Dear RiverTown Friends,

I want to thank all of you for your prayers for Keith Slay’s family, our church, and me personally during the all the events following our brother’s passing.  As spectacular as the home-going services, processional, and city-wide attention were last Monday, I know that Keith’s welcome into his heavenly reward was infinitely greater.  To God Be The Glory!  Please continue to pray and “pick up the sword” of spiritual leadership as God leads you.  The memorial bike ride is scheduled for 10:30am  tomorrow morning starting at Iron Bank Coffee on broadway.

My JESUS LIFE Message Series from Christ’s Sermon On The Mount continues this Sunday Morning at 9:30 and 11:00 am.  This week we are tackling the tough subject of IMAGE MANAGEMENT from Matthew chapter six.  I’ve often wondered, “What would we all do behind close doors if we knew no one would ever see or know about it? Do we have to announce we are followers of Jesus Christ or do our actions and attitudes announce it for us?

Here’s A Snapshot:

Image Management Happens When I Want To Control What Others Think Of Me.  

Image Management Is The Result Of Low Self Esteem.  It Can Only Be Cured By Godly Humility.  

Image Management:  I Control The Thoughts, Attitudes, Words, And Actions Of Others Toward Me.   

Humility: God Controls The Thoughts, Attitudes, Words And Actions Of Others Toward Me.

IMAGE MANAGEMENT is opposite of HUMILITY!

Find out this Sunday how to develop a reputation based on Jesus Christ alone in IMAGE MANAGEMENT!

All For Jesus,

Pastor David Rathel

P.S. Our next Home Team semester starts Sunday September 8th.  If you are interested in hosting or leading a HomeTeam I invite you stay after the service this Sunday for a brief meeting .  I would like to know about your interest and get some information to you.  The meeting will only last about 20 minutes.

The only way to truly experience the JESUS LIFE for yourself is to share your JESUS LIFE with others.    

This Sunday’s Message Salt And Light… And A Banana Split is the opening message in a summer-long message series entitled JESUS LIFE!  

The first way Jesus describes his followers is that we are to be like salt and light in the world. What does this mean?  Salt and light are basic elements that are made by God.  No one can live without them. Followers of the Jesus Life have to make sure their salt is salty and their light is never hidden. Matthew 5:13-16

This Sunday is also the kick-off Sunday for our summer Jesus Life Home Teams!   We will finish each service with our new Home Team Coaches building our annual crowd-size BANANA SPLIT to share at the end of each worship service!  

The other big event happening this Sunday and all next week is our church-wide mission trip to Century Florida.  This year’s trip is called COMPEL!  Over 40 people are going on this trip and “believe it or not” you can still jump in at the last minute and be a part of this amazing week.  Please let me know personally if you sense God is speaking to you and has opened up your schedule.  I have a little pull and can make it happen for you. Our Father often works through open doors.     

The COMPEL CENTURY mission trip and JESUS LIFE summer outreach Home Teams are God’s plan for us to get out of the “Salt Shaker” of our own personal world and into to world around us to share the love of Jesus and way to eternal life! 

For more information and to sign-up online for your JESUS LIFE summer outreach Home Team experience please visit www.rivertownchurch.com/home-teams.  We’ve got everything from a Motorcycle Ministry and Homeless Outreach to Laundry Love and a Dads Group!  Take a minute or two and look at all these great Home Teams.   

Livin’ The Jesus Life, 

Pastor David Rathel

 P.S. Whether you are going on the mission trip or not, please wear your Jesus Life T-Shirt this Sunday.  I want to see a a sea of blue, pink, and hot lime green shirts and excited faces.   We still have a lot of T-Shirts available at the welcome center.  You can get yours Sunday morning.  

I love biblical accountability and the experience of being in a relationship that is committed to helping one another in the quest for holiness.  The Christian brotherhood found in standing shoulder to shoulder with someone who is committed to helping us overcome our personal battles with sin removes the feeling of struggling alone.  The concept of choosing to be totally honest with one person who will be totally honest in return is extremely powerful. The relationship in which an authority or a stronger brother or sister in Christ is Holding Me Accountable is truly a treasure.

The relationships formed are extremely beneficial, however I’ve never seen a great deal of measurable success from traditional accountability methods.  They mostly consist of asking questions about sins or struggles after they have already occurred and caused some damage.  The accountability question lists I’ve used in the past have the possibility of offering immediate walls of debilitating guilt when answered truthfully.  The pain of this guilt and desire to avoid it also offers the opportunity to lie and break the trust of someone who really cares about you.

This form of accountability seems to lean heavily on the person who is already in the midst of the temptation being able to think ahead to some time in the future when his or her “accountability partner” will ask the dreaded questions.  This is a high bar to achieve for many who struggle with temptations that are filled with intense and fleshly pleasure.  They feel overwhelmed and overpowered by their own desires.  The problem is that once the temptation has begun, the person being tempted has to want to stop.  Most don’t.

The one exact moment when self-control is possible seems to fly by at the speed of light.  Acting in opposition to ingrained urges this strong before it is too late feels like trying to hit a shot glass with a water pistol inside the window of a bullet train speeding past you at 3000 yards.  The proposition of having to answer guilty questions later or lie simply isn’t enough deterrent to stop most people before the fact.  This is such a scary, self-destructive, and out-of-control place to be.  The person experiences horror-movie-like flashes of watching themselves destroy the people and things they know they hold most dear.  No wonder sin seems so often to prevail.

I have come to two conclusions: (1) The accountability process needs to start much earlier, and (2) we need a better list.

I have recently come across such a list.  I thank God for the work of people like Luke Gilkerson who is the author and manager of the Covenant Eyes blog.  (www.covenanteyes.com)  Each question opens a door to living out Hebrews 10:24, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”

1. Since relationships are hard and temptations offer an easy way out. Ask:  “Has there been a relationship in your life recently that has been unusually difficult?”  The goal is to help others see how they are looking to a particular relationship to make them feel pleasure or fulfillment (thus, a relationship that is always letting them down). We can then point them to the fullness of joy and satisfaction that comes from Christ and other healthy relationships (John 15:1-11; 16:16-24; Romans 15:13).
2. Since life is stressful and temptations offer immediate comfort.  Ask: “Have there been any stresses in your life recently which have brought on a feeling of pressure or strain?”  The goal is to help them see that they are using their preferred sin as an escape from life. We can then point them to the psalmists who saw God as their refuge (Psalms 46; 59:16-17; 61:1-3; 62:5-8; 91; 142). Instead of escaping from reality, we can escape into divine reality.
3. Since life can be boring and temptations offer excitement.  Ask: “Have you found yourself bored or itching for excitement?  Do you feel like your life is mundane?”  The goal is to help others see if they have been settling for a life of amusement over a life of amazement.  We can then point them to the excitement of knowing God and obeying him (Matthew 13:44; 2 Corinthians 8:1-2; Philippians 1:3-4;Colossians 1:9-14; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 3 John 1:3-4).
4. Since life can make us feel powerless and temptations make us feel powerful.  Ask: “Have you been in any situations recently that made you feel belittled, unimportant, or disrespected?”  The goal is to help them see they crave power, importance, and esteem from men more than they crave the favor of God. Jesus asked, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44). We can point them to the eternal glory the Father gives to Christ, and that as Christians we share Christ’s glory because He lives in us (John 17:20-24; Romans 2:6-10; Colossians 1:24-29).

With the help of better accountability questions that helps us hit the target of emotions before they turn into behavior, we can all effectively pray the prayer Jesus taught the disciples in Matthew 6:13.  “Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From The Evil One!”    

It’s been a great week at RiverTown as our yearly Vacation Bible School for kids has been turned upside down to become QUEST kids camp!  The goal has been to give kids and their parents the passion to serve God together and change our community for Christ!

I wish all of you could have been there with me to see the joy and smiles on kids and adults faces alike!  It was so touching to see our church family come together and be so excited about preparing to be missionaries in our community this summer!

Tomorrow, June 8, we will finish up Quest week with three amazing opportunities to serve our community together as a church family.  It’s called THE BIG SERVE!  There’s still time to get in on the action.  Check out www.rivertownchurch.com/the-big-serve for more details.

This Sunday morning will be the FAITH SWAP family experience in which we put it all together and celebrate God’s goodness through the week.

God has given me a very unique message to share about a FISH and a SNAKE.

“Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!  Matthew 7:9-11

The bottom line is that I have to walk with God each day knowing and believing that He is at least as good of a parent as I am.  He will never deny my request to him for what my soul craves and needs from him.  He is a Good God and The Best Parent!

Last week when I was picking up Graham, our six year old son, from the last night of “QUEST” Vacation Bible School one of the boys in his class yelled out something I will never forget.  As I grabbed Graham’s hand and we were hurrying out to the car I heard Graham’s new friend scream out in surprise from the classroom door, ” Hey Graham, Is Pastor David YOUR DAD???”

Graham just turned and let out the simple and profound one word answer… “Yeah!”  as we were walking away.   I suddenly realized that the other little boy actually knew who I was, but he didn’t know that the man his family had chosen to be their Pastor had a little boy just like him.  The flash of wonder on the other little guy’s face and the familiar twinkle in Graham’s eye let me know that we just had just moved into the zone of six-year-old revelation.  …Pastor’s can be Daddys too!   All I have to say is, “I AM SO GLAD IT’S TRUE!”

Kids can say so much with such few words.  I love it!

As we approach Father’s Day I am reminded that too many marriages and families are in deep trouble these days and dads need help.  Now!  This week God is giving me one of the strongest messages of encouragement to share with Dads I can ever remember.  I am counting (and praying) down the hours from now until the 9:30 and 11:00 Fathers Day Worship Services on Sunday Morning!  I am also inviting every dad I know and I boldly ask you to do the same.

Dads matter!  Most Dads feel overwhelmed and undertrained for their role.  We are praying God will help us inject huge doses of help and hope into every Dad and Granddad who joins us this weekend.

BIG REQUEST?!?

If you have a picture of your Dad or Grandad, or of you and him together, then I would love the chance to share some of those in tribute to your family on the screens during my sermon this Sunday.  Simply attach it or take a picture of it and attach it to an email and sent it to me at david@rivertownchurch.com.  I would also love to have a sentence or two from or about him to go with it.  Quotes by themselves without pictures will also work great too!

To the Glory Of Our Father In Heaven,

Pastor David Rathel

This Sunday’s Mothers Day message in the Fugheddaboudit Series is titled, Don’t Go Against The Family! 

The point of the message is: “Jesus Lived To Pour His FATHER’s Grace into His Mother’s Heart.”

I decided to ask Mrs. Roni Ragan, one of the best Mom’s I know, to write her thoughts about how Jesus treated His Mother.  Roni serves God here on the staff of RiverTown Church as my Executive Assistant and plays an important role in planning all our mission trips.  I call her our “Staff Mom!”  Roni is the Mom of three adult children so I was excited for her to get behind the eyes of the woman chosen to be the mother of the only perfect child ever born.

May God bless your Mothers Day celebrations.  I hope to see you Sunday!   

All for Jesus, 

Pastor David Rathel

Here are Roni’s words.

Have you ever pondered the experiences of Mary the mother of Jesus throughout His life?  She was just as ordinary as you and I, with an extraordinary future!

Mary was perhaps 15 years old when Holy Spirit told her she was pregnant with the Messiah — the promised King.  I can only imagine the gamut of emotions she experienced!  Shock, denial, awe, anticipation and ultimately – worship.  It wasn’t long after she discovered she was pregnant that she went away (as many unwed mothers do) to visit her Aunt Elizabeth.  I can picture these two ladies, one with gray hair the other young and vibrant, walking through the fields contemplating the enormity of what they each were going through.

Fortunately, Mary’s fiance’ also heard from God and embraced Mary.  In her final month of pregnancy, her new little family had a to make a trip!  Most likely Mary rode on the back of a donkey.  Uggggh! …eight months pregnant and on a donkey!  After the long trip, there was absolutely no where to stay.  Finally, out of desperation they were shown to a small cave used for livestock.  The discomfort and fear of delivering a baby on her own must have been incredible.

Soon the baby is in her arms!  YES!  It was worth every moment!  Suddenly, there were Angels rejoicing and Shepherds worshiping.  You know, I felt the same way!  There was absolutely no child ever born like my little boy!  It was so overwhelming to look into his eyes and know this incredible gift was mine!

As all parents experience, Mary’s baby boy didn’t come with an owner’s manual.  I have no doubt they made mistakes, doubted their abilities, and questioned their sanity.  They surely looked back years later and laughed at their fears and concerns when they actually left their 12 year old son behind at the temple!

In the blink of an eye Jesus is a young man of 30.  He now has begun to teach and to travel.  The people in Nazareth mocked and scoffed at the idea of Mary and Joseph’s son being a leader.  After all, he was only the son of a carpenter!  I can hear Mary respond, “Not just any carpenter!”  She knew her boy so much better than they! (as I know mine)

Jesus had only begun His ministry when the family assisted with a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  Mary discovered the wine was running low.  With all the confidence of any Mom in her son, she called Jesus over and asked him to take care of it.  After he objected, I can picture her kissing his cheek and patting his arm with a sweet smile.  She then turns to the servants and instructs them to do exactly as Jesus tells them.  I can see Jesus shaking his head and smiling and then doing just what his Momma asked, just as my boys would!  He would make her not just any wine, but the very best!

It wasn’t always easy being a mother.  Jesus was gone for long periods of time.  She couldn’t get him to pack provisions or even an extra blanket.  No doubt she worried:  “Is he resting?  Is he eating properly?”  I’m sure she spent quite a bit of time on her knees,  just as I have done!

There was even a time when Mary and the boys came asking for Jesus’ help.  It seems as though they wanted him to leave his ministry and come back home.  He responded with, “These here with me are my Mother and my brothers.”  Oh, the hurt!  The disappointment and embarrassment was so painful!  But then she remembers the Angel’s birth announcement.  “Ah, that’s my Jesus!”

The years pass oh so quickly!  The opposition increases and Mary is more and more concerned about her little boy who has become a man.  She finds it necessary to spend more time on her knees with her Father.  She prays for the wisdom and strength to release her son.  She is remembering more and more the end of the message the angel gave her such a short time ago.  “Father!  May another way be made?”

Suddenly, Jesus is arrested.  How my heart constricts at the very thought!  “I need to get to my Son.  If I can only see him!  God!  protect him!”  Her cries of anguish surely broke the heart of God.  They have sentenced Him to death.  He is beaten mercilessly.  “Let me cleanse his wounds!  Let me hold Him one last time!

Jesus is hanging on the cross.  I can picture him as he spots his Momma on the ground at his feet.  with love and compassion, one of his final thoughts is for his Mom.  He looks at his best friend John and says, “Take care of Momma!”

Mary and her friends sit and guard the grave.  They go home for a couple of hours and come back exhausted only to find the grave is empty!  Oh, my God!  Where is He?  An angel appears and says, “Mary, He is not here.”  Again, she recalls that birth announcement and she knows!  She knows everything is OK.  Her son, God’s Son, has fulfilled his purpose.  All is well.  She is at peace.

By Roni Ragan, Roni@RiverTownChurch.com 

The maker of a new documentary film, Honey Child, tells the story of a daughter discovering her mother’s secret past.  The secret she discovers is that her mother was a victim of sex trafficking as a child prostitute.  The mother and daughter journey together across America as she recounts her struggle for survival in the 1970′s sex trade.  

Mrs. Leanna Hawkins is the filmmaker.  She is a newlywed army officer’s wife stationed here at Ft. Benning with her husband Andrew.  She also plays first base on RiverTown’s softball team.  Andrew is awesome in the outfield.  I’ve gotten to know this precious couple as well as Leanna’s parents.  I’m so happy to have them as a part of our Church family.  They are the real thing!  They are passionately in love with Jesus.  They have taken their family’s painful past and are using it openly to minister to broken souls and to expose the corruption in our country that allows human sex trafficking.

One of the most revealing stories Leanna tells is of the moment God gave her to question a pimp.  She asked him, “Where do you get your girls?”   She wanted to know where a pimp would find girls who were vulnerable to being trapped like this.   “At the mall,” he said.  “I find a pretty girl and walk up to her and say ‘You have really beautiful eyes!’  If the girl looks me back in the eyes and says, ‘Thank you! I appreciate that.’, then I know that’s not my girl.  But if she turns away, looks down, and doesn’t receive my compliment, then I know that I’ve got my girl!”

This Sunday in my message series called THE BIBLE we will discover the powerful story of Rahab the prostitute in the book of Joshua as well as hear Leanna’s testimony about her healing journey with her mother across America to make their film.

Here are some of the lessons they’ve learned:

Sexually Broken People Have Great Value To God!

There Is No Limitation To Forgiveness.

We All Need A Safe Place To Deal With Our Secret Past.

Whatever You Submit To Becomes Your New Identity.  

Hurt People Hurt People And Healed People Heal People.

My message for Sunday is titled: 

Rahab The Harlot… Her Value, Her Freedom, And The Story In Her Eyes!

This Sunday’s Message is about The Journey From Victim To Victor taken by the people of God who were captives in Babylon during the 6th century B.C.  The first six chapters of the book of Daniel tell the story of how God changed the victim status of Daniel and the others leaders.  They went first!  They didn’t see themselves as victims.  They made a decision not to give in to their fears and worship false realities and they stuck to it!  They led the way in trusting God to make them victors.  Soon, a whole nation followed and was changed forever.  

Daniel saw miracle after miracle when forced to choose between being ruled by God or being ruled by fear, injury, and the threat of death from his powerful oppressors.  He just refused to be a victim!  He was a victor simply because he chose to think and act like a one.  He made the decision that he would rather face hungry lions than to give up his time in prayer to God.  Wow!  His unashamed and faith-filled prayer raised his dependence on God above victim status before and for his test in the lion’s Den!  His courageous refusal to cut off his personal source of life, strength, and hope received through prayer was the final act that opened the door to victory.  When he prayed… he wasn’t afraid.  Victims have fear.  Victors have faith.  

This week read all of Daniel chapter six and focus on verse 23. “And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”  (NASB)

Here are some highlights from this coming Sunday’s message!  

No One Can MAKE you a Victim!  You Choose To Be A Victim When You Trust More In Someone’s Ability To Hurt You Than In God’s Ability To Save You!

There Is A Difference Between What People Do To You And What You Receive As Injury.  

The Difference is Whether You Trust In God’s Power To Save Or Trust In The Injury’s Power To Hurt.  

The Prayer That Trusts God’s Salvation Over The Enemy’s Injury Is The ONE THING that Changes You From Victim To Victor.

We Stay Victims Because We Have A Tendency To “Out-Problem” Every Solution God Gives Us!

We Stay Victims Because Instead Of Wanting A Better Future… We Want A Better Past!  

The Reason God’s Final Judgement Has Not Yet Come On The One Who Injured You Is Because Their Fate Will Be So Terrible That, When You See It, You Won’t Even Want It For Them!

All For Jesus,

Pastor David Rathel

What is your greatest fear?  It probably has something to do with loss.  (Or Spiders)   For Abraham, it was the loss of his only child and miracle baby son Isaac who was given to him and his wife in their old age.  The story unfolds in Genesis 18-22.  If you know the story, then you know that God tested Abraham and spared Isaac!  But Why?

This Sunday, we begin a new message series based on the run-away-success miniseries THE BIBLE!  The first message in the series is entitled:

THE JOURNEY FROM DEATH TO LIFE

Here’s a Snapshot of my message notes:

The Journey From Death To Life Is The Journey From To The “Brink of Fear” To The “ Breaking Of Faith.”  GOD DOESN’T HAVE YOUR FAITH UNTIL HE HAS YOUR FEAR!

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead.  2 Corinthians 1:9 (NASB)

“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” – C.S. Lewis

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.  Hebrews 11:17-19 (NIV)

Please take a few minutes to look at the page for this series on our website – www.rivertownchurch.com/the-bible.  Then you can email, tweet, or facebook this page to the people you care about and want to bring to Church and to a relationship with Christ.  This is a great opportunity!  Please take even more time to pray that God will use these messages, based on the stories that 68 million people have viewed in their homes during the month of March, to bring their souls to Christ and their lives back to Church this Sunday!

The success of this miniseries proves that people are hungry and want to know the truth of God’s word.  More than that, they want and need the God who wrote these stories into human history.  These are the stories of God’s love and they are the story of ALL OF US!

I want to say thank you again to the 57 volunteers that made our gigantic Easter celebration possible last Sunday.  You know who you are!  You are the greatest people in the world and you are all so special to me and most of all special to God!  God showed up Sunday and touched so many lives.  I am not sure how many decisions for Christ were made during our services, but Army Seargent Sostenes Nunez just arrived home from Afgnanistan three weeks ago.  He came to RiverTown last Sunday and finally stepped over the final line of faith.  He told me that he decided to “Take his Father’s Hand” and be Baptized this Sunday in our 9:30AM service!   Praise God!

Pastor David Rathel