Old Blog is Back

Hey gang! My original blog is back, so I will be phasing this one out and directing everyone to www.robsingleton.com instead. Thanks for your patience these last several weeks while playing the new version of "Where's Waldo?" with my blog!

Sunday Evening Mind Dump!

First of all…

Yahoooooo! I’m back online! Thanks to everyone who helped return my blog to me. You all are the best! robsingleton.com is back!

• Today was honestly one of the best days in a long, loooooong, looooooooooong, time! A large group of wonderful, godly people met to go through the book of Nehemiah in our new series called, “When You Hit a Wall.”  Even better, this large group of folks encompass the launch team of a brand new church called…

Wait for it…
Impact Church!
The Singletons are truly humbled by the hundreds we’ve heard from over the last several weeks, and the love and grace they’ve shown our family in what was once a painful and difficult time. The verse that comes to mind is, Isaiah 35:10,

“and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

Already happening!

• If you are interested in being a part of Impact Church you can email me at pastorrss@yahoo.com and we will keep you up to date with everything God is doing with this new venture!
• Good news…Finally got my Facebook page back (well, at least my personal one). Woooo Whooo!
• Bad news…The ‘not so mysterious hackers’ have returned and it will take a few days to get it back again.   Praying the nonsense will stop and we can get on with the work of God!
• All and all though, it was still a great day. I have a feeling the best is yet to come!

Thank You!

Today I thanked the Lord for the wonderful people in my life. Some I've known well for a long time, others, even though they've been around, I just recently saw how deeply loving, understanding, and Christlike they really are. I'm truly amazed by you all!

But today a whole other group floods my soul with love and gratefulness...

Today I want to thank fellow ministers of the gospel. Let me name just a few...

Thank you, Rusty, my friend of more than 22 years--through thick and thin, warts and all--I just can't seem to shake you! You're as much a brother as a friend!

Thank you, Pastor Steven Furtick! The waters truly run deep with you, my friend! I'm humbled by how you have stood by me, challenged me, supported me, and defended me! I want you to know that I've got your back! Anyone criticizes you in front of me and they will get a very unpastorly punch in the throat!

In Jesus' name.  :)

And to your right hand man, Chunks (love that name)! Every pastor needs a Jonathan in their life. If they've got one, it's a big part of the reason the ministry soars! You're Pastor Steven's Jonathan and it's been a pleasure to get to know you better! I'm honored!

To my long time friend and pastor to all the pastors in Charlotte--David Chadwick. Thank you for being my pastor so many years ago and for continuing to be such a good and trusted friend! Whenever I'm struggling with anything, you seem to be at the top of my call list--well, God is first, but you're a close second! We've got our battle scars from ministering in this town over the years, but I have no doubt there are six words coming your way from our Lord and Savior when you see Him face to face...  "Well done! Good and faithful servant."

Clayton King, no one I know is more relevant to audiences in more settings than you. No matter where you go or who you are talking to, you manage to get the gospel out! Never stop! Thank you for the friend you've been to me over years. Your gift of encouragement is off the charts! I've needed it lately, and you didn't disappoint! I'm looking forward to our lunch in a few days!

Don Lough. What a blessing to reconnect after all these years out of seminary! My time with you and Darla up at Word of Life left me and Michelle so tremendously blessed! You may be quietly making the greatest impact for Jesus Christ of anyone alive today! Word of Life seeing 170,000 come to Christ around the world last year alone!! Incredible! I hope I can camp out in my heavenly pop up on the lawn of your mansion in heaven! Keep up the great work for Jesus!

Are there more?

Tons! God has truly been good to me. And this night, you six were especially on my mind. God bless you! And once again...

Thank You!

Do You Know How to Fight? -- Final

 

Ok, let’s finish this thing.

If you missed part one, go here. If you missed part two, go here. If three, here, and four, here.

Now, on with the conclusion...

So there stood Shawn and me—eye to eye—each of us weighing the other to see who would flinch first.

This was new territory for both of us. I was a professional flincher up to this point, and he, an Olympic bully. Almost (but not quite) it seemed the rolls were switching right before our eyes. For a moment, I believed he would just walk away and leave me victorious without ever having to throw a single punch.

That lasted about five seconds.

Then his hands went up and he sucker punched me…

Or tried.

What was this? I didn’t quite block it, but I did manage to deflect it so that it did little damage. That REALLY threw him! And he reacted angrily. And, much to my delight—spastically. He was punching like a girl now (sorry ladies, but you really do punch like yourselves). I was surprised at how easy his awkward strikes were to block, but I still hadn’t thrown a punch of my own. Was I simply looking for an opening, like I’d been taught? Or, was I afraid to actually punch someone? The whole thing seemed a bit like an out of body experience in that I was fighting and analyzing the fight all at the same time—I felt like Howard Cosell—and probably fought like him too.

I knew it would go on forever like this unless I chose to use what I’d been taught, and put an end to the abuse.

I spotted an opening, thought it might be my last…and took it. Hauling back with a right cross, I aimed straight for his jaw—I put everything I had into that one punch.

And it landed.

Then so did Shawn—on the ground.

Everyone seemed shocked but no one more than I. Well, almost no one. I do recall Shawn seeming a bit dazed.

But here’s the important part. Shawn rose slowly to his feet, but not to fight. In fact, he wouldn’t even look me in the eye. All he did was mumble something derogatory about me and walk away, pretending like he had something more important to do, like cry I’m guessing.

So, just like that, it was over. Not only did Shawn never mess with me again, but neither did any of the other guys. Believe it or not, Shawn and I actually became friends (sort of) after that.

I’ve often thought about that experience over the years, recalling how much agony I caused myself simply because I had no idea how to combat the particular warfare I was facing. Once I learned how to fight, the bullying all but ended. I wish I’d learned a whole lot sooner.

And I’ve thought a lot about the spiritual battles I’ve faced over the years as well. How many of them got the best of me due to not knowing how to fight? How many times have I brought a spiritual knife to a spiritual gun fight? And this bears a lot consideration whether we realize it or not—the stakes are far greater in the spiritual realm than the physical. Whoever said, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,’ must have been a toddler. Because anyone who had been the victim of gossip and slander knows all too well the deep and scaring wounds that sharp tongues can inflict.

Bottom-line? Know what you’re up against. The apostle Paul said it best as he tried to explain this to the Corinthians,

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Bad News? Many of us are wielding the wrong weapons and going up against the wrong opponent—often times, Christians even fight with each other as though our own brothers and sisters are the real enemy. The only winner in these scenarios is the evil one.

Good News? Because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to all Christ followers to live victoriously, we can not only win these spiritual battles—we can devastate the evil one, and take huge swaths of territory right from under his nose! That’s a far cry from the knees clanging, fearful, defeated and anemic lives so many “Christians” live today.

More Good News? There’s an unlimited supply of body armor and superior weaponry available to all believers. All we need to do is put it on. Once again, the apostle Paul tells us about this.

“¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² 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. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Eph 6:10-17

So, now that you know how to fight, what are you waiting for? Get in the battle and know that one outcome awaits the believer who truly loves the Lord and who are called according to His great purpose…

You win!

Do You Know How to Fight? – Part 4

 

It matters, you know.

I found out the hard way.

But before we go any further, this being a multi-part series, let me direct you newcomers to parts 1, 2, and 3…

Just scroll down and you'll see them! :)

And now, part 4 of, “Do You Know How to Fight?”

I said we’d “go live” today. Did you prepare? I hope so, because that’s coming up in just a moment. First, I’m sure you’re all wondering what happened with Shawn.

Well, I’m not gonna lie to you—I woke up for school the next day with a pit in my stomach that felt like I’d swallowed a sleeve of golf balls. No matter what I did, or how much I tried not to think about it, the golf balls were there to stay. So, learning to adapt to the new reality that I might tee up a second viewing of my breakfast at any moment (an interesting offensive weapon in and of itself) I otherwise calmly resigned myself to Operation Whoop Shawn—set for 0700.

I had 30 minutes to shower, eat (never mind that), dress, practice my moves, and get to school.

It was on!

I knew that the 0700 rendezvous might not happen, and that I was more likely to have to wait for Operation Bloody Recess at the playground drop zone, set for 1300 (That’s 1:00 pm for you non Navy Seal types). But I walked to school like a Green Beret anyway. About half the time, I would see Shawn walking to school in the morning as well, and the fun would always start early on those days. Truth be told—I was hoping to get this over with before school even began. If it went my way, I’d have the entire day to gloat. If not? I couldn’t even think of that. Failure was not an option.

The walk seemed to take forever that day, and there were (sadly) no Shawn sightings. Operation Whoop Shawn was now a part of my past (pretty dramatic, huh?) and all my focus shifted to the unavoidable, Operation Bloody Recess. People would get hurt this day. Perhaps lots of people. There could be collateral damage as well if my anger turned all Hulk like as it had with my uncle the day before. I couldn’t concern myself with that now—it’s all a part of battle. Warfare is ugly. We all knew what we were signing up for when…

Sorry, I got a little carried away. Where was I?

Oh yeah, recess. The clock stare off began in homeroom and neither I nor the clock blinked even once as we waited for high noon, or 1300, but high noon sounds better. Am I right?

Was there a power outage? The clocks all seemed frozen. No, I had just entered a parallel universe where minutes take weeks and weeks take years. So be it. It wasn’t the first time I’d been here. I could handle anything life threw at me this day. As far as I was concerned, the outcome was predetermined.

Unfortunately, so was the sick day for Shawn. He wasn’t at school.

So much for Rambo the invincible.

Back to Operation Whoop Shawn.

Next day was a repeat of the day before—top-flight, golf ball stomach and all. Shawn was missing from the walk to school again as well. I was actually beginning to relax a little bit by the time I got through homeroom and entered the hallway to get to my first class. That was until I bumped right into Shawn.

“Hey, Wimpleton! Watch where you’re going or the beatings will start early for you today!" He and his friends must have thought they were on stage at Comedy Central the way they laughed at that one. I just stared back at them in bewilderment. Was that really a joke? I thought. I guess I just don’t get it. But one thing I did pick up on—I wasn’t afraid. Seriously, I had no fear. I could already see this thing playing out hours before hand. I’d already cleared the first hurdle—the confidence hurdle. Recess couldn’t get here soon enough.

At lunch I sat at the medic table reserved for nerds and smaller kids bred just for the purpose of being sparing partners for the elite gladiators. But this day it didn’t even bother me as I fueled up on a carefully prepared, pre-battle meal consisting of a peanut butter sandwich and 2 twinkies. Normally I would only have one twinkie, but today I needed the extra edge the Hostess, cream filled food of top athletes everywhere was sure to give me.

Bottomline? I was ready.

When the bell rang, I headed for the playground with the rest of the expendables. We looked at each other with a sort of mutual respect. Each day could be the last for any one of us, and we knew it. Today, they all seemed to have a heightened awareness that it could be me.

Again, so be it. No turning back now.

In seconds I made my way to the monkey bars—a kind of holding pen for misfits and geeks before they were forced into the ring to face the lions. The fleeting thought occurred to me that I didn’t have to take this. Why wait here everyday like I was punching the clock at General Motors? I made a mental note that this would be the last day I spent here as well.

After I’d made my peace, and reminded myself of who would get my valuables once the autopsy was completed and cause of death determined, I pushed all negative thoughts from my mind and looked up to see Shawn and his primitive posse of yes men approaching right on schedule.

“What’s up, Wimpleton?” I just sat there. I already knew the drill. “You blind and deaf?” he continued. “Cause this is my area and I don’t think I want you here. So beat it.” He laughed. However, when I didn’t get right up and leave like every previous occasion, he seemed to reconsider. It was one thing to trip me on the way by, or to punch me when I wasn’t looking, but this was unchartered territory for him.

“You hear me?” He asked again, looking at me as if it were the first time he’d ever seen me.

“Yep,” I answered as casually as I could.

That really threw him. I could see the wheels turning. Hmm, he seemed to be thinking. He heard me, saw me, has been beat numerous times by me, and yet, there he sits. What am I supposed to do with this?

I almost felt sorry for him, so I helped make his decision a little easier. While he was working through possible scenarios in his head, I got up and walked to within 2 feet of him and just stood there.

“I’m not leaving Shawn. If you want to sit here, you can wait until I feel like leaving. Otherwise, you’re gonna have to make me.”

Okay, I admit, I wasn’t too proud of that last line. Talk about old and overused. But it was pretty tough sounding in it’s day and I’ll bet anyone reading this over 40 has said it themselves so quit judging!

Ok, back to the story.

Shawn was stumped, but he was far from finished. He still had one trick up his sleeve.

“Hey look everyone! Robby Wimpleton is getting all tough now!”

“What did you call me?!” I growled, my fists coming up and the rest of me assuming the fighting stance my uncle had taught me. My blood was boiling. I HATED being called Robby! I might have even mentioned that a time or two—not sure, I’ll have to go back and check the previous posts in the series. Wimpleton I could handle, but for some reason, Robby drove me crazy. I became absolutely unglued every time I heard it. And now was no exception.

“Take it easy, man. I was just joking.” Shawn reacted nervously. “I don’t feel like messing with you nerds today anyway.” He turned to walk away. Only problem was, a crowd had gathered and one of his normally mild-mannered posse began making a chicken noise and snickering, something about ‘one more nerd in the herd shouldn’t upset the delicate ecosystem of the Katella playground...' Least that’s how I remember it until I recall that we were all 10 year olds and not even capable of thinking that sophisticated. We were still trying to master lines like, “I know you are, but what am I?” So there’s little chance I’ve got perfect recall here.

And alas, there’s little chance I’m going to be able to finish this today as I thought. It’s almost midnight!

Sorry, but the conclusion and spiritual tie in will have to wait until next time.