My Lighthouse

I always feel like this time of the year even more than January has a “New Year’s” feel to it. Another summer has come and, literally and figuratively, blown by and now we are all adjusting to the back-to- work, back-to-school mentality.
I have had my share of physical struggles the last few years but during these last few months, I have been blessed with a renewed hope that my best days are not all behind me.
I can’t believe that any one of our lives actually peaks in the middle. And even those of us who have had some “wilderness moments” that became months and years still need to trust God’s promise that when it is all said and done, we will reunite in the Garden of Paradise. Heaven is in store for all those who, by grace through faith, trust the Lord.
So I am looking up even as I look down at my laptop to jot down this week’s article.
While years ago, I actually believed that my best was produced by nonstop adrenaline rushes and sporting a never-ending calendar filled with a steady flow of constant activities, today I know better.
Who would have guessed that more and more of my life and joy is experienced right here in my own backyard in Cape May County?
Like Dorothy of Kansas, perhaps I, too, have realized that there genuinely is no place like home. The stuff that dreams are made of doesn’t mean that I must pack my bags and embark upon an endless pilgrimage of adventure found at the end of somebody else’s rainbow. My pot of gold may be no further than my own front door.
I do know that way too many human beings treat life like they are always straining to get one step higher and one notch more important than they already are.
They seek external answers to what can only be satisfied with an internal ingredient. So they work to get ahead while their hearts fall further behind.
They invest the best moments of their time and talent not to God or their family, but to an audience that won’t even care to remember their name when all is said and done.
Are you doing what you are doing where you are doing it with the ones you really want to do it with? Before you wake up one day surrounded by a pile of inanimate stuff that is unable to return the affection, are you ready to recalculate and make a few changes before your body becomes set in stone- for real?
If this was your last September to be known for what you want to be remembered, would you be tempted to make a change or two? Perhaps it is not just the children that need to go back to school to learn life’s lessons. Maybe we could also use a refresher course so that we are not guilty of frittering away our precious moments in the classroom called “Life!”
As I sifted through my baggage of clutter that has clogged up any true passion being able to flow freely through my veins, I have realized that above everything else God has allowed me to do, communicating with people stands head and shoulders above it all.
I come alive when I preach and when I teach. I am energized by writing blogs and articles such as this one and perhaps this is the season to finally begin my book.
I have also had a lifetime love affair with radio, and that vehicle of connecting with crowds has always been a labor of ecstasy for me. I grew up being raised on the transistor and broadcasting is something that I could do in my sleep. As a matter of fact, my wife has woken me up many nights with a shake saying that I was talking and introducing records in my dreams.
So this fall, I know God is inviting me to step up my efforts through the three avenues that always leave me with a sense of purpose and peace.
Preaching at The Lighthouse Church where I am beginning a new series of sermons based upon the Book of Judges entitled, “Messy People; Merciful God.”
Writing for the Cape May County Herald, my Blog and soon my own book is another assignment that I believe is coming straight from heaven’s Headquarters.
Finally, I am adding new opportunities for the radio as I will be broadcasting Monday through Friday from 3-4 p.m. and Sunday mornings from 7-8 a.m. on Praise FM 88.1 WJPG.
I will be on the airwaves on LIFT FM 97.9 on Wednesday-Friday evenings from 7-8 p.m. and Sundays at high noon. And I will be coasting through the greatest hits of all time on The Sunday Ride heard on 98.7 The Coast WCZT from 3-5 p.m. 
I share this because even though much has occurred that attempted to rip down the sails of my schooner; I am back in the water ready to ride the waves of grace like never before.
This is no time to give up but a new day to step up and notice that all of this will take place right here at home.
Passports aren’t always necessary to see the sights. Plane tickets are not required to fly like an eagle.
Cape May County makes the perfect home base to shout from my rooftops about all that makes life wonderful and eternal. So what about you?
I have shared about my Lighthouse; now it is your turn. What gets you out of bed every day? Who is receiving the prime rib cut of your time? Where are you going to do your best kind of living this autumn?
Share with me at pastorrudytlc@comcast.net and I will share with you right here, same paper, next week! Fasten your seat belts September; here we come.