I am one of those people who gets more out of spending my own time with God rather than attending church on a regular basis. I go on holidays though for my parents benefit because they enjoy my presence on the pew with them and I think it helps reassure them that my belief is still strong. Church is only for some people though, in my opinion, and my parents are those kinds of people (my dad in particular).

I am not. It’s not to say I despise church or anything because it’s actually quite the opposite. I am southern Baptist and my church, the early service at least, has a live band – a band that I find moving first thing in the morning. All of those instruments vibrating throughout the tiny church walls, it gets inside of you – whether you want it to or not and next thing you know you’re dancing and singing to a song you’ve never even heard before. Just that alone makes me feel like God’s smiling on us for rejoicing in his name this way.

Anyway, today’s sermon was lead by our temporary Pastor Ron. I say temporary because about 6 months ago my church underwent a chaotic mess of un-Christ like behavior and long story short – we’ve been without an official pastor since. Ron has always stepped up to the plate to preach when needed though ever since I was a little girl and while some may not be very fond of his ministering techniques, I always have.

Ron is a deep man and frequently loses control of his emotions at the pulpit. Caddy judgmental people find this characteristic in him a sign of weakness, but I don’t. I see Ron as a man so deeply filled with the Spirit of the Lord that sometimes he just weeps out of joy to be so lucky to know the Lord like he does. And something about the fact that he’s not scared to shed those tears in front of us, to me, gives him a more respectable human trait. Unlike some preachers who walk with an arrogance of self righteousness like they are better than those in the pews just because they stand at the pulpit. This is definitely NOT the kind of Pastor Ron is.

Today’s service was pretty standard for an Easter service, retelling the tale of Christ rising from his tomb after his death and it was accompanied by great live music in between the messages. And Ron didn’t cry. His eyes may have pricked a bit during the invitation, but I think most people’s do as they watch others rush forward to find salvation in Christ. It makes you feel good inside remembering how you felt when you were that non-believer changing sides. The sense of relief it brings to know you can walk in His light regardless of your previous walk with the dark. I get excited for the newcomers.

Ron’s message today was loud and physically large. His hands sprouting out with the Bible clutched between his fingers as he paced across the front of the church delivering God’s words. He wanted to get the point across and he wanted to do it without his normal emotional ups and downs. But some people watched him as if they couldn’t understand what he was saying. He is so deep, it all means so much to him and his intelligence in the matter is too much for some to comprehend. They see his mouth moving, hear his voice, but can’t grasp what he’s trying to tell them.

There wasn’t much point to this post except to mention that I think Ron does a fabulous job preaching and appears to have really tightened up his emotions so that people don’t get lost focusing on the wrong part of what he represents. Someone like Ron inspires me to be closer to God and I think he could have the same effect on our church if he was full time Pastor. I surely hope they give it some thought, instead of continuing to wait for God’s answer about a new Pastor when the answer might already be sitting in their pews ready.

Happy Easter everyone – Peace & God Bless – Sarah

Lifehouse – Everything Skit – I know this video is old now, but it still makes my skin prickle because it tells the story of so many. I love the intensity of her grappling through the devil’s pawns to get back into God’s protective embrace and then how he just throws them off of her, because God can overcome all. It brings tears to my eye every time I watch it because I was once that girl.