first times

Hey everyone.

This weekend was kinda special for the Cheuvront family. First of all, it was an amazing week at The Journey. God was moving in some incredible ways. I'm still amazed every week when I come in this place and see the people that God has brought into our folds. All Praise be to Him.

So...... Tiffany and I took our son, Cason to do some things, and it was his first time to do them.

As most of you know, I played on the road with "Lonestar" for many years. It was fun, and Richie MacDonald, the lead singer, and I became great friends. He's kind of like the brother I never had. Love him to death! Anyway, Richie now has a solo career. He doesn't do many shows because he likes to spend time with his family, after being gone on the road for 15 years. But when he does, he calls me to see if I want to go out with him and do a quick performance. So, this weekend was faith and family night at the Nashville Sounds game and we did a show there to promote his Christian Album. Because it was faith and family night, we took our families and watched the game. I got some extra tickets, so we took Erik and Katrina, along with their son, Kaleb (Cason's best friend). It was Cason's first B-Ball game and he loved it. They gave him a couple balls and a bat (which he and Kaleb proceeded to try and throw and hit everywhere they could during the game! (that's a whole other blog!!!) We had a great time, but it was pretty much what was expected..... Hot dogs, baseball, friends and lots of fun.

Second, we took Cason to the movies for the first time. We saw Disney's "UP". It was a really good movie, and just like I suspected, it was completely different than what I thought it would be. They are really good at that. Unlike a lot of other movies, where you see a thousand trailers for them and by the time you actually go, you pretty much know the movie before even watching it, Disney movies have a knack for getting you intrigued just enough to go see them, without really even knowing what they're about.

I think that's a really cool thing b/c you don't know what to expect. And then you're typically pleased with the result. Unlike the baseball game, where we knew what was pretty much going to take place, we walked into a dark theater, with a 3 yr. old, hoping that it would be a good experience.

That got me thinking. What do people expect when they go to church? Is there a pre-conceived idea of what they are going to see? I think so. And most of the time, if they're unchurched or haven't been to church in a long time, that pre-conceived notion could be drastically wrong. For so long the church has had this stigma about it, that when you go.... people are going to make you feel uncomfortable, make you do something that embarrasses you, or even the other extreme. They won't even acknowledge you are even there. Why is that? I'm afraid that the church has become that which Jesus spoke against: A religious institution. It was never intended to be that. It was intended to be a gathering of people who love God, worship only Him, and through the grace and mercy that has been shown to them, they in turn share that hope and love... bringing the only message of hope that there is to a hurting and broken world.

Too many people call themselves Christians and don't have any idea what that means. There's a piece of scripture that I think they need to listen to. Jesus said, on that day people would say, "Master, didn't we prophesy in your name....etc. and He will say, "Depart from me, for I never knew you." Maybe we shouldn't call ourselves Christians anymore. Perhaps it's time to redefine ourselves. "Christian" has become a table-top discussion word. If we are going to be the church.... the church that Jesus instructed us to be, loving those around us, worshiping Him, following His teachings, being obedient to His will (not ours), taking the gospel message to the world and making disciples of ALL the nations.... then perhaps "Christian" is the wrong term. Maybe we should call ourselves exactly what that description says we are..... Christ Followers. And if we did that, and stopped acting like the church that the world has defined us to be, and instead acted like the church we are SUPPOSED to be, maybe people wouldn't feel so put off by all of us "Christians".

Love you all,

Robbie

cool video to open our church services

Hey everyone. This is a cool video that we use to start our church service with. It's really awesome, cause, it's exactly what we wanted to say, and do for a video.... and someone else did it for us. Thanks to whoever you are!!!!!

Had to try this

Well, Since seeing Erik's video that he created for a Journey Preview... I had to do one for myself. It just looked like too much fun. So, here ya go folks. Enjoy!!!!!

Baby Names

Ok, if there was ever a reason to stop at one kid..... this is it:

What in the crap are we gonna name this child? This seems to be the question asked every five minutes in our house, right now! With our son, Cason, we spent almost 6 months looking for his name. Now, I know this is gonna sound cheeky, and perhaps just goofy, but we named him after the street where the first house we lived in was on. Cason Lane. We actually thought about naming him Cason Lane. But after some thought and trial and error of other names, we came up with what is his middle name,.... Makail. We probably went through every name book we could find, every internet sight we could look up, and everything else in between. Finally, someone suggested that we look on a map and find cool city names, or landmarks. Exhausted from looking, we did. And that's where we came up with Cason. 

So now, we're pregnant again (I say that like I have anything to do with carrying our little girl around for nine months!) and we're right back where we started three years ago.... searching for a name. And just like last time, we're tapped out. Nothing seems to fit. So, this time, I'm throwing it out to you guys and girls. Comment to me with your suggestions and maybe Tiffany and I will use one. If we do, we'll post it on our blogs and myspace and facebook and twitter... and you can be known as the person who named our little girl! Sound fun? 

So shoot us your names. Remember, it's got to be something unique, as we have exhausted the normal repertoire. 

C-y'all

-robbie

What R We Doing?

Hey all.

I've been struggling with this blog for a couple weeks now. I've been wondering if it's really worth my time to sit and write every day, or every other day, when I could be out actively doing something to be intentional for God. I won't bore you with the details, but I think I found my answer. It actually came to me in the form of a question. During my prayer time, while I was asking God what to do about this blog, I heard the question, "What are you doing?", meaning, if I'm not trying to reach someone through my writing, or make a difference to someone with some thoughts that God has lain on my heart, what am I doing instead? 

It took me awhile to answer that. What I figured out is, I do a lot of stuff. But how much of it is just tasks so that the ministry can happen around me? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm learning that sometimes writing a blog may be more effective in reaching someone, or at least make them think about something, than all the tasks in the world. Let's be real. We can all do tasks until Jesus comes back. What did we do with what He gave us? Good question. He asked it Himself. 

We're in the middle of a new series at The Journey called "Sent".  One of the Key passages so far, that has stood out to me, was when Jesus asked Peter, "Simon, do you love me?". They begin to have a conversation that just goes to show the burden that Jesus has for us and the lengths to which He expects us to go to show that love. 

I hope you all will ask yourselves, "What are we doing?" And I hope that when you ask that question of yourself, you will know what the answer is SUPPOSED to be. 

To join in with the conversation further, visit Erik's blog. We are doing a reading challenge of the book of Acts. It's a chance for you to read about the early church, give your opinion and hear what others are saying. I look forward to hearing from you all. Please feel free to leave me a comment as well. I will try to answer everyone.

Love y'all,

Robbie