My name is Russell McKinney. I am 59 years old and have served as an ordained pastor for over 30 years. I am currently the pastor of Roan Mountain Baptist Church in Bakersville, NC. I’ve been married to my wife, Tonya, for 31 years. She taught middle school math at Bowman Middle School in Bakersville, NC, for 31 years before retiring.
We have two great kids – our sons Ryan (28) and Royce (25). Ryan is a graduate of Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee, and works as a Physical Education teacher in Yancey County, NC. His wife’s name is Katie, and they have blessed us with our first grandchild, Ranger. As for our youngest son, Royce, he is a graduate of Lees McRae College in Banner Elk, NC, and works as a member of the campus police force for the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA).
When I was a young man I placed my belief in Jesus Christ as my Savior and was “born again” (John 3:1-16). However, I didn’t fully sell out to Him with all my heart, mind, and body until I was in my early twenties. I try to be “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13-16) in whatever situation I find myself, and I try to do whatever I do “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17) and “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). This blog is written with all that in mind, and I trust the Lord will use the multitude of posts on a wide variety of subjects as a help and blessing in your life.
I call the blog The Disciple’s Road for a couple of reasons. First, according to Christ’s words from Matthew 28:18-20, Christians are supposed to make “disciples.” Making disciples involves more than making coverts, church members, or fellow Christians. The word “disciple” means “learner.” Therefore, we Christians should be helping people to learn not only what it takes to become an authentic Christian but also what it takes to live rightly as a Christian in this messed up world of the 21st century.
Second, experience has taught me that walking with the Lord is like walking down a road. Christianity really shouldn’t be thought of as either a sprint or a long jump. When it comes to spiritual matters, sprinting and long jumping tend to produce what Hebrews 5:12-14 describes as “babes in Christ” (as opposed to fully mature “adults in Christ”). How much better it is to slowly and methodically walk with the Lord down life’s road and let Him purposefully mold you into the person He wants you to be and use you in the ways in which He wants to use you.
So, thanks for taking the time to do some walking on The Disciple’s Road. Please feel free to browse around the site. You can use the “Search” engine to help you find something. Or you can click on the “Top Posts” for the posts that have been read the most that day. Or you can find posts related to your subject of interest by using the drop-down “Categories” box. Or, lastly, you can click on one of the tags in the “Tag Cloud” and find all the posts that include that tag. Then again, if you aren’t really looking for anything in particular, you can just start browsing through the posts from the top down and see if anything rings your bell.
If you do find a post that piques your interest and you would like to leave a comment, you have that option. I will read the comment and respond to it if I feel it requires a response. Just know that WordPress features a screening process that allows me to see your comment before it gets officially posted onto the site. Furthermore, I have the option of choosing not to allow the comment. With that said, though, I don’t consider myself the comment police and rarely refuse to allow a comment, even one left by someone who disagrees with what I’ve written.
One last thing, if you like the blog you can follow it by clicking on either the WordPress “Follow The Disciples Road” option or the “Follow Blog Via Email” option on the right side of the page. By doing this you will be notified whenever I post something new. But there’s definitely no pressure for you to do that. Rest assured that I’m not the type to live and die with how many followers I have. So, again, thanks for checking out the site, and may God use it to help you become the Christian disciple He wants you to be.
The Disciple's Road 
In Acts 20:22, Paul revealed that the Holy Spirit conveyed a message of warning “not knowing what will happen to me there”. In Acts 21:4 and 21:11, it seems quite clear that the Holy Spirit says “not to go on to Jerusalem”.
Paul has good intentions bringing the gift to the Christians in Jerusalem, but the trip did not end well, especially when Paul tried to offer sacrifices on the 7th day. That led to the riot and supposedly God intervened, not allowing the sacrifice to go on.
Jesus encouraged Paul even after the chaotic ending of the trip, showing mercy and compassion to Paul, all the way to Rome, despite some other unexpected difficulties.
Paul ended his active mission abruptly. God can bring good endings, “cause all things to work together for good, according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Paul certainly suffered severely from the trip to Jerusalem, perhaps unnecessarily.