GIVE the GIFT - Bring a Friend to CHRISTmas

There are certain defining moments in everyone's life.  I truly believe that this weekend could be a defining for our family on the Hill and for all who come to worship there.  Sunday morning our youth staff will be helping over 100 of our young people lead us in worship.  A special dramatic musical will share the incredible gift of God when He gave the world His presence in His Son.

Wouldn't it be awesome if every Christ believing church in the world was packed this weekend.  If you have a church that you call home please got there and worship this weekend.  If you don't have a church that you call home, this would be the perfect weekend to start looking for one.  If you live anywhere close to Shelbyville, Kentucky and don't have a church home I sincerely hope that you will join us at Shelby Christian Church.  Sunday morning we will worship at 9:30 and 11:00 with our young people leading us.

We will also have two opportunities to worship on Christmas Eve at 5:00 and 7:00.  We will have children's programming at the 5:00 service on Christmas Eve for children fifth grade and younger.

I hope to see you on the Hill.  Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and Keep on Reaching!

TWO MORE DAYS

If the Mayans were right, which why would they be when all the other doomsday/end times estimates have been wrong, then we are less that two days from eternity!  I'm not sure exactly when it is supposed to happen on 12/21/12.  Maybe they predicted that too, and I just missed it.  It would seem appropriate that the end should occur around 12:21:12 on 12/21/12, but then I don't know if it is a.m. or p.m.   Oh the madness of the end!

But what if it really were the end.  What if you knew that you had 48 hours left to live on this planet before facing your eternity.  What would you do?  Some make a list and call it their bucket list, things to do before kicking the bucket.  Some would walk into that knowledge with fear and others would face it with excited anticipation.  What would you do?

I'm guessing I wouldn't be getting my stitches out, working on my Christmas eve message, typing a blog, having strategy meetings on future plans for church and private business ventures, or finishing Christmas shopping.  All of which I intend to do before the end of the day. So what would I be doing?

Would I be more motivated to talk to every person I see today about the incredible gift of grace and eternity that Christ died to offer us?  I'm sitting in a room full of people at a well known coffee cafe in between strategy meetings in Louisville.  I wonder how many of them even know Jesus.  The computer screen across the way has a power point presentation about an evangelism strategy, so I'm guessing he knows.  What about that mom and her little girl?  What about these two guys in the business suits?  There are at least a dozen college age young people, I know they are being challenged to not believe.  I keep raising my head to be ready to speak to people but when they get to me they lower their heads.  What's up with that?  Oh yea, it's what I do when I am too busy, or too uncomfortable to initiate a conversation.

Oh my, what about my family?  What am I doing?  Why would I be anywhere but with them if I only had 48 more hours to be with them in this world?  

The bottom line is we don't know when this wonderful life will end.  The reality is for some it will end ... today!  Before they would even have the opportunity to read these or any other words.  Before they have the opportunity for a chance encounter with a pastor or any other Christ follower in a coffee place.  Before they get to hug their kids or their parents. Before they could ... ?

Life is precious.  Time is short.  Live well.

What Could I Do If I Had No Debt ... I Mean None

As our nations economy spirals helplessly out of control and is teatering on the edge of that magical cliff, I am still convinced that we not only haven't figured out how to fix things, but we won't even admit how we got here.  Nobody in Washington seems to want to realize that is an individual had done what we have done as a country and simply printed more money any time we run out that there is a felony called counterfeiting and we would be found guilty! 

 

I am by no means the smartest man in the world but I am thankful for my parents and Mrs. Wilson would taught be basic math as a child.  From basic math I was able to transfer knowledge to finances and established early on that if the price of what I wanted was more than the amount of money I had, the I couldn't buy it.  It was amazing how that worked.  I was serious about it.  I even kept a list in my desk drawer in my room of the serial numbers on my dollar bills and marked them off the list if I spent them.  Obviously I didn't have many but when you have to draw a line through each one you spend it has an amazing way of making you hang on to them.

 

I wonder what would happen if our leaders in Washington had to do the ... oh nevermind.  Why dream of something that makes so much sense? 

 

Then came high school and a car and real paychecks instead of dollar bills and it was harder to keep track of my money, but still diligently reconciled my checkbook every month so I knew exactly how much money I had on any given day.  I was maturing and growing up and taking on responsibility and then I went to college.

 

Did you know that every company in the world will give a college student a credit card?  You did!  Oh no they got you too.  But why should a college student worry about running up a few hundred or a few thousand dollars in credit.  What's that compared to several trillion?  Our young people are really good learners, they watch their leaders and wonder why they can't do exactly what their leaders do.  They can. They have. They will therefore continue to dig a hole so deep that the sides will fall in on top of them.

 

But what could they do with no debt?  What could you do with no debt?  Look at your bills right now.  Which ones are current?  What do you owe that is accruing interest?  If you were able to make those bills including your mortgage go away would your life be simpler, better, less stressful?   What could you do with just that money?  Maybe make more money because you could collect interest instead of paying it.

 

What about the church you worship at?  They had to build a space for you to come and sit in on the weekend.  But that usually meant they had to go in debt.  What if that suddenly went away?  Can you imagine how many people could be helped with the annual interest paid on church mortgages?  If we got our own house in order, then we could get God's house in order. 

 

What about our country?  What if churches started taking care of people with the money they used to spend on debt service in a way that eliminated the need for government entitlements?  Who would you rather have take care of you anyway?  Money hungry bureaucrats trying to build a bigger government or people who have a personal relationship with the Great Physician, the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills and the one who created life and the ability to acquire wealth?  What if the country didn't have to pay for entitlements and people actually worked and earned their own money and had a sense of self-worth?

 

What could we do if ...

God Was Not Caught Off Guard

My day Friday was busy and hectic.  My morning started with a drive to Frankfort for breakfast at Cracker Barrel with my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my son.  When we returned to town traffic was all rerouted because a truck had careened into three parked cars.  Then as we prepared to head to Louisville to do some Christmas shopping I stopped for gas close to our church and watched in shock as a vehicle ran through the corner stop sign, across the major thoroughfare, through a yard and into the front of the house across the street.  I yelled for help and ran across the street to help the man and to make sure no one was in the house. It was a pretty bizarre morning for our little town, but I hadn't had a radio or television on since 7:30 in the morning. So I had no idea what was going on in a little town in Connecticut.  Suddenly my day seemed like a mundane fog. I wanted to find my grandchildren and hug them tight.  I want to find my daughter, and suggest a career change.  I thanked God for the unbelievable change in my son's life.  After all that we have been through, I still have them all.  I couldn't then and still can not imagine what the families in Sandy Hook were feeling.  

But it is not just Sandy Hook.  We can't lose sight of twenty two children slashed and stabbed in China on Friday as well.  We can't lost sight of families who lost family members who were innocently shopping in malls in Denver and Portland.  We can't lose sight of planes flying into buildings and our world being changed forever.  One of my first childhood memories was the unrest of my parents following the assassination of John F Kennedy.  Then five years later the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  I remember as a high school student trying to make sense of a preacher named Jim Jones and something unbelievable in Jamestown.   I still can't make any sense of what is being done to children in Kenya and Uganda that are being stolen and made slaves of blood diamond gangs. 

The insanity of our current world is nothing new.  It took no more than three chapters of scripture for insanity to enter the world in the form of a serpent who introduced sin into our world.   Evil was here and it will remain until Christ returns.  We live in a very broken world and when there is brokenness, things are shattered.  Lives have been shattered from sin since the garden of Eden and they are still shattered around the world today.  This season of the year reminds us of the only possible answer to the brokenness of our world.  Jesus came to be the only answer.  He is the only hope!  

Many are asking, so where was God on Friday? On June 25^th, 1962 we took prayer out of the public schools in America.  On June 17^th, 1963 we took the Bible out of schools in America.  Then on November 17^th, 1980 we were told to take the Ten Commandments off the wall because if the children read them they might follow them.  We live in a time when we have systematically legislated God out of our schools.  But when Columbine, Heath, or Sandy Hook happens people why He wasn't there.  What I wish people could see is that was neither surprised or caught off guard by any of these tragedies.  The nature of an omniscient God is that He is always aware of what we are going through.

That same God was not caught off guard when the doctor told you it was cancer.  He was not caught off guard when your spouse told you that there was someone else.  He was not caught off guard when the employer told you your services were no longer needed.  He was not caught off guard when your child went through a difficult period in their life that broke your heart.  He is omniscient, so He knows, but He is also omnipotent and so He has the power to see you through anything. But why doesn't He stop it?

We will never know what He has stopped.  I don't want to imagine what our world would be like it not for a loving God.  But we deal with the consequences of fallen, broken, shattered world!  Those poor innocent children were not being punished for the sins of the world and Pharisees like those from Westboro Baptist Church will pay a heavy price when they stand before a loving God for claiming that he was punishing these children for the sins of the world.

That is why Jesus came in the first place. But why do little children die?  Because of evil in this world.  Moses was the survivor of a violent mass murder of children to prohibit boys growing into men who could fight against an Egyptian army.  Jesus was the survivor of a evil violent mass murder plot by Herod to eliminate any child that might be the king who would rescue the Jews.  People have been killing innocent children since evil entered this world.  Before we cast all of our anger upon school shooters, gangs who kidnap children, and the Pharoah's and Herod's of history who have destroyed thousands of innocent lives, we must examine the blood on our own hands.  When Pilot could not presude the people not to kill Jesus he washed his hands to symbolically try to remove his guilt in his murder.  We need to realize as long as the elected officials allow the insane murder of innocent children while they are still in their mothers womb, their blood is just as much on our hands.

There is clamouring for gun control and many other laws to stop things like school shootings.  People talk of how desperately these shooters needed medication and psychologist.  Those things would most definitely have helped some, but what they all need is Jesus.  He is is the only hope that can ever heal a broken world.  In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we read telling words.  It is an IF - THEN scenario that can change our world.  God said, "IF my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN (and only THEN) will I hear from heaven and heal their land."

THE Great I AM is a good shepherd that truly cares for His sheep.  God truly cares for you!  He always has, He always will!

I have also included links to blogs from two wonderful friends who have shared hope, much more eloquently than I could.  Ben Cacharias, is the pastor of Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland.  Here is his blog.  http://outofmymind.cc/    Bob Russell is the retired minister of the SOutheast Christian Church in Lousiville, Kentucky, please read his blog  http://www.bobrussell.org/2012/12/16/where-was-god-during-the-connecticut-massacre/

Great New Book - Get a Copy

I am proud of my friend Dean Burk for publishing this important book that details the eroding values of a society that has removed God from their decision making.  I have known Dean for many years before he and his family started worshiping on the Hill.  I have had the privilege of watching Dean grow and mature over the last few years and I am thrilled that he pressed forward with this book.  I read the manuscript a couple of years ago and was impressed with the clarity and the preciseness of the documentation that Dean shares. 

The beauty this book is that it is brief and to the point.  It can easily be read in an evening and then kept as reference or shared with a friend.  It is being distributed exclusively through Amazon and amazon.com .  When you log on www.amazon.com  search for Dean Burk and the book titled Removing God from the One Nation Under God.  The cost is only $5.99.  I know Dean's heart and his goal is not to profit from this book, but to share firm researched truth that might possibly change the heart and mind of readers to do what they can to help bring God back into the fabric of this great country where He has been removed and to keep Him as a part of where He has not been removed.

So What Are You Going to Do About It

The Community of Changed Lives that worship on the Hill have just completed an incredible journey through the ABC's of Financial Freedom. The question running through my mind today is "So What Are You Going to Do About It?".  Yesterday Barry gave us Seven Secrets to Financial Freedom.  Let's review what we learned. 1) Your understanding of where it all comes from will either keep it coming or cut it off. 2) What you pursue will determine what you possess. 3) What you spend will always be more important than what you earn. 4) Your obedience will determine your abundance. 5) The discipline of saving is more important than the amount you save. 6) God will grow whatever you sow. 7) Sustained generosity will be the guarantee for your sustained financial success.

I want to land right in the middle on principle number four because it is huge!  YOUR OBEDIENCE WILL DETERMINE YOUR ABUNDANCE. Here is the deal.  We can read the book, cheer for the concepts, raise our hands in worship, and even sign a commitment card.  But if we don't do anything about it, it will soon be over.  We have to make some changes!

There are a couple of things coming to the Hill that will help you make positive moves forward.  There is a really good six week series that goes along with the ABC's of Financial Freedom that you can be done in LIFE groups or in your own family.  If you are interested please contact me at dhamlin@shelbychristian.org 

Another great step on this journey would be to enroll in Financial Peace University.  We will begin our next semester on Wednesday night January 9 at 6:30.  There is a $100 cost involved in this class that could easily be the best investment you ever make in your future!  The fee gets you the complete kit of materials from Dave Ramsey and many other resources, plus it helps you have a huge buy in to sticking with the program.  The new FPU is a nine week course.  It will give you a couple months to get into this new lifestyle.  What would you life be like moving forward if you were debt free?

So what are you going to do about what you have learned?    It can be a life changing experience or it can be just another experience in life.  The difference will be based on what you make of it.  Let's go for it and just keep on reaching ... God has something huge out there for you and for our church and for the lives of people that we intersect with in life.  

So what are you going to do ...