Author: Pastor Reno

Trump is ANGRY. He tells us that he is. You are angry. You are mad about what politicians have done to this country. You are angry about sending people to Washington and them not doing what they said they would do. You feel lied to, disenfranchised, frustrated, and bitterness eats at you. You want vengeance…you want to send those “establishment” politicians a message. You are fed up! Someone has to stand up to them, right?!! You agree with the notion that we should just burn the political establishment to the ground and start over. Policy is irrelevant, really. You just like the red-faced expression of feelings. Trump communicates,...

“Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house...

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (1 John 5:14–15) I don’t know about you, but I have a big list of “wants” this year as our country readies itself to elect a new leader. I want a leader who has Biblical values. I want a leader who has strong moral conviction and will not compromise it. I want a leader who is easy on my wallet and hard on terrorists. I want a bigger stronger military and...

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” (1 Timothy 2:1–2) The political rhetoric has been flying for quite some time now and will only get more heated as the field of candidates narrows and we draw closer to actually voting for the next POTUS. I have lots of opinions about the different candidates, and do not shy away from sharing those opinions with others…and I believe we are in the mess we are in today, in part because Bible believers sit back, say and do nothing,...

Sunday began with a trip to the church to load up everything we would need to hold services in the park...evidently, it takes pretty much everything in the church...lol.  We had to load it up, transport it, then it was all carried into the park from a neighboring street...it was quite the undertaking.  Mark and I went to one of the local markets to pick up the "fruit cakes" with chocolate on top, then headed back to the park.

Friday was a day where we spent the morning shopping for groceries, etc. as we continued preparations for Saturday's youth conference.  We got to spend some time with the Christian Family over lunch as well.  They had recently moved to a new, third floor apartment and we were invited over for some pasta salad and strawberry shortcake.  This was a great time of fellowship...they will be heading back to the States in a couple of weeks to celebrate their sending church's 50th anniversary.  Please pray for them as they travel.

It was my privilege to preach at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Odessa for Bible Study last night.  As I will be every time, I preached with the help of an interpreter, named Victor.  It is very difficult for me to preach this way, having to stop every few words and to not know if what I am saying is being communicated with the same meaning.  I also realized how much I depend upon humor and interaction with the congregation in my messages and this making things difficult too.  Oh, well...

After a great day of fellowship with the missionaries, we loaded up a car and van at the church and headed out the village of Lamamskoye to preach.  It was a beautiful drive through the countryside and farmlands.  When we got to the outskirts of the village, we were flagged down by a police officer, who hitched a ride with us out near the church, where we dropped him off then proceeded to the missionaries' home for dinner.

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; ” (1 Timothy 1:12) The words “I thank,” given by Paul in 1 Timothy, are literally, “I have constant gratitude to.” It is not a mere statement of the fact of being grateful, but a revelation of Paul’s constant attitude of gratefulness.  He was constantly grateful to God for his enabling strength and His putting him into the ministry. As I write this article, I am sitting in the airport in Los Angeles awaiting my flight back to Seattle.  I have just spent a couple of days in Lancaster, CA for West Coast Baptist College’s graduation services.  We have several...