Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

April 16, 2018


The 2018 Spring tennis season is finished! It was a great weekend of tennis and celebrations. Last Friday we celebrated Coach Dee and her 41 years of serving as Coach of the Women’s tennis team as well as the seniors. Saturday, we celebrated one of our own, Meghan Gallogly (freshman), as it was her 19th birthday! Her sweet parents brought us all cupcakes. Even though we lost that day, it was still a joyful day.

On Friday, there was a great turnout of fans with it being senior day for the girls team and both the men and women’s team playing at about the same time. The weather was gorgeous too, so that helped create a great turnout. Attached are some pictures from the fun that afternoon! We won our match against Alderson Broaddus that day, too!



Saturday, we had to play indoors at Five Seasons because of the rain. We only won one of our courts that day against Davis & Elkins. But it’s okay! It was a great season and now we will use the time we used for practice and matches to accomplish other things and hopefully spend some of the time just chilling!

This is the last blog I will ever write for the Cedarville Women’s tennis team, after three years of having this job. I have greatly enjoyed this role because it has forced me to reflect on God’s goodness and what He is showing me whether it be to myself, directly, or learning from people around me. I have been blessed so much through blogging for the team. Thank you to those who have read my blogs throughout the years and been a constant encouragement. It has meant more than you know each and every time one of you compliments my writing or lets me know that you were encouraged by it. Jesus is so sweet and uses whatever He pleases to show His goodness.

To close, I want to tell you something I keep realizing more and more: the more things I ask God for or go to Him about, the more I see Him answering. Asking for little things like, warm weather for a tennis match, to help me complete an assignment, remind me to pray for someone, etc., HE ANSWERS. And the more we ask Him for and go to Him about, the more we notice and see Him answering. So, what I have concluded is that we need to ask Him for anything and everything. We will continue to be blown away as we see Him answering thing after thing. Remember to go to Him with not only the big things, but the tiny things, too!

I’m excited to see how the next blogger uses this role. I’m confident it’ll be great. Bye ya’ll!

Needing Jesus always,

Kendall Heydt


April 12, 2018

Last weekend was equally mixed with an amazing win, and an amazing loss. What I mean is, we won our match on Friday 9-0, and lost our match on Saturday 9-0. The team we played on Saturday (Walsh) was made up of the strongest group of players I have ever seen during my college career at Cedarville. Their talent and level of play was far above our own, making it extremely fun to watch, as Cedarville tried their best and looked good as they fought against Walsh’s team. I am proud of both the men’s and women’s teams for their hard work and focus on Saturday. (Sidenote: The men’s team played Walsh at the same time we did, sharing a total of four indoor courts…let’s just say, it was a long day)

Our last regular season match of the spring is this weekend. It has not been decided when the matches will be played, for more reasons than one, I believe. I do not have a whole lot of extra information than that, as we, the athletes, show up to the designated area at the time the coaches tell us to! So, I can’t tell you exact time that we will be playing at this moment, but it will be happening sometime during this week.
What I do know, is we will need to win both matches this week in order to make it to the G-MAC tournament! LET’S GO GIRLS!
(Editor's Note: Senior Day is Fri., April 13 at 2pm vs Alderson Broaddus, Sat., vs Davis & Elkins is scheduled for 6pm indoors at Five Seasons Sports Club)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SENIOR day/night will be one of the days we have a match this week! So, I want to give a shoutout to my senior girls who I love so much.

Deanna, I am so thankful to have had three and a half years with you, getting to know you more and more and creating a lasting friendship with you. You are precious. You are a wonderful teammate as you encourage daily and play competitively; probably as the most competitive person on the team! Thanks for being so sweet. Love you!

Kelly, I am so thankful to have had three and a half years with you, as well! I appreciate how well you listen, and how good you are at remembering things happening in the lives of people around you. It means so much when you check on something in my life that I have only talked with you about one time. The fact that your love for tennis has not diminished, no matter how many or how little matches you play, amazes me and shows that Jesus lives in you, because your attitude is most definitely not something us humans have naturally. Love you!

Audra, I am so thankful to have had two and a half years with you, getting to know you more and more each year! I’ve told you once and I’ll gladly tell you a million times…you are the most joyful person I have ever known. Your thankful heart rubs off on all of us, and it’s so evident. Love you, sweet girl!

And I can honestly say that those three girls truly love Jesus. You would know it if you talked to them for about five minutes. How awesome is that?

To end this blog…God is in control. All powers, authorities, angels, are in submission to Him (1 Peter 3:22). Nothing comes as a surprise to Him and everything that happens in our lives or in this world goes through Him first. And because of that, we can have peace. Praise Jesus!

Needing Jesus always,

Kendall Heydt (Senior)

Song of the Week: Come to the Table by Sidewalk Prophets


April 3, 2018

Our first home match of the Spring is in the books! I was unable to be at the matches last Friday and Saturday afternoon because I was at home, sick with a virus, but I heard the girls put up such a good fight even though the outcomes were two losses. The two teams we played this past weekend were Findlay (6-3) and Hillsdale (9-0); both teams with great talent and skill. When I asked the girls how the matches went, they responded confidently and happily, explaining that they played well, it was a humbling experience, and their opponents were friendly. That was a good report to receive!

Our next two matches will be away matches in northern Ohio; one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday afternoon. The season is already flying by, as we conclude our regular season on the weekend of April 13th and 14th. Please come out and support the Lady Jackets as we finish our regular season on the good ‘ole home turf!
 

• CU vs. Alderson Broaddus / Friday, April 13 at 4 p.m.
• CU vs. Davis & Elkins / Saturday, April 14 at 10 a.m.

 I will be keeping this blog short and sweet.

I want

 to dedicate the closing of this blog to Coach Dee Morris. Why? Because her legacy of 41 God-centered years of coaching will be coming to an end after this spring season finishes.

She will continue her other duties and responsibilities as a professor, advisor, and PA, but her coaching will soon come to a close. Coach announced this information to us during spring break in Florida and has been waiting for the right time to announce the news more publicly. Tears were shed, but for me, a senior, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness that I got to have Coach as my coach for all four years of my college experience. I got to experience her care, grace, generosity, sense of humor, love for Jesus, and the boldness to ask to pray with the opposing team before every match whether the opposing team is a team of believers or not. I feel so blessed that I get to end my tennis career with her. Thank you, Coach for all you have done for our team this year, and the many teams that came before us. I can assure you, this is not the last time you will hear something like this from one of your athletes. I love you, Coach!

I can’t speak for everyone, but if I am going to speak for myself, I believe it’s rare to find a Coach who is as dedicated to Jesus before everything else in her life, even with the massive drive she has for academics and medicine. No matter how strong of a drive she has for those two areas of her life, Jesus trumps them each and every time, and for that, I love and admire her so much.

Reminding myself to have a grateful and thankful heart as I go about my week. Join me!

Needing Jesus always,

Kendall Heydt

Song of the Week: Friends by Michael W. Smith


March 26, 2018

It was a cold weekend of tennis this past weekend, but we were lucky enough to be hosted by both Brescia and Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) at indoor courts in Owensboro, KY. The facility is pretty new, and has both outdoor and indoor courts. On Friday, we played Brescia and used the facility’s outdoor courts because the weather wasn’t bad at all; just a little chilly. We finished Friday’s match with a 9-0 victory. A few of those points came from the other team not having more than five players, but the rest came from our team playing really well.

On Saturday, we used the facility’s indoor courts because of rain and cold weather. Saturday’s match was against KWC, whose team is in our conference. So, this match really mattered as only four teams get into the G-MAC Tournament. This match took a wee bit of patience, to say the least, because we only had three courts to play on. Our three doubles got out there and played their best. We finished doubles down 2-1 against KWC. Then, our singles got out there… only three at a time, leaving three left to play (because there are six singles), once those finished up. I am pleased to say that we finished with a win (5-2). We ended the match the second it was decided. A couple of our girls didn’t get to finish, but it’s okay, because we won!

We have two home matches this weekend. Friday, we play Findlay, and Saturday we play Hillsdale. This is the way the rest of the season is going to look…two away matches one weekend, two home matches the next, two away matches one weekend, two home matches the next. So, it’s easy to keep up with and is a great reason for all those reading this to COME SUPPORT THE LADY JACKETS. Three more weekends left of matches, and then the tournament, that is, if we get into the tourney.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who needs some Jesus and/or reminders of His promises? I know I do.

I think of the Lothrop’s, the Grimmie’s, the Bassett’s…all families who have lost a child and sibling, and I just can’t fathom it. I’m sure a few families come to your mind as well. How are they doing it? How are they making it…Jesus, comfort them. I know that You never, ever forsake them, not even for a moment and You want us to cling to Your hope. The hope that is the gospel. The hope that is from You coming to earth, dying for us, and then being raised from the dead, and that is the plan You have for each of Your children; that when we die we will be raised again to be with You, for eternity. When something as awful as losing a child and sibling happens, I can only imagine that when that person or other things are taken away from us, we stand face to face with Your hope and see whether or not that is where our true hope really is. Oh Jesus, help us to have You and Your promise of eternity with You be our hope…even before something as awful as losing someone happens here on earth. Help us to understand what the hope is that comes from You. And Jesus, somehow, comfort them.

Praying for those families mentioned above and others who have lost someone.

Here are some verses that are comforting for me and I hope for you, too!

"In peace I will lie down and sleep; for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me." Psalm 3:5

"In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation." Psalm 5:3

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13

Have a great week!

Needing Jesus always,

Kendall Heydt

Song of the Week: Awesome God by Rich Mullins (an oldie, but a goodie)


March 10, 2018

Another spring break with the tennis team in the books. Our season opener is our spring break trip down to Florida where we play teams that we usually never get the chance to play again during the season. What a treat it is to travel down from cold, bi-polar Ohio weather to warm, always sunny Florida! For us seniors, this was our last spring break trip down to Florida and for the freshmen, it was the first of a few spring break trips they will have to play competitive tennis and make memories with the team.
 
This week was eventful in its own way, as each spring break trip is unique and memorable in its own way. Typically, almost every night, the team comes together for a meal prepared by Becky and Kathy, in their hotel room. We share a meal and then take turns sharing our testimonies with each other. This year, we basically did just that but with a different spin to it. Rather than sharing our testimonies, we shared what God has been teaching us in the past year. We also had a couple people, including myself, share what we have learned from Him, before the church service we attended on Sunday, because we arrived at the church an hour earlier than we needed to -- oops! It made for a special time, in the beautiful weather, outside of the church, for four of us to share what Jesus is teaching us through His Word, Himself, and many other vessels. It is a time when we get to know the girls on our team better, and this year, it provided each of us with so much wisdom that Jesus has given to each individual; wisdom that we can all take and use in our own lives.
 
A couple of the things the girls said they have been learning included:

1. Praying with expectation and praying specifically.
2. Continually reminding ourselves that our identity is found in Christ, and Christ alone.
3. We cannot do things with our own strength, but need the strength of God Almighty for all things.

The wisdom shared was amazing to listen to because it was things that all of us can learn from.
 
On a more somber, yet perfectly fine and good note, Kathy, one of our chaplains, made us aware that she will be stepping back from serving on our team once this tennis season is complete. She is a pastor’s wife who takes her role very seriously, in the way she serves in multiple areas, and desires to invest in each area to the best of her ability. We will miss her greatly, but as a senior, I feel so thankful and blessed to have had her as a role model and voice of truth for all four years of my college career. It sounds a bit selfish, but it’s the truth!
 
For those of you who want to know how the competitive play went this week, here you go! We won our first match against Seton Hill, 5-4. Our only loss of the week was our second match, against Bentley (6-3). Then, our third match, which was on the same day as our second match ended in a victory against Northwestern Iowa (7-2). The fourth match was another win, but not as close as the day before (5-4 against Rhodes). And our fifth and final match of the week, played on Thursday ended as a win against University of Mary, 7-2.
 
Overall, a great start to our season; a few hard losses for some individuals on the team and some confidence boosters for others. We will move forward from this week with practices, Bible study once a week (as usual), and matches will start up two weeks from the time we get back from Florida. Be on the lookout for a blog from me once a week once you read this one. I give updates on the team, match results, and always a piece of Truth.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Blessed are those who take refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8
 
I was reading this verse two weeks ago. I wanted to know, really know, and understand what it meant to take refuge in Jesus. What does it mean to take refuge in something or someone?
 
“To take refuge is to find a safe place. You might take refuge under a bridge in a hail storm, or in a basement during a tornado. Refuge comes from a French word meaning "to flee," and, in most cases, a refuge is a place to flee to in order to get away from people or places that are unsafe.”
 
“But the Lord is FAITHFUL, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”  II Thessalonians 3:3
 
So basically, if we turn to God when we feel unsafe or not at peace, we will be blessed (Psalm 34:8) because His peace and joy overflow within us when we choose to trust in Him. If I am running to people, such as my family or fiancé, or even to things such as a safe apartment, or a good car, I am only setting myself up to be disappointed. Why? Because those people and things are not meant to be my refuge. At least not my Ultimate refuge. God is the only One who should be our true refuge. It is He who never changes. It is He does what He says He is going to do or has already done and will continue to do. He never makes a promise He won’t keep. Never.
 
I feel like the first blog of the season is always a bit long, so I apologize for that.
 
Song of the Week: Reckless Love (of God) by Native Kingdom

Needing Jesus always,
 
Kendall Heydt


October 3, 2017

The Lady Jackets lost to Bluefield 6-3 last Saturday morning in the ‘ville. Doesn’t sound too bad, huh? Ok. Let me give it to you straight. Bluefield only had four players. In order to win a match as a team, you have to get six points. One point per court won. Bluefield won all their courts: 1st and 2nd doubles (no 3rd doubles because they only have four players), and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th singles. Add those up and you get six. They won. But usually, there are nine points up for grabs. So, the three courts we didn’t get to play due to Bluefield only having four players are our points. Hence the 6-3 score (another way to put it: Bluefield defeated Cedarville 6-0). We technically did not win a single court. Hope that made sense.
 

I have to give the biggest shoutout to ALL THE FANS that showed up Saturday morning for both our match and the men’s tennis match. I couldn’t get over how many people came out to support us. The weather was beautiful and the competition was great. And having all of you there made it even better. Thank you.

I am writing this on the day that most of us heard about the Las Vegas shooting. I am grieved by what happened.

I started to wonder how God feels when things like this happen. Nothing ever comes as a surprise to Him. He allowed the Vegas shooting to happen. But how does He feel when something so awful and evil happens?

"Jesus wept." John 11:35

Why did Jesus weep? Does He weep at other times in the Bible? Do we have any record of other times He has wept? I wanted to know the answers.

Some context: Jesus’ friend and Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, died. Jesus could have went to Lazarus days before Lazarus died but Jesus chose not to. He chose not to so that He could raise Lazarus from the dead, leading those who witnessed it and heard about Lazarus being raised back to life to believe in Him. To believe that God sent Him.

Lazarus’s death is one of the reasons Jesus wept.

Jesus wept as a result of both Mary and the Jews comforting her weeping and being "deeply moved in spirit and troubled".

So, Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die and also knew He was going to raise Him from the dead, and yet He still wept? Yes. Why???

Compassion for suffering - He didn’t take the suffering He allowed to happen lightly.

"As the ‘image of the invisible God, in Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus we get a glimpse of how the Father feels over the affliction and grief His children experience" - Jon Bloom (Desiring God)

The cost of redemption - "The cross was just days away, and no one really knew the inner distress Jesus was experiencing." - Jon Bloom

He was dreading both the crucifixion and His father’s wrath/forsakenness He was going to go through in the coming days. And no one around Him understood what was about to happen to the full extent He did.

Raising Lazarus back to life caused the Pharisees to finally take the action to put Him to death. "His reasons for not sparing us these things [death and suffering] are righteous and glorious. But in them He is full of compassion. He hates the calamity sin brings, and He Himself has suffered more than we will ever know in order to pay the full cost of our eternal redemption." - Jon Bloom

So, He hates what calamity sin brings, but He allows it?

On the contrary, He knows its going to bring Him glory and is for our good, but He still hates it? All of these are the questions that were going through my mind as I read more and more.

"Because His love is great, He made our pains His own."
"In love, He weeps with those who weep."
- David Mathis (Desiring God)

Wouldn’t He be crying all the time then? My answer to this question:

No, I don’t think so at all. I think this is one of those things that we cannot understand. Same as trying to understand how God is everywhere at once. Same as trying to understand how God hears all the millions of prayers to Him, all at the same time. We can’t. And that’s ok.

The calamity of sin. Jesus was not only moved by the spirit to tears, but He was troubled. Meaning, he was outraged in anger. Another way to put it: emotional indignation.

"…grief and compassion wihtout outrage reduce to mere sentiment, while outrage wihtout grief hardens into self-righteous arrogance and irascibility" (D.A. Carson).

And of course, Jesus has the perfect amount of grief, compassion, and outrage.

To close, here is a bit more from David Mathis.

"Jesus wept. And in these tears we see that God does not stand aloof to the pains of our existence. He has drawn near. He has taken our flesh and blood. He has not called us to a humanity that He Himself was unwilling to take. We have not been abandoned to a world into which He was unwilling to enter. We suffer no pain He was unwilling to bear. We have no grief He was unwilling to carry. Jesus wept. He did not consider Himself above our agonies, but emptied Himself of privilege by taking our form, being born in our likeness. The very heart of the Christian message is that the happy God so loved our weeping world that He gave His own Son to weep with us, all the way to the place of utter forsakenness, that whosoever believes in Him will not weep forever, but have everlasting joy. The one who wipes away our tears has shed His own. And He has triumphed. This is our gospel in two words. Jesus wept."

Jesus is similar to us in the way that even though He knew the good and glory God was going to receive from both Him raising Lazarus from the dead and Him dying on the cross, He was still grieved and wept. As believers, when awful things happen we know the end is good, but we still grieve. We are devastated by what has happened, even with knowing how good it all will one day be when Jesus destroys Satan once and for all.

Side note: The Vegas incident brought me to God’s precious Word. I wanted to know how God feels. I am not giving credit to the shooter. No. I am giving credit to God and recognizing that sometimes (sadly most of the time) it is when hard things happen that we turn to God. We don’t know where else to turn when things like this happen, but to Him.

My prayer: "Jesus, please heal our land. Heal our land."

Song of the Week: "Heal Our Land" by Kari Jobe


September 26, 2017

OH MY WORD!! The Cedarville Yellow Jacket women’s tennis team won both matches last week. I may sound surprised, but that’s not it…what it is, IS PURE EXCITEMENT! LET’S GO! This week we face Taylor University at Taylor, Thursday, September 28. Next, we play Bluefield at CEDARVILLE on Saturday, September 30 at 10:00 a.m. Did you catch that? WE HAVE A HOME MATCH. Our FIRST home match. Meaning, IT’S OUR HOME OPENER. THIS SATURDAY. AT 10:00 a.m. What a perfect time 10:00 a.m. is…you get to sleep in till at least 9:30 and then come sit in beautiful weather (fingers crossed), cheering on your favorite women athletes. Don’t miss it guys…it would just be silly to miss it…so silly…absolutely and completely silly. FYI, in this scenario, silly isn’t a good thing to be.
 
Now to the best stuff there is, and ever will be:
 
I can become extremely fearful of terrorism. With that being said, I am so thankful and continue to praise Jesus (not enough though) for how the terrorist attacks are less frequent than they were. I don’t know what your fear is, or fears are, but this Psalm is so comforting to me, and is the prayer I can pray to Jesus when I don’t have the words to say regarding my fear of terrorism.
 
“Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy. Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear. They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares’ they say, ‘Who will see them?’ They plot injustice and say, ‘We have devised a perfect plan!’ Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.
 
NOW HEAR THIS…

But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down. He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what He has done. Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in heart praise Him!”
-Psalm 64

If you don’t get anything from that text, please get this: “Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in heart praise Him!”
 
What does it mean to take refuge?

• Apart from Him, we have no good (Psalm 16:1-2)
• Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD (Psalm 34:8)
• Rejoicing in Him (Psalm 64:10)
• Having God as our greatest joy; being near to Him (Psalm 73:28)
• Seek Him as your all-satisfying treasure (Psalm 142:5)

 
Taking refuge in God, after seeing all these different scripture references, means seeking and finding our joy in God.

“Here’s how this works.

Let’s say I’m seeking my joy in money.  In that case, a recession would threaten me, because it could hurt my money, which would hurt my joy.
But there’s something I can do.  There’s a massive, fully-stocked tower I can run into as my refuge — joy in God.
God promises that through faith in Jesus Christ He will fill me with joy in Himself now and forever (John 6:35; John 7:37-38), and He will provide money and whatever else I need in the meantime (Phil. 4:19).
So, if my joy is in God, and not money, a recession can’t threaten me.  Just like if I was in a strong, impregnable tower with limitless supplies of food and drink and joy forever, a thousand Orcs can’t threaten me.

Joy in God is that strong, impregnable tower.”

-Steve Fuller
 
Steve Fuller’s blog post is where I got the different scripture references and explanations for what it means to take refuge in God. If you want to read his entire blog post:

CLICK HERE
 

Here are the lyrics I say in my head over and over again, when the particular fear I shared with you begins to take over:
 
In Christ alone, my hope is found, He is my light my strength my song…
No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.
From life’s first cry, to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, nor scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand.
Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
 
Amen! He is in control of every second of each of our lives. No power of hell and no scheme of man can ever do ANYTHING to take us out of our Father’s hands! Hell will always lose, and Jesus has always been and will continue to be, FOREVER victorious!
 
Song of the week: “In Christ Alone” by Owl City
 
Needing Jesus always,
 
Kendall Heydt


September 20, 2017

And were off! To Ohio Wesleyan we go. By the time you are reading this we most likely have already played Ohio Wesleyan and, fingers crossed, kicked some Battling Bishop Butt! Two of our freshmen, Laura Bowen and Meghan Gallogly, are making their Cedarville tennis debut in third doubles today against Ohio Wesleyan. They looked great during practice yesterday so we are looking forward to seeing them play competitively to help our team walk away with a win.

This Thursday we will be traveling to Steubenville, Ohio to play Franciscan. We’re looking to have a 2-0 record after this week’s matches.
In the book, The Valley of Vision, "a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions", there’s a section that talks about sin.

"Teach me to see…that Christ does not desire me, now justified, to live in self-confidence in my own strength…that if I sin not I should thank thee for it; that if I sin I should be humbled daily under it; that I should mourn for sin more than other men do, for when I see I shall die because of sin, that makes me mourn; when I see how sin strikes at thee, that makes me mourn; when I see that sin caused Christ’s death, that makes me mourn…" – Belonging to Jesus (p. 103)

To summarize what that passage is saying, in more modern terms: Just because we believe that Jesus is Lord and died on the cross for our sins, does not mean that we now should rely on our own strength to make it through our life. Even though we have been saved from spending eternity in Hell through Jesus’ death on the cross, we still need Jesus every day of our lives to make it through each assignment, hard conversation, big decision, bad breakup, heavy loss, etc. We also need Him when it seems like we got it on our own.

There are times that we will not sin, and will be able to run away from temptation. Those times should draw us to praise…we should immediately thank God for giving us the strength to not sin. It is only because of Him living in us that we can do that.

When we do sin, we should feel the heavy reminder that God is holy…so set apart from sin, that it is a true gift that we get to approach God in prayer and read His holy and perfect Word (the Bible) when we are sinners each and every day; we should feel so small compared to Him and see how incapable we are of not sinning, and how capable He is of leading us away from sin and helping us overcome it.
When we see others sin, it should break our hearts like it does God’s. For me, this doesn’t happen enough. There are some sins that truly do break my heart, but not enough.

And lastly, when we remember that we should die because of our sin; when we remember we pierce God’s heart when we sin; when we realize in our human minds that can’t fully grasp this concept that our sin caused Jesus’ death…we should mourn. Does that mean we should sit in our room and cry for hours because of all the sin in the world and in our own lives? I don’t think so. I think we should repent and be quick to be filled with joy that we are forgiven. When we see others sin, we should be quick to pray for them and be filled with joy that He hears us. When we feel so unworthy to be friends with God, we should be filled with joy that He wants us to come to Him with everything; even though we are sinful, He sees Jesus when He looks at us and He loves His children with a love this earth will never fully know.

Song of the Week: " One Thing" by Tenth Avenue North (their album "Followers" is so good)

Needing Jesus always,

Kendall Heydt


September 13, 2017

BANG! Fall season has begun. Unfortunately, not off to the greatest start…we lost to Otterbein University 6-2 on Tuesday. Otterbein is not in our conference, but G-MAC or not, we always want to win. A round of applause to Liana English, our transfer sophomore from West Virginia, for coming in clutch with a win in singles. Another round of applause to Audra Kearney, making her debut at #4 singles, winning the super tie-break after splitting sets with her opponent. Rosie Thompson, a third-year player at Cedarville, also split sets, but had to come off the court before starting the super tie-break due to rain; it started coming down hard. I had Rosie winning the super tie-break so that means she technically won :) Our next match is on Tuesday, September 19 @ Ohio Wesleyan - 4:00pm. We ready.

There are some words and concepts in the Bible that I either have been taught what they mean and struggle to remember or I just don’t understand them and feel like I can’t grasp what they mean. So, I wanted to share with you guys several of those words and concepts and what they mean to help you better understand God’s Word.

Many times in the Bible we read that God is our salvation.

Salvation - deliverance from sins

We are told that our hope should always be in God, and in Him alone. Hope - an unwavering confidence in the promises of God, or the word of God, as it relates to the future

We are saved from God’s wrath and from spending eternity in hell, where we sinful people deserve to go, when we believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Romans 10:9-10) and died on the cross for the sins of you, me, and the entire world (John 3:16). Being saved in Jesus Christ is a gift from God to us! It is by His abounding grace that we are saved and have the promise of spending eternity with Him in heaven. But God’s grace won’t get very far in your heart if you do not believe what He says and has done. So it takes a little faith…

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

What is faith?

Faith - trust or confidence in whatever God has said; also the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

What is the blessed hope we read about in Titus 2? Paul, the author of Titus, tells us exactly what the blessed hope is right after mentioning those two words…

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and wordly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…" Titus 2:11-13

Read that passage of scripture one more time. It’s too good to not. Go ahead, read it again.

Being united in Christ, and being sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1), we have the power to live a life described in Titus 2! Thank You, Jesus!

Lastly, I wanna talk about God’s grace to us and God’s justice system that He goes by.

Here are a few quotes from commentators:

"The system of law is easy to figure out: you get what you deserve. The system of grace is foreign to us: God deals with us according to who He is, not according to who we are."

"He may - for His own purpose and pleasure - bestow greater blessing on someone else who seems to be less deserving."

"He will never be less than fair, but reserves the right to be more than fair as pleases Him."

Needing Jesus always,

Kendall Heydt

Song of the week: "I Have This Hope" by Tenth Avenue North


Kendall Heydt is a senior at Cedarville University from Mason, Ohio and is majoring in organizational communications.