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No doubt you have been watching to see what will happen on Capital Hill and on Wall Street. The thought that a bunch of Wall Street rich dudes will get bailed out is really ticking a lot of folks off - including me. But of course this got me thinking...
Who are we making rich? Who are you making rich? Who in my life am I making rich? And I'm not talking about money.
We each have something to offer. You could call it the currency of life. It might be money, it might be time, it might be talents. And every day we spend some of those commodities somewhere. So in a sense we are taking what is ours to invest and putting it somewhere... So where are we putting it. Who is getting our best and becoming richer for it? Who are we making rich?
Am I investing time with my kids or someone else?
Am I spending more on my wife than on me?
Am I using my talents to bring people to Jesus or just to make me look good?
Am I giving any time to God?
Am I faithful in being generous?
Am I using my God given talents for God's glory?
Who are you making rich?
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 2 Cor 8:1-2 (NIV)
What a great weekend!
Great weekend at church - three baptisms and a couple of folks made HCC their home church... It was awesome seeing folks come forward for prayer. And my neighbor visited - she just recently lost her husband and it was awesome seeing folks rally around her.
And what about Blaine - man he did an awesome job sharing the work being done in Uganda. I am so proud of our folks for the love they have for others.... Great job guys and Great job God!
Tim and Amy Schindler visited on Sat night - Tim is the youth minister at G-town baptist - keep them in prayer - they leave a week from Thursday for China. They are adoping a beautiful little girl.
Also Frank and Brenda Howell were with us at the 10:45. They are former members who moved away about 7 years ago. They live in Jeffersonville IN - it was great showing them the building and catching up.
Oh yea, another cool thing happened. A young man stopped by about 8:00 from Crossroads - it seems their drummer forgot his sticks and they needed to borrow some. Keep crossroads in your prayers - this is a great work and lives in G-town will be touched for eternity. Glad we could help.
On another front - Vols lose again! USC gets spanked! Cards tank again! And what about those Gators! Oh yea, UK goes 4-0 - still not in the top 25 but getting closer (both polls have them ranked at 28).
Let me say it again - GO SEE FIREPROOF!
Wow! And that doesn't even touch it. My wife and I went to see Fireproof last night. This is an absolute must see for every couple. I mean a MUST SEE!
The story is about a fireman (Kirk Cameron) who is a hero at work - but losing his marriage. When his wife tells him she's through he finally get's it. He goes through a 40 day exercise to win her back. At the beginning he just goes through the motions, but eventually he realizes that he cannot do this alone. He needs to let God do it.
There are so many scenes I have seen played out. She is surrounded by friends who encourage her to bail. She is courted by a nice guy who "gets her". He let's his anger almost derail the process.
I cried. I cried a lot. Some of the tears were caused by the painful memories of seeing friends marriages crash and burn before my eyes. But most of them were tears of sadness for the times the story was about me. I was that guy at one time. I was the guy "saving the world" but neglecting my wife. I am in tears now as I think of how my wife stayed the course when I gave her every reason to bail.
The key line is "You never leave your partner behind, especially in a fire".
So many times I've seen it... and it's heart breaking.
See the movie, and don't see it alone. Take people with you. This will be the catalyst for saving marriages. Maybe yours.
Here's the link again to the movie.Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Prov 127:1 (NLT)
As some of you know - Friday night is my "Date Night". Tonight Melody and I are going to see the movie Fireproof.
This movie is about a Fireman (Kirk Cameron) who is a hero at work but loosing his marriage at home.
I've been excited about this movie and how we can use it to help others find hope in troubled marriages. I'll post an update later.
You should really check out the movie at their web site.
So let me see if I have this right. If I don't pay my bills but take the cash to Keeneland trying to hit it big but loose it all instead - somebody will call a meeting of a bunch of elected officials and tell all my neighbors that they are going to take their money and bail me out. But of course when I go back to Keeneland trying to hit it big again and win all my money back I will give it to the same officials and they will in turn pay back my neighbors.
Yes, that's what the 700 billion dollar bail out sounded like to me - REALLY NICE PLAN.
But then I got to thinking about this from a spiritual perspective. Lets see how this same scenario works.
As a church and as believers God has entrusted us with "spiritual" treasures. But when we don't use them for His glory it's like going to Keeneland and wasting it. And for what purpose - we're trying to hit it big. We want to be successful on our terms. We want our pound of flesh when we've been hurt instead of being forgiving. We want someone else to risk telling our neighbors about Jesus.
And just like our US economy there is coming a pay day.
Maybe someone will come along and bail us out too... but I doubt it.
I got to thinking - what could I do with 15 million dollars?
I could buy 3,750,500 ProV1 golf balls.
I could buy groceries for my family till the year 4314
I could buy a new Triton Bass Boat TR21 each day till the beginning of October 2009
I could sponsor 500,000 children for one month through feed the children or I could sponsor 41,666 for a whole year.
I could pay off Harmony's debt 4 times over.
I could pay for 4 years of college at Cincinnati Christian University for 178 students.
Or I could pay for the political commercials for Barack Obama and John McCain for ONE DAY!
Maybe it's just me - but with thousands of homes still uninhabitable in Louisiana and Alabama and now more in Texas wouldn't that be a little bit better use of 15 million A DAY!
With millions dying of AIDS in Africa wouldn't it be nice to maybe have a few less political adds and maybe come up with a cure?
And instead of putting America even farther in debt bailing out greedy investment companies - maybe some of the money could come from the campaign coffers.
Maybe it's just me.
Wow - what a great weekend.
The praise team rocked! Man are we blessed with some talented, hardworking musicians.
Two young people were baptized - PTL!
People liked the tie dye and the tricked out pants - thanks David Wegner (my new tailor).
And tonight I slipped in on "Girlfriends Unlimited" - it was a group of about 150 women getting together to launch some incredible Bible studies and build relationships. What an awesome program. Wanda Miller can BRING IT! And what can I say about my wonderful wife. She has worked so hard with a group of other dedicated ladies to make this an awesome thing. AND IT WAS! Great job baby!
I also got to see my two oldest helping lead the worship for the event... I'm so proud of them both! And babies - you look so cute with that little belly! You are daddy's girl!
Oh yea - the Vols got spanked again - way to go Gators!
No doubt you have been watching to see what will happen on Capital Hill and on Wall Street. The thought that a bunch of Wall Street rich dudes will get bailed out is really ticking a lot of folks off - including me. But of course this got me thinking...
