I bet you thought the title of this blog was about guns! I like guns but this blog is about establishing a purpose for our life.

1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose.

Jesus suffered as a man in His life. His suffering was so that my sins could be forgiven by God and I could live with Him forever. His suffering had a noble purpose, and He knew that.

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

God chooses to bring suffering and trials into my life so that I can grow in character, but if I respond in a wrong way the trials that God intended for good end up causing just the opposite result in my life.

Those who respond correctly to trials resulting in maximum growth in their lives are those who premeditate what they are going to think, what they are going to say, and how they are going to act when the trials come. They “arm themselves” to do what Jesus did when He suffered for us. What did Jesus do?

1. He trusted God the Father totally, because He knew His suffering had a purpose.

2. He prayed and asked for strength.

3. He didn’t grumble or complain.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.

4. He fixed His eyes on eternity, not this life.

1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

So, I have established my plan, my response when I don’t like the events or circumstances of my life.

Dear Lord, I trust You totally with my life. I believe that You will only do and bring about events and circumstances that are best for my growth. Please give me your strength to manage and bear up under all that comes into my life. Grant me the strength to rejoice always and to never grumble or complain about anything. I look forward to stepping into glory one of these days, and I want to be as much like You in character as is possible. Grant me your wisdom to fix and change what I can, to help people, to teach and encourage as many as possible to live for You and to serve You with their whole life. Thank You, I love You.

We have a dog. His name is Roscoe. We have had him for just a little over a year. He is half poodle and half Jack Russel Terrier, and he is a very nice dog. He is smart, very personable for a dog, he loves our grandkids and they love him. But he does have a couple of very annoying habits. We keep the various doors in the house closed and one of them is our bedroom door. His bed is in our bedroom along with his food dish so he is in our bedroom all night a good portion of the day. If either Patty or I go into the other part of the house he stands at the door and whines. If t is an hour he will stand there and whine for the entire hour. If I am sitting in my recliner which is in our bedroom right next to the door and Patty goes out he will start in on his whining, and I will say, “quit whining!” He quits for a few minutes and then starts in again, and I say much more emphatically, “quit whining!!” Finally after this cycle repeats itself many times I get up and put him in his kennel and cover it with a blanket. If he starts whining in his kennel I smack it hard making a very loud noise, and yell, “quit whining!!!” That usually ends the whining bout.

Whining from a dog is annoying, whining from a kid is very annoying, and whining from a grown up adult is very, very annoying.

Philippians 2:14-15 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,

There is a very thin line between many discussions today about current events and grumbling and complaining. I work hard at not grumbling or complaining about anything, but I often find myself entering into conversations that are anything but positive and affirming. It seems to be part of my human nature to whine about inconveniences, difficulties, and trials.

So, of late I have started saying to myself when I catch myself grumbling and complaining, “Roscoe, quit your whining!”

To be tough is to live your life with no fear. The devil lies, the Bible says he is the father of lies. He uses lies to create fear so that he can control people, to hold them captive to do his will rather than God’s. For us to be able to discern what is true and what is a lie is not the issue, the issue is that nothing causes us to fear, nothing, especially not death. Death is our great graduation into glory, into the presence of the Lord, when we get our glorified body. For believers our death is the most positive event in our life. But the devil has manipulated, lied, and intimidated until we are afraid of our greatest promise and event in all of life, crazy!

Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

As people having been created in the image and likeness of God, we were created for freedom. Our salvation has set us free from fear, set us free from the devil, and has set us free from tyrants who attempt to control us through fear.

Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Because I am free from the devil, the world system, and my own flesh I can choose to live life as free person. I can choose to love anybody, no matter how unloveable they might be, I can choose to be kind and gracious to mean spirited, grouchy people, I am free to do what is right and not be controlled by their rudeness. I am free to forgive anybody of anything, I don’t have to let bitterness control my life. I am, free to rejoice always, grumble about nothing, and be happy and fun to be around. I don’t have to let circumstances dictate my mood, my attitude, or my behavior, because I am free.

A number of years ago I read a book with the title axioms, and when I finished reading it I decided to write my own book by that title. It wouldn’t be for anybody to read except for me, and I would read it over and over again. An axiom is a statement that is self-evidently true. I would write out short, easy to remember, almost motto like statements that I would operate my life by, my pastoring, leading, in my marriage, with my kids and grandkids, and life in general, and attempt to teach others to use as guidelines in their life as well. Over the years I would add new axioms as I personally discovered them from experience, mostly from failures, or witnessed or heard from someone else that was experienced and wise, or that I read. I have 92 axioms right now, but expect that I will write a number more in the near future from my COVID experiences as a pastor of Jefferson Baptist Church. Because I write them short, and as memorable as possible, and read them several times a month they are in my head, and they quickly pop into my thinking at appropriate times. I will share some of my favorites that I repeat all the time to whoever will listen.

1. God blesses unity not methods, it doesn’t matter how we do things as long as we do them together.

2. Don’t be negative, critical, judgmental, or complaining about anything if you want people to enjoy your company.

3. God blesses anybody who forgives everyone of anything.

4. Bible reading and prayer are to our spiritual health what diet and exercise are to our physical health, neglect any one of the four and you will get sick, physically, spiritually, or both.

5. Do the right thing because it is the right thing even if you don’t feel like it.

6. You don’t have to act the way you feel.

7. Just because you get hurt doesn’t mean you have to yell.

8. Don’t quit when you are losing or when you feel like a loser, wait until you are winning then it will be for the right reason.

9. Live everyday as if it is your last before you stand before Jesus at the Judgment Seat and give an account to Him about how you have lived.

10. The more stuff you own the more stuff owns you.

11. Learn a new skill, do something you have never done before, and go someplace you have never been before every year.

12. Make the most of your time, spend your time on paper before you spend it in real life.

13. Steward your money well, spend it on paper before you spend it at the store.

14. Measure and count everything that matters and if it matters set a goal about it.

15. You get stronger by choosing to do things that are harder., quit and you will become a wimp.

God leads us and guides us into His perfect will and plan for our life.

Nehemiah 9:19
You, in Your great compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.

That would be cool if God would lead me that way now. That would be pretty decisive and hard to miss for sure.

Psalms 31:3 For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.

Psalms 48:14 He will guide us until death.

Psalms 73:24 With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.

Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

Psalms 25:8-9 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.

Psalms 27:11Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a level path

There are numerous ways God guides us, and the wise person will learn what those are. Key for us is to have an attitude of submission to God’s will, be paying attention, looking and listening as He leads, and then be decisive in obeying.

There are three basic areas that I pay attention to as I work at figuring out God’s will for me.

The first is His Word. I read 12 to 14 chapters everyday, I memorize two new verses each week and review all 700 that I have already memorized each week, and I study books, topics and themes in order to teach. As I spend time in the Bible I learn principles and I gain wisdom so I can make good decisions and choices based on that wisdom.

Second, I pay attention to the desires that grow inside of my mind and heart. I believe that God puts His will in me and it comes out in the form of a strong desire or dream. I am careful not to get carried away on this one because I know that I can have very carnal desires at times. Most of my goals come from the desires that I identify in me that I believe God put in me.

Third, I pay attention to circumstantial clues that God brings into my life. Opportunities, open doors, people, words that people say, events that pop into my life, and counsel that I get from people both solicited and unsolicited. It is like being a good detective paying attention to small things that happen. Again, I am careful because ai know that the devil can control events in my life.

One of my strengths is decisiveness. I make decisions quickly once I am convinced it is God’s will for me, for my family, or for our church. If I mull things over to long I almost always get hesitant as the fear of making a wrong turn in life begins to paralyze me.

Every year I start writing my goals on October 1st and finish them by October 27th, my birthday, and start pursuing them.

1. I will read 12 chapters each day in my Bible.
2. I will Pray 30 minutes every day by myself.
3. I will Pray for 15 minutes twice each week on my kneeling bench in my office.
4. I will go salmon fishing in Alaska in July.
5. I will Pray at three regular corporate prayer times at JBC each week.
6. I will Pray 40 hours in each of the four “Five Days of Prayer” events.
7. I will Pray with Patty three times each week minimum.
8. I will go on a moose hunting trip with my son-in-law Phillip and others sometime before 2025.
9. I will Pray through the church prayer letter each week.
10. I will Pray for every person in the church every week using my Ipad app “prayermate.”
11. I will Pray for Patty, all kids, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and grandkids every day.
12. I will Maintain my prayer app, “PrayerMate,” keeping up to date with names and information.
13. I will write prayers in my journal at least twice each week.
14. I will go on a caribou hunting trip with Philip and others before 2025.
15. Patty and I will have a budget meeting once each month holding each other accountable to our budget and financial goals.
16. I will go tuna fishing at least once.
17. I will take Patty on a date twice each month.
18. I will present my life to Christ as Lord each morning, reciting my prayer of commitment.
19. I will read 20 pages each day, five days a week, in a good book.
20. I will work with Preston Mitchell and Rich Sebans on Small Group ministry and have 20 groups functioning well by May 1st, 2022.
21. I will find and train someone to run the small group ministry, replacing myself, possibly a full time staff person.
22. I will go on a catfish fishing trip to the Snake river.
23. I will study, write and preach a sermon at Buena Vista Church each week from October through April.
24. I will study, write and preach a sermon at our Wednesday night service each week from October through April.
25. I will figure out and plan a deer/elk hunting trip this Fall.
26. I will study and prepare well a lesson that I will teach each week in three different “Leadership I” classes.
27. I will study and prepare well a lesson that I will teach in “Leadership II” class each week.
28. I will study and prepare well a lesson that I will teach in my “Teaching and Preaching class” each week.
29. I will fish with Nolan Davis at least twice for steelhead in December through March of 2022.
30. I will meet with Brandon Morris, Preston Mitchell, Ben Dittman, Josiah Dedera, and Josiah Dittman as a group each week for an hour and teach and coach them in ministry success.
31. I will meet with Pastor Mike at least weekly to discuss issues, goals, and strategies for JBC.
32. I will attempt to plan and carry out a kokanee fishing trip to Anderson Ranch Reservoir with Seth and his family.
33. I will keep track accurately and record how I use my time every day.
34. I will write in my blog every day and pray and ask God to anoint my writing and that He would prompt many to read it, I will pray before I hit “publish.”
35. I will go salmon fishing with Dave Maroon on the Colombia at least once in Fall of 2022.
36. I will ride my stationary bike everyday for 1 hour.
37. I will lift weights three times each week.
38. I will run/walk 2 miles twice each week.
39. I will run a 10 k race in the Fall of 2022.
40. I will maintain my weight at or below 200 lbs.
41. I will work on Scripture memory for 30 minutes every day and maintain 200th place.
42. I will continue to develop and work with our JBC mentoring program.
43. I will restore my 1969 mustang coup with my grandson Isaac, and it will be his car when we finish it.
44. I will finish memorizing the book of Colossians.
45. I will have a total of 800 verses memorized by October 27th, 2022.
46. I will work with Brandon to plan, organize, and hold 3 “New Comers” Dinners.
47. I will plan well and ride my bicycle with others from Yorktown, Virginia to my house, a trip of 4,000 miles in May and June.
48. I will hand off the existing “Men’s Accountability Groups” and start three more.
49. I will, with the help of others, write a devotional book using 365 of my former blogs.
50. I will take Sam out for breakfast or lunch every other month.
51. I will put in a quarter acre fish pond.
52. I will start on building a three wheeled car from scratch.
53. I will attempt to find and train someone to be the full-time pastor of Buena Vista Church.
54. I will pray for each staff person and families twice each week.
55. I will, without a doubt, organize my shops, super well, and keep them that way.
56. I will expand the front of my shop, reroof it, re-side it, and paint it.
57. I will paint the trim on my house.
58. I will plan and attempt to go on a week-long fishing trip on a boat out of San Diego before 2025.
59. I will plan and attempt to go on a whitetail buck and pig hunt in Texas before the end of 2025.
60. I will faithfully attempt to encourage those who have drifted away from faithful attendance at JBC to return.
61. I will attend a major “Church Growth” seminar and take at least one staff member with me.
62. I will pray corporately for a total of 300 hours in 2022.
63. I will pray every day without fail for 80 baptisms at JBC in the year 2022, and I will remind JBC people at least weekly to do the same.
64. I will listen to at least 100 sermons on “youtube” and podcasts.
65. I will get my Dory Boat set up for crabbing and learn how.
66. I will attempt to take a grandson with me on each one of my fishing and hunting trips.
67. I will write 100 handwritten notes to different people at JBC each month.
68. I will teach a two-day seminar on the topic of leadership training on January 17th and 18th.
69. I will attempt to establish a coaching relationship with at least two pastors this year.
70. Patty and I will have people to our house for dinner at least six times in 2022.
71. I will work with the Seniors ministry and develop a comprehensive plan and goals by January 1st.
72. I will exercise self control and get at least six hours of sleep each night.
73. I will read these goals at least once each week.

The biggest drain of our energy is unconfessed sin.

Psalms 32:3-5 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

We all sin, and God will forgive us our sin, but He requires that we confess to Him that we have sinned, that we own what we did. We don’t confess that we have sinned easily. We naturally protect ourselves from shame, and our inclination is to cover up our sin, to ignore it, justify it, and blame others. The energy loss that comes from unconfessed sin is not psychological, it is supernatural. God drains away our strength not because we have sinned but because we ignore our sin.

Along with our reluctance to confess our own sin is the problem that we have in forgiving others quickly for their sins against us. If we do not forgive others then God will not forgive us of our sins even if we confess them.

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

There are a lot of very weary people in churches today trying to figure out what is the problem, why they are so tired all of the time.

Every night I take a few minutes and review the day and confess all my known sins to God. I usually do this in my journal so as not to take the process lightly. I also declare to God that I have personally forgiven everybody who has hurt me, violated my rights, and sinned against me. I declare to God that I am choosing to forgive because He first forgave me. If a person’s sin against me comes back into my thinking I forgive them again, and I keep on forgiving until the event no longer pops into my head.

Self-examination and confession of sin doesn’t take that much time at the end of a day, and it should be a daily spiritual discipline if we want to have God’s strength and energy filling us full all day long.

Much of what people call being really tired is self-induced by poor, undisciplined self-talk. We can talk ourselves into just about any feeling or mental condition by what we say to ourselves in our thoughts. I am careful about what I say to myself, and to others out loud because it is often exactly what happens and becomes true.

I don’t say “I am tired,” at least not in a negative way. My Dad used to say, “tired is good, best feeling in the world, means you have been doing something!” If I say, “Whew, I am so tired,” it makes me more tired. There really isn’t any good reason to say to yourself or to others, “I am tired,” unless you are looking for sympathy or praise for how hard you have been working. Neither of those motives are very pleasing to the Lord.

I often hear people say that they are so busy! And I think to myself “Busy is good, means you are in the game and not on God’s bench.” Poor priorities are not good, especially if they have replaced activities that have value, eternal value.

When I have had a particularly busy day I say, “Thank You Lord for blessing me with assignments from You today. Thank You for considering me worthy to be a servant of Yours.”

All day long I ask God for energy, strength, and wisdom. Wisdom to choose what I do well, and energy and strength to accomplish what I have chosen as what I believe is God’s will for me to accomplish.

I don’t say, “It is so hard,” about any activity that I may be doing, that is the self-talk of a wimp, not a champion for Jesus. If I don’t want something to be true than I act and talk like it isn’t. If I say, “It is so hard,” “I am so tired,” “I am so busy,” my words will only make it worse, but if I say, “Thank You Lord for giving me so much to do for You,” I will be energized

1. Read your Bible everyday and spend time memorizing and meditating on the Word of God. I spend 30 minutes reading and 30 minutes memorizing every day, with only 6 or 7 misses a year. The Bible mentions over 50 blessings that come into the life of the person who spends time in the Word of God and one of those blessings is energy and strength. Most of what we term energy is emotional, mental and spiritual, not physical in nature. What sucks the energy out of us isn’t work or business, it is anxiety, fear, and worry. Psalms 119:165 says, “those who love Your Word have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble.” Those who faithfully read, study, memorize and meditate on God’s Word honor Him, and those who honor Him, He honors.

2. Spend time with God praying every day using a prayer journal so that your mind doesn’t wander and you don’t fall asleep. If you are faithful to a regular time and place it will become a habit. You can start out with five minutes each day and then gradually add a minute every month or so until you are up to 15 minutes. You can certainly do more but many bog down after fifteen minutes. During your prayer time ask God for strength. The more you ask the more He gives.

Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

3. Be involved in some kind of ministry that is accomplishing significant things for God. God loves to give His strength and power to those who are serving Him, but He does not give His power to lazy people. The more you serve God the more strength, energy , and passion He will give you.

More tomorrow

Any group of people who are without good leadership will soon be out of control, and a series of bad decisions will be made by those in that group of people that will negatively impact all in the group. That is a basic law of life. The group might be a family, a business, a sports network, a church, a cultural group within a country or the whole country. A major problem in the United States today is that the number of good leaders has dropped appreciably. I am not talking about people with power as a result of being made a boss or having won an election, but regular people who have convictions, high moral standards, vision, good ideas, and know how to influence their work place, their community, their family, their church, and an ever growing sphere of people positively.

Leadership is a skill that is first learned and then earned by integrity and faithfulness. Strong, visionary, moral leaders have become effective by learning lessons progressively that they have put into practice in their life. If the number of these kind of leaders increases then the United States will turn around, and if the number continues to decrease the state of being out of control will continue to get worse and worse.

The first stage of leadership development in the life of any person is learning and acquiring the principles, the skills, and the self-control to effectively lead ourselves. No person will ever be a positive influence on others until they can lead themselves. People who have become effective self-leaders soon influence a growing number of people in a variety of ways.

One of the most effective tools available to us for self-leadership is goal setting. A goal is our personal vision statement, a target for what we want to accomplish and become in our life. The implementation and accomplishment of our goals requires self-leadership, and the more we set goals and successfully accomplish them the more skilled we will have become at self-leadership.

Most people don’t set goals. It is to much of a bother. It requires to much self-discipline. It takes to much effort and time. It seems to me that the desire to be in control of our own life instead of our flesh, the world, and the devil would be enough to motivate us to take the time and make the effort to set goals, even a few and pursue them.