InsideOut: Did you have a nickname in high school?

RF: No, but after high school I was called variously Russtler and Russbud.

IO: Is your favorite meal breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

RF: Breakfast for dinner—a late dinner—like 1:00 AM

IO: If you could vacation anywhere, where would you go?

RF: I would do a week-long castle tour of Europe; that must include kissing the Blarney Stone.

IO: What is your favorite meal at McDonald’s?

RF: If I eat at McDonald’s, I have to go with a #1, Big Mac combo…special sauce does it.

IO: If you could see into the future to one moment in time, what moment would you want to see?

RF: I’m a self-professed history junkie, so I’ve long been far more interested in the past than in the future. I can’t say that there is any one moment I’d want to see before it arrives.

IO: What do you like most about being a part of Bible Quizzing?

RF: Knowing Him more. We can know the Word of God without knowing the God of the Word, but we cannot know the God of the Word without knowing the Word of God.

IO: What is your favorite verse of Scripture? Why?

RF: The last one I studied.

Asking this question is like asking a dog which piece of bacon he likes best, the crispy or the rubbery. He doesn’t know; he just eats them both.

As far as Bible Quizzing, however, two verses stand out:

Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 1) learned it, 2) lived it, and 3) left it with others (aka, ministry). Each element must be present and in the correct order.

John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The Word must also be made flesh through our lives, so that His glory might be beheld.

IO: What’s your favorite version of the Bible?

RF: While I still use the King James Version more often than any other, I do consult the Amplified (AMP) and Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) quite often.

IO: What time in the day do you usually like to read the Bible? Why?

RF: Morning, with coffee, before anything else crowds in; the Word can then percolate throughout the day.

IO: What passage of the Bible do you think is relevant to our generation?

RF: I’m going to speak this Sunday morning about Stephen (Acts 6, 7).

When he was approached by the apostles, I bet Stephen thought that this was his big chance to break into some real meaningful ministry: finally Peter, John, and the others had noticed his ministerial chops and he’d have an opportunity to display his expository prowess. He was, however, simply asked to wait tables. But as a young minister, being full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, he willingly submitted to a task that most today would think beneath them and unworthy of their talents.

The gist of it is that Stephen knew he was a great preacher before he was asked to deal with squabbling widows, and yet he did. And it was only after his submission that Stephen became a man full of faith and power (Acts 6:8).

Even in his death, Stephen was exalted to see beyond the blood and stones and see Jesus on the right hand of God…because he had submitted.