Monthly Archives: April 2009

Today is Josh’s 15th birthday.  It is hard to believe that he is that old.  It seems like yesterday that he was born. 

I am proud of Josh and the man that he is becoming.  I am thankful for the way he is and the characteristics that God has given him.  He is a headstrong boy that is not easily swayed.  He stands for what he believes and does not waver from it.  He is a kind-hearted young man that gets along well with others.  He is well-behaved and respectful of his elders.  He serves in church any way he can and is willing to be my “pastoral assistant” (aka grunt labor). 

I am also thankful that Josh would rather read a book than do other things.  He would rather communicate with his parents than hang out in his room and listen to his ipod (which he refuses to own).  He would rather sit down and play board games as a family than to hide in his room and play video games.  He is a much different kid than I was at 15.  Josh is a gift from God and I look forward to what the future holds for him.

Happy Birthday Josh!  Your mom and I are proud of you!

"The exuberant joy of the early Christians was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity."

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, page 5.   HT: Ray Ortlund

Intercessory prayer might be defined as loving our neighbor on our knees.
-Charles Bent-

I had Chinese food yesterday and when I broke open the fortune cookie, I got a good fortune (not that I believe in that kind of stuff).  I, at least, thought it was a good word.  The fortune: “The star of riches is shining on you this month.”

Hey! that was exciting:)  We’ll see if those fortunes really work!

My lesson from the library today?  Kids are possessive! 

Hannah enjoyed playing with a little boy about her age at the library.  Hannah would lead him over to the computers and tell him to check his emails.  They each had their own computer, but the little boy wanted to check his email on Hannah’s computer.  So Hannah in her “Hannah” way says, “You check your email right there, I check mine here.”  This happened on several occasions.

As they were sitting there checking email, Hannah looks over at me and says, “That’s my daddy!”  The little boy simply repeated what Hannah had said.  He replied as a question, “That’s my daddy?”  Hannah jumped out of her seat screaming, “No, that’s my daddy! That’s my daddy!”  She comes and puts her arms around me and yells, “That’s  my daddy!”

After that if the little boy came near me, she would replay that whole scene again.  I know you are supposed to be quiet in the library but Hannah hasn’t got that down yet:) 

What is it about kids that they become possessive and do not want to share?  Is it simply the sin nature within us?  Honestly, we do not grow out of the “not sharing” thing.  It just takes different forms as we get older.  The Bible labels the grown up version as, greed, envy, jealousy and a host of other sins.  Is there any thing in your life that you have become possessive of?  Money, possessions, people, positions, etc.  Another thing we seem to be possessive of is the gospel…we withhold it like it is ours only and never share it with others.

We had an awesome service Sunday morning.  It seemed that God was really present in the House.  Worship went great!  The worship team were off the hook (incredible) on All Things Are Possible.  It seemed like they were on fire!  We sang Healer by Hillsongs and you could sense that God was touching hearts.

We began our series “Getting Through” and talked about Channel Blockers, the things that block our channel with God.  We discussed five things that hinder our prayer lives and focused on working those things out of our lives. 

The five things that block our channel with God are:
1.  Our sin
2.  Our bitterness
3.  Our motives (wrong)
4.  Our pride
5.  Our past failures (condemnation)

We talked about overcoming these things and creating a prayer life that brings results.  This coming Sunday we will be looking at Abiding That Will Help Us Get Through.

Our attendance was good (107) with about a dozen guests.  Our prayer is that lives will be transformed and changed by the power of God’s Spirit.  God is certainly at work in our midst.

We fired up the grill tonight and cooked some supreme Club steaks.  Club steak is the cut of meet close to the T-bone and makes for a tender and great tasting beef.  We put together an incredible mixture of seasonings and the steak melted in our mouths.  I will share the mixture with you because I know everyone looks for the perfect blend of seasoning for their steak.  Just mail me a check for $19.95 for the recipe:)

First, I pour some Soy sauce on the steak and rub it in.  I put Soy on the first side then season that same side, turn it over and put more soy, rub it in and put the seasoning on that side.  I only let the steak stay in the soy sauce for 15 minutes before cooking it.  If you leave it too long it could make the meat a little tougher.

Second, season with Cavender’s Greek Seasoning found at Wal-mart near the spices.   Make sure it is the Cavender in the yellow container.  I cover all of the meat with Cavender’s and rub it in.  Again, do the first side and after it is fully seasoned then do the other side.

The next part is optional.  Just Soy sauce and Cavender’s creates a good steak but I tried something new tonight that tasted great!

After the Cavender’s lightly sprinkle garlic power and onion powder.  The key is lightly!  Cavender’s has these already so do not go overboard or it will effect the taste and create after-dinner garlic breath:)

When done with that, I put Cracked Black Pepper on the steak.  Crush the pepper moderately.  Cracked Black Pepper is different from Ground Black Pepper.  You may have to go to the spice aisle and find the container of Cracked Black Pepper.

Put your seasonings on both sides and grill.  The best flavor comes by cooking your meat medium rare to medium.  If you cook it too long it cooks out the flavor (that is my opinion).  Sonya requires me to cook hers until it looks like charcoal and beef jerky.  I would rather eat vegetables than eat a steak that way:)

Hope you enjoy!

How do you prepare your steaks?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Monday’s are family days at the Cheney house.  The weekend is always busy getting ready for Sunday so Monday is our Sabbath.  We took a journey to Roaring River State Park in Missouri (about 45 minutes from home).  It was a gorgeous day and the weather was perfect to spend outdoors. 

I had flashbacks of childhood as we went through Roaring River.  I was about 12 when we spent a week there with my family.  It was neat being there with my own family and seeing the same things I saw as a child.  We got a lot of great pictures of the beauty of this river park.

Read this prayer on the Kingdom People blog:

O God,
who for our redemption
gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
delivered us from the power of our enemy:

Grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him
in the joy of his resurrection;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

HT: Trevin Wax

After spending my whole life in Texas, I am still getting use to Arkansas.  One of the most difficult things to learn is the roads and highways.  If you veer off the interstate and have to go somewhere in the “sticks” beware, you may have a tough time finding it.

Today was our minister’s meeting in Morrow and I got lost.  There were few actual street signs that told where I was supposed to turn.  My directions said, "turn at Hale Mtn Road”.  Easy enough, right?  Easy enough unless there is not a sign that says Hale Mtn Road.  I was lost in the back woods, but the beauty of the area made up for it.

In fact, I found me a great fishing hole and got a couple of good pics of some creeks (pronounced cricks in Arkansas).

Often getting lost is frustrating but sometimes it can lead to something quite beautiful.  I have been out of God’s will in my life before.  I took the wrong turn and went my own way.  God had intended something else for me, but I chose a different route.  It was a very difficult time in my life because I was miserable out of God’s will.  In the midst of that trying season, though, I built relationships with wonderful people that truly blessed my life.  I still value their friendships and know that even though I might have made a wrong turn, God still allowed the beauty to come out.

Many times, we take the wrong path and feel that we will never get back to the main road.  I encourage you though, to look at the surroundings, learn the lessons God teaches you in those seasons and cherish the beauty in the midst of your lost direction.

Summary:

Flip-Flop Your Concept of Giving!
Bestselling author Randy Alcorn introduced readers to a revolution in material freedom and radical generosity with the release of the original The Treasure Principle in 2001. Now the revision to the compact, perennial bestseller includes a provocative new concluding chapter depicting God asking a believer questions about his stewardship over material resources. Readers are moved from the realms of thoughtful Bible exposition into the highly personal arena of everyday life. Because when Jesus told His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” He intended that they discover an astounding secret: how joyful giving brings God maximum glory and His children maximum pleasure. Discover a joy more precious than gold!

Story Behind the Book
After years of writing and teaching on the theme “God owns everything,” in 1990 Randy Alcorn was sued by an abortion clinic (for peaceful, nonviolent intervention for the unborn). Suddenly he had to resign as a pastor and was restricted to making minimum wage. Legally unable to own anything, Randy gave all his book royalties to missions work and need-meeting ministries. He and his family have experienced the reality of The Treasure Principle—that God really does own everything, takes care of us, and graciously puts assets into our hands that we might have the joy and privilege of investing in what will last for eternity.

Author Bio:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM). Prior to 1990, when he started EPM, he served as a pastor for fourteen years. He has spoken around the world and has taught on the adjunct faculties of Multnomah Bible College and Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Randy is the best-selling author of twenty-seven books (over three million in print), including the novels Deadline, Dominion, and Deception as well as Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, the Gold Medallion winner Safely Home, and Wait Until Then.

You can find The Treasure Principle at your local Christian bookstore or at www.christianbook.com.

Summary:

Serve God as never before

The first Christians “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around “were filled with wonder and amazement” (Acts 3:10).What can give Christians today the same impact?

God’s Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit. You’ll see how the proof of the Spirit’s presence is our awareness of God’s personal assignments for us, plus our supernatural enablement to carry out those assignments. You’ll find essential clarification on the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts. You’ll explore the dynamics of being filled with the Spirit through intimate relationship with Him, committed obedience, and radical departure from sin.

Instead of considering what you can do for God with your abilities and talents, you’ll be encouraged here to seek what God wants to do through you supernaturally by His Spirit, empowering you beyond your personal competence and capacities. Release the Holy Spirit’s work at the very core of your experience of the Christian life.

Author Bios:

Dr. Henry Blackaby has devoted his life to the ministry. A multi-faceted talent, he has served as a music director, senior pastor, college president, missionary, and later as an executive in Southern Baptist Convention. Blackaby is the author of more than a dozen books with more than one million copies sold, including the best-selling Experiencing God. As the President of Blackaby Ministries, he is a vibrant speaker and the father of Dr. Melvin Blackaby. Melvin serves as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Jonesboro in Georgia, where he lives with his wife, Gina, and their three children.

You can get a copy of Experiencing the Spirit at your local Christian Bookstore or at www.christianbook.com.

"A man will forget that, as a father, he has been welcomed to the transcendent glory of being part of God’s work of forming human souls. Instead he will buy into the replacement glory of career success. More and more, his life will be eaten up and defined by his work. Less and less will his sense of purpose have to do with the formative community that only he can offer his children. Sadly, his children cease to be one of the joyful focuses of his living and become an obligation in an already-too-busy schedule. Less and less do his children know him, respect him, trust him, or feel his love."-Paul Tripp-

HT: Buzzard Blog

Ben Arment wrote, “No church has ever been scolded into vitality …I can’t think of a single church that made a turn-around with scoldings .  It just doesn’t work.”

A church must be led with love.  This does not mean that we do not speak the truth, but rather we must speak the truth with love.  A church must understand that the pastor loves them and that the leaders genuinely care about them and the church.  Too often, we pastors have used the pulpit to “whip people into shape”.  However, God intends for us to share the Word of God for the growth of the people, rather than for what we want our intended outcome to be. 

One of my mentors once told me, “When you are facing certain things in the church, do not preach at those situations, preach love.”  He told me this after I preached about the sons of Korah and God swallowing up the nay-sayers:)

I have found that when we scold the congregation, we are generally directing our sermon to a hand full of people that need to “hear the message”, when it would be better to talk it out in private.  As pastors, we must not punish the whole group for the actions of a few.

All that aside, we must preach what the Holy Spirit leads us to, even if it is a message that challenges others and disrupts the comfortable.

We had a great time Easter Sunday.  In spite of the monsoon (torrential rains) we had 145 people.  It was awesome to celebrate our resurrected Lord. 

The worship team did a fantastic job leading us into worship.  The special songs fit perfectly with the illustrated message.  Children’s Church and the nursery were full and all the kids went home with a bunch of Easter eggs.  Most important of all, Christ was lifted up and I believe everyone left with the knowledge that their lives do not have to be empty.  The tomb is empty so we do not have to be.