, but he knew with the power of Almighty God on his side he could conquer Goliath. And, of course, he did. Not only did he defeat him he wiped the floor with him. “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” He said exactly what he was going to do to Goliath and then… he did it!

Dear Lord, I trust in You and I know when the time comes for me to stand my ground You’ve got my back. I pray for the courage and strength to follow through with whatever You would have me do and that I would do it all for Your glory. Amen.

by Rick Phillips

One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” -1 Samuel 14:1

In 1 Samuel 14:1-14 we read about how Jonathan, and his armor bearer, took the fight to the Philistines. He stood his ground but didn’t stand around. We’ve been talking this week about standing our ground but we need to keep in mind that “Stand Your Ground” does not mean to “stand around.” We must take action. We must take the fight to them and make no mistake it is a fight. It’s a fight for the souls of all those that do not have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Whether they choose to believe it or not, we do. Therefore, it is our responsibility as Christ followers to present the gospel to them. We can’t sit around in our churches or bible studies or “life groups” and wait for those who don’t know Christ to come to us. We need to meet them where they are not just figuratively but often literally. I read in a book recently about “divine appointments”. These are the times God crosses our paths with others for His purposes. This could take place anywhere and most likely won’t be at one of the above mentioned places. Of course the drawback for God is that we have free will. We can overlook, reject or ignore these “divine appointments”. Do you think you have ever done this? I know I have. We’re too busy, too scared, too embarrassed, or sometimes just too lazy to take a few minutes and simply find out where this other person is spiritually. Or show them the love of Christ through some simple act of kindness. You don’t have to preach to them or lead them in prayer but we all need to invest a little time and interest in others. Don’t know what to say? For starters try “hi how’s your day going?” I guarantee that if you open yourself up to be used by God this way, He will provide you with the words needed.

Lord, forgive us when we miss or ignore the divine appointments You set for us. Please continue too use us to reach others for Christ. Give us the words they need to hear and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us for them. Amen

by Rick Phillips

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Phillipians 3: 13-14

This past Sunday Joel Penton spoke on the three P’s of living a life like Paul. Do you remember them? They are:

• Passion
• Persistence
• Purpose

First let’s look at passion. Now we all can be or are passionate about something. But we, as Christ followers need to take that passion further. We need to have passion that leads to action. Without action it’s just a good intention. Without follow through it goes nowhere.

The next P is persistence. The follow through of your passion needs to be persistent this leads to keeping your commitments.

And then there is purpose. We were all created by God for a purpose. The main goal of that purpose is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

When you combine these 3 P’s together and allow God to empower you with the purpose for which He created you the passion He has instilled in you will enhance everything you do in His name. The final ingredient is persistence to carry out these goals and remain committed. Joel did a wonderful job explaining all this. If you missed it you can hear it by clicking here. Also, the best book I have ever read on the subject is “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. If you have not read this I highly suggest you go out and get a copy immediately. It helped to bring a lot of things into perspective and answered many questions I had about myself and Christ.

Lord, thank you for creating us and giving each one of us a purpose to serve You and a passion not only for that service but a passion for building a relationship with Your Son Jesus. Father, forgive us when we stubbornly ignore or walk away from this purpose and help us to help each other in being accountable and committed to You. Amen

by Rick Phillips

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. – 2 Timothy 2:22

If you missed this Sunday it was a powerful day at the Ridge. We had a guest speaker Joel Penton. Joel is a 2006 graduate of The Ohio State University and a former defensive tackle for the Ohio State football team. He was a member of three Big Ten championship teams and one national championship team. Joel played in 38 straight games for the Buckeyes. In his senior year he recorded a sack in the 2006 victory over Michigan which gave Ohio State their first Outright Big Ten Championship since 1984. We’ll be discussing his message this week but another thing you missed was an emotional farewell and thank you to Grayson Schick for serving on the praise team so faithfully. He started playing with the band when he was about 11 years old and has been there almost every Sunday since. Grayson is leaving for college this week. Please join us in thanking and wishing him well.

Our message this week from Joel Penton is “Stand Your Ground”. I’ve watched Grayson over the years. I’ve seen him struggle with some things, who doesn’t, but ultimately I’ve seen him stand his ground in his faith and in the pursuit of his God given gift and passion for music. I’m not sure what the Lord has in store for Grayson but what ever it is I pray that he continue to open his heart and mind to Gods plan for him. I personally owe a lot to Grayson for helping me with my own spiritual growth. I thank God for not only creating Grayson Schick but also for creating Pastor Darrel and his wife Ruth and instilling in them the values they have passed on to Grayson. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”-“ I pray this for Grayson and all of our youth that are moving on to college this year.

Heavenly Father, please place a hedge of protection around these young adults as they move on to the next season of their lives. Lord, give them the strength and courage to “Stand Their Ground” as they go out and encounter the temptations and struggles in this world… In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen

Rock on brother!

By Rick Phillips