Waco Section Royal Rangers

Here is the 6^th article in the Waco Section Royal Rangers Blog series for the Week of Prayer.

We have talked the last few days about the needs and benefits that Royal Rangers has as well as the trials that leaders experience. Today, I want to talk about something that is related but somewhat different. Have you ever been on a campout and watched God move in the lives of boys during the altar call? Have you ever prayed for a boy to get baptized in the Holy Spirit? Or how about leading a boy to Christ?

I know I have had the privilege to see and do that and more on Royal Rangers events. What greater joy is there then when a boy accepts Christ as his Lord and personal Savior. Or when a boy gets baptized in the Holy Spirit. Just picture in your mind the excitement that is on the boys face after they have had a personal encounter with God down at the altar area during a council fire service.

I believe that there is no greater joy that a leader can experience than that of seeing their boys or seeing boys in general, down in the altar area praying for salvation or seeking God for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. God works through the lifes of boys in sometimes miraculous ways during the altar call at Royal Rangers campouts.

I know that if nothing else happens on Royal Rangers campouts, that an evening service where God is in the center and He is directing the service, then we will see miraculous and exciting things happen. We have seen healings happen on campouts, and not just physical healings, but emotional healing and spiritual healing as well. We have seen countless number of boys get saved and filled with the Holy Spirit on Royal Rangers campouts.

When we teach Royal Rangers on a weekly basis, the boys have the opportunity to earn awards and advance in rank. It is exciting to see the expressions of a boy when he earns his first award in Royal Rangers. They are so excited and they sometimes can’t wait to tell everyone. It is exciting to watch boys when they have earned a medal representing a year or years worth of work. Boys enjoy being rewarded for their work, and they also enjoy being recognized for that work as well. It is a joy for leaders to see that joy expressed when you get to hand them an award that they have worked so hard to earn.

Another joy that leaders can have is watching young men that they had in Royal Rangers grow up and become leaders in the church. While I haven’t quite had that experience myself, I have commanders that have known me for years tell me how happy and proud they are to see me working in Royal Rangers and in the local church and still serving God. I have also heard stories that commanders that have been in Rangers for a while tell about running into young men that have moved away and their paths cross and the young man is able to tell how they are still involved in church.

While we may never know the complete impact that we have on the lives of boys that cross our paths in our outpost or on sectional and district events, we can have the assurance that God’s seed will not come back void. We sow seed every week when we step into our Royal Rangers classroom and teach boys. We sow seed every campout, day camp, and other activities, where the gospel is ministered to boys. We may never see the fruit of our sowing, but one day in Heaven we are going to see the impact that we truly had, and I believe that we are going to be amazed at how far reaching of an impact that we had on the lives of boys in Royal Rangers.

Now, there may be some of you that are thinking, yeah that is all well and good for you to say, but I am so worn down of doing Rangers week in and week out without seeing any results. I can’t get the boys to listen to me or get them motivated to work on awards. I haven’t seen boys getting saved or filled with the Holy Spirit. I haven’t seen boys that are healed. To these commanders I ask when was the last time that you spent a day or a weekend (it could be attending a retreat) where you spent time with God just basking in His presence and seeking after Him. I believe and I know God desires that you will see fruit of your ministry in your local outpost, just spend time with Him, and He will make this a reality for you and the boys in your church.

We as leaders are in an awesome position to influence the boys of the current generation that are going to be the ministers, evangelists, missionaries, Royal Rangers leaders, Sunday School teachers, deacons, businessman, politicians, and so much more. This generation is seeking the truth; I know that the media tries to portray it differently. But our younger generations are seeking the truth. They are searching, sometimes in the wrong direction, for that truth. That is why cults are so appealing to young people, it is different and they have reached out and appealed to the young peoples search for the truth. You and I know that the cult isn’t about the truth, but the young people don’t see that, because they have been deceived. We need to pray for our young generation that as they seek the truth that the Holy Spirit will guide them to where they can find the truth that they are seeking.

Dear Heavenly Father, we just come to you today and we thank you for the wonderful things that we are able to experience and be a part of in this Royal Rangers ministry. We thank you for allowing us to be a part of boys lives and impacting them for the kingdom by seeing them get saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and healed. We ask Father God that you send opportunities our way to impact more boys for your kingdom. Put your protection around our young people in this nation that are seeking after the truth in the wrong direction Father God, and send you Holy Spirit to guide them towards the Truth. We ask that you will pour out refreshing and spiritual renewal in the hearts of leaders that are not feeling joyful about being a leader in Royal Rangers, that through your spiritual renewal they will feel refreshed and will start to see the fruits of their labor. Father God, we ask that you be with all of our leaders and give them the knowledge to use the tools that are at their hands to help impact the kingdom. For our sectional, district, regional, and national leaders, Father God, we ask that you also give them the knowledge and the strength Father God as they plan events for boys, and leaders, that you will be guiding their steps so that you will be glorified in everything that is said and done at these events. We ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

David Trower
Sectional Web and Publications Coordinator

Attention AOL and Road Runner subscribers: We would like to apologize for the recent problems that we have experienced with the Waco Section email list. It is our understanding that all subscribers received the Week of Prayer article posted on Sunday, January 6, 2008, and Thursday, January 10, 2008, entitled “Week of Prayer: Core Values of the Assemblies of God“ and “Week of Prayer: The Trials of Leadership“. However, our AOL and Road Runner subscribers have not received the Week of Prayer articles that were posted on Monday, January 7, 2008, and Tuesday, January 8, 2008, entitled “Week of Prayer: The Need for Leaders” and “Week of Prayer: The Needs of Royal Rangers.” It also would appear that our subscribers at AOL and Road Runner have also not received the Week of Prayer article that was posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2008, entitled “Week of Prayer: The Benefits of Royal Rangers.” These articles are available for reading on the Waco Section Royal Rangers Blog (http://www.wacoroyalrangers.org). We hope that the problems that we have been experiencing the last couple of days have been resolved and that all of our subscribers will receive the rest of our Week of Prayer articles this week and all future emails. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our sectional web and publications coordinator, David Trower, at JDTrower@royalrangers.net.