The Walk Through God’s Green Fields

The other day I was in the grocery checkout, second in line.

While unloading my cart I noticed the person in front of me was moving very slowly. An elderly woman bent and ravaged with osteoporosis. I kept unloading my cart and settled myself down for a longer than average wait in the checkout.

Still unloading, with my back turned to the lady I heard her cry out in pain, “OW! Oh dear! It hurts!” I turned to face her and saw why she was in pain. She was so frail and ill, the simple everyday task of lifting her purchases from the cart to the checkout was too painful for her to bear. I said to her, “Ma’am, May I unload your cart for you?” She smiled and replied, “Oh, yes you may dear. I am in so much pain. Thank you so much.” I forgot about my now falling behind timeline of other things I had to do after I left the grocery and unloaded her cart as carefully and patiently as I could.

As her items were being scanned the cashier called over a young man to help her out to her car and even asked if there was someone at home to help her unload them. There was.

The frail, sweet lady finished her purchase. She thanked the cashier for her patience and over her shoulder glanced back at me and said, “Son, thank you for your help. It was very thoughtful.” I replied to her, “Ma’am, I was glad to do it.” She stopped. Turned full around and faced me. She held my gaze for a few seconds. She wasn’t looking at me. She was looking in me.  Then she said, “I know you were glad to do it.” In a split second what was exchanged Spiritually between is indescribably to me. Every hair on my body stood on end. I felt I was interacting with something that was not of this world. It was exhilarating, joyous and to be honest a little frightening.

This very frail, ill woman looked into me.

For the longest time I have been asking the LORD if he would show me one of his angels and since this time in the checkout, I have been asking him if I indeed saw an angel. What an experience!

To paraphrase a quote from the Christian comedian Mark Lowry, “We Baptists believe in angels, but we aren’t supposed to see any. I bet the Pentecostals get to have lunch with them.”

Have you or someone you know entertained an angel?

I’d love to know.

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Who is Varnie Vegas?

He is a member of every church of every Christian denomination.

Varnie claims to be a child of God, washed in the blood of Jesus.

He complains the Pastor did not greet him during Sunday morning worship.

He seeks out the praise and worship leader to express his opinion that the music was too loud, not loud enough; it was too fast or too slow. He never thanks the LORD he has a church to go to.

He claims to get nothing from the preaching, but never asks the LORD to open his eyes and ears.

Varnie never reads his bible.

He only prays for himself.

He holds others responsible for his Spiritual condition. It’s always their fault.

He lets it be known to the building committee the sanctuary ceiling needs painting and it is distracting, but never asks himself “Why am I looking at the ceiling?”

Varnie never misses his church’s business meetings and is always vocal about what he thinks should be done.

He says the deacons don’t serve and doesn’t understand why he hasn’t been invited to sit on any committees.

Varnie thinks the water in the church water fountain is too cold, but doesn’t realize there are people who have never experienced cool, clear water and never will.

He dislikes attending church pot lucks but feels obligated to go. He only eats food prepared by certain people, but never dwells on the fact there are people starving.

Varnie scoffs at people who humble themselves and kneel at the altar. He is stronger than that.

He wraps himself in the cloak of Salvation and spews hate thinking he is justified.

He has been known to read a magazine during the sermon.

Varnie does not circulate during church fellowship. He believes the flock should come to him.

He thinks if there were a lot more people in the choir, revival will come.

If the preaching isn’t to his liking, the preacher must have hidden sin in his life, but he never asks the LORD to show him the sin in his own life.

Varnie does not attend Sunday school. He knows more than the teacher.

He does not tithe. Doesn’t see the point.

Who is Varnie Vegas?

Am I Varnie Vegas?

Are you Varnie Vegas?

Pray for Varnie Vegas.

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Sometimes I need a reminder of who I am supposed to be in Christ.

From first Corinthians, chapter thirteen as written by the apostle Paul. God’s ultimate road warrior.

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It does not envy.

It does not boast.

It is not proud.

It is not rude.

It is not self seeking.

It is not easily angered.

It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil,

But rejoices with the truth.

It always protects.

Always trusts.

Always hopes.

Always perseveres.

Love never fails.

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Father,

I want to be an active participant in your good purpose.

I do not want to be a bystander in my own salvation just holding the precious gift you gave me of Jesus Christ.

I want to use it. I want to live it. I want to breathe it. I want to feel it. I want to share it.

Fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me die to myself, so I will freely give the gift to others.

I do not want to just get by in my walk with You.

I want to be challenged. I want You to trust me. I want you to use me in ways I never thought possible.

I want to thrive. I want to grow. I want to learn.  I want to be vibrant. I want to be exceptional in your eyes.

I want to matter in this world for Your glory.

I want to participate in my life with You walking hand in hand.

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My first video blog attempt.

I don’t think there is an Oscar in my future.

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Did you know, as children of God, we are supposed to have something to dig with?

I didn’t until I ran across a passage in Deuteronomy where God addresses cleanliness in the camp to the nation of Israel.

^{Dt 23:12} Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself.

^{Dt 23:13} As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.

^{Dt 23:14} For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

What God is telling us in this passage is “Hey, I walk through here. Cover your stuff up.”

I started thinking, what is in my life do I need to cover up? What is not Holy? What is indecent?

What causes Him to turn back as He walks through my life?

He has not changed.

He will not change.

He is Holy.

We tend to over complicate God.

Our walk with God is based upon the choices we make every day.

Where is my shovel?

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Hi Everyone!

I have decided to join the rest of the world and create a Facebook page.

Find Cecil Chaney.

Hope to see you there.

Be Blessed,

Cec

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A Guest post from my good friend Eric.

My grandfathers second wife was an old school Church of the Nazarene Christian from central Texas, complete with hair bun and heavy black shoes. She wrapped up her church experience as Saved, Sanctified and Satisfied. At the other end of the spectrum there are those Christians who live an entirely different life on the streets. They realize they can’t live without God and their very existence is dependent on their reaching out to Him. They can wrap up their church experience with the words of Paul who basically said “that thing I want to do I don’t do and that thing I don’t want to do, I do….. O wretched man that I am who can save me??” (Paraphrase). There is no doubt my step-grandmother is in heaven and probably undergoing a bit of a shock. There is no doubt those people who are on the edge of survival calling out to God are going to be in heaven.

My question is, where is the Holy Spirit going to move? A recent discussion with Cecil got me thinking about these two types of Christians and the ever present mantra of revival is coming, revival is coming, revival is coming. I am of the opinion revival is not coming; at least not as we think it will happen.

Why do I think like this? For the most part today’s traditional Christian doesn’t really need God. There is no desperation in his or her life. They take part in a Sunday morning and evening ritual of 3 songs; two stands and offertory, 7 minute sermon, a stand, a song and a prayer and it is all over in 90 minutes. They live in a shell and stay among their own kind and keep their traditions to the letter and make sure any changes or move of the Holy Spirit is approved by committee. All their friends are of the same mold and everything they do is with their own closely knit group of fellow Christians. God is not going to move on someone who basically doesn’t need Him to survive. In their comfort these Christians will miss the greatest blessing available, a move of the Holy Spirit bringing them to life and all who around them.

Let’s look at the other type of Christian, the one that I use the term “street” for. These people understand fully who God is. Just as important, they understand who they are!!! They know they are not worthy of grace and they deal with struggles daily that would put most traditional churched Christians in a state of panic to even talk about it. They struggle with sin daily and understand the results of sin on an intimate level. Daily they cry out to God to forgive them. Most of the time, not always, but most, these Christians are people who society would typically shun as outcasts. Heaven help us all if one decided to show up at a traditional church some Sunday morning. Tattoos, piercings, colorful hair, colorful language and a lifestyle that isn’t exactly what most would consider Christ like. But they have one thing most churched Christians don’t have. They recognize they have a huge hole in them that only God can fill and they are desperate for his Grace and his mercy. They know that without that hope there would be no reason to carry on or to live. They literally live day to day reaching out to the grace of God and knowing they have their next breath only because God in his infinite grace gives it to them.

This is where revival will come. Revival will come to the streets, to the bars, to the tattoo parlors and drug houses. It will come to the shelters and the free clinics where those who have nothing left but a desperate hope can be found. The Holy Spirit will bring revival to that heart that cries out by the minute for the grace of God and lives with the ever present knowing that they are only a heartbeat away from eternity. This is when the Holy Spirit will move and great things will happen.

As my friend Cecil said in this blog, today’s church has committee’d the Holy Spirit out of church or at a minimum into a box to pull out on the rare occasion they have some need.

The next time you hear someone say revival is coming, don’t look for it in church….. look for it in society’s rejects. You may be surprised at what you see.

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Did Jesus die a horrible death and resurrected on the third day only to be buried alive in a church’s constitution, by-laws, committees and traditions?

Have we regulated Jesus out of His own Church?

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