Darryn Scheske

12 Secrets You Need to Know About How God Will Provide For You

Last night my family and I went to the dedication of New Horizon's Church where my friend Eric Wiggins is the Senior Pastor.  Five years ago, Eastern Star Church sent out Pastor Wiggins to start this new church, the third church they have launched. Yesterday, New Horizons church gathered to dedicate a debt-free, 400-seat worship space at 7315 East 75th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46256. A month ago the church occupied what used to be a former Luthern church. In that one month the congregation has doubled in size and a third Sunday worship service is being planned. Eric is an outstanding man of faith and leadership.

Pastor Jeffery A. Johnson, Sr. of Eastern Star Church preached the dedicatory message and it was one of the greatest sermons I've heard in my life. Here are 12 great ideas he developed from Genesis 22:

So Abraham called that place, "The-Lord-Will-Provide" ... God is not just your provider.

• There is a place where God provides. Often we don't get what God has for us because were are not in the place where we are supposed to be. Wayne Gretzky's secret of success was that he honed his skill of anticipating where the puck was going to be and getting there ahead of it. You have to get to the place of God's provision.
• You only get to the place of God's provision when you obey His direction. You have total access to His mercy and grace right where you are, but if you want things to change, if you want to receive the blessing he has for you, you need to do what He tells you to do. Conversely, if you are not experiencing His blessing, are you following His directions? Are you doing what He's already told you to do?
• Don't be discouraged about how long it takes...it is, after all, a test. Are you trusting Him to provide? Do you love the Giver of the gift more than the gift? Are you caught up with the Blessor or the blessing?
• Obey all of God's directions immediately. When God spoke Abraham immediately obeyed and began to prepare to go where God told him to go and to do what God told him to do. He did not procrastinate.
• Go to the specific place God tells you. He is specific. Not every place is for you. The place you are being called is at another level.It means you will probably need to leave others behind that are holding you back. Tell them, "You stay here with the donkeys, be we are going up to the place where God is calling us."
• Bring your own fire with you. When you come to the place of worship don't expect others to have to fire you up. Light your own fire and come prepared. Don't be an idle spectator, waiting for others to inspire you. Maturity is when you do the work to inspire yourself.
• But fire alone is not enough. There are a lot of churches with a lot of fire and, "no lamb." They have the tools, they build their platform, and they are on fire...but where is Jesus?
• There is no worship without sacrifice. But when Issac said, "Where is the Lamb" he was not talking about Jesus...to him, his question meant, "Where is the offering?" There is no worship without an offering. Until you sacrifice something, there is no authentic worship. In the first worship service ever recorded, there was no music, no singing, no liturgy, no sermon...but there was an offering.
• You are the sacrifice God wants. Issac, 17 years old could have overpowered his 117+ year old father...but he layed himself down on the altar. He chose to be a living sacrifice, trusting his father because his father was trusting his Father!
• What are your eyes focused on? God saw two willing hearts, ready to obey, ready to sacrifice everything,...and he said, "Stop!" I see your hearts...and that's all I've ever wanted. I don't need your sacrifice...I've already PROVIDED the sacrifice. While you were so focused by your fear of what was coming, the altar of sacrifice and what it was going to cost you, I had your back!
• When God provides it's always better. Look behind you, before you even came up the mountain...I provided, not a little lamb, a big ram! I know how to bless you exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all you could ask or think!
• Get to to the place of God's provision, obey His directions, don't look back, because He's got your back!

The Amazing Story of Unplanned, Abandoned Baby-X

Sherrie Eldridged entered the world as an unplanned baby, abandoned by her birth, and named Baby X by hospital workers. Watch this incredible testimony shared at Heartland Church this past Sunday on Mother's Day.

Sherrie Eldridge an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and trainer in the field of adoption. Visit her website SherriEldridge.com for a complete listing of her books and may online resources:

• Receive tips on how and when to talk to adopted children about adoption
• Learn how to hear, understand, and speak the heart language of adoptees
• Find practical ways for developing church-based orphan ministries
• Discover the vital roles both birth and adoptive parents play in the adoptee's life
• Find out what is the secret of showing unconditional love to adoptees

You're Going to Love Easter! AfterLife Series Begins...

Dear Heartland Church Family,

Can you believe it? Easter is only a few days away!

I'm looking forward to the flat out incredible Easter Experience we have planned for you and the friends you'll bring with you this year. The message, "Back For You" will be the kick-off message of a brand new sermon series called AFTERLIFE: What really happens after you die? Is there life after death? What will heaven be like? Everyone wants to know! Just check the NY Times and Amazon.com best-seller lists. 80% of Americans say they believe in heaven, but few of us have the slightest clue about what we mean. Resurrection Sunday is the best time of the year to answer these questions.

Here are four specific things that you can do as we prepare to celebrate Easter this this weekend:

1. Invite your friends!
 Did you know that many of your friends would actually attend church with you on Easter if you invited them? I still feel nervous sometimes when inviting them, but maybe it's the fact that we all feel a bit nervous when comes to things that are important to us. One good way to do this is a personal handwritten note inviting them to be your personal guest. Hopefully, you have a few of the Easter invitations that we've given out at church the last few weeks that you can hand out or send to your friends. You can also point them to our website also has the times of the Easter services - which are listed for you at the end of this e-mail.

Additionally, HEARTLAND NOW HAS AN APP! That's right! This would be a cool way to introduce Heartland to friend. Download from our website or the iTunes App Store.

2. Come to ANY service other than the 11:00am on Sunday! 
Our 11:00 service will be packed with many who are coming for the first time, without a friend bringing them. One of the things I love about Heartland is the way that our regular attenders selflessly attend one of our other services to make room for new people at these times. (If you plan on coming to our HSE Campus at 10:00am that would be great!).

3. Help out in any way that you can. 
If you see ANYTHING that needs to be done - a piece of paper that needs to be picked up, a person who needs a question answered, a restroom that needs to be cleaned - I encourage you to "just do it." Another of the great things about Easter at Heartland is the way that we all pull together to meet whatever is needed.

4. Personally celebrate the good news of Easter starting today. 
Just think of it: because of Easter our past is forgiven, our life is worth living and we have a future in heaven! Romans 3:22 says, "We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done." (NLT)

I'm looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!
Darryn

www.heartlandchurch.com


Easter Sunday Service Times:
8:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. at the 96th Street Campus.
10:00 a.m. at the Hamilton Southeastern High School Campus.

Need Directions? http://www.heartlandchurch.com/locations

How Elevating Your Mood Makes You Think Better

A friend gave me a book last summer called, "The Human Operating System: An Owner's Manual" by the Senn Delany Company. It contained one of the most helpful and practical tools I have ever come across, and it has become a part of my daily reflection time.

This little tool called, "The Mood Elevator" is now taped in the cover of my  journal. Here's a the key idea:

The moment-to-moment fluctuations in the quality of our thinking affect the way we feel, or our moods. When experiencing higher-quality thinking, we have feelings at the higher end of the elevator, such as gratitude, generosity, creativity, insight, appreciation, compassion and understanding. When we are experiencing lower-quality thinking, we have feelings like impatience, frustration, hostility, anxiety and judgment. Higher-quality thinking gives us greater "emotional intelligence." If we can learn to identify the quality of our thinking, we will begin to make better choices, exhibit more effective behaviors more often, and avoid less-than-effective behaviors.

We’re all human … we all ride up and down the Mood Elevator. We cannot always be at the top of our game, nor will we always be at the bottom. We may visit a level like "judgmental" or "frustrated," but its human to feel…sometimes we feel good and sometimes we don't. But if it’s just a feeling I can choose different thoughts to dwell on that will move me up a few levels.

Unfortunately, you've probably met people who seem to have permanently set up shop on these levels. Being aware can help us avoid being "trapped" at the bottom of the Mood Elevator. When we live according to our feelings. We will miss out on God-given opportunities. Doors will close for us that should have been opened.

Logging your mood state daily during a period of regular reflection can be extremely helpful in "seeing" why you feel the way you feel, and then chosing to move up to the next leve.  When I log my mood, it helps me to get present to what is driving me. My practice is to log my mood, write a few sentences about why this might be so, then choose the mood I level where I want to be. Then during a time of prayer, I will ask God's help to specifically to move up .

Getting quiet in the presence of God, "counting your blessings," choosing gratitude, will actually improve the quality of your thinking and improve your relationships. 

Let me know what you think!

_______________

Source: Senn, Larry. The Human Operating System: An Owner's Manual. Long Beach, CA: Senn Delaney Leadership Consulting, 2010

Stop Trying So Hard to Become a Good Christian!

It's not hard to be a Christian. In fact, it's pretty easy.

But some people make it hard. I'm seeing a new wave of old legalism being repackaged and repreached.  The message is basically...stop doing bad things, and start doing a list of things that will make you good and holy. They say, "YOU NEED TO DIE TO YOURSELF!" They say it with great passion and seriousness. In fact, if I could turn the volume down and just watch their facial expressions, they're very serious, even downright angry. "It's not going to be easy...it's going to take a lot of willpower!"

Most people just give up. They say in their minds, with my job and my family and my obligations, I just don't have enough time to do all the things that are expected for me to be a good Christian. 

Now, Jesus did say, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." But he also said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

The religous leaders of Jesus' day had literally hundreds of rules to be holy and good. They washed a certain way, wore certain clothes, and had to do certain things on different days. Their entire lives were consumed with good duties and good rules and good disciplines. They were very holy, and very religious. They made it very hard to be godly. In fact, they opposed and killed Jesus for undermining their power by making access to God easy.

Eugene Peterson writes, "There is a general assumption prevalent in the world that it is extremely difficult to be a Christian. While it is true that many don't completely disqualify themselves as "Christians," they do modify their claims: ordinary Christians they call themselves. They respect the church, worship fairly regularly, try to live decently. But they also give themselves somewhat generous margins to allow for the temptations and pressures put upon them by the world. To really be on the way of faith, take with absolute seriousness all that the Bible says – well, that requires a predisposition to saintliness, extraordinary willpower and an unspecified number of nameless austerities that they are quite sure they cannot manage.

But this is as far from the truth as the east is from the west. The easiest thing in the world is to be a Christian. What is hard is to be a sinner. Being a Christian (becoming like Christ) is what we were created for. The life of Faith has the support of an entire creation and the re-sources of a magnificent redemption. The structure of this world was created by God so we can live in it easily and happily as his children. The history we walk in has been repeatedly entered by God, must notably in Jesus Christ, first to show us and then to help us live full of faith and exuberant with purpose. In the course of Christian discipleship we discover that without Christ we were doing it the hard way and that with Christ we are doing it the easy way." (Peterson, Eugene H. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1980.)

Following Jesus is NOT hard! 

It starts with being willing to admit, "I know I'm not God. Jesus is. I'm ready to stop playing God and change my life direction. I give my word to follow Him."

The second admission is being realistic. "I'm not very good about keeping my word. I break promises to myself all the time, so I will enlist a few people to help me keep my word, and I will help them. When I break my word, I'm willing to honor my word, by admiting that I broke it and repromising to what I commited."

That's it! We all have short-comings and we've all broken our word to ourselves and others. We can't keep our own commitment to follow Jesus. So Jesus designed it that we couldn't do it alone.  We'd have to tell the truth to a few people who are committed to the same direction. The Bible calls this behavior, "walking in the light." It's iron sharpening iron and all that sort of thing. 

"If we walk in the light (tell the truth) as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (not pretending, image conscious friendships, but real soul-to-soul connection), and (in that environment we discover) the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

When I walk in the light and tell the truth to another follower of Jesus, I experience God's unconditional love and forgiveness, and that sets me free from guilt and shame that holds me back. 

If I'm willing to keep humbly walking into the light, God's Spirit will change me and make me like Christ.

This is why the "guilt-free zone" culture is so important at Heartland Church. We want to make it easy for people to walk into the light. There really is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Living for the Glory of God

This morning I was struck by this thought from p. 57-58 of Rick Warren's book, "What On Earth Am I Here For? The Purpose Driven Life."

He writes: "In the entire universe, only 2 of God's creations fail to bring glory to him: fallen angels (demons) and us (people).  All sin at its root is falling to give God glory. Its loving anything else more than God. Refusing to bring God glory is prideful rebellion, and it is the sin that caused Satan's fall--and ours too. Gratitude and honor should infuse everything I do. In different ways we have all lived for our own glory, not God's. The Bible says, 'All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)." 

 Although I've known this scripture for years, I have focus on the "All have sinned" part, and have not concentrated on the "glory of God" part. I say it like this.."All of us have not lived up to our own standards let alone that of a Holy God."

But this is a profound thought Pastor Rick illuminates: Yes, sin is failing to give God glory for who He is and what He has done, therefore, I want to reflect his glory in every part of my life. It's a refocusing or redirction of thought...Don't just honor God in a worship service or in a sacred moment.  Paul said, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

I've been trying this week to cultivate the right attitude and right motivation in everything. Does this cause me to trust Him more? Does this reflect gratitude to Him? Does this silence my tongue? Does this make me healthier so my body reflects God's glory? 

The right attitude is ‘I do it out of gratitude.’ The right motivation is ‘I do it to honor God.’

40 Days: #40 RESET on THE BIG PICTURE

DEVOTIONAL #40

The Big Picture
By Steve Arterburn*

We all recognize the traits of good marriages: commitment, communication, quality time, acceptance. Thousands of magazine articles, books, Internet sites, and retreats are devoted to making marriage work. With so many great resources available, why do we still find it so hard to have a good marriage?

Maybe it’s not a matter of how much we know, but how we look at our lives and our partners. Perhaps we need experiences that will change us and let us see our partners with new eyes. Jesus provided three of his disciples something like this during the Transfiguration. Imagine their reverence in seeing the glory of God in the man they had followed for days and months on dusty roads.

There are examples of such changes from a new point of view in our own lives. From the top of Pikes Peak, Katherine Lee Bates was inspired to write “America the Beautiful.” Remember the first time you saw your hometown from an airplane window? Or the first time you saw the distant horizon from the shore of the ocean? These experiences transform us because they give us a larger frame around the picture of our life.

Can we place a larger frame around the picture of our marriage? God gives us descriptions of marriage both holy and joyous that transcend notions of romantic love that fade with time. Can we see our mates as God sees them: “chosen as holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12)? Paul prays that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18) to know his hope, riches, and glory. Can marriage be renewed and sustained by looking on it with enlightened hearts? Through God, all these things are “Yes!” With him, all things are possible.

Today’s Thought based on Revelation 21:2,9
“Raise your expectations of marriage to include the big picture of all it can be...Give up on the unrealistic and unachievable expectation of perpetual heart-throbbing romance and...replace it with the higher model of marriage as the crowning achievement of a lifetime.” —Stephen Arterburn, The 7 Minute Marriage Solution

Read Together
He Reads: Ephesians 4:2-3
She Reads: 1 Peter 3:3-4

Pray Together
"Father, help us to see all there is to see in our marriage that we do not see, to enjoy everything you have planned for us together. Amen."
 

* Steve Arterburn is the founder and chairman of New Life Ministries and host of the # 1 nationally syndicated Christian counseling talk show “New Life Live” heard and watched by millions on over 180 radio stations nationwide in addition to Sirius XM Satellite radio and now seen on television on the Family Net and NRB networks. Steve is also the founder of the Women of Faith conferences attended by over 4,000,000 people. He also serves as a teaching pastor at Heartland Church in Indianapolis.