I read one of the most thought provoking quotes last night.  It has to do with our longing for eternity and why we long for eternity.  Often, our view of eternity is skewed.  We want it more for the benefits than anything else.  What is the most important part of eternity?

“The critical question for our generation – and for every generation – is this: If you could have Heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with Heaven, if Christ was not there?”   -John Piper, God Is The Gospel-

This question reveals our love for God and for eternity.  Are we seeking Heaven so we can have all the benefits of Heaven?  Or are we seeking Heaven because that is where the eternal Christ dwells and we will spend eternity with Him? 

Many believers are looking forward to Heaven because of what Heaven is like, but miss the part of eternity that is centered around Christ.  The reason many people do not concern themselves with Eternity with Christ is because our love for Him has grown cold.  We want Heaven because it means no more suffering, but we ought to long for Heaven because Christ is there.  If we love Christ with all we have, Heaven is our main longing because we will see Him face to face.

Yesterday, I went to the Jefferson County Courthouse to make a donation to their Judicial Department. Okay, I went down there to pay my traffic fine.  As I was waiting for the court clerk to pull my file I noticed the labels on the outside of the files.  There were files for warrants, hot checks and active criminals.  I watched as the clerk sorted through the Active Criminal file and she pulled out the file for John Cheney.  I was appalled.  I am not a criminal.  It is a speeding ticket for crying out loud!  “Why was I in the Active Criminal File?”, I asked myself.  Then I realized, because I broke the law.  I was a criminal. Criminals break laws, even if it is “only” speeding.

I began to think about how we are all Active Criminals apart from the grace of God.  We are law-breakers! Breaking the commandments of His book.  According to the Bible, murderers and those who are sinfully angry are both criminals, even if the offense seems different.  When we break God’s law we must go before the Judge.  We must enter our plea of guilty.  But wait there is a good part to this criminal case against us.  We have the best lawyer.  I John Chapter 2 reminds us that when we do sin, there is an Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous who represents us before the Judge.  In fact, it is Jesus Christ, who paid our fines at court.  The wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Christ.  God commended His love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We are considered active criminals when we sin, but thank God for someone who will represent us.  When we enter our plea of guilty (confession) God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We are no longer in the Active Criminal file…our file has been place in file 13.

“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.  He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him-and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.”  Francis Chan from Crazy Love

There is a something exciting to me about receiving a package from CBD, my favorite online bookstore.  When I see the UPS man coming to the door with the package in hand, my heart leaps with anticipation.  You see, I am a lover of books.  When I receive the package and begin to open it, it is like Christmas morning as a child.  It is a gift waiting to be unlocked.

Every month, I receive a book allowance from our church.  I use this wisely when I purchase books because I know the importance of learning.  These last few weeks I have been on a journey to sharpen my skills as a preacher of the gospel.  In recent weeks, I have been inspired by the preaching ministries of C.J. Mahaney and Francis Chan.  Their gifts as communicators have challenged me to grow in my ministry as well.  So, this month I picked up a couple of books that I hope will help me become a better communicator of God’s Word. 

I believe it is a necessity for every one of us, whether we are pastors or other leaders, to grow in our giftings that God has given us.  We have heard that practice makes perfect and that is true.  Although you need the anointing of God on whatever you do, we are still called to grow in our leadership and respective ministries.  Especially, if we are communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the media age, it is harder to keep people’s attention.  We must learn to communicate with skill, clarity and substance.  People today are hungry for truth and as preachers of His Word, we must seek to prepare messages that help others grow in their relationship with Christ. 

If we are in ministry, we should be studying ministry, seeking wisdom from others, reading books, and listening to how others “do” their ministry.

Every week I spend my driving time, listening to podcasts of other preachers.  This helps me learn how others communicate, as well as, how they tell the truths of the Bible.  If we as Christians feel like we have arrived and do not need to learn anything, then we need to learn humility.  We should be ever learning.  What is your ministry?  Have you studied how to be better at it?  Is there anything you need to change to help you become better?  Study Hard!

Books of the Month:

Preaching That Connects by Mark Galli and Craig Brian Larsen (I read this many years ago and helped shape my style of sermons.  I am revisiting it again to polish up.)

Preaching With Passion by Alex Montoya

Paul, the Spirit and the People of God by Gordon Fee

Lecture To My Students by Charles Spurgeon

Today at lunch I was playing with Hannah in her room.  I was leaning back in the chair while she was looking through a coloring book and saw a picture of Jesus.  She looked up at me and said, “Jejus!”  She had a sense of excitement in her voice.  She recognized the Savior of the world.

Now, I know that she is too young to understand the fullness of who He is, but she does realize that there is something special about Him.  

A thought stirred in my heart as I pondered her acknowledgement, “They are never too young to start learning about Jesus.  If you think that Sunday School for a 20 month old doesn’t work, think again.  If you think that teaching them about Christ at home doesn’t work that young, think again.  It is never too early to teach them how to pray, or about the Bible, or even about who Christ really is.  They will pick up some things and not understand others, but the truth is, we must teach them as much as possible.  It pays off!

Here is the link to our sticky fundraiser video.  You can witness first hand my fear of stickiness being confronted.  Three gallons of Mrs. Butterworth’s.  You would know that Sonya fed Hannah pancakes the morning after and the smell of syrup brought back painful memories.

Sonya hijacked the blog today and wrote about the syrup torture.  Others suggested Sonya write because they figured I would try to make myself look like a victim.  They were right!  I was a victim yesterday and it is hard to believe that the kids of our church took such delight in pouring syrup down my shirt.

All together though, it was a great way to raise money for missions.  Thanks to all who gave!  We had a lot of fun at the July 4th Dinner.  We also had a watermelon eating contest and a seed-spitting contest.

Elias Rodriguez one the eating contest.  Ethan Traxler beat me by one inch in the seed-spitting contest.  Congatulations to them both. 

Guest Blogger: Sonya Cheney

 

If you had the privilege to come to the July 4th Fellowship you got to see your pastor at his sweetest.  And it may be the only time you will see him that sweet!  We have been married almost 17 years and I know he’s never been that sweet before!  or that Sticky.

 

He got to face his greatest fear, sticky stuff!  Now this was his own fault for announcing his greatest fear to the whole congregation.  Everyone picked up on it and well you can just say he’s faced it a few times since. (never announce your greatest fear to everyone!)  But he did it for a great cause, MISSIONS. 

 

Your pastor has a heart for missions.  He wants to see the world won to Christ!  Now as you know this takes money.  Wasn’t it Paul that said “How will they hear unless we tell them and how can they go unless we send them?”  That brings the responsibility to us.  And so he has done several crazy things in the past to raise money for missions.  A few years back he sky dived out of a perfectly good airplane now yesterday he was willing to be doused with pancake syrup. 3 gallons of it to be exact.  And the kids had a wonderfully fun time doing it!  I mean how often do you get to dump pancake syrup on your pastor?  (When Hannah seen what they were doing to him she kept asking for Pancakes!) 

 

What would YOU be willing to do for God’s Kingdom?

Woud you be willing to face your greatest fears? 

Would you give of yourself whatever God asked of you?

 

The time is now to do Work for His Kingdom!  Let Go and let God use whatever He wants to advance His Kingdom. Even if it is your greatest fear.  He will be right beside you even as he was with Danny.  Even if it means getting sticky, He wont leave your side!!   Be Kingdom minded not me minded.

 

More photos can be found here.