HOW IS THIS YEAR GOING TO BE BETTER FOR YOU

Hopefully 2017 was a great year for you, but how can 2018 be even better.  I am committed to reading through the Bible chronologically this year.  Its been a while since I have done that and it is so beneficial to understand the time line of scripture.  Today as I began to read through Genesis 1-3, I was reminded that the first four words are so powerful.  IN THE BEGINNING GOD!  If a person can come to grips with that statement and accept it in faith, the rest of the Bible becomes easier to receive and becomes the explanation of your faith.
Yesterday in our worship service our guest preacher shared a message from John 8 called NEW YEARS - SECOND CHANCES!!  It was all about the poor woman who was brought to Jesus after being caught in the very act of adultery. It was all a disgusting trap to set Jesus up.  I mean who watches to catch someone in the act of adultery.  Where was the man? Why wasn't he brought before Jesus?  He really didn't matter, for that matter neither did the woman.  It was all about forcing Jesus into a no win situation.  But Jesus suddenly and wisely changed the focus from a sinful woman to a sinful audience.  Everyone in the crowd that day needed GRACE.
I jotted down several things that jumped out at me from the teaching ...

1. Words are powerful.
2. We all need second chances.
3. Repentacne means being sorry enough to quit.  (Billy Graham quote)
4. Your biggest failure doesn't define your identity.
5. It's time to put down some rocks.
6. The best life is not good enough, the worst life is not too far gone!

WOW!  If we could just apply these principles 2018 is going to be amazing!

They Won't Come

Yesterday a pastor friend posted one of those cool graphics with appealing artwork on Facebook.  It asked two very interesting questions.  The first question was “Who would never come to your church?”

My first thought was “it’s not my church, it’s Christ church that I attend”, but I very quickly moved to wondering … why wouldn’t someone come to the church that I attend?  That forced me to wrestle with the thought … what if it is because it is the church that I attend?  What if it has been my attitude or lack of love that has caused someone not to come to church?  After spending a few moments on my own pity party blaming myself for the world not knowing Christ, I began to focus on the people.  Those people that need to know the wonderful love of Jesus. 

I am reminded of Paul’s teaching first to the church of Ephesus when he told them ?  Be very careful, then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)

Later he taught the church at Colossae in a very similar way but gave some additional direction.  “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:5-6)  It seems that God through the teaching of His apostle Paul was very concerned that people not yet in the church would be drawn to the church by the actions of believers, not pushed away from the church.

But then came the second question, that  is one we really have to wrestle with, “What’s keeping you from going to them?”  What would happen if the church … you know that one that you attend …really started going to them?  Not going to them to increase the attendance at that church, but that those people … you know the ones that would never come to your church … could someday go to heaven.  We are surrounded by broken people who have a laundry list of reasons that they believe eliminates them from the church.  Their entire list has to do with their past.  Their past mistakes, mistakes of churches in their past, etc.  But their past doesn't have to define their future.  Our community is facing a heroin epidemic.  People don't know what to do about it.  For the addict what they need more than anything is people that truly care!  They don't need simple platitudes like "Just give it all to Jesus!"  Many of them have tried that.  What they have to have are some people that will care about them and be willing to go through the pain of withdraw with them.  The wife whose husband has just walked out needs a friend who will just hold them and cry with them.  The parents whose children are out of control don't need Facebook post about bad parents from people who have never been the parent of an out of control teenager.  What they need are friends who will come to them and sit with them and cry with them and love their troubled teenager.

In John 1 Philip went and found his friend Nathanael and told him he had to “come and see” Jesus.  In John 4 Jesus went to a well to talk to a Samaritan woman with such a bad reputation that she had to go to the well alone each and every day.  But Jesus went to her and confronted her with both truth and grace.  Once she had experienced that level of concern … she went back to town and invited everyone to come and meet Jesus.

So who do you know that would never come to the church you attend?  Why won’t they come?  The better question is, Why won’t you go to where they are?

Keep  on Reaching!!!

Finding Joy

I've realized that there are far too many times that I am not as joyful as I should be.  Compared to the overwhelming portion of the world I am blessed beyond measure.  So what is wrong with me?  I think I have discovered two things that destroy my joy.

First, like almost everyone else my joy is affected greatly by unforeseen circumstances or trials that come to most of us on a regular basis.  Years ago when I was a ministry intern one of my responsibilities for the summer was to memorize certain passages of scripture.  The first one was James 1 .  I was really puzzled at the time when I was given this passage to memorize.

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

I mean consider it joy when you face trials, that really didn't make a lot of sense to a single 20 year old college student.  Wait ... maybe that was it!  As a 54 year old husband, father, grandfather and pastor it make a whole lot more sense, because over the last thirty-five years there have been many more trials.  Trials lead to perseverance, perseverance leads to maturity.  I hope that I have matured a lot over the years and when I am not in the midst of a trial it is easy to look back and see how "God has worked all things out for my good."   Things haven't always worked out the way that I wanted but that is not the promise of scripture.  God said that I could become mature and complete and that he was working things out for my good, not that they would always be good.  My prayer is that the next time I find myself in a trying time I will be able to remember God's faithfulness.

The second thing that can rob my joy is when I see people I care about in my family, community and church making decisions that I know are not wise.  A friend told me years ago that "anytime you want something more for someone than they want for themselves, you are the one that will be hurt".  His point was until a person realizes that there is something better out there for them they won't be hurt, because they are not mature and complete.  My prayer in this area is Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer that "God will grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference".

What is stealing your joy?  I pray that we will all be able to single-mindedly live in peace and JOY this year.

Satisfied or Motivated

A few years ago my staff went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant.  When the meal was over we all broke into our fortune cookies.  One of my guys read his which said, "Life could be better, but this is good enough."  The first response was laughter, followed by contemplation.  If you know that your life could be better why would you settle for good enough.

As we approach another new year and people are making their resolutions (most of which will be broken), do you want "better" or "good enough"?

• I know my job could be better, but this is good enough.
• I know my marriage could be better, but this is good enough.
• I know I could be in better shape, but this is good enough.
• I know I could be a better parent, but this is good enough.
• I know my retirement plan could be better, but this is good enough.
• I know that my relationship with God could be better, but this is good enough.
• I know my life could be better, but this is good enough.

Why do we settle for "good enough" when things could be so much "better"?

Jesus said that he came to provide a life that is so much better.  "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give you life and life to the fullest.  (A Better Life) " John 10:10

What are you going to do to give yourself a chance for "better"?

Come on people focus! We live in a world that is struggling (at best) to find any true focus.  There are extreme questions of focus in our political system.  Our school systems have almost completely lost focus on education.  Many businesses are focused only on the bottom line with little care for the customer.  Even many churches have lost the focus from seeking and saving the lost to focus on catering to the wishes of the denomination headquarters or the desires of the long time members.

I have to be completely honest to say that there are many days that I struggle with my personal focus. I have committed to being focused on being a man of God, a faithful husband, a loving father and grandfather, and a caring pastor in that order.  But I realize far too often that the tyranny of the urgent gets in the way of me staying focused on the priorities that I feel God has placed in my life.

Do you ever catch yourself losing your focus for your life?

What are the things that you do to reclaim your focus?

When I wake up each morning I find my glasses and put them on so I can focus on the clock and any overnight messages to see what I need to do for the day.  I am praying that I will begin putting on my spiritual glasses by asking God to lead me where he wants me to go each day and that I might see clearly the opportunities that He places in my path.

Come on people focus!!

Learning from the Words of Jesus - A City on a Hill

Kim and I were talking this week and she told me that one of her goals for this year was to focus more on Jesus. The interesting thing to me was I had been having a very similar feeling of something aching down deep inside of me that I couldn’t put into words and she just did.  I want to focus more on Jesus and what is important to him.

So I found one of my Bibles that has the “red letters” (you know the things that Jesus said) and I started reading in Matthew.  My thought was if I look and what Jesus said, and why He said it or what He was talking about I can learn some things about how I should live.  Seemed rather simple!

Matt. 3:15 – First recorded words of Jesus are his response to John the Baptist not wanting to baptize him.  Jesus said, “We must do this to fulfill all righteousness.” What could I learn there? It’s important to follow God’s teaching and to do the right thing.

Matt. 4:4, 7, 10 – Jesus responds to the temptation from Satan with quotes not just from the Old Testament, but from the Torah, central to the Jewish heritage of faith.  What could I learn there? When confronted by Satan or any evil in the world, go straight to the word of God.

Matt.4: 17 – Jesus’ first words of teaching were “repent for the kingdom of God is near’.  What could I learn there?  The kingdom of God is not about a date in history but about a spirit in your heart.

Matt. 4:19 – Jesus calls disciples with three simple words, “Come follow me”.  What could I learn there?  Quit making life so hard. Just drop everything and put Jesus first.

Matt. 5:1-12 – Jesus first sermon describes “happiness”. What could I learn?  He is the author of happiness, do what He says.

Matt.5:13 – He talks about “remaining salty”.  What could I learn? Following him is not a part-time game.  It’s all in!

Then he comes to this section about a “city on a hill”.  It is the first time he talks about a community and how important it is to reflect the light of God to all who can see.

          What good is light if it doesn’t shine so people can see?

Week 3 of The Story - Trading in Your Dreams for Another’s

We are three weeks into our incredible journey through The Story.  Max Lucado and Randy Frazee have provided some additional insights for us for each week. Here is what they had to say about Joseph.People nearing mid-life often crash into some startling and unexpected observations. For instance, we all dreamed big dreams when we were younger. But as we move at a break-neck pace through our twenties, thirties, and forties, we eventually slam head on into the realization that some of our dreams will never be realized.

That observation throws some people into a mid-life crisis. Some don’t make it that far with their aspirations, having already given them up somewhere along the way. Some run into conflict that makes them weary and they settle for less. Still others make bold decisions to trade one dream in for another.

That’s what Joseph did. Talk about dreams! He had some big ones. At seventeen he dreamed his ten

older brothers would bow down to him. It’s enough he dreamed that dream. What makes it worse is that he told his brothers about it.

The older brothers already had issues with the younger son. Their father favored Joseph. He had even given him a valuable, multi-colored coat. That’s the modern-day equivalent of a parent of four teenagers giving one an iPhone and the other three a stack of quarters each for a pay phone (assuming they could find one on their travels). The brothers banded together and tossed the dreamer in a ditch, eventually selling him into slavery at the first opportunity. The next thing Joseph knew he was waking up in Egypt.

From there his life was a rollercoaster thrill ride. One minute a slave. The next in charge of an Egyptian official’s house. The next in prison. The next in charge of the prison. Then he found himself in front of Pharaoh, called upon to interpret the leader’s dreams. With God’s help he was able to warn Pharaoh he would have seven years of abundant crops that he should be put in storehouses in anticipation of seven years of famine. Recognizing his wisdom, Pharaoh put Joseph second in command of all of Egypt.

And because of God’s personal involvement in his life, he was was able to save his family. The same family that God was building into a nation. Joseph was in position to bring his family to Egypt and give them the most fertile land to work. And it was definitely fertile. In the time they were there they were “fruitful and increased greatly” (Exodus 1:7).

Joseph could have lost his life getting caught up in the details of his life, chasing his dreams and desires.

Instead, he chose a better story. God’s story.

You can do the same. If your life’s dream has stalled, look to God. If your dream now realized is not all you thought it would be, look to God. He can give you another dream. A better one, not according to the world’s standard but God’s criterion. Just like Joseph’s. Then you’ll have a story to tell.

 

Things don't always go as we think they should and sometimes we have very little if any fault in those circumstances.  Things just don't seem to be working out.  But could it be that God is working things out, even when things don't seem to be working out.  - Romans 8:28

 

Read Chapter Four about Moses.  You actually have a couple of weeks.  We will talk about it on July 14th.

 

Keep on Reaching,

Dave

Random Thoughts for May 28, 2013

• Why do people think that they can live like hell Monday through Saturday and show up for a worship service on Sunday and it's all good?  God will not be mocked!  Galatians 6
• If you are living like there is no hell, you better be right!
• I can't believe that I get the privilege of leading people to Christ in spite of my short comings. Grace is a wonderful thing, so I try very hard not to abuse it.
• God is up to something on the Hill at Shelby Christian.  I pray that I am always aware of His leading and don't miss a single opportunity.
• The Story is going to be incredible.  I pray that we are all able to grow in our story as it fits into His Story!
• This week is going to be special as we finish our two-part parenting sermon.  I wish I knew some of this stuff before I became a parent ... or grandparent!

A Day with Granddaughters

There isn't a better word to hear than Poppy. I love spending time with my granddaughters. They are innocent and free.  I wish they never had to grow up. Adults can really mess things up.  Kids tell you what they are thinking, until they get old enough to understand how to manipulate. I wish they never learned that, but they do. They see it in adults and then they model it and eventually pass it on to people that they influence later in life.  Oh that they could stay completely innocent. Since I know that they are already growing up really fast I'll just try to enjoy simple moments.  

I'll be finishing up the sermon You Can Do This ... But Not Alone on June 2.

FROM DREAMING TO DOING

If you could do anything you wanted to do what would that be?  Do you ever just stop and dream anymore?  What would a future that you would create for yourself or someone you love or someone you don't even know look like?

 

It seems that for the majority of the people I know that they have stopped dreaming completely.  They are so caught up in the day to day monotony of life, that they have either forgotten how to dream or they have just given up on anything ever being different than it currently is for their life. I have to admit that many days, no most days, I fall into that group.

 

Either we have tried something spectacular before that didn't work or we just had the legs cut out from under us people who told us we were just being silly, we just stopped dreaming.  I find myself today wondering about a different future, and what it would take to see it fulfilled and come to be.

 

I wonder what it would be like if every child that was born got to live with their mommy and daddy until they were out of high school and then they all got to go to college.

I wonder what it would be like if there weren't any homeless people in my community, not because they didn't exist but because we took care of them.

I wonder what life would be like if every family was virtually debt free, except possibly for a mortgage.
I wonder what it would be like if everyone that I know, knew Jesus as a loving savior.

I wonder what it would be like if everyone who goes to church acted like they knew Jesus as a loving savior.

I wonder what it would be like if we never said that will never work. 

I wonder what it would be like if we started dreaming ... and then started doing ... hmmmmmm

Time To Make a Change

We have been working through a great series of messages on the Hill focusing on accepting that we are all sinners and the most of us have aSignature Sin that Satan keeps using against us over and over again.  I am so thankful to my friend Greg Johnson for sharing some of the ideas they had at Generations Christian Church as they worked through materials from Saddleback and Celebrate Recovery.  This week we put together what we called a recipe for transformation from that material.

Recipe for Transformation

1.    Tackle one change at a time.  Prov. 17:24

What is it going to be?

2.    Find victory one day at a time.  Mt. 6:9b-11

Where have you won?

3.    Depend on God’s Power! Phil. 4:13

Where have you seen God?

4.    Focus Forward. Phil.4:8

Where do you want to be?

5.    Try to do good, not just feel good.  Gal. 5:16

What is something good you could do?

6.    Find people who help you, not hurt. Prov. 27:17

Who make you feel special?

7.    Seek progress, not forgiveness. Phil. 1:6

Have you made positive changes?  Why or why not?

What I really love to see is how God is helping people to work through letting go of some Signature Sins and finding freedom that comes from turning it over to Him.  Maybe it would be good just to share a few ideas of secrets that you have learned that have helped you let go of something.   You don't have to share what it was, but maybe the principle would help others.

Until Jesus comes back, let's just keep on reaching!

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 ...

As I get ready to head to bed on Thanksgiving Eve I spent some time reviewing my sermon for Sunday and my friend Barry's book The ABC's of Financial Freedom.  This week's chapter ends with some ideas from the G.O.O.D. file (Get Out Of Debt).  Appropriately it pertains perfectly for many that are already out at the stores for Black Friday and millions more that are leaving tomorrow.

1. Don't let shopping take priority over worship.  If we do, we will miss the whole point of Christmas.
2. Don't get caught up trying to outbuy or outdo anybody else when you do your Christmas shopping.
3. Don't charge the gifts you buy for others. Yes, yes probably won't buy as much, but you won't cry much either later on when the bills come due.
4. Give practical, usable gifts that will help meet needs instead of wasting money on frivolous gifts that will go back in the box, in the closet, the attic, or the next garage sale once the holidays are over.
5. Make sure the Lord is at the top of your Christmas list.  Giving at the Christmas Eve service for your church is an excellent way to teach your children and model for your family what Christmas is all about.
6. Do take time to bake Christmas cookies, go see Christmas lights, watch a Christmas video, or some other activity that will help draw your family closer together.
7. Stay on target with your goal to become debt free.  Don't allow your emotions to get caught up in the "spirit of giving" to cause you to get off track and deeper in debt.
8. Be sure to take time to thank God for all of your blessings over the year.
9. Remember the best gift you can give, especially to your family is YOU!

I'm not sure if you avoid the malls like crazy on Black Friday or if you already there.  Maybe your temptation is on Cyber Monday.  Or maybe you struggle every day.  These are nine great points from Barry Cameron that we should all memorize!

Election Eve Thoughts

Tomorrow is such an important day for our country!  The presidential election tops all ballots, but there are many other important races and issues that people will have the opportunity to vote on across the nation.  I pray that the Christian portion of the country votes based on a biblical worldview.  This is made somewhat difficult this year, because while one candidate claims to be a Christian be believes, supports, and forces some very non-biblical principles upon society.  Most notably the belief in the pro-choice agenda.  The other candidate is of the Mormon belief, but his actions are more biblically based.  Bob Russell has written a tremendous document concerning this on his blog at BobRussellMinistries.org or by going directly to http://www.bobrussell.org/2012/07/22/should-christians-vote-for-a-mormon-for-president/

Early this morning my wife and I were on a chilly pre-dawn walk and she reminded me of the story Jesus told of a man with two sons.  It is found in Matthew 21, ²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.  

Actions do speak louder than words!  I remember my father telling me that it takes a lifetime to build a good reputation and a few bad decisions or even one fleeting moment to destroy it.  When I vote I never vote strictly on party lines.  It shouldn't be about the party.  Both parties are flawed because of the partisanship that they are tied to.  So the challenge in my mind is the question that many have been asking, "Are we any better off as a nation than we were four years ago?".  I can't find any logical way to answer yes to that question.

I googled the National Debt Clock today at http://www.usdebtclock.org 

The counter on that thing is spinning faster than my electric meter, and it is killing our country.  I am tired of hearing that it is someone's fault.  What is done in the past is in the past.  As long as we keep casting blame on previous administrations we will never get this fixed.  One candidate has built and led many corporations, the other one has never led a business of any kind.  His total leadership experience is in elected offices.  

The single issue of human life is something that I cannot ignore.  The greatest single privilege that we have as Americans is the privilege of life, which is slowly being stripped away.  It is being stripped away prior to birth and with the proposed health care reforms it will be stripped away in the decision of who is worthy of socialized health care because of their value to society.  

The next president of the United States will have the opportunity to appoint two Supreme Court Justices.  Those are lifetime appointments.  This election is HUGE.  Not just for the next four years.

As I wrote last week, I have many friends who will vote differently than I will tomorrow and as far as I am concerned I hope they still consider me a friend tomorrow night regardless of the outcome.  In my mind this election has nothing at all to do with race or party affiliation.  If people want to make it into those things that is their silly choice.  This is much bigger than those issues.  It is about this nation doing the right things, remaining one nation under one true God, indivisible with liberty and just for all.

Why Should I Vote?

There is so much talking going on about the election next week.  Those who know me can figure out where I stand on most issues.  I am strongly conservative in my political views and to those who believe that the church or a pastor shouldn't speak at all about politics I apologize but am extremely confused as to why you believe that.

 

If the Christians, churches and pastors don't speak up about issues that effect the moral foundation of our nation who will.  It is extremely puzzling to me why the Christian voice is always as the one the is "politically incorrect".  Even in the oft used excuse of separation of church and state, which by the way is a phrase never used in the Constitution, but most often quoted as such, the issue is forcing about forcing an entire nation to have the exact view.  While I might wish that were possible I would strongly oppose forcing my views that Jesus is the risen Son of God upon any one.  God has never forced himself on anyone, and neither did His Son.  If He had then there never would have been a cross.  God is a God of choices!  Yes you can choose to believe in Him or you can choose not to believe.  What you cannot choose is what parts of Him you want to believe and what parts you don't. He is an all or nothing God! 

 

Elections are the same.  We are blessed as American citizens to have the right to choose.  Men and women have died and continue to die to protect that freedom. 

 

My struggle is to understand how people who claim to be believers in God and followers of Christ can vote in ways that directly oppose the teaching of the inspired word of God.  I realize that not everyone believes that the Bible is the inspired word of God, but that takes me back to the fact that I don't believe we get to pick and choose what parts of God we want.  Having a biblical worldview means that we apply the Bible to all of the decisions we make in life, including who we vote for.

History very well records the downfall of nations who took there eyes off of God.  Read the book of Romans and then read history books that define the fall of the Roman Empire.  It is impossible to read and not feel you are reading in dejavu.  We are experiencing exactly what happen to that world empire.

 

The greatest human right that we have is the right to life.  We kill more babies daily in America than four planes killed on September 11.  Even if we were to agree to be pro-choice, shouldn't the choice belong to the one that is going to live or die.  Life is precious!  Conception is miraculous!  Safe sex is talked about all through scripture.  Once again it is your choice to believe or not believe the Bible.   How can intelligent logical politicians vote to allow a child to be aborted and charge the driver of a vehicle with double homicide in the tragedy of an expectant mother being killed on the highway?

 

All that is free is not always good.  The discussion of health care has been mind boggling to me.  Our health care system is out of control, but the thought that signing a piece of paper is going to guarantee free and "prompt" health care for everyone is ludicrous.  There are no more hospitals being built, no more doctors graduating medical school, but somehow people believe that they will suddenly have there medical concerns taken care of is sad.  People are no doubt going to vote away their soul for that promise only to find out that they will be put on a list and if they are over the age of 50 or deemed to be of no value to society they will be on the end of the list.  The health care might be free, but it might involve embalming fluid instead of chemotherapy.  Sick people need to be taken care of, but this is not the answer.

 

I hate war as much as anyone, but it is the ability to fight to defend your freedom that gives us the right to say publicly that we hate war.  Sometimes you have to be willing to fight for what is right.  How anyone can believe that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were just going to go away is once again mind boggling.  

 

My prayer is that if you are an American citizen you will exercise the right to vote and that if you are a follower of Christ that you will exercise your right to follow and support a biblical worldview.  You are free to choose to disagree and vote differently from me and if we were friends before we voted we will be friends after we vote as far as I am concerned.  Just please don't ask or require me not to share what I believe in.  I am such a sinner whose only chance of salvation is because of the amazing love of God and the willingness of Christ to die to pay my sin debt.  Because of that I cannot be silent!!