"We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

2 Corinthians 4:7







Saturday, September 5, 2009

No Second Class Citizens!

I wrote this blog over a year ago, but this past Friday at my Book Club a lady brought this blog up as she was thinking about someone she loves dearly. She said, "I have to remember something that Cheri said, "In Heaven there are No Second Class Citizens". I replied, "True & we also need to think about the Lord's prayer & how He told us that we should pray: "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done on EARTH as it is in HEAVEN." We need to treat each other that way NOW." I love how the Lord is constantly teaching.

I absolutely love the voice of the Lord. I love how He speaks so clearly. I love John 10 that talks about Jesus being the Shepherd and how His sheep know HIS VOICE

There are so MANY voices crying out for us to follow and we must stay close to the Good Shepherd, so we will know when an imposture is speaking.

Tonight, I had one of those moments when I heard the Lord speak clearly. Not an audible voice, but loud and clear enough to be audible.

I was thinking about two people, whom I love dearly, that have recently been mistreated by fellow Christians. I was thinking about how these fellow Christians were justifying their ill actions as I was talking to the Lord about the situation. I am so glad I can tell Him how mad and sad these situations make me and that He comforts me by telling me that they make Him mad & sad too.

Then I heard the Lord say, "In MY KINGDOM there are no second class citizens!" WOW! Thanks Lord! You are right. We are joint heirs with Jesus, we have received full citizenship! Hallelujah!

I shared with my husband what I heard the Lord say and how I was talking to the Lord about the two situations when I heard the Lord clearly speak. My husband's eyes filled with tears as God's message was so clear.

My husband's short version response:

"But many who are first will be last, and the last first." Mark 10:31

Oh Lord, Help us to treat each person you created with love and respect. This is my prayer in Jesus' name. Amen

Friday, September 4, 2009

Character or Compromise

Many of you followed the Dukes tragedy with me and are aware of the many ways God has used this tragic situation. I have been so blessed to have people like the Dukes in my life. I had the privilege of having Dr. Dukes as a professor while at seminary and I will always treasure the truth I learned under his teaching. The godly character I witnessed in many professors went far beyond my seminary classroom experience. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed because of the great examples I have had. I have been so blessed!

Even my 16 year old son commented last week on how James and I sat under some of the best teaching while we were at seminary. He has heard us quote the teaching of people like Dr. Charles Harvey, Dr. Ferris Jordan, Dr. Landrum Leavell, Dr. Jeanine Bozeman, and Dr. Dukes many times throughout his life.

While he has never met some of them, he feels like he knows their character because of how we have quoted things we learned from their teaching as well as how they handled everyday situations.

Character is so important!

Recently, we have been influenced by someone by the name of Ed Stetzer. I went to a conference on how to reach young adults back in September and he was one of the speakers. I took many notes, but I did not have a personal conversation with him.


Through the Dukes tragedy, I started a twitter account as one more way to follow their journey. On twitter, I noticed that the Dukes were friends with Ed Stetzer, so I began following Ed on twitter. Ed challenges not only himself, but all of us to live a gospel-centered, repentance-filled life. I am going to post a recent sermon of his. He shares an outline as well as a video of him preaching.

In the video, he is speaking to a group of pastors; however, the week before he had preached this sermon to his whole congregation at church. It's a message we all need to hear and it is EXTREMELY challenging.

Ed has trained pastors and church planters on five continents and has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. He has been a seminary professor, author, and ministry consultant. Ed's primary role is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence.

Here is Ed's twitter post. If you click on either link below, it will take you to his sermon.

edstetzer"If Satan cannot get us to compromise our beliefs, he is happy to settle for compromising our character," http://is.gd/1IfKx


http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/07/message-on-secret-sins.html

Challenged,
Cheri