A Must Buy Book! I Own It....Of Course LOL

Jason Mandryk, author of "Operation World," photo via mnnonline.org

Biblica: 7th edition of "Operation World" officially unveiled

After setbacks, sleepless nights and years of sheer hard work, the 7th edition of "Operation World" was officially unveiled at Lausanne. It's affectionately called "The Prayer Encyclopedia" for the global church, reports MNN.

Published by Biblica, the author of "Operation World" is Jason Mandryk. "The whole purpose of 'Operation World' is to inform Christians about the rest of the word, to mobilize them for prayer and for ministry in the neediest places on earth."

It's the first update in 9 years. Mandryk says this is the first full version completed from start to finish in the electronic age. He also says, "It's also been a much more collaborative and dialogue-oriented process through which we have come to our conclusions about the state of Christianity in all the countries and ways in which Christians can pray."

This new volume is five years in the making and is being made available in paperback and digital formats.

In an interview with "Christian Today," Mandryk said, "We pray that through this book the unevangelized will be evangelized, the suffering will find relief, and the church will be mobilized in fulfilling the great commission."

Since the world is more connected electronically than ever before, Mandryk says, "As we get increasingly connected to the global church, we're going to have to more frequently be revising our information."

One thing is clear, says Mandryk: "We see the church growing more rapidly than ever before. We see people groups being reached more rapidly than ever before. And we see the challenges that the churches are facing becoming globalized more and more."

To help launch "Operation World," Mandryk says, "We're doing a live global prayer event on the 9th of November, and we're running that twice that day. You can see that at the Web site itself, and we're going to have other guests as part of that event. "

Rappin Midterm Boy.

I'm at school getting ready for my Romans class, this is when I saw the most bizarre study approach in my history of being in college. A student rapping his notes. When I first saw him he looked a little nervous. I thought "what is this dude doing? Maybe he's preparing to ask a girl out".I minded my own business and walked past him. Then it happened. I hear a loud "Uhhh" , I was like "excuse me!, what's your issue?". Then I saw the hand jestures unique only to the rap scene. He was rapping midterm theology notes! Out loud! At first I was shocked but then I felt a strong urge to join and drop my read hot,like fire beat boxing skills. But instead I just supressed my urge and carried on with my walk to class, passing up what would have been a record hotter than anything that has been done. But Brothers and Sisters don't be surprised when you see an album soon. Trinity by Rev.

Rev.Rugg

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A must read true story!

Photo via councilofchurches-scc.org

Baby saved by man who later finds out he's the father

A newborn left to die in a dumpster in northwest Calgary was saved by a man who only later found out he was the boy's father, reports Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com.

Calgary police said that the boy's mother told them she did not know she was pregnant until she gave birth to the child. She allegedly put the living baby in a garbage bag and tossed him into the dumpster.

The 29-year-old woman's boyfriend said he had no idea she was pregnant because she was heavy set and always had "a bit of a belly."

On Tuesday, October 19, the man said his girlfriend was complaining of cramps and illness. He told police that on returning home for lunch a passerby alerted him to cries coming from a dumpster.

"A girl said, 'I think I hear a baby in the dumpster.' With no knowledge at the time that this is my kid whatsoever, I went running over there, stood beside the dumpster, heard the baby cry," the man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, told the Calgary Herald.

"I jumped in and removed the stuff. I personally opened the bag and uncovered all the stuff off," he said.

"My first thought seeing the baby there was disgust. I just thought 'we've got to get that baby out of here' and I didn't know CPR," the man said.

The baby was immediately taken to hospital where he is reported to be in stable condition. Hospital staff said it appeared the baby had been in the dumpster for about two hours before being rescued and was suffering from hypothermia when brought to them.

Police questioned the man after the rescue, and later that evening informed him that he was the child’s father. "It was the most shocking thing I've ever encountered in my life - to find that out from police is not something I'd ever expected to happen," he said.

The father said his girlfriend's behavior was perplexing but he feels she needs help rather than his anger.

"I'm not mad. I don't know if it's just my demeanor, knowing that getting mad isn't going to solve everything, not going to help the problem," he said, adding, "I'm not happy with her but I'm not angry, either. I want to make sure she gets the help she needs."

The woman is scheduled to undergo a psychiatric assessment and is facing charges of attempted murder, failing to provide the necessities of life and child abandonment.

Staff Sergeant Leah Barber of the Calgary Child Abuse Unit said that although "Information suggests the woman was not aware of the pregnancy prior to the birth," she believes there are reasonable grounds for the charges.

"The baby was put in there with no expectation to survive ... where it couldn't be found," Barber told the media.

"There's always other options. Obviously if something like this were to happen, 911 would be the first call I'd make," she said.

According to police, the custody of the child is being discussed with Alberta Children and Youth Services. However, the child's father told the Calgary Herald today that he hopes to gain custody of his son.

"I'm just going to try to be the best dad I can be. If he wants to get involved in sports, be a computer geek, try to be the next prime minister, I'll do whatever I can do to support him," the father said.

A new idea for a t.v. show...

I got a new idea for a t.v. show, you ready? I mean really ready! This idea is going to be original and mind blowing, so you have to be prepared. I don't want to shock you or make you go into wild and uncontrollable fits of excitement. Drum roll please.............It's a cop show! At this point you probably went "ahhhhhhhhh great" if so AMEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS! If not, well lets just say you need a appointment with my 10 gallon bucket of holy water. What in the world is going on with the cop and lawyer shows? Is this all people can think of today for entertainment? Let's take a look..we have: Law and Order Law and Order Special Victims Unit Law and Order LA CSI Vegas CSI Miami CSI New York NCIS NCIS LA Cold Case Blue Blood The Mentalist Flash Point Criminal Minds The Good Wife The Defenders I mean come on! Really! Thats 15 shows alone and I'm sure I missed a bunch. Every time I turn the tv on its some cop show. Not a single cast member that did not take a bullet and show up for work the next day. I know that happens all the time in real life, a cop takes a round and the next day he or she is back in the car talking about the crackheads downtown. So i thought to my self, Rev maybe its time you joined the in crowd. I must confess, my show idea was based on one of the most realistic shows on TV, you guessed it, CSI Miami. The two things I noticed immediately that I needed from this show to be successful are 1. Small sunglasses and 2. The ability to speak in a monotone voice. After I mastered these two elements I began to fashion my game plan for the show. First I needed to find someone to play the main character. There was one catch, who was a close match to Horatio Caine. Then BAM! It came to me: Yep! He had it all, till Tony the Hit man Tiger killed his wife and stole his pot of Gold! Yellow Badge, Blue Steel, Orange Hair and Red with Anger. Larry the Leprechaun stars in "Frosted Lucky Fury" it's going to be magically Delicious! All I can say is Brothers and Sisters look out! I warned you how awesome this was going to be, hopefully you didn't collapse and bang you head on the computer desk and are now bleeding.... Horatio Caine look out! This is the real deal! Keep an eye out for when this will air, I will be in the back of the 7-11 signing autographs till 6. Peace out, and have a good weekend ya'll Rev.Rugg

The Unmanly Trucks and My Take!

Hello Brothers and Sisters, it's good to be back. I have made a vow to spread my joy once again to my followers, and I'm ready to tee off on TRUCKS. Now the first thing you may have thought was "Rev, Whats up with the anti truck attitude?" Let me make myself clear...I bleed pure testosterone and am in mow way shape or form an anti-truckanist. I am against a breed of truck, a style if you will, that is found all over the southern states. It's called "gangsta" or to us "neutered"! Let me give you a proper example: <---- This is a an example of a truck that has had its testosterone bearing parts removed and has become a joke on 4 wheels. This truck used to be able to haul,tow,carry whatever you wanted. Now it can not go off road, can not carry a load and is a $45,000 joke. Brothers! Can I get an Amen! Would you take this hunting? Haul Hay? Pull a trailer full of snowmobiles? NO! It cant...never again! What is the point then? To say I have a truck that looks I am important and a go getter? An attempt at a date...this is an epic fail! Southerners! Let me show you a truck I would like to call manzilla! <--- This is what a truck should look like! This truck says, Hey Baby! get in! Or Lets go mudding..or lets go be nice and tow "Gangsta" with the blown out tires! Why use a gun to hunt when you can just run over a buck! This is what a truck should look like, please..please DO NOT drive the "Gangsta" model, you will just look stupid! Drive the above model Brothers! Till next time!!! Rev.Rugg

The Rev is still alive!

Brothers and Sisters I did not forget about you. I started school this week and i'm getting used to my workload yet but there will be a blog posted very soon. Be ready for it! In Him, Rev. Rugg

Compassion

“Man will dismiss compassion from his heart, but God will never.” – William Cowper Brothers and Sisters I have been hearing over the last year a lot of talk from state leaders about how we need to lock up the homeless. They speak of those in need like animals and I even heard of one state representative claim them to be “animals that breed and leech off of those who work”. Hearing this type of talk breaks my heart as I’m sure it does others. Compassion seems to be a choice to some, choosing to dismiss it and let there tongues run wild, spreading hate instead of love. But if we truly follow Jesus Christ, compassion is a part of our daily walk that should come effortlessly. We have a Lord who saw us completely in ruin. We were full of sin and were walking a road that we shouldn’t have been on. We made life choices that ill effected not only our lives but others. Jesus saw our needs and he had compassion for us. This is told beautifully is the parable of the prodigal son in the Book of Luke (Chapter 15). Luke 15:11-24: 11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. NIV This parable is about Jesus and who we turned from God and went out and lived a sinful life. When we hit the low in our lives and came toward Jesus, he not only came to meet us..he Ran towards us, he had compassion for us and embraced us. He restored us through the redemptive work on the cross for those who trust in Him and call him the Lord and Savior. Note that Jesus didn’t tell that parable like this: “he saw the boy running and was disgusted, thinking he was a wild untamed beast that should have never been breed” We deserved that for the way we lived. But Jesus shows grace and mercy..compassion. When we show compassion to those in need, it allows others to see God’s grace and mercy so that God may be glorified. John Wesley stated this nicely in one of his many awesome sermons: “Weep with them that weep. If you can do no more, at least mix your tears with theirs; and give them healing words, such as may calm their minds, and mitigate their sorrows. But if you can, if you are able to give them actual assistance, let it not be wanting. Be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame, a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless. This will greatly tend to conciliate the affection, and to give a profitable pleasure not only to those who are immediate objects of your compassion , but to others likewise that "see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." – John Wesley We are to be God’s hands and feet when it comes to serving Brothers and Sisters who are in need. Compassion is the pulse of the heart of love the Lord instilled in us. When it fails we fail to glorify him and fail to allow God’s love to be in us. 1 John 3:17-20: 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. NIV Brothers and Sisters let us show the word the love of God through our compassion for others. Whether it be the homeless, those in mourning the loss of a loved one or those in need to a pat on the back. Show compassion to them that they may see that Christ dwells in you and glorify God. Hope your week went well. Till next time! In Him, Rev. Rugg

Undercover on "The Street".

A few weeks ago I talked about the boy in the Elmo hat. I have come to discover over the last few weeks that Sesame Street apparel has become even more popular. I was told by an "unnamed" person that he knows a girl who took a glam shot with her web came wearing a Kermit The Frog hat. This led me to wonder why the hype? So I have decided to go undercover to find out. The first step in the process to unravel this mystery was to become what I have mocked...behold:That's right, I am rocking out a Cookie Monster shirt, flashing a sign, here is an up close shot: Now that I am wearing the hottest in Sesame Street gear I decided to hit the street. I had a bunch of questions to ask such as why? Why in general? Does this make you tough? Is this gangster? The answers will blow your mind. I ran into the group from Sesame Street and this is what I found:When I saw them there I wet myself with fear but at the same time showed them respect. Elmo at first was not very receptive of me, He asked "have I seen you before" I answered "nooo..I don't think so" he said "yes at Apple bees!" I changed the subject.."woah is that a .45?" he became impressed with my knowledge of hand guns and I was accepted in. Cookie Monster saw my shirt, he asked me if I wanted to "do the chips" I said "no thanks I just did oatmeal raisin" He proceeded to go postal on a bag of oreos then passed out. I wanted to question Bert and Ernie but you can tell by the photo that their eyes were completely dilated. I was to afraid with Ernie holding that knife and all. I asked "wheres the count?" Grover told me that he was doing time for robbing the Fry Guys. I said "that sucks, has to be rough on him you know?" Grover laughed at me then hacked up a lung (Grover is a heavy smoker) and then said "he's in charge of counting inmates, hes ok". Did you know this? When the Count..you know counts, that's not lighting and thunder while he is counting, that is random gunfire while Big Bird is throwing insane block parties. It is true, Sesame Street is the most gangster of them all, Look out 50 cent and Lil Wayne, Elmo is even cutting records! I heard a song and it was the most real thing I have ever heard, I'll keep you posted on what else I find, I am being asked to shut my computer down. Peace Out Ya'll Revizzle Ruggizzle

The day our camp was invaded.

Ah yes, another story with the Rev and Brother Keith. If you read my post about the grill this will kind of follow that up, if you haven't read that yet..your a sinner and you should go back and read it NOW! So now to the story. Keiths boat is now finished. All the re-wiring that needed to be done is done. What's the game plan now? Camping of course. Keith and I like to go out and explore cool places to camp, last year we went to a top secret spot that only Keith and I..plus a few other brothers know about..it's called "The Clearing". This year because Keith bought a new boat we decided to go to the middle of Amnicon Lake were there is an island you can camp on. We packed the boat with our camping gear, which included this: Enough soda to make your bladder burst wide open, which was all drank in one night! So with the boat packed with our gear we decided to head out on our journey. We arrived at the boat landing in the afternoon and launched the boat. We got to the island and set up our camp: Camp was now fully set up and all systems were a go! We got into Keith boat and went for a cruise, then back to the landing to pick up Brother Jeff so fishing can be done. Yep, Brother Keiths boat in action! Anyways...we go out and Keith and Jeff fish for a bit, then we return to our camp site. When we found this: Yep, this is many people docked on our spot, 14 people all together with kids. They just decided that this was a good spot to pull up and let there kids run wild, they were all drinking MGD's and most of the adults were completely lit, which is awesome when your operating a boat, even better when you have kids with! They said "aw, I hope you don't mind we just wanted to find some shore so the kids can swim" Your on a lake brother..your surrounded by beach, this is like someone pulling over in a car, getting out then letting their kids play in your front yard. "aw, I thought the kids could play and I thought here is some grass" We had all of our cooking stuff out and our sodas. Plus some dangerous stuff kids shouldn't be around with, like hatchets. I mean come on! Does this seem right? Use common sense! They invited us to have a beer, which we declined, we waited them out, then went back out on the lake to fish more, then we dropped of Brother Jeff. Later that night we ate and just relaxed for a bit. When it was time to go to bed, I asked Brother Keith for a flashlight so I could see and get my sleeping bag unfolded. I UNZIPPED my tent when I found another intruder..a frog! One of those kids went into my tent and put a frog in it. The Rev was hot! But after a while I cooled down. This is the most bizarre camping trip I had in a while..nothing new to the Rev..all in a days work! Rev. Rugg

This is just wrong!

When i was up in Superior I was helping Brother Keith work on his boat. There was some re-wiring to do on the boat because who ever did it before him had no clue what they were doing. It was like some guys got together and used 200 feet of every wire possible in a 16 foot fishing boat. So Keith was going to make it more simple and also hook up his new radio, which rocks. But that old broken tape player am/fm dial radio he replaced was a close second. So before he went to work he picked me up and we went to Northern Tools and to Menards. We we got into Menards it was the most insane layout we have ever seen. Nothing was in any kind of order. It took us forever to find what we wanted. In the process a shining object grabbed our attention, we noticed it was a grill. So we beat a path to it and behold: At first I was like, "wow four burners plus a side burner for beans". Then I saw that computer in the middle. At this point in the story is where Brother Keith and I disagree. He thinks that is awesome. I think that is anti-testosterone like. What man needs a computer on his grill? This thing tells you the temp of the grill, keeps your cooking time and it also comes with a light in the grill so you can see your food. What happened to the days of skill when a man was a man and cooked food over fire and could tell if it was done with out an electronic device? First of all, I have a two burner grill with no light and no thermometer. I cooked steaks last night for Melissa and I, ask her if they rocked, she will say yes! And why would i need a light. My grill is by my porch, if I grill at night I can use my..tada...porch light. Was this built for Billy Bob who takes his grill out to the back 80 and grills in the woods? They make camping grills for this! I think we are going to overboard with computers today. One day I'm going to cook ribs and will have to wait for Bill Gates Windows 18.2 version to boot up before my grill starts, just so it can freeze or give me an error message in the middle of grilling. My hat goes off to those Brothers...and Sisters who just grill. To the maker of this grill, two thumbs down, take that robot junk off my fire box..Now! Sorry Keith, I know we disagree on this, I invite you to email your point of view and I will post it as my first guest blog! Till then! Peace out ya'll Rev. Rugg

Thanks Superior!

To all my Brothers and Sisters in Superior, Thank You! You showed the Rev a good time. My parents did a lot for me, thanks mom and dad. I had a blast with my friends, which will be blogged about in the future! I had a great time at church preaching last Sunday and the Sunday before at youth group was fun, mad props to Josh, your doing a great job. Thanks D for everything. Keith you rock! Nate and Matt..keep drinking coke. Once again Thank you all! Rev. Rugg

The Rev Talks About Stupid Hats!

Brothers and Sisters I like to start my blogs off with a bit of a story before I share a photo, but this is just not one of those times! The man looking freacked out in the photo is my buddy Josh, take a look to his left and you will see the hat I will discuss. That's right an Elmo hat. Now I will begin: Josh and I were hanging out playing wii at his home. We were trying to figure out the plans for the night, then Josh got an idea. he said "Lets go to Apple Bees for half off apps". Now that's an idea...I have not done this in a long time. So I invite my buddy Keith to come along as well. We arrive there and order our food. Josh ordered some boneless wings for his wife Amber to go, he told the waiter to start the order when they bring the check. Well a waitress comes to our table and brings our orders plus the to go box. We were baffled! Why would we want the to go food with our food? It doesn't make sense, the girl asked if there was a problem, Josh said yes I didn't want that yet, she looked blown away....I can keep them warm if you want, she said. Josh said we don't know how long we will be kickin it so he preferred fresh. Rock on Brother Josh,Rock on! But throughout our dinner I saw this kid behind Josh with that hat. I couldn't handle it. It was like Elmo playing hide and seek behind his head. I thought I was having flash backs. I wanted to do something to that hat..and it wasn't tickling it that's for sure. I mean, what 16 year kid still thinks Elmo is cool, I was down with Sesame Street when I was a kid but not die hard enough to rock a Elmo hat as a kid? So after about 40 mins of hide and seek the kid left and I got my sanity back! A short post for you yes, but picture that thing popping back and forth behind your friends head..I'm still having nightmares. Rev. Rugg

Fore!

This blog goes out to my homeboy Keith!

In the summer of 2008 I went on a road trip out west with Melissa (Mrs.Rev) and my friends Keith and Jen. We started our travels through South Dakota. Let me tell you, that has to be the most uneventful part of the trip. The eastern part of that state has nothing to offer. No trees, no homes, no buildings. Nothing put grass fields. The best part of that leg of the journey was Keith screaming out of no where which made me poo my pants. That gave entertainment to the rest of the group. We arrived to see the Corn Palace, our first stop, yes brothers and sisters a building made out of corn! See and believe:

Its all corn. I don't know if you can tell by this picture but Keith has a look on his face that says "awww crap..... where's the truck lets go". You think I'm joking? let me present exhibit #2:

Notice Keiths face now. Clearly Brother Douglas is not acting corny..he's acting ticked off! Rightfully so, that place stunk on ice or for this matter corn. We should have lit that place on fire and turned it to a world record pop corn fest. Back to the story. We stayed in Custer Sate Park and camped. That was fun! Nothing like camping in a T-Storm. We arrived at our final stop, Montana. Here we met up with Keiths Aunt and Uncle who are some of the nicest people I have had the privilege to meet. We all went to a driving range and teed off. None of us are big golfers. I haven't been to a course in years. But Keith and I discovered we don't stink at it. We kind of enjoy it. So when we went back home, Keith and I got clubs and headed to Nemadji Gold Course in Superior. We got on the range and all things went well. We hit the balls good and no one died. Then came the ball cart that scoops up the balls on the range. The driver was a kid who was 16ish. He drove around and taunted us and the other golfers to show off in front of some girls. As any red blooded men would do we made a dash for our bin of balls and got to aiming. The kid just kept it up, cursing at us and laughing. I saw Keith dip down and grab a ball..put it never went on a tee..Keith gets Brett Favre on the cart and throws the ball at him. Some how, some way, that ball made it through a small gab and Keith beaned that kid on the side of the head! The cart comes to a halt! The kid yells "awwwww my head! Some choice words". The girls are laughing at this kid..insult to injury! Keith and I are just busting up laughing, that was a one and a million shot. We start to head out to return Keiths clubs, we saw the kid with a ice pack. All in all it was a nice day on the range! Lesson learned don't mouth off to a man with a Favre like arm and a golf ball.

Rev Rugg

I'm Calling The Cops!

I knew it! I always joked around with my friends that it's not a party till the cops come! Mission accomplished! It started July 27th at 9:00pm. My brother in law Seth came up to his parents in Foxboro. I met up with him and stayed the night there. We were pondering what to do. He told me he had tons of fireworks in his car and it would be awesome to prank someone. This has been our tradition for the last 2 years. But we both decided that a drive from the country into the city was to much. Then the lights came on in our heads. Brad, my brother just moved out there with his girlfriend and kids! Perfect. So we drive out to his house. We duck Seth's car down at our friend Matt's house, he lives no more than 2 blocks from Brad. With the Team assembled we move out to Brads house. The time is now 9:30pm.I made a scouting run toward his picture window and saw him and his girl watching TV. We hide by Brads garage,use light and noise discipline and maneuver a flanking run towards the west side of his house. When we accomplished this we lit a brick of black cats in the front of his home. We heard Brad start yelling (* clean version) "What the Heck!". We started laughing..I mean to the point we cried. Then proceeded to make another flanking run to his tree line in the back of the home, then lit off another brick. We heard Brad again this time he opened the window and said (*clean version) "Listen you little punks, I'm calling the cops their on the way!" We looked at each other and thought about running, I mean county cops take 40 mins to get any where. When they hear shots fired they just go slow and bring body bags, depending on budget cuts it may be Hefty bags. So I told the guys I'll go see whats up. I knock on the door and Brad has sweat dripping from his head, he might have peed himself. I said did you really call the cops? He looked at me and said "you suck that's not funny, yes I called them!" he thought someone got gangster on his home and freaked! So he had to call them back and tell them that it was me. I mean come on! I told him haven't you known me for 30 years? You didn't call first? He said "well mom and dad said you were out here.....OH....Heeeheee" Long story short, the Rev and his crew escaped the long arm of the law. Brad is now the ultimate sinner! Rev.Rugg

The Rev gets a lesson from his mentor on SUPERVISION!

My great friend Darrell is Pastor/Reverend/Pontiff of Superior Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. This is the church Rev.Rugg accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I called Darrell shortly afterwards and asked him to teach me all he knows, after some discipleship I felt the call to minister, That's how I got to this point. He has been my mentor and has taught me a lot. It came to no surprise that when I came back up he had some things to teach me, I love receiving wisdom from "Big D" (His nickname). Open ears I listened. He taught me this: When you become a Pastor there are proper ways to handle the "youth pastor". The youth pastor so happens to be a great friend of mine as well, also my accountability partner. His name is Josh! Big D tells me to watch...I await....D grabs a chair and says we are going outside then looks at Josh and says "Go outside and change the board". The board is where worship times and messages are for those driving by". Josh grabs the letters in boxes: and begins

Big D puts his chair on the sidewalk and says alright I'm going to supervise. So I thought "wow I think I can do that". Then he said alright lets harass him (Josh). We proceeded to tell him that he couldn't spell and began to mock his technique and bashed the college he's attending. Big D and I are CIU men..Josh is...um..Crown (BOOOO). After 50 minutes or so we felt we did our job. Josh felt ganged up on and we felt great. Lesson of the day: Rev Rugg will now make the youth pastors life completely difficult. If he wont listen to me, he will get this:

The pile of rocks I save to throw at sinners!

Rev. Rugg

The REV has arrived!

Sorry for the delay in posting. I have been getting my bearings. I am now officaly in Superior,WI. Of course the first thing I noticed when I got out of my buddy Keiths truck was the aroma of Murphy Oil..good times. I wish I could swim...because if I could I would have prefered to swim here and not have flown. The airplane ride was horrible. I flew out of Augusta,GA to Dallas (YEEEEHAW)TX. On that flight I was placed right by the bathroom. Great if you need to pee, bad if everyone else on the plane needs to pee. I could'nt take a nap, it was like everyones bladder just happened to be full or there was a drinking contest not to earlier in the day. The second flight from Dallas to The Cities was the worst. 2 year old crying the whole 2 hours, hispanic lady dropped her seat back and knocked my soda over. Needless to say I HATE FLYING. I am having a good time despite missing Melissa like crazy. Keep droping in, Im going to post crazy stories like crazy..some with photos! Till Tommorow! peace out yall! Rev.Rugg

About time....Red sauce!

Brothers and Sisters you have no idea how happy I am to share this with you. Pull up what ever you are sitting on and let the Rev tell you the story. I am a huge fan of all things grilled and BBQ. Seriously, ask any red blooded man on the planet if any food over an open flame tastes good and you be overwhelmed with a deafening...YES! So picture it, January 2009, My wife and I arrived to South Carolina. Now if you watch any food network show dealing with BBQ the south will always have a mention as being BBQ capital of the world. So when our feet hit southern soil I was ready to be blown away. Taste buds working in overtime and a river of drool flowing ,I started a journey to seek out this legendary BBQ. Well, the day came. I found BBQ. This is the day the dreams of good BBQ ended. The Rev found this: Brothers and Sisters, what you see is YELLOW BBQ SAUCE!...my taste buds died! It's mustard based. Picture Frenches Mustard watered down and poured over your BBQ. This injustice to BBQ kills the taste of all it comes across. I thought "maybe this is a joke, where's the camera at?" but then I thought "this can't be a joke, it's a crime to tamper with BBQ this way...Famous Dave would be ticked if he saw this, probably the reason he made devil spit because this sauce needs to suffer in the flames." I asked a friend who's name will be withheld for his protection from angry red sauce loving northerners (who have very right to angry). We will call him..Matt, I said "Matt does anyone have red sauce here?" he replied "Naw, we have mustard sauce, we don't like that red stuff". At that point I heard the sounds of banjos playing and rednecks slapping their knees with straw in there mouth mocking me. My dreams....my hopes....I cried out...NOOOOOOO..then softly wept. Then the day came. My wife wanted to go for BBQ, so I pulled myself up by my boot straps to take my girl out...for BBQ(if you can call it that). We went to Hudson Smokehouse. We sit down...Melissa says "J.R. Look! with green eyes glistening". I look and a light from heaven hit my plate: RED SAUCE! I heard angels singing Amazing Grace. I put this sauce on my pork and BAM..I was back in BBQ heaven. Attention southern Brothers and Sisters: This is how you do BBQ sauce. Red not yellow. Now to my northern Brothers and Sisters, when traveling south B.Y.O.BBQ.S (Bring your own BBQ sauce) or better yet, go to Hudson's Smokehouse! Beware when you watch the food network, this is not the BBQ capital...but when you watch Paula Dean..the food is that greasy and to that..Amen! I hope this prepares you for future culinary delights or just made you laugh. Rev.Rugg

What if love was a law?

I have been overwhelmed with just how much hate is in the world. Even more overwhelmed and concerned that most of the negativity and slander I hear comes from brothers and sisters who claim to know and love the Lord. I have seen people look in disgust at the man/women in need of food, seen co-workers tear down each other to the point of tears and gossip over flow from the lips of believers. It makes my heart break knowing that this happens day after day. I thought to myself, I wonder what the world would look like if love was a law. I prayed and read the word and came across Romans 13:10: "Love does no harm to it neighbor, Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law". To understand love seems rather complicated but in reality has a simple answer. To understand love one simply has to turn to the cross. This is where love was born for us, beat for us..bleed for us...died for us! Everything Jesus did on earth was bound in love, when is lips spoke love poured out, when he walked to a village to preach love came forth, when he helped others by forgiving their sins and healing them love flowed from his touch. When the toll of our sins was upon His shoulders and His back was scourged and nails were driven in His hands...He bleed love. We are to love ALL as Christ loved us. This is difficult because no one can love us as much as He did or do as much to show it. But we are called to. In Matthew Chapter 22, Jesus' disciples asked "Lord what is the greatest commandment?" the Lord replied "Love the Lord God with all your heart and soul. This is the first and greatest commandment, the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself"(Matt 22:34-39). We are commanded to Love God because He is our Lord and maker. We serve him and worship Him, but through this love we love others as our self, not because the Lord wants to feel fuzzy inside but because others will see that love and recognize it not from man but from God, to whom the glory goes to. When we chose not to love, we chose not to glorify God. If love was a law the world would be a wonderful place to live because hate would be without a home! We need to make love a law again in our lives. If love was placed on hour hearts our motives would seek to match the Lords. If love was placed on our tongues and lips, slander, hate and negativity would be silenced. Brothers and Sisters we are called to love others as He loves us. As we close the work week let us reflect on our actions and our words. Ask: Did I radiate Christ's love to those I came across this week? Did I seek love or did I seek hate? If you didn't go to Him, seek forgiveness. He will be there waiting to forgive you..and love you! Let me pray for us: Lord, you commanded us to love each other. Sometimes Lord love is difficult to do. We are treated unfairly sometimes, sometimes we are victims of those who spread hate and it simply feels easy to do the same back, but Lord you call us to holiness. Let us love everyone we come across despite what we receive in return. Lord, allow our actions to be loving so those who don't know you will see that love and come to know you. Forgive us for not being as loving as we should. Give us strength to love in the face of adversity. Lord, thank you for you gift of salvation and freeing us from the chains of sin. We love you and praise you. It is this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen Have a great week Brothers and Sisters! Be safe! In Him, Rev.Rugg

The Reverends Wife Spoke and....I listened!

Hello Brothers and Sisters! Just a quick update. Melissa gave me her opinion about my blog, which is welcome. Mrs.Reverend Rugg said it was everything she hoped and dreamed of...in reality she said she liked it,but...the site was bland! Agreed! That black back ground and red print was sinful. So I have revamped the site. I also added more to keep the site balanced, which was my original intent for the blog. If you notice now there is a news ticker on the side. Please! If you feel lead, read those and pray over them. There is a lot of horrible things happening to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in other parts of the world. Other the the obvious change in scenery, the site will continue to make you laugh,think and meditate on you daily walk in the Lord. Be Safe and God Bless, Rev.Rugg

My Plea to Fox Sports!

Brothers! and yes my Sisters! Football season is approaching! Soon the tables will be full of chips and dip, boneless wings and everything else heart clogging. To many Sunday is the ultimate sabbath day. We get to go to church and worship God which is always a blessing, then off to the TV to watch the game. I believe that for pastors(and future pastors wink,wink), noon is the most life threatening time. The congregation is on edge , looking at their watches and thinking "Boy if Pastor Johnson doesn't shut up we will be here past 12". Then they look at each other and you can see it coming "We have numbers on our side, lets rush him, you grab a bible and I'll hit him with the communion cup". Friends! Just be patient and endure, football awaiteth you soon! Love the pastor do not beat him. I digress... I love football, I am a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan..do not be filled with hate! Repent sinners!(Packer Fans). I enjoy yelling at my team(or TV) and cheering them on. Sometimes I am called away from my TV and spend the Holidays with friends and family. This is where my plea comes in... Thanksgiving of 2009, Melissa and I went to some friends house for..drumroll..Thanksgiving. This meant no TV for Rev.Rugg. Thanksgiving the Cowboys always play a game. So I was faced with the only option I had..Tape it. So I put in a blank tape, grab the 10 tons of food Melissa cooked (which rocked) then headed to our friends house. We had a great time, I made like a turkey and got stuffed. But while I was there my mind was occupied. "Cowboys better be kicking some butt" and "I wonder what the score is?". After we ate, we enjoyed dessert. After you eat dessert is always the best time to bail out because the prescribed nap time enters. NO, not this time. Somebody suggested a movie...grrrrrrr. So we watched this dull movie and got home late. I was overcome with joy! My tape! So I get ready, break out the cowboys helmet and i'm ready to get rowdy! Then it happened...my world fell apart. I play the tape and fox played FIGURE SKATING!!! I have a tape of 6 hours of junk, by junk I mean figure skating. Men prancing and twirling wearing tights! Ladies leaping and spinning! NOT FOOTBALL. I could not believe it. Who in the world thought this was acceptable, who says, "man i'm so full I could explode, guys lets go in the living room and watch figure skating" or "Hun, could you pick up some wings and soda, the guys and I are going to watch figure skating" then walks in Jim wearing a tutu screaming "WOOOOO this is going to rock!!!!" no, we watch football, we wear jerseys (and our food we spilled). So Fox sports, PLEASE do not wreck our sabbath or Holidays, give us football, do not play figure skating! Yours Truly, Rev.Rugg

Mr. & Mrs. Pontiff defeat death.

Let me first give glory to God that we are fine and we can now laugh about it...now to the story! Melissa and I went to the lake yesterday to swim and attempt to tan. We had a good time and splashed around in the water for about an hour when some cloud cover came in. Since tanning was now out of the question we decided to leave shortly after. The lake is about a 30 minute drive from the house and along the way it stormed hard! Rain was coming down so hard the roads became rivers and we pretty much hydroplaned home. We got home safe, turned the tv on and the news said that the stretch of road we were on had been hit hard and trees were down. So after dinner we returned a red box movie and went back out that way. We saw maybe 2 trees down and just decided to keep driving to areas we have not been to. Along the way I was driving at 53mph in Winnsboro at night when the road seemed to split..so i went straight..not knowing that i was in a turn lane...at this point Melissa screamed JR! I found myself heading in the field between the highway at 53mph! The last stretch of pavement I had I slammed on the breaks and the car went into a slight swerve but the Lord kept the rubber on the road. I looked at Melissa and her Jaw was wide open...I thought I wet myself but was good. Before the Lord called me to a Pastor I used to be a firefighter, and from experience that was a situation that always ends up in disaster. But God is Good and we just laughed about it 3 minutes later. I made us cookies and cream shakes when we got home to calm our nerves and went to bed. Just other day for Rev Rugg.

Communion Bread

This topic should be talked about more often but many people may have fears of speaking out. Fear not brothers and sisters Rev Rugg is on top of this. Since I have come to know the Lord in 2005 I have had the privilege of visiting many different churches outside of my home church. Time after time I have participated in communion. Communion is an awesome way to remember what the Lord Jesus did for us sinners on the cross, we do this by participating as a body of believers in breaking of bread and drinking "wine" (grape juice). These symbolize the body of our Lord being broken and His blood shed for our sins. Well I feel that through my visits in the past many churches have either been confused or have just plain forgot some facts. Let me give an example. Have you ever been to a church where you have received "The Cracker". The cracker is the most difficult to eat because of its unheard of type of dryness. The cracker if placed in a large body of water will absorb all but the fish, but in the process will turn them to jerky. When one places the cracker in his/her mouth you have no spit for a week. You feel helpless after you eat it. You have two options, 1. Run out of the pew and push an innocent child off the fountain or 2. Wait for the communion cup. If you wait for the cup you run the risk of gulping its entire contents, this shows the congregation that you either have a strong appreciation for the blood of Christ or you have a heavy drinking problem. If you run to the fountain some may think you either have bathroom issues or you have become possessed. The only method one can use to be prepared so you do not have to use either option is bringing bottled water to church with you. This will keep you in good shape when you tackle the dessert beast known as "The Cracker". The last example is "Styrofoam Wafer". This will be an experience you will never forget. The Styrofoam wafer is a perfect circle and is white with a cross shape on it. When placed in the mouth two or three chews later confusion sets in. "what is in my mouth? Is this really Bread?" Brothers and sisters BE CALM! The next natural response will be scraping it off your tongue. I speak from experience this feeling will pass. It wont taste better but it will pass. The Styrofoam wafer when I had it made me ponder if they were packing foam smashed in a patty. After this unique experience I grabbed my Bible and did a quick study. I turned to Matthew 26:26 which states: "While they were eating, Jesus took BREAD, gave thanks and broke it." I was thinking about this while I was searching for communion bread recipes. I tell Melissa all the time "when i'm done with school and the lord shows me where to preach, I want to make communion bread for my congregation" I want to not only pour my heart and soul into the preaching part of my ministry but all areas. That includes making communion bread to be good servant of the Lord. When searching for these recipes I came across "southern communion bread"! I about fell out of my office chair in laughter. This bread of all breads had 2 sticks of butter, 1/4 of the Dead Sea's salt content and ....Drum roll........CHICKEN GREASE! Yes chicken grease. Nothing like making this and sharing it with the congregation. "Lets bow our heads and take of the bread, before we do the elders will share with you a disclaimer" the elders come to the microphone. "Before eating the bread we must give you the side effects which are, heart attack, stroke, drowsiness, constipation and you may hallucinate." Then we eat after this is shared. The bright side is at least you will see the lord sooner. Communion is great. I hope where ever you go to church you remember what it is truly all about. Through "The Cracker,Styrofoam Wafer or Southern communion Bread" may you reflect on Gods gift of Salvation. May the Lord Bless you and your family! Rev. Rugg

YES! The Pontiff Speaks!

First, I must apologize. I should have been cracking on this a while ago but I have been occupied preparing for a sermon which I will be preaching when I come back up to beautiful (Lol) Superior. Attention fellow sinners! The dates will be July 20th through August 10th. I hope to be able to kick it with you when I get up and party it up church style. Those who have my cell # give the Rev a call, do not forget to bow when you call(JK). My first true entry will probably come tonight, so be watchful. I have many funny stories to share from day 1 when we arrived. My hopes are that you will find this blog to be balanced between laughing loudly and also being able to be spiritually fed. Stay tuned Brothers and Sisters! It's going to be an awesome ride. In Him, Reverend Rugg