Who Cares?

Who cares that in the next 24 hours:

• 1000 unwed teenage girls will become mothers.
• 1106 teenage girls will get an abortion.
• 4219 teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease.
• 500 adolescents will begin using drugs.
• 1000 adolescents will begin drinking alcohol.
• 135,000 kids will bring a gun or other weapon to school.
• 3610 teens will be assaulted; 80 will be raped.
• 2200 teens will drop out of high school.
• 2750 kids will watch their parents separate or divorce.
• 90 kids will be taken from their parents’ custody and placed in foster care, a group home, or institutional care.
• 7 kids (ages 10-19) will be murdered.
• 7 juveniles who are under the age of eighteen will be arrested for murder.
• 6 teens will commit suicide.

A few more sobering facts to ponder:

• Homicides are the second-leading cause of death among fifteen-to twenty-four year olds.
• Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for ten- to twenty-four year olds.
• 4 million American alcoholics under the age of 18.
• 57.5% of kids born to married parents will experience divorce prior to age 16.
• In step families 33% of these kids will endure this trauma again.

Children in single parent families:

• 6 times more likely to be poor.
• 2-3 times more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems.
• More likely to drop out, be expelled or suspended from school.
• More likely to get pregnant as teens.
• More likely to use drugs and get in trouble with the law.
• Struggle with intimacy and have intimacy issues with parent(s) often being the cause to sexual or substance addictions.
• Struggle holding steady jobs as adults.

Marital instability in married homes makes teens feel threatened, afraid and angry and is a significant cause of teen rebellion against parents.

So, who cares? Who cares enough to be a better parent, keep your marriage together and be a better spouse, be a good example, pray for youth on a regular basis or get involved in ministry to youth? If we aren’t willing to do anything then we don’t care. If you want to get involved in youth ministry let our youth pastor and Christian education director know. Please prove you care by doing something.

- Pastor Al Hill

Burn Baby Burn!

Listen to the words of Jesus in the following passage found in Luke 12:49-58. “I’ve come to start a fire on this earth-how I wish it were blazing even right now! I’ve come to change everything, turn everything right side up-how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront! From now on, when you find five in a house, it will be: Three against two and two against three, Father against son, and son against father, Mother against daughter and daughter against mother, Mother-in-law against bride and bride against mother-in-law. Then he turned to the crowd: When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, Storms coming- and you’re right. And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, this’ll be a hot one- and you’re right. Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don’t tell me you can’t tell a change in the season, the God-season you are in right now. You don’t have to be a genius to understand these things. Just use your common sense, the kind you’d use if, while being taken to court, you decided to settle up with your accuser on the way, knowing that if you went before the judge you’d probably go to jail and pay every last penny of the fine.

THAT’S THE KIND OF DECISION I’M ASKING YOU TO MAKE!

So what is Jesus asking us to do?

1. Expect Him to come into our lives with change.
2. Prepare to live in a constant cycles of change because without it we can’t grow.
3. Don’t be surprised by the disruption to our life.
4. Welcome the confrontation of everything in our life that is keeping us from growing.
5. Understand that there will be friends and family that won’t go where God wants to take us. Move on!
6. Discern the season as a God-season where people, things, attitudes and sins are being removed to move us to the next level. Don’t fight it.
7. Learn to count losses as gains in the kingdom.
8. Make hard decisions in a timely manner. Indecision will cost us more in the long run.
9. Remember, that Jesus started this fire and He will be with us every step of the way.

- Pastor Al Hill

As Soon As…

We get the children back into school and settled down then we’ll make a commitment…
We get the football, soccer and cheerleading season behind us…
We get through the busyness of the holidays…
We get basketball and baseball season behind us…
We get past April 15th…
We get back from spring break…
We get the kids out of school and our schedule gets better…
We get back from summer vacation…
We get the children back, oops! I’ve already used that one…
We change jobs…
We finish our education…
We finish building the house…
We lose 30 pounds…
We get new toofies…
Our hairline stops receding…
My gas goes away… then we’ll be ready to make a commitment…
And the list goes on…

And what excuse will we make when we stand before God because our lack of commitment had an eternal impact on our children and everyone else in our circle of influence?

Don’t you think it’s about time that we stop making excuses because serving God isn’t convenient and get serious about our relationship with God and the mission that He has assigned to us?

- Pastor Al Hill

Hurting People Hurt People

Ever wonder why we act the way we do? Why do we do certain things that are hurtful, abusive, derogatory or divisive things? I am in no way attempting to even excuse the bad things that we do to each other yet to foster some understanding. We could all use a little more understanding and compassion. There really is a very simple explanation that will shed some light on our dark behaviors.

First of all, what comes out of us is in us. If I cause others pain it is because pain is in me. I give to others only what I have to give. My life is one big slide projector. You will only see outwardly what is in me. If hurt and pain are in the carousel of my heart then that is what I project onto the screen of others around me. Hurting people will forever be hurting people until they stop being hurting people.

This means that we must resolve our pain. This process of healing begins by answering a few questions honestly. What are the hurtful things that I am doing? What triggers me to do those things? What subconscious recollections do I have at the time these things are triggered? What hurts me more than anything? Why does it hurt me? Who did it come from? Understanding the source of our pain is the first step in healing. We aren’t looking for people to blame but only to get an understanding of why we hurt the way we do and what we need to do to fix it. There are contributing factors that have a lot to do with our families of origin but we are responsible for our actions.

We need to understand this cycle. Our families did things to hurt us but they were only doing it from their pain. They were projecting their pain and we were often the easiest targets. It really had nothing to do with us except us being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It didn’t mean that we were stupid, undeserving, worthless, ugly or lesser than in anyway. They were conveying on us how they felt about themselves. We often perceived those thoughts or feelings as being true since they were coming from the most significant people in our lives. They weren’t true. Yes, they could have gotten help or done better but many of them didn’t. You and I can.

We have the tools available to help us understand and resolve our pain in counseling and psychology. But the greatest tool we have is our relationship with our heavenly Father who loves us and cares about our every pain. He has given us His Son who died to take way our sins and our pain. We have His holy Word that brings healing to our lives. We have His Holy Spirit that is our comforter and counselor. Hurting people don’t have to continue hurting people.

Honey, We Shrunk the Kids!

There’s a crazy movie that came out several years ago. A semi-wacky inventor, who was also a loving father, accidentally shrunk his kids to near insect size. As loving parents, often unknowingly, we shrink our kids…by shrinking their self esteem. Self esteem is simply, having a basic confidence in one’s ability to face life’s challenges and a sense of being worthy of happiness. Many times as parents, our modus operandi for raising happy and confident children is based on certain myths.

In a landmark study called The Antecedents of Self Esteem, Stanley Coopersmith identified the parental behaviors, most often found where children grew up manifesting healthy self esteem. He also found out the factors that are not significantly related to self esteem. Some of these myths are family wealth, education, geographic living area, social class, father’s occupation or always having a mother at home.  Wow!  Some of the things we’ve put great emphasis on.  So, listen to what really does matter.

1. An environment, where a child experiences total acceptance of their thoughts and feelings and the value of who they are as a person.

2. When a child operates in clearly defined and enforced limits that are fair, non-oppressive and negotiable. Boundaries give children a sense of security. When a child meets the high standards that have been set, their confidence is reinforced.

3. When a child experiences respect for their own dignity as a human being, their needs and wishes are taken seriously in the context of boundaries, whether or not as parents we always give in to them. In the enforcing of boundaries, we don’t resort to violence, humiliation or ridicule to control or manipulate. More emphasis is placed on rewarding and reinforcing the desirable behaviors, as opposed to focusing on the negative. At the same time, we must not reinforce the negative behaviors, by ignoring them, allowing them or making light of them as being cute, innocent or a stage they are going through.

4. When parents uphold high standards and expectations in terms of performance and behavior. These expectations are conveyed in a respectful and benevolent manner in which the child is challenged to be the best they can be.

5. The parents themselves tend to enjoy a high level of self esteem. The child sees living examples of what they need to learn.

As parents, we can make it easier or harder for our kids to develop a healthy self esteem.   We create the environment in which our children develop. So join me in this most noble of causes.

LET’S NOT SHRINK OUR KIDS!

What if Every Church Member Were Just Like You?

Are you faithful in attendance, in giving, in serving others? Would the services be well attended or would the pews be empty? Would there be plenty of money for ministry or would the church be in foreclosure?  Would the needs of fellow members be met or ignored and overlooked? What kind of church would we have if every member were just like you?

Would there be so much participation in praise and worship that the atmosphere would be life changing to us and inviting to the presence of God? Or would we look like the First Church of the Frigidaire? Or the gathering of the Frozen Chosen? Would the church be full of dedicated workers serving with their whole heart? Or would we have more spectators than participators?

Would the attitude of our church be one of grace, mercy, humility and love? Or one of self- righteousness, pride and complacency? How about a personal relationship with God? Would our church be filled with people passionately seeking God with it being evident in their daily lives? Or people who are indifferent, complacent and pursue Him as a matter of convenience?

Please consider this. We are the church. The church is us. In Matthew 23:15, Jesus told the Pharisees that they produced converts twice as bad as they were. There’s no getting around this. WE PRODUCE WHAT WE ARE! Seed bears after its own kind. If we want our church to be better, then we must be better. There’s only one way to change our church. CHANGE US! Our church is what we are. Our church will become what we become. Let’s be able to answer positively and confidently to this question.

What if every church member was just like me?

You are Going to Make It!

Please hear this. You are going to make it!  Times may be tough, money may be tight and your home life may be a mess but you are going to make it. Your life may not be going as you expected and things are not turning out as you planned, but you are going to make it!

I realize that it is often difficult to receive an encouraging word when you’re discouraged and about to give up. In Exodus 6:9, the children of Israel didn’t receive a word from Moses because of the burdens they were under and the heaviness of their heart. But we know that they eventually did receive the word and their deliverance from Egypt.

They didn’t just leave Egypt, but they left favored by their captors! Their enemies who had driven them to forced labor and poverty would now pay them to leave. Your enemies have to give to you what they’ve been withholding from you. Your burden is becoming a blessing! Your bondage is becoming your bounty!  Things are turning in your favor. You are coming out and it won’t be empty handed! In Exodus 3:21(b), the Lord says, “When you go, that you shall not go empty handed.”

I declare unto you this day, that you are coming out and you will plunder your enemies. All you have to do is receive the word, walk in obedience and watch the glory of the Lord be revealed in your life!

You are going to make it!

What in the world are you doing?

I’m sure you have had that question asked to you on numerous occasions. I know I have in many different situations. So I ask you today, what in the world are you doing? The world needs us. We also have a responsibility as Christians to meet the needs of a very needy world. We have a call from Jesus to “Go into all the world and make disciples”. You make ask, “How can I meet the needs of the world?”

We can start by meeting the needs of the world that we presently live in, right here at home. There are so many needs on our street, in our church, and in our town. This is where God has placed us and He expects us to reach the people here. We start here and then begin to move out. We touch people who will possibly move to other places and touch others. We should always make the most of every opportunity to touch people with the love of God.

The cashier at the store, the server at the restaurant, the fellow employee, the public servants and even our fellow church members, there are so many opportunities every day to extend God’s love through “ARK”. Remember the movie, EVAN ALMIGHTY?

“ARK” means Acts of Random Kindness. It doesn’t always require lots of money, or even great sacrifices of time. However, it does require some effort. And people are worth the effort. God thinks we are. After all, He showed us the greatest act of kindness by giving His only Son Jesus to die on the cross.

At the very least we can be kind to others. The power behind a simple smile, a hug, a kind word or a gesture, holding a door, letting someone go in front of you, helping someone tote their packages, or anything else that would be a help to someone. These things often inspire hope and encourage others to keep going. Let’s face it, we all need hope. We all need encouragement. We all need to feel God’s love through others.

So let’s make a difference in our world together!

Commitment Communicates…

So what does commitment communicate? It communicates value. If we ask someone to be committed to something, then we believe that the endeavor is valuable enough to get others involved in. It says that what we are doing, deserves the time and resources of others, as well as our own. God values His redemptive plan so much that He made the investment of His only Son Jesus. And He also ask us to get on board and make a whole hearted commitment to Him.

Our commitment to Him communicates that we value what He has asked us to do. Commitments asked for and given both indicate value. What we give ourselves to the most is what we value the most. If we aren’t careful we’ll find ourselves making commitments to the wrong things. Or maybe, at the wrong times. What do you value the most? Look at what gets the bulk of your time, resources and thoughts. These are surefire clues to what you are committed to.

How much time does your relationship with God get? Your spouse and children? Church? All of these are important in our lives and necessary.

For just a minute, I want to talk about the church. The body of Christ, the instrument that God has chosen to use to fulfill His purposes and in particular, Glorious Life Church. Do you value your church enough to be faithful? To serve in the ministries of the church? To give of your resources so the church can effectively do ministry?

We are asking you to make a commitment to Glorious Life Church. A commitment to the work of God through this body of people. A commitment to yourself. You are the church. Let’s make a commitment together that shows how much we value this great church.

Bunnies, Baskets, and Eggs

I was recently asked, what I thought about the way we celebrate Easter with our children. Egg hunts and the like. I seem to have at least one conversation about holiday celebrations during the Christmas season each year and honestly I enjoy the dialogue. Since I’ve been asked this question in regard to Easter, I will with pleasure oblige any inquirers with my thoughts on the matter. I emphasize that they are “my thoughts.” No one else has to agree.

I believe that all days, even the ones celebrated as holidays are God’s days.  Even Halloween. No day has ever rightfully belonged to the devil or pagans.

Psalm 118: 24 states, “This is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.” God made the first seven days and their cycles and they belong to Him. He has given us life to be lived out in these days and we should celebrate every day. We should celebrate God every day.

The important things to consider in our celebration of these special days is this: 1. Are we doing anything that is a sin, a violation of God’s Word? 2. What are our intentions and motives behind our celebration? Is it the  worship of another god, an attempt to detract from our God or is it the pure joy of celebration and fun? 3. We must always cherish the real meaning of these special days and teach this to our children. The holidays of Christmas and Easter are especially important to our faith. The acceptance of  the gift of God’s Son and His death and resurrection is paramount to our salvation.

Enjoy these special days  and the fun that goes along with them. But never let us forget what they are really about. Happy Easter!