Rusty Russell's Personal Blog

Update on Tara Riggs

2011-04-06T12:49:00.001-07:00

We thank God that Tara's surgery went well this morning. The doctor believes he has removed all of the tumor. Please pray for a clean MRI and a quick and full recovery.

Tara Riggs

2011-04-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

As you probably heard, our youth pastor's wife Tara Riggs was diagnosed on Friday with a brain tumor. Surgery was originally scheduled for yesterday but was pushed back to Wednesday morning. We covet your prayers for James and Tara.

Haiti

2011-01-15T19:03:00.001-08:00

Arrived safely in Haiti, spending the night in Grand Goave with Lifeline Christian Mission. Great folks here. Bob and Gretchen Devoe have a fantastic ministry going here and it's an honor to be here with them. All prayers appreciated. My dad is preaching for us in the morning at New Day CC and I know that will be a great day!

Financial Resources

2011-01-09T03:45:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! Here are some great financial resources to help you as you seek to be good stewards of your finances.

Here is the Mvelopes website I use to manage my finances according to the "envelope" system. I like it much better than the typical money management software because of the "envelope system" it is intended to replicate.

Mvelopes is developed by Crown Financial Resources, the same group that wrote the curriculum for the Bible study we're starting at New Day in a couple of weeks. They have a lot of great resources available.

My good friend Austin Pryor at Sound Mind Investing writes the most popular investment newsletter in the country directed at a Christian audience. If you're just starting, get his book. If you're a seasoned investor, start getting his newsletter. You will love it. His website has great advice for beginners and investors on how to get out of debt, make a budget, invest in mutual funds, and so forth. I've been following his monthly advice for some time and am really thankful that my retirement fund didn't tank as badly as most.

Here is information for your small group on the Andy Stanley DVD on margin in your life. Two of the six lessons are on finances. The entire series is good. Those of you at New Day can contact Allen Zeck at church to help you get this DVD set. Also check out his free podcasts for lots of great material including a series called "How to be Rich."

I think Dave Ramsey does a great job training people to be stewards. I don't always agree with everything he says, but he's a great motivator.

I pray God leads you and blesses your stewardship efforts!

David Platt's book Radical

2010-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hey friends, I mentioned the book Radical by David Platt in last week's sermon. Someone suggested I post a link, so here it is. Thanks for asking. See you Sunday!

Star of Bethlehem

2010-12-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow at New Day Christian Church, when we look at the angel's two visits to Joseph, telling him to take Jesus to Egypt and then back home. To set up these angel visits, we need to study the account of the wise men visiting Jesus in Matthew 2. I won't have time to go into depth on the topic of the Star of Bethlehem, but several years ago I read this fascinating article by Dr. Craig Chester that I have never forgotten. Is it possible that God did not create a special star in the moment, but instead planned from the beginning of time to tell the Gentiles through the pagan astrologers that a King was being born in Israel? Possibly so. Merry Christmas!

"This is America, Charlie Brown"

2010-11-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last night my family watched on ABC, "This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers." It is a wonderfully entertaining and historically accurate depiction of the Pilgrims coming to America. ABC will replay it at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. It really starts about 8:30, the second half of the hour-long "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" special. Be careful: the show is great but the commercials were awful. Keep the remote handy. You can also watch it online if you google "This is America Charlie Brown Youtube," but most of the postings are two parts so keep that in mind. I'd highly recommend spending 30 minutes with your kids this Thanksgiving watching this great show.

Baptism Nov 14, 2010

2010-11-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Jessica, on your baptism! Praise God!

Baptisms

2010-11-12T08:34:00.001-08:00

Congratulations, Bill, Renee and Kayla on your baptism this past Sunday!

Love and Respect

2010-10-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Hello, New Day Friends! Here is a link to the book Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs. And here is the link to the Love Dare book made popular in the movie "Fireproof." May God bless our marriages!

Jubilee Celebration

2010-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

What a great day it was Sunday! Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who worked overtime to prepare our celebration service on Sunday night. We had fun reminiscing about "50 years of worship music" and hearing from many of our past ministers who sent in video greetings. It was great to watch the video greetings from Barry Cameron who currently preaches at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, TX, and from Larry Sparrow, son of one of our first ministers (Coleman Sparrow). Larry was ordained at NDCC (it was First Christian then) and now ministers in Port St John, Florida. We also had a greeting from Gary Cox, the minister of First Christian Church in Ft Myers, the church that helped start New Day Christian Church 50 years ago. And what a blessing to have Jamie Snyder with us. Jamie just left us in July to take the preaching position at Lakeside Christian Church in Lakeside Park, KY. He traveled from Northern Kentucky to be with us and bring the message. He said if any of his friends had told him that it got below 30 degrees in Northern Kentucky, he never would have left!

It was a great night. Thanks for not making too much fun of me when I donned the 70s hippie garb and sang "Pass It On" with my wife to celebrate worship music from the 70s! Hopefully all the pictures will be blurry! But my favorite part of the day was the two baptisms we celebrated on Sunday morning. God is good!

Yesterday's Wedding

2010-10-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hello New Day friends! I hope you didn't miss church yesterday. Earlier in the week Mimi asked me if I would be willing to perform the wedding ceremony for her and Jeff in a few months when they were able to save up enough money. They're new to New Day, new to Christ. They've been living together for 8 years and had been convicted that they needed to get married. She didn't know I was writing a sermon from Colossians 3 on sexual purity. I called and offered to cover the costs if they would let me marry them at the end of my sermon as an example of how to respond to God's grace and His call to purity. They scrambled to get a marriage license, some generous folks in the church helped them get ready, and at the end of my sermon we had a wedding! The elementary kids and adult Sunday school classes got out early so they could slide in the back and watch. So the auditorium was packed and Jeff and Mimi had a great wedding. One generous lady even bought a huge wedding cake and we all partied in the lobby afterwards! It was a great day. The whole sermon, including the wedding, should be posted later this week.

Review and Supplemental Reading

2010-09-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Church! For supplemental reading to this past Sunday's message, read Matthew 23.

Here's a quick review of the signs of a legalist from Colossians 2:16-19:
1. Judgmental
2. Dogmatic
3. Unspiritual
4. Puffed up
5. Idle
6. Disconnected

Paul also reminds us in v. 19 that a healthy church is one where Christ is the head, there is unity among the members, and there is God-given growth. The best way to avoid legalistic control: stay in a healthy church where the legalists don't dominate!

Mark Drischoll Sermon on Legalism

2010-09-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

Hello church! I mentioned a sermon by Mark Drischoll yesterday. Here is a link to his sermon if you'd like to watch. I think God is using Mark Drischoll in a great way but that doesn't mean I always agree with everything Mark says. This sermon was helpful as I prepared yesterday's message on Colossians 2:16-23. As always, be discerning and be blessed. Rusty

"I Have Coveted Everything and Taken Pleasure in Nothing"

2010-09-06T12:34:00.001-07:00

Hey friends! What a great day yesterday as we witnessed three people baptized into Christ and celebrated those victories together. I read an article today that goes along well with yesterday's sermon regarding the world's inability to truly satisfy. Happy Labor Day!

More About Reincarnation

2010-08-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hello New Day Friends! A week ago we talked about the growing acceptance in America of the unbiblical doctrine of reincarnation. Here is a good article about reincarnation from Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's interesting to me that people never remember being a rat or a pig - their past lives are almost always something exotic! Thanks for a great day yesterday and for welcoming my dad who I thought did a fantastic job reminding us why we should love the church.

Resources from August 15, 2010 Sermon

2010-08-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, New Day friends! Here’s a link to Dr. Meier’s book I mentioned today in the sermon from Colossians 1:15-23:

Here’s a link to the picture of Antares compared to the sun – 60,000 times larger than our sun!

I mentioned Ravi Zacharias today. I recommend anything he has written, but the discussion I mentioned today was from the book Case for Faith by Lee Strobel where he was interviewed for the chapter titled, “Objection #5: It’s Offensive to Claim Jesus is the Only Way to God.” I highly recommend Strobel’s book.

2010-07-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

What a joy to have completed our first week on the job at New Day Christian Church in South Florida! Thank you NDCC for welcoming us and making this such an exciting time for our family.