CIY Wilderness

This week will be a slower week around JeffRandleman.com. I am headed to Bear Trap Ranch, outside of Colorado Springs for CIY Wilderness. I’m looking forward to the week in the mountains, and the renewal that will happen in my spirit. Since I’ll be out of the normal routine, and halfway across the continent, things will be a bit different. I have scheduled a few video posts for throughout the week, some of them showcasing the vivid fall colors of Colorado during this time of year.

Also, there will be a couple of different videos in place of the Scripture Memory post, and Monday’s Coffee Break. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Normal activity (whatever that looks like) will resume next week.

Keep me in your prayers for the week, as I seek to listen closely to God and refresh my spirit. Pray that I return renewed and ready to tackle the challenges of ministry for the coming months.

Mission 2016

This week, I once again have the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Show Low, Arizona, with two of my daughters. We are headed to American Indian Christian Mission for a week, to help establish a new church plant in an Apache community that does not have a church. We will also conduct some services and Vacation Bible School activities in this community to draw attention to this new church on the White Mountain Apache reservation.

We are looking forward to the opportunity to grow in our faith, and I am excited to be able to do this with two of my kids.

In the meantime, things will be quiet around here for the next week and a half. For the next few days, I have scheduled several inspiring videos that I either found interesting or challenging. These will appear about every other day. All normal posts will pause for the duration of the trip, and resume upon our return home. This includes Memorize 1 Peter, and Coffee Breaks.

Thanks for being a part of the JR.com community! We would appreciate your prayers for our trip!

Vacation!

I am very focused when it comes to routine. When I get into a system of doing things, I rarely like to change it up, unless I can improve upon it in some fashion. As a result, I don’t take my vacations like I should.

But this week, I am taking a much needed break, the first week off since we moved to Cabool. We don’t have any plans, and my biggest goal is to spend as much time in the hammock as I can.

But, because of this, things will be on hiatus here at JeffRandleman.com as well. I will get back into the swing of things next week, but don’t plan on doing much for the next few days. It should be very relaxing for my family and me.

See you next week!

A New Memorization Project

For the past year, I have been studying and memorizing Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This has been an in-depth challenge on both fronts. First, undertaking the memorization of the entire letter was a big deal all in itself. I have tackled this before, with some other letters by Paul: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, as well as the Sermon on the Mount.

Second, in examining each passage, verse by verse, I have effectively created my own commentary of these letters. One day, I hope to condense these posts all into one document, and see if it is something that can be published as a Bible study tool or commentary.

I plan on continuing that discipline. The next book I want to tackle is the letter of 1 Peter. This small book is packed with a tremendous amount of practical application. Peter wrote to the early church in general, making this easily applicable to us today as well.

For the next couple of weeks, the usual Sunday morning memorization post will be absent. Beginning with the first Sunday in May, I will start the letter of 1 Peter with an overview of the book, and begin the memorization after that.

I hope you’ll join me in examining this incredible piece of Scripture!

Praise The Lord!

Earlier this week, I underwent the Mohs Procedure, in an effort to remove the skin cancer on my ear.

I am excited to share that the cancer was removed completely, and I am on the road to healing! The cancer had rooted itself deeper than initially thought, and a piece of the cartilage in my ear had to be removed. As a result, a bit of restructuring had to take place, to keep my ear looking as normal as possible.

I return to the doctor next week to have the stitches removed, and will be given the all clear until my next dermatologist appointment, which is in four months.

Thanks for the prayers and encouragement! God is good!

Prayer Request And Announcement

Last month, I asked for your prayers concerning a skin cancer issue that has developed.

Many of you have gladly prayed, and are continuing to do so. And for that I am deeply thankful.

I ask for you to continue that, especially today. This morning I am having surgery to have a portion of the skin on my ear removed, until the doctor is certain that he has removed all of the cancerous cells.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers for my healing, and for the doctor’s guidance as he works.

Thanks! I greatly appreciate your willingness to remember me before the Lord!

Urgent Prayer Request

It is with great humility and thankfulness that I ask for your prayers.

This week I was diagnosed with skin cancer after a biopsy on the edge of my ear. At this point, my doctor is unsure just how serious it may or may not be. There are two kinds of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma and melanoma. He said that it is not basal cell, but he also did not say that it is melanoma either. More will be determined when they remove it from my ear, hopefully next week.

This is especially frightening to me since I lost my father to skin cancer that metastasized to his brain in 2011. Part of me wants to scream at the injustice of this (I lost my brother, father, and grandfather to various cancers, and my mother is a cancer survivor. Couldn’t we be done with cancer?!). On the other hand, I rest assured that God’s purpose for my life will be refined through this. Through trials such as this, God builds character and faithfulness, and I look forward to what he can bring from this.

I know, in comparison to other varieties of cancer, this is more mild and has a high success rate in treatment. Nevertheless, I covet your prayers, both for healing and for my family as they struggle to understand what God can accomplish through this. Pray especially for my kids. Their experiences with cancer, in my dad and brother, have been very frightening, and they will need as much strength as possible to rely on God through this.

Also, pray for my wife. She is the strongest woman I know, and she does so much for our family. This is additional stress that she must cope with, on top of mothering a very busy family.

And finally, pray for me. Pray for healing. And also pray for peace that I may accept the fact that this is something that must be dealt with and strength to endure until it is finished.

Thanks for being a part of this community. I am deeply thankful for each and every one of you!