The latest non-gospel music that I have been listening to have been many. I recently discovered The Puppini Sisters through iTunes free weekly songs. Wow. It just fun music. I first heard “Walk Like an Egyptian,” and I think they are way better than the group in the 90s or 80s that did that song. Another recent favorite is Paul Schwartz. I have only listened to three of his CDs, State of Grace, State of Grace II, and State of Grace III. He writes some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard.
Updates from Don Ruhl RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Don Ruhl
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Don Ruhl
Revelation 4 is a magnificent scene, because John went into the throne room of God Almighty Himself. John saw the living creatures and he saw the 24 elders worshiping God. Wow!
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Don Ruhl
News: we just had our banquet last night for the Fishers of Men class conducted by brother Timothy Wilkes. We had 94 Bible studies with 47 different people.
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Don Ruhl
I miss Troy Cummings, my Greek and Hermeneutics teacher at the Southern California School of Evangelism. If you had a Bible question, he knew all the things to consider to figure out the problem.
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Don Ruhl
Sports used to be a favorite of mine, but so many things have turned me off from parents to professionals in which sports have become a god that I do not watch many sports anymore. Well, that sounds severe; I have not totally backed off, because drag boat racing still gets my heart pumping.
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Don Ruhl
Randal, Not only do you and I use MacIntosh computers, but now I have just learned that both of us are left-handed! Did you know Peter was left-handed?
I have two brothers and four sisters. I am the oldest. Lately I have been writing letters to them with a pen because I miss getting old-fashioned hand-written letters in the old-fashioned mailbox. So, I started writing my siblings and sometimes they write back and I love it. My penmanship has suffered greatly as a result of doing everything on a keyboard. My hand also feels uncomfortable writing. However, writing by hand is becoming a lost art, and I want to restore it, at least in my life.
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J. Randal Matheny
Don, how do we know Peter was left-handed?
I like your project of writing your siblings by hand.
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Don Ruhl
Peter cut off the right ear of Malchus, and Peter did not do it like it was shown in Passion of the Christ, for that would have cut off Malchus’s shoulder also. Peter was trying to cut off the head of Malchus and as he leaned to his left to avoid Peter’s savage swing, Malchus exposed his right ear. There you have it! :-)
Don
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J. Randal Matheny
I’m impressed!
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Don Ruhl
You know about the seven hundred Benjamites who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss, right? Does the Bible ever say something like that about right-handers? :-)
Don
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J. Randal Matheny
Like left-handed batters or pitchers, they’re the best. ;-)
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Don Ruhl
My family gets tired of hearing me to tell them all the famous, past and present, left-handed people in the world.
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Weylan Deaver
One more lefty here…the only one in my family.
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Don Ruhl
One of my brothers and one of my sisters is left-handed.
Don
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J. Randal Matheny
We were a majority in our family of five, I and two children. Then the guys went and married righties. ;-) But we’ll keep ‘em, they’re good in every other respect.
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Don Ruhl
For my to-do list, I use the Day-by-Day Ready Record by Jim Bill McInteer, iCal on my computer, and more than anything else, because I believe it works the best, and that is Palm Desktop for MacIntosh 4.2.1.
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Don Ruhl
My baptism
For the nudge two days ago: I was baptized November 2, 1976 in Longmont, Colorado.
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Don Ruhl
News from Savage Street
We are currently in our eighth week with Timothy Wilkes teaching the Fishers of Men class at the Savage Street Church in Grants Pass, Oregon. As of last Tuesday, we have over 30 people in the class and those people have conducted 48 Bible studies with 31 different people!
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Mike Riley
That’s great, Don. Will be praying for much fruit resulting from the 48 Bible studies.
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Don Ruhl
Thanks, brother.
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Don Ruhl
As a preacher, I would say the good and bad of work is this. First, the bad: there are people who would love to see you die. Second, the good: there are people who would love to die for you.
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Mike Riley
Don, that about sums it up.
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Weylan Deaver
Succinctly put.
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Richard Hill
Don, you have a way with words.
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Don Ruhl
Richard,
I pray often that God would help me to use words effectively. He answers those prayers. Glory to Him!
Don
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Don Ruhl
On Saturday nights, Kerri and I watch a movie we have rented.
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Don Ruhl
I will keep my struggles, for they have made me what I am, whether for good or bad. God knows what He is doing with my life, using my struggles to shape me into the image of Jesus Christ (Rom 8.28, 29).
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Don Ruhl
A quality of my mother that endears her to me can best be shown by something she did for me. On March 14, 1998, when I was 40 and she was 57, my mother gave me a kidney.
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Mike Riley
Don, this kind of sacrifice stems from a mother’s great love for her children. Consider yourself very blessed to have such a mother. May the Lord bless her this day and every day.
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Don Ruhl
Mike,
Unfortunately my mother is not yet a Christian. She is not antagonistic to it, but not interested at the present. I hope she will be soon.
Don
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Mike Riley
The only thing we have to change a person’s mind is the power of persuasion. We’ll be praying that your mom will be persuaded to soon render obedience to the Lord. May the Lord bless you in that effort.
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Don Ruhl
My most useful gift? For me, this goes back to the nudge about cars versus computers. My first car my step-dad bought for me and we all know how useful cars are. However, my secretary at my last congregation bought me a new computer as a going away gift and that was seven and a half years ago, and I am still using that MacIntosh G4 Double-Mirrored Door computer. For me I have to pick the computer again like in that past nudge.
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Don Ruhl
A person I’d like to get to know? I would like to get to know President Obama that I might speak with him as Daniel did King Nebuchadnezzar.
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John Henson
Good answer, Don. Wish more of our brethren felt this way. I’ve been distressed and saddened lately with some of our brethren contributing and spreading this “joke” that says, “You’ve taken my favorite actor, etc. and my favorite president is Barack Obama. Such poor taste! How can we pray for our leaders as the New Testament calls for us to do if we have such dislike and hatred for them that we’d want them dead? SHAME!
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Don Ruhl
Right, John, we have to respect our leaders both in and out of the church, even when we have strong disagreements with them.
Don
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Tina
Good luck John!
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Laura
I’m with Tina. Good luck!!!
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Don Ruhl
What is my favorite biblical prayer? How do I narrow that down? David’s prayer in Second Samuel 7 is magnificent. So is his prayer in First Chronicles 29. Prayers in Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, and Daniel 9 express similar thoughts and are magnificent. Okay, I narrow it down to Daniel 9!
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Don Ruhl
I have several close friends, but if I had to pick one other than Kerri my wife, I will mention Steve Lloyd, who preaches in Chino, California.
Steve and I first met in the summer of 1978, just before we entered the Southern California School of Evangelism in Buena Park. We became best friends right away and have remained so through the years.
He even traveled to Portland, Oregon to be with me and my family when I had a kidney transplant. Many people have considered Steve their close and best friend. I often wondered why.
Here is the thing that makes Steve so desirable as a friend. He lives, breathes, eats, and sleeps the Beatitudes of Matthew 5.1–12. Imagine a person who embodies the qualities of all of those Beatitudes, and you can picture Steve Lloyd.
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Weylan Deaver
That’s high praise, Don. But, knowing Steve, I wouldn’t argue it.
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Don Ruhl
Things is, we cannot let Steve know of these high praises.
Don
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Don Ruhl
I would rather give up my vehicles (1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ford 4 x 4 F150 pickup) and keep my computers (MacIntosh G4 desktop and MacBook Pro laptop), because I can more easily find alternatives to commuting but not to computing. I can walk, ride a bike, hitchhike, borrow a car, ride the bus, call a taxi, although it would be inconvenient, but finding a replacement for a computer is not so easy.
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Don Ruhl
How do I face Mondays? I used to take a major part of the day off, because I always heard that is what the old time preachers did, but it did not work for me. So, I started going in to my office late, but that did not work either. Now, I just go in the same time I do every other day of the week. I hit my work head on.
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Don Ruhl
Judges 6.17
Can someone tell me whether, “Your,” and “You,” in Judges 6.17 are plural in the Hebrew?
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J. Randal Matheny
Don’t think so, why?
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Don Ruhl
The New King James Version has, “talk,” instead of “talks,” which made me wonder if the second person pronouns in that verse are plural.
Don Ruhl
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J. Randal Matheny
NRSV, also: “Then he said to him, ‘If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.’” RSV has “speakest;” ESV “speaks.” Must be some variant. Unless there’s some sort of English grammatical construction here that I’m not aware of.
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J. Randal Matheny
Bullinger takes it as an ellipsis: As in Judges 6:17 , Gideon says, “Show me a sign that thou [ art Jehovah that ] talkest with me.”
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Don Ruhl
A recent quote that made me sit up and has changed the way I emphasize my ministry was this one, “God dwelling among his people should be the most attractive force field on earth” (Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God, page 339).
The other post I submitted had a typographical error. The one above is correct.
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Don Ruhl
A recent quote that made me sit up and has changed the way I emphasize my ministry was this one, “God dwelling among his people should be the most attractive force filed on earth” (Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God, page 339).
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Don Ruhl
Link for Don Ruhl’s Sermons
The other day I made mention that my sermons are in The iTunes Store and told of a roundabout way to get there, but here is an easier way. Just click on this link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=361472382
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Don Ruhl
My favorite angelic appearance is the angel who appeared to John in Revelation 10. The angel was a mighty one, clothed with a cloud, a rainbow on his head, a face like the sun, and pillars of fire for feet! Dude!
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Don Ruhl
More on Don Ruhl’s Sermons
I should have mentioned in my news earlier about my sermons in The iTunes Store, that the sermons are free.
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Don Ruhl
Are redwoods in the Bible? Well, if not, the closest thing might be the Cedars of Lebanon.
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Don Ruhl
Don Ruhl’s Sermons in The iTunes Store
I have started posting my sermons in The iTunes Store. Do a search for: Don Ruhl’s Sermons. Once there you can listen to the sermons or download them, or you can subscribe and every time you open iTunes, it will automatically download the latest sermons that I have posted.
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J. Randal Matheny
Just a question, Don: store sounds like they cost; are you charging for the downloads? If you are, I’m sure they’re worth it, but just wanted to clear this up.
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Don Ruhl
Oh, I should have mentioned that they are free.
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Don Ruhl
I had better believe and obey everything He says.
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Don Ruhl
If computer is an appliance, then that is it for me. However, my wife, like others on here, would say the clothes washer and dryer. Although, the stove/oven would have to be a close second.
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Don Ruhl
For my wife and I, we would say the secret of a good family life has been this. We included as part of our vows the following, “God and His commandments will be the center of our lives and His word the solution of our problems.” We have truly live by that part of what we promised. This past February 25, we celebrated 32 years.
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Glenda Williams
Wonderful!
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Don Ruhl
I keep a good attitude by praying relentlessly for wisdom and the result is this,
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
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Don Ruhl
How do I rest? One way that I rest is by camping by bodies of water and taking pictures, such as in the header. Lake Selmac is west of Grants Pass, Oregon where I live.
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Mike Riley
Don, a beautiful scenic picture, suggesting rest and tranquility.
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Randal Matheny
Unfortunately, I had to do a bit of cropping to make it fit.
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Mike Riley
Randal, you did a great job in cropping the picture! I wish I was at the lake right now, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful trees!
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Mike Riley
Don, forgot to tell you “thank” for the beautiful picture of Lake Selmac.
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Don Ruhl
You are welcome.
Don
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Randal Matheny
Yes, Mike, Don offered it for consideration, was thoughtful of him. Now with this one up, I see how dark the previous one was.
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Don Ruhl
A project I would like to finish in March is a book, more of a homiletic commentary on the Book of Esther. It has been proofread by two sisters, and I am re-doing parts of it. Then it goes to my daughter Stephanie who works at 21st Century Christian and she will do the editing for me.
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Don Ruhl
Well, spiritually, the fruit of the Spirit is a favorite, but I suspect our beloved brother Randal meant a plant or fruit grows on the earth. I would say then the lily because of Song of Solomon 2.1, 2,
I am the rose of Sharon,
And the lily of the valleys.
Like a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.
(Song 2.1, 2)The Shulamite saw herself as just one of the common flowers of the valley, but then Solomon took the image she employed and did something wonderful with it, saying that she stood out like a lily among thorns. I tried to picture this in the latest issue of The Bible Meditator (TheBibleMeditator.com and go to the CurrentIssue page and after downloading, go to page 9), but unfortunately I could not find a picture of a lily among thorns, so I just used a picture that had a lily standing out among others.
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Laura
I like “fruit of the Spirit”. That’s a good one. And thank you for saying “fruit” and not “fruits” as do many. ;)
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Don Ruhl
Ideas to revive a church?
Do everything with passion and zeal, for it is written, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” (Ecc 9.10).
Why do I mention this? Because outsiders notice whether we do things with passion and zeal or not. Members of the church notice it.
Who wants to be part of a church where the members do not appear to care? People want to be around others who believe in what they are doing. If you preach without zeal, or clean the building without zeal, or whatever it is, people will think that you truly do not believe what you say and what you do.
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Jim Lollis
Thanks for the encouragement! And you are exactly right, we are going through some rough times here at our church I have to keep telling myself when the going gets tough the tough get going, it would be so easy to give up but the thought of having to stand in front of my savior to give an account of my talents moves me to action, besides thats what the enemy would love for me to do. I’ve got to keep my sleeves rolled up, like in Nehemiah when they were rebuilding the wall a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. GOD bless you brother!!
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Don Ruhl
Am I a morning or night person? Morning. The moment my eyes open in the morning, I am pretty much awake. I used to be a night person, but after my kidney transplant, I changed, and I do not know why.
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Don Ruhl
At the congregation I worked at before my current one, we sang a song between the Lord’s Supper and the contribution.
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Laura
We do that here and at my last two congregations. It helps separate these two distinct acts of worship.
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Don Ruhl
I was hoping that when we did that, the man commenting upon the collection would not say, “Separate and apart from the Lord’s Supper…” but they still said it.
Don
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Laura
They still say that sometimes here, even though to my knowledge, we have always had a song between these two acts of worship.
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Don Ruhl
Where did I get my name? I am named after my father. My full name is: Roger Donald Ruhl, Junior. He goes by Roger and I went by Donnie as a boy and now just Don.
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Don Ruhl
I do three different Bible readings, plus the reading I do for sermons, classes, and so on. One reading takes me through the Bible annually, and another reading takes me through First and Second Timothy, and Titus monthly, and a third reading takes me through the chapter from Proverbs that corresponds to the day of the month. Therefore, today I read Proverbs 18. Verse 2 pictures so many people,”A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.” My co-worker Nathan House and I label those people: 18.2. However, after he and I read Proverbs 18, I asked him to pray for me that I not become an 18.2.
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Daniel Haynes
Would you be willing to share this schedule?
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Don Ruhl
The annual Bible reading schedule I use comes from GoodNewsPublishers.org. It has a green cover. Also, I send out twice daily e-mail devotionals that follow this schedule. Go to: http://freegroups.net/groups/emaildevotionals/
For Proverbs I simply read the chapter that corresponds to the day. For example, today I read Proverbs 18. Tomorrow will be Proverbs 19.
For 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus I read a chapter on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There are thirteen chapters, so, you kind of have to figure it out how to fit it in a month. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I have to read on a Thursday one time in the month.
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Don Ruhl
My verse to share is Mark 3.4. Jesus asked whether it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Have you found a good thing to do? If it is lawful, do it.
Tina, and 1 other are discussing. 
Glenda Williams is discussing. 
This is great news, Don! Wish we could see more positive news like this every day. Keep up the good work!