The Kind of Person God Uses

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Have you ever wondered why God uses a particular person or a certain church?  Have you ever looked at them and wondered what they had that you did not have?  I believe there are at least four observations we can make about people or churches that God uses….

  • God uses the person who is following His mission. As Dr. Henry Blackaby said in Experiencing God, most of us pray “Lord, bless what I’m doing” when we should be praying “Lord, help me to do what you are blessing!”  God will bless those who are focusing on HIS mission instead of focusing on THEIR mission.
  • God uses the person who is willing to risk failure. Following Jesus is not for the faint at heart.  Acts 15:26 reminds us that Paul and Barnabus “risked their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Erwin McManus says that we have become domesticated Christians, unwilling to risk anything for the cause of Christ.  The truth is, that our lifestyle is far-removed from the Book of Acts.  I’m not saying we should simply take foolish risks for no reason, but we should be willing to go anywhere God leads and attempt anything God says we should attempt, even if there’s no guarantee of success.
  • God uses the person who expects to be used. Jesus told the two blind men, “According to your faith will it be done to you”  (Matthew 9:29).  Rick Warren says that there is one consistent ingredient he sees in every church where God is working — people who are willing to believe God.  In other words, the faith factor.
  • God uses the person who never gives up. Paul reminds us to “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).  Most people miss the harvest simply because they quit too soon.  The harvest takes time, but God’s timing is always perfect.  We should NEVER give up.  Sometimes the game is won on a last-second shot….on a two-out blast….on a hail-Mary heave.

This past week my mom’s youngest brother went home to be with the Lord.  As I sat and heard his children, my first cousins, talk about what a wonderful father he was and what a Godly example he was, I was reminded that we should serve God passionately.  We should serve Him daily.  We should serve Him to the very end of our life.  We should finish the course and keep the faith.  THAT is the kind of person God uses.

Change Is Good

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If something is not changing then it is DEAD!  I have served of senior pastor of Shelbyville First Baptist Church for 2 1/2 years now and we’ve seen a lot of changes.  I’m especially excited about changes that are happening now and changes that are just around the corner.  This is an exciting time to be at Shelbyville FBC.

Our student ministry is EXPLODING under the Godly leadership of Pastor Andy McDonald.  God is blessing as students are coming to faith in Christ and growing to be more like Jesus.  Our children’s ministry is also growing by leaps and bounds.  Pastor Dave Menser is doing a marvelous job leading the children’s ministry with a fresh, creative approach.

Without going into detail, expect to see changes in both morning Worship Services over the next few weeks.  Now, repeat after me, “change is good…..change is good…..change is good!”  I would add, “change is of the Lord!”

My Story

Posted in Evangelism, Life Happens2 Comments

My name is Steve Rice and this is a brief story of the most important thing in my life.  I grew up as somewhat of a hillbilly in eastern Kentucky.  I lived in Floyd County and graduated from Betsy Layne High School.  I loved to hunt and fish.  I loved to ride motorcycles and play basketball.  I especially loved to golf. Jack Nicklaus was always my favorite golfer.  My dad was a plumbing and heating contractor and my mom was a stay-at-home mom.  They were both hard workers and I had about anything I wanted as a boy.

I was happy, but when I was fourteen years old, I started to feel like a piece of the puzzle was missing in my life.  I went to church all the time with my parents, but I realized I had never personally made a decision for Christ.  I started worrying about what would happen to me if I died without Christ. One day after my pastor, Earl Waugh preached, I walked down the hardwood aisle in the First Baptist Church of Allen and told him I wanted to become a Christian.  He led me in a simple prayer and I asked Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins.

Right away, I could tell something was different.  I didn’t worry any more about death and a peace came to my life.  I’ve been a Christian now for thirty-seven years.  I still have problems and still make mistakes like everyone else.  But God has always been there to pick me up and wipe me off.  My mom passed away in ‘92.  I miss her more and more every year.  I don’t know how I would have made it during that time without the Lord.  I try to live for the Lord every day the best I know how.

Through the years God has blessed me with a wonderful wife and three awesome children, but that’s enough talk about me.  I’d like to hear about your life.  Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?  Do you feel like something or someone is missing from your life?  Would you like to invite Christ to come into your life?  If I can answer any questions or help you with a decision to invite Christ into your life please email me at srice@fbcshelbyville.com.

Honoring Our Military – “Raw Worship”

Posted in Discipleship, Life Happens, Worship2 Comments

(Written 10/23/2008)

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”John 4:24

Can you remember the most moving worship service you ever attended? I can, because it was only two days ago, on Easter Sunday.

My wife and I entered the Chapel Service at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas with our son wearing his sharp “dress blues.” Around us sat 1,000 young, uniformed men and women, at all stages of military basic training–“zero weekers” to “new airmen.”

Music videos played as we entered. Toward the beginning of the service, the worship leaders and band led some upbeat worship music along with a jazzed-up version of a moving hymn.

Then IT happened–the most powerful worship moment I can remember! The Mark Schultz video, Letters from War, began to play. In amazing unison, the soldiers leaped to their feet, let out a yell, and started passing around boxes of tissues. As the song began, every soldier was singing and every soldier was crying.

The moment was raw….the moment was real! They seemed to understand that God helped them through another week of “Hell on earth” as they prepared to serve our country. That week, the God of the Bible had been their God, their helper, their strength.

The most touching moment was the point in the video when the soldier came home. As his car turned down the lane to his farm on the video, the soldiers let out an enormous cheer. Wow! Patriotism and the Spirit of God was as powerful as any moment in my life.

Later, during the offering, I watched my son count out 10% of his small, military salary and place it in the basket as it passed. Words can never adequately describe how I felt at that moment!

The truth is, our churches are starving for that level of raw worship. Assimilation rates will dramatically improve if we achieve worship that is real….worship that is raw…worship that is relevant! Even though I have been a Christian for 34 years, I personally long for that kind of worship. I fear that we may have to experience a great trial in our lives, similar to these soldiers, if we ever hope to cling desperately to God again.

Prayer: “Lord, whatever it takes. Let us see You. Let us sense You. Let us experience You. Let us worship You in a way that is raw and real. Let us serve you with a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service because You are worthy!”

Discover Prayer

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Yesterday at Shelbyville First Baptist Church I kicked off a new series I’m calling Discover. Each week we will take an in-depth look at one of the key elements of the Christian life.  The first sermon in the series I called Discover Prayer.

In the first sermon, I answered the following four key questions concerning prayer:

  1. What is prayer?
  2. Who can pray?
  3. How do we pray?
  4. What can prayer do?

The text was taken from the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7.  The main memory verse from the sermon was Matthew 6:6.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”  Matthew 6:6 (NIV)