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