Scott Cheatham’s Weblog

With my illness these past few days, it’s hard for me to believe that we are now in the last day of 2008.  

Have you had time to review the past year?  What goals did you achieve that you set out to tackle at this time last year?  If you’re in the middle of them, have you updated your action list to move them forward or even accomplish them?

Is your reading list up to date?  Do you have a reading list?  In what areas do you personally want to grow in 2009?  Have you set up a plan to do so?

There’s nothing we can do about 2008 now that she’s gone, gone, gone!  2009 gives up a fresh slate though and another year to tackle dreams, achieve new goals, grow professionally, and put our finances back in order.

Enjoy the last hours of the year.  Take time to plan for your best year in 2009!

…So that I can rest!  Still under the weather with a wonderful post holiday cold.  Vicks anyone?

I’ll try to get back to this tomorrow but if not, definitely by Thursday!  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by again!

As a longtime baseball fan, I am looking forward to the launch this week of the MLB network.  I’ve wondered why baseball has lagged behind the NBA and NFL on this as both have their own networks.  Soccer essentially has their own channel too with the Fox Channel devoted to it.

Growing up in St. Louis, baseball has always been a part of my life.  My Dad sold scorecards as a kid in the old Sportsman park when he was 10 and 11 years old.  He has so much memorabilia from the 40’s and 50’s when he was growing up.  As a kid, I treasured these old books, scorecards, and pictures.

Living in Colorado now, I see the difference.  Football is a religion out here (as a pastor, I’m not joking either.  I can count on vacancies on Sunday’s when the team is in town!).  Baseball is watched only when the team is competitive and I think I’m the only one who keeps score at Coors field when I go!  I love the other sports, hockey especially, but baseball is in my blood and I’m excited to be able to start thinking about pitchers and catchers reporting to camp in a few weeks by watching the new MLB network on New Year’s Day Thursday!

Serious posting resumes tomorrow…I think!

Is it Christmas yet?  Wow!  Where did the time go?  It started Tuesday evening when I wasn’t feeling just right and then Christmas Eve was spent sick in bed!  Yesterday though, I felt a bit better and was able to enjoy the day with my family.  My wife and I both have family living in Illinois so it’s hard to imagine having to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s away but we have to.  This year, my wife’s mother flew in to spend the holiday with us after a tough year (my wife’s oldest brother died at only 43 just days before his 44th birthday this past spring).  I think it did her good to be with her grandkids.

So today, I’m playing catch up from the holidays and from being sick!  I’ll enjoy my coffee afterwards…

The Book Giveaway!

There wasn’t quite the interest in the book as I thought there would be.  Perhaps many of my readers already had it or they have enough books!  In any event, three people responded so I didn’t have to worry about drawing names (That’s good since I didn’t want to be accused of playing favorites!)  The winners are:

Travis Penn of Salem, Illinois
Chuck Musselwhite of Lompoc, California &
Aaron Abbott of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas 

Thanks for stopping by guys and your books will be in the mail sometime this weekend!

Linkfest…

Here’s a few items for you to enjoy heading into this after Christmas Weekend…

Let’s start with a freebie.  Everyone likes free.  Leo Babauta at Zen Habits is getting ready to publish his first book for Hyperion.  Titled “The Power of Less”, the book is a natural outgrowth from Leo’s first two ebooks released through his site.  Yesterday, Leo posted a link for you to download a free ebook based on the new printed work coming out soon titled “Thriving on Less”.  As a believer in simplicity, I understand Babauta’s passion for learning to de-clutter your life.  You can download the free ebook by CLICKING HERE.

Travis Penn at “The Sweetest Frame” put together a nice article on the media’s fascination for putting down Christians who oppose homosexual marriage.  This piece made me think and wonder where we will be in the next 20 years on this issue.

Dustin Wax is writing a blog series to end the year on the very well done “Lifehack” blog.  Today’s column “The Trouble with GTD” is for productivity geeks like me who enjoy discussing the various ways we can incorporate routines to make our lives more productive.  “Getting Things Done” or GTD for short, is a book that has revolutionized the topic.  Alas, it is NOT for everyone (which is expected since we are all wired different).  Wax is brave to discuss the possible problems some have with GTD since it’s founder, David Allen, has a cult-like following.  I use and enjoy much of GTD’s tips but I don’t use the entire system myself.  I think it’s best we find what works for us in our environment and incorporate the best of what we read that will work in that framework. 

I stand corrected!  On December 16th, I posted a review of my initial analysis of what I consider to be the two finest cross-reference works on the Bible; The “New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge” and Thomas Nelson’s “Cross Reference Guide to the Bible.”  In my review, I noted the new Nelson’s work was thinner and easier to carry and made the assumption that some references must have been cut out.  I WAS WRONG!  Imagine my pleasant surprise when the editor of these two works, Jerome Smith, personally wrote me to thank me for my reviews and then he added this:

I must let you know that Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible does not contain fewer, but more cross references than The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Not one single connection within Scripture has been “lost” or eliminated. What I did was to very carefully and meticulously consolidate redundant sets of references at about 2000 places or “key reference points,” to which all other passages on the same theme were “consolidated,” with a “+” symbol to send the user to the major key reference point where the full set of references is given. Assuming that each of the 2000 “key reference points” had on average about ten reference passages consolidated with or to it, that would involve up to about 20,000 verses which have been consolidated. Since the Bible contains about 30,000 verses, the process did result in an apparent “shrinking” of the number of references in up to two-thirds of the Bible. In the process, I improved the accuracy of the cross references by sorting them out more accurately to the appropriate key words for each verse, adding many additional key words in the process. This helps reduce the feeling “But what does this reference have to do with the verse I started with?” In the process I actually added over 200 unique very important cross references never given in any other reference source before.

I was so glad to hear this and from the man who created this work himself!  I made my initial comment on a very quick analysis of the two books so I am glad to hear that the works are similar not only in their usefulness but also in their depth.  Having both works in my possession, I can say I’m quite impressed even more with the revision now.  Thank you Mr. Smith for clarifying that for me!

Have a great weekend!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 
(Luke 2:11 ESV)

Hello to you and thanks again for stopping by my blog!  I’ve been so blessed since I’ve started writing regularly here.  Many of you have sent me very thoughtful comments and the friends I’ve made online through this blog are ones I would have never made otherwise.  It’s a blessing knowing you and I’m humbled that you find value in stopping by here to read my thoughts.

As a way of celebrating the Christmas season (my first at this blog site), I’d like to give away four copies of the book “What is a Healthy Church” by Mark Dever.  I purchased a case of these books earlier this year to give to some church planting friends of mine and as I was moving boxes into our new storefront church site, I came across the last few of these that I had.  I want to give these to people who will actually benefit from and enjoy the writing of this well known author/pastor.

Whether you agree or disagree with Dever, he has brought a much needed voice to church polity and practice these past few years.  The church he now pastors, Capitol Hill Baptist, is unique in its operation and open to share with any who ask.  Dever’s best known work, “The 9 Marks of a Healthy Church”, has been a best seller and spawned the growth of the “IX Marks” website which provides advice, book reviews, and thoughtful articles slanted towards the 9-marks doctrinal position.

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed hearing Dever speak, reading hiw books, and incorporating some of his ideas into my own ministry.  Again, you may not agree with all he writes, but his books make you think.

The book I’m giving away today is a simplified version of his “9-Marks” book.  It was designed to give a quick primer about what Dever feels are the best qualities of a healthy church.  A lot of good advice is dispensed in this slim book and the pastors I gave them too all agreed that there is something of value in this book for any position you might hold.

So here’s how this will work.  [Send me an email] with the subject line “book giveaway” and include your name and address in the body text.  At 9pm this evening (Mountain Standard Time), I will randomly select four names from any entries I receive.  Those drawn will receive a copy of the book in the mail within a few days (I’m sure with the heavy Christmas volume of mail it will take about a week or so).  I will post the winners in tomorrow morning’s post and drop the books in the mail shortly thereafter.

Most importantly, I thank each of you for stopping by here regularly.  The blogosphere is a crowded place these days and I’m so glad to have you as a reader!  God Bless, Good Luck, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As the final days leading up to Christmas wind down, now is a good time for you to take a few hours and begin to think about the goals you want to achieve in the coming year.  I know, I know.  New Year’s resolutions are just around the corner but why do so many make and then fail to keep them?  Perhaps it’s because people fail to plan what it is they want to achieve.  If you fall into that category, then what follows is a simple plan that can help you achieve more in the coming year.

1. Make time to sit down and brainstorm your goals
The first step is the hardest.  Sitting down with a cup of coffee or tea with a notebook and pencil is critical (I recommend pencil since you might be erasing a bit as you go).  Our goals tend to be focused in only a few areas like career, personal, relational, and financial (though financial could be integrated into personal and/or career).  It’s important as you begin to not limit yourself as to what you want to achieve and what is most important to you.  If you are not passionate about the goals you set, you will NEVER achieve them.

For this step, I would recommend that you write everything down that comes to you and then, step back for a minute or two and edit your writing to focus on a few areas.  Once you’ve done this, you can move on to the next step.

2. Are these goals realistic?
You can make goals challenging but are they realistic?  Perhaps you’ve always wanted to aquire an advanced college degree (I do!).  Writing that down as a goal is good but saying the goal is to get it done in a year is probably not realistic.  As you brainstorm your goals as mentioned in step one, begin to narrow the focus of each one and break it down into achievable pieces.  This does a couple of things.  First, it helps you outline the steps needed to achieve the goal and secondly, it gives you markers to celebrate as you journey down the path to ultimately seeing the goal achieved.  If you want to lose 50 pounds next year, why not start with losing 10 pounds by the spring?  If you achieve this first, it will give you a reason to celebrate and the motivation to continue towards better results.

3. Craft your “plan of attack”
I’ve already mentioned narrowing your focus but here’s how to take this step a little further.  As you create your “goals” list, begin by picking just a few that are most important to you.  Don’t try to achieve everything on your initial list (it’s not realistic either!).  You may want to move some goals to a “futures” list to review after you’ve achieved the most important ones first.  I’m not saying procrastinate on those but you can only focus your attention in so many areas.  Find your passion and then line up your goals that are most important.  From there, take each goal and create a list of steps that you will need to achieve to ultimately reach the goal itself.  Using my weight loss example, you might have steps like “Join a gym” or “purchase a treadmill”.  From there, it might include “clean out fridge”, “purchase more fruits and veggies”, and “buy a leash so I can take the dog with me on my walks”.    Add new steps like “create eating plan”, “purchase notebook for food record’, etc.  You get the idea.  The key is, each major goal always has mulitple steps and acknowledging these by writing them down gives you smaller steps to celebrate and keep you motivated.  Which leads me to the next step…

4. Reward yourself along the way
If you’re like me, you have a list of books, CD’s, tech toys, and other “things” you’d like to have over time.  Use these as motivators to get you going.  If you’re working on losing weight, reward yourself after the first 10 pounds by buying yourself that CD you’ve put off for a few months.  Go online and get that ebook you’ve wanted to read.  As you hit a milestone like 25 pounds or whatever might be a midway point, give yourself the gift of a tech toy or perhaps a massage if that’s your thing.  An “ebook” for me is $10.  That’s not much but I build these in as motivators and my wife doesn’t care if it helps me move along towards a larger goal.

5. Celebrate your accomplishments
As you achieve the goals you outline, take the time to celebrate with those closest to you.  I’m in the last few credits of a second degree I’m pursuing at a local college and I already have set and planned my long term goal of starting on a graduate program right after that.  I’ve already told my wife that should I reach the goal I’ve set for myself (which I have outlined the entire year’s worth of credits so I have a “plan of attack”), then we will celebrate by taking a much needed vacation since the last few years have been hectic with my studies.  The point is, celebrate!  Achieving a long range goal is quite an accomplishment and you can do it!

This is a simple plan and you make it as detailed as you like.  the point is, you MUST get started if you’re ever to reach a destination.  The majority of people you see achieving their goals likely didn’t get there by chance.  More often, they followed a plan similar to this and had their destination lined out before they ever began.  With the Christmas and New Year’s holiday giving us a bit of time to reflect, now is the perfect time to brainstorm, narrow your focus, and create a plan of attack to achieve more than you ever thought possible.  You can do it!  Contact me if I can be of help to you in this!

Here’s a recap of some posts I thought you might enjoy this weekend…

As we head into the final few days before Christmas, Leo Babauta has a nice column on how to beat those holiday blues!

Pastor and Author Robert J. Morgan journals on his book “Come Let Us Adore Him” which would be something nice to read as you enjoy some coffee or tea on a cold wintry night before Christmas!

The folks who write for “Men With Pens” (A writers blog) had a nice post this week on “How to Deal with Cranks, Flamers, and Trolls” regarding emails and our responses to them.  This applies in so many areas but the key here is learning control and how to step away from our initial reaction to such criticism.  In today’s email and run world, I can’t count the times I’ve received emails from people rather than a personal phone call.  We must be careful in how we respond.  This article does a good job discussing this.

..and last but not least

My blogging friend Bob Hyatt shares his experience with a new conferencing program called “Tokbox”.  I’ve been using Skype for most of my conferencing online but I’ve been hearing about this new program that requires no software download to your machine (always a good thing), it’s free, and you basically just have to plug in a head set and go!  I’m looking into it as a way to conference and connect with others.

That’s it for this weekend.  I’ll see you again on Monday!

I have tried and participated in many things as a small group member, teacher, and now church pastor.  I started out years ago with a standard quarterly  curriculum in a Sunday School class that studied books of the bible.  This was good but after a time, we switched over to topical material (finances, marriage, etc.)  This led to a “singles” class for those not married who couldn’t benefit from the marriage curriculum.  Then we tried splitting off groups to discuss various topics each week with each person having the option to change groups each week.

I’ve read countless books on “free-market” groups that encourage more social gatherings along with the standard bible study offerings.  I’ve looked at “semester” based groups as opposed to “quarterly”.  Most recently, I’ve examined the “sermon-based” small group that is championed in the book “Sticky Church”. 

So what works for you?  Do you like quarterly or semester time schedules?  Sermon based, bible books, or topical?  Do you suspend your groups over the summer months or do you keep on going even if only a handful show up?

Many questions.  I’d love to discuss with some of you about this.  Please comment if you’re inclined and let’s have a dialog about this topic.

One of my Christmas presents arrives later today!  Perhaps it’s my anniversary gift (my 21st wedding anniversary is tomorrow).  Regardless, I will soon by the happy owner of a Levenger “Saddlebag Sling” (in black) at some point today.

I had wanted a bag like this for some time and Levenger is known for it’s high quality products.  Shortly after Steve Leveen (Levenger owner) blogged about these bags a few weeks back, I knew I wanted one soon.

Shortly after showing them to my wife, an email arrived with a coupon from Levenger so I talked to my wife again and asked her which color she liked (black or “tobacco”) and she chose black.  After smiling at me and shaking her head, I clicked a few times through and had my bag!  This was just last week but now I see that Levenger, at least for the time being, is no longer carrying these bags.  I don’t know why but I’m glad I got my order in and didn’t wait any longer.  Had I waited until after the first of the year like I was going to, I wouldn’t have gotten one.  I’m curious as to why they are no longer being carried by Levenger after Leveen’s blog made a point to note how many they had sold since introducing them to their customers.  Perhaps new ones are being made or it’s being redesigned.  I don’t know but it’s the perfect size bag for me to take on travel, out to the coffe shops, and to my church on Sundays.  I can fit just what I need in there without having too much.   I’ll still use my messenger bag some, but it will be transitioning to more of a school/study bag for me while I make the switch to this excellent little leather product!

I’ll post some pics after I’ve switched for a bit and let you know how I like it.  Since it’s from Levenger, I’m sure it will be great.