-=A=- wrote:
*First.. *did yah make eagle?
*Second.. Have yah thanked the man that kept Royal Ambassadors going in
yur church? *Have you made choices in which *ministered best to you?
My response (that -=A=- asked me to post to RangerNet):
WARNING: IT IS FAIRLY LENGTHY, BUT IT IS ALSO FROM THE HEART.
First.. No. There were a few of the required merit badges that I had
trouble getting put together, primarily the "citizenship" series. I did have
a ball and learn a great deal about camping, enjoying the outdoors, and
leadership.
Second.. Many times over...it was my dad. My dad worked both in Royal
Ambassadors at our church, and on the Troop Committee at good, ol' Troop 28.
He went on most of the campouts, came to some of the meetings (he worked two
jobs most of the time), and even managed to teach merit badge classes. Oh
yeah, he was a top notch S.S. class teacher, deacon, and lay preacher. On
top of all that he found time to play games with us kids, take us on family
campouts and outings (we went to all the museums & historical sites in our
area at least once), and take my mom on dates.
As to which one ministered best to me...both of them, and neither of them.
It is never so much the program used as the person using the program, and
their willingness to be used of God to minister to others. My dad, and the
other dads, are who ministered to me. You see, several of the dads on the
Troop Committee were also the leaders of the RA group at church. About 1/3
to 1/2 of our troop came from my church. The other 1/2 to 2/3 were kids from
other churches or off the street, so to speak. My dad, and the other dads
from my church, saw Troop 28 as both an opportunity to work with their own
sons, and as a mission field. Between them they lead several of those "off
the street" boys to the Lord. Most of them wound up in other churches than
ours, but that didn't matter. It was enough that they had come to have a
personal relationship with God. If you can't tell by now I was one of those
very lucky ones that had great upbringing all along the way.
Having grown up in a Southern Baptist church, then having spent around 18
years or so as an adult in AOG churches, I've long wished these two groups
could lay aside their differences and embrace their sameness. If a hybrid of
both group's strengths were ever put together we would most likely witness
one of the greatest revivals ever.
I love the Pentecostal style worship and openness to the gifts and outward
manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but I also love the Baptist strong
emphasis on discipleship and in-depth Bible study and memorization, and both
group's emphasis on evangelism. I'm sure Satan must shudder whenever he
thinks about what could happen if these two groups ever got together. Can
you imagine? A whole nationwide group of enthusiastic, Spirit-filled, Bible
studying, disciplined, followers of Christ that spent time reaching out to
others? Instead of squabbling and bickering about what we didn't agree on,
we just emphasized what we did agree on and went after the lost?
Whoooooooooeeeeee! It raises the hair on the back of my neck and gets me all
goose-bumply just thinking about it.
Oh well, sometimes I get kinda carried away with my little visions of what
could be. As you have probably already noticed I'm a strong believer in
laying aside all those pesky little differences and just concentrating on
fighting beside each other against our common foe, Satan, instead of wearing
ourselves out fighting each other. I never cease to be amazed at how strong
an army God has if we could just do that. We're so busy trying to decide
which version of the Bible is the best, or which of the "gifts" are the best,
or what style of worship is the best, or .......... When we're facing off
with another brother our back is to Satan, but when we get back-to-back with
another brother we're facing Satan.
My apologies for running on so long about this last subject. It's another of
those things that no one even has to push the button, I'll push it myself. I
really detest the fact that we have so much bickering within the body.
However, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than in that very same body.
God's people are the best and I love 'em to pieces. That's probably why I
get so frustrated when they/we aren't rising to our full potential.
Well, that's more than enough of that for now. By the time you get done
reading all this you'll probably wish you had never got this started. Later.
Ed (CC)
Ed Taylor (Crazy Cougar)
South Texas
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