Faith Untamed

Well, I’ve had some problems getting on here so the announcement was delayed a bit…

After much thought and years of blogging behind me now, I have decided to move my blog to its own domain. From here on out, I’ll be blogging at “www.scottcheatham.com“. It’s taken me a while to make this move although I really don’t know why. I’ve enjoyed my blogging endeavors over the years but felt like I needed to move to my own domain to help me with my writing, my ministry, and the efficiency of publishing to the blog.

For those of you who stop by here, please visit the new site and subscribe. I hope you will all make the move with me!

God Bless and thanks for caring enough to visit over the year or so I’ve been at this location. I DO NOT anticipate moving anymore now! *L*

For that handful of readers I have *G*, I’ll have an announcement coming on Monday afternoon sometime (as soon as I’m out of meetings that day). Nothing too earth shattering or anything, but significant nonetheless.

I hope you will join me.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I’ve had a lot of thoughts going through my mind of late. Blog reading for me has been down a bit because of the increasing stress of moving our church to a storefront and the end of the school year work I have in my college courses! Still, a few good posts have caught my eye…

Dan Edelen has a good post on the word “Avarice” using the Green Pepper Index or GPI as his starting point. (The GPI is his term..and a good one I think!). The post deals with our increasing gas crunch and how we as a nation are looking long term. Is it just me or have we seen unprecedented inflation in fuel in the past 2-3 years? You can’t tell me it’s market correction, etc.. If the Chinese are so gas hungry, let them buy the oil and let’s start drilling in Alaska. The Caribou can cope for the next decade or so while we develop alternative fuel sources but I can’t see us paying upwards of $5-6 dollars for a gallon of gas. Families will hurt and the minimum wage isn’t going up again anytime soon for those on the cut line.

Quote from Chris Elrod’s blog: “A good video, cranking worship and relevant marketing…can’t take the
place of one older gentleman speaking truth from the Word of God.”

Another good quote, this time from Ben Arment on the subject of the church planter who gets beaten up and finally comes to his senses: “Money isn’t quite as important… he gets closer to the people… he
reexamines his motives, slows down for his family… invests in kingdom
growth, not just his own church.” Been there, done that. I’m as driven as ever to see our church grow into a self-supporting work but God has used this time to really shape me as a Christian.

Jacob Riggs at “AFrayedKnot” shares an interesting story about a trip to Wendy’s for a burger and the message we as Christians send. Good words Jake!

And for the song of the day….My son comes home from middle school singing “Kites Are Fun” by the Free Design (some groovy 60’s group) and tells me his band teacher played the song for them as a novelty. Apparently somebody else thinks this song is a bit crazy too because they created a video for it on “You Tube”

That’s it for now! Thanks for dropping in and reading. Let me know your thoughts if you have time. God Bless.

Has anyone else been receiving three of every blog post that is ran through the Planter Planet blog feed system? I subscribe to it and this blog is a part of it but I didn’t want anyone to think I was spamming their readers three times every time I post. I was just curious if this is just me or are others seeing this too.

I felt like jotting down a few thoughts after seeing that my blogging friend Ben Arment turned his blog comments off due to time constraints. Seems folks were engaging him in some debate and it was hard for Ben to keep up. Recently, he was fielding some comments from others about church success and his well planned “Whiteboard Sessions” one-day conference he has coming up. It seems every time the subject of church “success” is discussed, it never fails that a lively debate ensues; usually dealing with such non-essential things as music styles and bible translations. Not that those things aren’t important, but they are NOT essential in the large scheme of what the function of the church should be.

So what IS a successful church? As a church planter, I am under pressure to raise money to stay on the field. I’m also under a lot of stress to build a church that will quickly pay its own bills so that we do not have to rely on others to survive. It does take time. We began this work nearly $30,000 in the hole. That was the debt load I inherited when I brought my family here from Missouri. All of that aside, one thing I have learned is what Nelson Searcy would call RTL’s, or “Radically Transformed Lives”, is the key to success in ANY church. I simply tell folks we are in the business of “Life Transformation”. Of course, that transformation must begin with our commitment to Christ and whether or not we have truly repented and given our hearts to him. But honestly, I measure my success these days by the lives I’ve seen the ministry of our church change. It’s a work in progress and always will be.

What? I can’t believe what I’m hearing here. I can’t believe McClaren has such an extremely distorted view of hell. So God sends people to hell because he likes violence? They no longer make the choice to go there themselves by rejecting the horrific death of His Son to redeem them from their sins?

This is utterly amazing.

Funny stuff! After reading Chris Elrod’s blog and seeing a video by the same folks, I went and checked out their other stuff. Thought this one was funny too!

“We’re not about religion. Religion sucks. … And this is not your mom’s or grandma’s church.”

So ended the comment from a “pastor” after an opening service at yet another new “relevant”, “hip”, “post-modern” church. (add your own adjective). CAN WE PLEASE STOP THIS JUNK? Why is it that on the day that we set aside to recognize Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world that I have to read about yet another church that’s wiping away the sins of the old….Here’s another comment:

“If you’re looking for a comfortable place to celebrate Easter, been
wounded by old-school church and are looking for something new, or just
curious what this new, modern church movement is actually all about,
come see us.”

Mind you, I consider myself part of what many would call the “modern” church movement. (Though I eschew labels) I do not, however, consider myself separate from the historic church of Jesus Christ. It may have many different flavors, it may have many different ways of “form” as far as church goes, but the “function” of the church never should change. Why people feel free to continually knock the older churches is beyond me. Are there problems with some in the older churches hanging on to power, trying to keep a 1950’s vibe going, and refusing to consider different styles? Surely but there are just as many problems in the hip, new “modern” church. Just ask the guys planting them that really have their hearts in the right place.

I am in a situation where our church meets in a school. We are looking at investing some money in a 24/7 location but where some of these other groups get the millions they do to found new churches is beyond me. I started with a handful of families and we’ve grown by about double in the short time I’ve been here. Nothing like the stories of 400 attending on opening night at some of these other venues but I really don’t care about any of that now. After experiencing and reading about some of the selfishness that goes on in people’s hearts regarding church, I’m reminded of the words Paul wrote to Timothy…

You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that. They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by many desires. Such women are forever following new teachings, but they never understand the truth. And these teachers fight the truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. Their minds are depraved, and their faith is counterfeit. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as happened with Jannes and Jambres. (2 Timothy 3:1-9 NLT)

You might say I’m being harsh but isn’t what I’m reading slanderous? Ripping some other person’s choice of a house of worship and talking about the wounded makes me sick. There are plenty of people who get wounded in the “new” church too but by people who wish to make no claims of piety so they think that clears them from any judgment. Even worse are those who feel “called” to pastor but yet, can’t find a church who will hire them so they go off and start something new because they are too “forward thinking” for the old crowd. (sarcasm intended). Then, they preach to unsuspecting, “wounded”, unchurched folks and spew their venom about the “old ways” while smiling! It happens all the time. If that’s not you, GREAT. But I’ve read enough of it over the past few days that I know it’s out there. That mindset will never truly succeed. Oh, they might gather a crowd, but God will not be there and his spirit will not guide the poor, desolate souls looking for a drink of water in a parched dry land.

After the last comment I posted in italics, I noted a message that had been left of this person’s blog by a visitor. I think it sums up the situation perfectly…

“…if a particular congregation meets the needs of a particular individual
or family and changes their heart in the way that Christianity is
supposed to, I am not going to knock that particular church because of
its institutional structure.…Faith is personal, it probably should be kept in the
personal realm. Advertise for a particular church, but don’t knock the
church of others.”

Well stated.

May God bless you as you pause and reflect on Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross for your sins. Let us use Good Friday as it was intended. For our growth and not for tearing down someone else.

I need to be writing more. I know. Writing helps me to think clearly as I go through my day. I’ve made the choice that I will simplify where possible and ease stress in my life. My chest started hurting the other day as I was in the midst of something and I think my heart was saying “slow down” again! Time to reduce, time to simplify. To wit:

1. I’ve been gradually getting rid of my excess stuff on Craig’s List or Freecycle. I’m clearing out old books, excess computer stuff I no longer use but hung onto “just in case”, and I’m selling a lot of my prized book “sets” I used to use for sermon prep. Much of it I get online now and I’m planning in a ten year window so my wife and I can settle into a town home at some point with very little “stuff”. The money I’ve made selling all of this old stuff is being put back for a potential purchase of an Amazon Kindle reader. Then, I can get rid of more books as I purchase the ones I really want to keep for the kindle.

2. I got frustrated with my razor and threw it out. I’m so tired of “four blades, five blades, battery powered, etc…” The ads were killing me. I found my old twin blade “Atra” razor handle I used to use in the 80’s and guess what? My local K-Mart still stocks the blades for it. They are a lot cheaper too and the shave is still the same. Nobody at church has noticed that my face isn’t cleaner because I pared two blades from the cartridge and no longer need triple “A” batteries to make it shave even closer.

3. My wife’s brother died Saturday at age 43. It kinda put the whole salad of life into perspective. Especially as I watch her pack as I write this. Our church will continue long after God tells me I’m done. I tend to get quite forward focused and there’s nothing wrong with that but when it becomes my primary life force, I’m through. God let me know that Saturday. The church isn’t God. My relationship with God isn’t through the church, it’s merely strengthened there as I meet with other travelers on the journey and, as pastor, help them when they fall. I’m still driven to see the church be all that God wants it to be but even he (God) let me know that if I focus ONLY on that at the expense of other things, he will not bless it.

4. I’m through thinking that these church “conferences” are the end all they are marketed to be. With names like “Cut Loose”, “Roar Forward”, “Intensify” and other powerful sounding words like that, they are little more than time intensive, expensive, get aways. (Yes, yes, I made up the names so please don’t Google them looking for them…you know the ones I mean). I mean no disrespect to the guys planning them but as I’ve stated before, We should be able to get the same refreshment on the local level through a local conference. My worship guy and I are going to a similar type event that will be a half-day Saturday experience at my friend’s local Four-Square church. Lunch is included and I have my evening to go over my sermon. I don’t have the time, nor the money, to travel across the country for these events and in reality, the context of their ministry doesn’t necessarily fit mine. Are there things there that could potentially benefit us? Sure, but I should be able to get the same nuggets of wisdom by purchasing a DVD at a reasonable price. Truly, out of all of these that I’ve seen, the only cost effective seminar that has the church planter’s context in mind is the HUMANA event put on by Alex McManus (Erwin’s brother). I really don’t need someone else to “rock my world” as I’ve read many times. God is doing a good enough job of that as I submit to him in my daily devotions.

Perhaps I’ll write more but for now, that’s enough.

Good luck!