Tropical Storm Edouard is passing through this morning.  The wind is blowing, the rain is falling and at times, the house creaks.  The beauty of this is that it is the perfect sleeping weather.  When a storm comes through our area, it entitles most of us to a free day off.  So today we do nothing but watch the rain.

What a crazy weekend!  Last night some powerful thunderstorms moved through right before church and knocked the power out in half the building. (I don’t know how it went out in half the building. But I am sitting in the dark and still able to plug in my computer)  We had an abbreviated service last night and went home to find out, from the news, that we are in a hurricane warning. 

It seems Tropical Storm Eduardo is headed for the Texas Coast.  They are predicting that it become a Category 1 Hurricane by morning.  When you live on the coast it seems inevitable, but who really likes the prediction of these storms.  Last year, we went to sleep with Tropical Storm Humberto, which was a low-grade TS, and we woke up with a Hurricane.  In 2005, we were hit head-on with Hurricane Rita which did immense damage to our area.  I feel like I might be bad luck for this area:)  They didn’t have a hurricane for the fifty years before I moved here.

Storms along the coast are a part of living on the coast.  Storms in the life of the believer are inevitable also.  Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we are exempt from hard times.  Life is sometimes hard and there are seasons in our life where it feels like the storms are brewing.  We have to bat down the hatches and endure the storms of life with the help of our Lord. 

When the storm winds blow in our lives, we have to rely and trust in the Lord.  We must place our hope and confidence in Him.  He has endured every storm imaginable to man.  The Bible says that He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities.  He was in all points tempted like we are.  Jesus understands when the storms brew in our lives and He challenges us to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us.  Cast your cares on Him, He is able to sustain you.

P.S. Pray for the Texas/Louisiana coastal communities.

This morning as I walked into the back door of the church, I was greeted by someones vandalism.  What a way to start off Sunday Morning.  Sunday mornings are pretty jam packed already, there is not much time to erase someone’s idea of a practical joke.

As you can see someone thought it was a great way to spend Saturday night by painting the back door of our church.  There were two paintings; I covered up the vulgar one. 

I often wonder what goes through someone’s mind when it comes to desecratng a house of worship.  I was irritated but I was also saddened to know that the person who committed this was a sinner.  It is more than painting a church door, it is a person who is not right with God and if their life does not change, they will spend eternity separated from God.

Pray with me that whoever did this will feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and turn their heart to Christ.

I have been thinking lately on what the most effective method of church growth is.  The church world today has so many different “techniques” for building our church.  There are books that give us play by play action that will help us be the next Lakewood in less than 30 days.  Now I am being a little sarcastic but there is no shortage of methods for rapid growth. 

As I was thinking on this important subject, my mind has not changed to what I believe is the greatest of all ways for church growth.  One on One evangelism.  In this day of thinking bigger events bring bigger results, we have lost sight of the number one biblical method of church growth.  People inviting others to come to church.  People evangelizing those in their sphere of influence.  We have lost sight of this.

Big events generally garner a 1-3% return, but the church could double within a year if everyone just brought one person.  Imagine what the church could like like in a matter of 5 years.

Now let me share with you the sad truth.  Statistics show that we fail in this area.  It is said that 85% of Christians never invite anyone to church.  95% have never led anyone to Christ.  With statistics like these, we are in trouble.  Only 5% of Christians have led someone to Christ, and only 15% have invited someone to church.  This is a pity considering that this world is full of people destined for Eternal Hell.

There is the old saying, “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”  We should be saying, “Friends don’t let friends go to Hell.”  Let’s make a renewed effort to bring our friends and family to church.  Invite someone!  Also, ask God to give you opportunity to share your faith with others.  Who knows people might respond!

It has been one of those weeks this week.  I have been experiencing Sermon Block.  Writers have Writer’s Block so I guess preachers have something similar.  All week I have been toiling with my Sunday Morning message.  I would start.  Change it.  Start over. Throw it in the trash.  Pray.  Start over. Finally, I decided to preach on a different subject.  Then it began to come a little easier. 

Some weeks my brain works creatively.  Sermons just flow but other weeks it seems that I get stuck.  When I am in a series, I usually have at least one sermon out of the group that I just can’t get down.  I know what I am going to preach about, but I just can’t get it on paper.  I always skip that week’s sermon and come back to it.

I have often wondered if other preachers struggle with this.  Maybe you do not need to write your sermons, maybe you can just “wing” it.  But not Danny Cheney.  I like to write out my thoughts and try to memorize them.  I am just not gifted to go to the pulpit with Bible in hand and expect God to give it to me there.  I ask God to give it to me during the week so that I won’t be a nervous wreck on Sunday.

To my readers that are preachers, “What do you do to get through sermon block?  Are you a “wing it” kind of preacher or do you like to write out at least a portion of your sermon?  I would love to here from you (clik on the comments link below)

This morning I was changing out the memory card for my Blackberry Curve and I made a mistake.  If there is anything that proves the ignorance of simple people like me, it is technology.  I was upgrading from 1GB to 2GB so I was transferring my files to the other one.  It was to be an easy operation:)  I was going to cut and paste the pictures from one to the other.  Simple enough!

When I hit the cut button, on some priceless photos I had on my phone, it asked me if I wanted to delete them. Cutting is like deleting but you can paste it later to another file.  I hit yes to delete and it really deleted them.  For a moment I thought about getting mad at Bill Gates for creating these computers but then I remembered that Bill asked me if I wanted to actually delete them.  I told him yes and he deleted them.  Now I do not have the priceless photo of Hannah I wanted to show you this morning (this other picture will have to do).

There are alot of things in life that we would like to delete.  Bad memories, hardships we have endured, sins we have committed and the pain that we feel.  If it was only as simple as hitting a delete button.

The truth is, however, that God has a delete button to cover your sins.  When our sins are bought by the blood, Jesus asks do you want to delete permanently and God says yes.  As far as the east is from the west so far has your sins been removed.  Our bad memories and pains of the past are there to help us grow in life but there is a delete button that will take away heart-brokenness that you have felt.  The Psalmist said God binds up the broken hearted.

Next time, there is something you need to delete, ask God to take it away and He will perform a delete operation in your life.

Bill Easum had an interesting post on his blog (thanks to fellow blogger, Paul Peterson for the Link).  Easum gives insight into how to identify a spiriutally dead church.  It made me evaluate these ours concering our own church.  How do you think we are doing in the following areas?

Here are eight death clues. Spiritually dead churches:

1. Have lost their sense of mission to those who have not heard about Jesus Christ and do not pant after the Great Commission;
2. Exist primarily to provide fellowship for the “members of the club;”
3. Expect their pastors to focus primarily on ministering to the members’ personal spiritual needs;
4. Design ministry to meet the needs of their members;
5. Have no idea about the needs of the “stranger outside the gates;”
6. Are focused more on the past than the future;
7. Often experience major forms of conflict;
8. And watch the bottom line of the financial statement more than the number of confessions of faith.

Bill Easum points out some thought-provoking insights.  How can we as a church improve?  Are there areas where we need to revive and awaken from the dead?  Let’s work together to build a church that is alive in Christ.  The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us.  If that alive Spirit is in us, then the church should be alive.  We are in this together!

You can read the rest of the article here.

“Hi, my name is Danny Cheney and I’m a caffeineaholic.  I have been dry for 3 days.” 

I began this week with the determination to kick my dependency on caffeine.  I have been a caffeine “junky” for 20 years.  Everyday was a day centered around several events; three cups of coffee in the morning, Sonic Happy Hour with 2 Route 44 Iced Teas in the afternoon.  If I missed any of these events I would tailspin.  I could not function with out my morning rush of caffeine and then I realized, I am addicted.

Now, I know that Caffeine is not a sin, nor is it necessarily bad for you BUT too much of anything is bad.  I decided to wean off of caffeine but instead I went cold turkey.  Day two was the toughest.  Cold sweats, hot flashes, feelings of sickness, and a headache that sent me into orbit.  On day two, I went and bought a Sonic Iced Tea, but I chose not to drink it which is simply miraculous.  Today is day three and I am feeling good.  I am craving Sonic Tea but I am not giving in.

Why do I tell you this?  Because in most of our lives there are things that are addictions to us.  Television, Internet, soft drinks, food, cigarettes, alcohol or even drugs.  Of course we rate the levels of addictions but what are you addicted to?  The Apostle Paul said, “I shall not be mastered by anything.”

What’s mastering you?  Do you need to cut back on something?  The fact is, it is easier to be mastered by hidings of the flesh than the things of the Spirit.  However, we must be mastered by the Spirit.  As for me, this morning I had 3 cups of decaffeinated coffee which has alot less kick, but it beats water.  And it is still coffee.