Kids can be a handful!

A handful is right! But who would trade? God has entrusted us with an awesome responsibility and the funnest thing in our lives. The trick is to make sure that you can keep a hold even if they are a handful!

Listen

You can subscribe to Rody's messages through an RSS feed. If you have no idea what this means, join the club! I post messages as a podcast. You can download a program that will automatically check to see when I post a new one and it will download it to your computer. You can then put it on an mp3 player or listen to it on your computer or burn it to a CD. First you need to download the podcast receiver. You can do this for free at http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net. Then you can add my podcast to the downloads. Rody's podcast is http://rdychssr.audioblog.com/rss/gbc_pulpit.xml. Then you can download the messages from Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday nights.

If you are familiar with itunes, you can go to the itunes music store and go to podcasts. Type in Rody Chesser in the search window and you can subscribe to the podcast that way. Below is the RSS icon if you need it. Technology is a wonderful thing if you know how to use it!

A True Servant

My wife has a servant's heart. Whether she is serving her family or serving her church, she is always a servant! But Jesus called them to Himself and said. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:25-28

Thank you, Lord for giving me a wife that is a genuine follower of Jesus and who lives the life of a servant. She teaches with her life that women are to be...reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-that they admonish the yong women to love thier husbands, to love thier children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to thier own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Titus 2:3-5

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22

I have found a wife; she is a good thing and I have obtained favor from the Lord!

I love you Wendy!

David Speaks!

David speaks

Artwork for the Refrigerator Door by Kyra

Kyra says this picture if for her Granny and Grandad. I love you and I miss you. She also says this picture is for Kacey and Bob, Carson and Spencer. Kyra says she can get on a saddle on the rack, but not one that is on a horse.

Here are some of Kyra's songs you might enjoy.

Teamwork!

Teamwork! This has been one of the best weekends ever! A ministry from San Angelo, Texas came to Grady this week with a worship band, ten college leaders, and an evangelist and led our students in a Katalyst Weekend. God did some amazing things in the lives of our youth and our whole church. It was great. The thing that God kept reminding me of this weekend was the fact that nothing that happened this weekend could have been done by one single person. There were literally dozens of people involved in the weekend. Matter of fact, planning and preparations were taking place months ago for everthing to go smoothly this weekend. God has designed the Body of Christ to function like a team. He has uniquily gifted His children with different gifts so that we function together. One person is incomplete. We need each other. The church is a body, not a group of individuals. When we each seek God and allow His gifting to flow out of our lives, it brings blessing to the entire body. When we are selfish and seek self-gratification, the whole body suffers. David couldn't have slammed this ball if Bud wasn't helping him and Bud needs Kyra to be a point guard to get the ball to him. We are a team!

What is God calling you to do as a part of the team? Have you ever seen the team suffer because you were only thinking about you?

My Daddy

Oh the perspective from the eyes of child….and the influence of Veggie Tales. In our quest for being on top of trends—we subscribe to Net Flix – okay that and living 35 miles from town. Anyway, Kyra just got The Minnesota Cuke yesterday which tells the story of Samson and addresses issues with bullies. Kyra proceeds to tell me the story from her understanding. (By the way, this is one of the VERY best parts of having kids…unless they’re retelling a story about you from their perspective). Anyway, she proceeds to tell me that Samson is BIG like her daddy and that he is really strong, but not as strong as her daddy. Those of us that have biblical background on the story of Samson know what incredible strength he had, but to Kyra, no one is as strong as her daddy. Oh how blessed we are that this little girl that looks up to her daddy with complete adoration and sees a daddy that is a reflection of her Heavenly Father—that he loves her unconditionally, that he desires a relationship with her and that he wants to bless her beyond what she can imagine. She then continues to tell me how Samson was to obey God and not eat grapes or cut his hair and also the power comes from God and not the hair brush. Thank you Lord for daddies…and Veggie Tales

Thank God for Kids!

David can ride a horse, but he has a hard time with riding a laundry basket. You would be surprised how easily a laundry basket can buck you off! My kids love riding things. They love riding horses and they love riding on my back! You have to stay in shape to be a good daddy or your kids will wear you completely out. They have a lot more energy than adults. Look at my precious little girl, isn't she beautiful? And David - He looks like a World War I GI eating popcorn and wearing the bowl for a helmet!

Some thoughts on discipleship

Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations." What is a disciple? A disciple is a learner. I think the church has missed the mark when it comes to discipleship. I didn't go to a class to learn how to do most of the things I do in life. (Not that I am against classes.) But I learned how to do what I do by watching others - especially my parents - do things. Imitation and trial and error is how I learned to do most of what I do. I followed my dad around and watched what he did and I copied him. Then I learned as I went. This is how I learned how to: drive a pickup, shoot a rifle, ride a horse, shave, dig a ditch, tighten a screw or bolt, cut up my eggs, cut a bull calf, open a can of beans...

When it comes to teaching others all that Jesus has taught us we need to think apprentice instead of whatever our idea of disciple is. Here are a couple of pics of my kids learning by imitation. Kyra is learning to shave - something I am sure she will use later, but not on her face! And David is learning to wash dishes. Another interesting thought about discipleship is this: I didn't need their help to do these things. Matter of fact, they were kind of in the way and slowed me down. But it is about more than just getting the job done. You have to teach the next generation. We have to disciple our kids and our spiritual offspring - those new believers we have had the privilege to lead to faith in Jesus Christ.