Below is an excerpt from Keith Chancey’s blog, chanceykeith.wordpress.com. Enjoy!
All of you know me, I always use words like, “ it’s all good, unbelievable, phenomenal, or awesome.” Today I am grasping for a word to describe last week that would be beyond any word I would ever use. The only word I can come up with is the word GLORY. To God be all the glory.
As I was down last week speaking at Mississippi College and in Ruston, LA at Crossroads Church, all I could think of was to God be the glory. I just kept thanking him for the opportunity to spread the word of God and share the love of Jesus. I am overwhelmed with the idea that he could use me. It was a humbling week as I reflected on how much I love getting to do what I get to do in life.
There were so many highlights to my week, but I want to start with this one. I met a boy named Goose in a restaurant named Froghead. Our conversation started over his tattoo, as I asked him, “What’s the story behind the tatt?” He immediately showed me his tattoo that said west on the top of his arm and east on the bottom. He began to explain to me that his sins had been removed as far as the east is from the west. I was moved to tears as this boy shared a story that broke my heart. At 14, he was kicked out of his home, and had been on drugs and sleeping around ever since. His life was a wreck. And one day, he cried out and asked for more in life. He called his aunt “who smiled all the time” and asked her why she smiles. She led him to Christ just recently. Since then, he has been abstaining from the junk in his life, putting it all before the cross and living radically for Jesus. He was my waiter. We spent about an hour and a half taking. Goose is a natural salesman, as he then convinced me to try the fried pickles. He told me if I didn’t like them, he’d buy them. He was willing to put his money on the line. As the night went on, I recognized he was willing to put his life on the line as well for what he now believed in Jesus Christ. I mentioned Goose in chapel at Mississippi College. I’m sure Goose today is being bombarded with people asking him his story. Goose told me that our conversation was the first time he’s ever told anyone about Jesus.
My question today is, “Have you asked anyone today what their story is? In our world there are so many people wishing someone would come up and ask a good question and then be willing to listen. When you’re filled in Christ, you don’t have to prove yourself anymore. You want to hear other people glorify Christ instead. That is why I chose the word GLORY, because of what God has done and the contentment that He has given me to live for Him.
There was a lot more to the week, so I gotta move on. As I left MS & LA, I made my way to Arkadelphia, AR, where I was able to watch the performance of a lifetime. Callie Kay Chancey was a host of Tiger Tunes. Now, I know I’m a gloating dad and highly biased, but what I saw Thursday and Saturday could only be described by the word GLORY. God truly was glorified through a little girl who has grown up to be a wonderful woman of God. She sang like an angel and made her dad cry many times as I watched the gifts God has given her and how her smile electrified an audience. And I know that smile is a gift of God to be used for His GLORY.
I left Arkadelphia to drive to Branson where the continued realization of a GLORY-filled season unfolded. Cameron played a football game Friday night. Without going into too many details, let’s just say the game that was highly influenced by the officiating. Eleven Pirates played 15 players on the other team, including the 4 referees. I know that sounds terrible, but it was so true that night. I’m really glad that it happened though, because I saw our boys dig down deep. We were up 21 to 0 and it looked like we had the game in hand. A few minutes later, the score was 28 to 7 and we were thinking about subbing in other players for experience. All of the sudden, the refs took control and the next thing we knew, the score was 29 to 28 and we were losing. A very interesting moment happened when one of our players got knocked out. Cameron ran onto field and called the players to pray. GLORY–as I watched Cameron understand the true reason they were out there. The game came down to the last play. Cameron had led a couple pass drive down the field. We had one attempt to win a game we thought we’d lost—a 44 yard field goal into the wind. What seemed impossible, God made possible that night as our kicker Fernando kicked it right thru the uprights. We won 31 to 29. GLORY!! But, the reason I say glory is because of what I saw next. The coaches and kids were huddled in the middle of the field celebrating when Cameron again rallied everyone to pray. His prayer made me cry, as he said, “God, thank you for the victory, but the victory that we really want is the victory of living for you. It’s not about winning or losing it’s about giving our very best to your GLORY.” Wow. I am so proud of my kids, so thankful, but most importantly, I just thank my God for the GLORY that He reveals everyday.
This week at the Institute I’ve had the opportunity to teach on evangelism. We looked at John 4 and Acts 8 as models. The one thing I know about evangelism is that our lives are meant to bring GLORY to God. And we do so by letting people know who He is. So this was a very fun week for me. I could say a lot of words and you know me–I’d do it. But the one word I will leave with today is the word GLORY.
