Posts Tagged ‘ love ’

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

September 11, 2011
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Alan Jackson’s question takes us back ten years ago, today, almost to this hour.

Do you remember where you were? How did you feel when you learned that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center? Do you remember how your heart sank when the second plane crashed, and it became evident that this was no accident, but an act of war?

On that day 3,000 men, women, and children died. It is estimated that almost 900 first responders lost their lives that day and in the days, weeks, and years that have followed because of their efforts to save others.

Do you remember the eerie silence of the rest of that day? The skies were empty. There were no planes traveling, no tell-tale contrails lining the sky.

Things have changed, haven’t they? Most folks never gave a second thought to being in a skyscraper until that day. Now it seems that we are conditioned to worry. Is the threat level orange or purple or pink or yellow or what? Flying is now a dignity-destroying ordeal and the economy still isn’t happy.

Despite all that, I think Alan Jackson got it right when he wrote that song – “Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us / and the greatest is love.” Christians rise above circumstances. We live boldly even in a world of terrorism. We love even when others hate. That’s the difference that changes the world even on days like September 11th.

The Work in Zambia

March 18, 2011
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As most of you know, James Hinkle and his son Jim are continuing their work in Lusaka, Zambia as you read this article. Let me share with you some comparisons about what life is like for the average Zambian.

If you were a Zambian, you would be 25 times more likely to have HIV than an average American. You would have 97% less money to your name—but you would have 3 times more babies to support in your family. The chances of you being unemployed are five times higher than they are here—even in these weird economic times. The unemployment rate has been hovering around 50% for the last several years. Of course, you might not live long enough to work if you were an average Zambian. Their children are 16 times more likely to die in infancy—and the average life expectancy is 38—forty years shorter than here in the States. I’d be well past my mid-life crisis there!

Consider this: I have just described average life in Zambia. There have been no earthquakes, tsunamis, or nuclear disasters there. They are not on the cusp of war. This is what life looks like when things are going well. Imagine the poverty if a disaster were to strike.

It is incredible to hear about the work being done in places like this. We received word via email from Jim that the work there is going well. People at the Mapepe Bible College are hungry to learn and grow. There are currently 66 students enrolled. In addition to their daily Bible studies, they are being taught agricultural techniques to help them support themselves. If you want to find out more about their work, you can visit http://zambiamissions.com to read newsletters, see videos, and look at pictures.

Can I encourage you to count your blessings today? We have it good—really good. Let’s thank God for his continued blessings and providential care. Let’s pray for those whose lives are made difficult by poverty of their surroundings. Let’s act to help those in need.

Rejoice with the Wife of Your Youth

June 14, 2010
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May you rejoice in the wife of your youth. Proverbs 5:18

The Gores have split after 40 year. Yep! Tipper and Al are going their separate ways. One daughter had already divorced and the other decided to call it quits as well. It seems that more and more people are splitting their marriage and giving up on the vows they have made. It is a sad state of affairs.

At our recent couples’ retreat I shared the following rules for a lasting marriage. Read them carefully and make your marriage “until death do us part.”

Lessons for couples:

Eight rules for a lasting marriage by James Hinkle

  1. Always acknowledge the presence of the other spouse.
  2. Listen before you answer.
  3. Elevate your spouse above all others.
  4. Watch for opportunities to complement the other spouse.
  5. Never entertain thoughts that your marriage is bad.
  6. Never think that others’ marriage is better than yours.
  7. Pray for your spouse every day.
  8. Always be ready do things for your spouse as much as you would do things for others.

Sweethearts’ Banquet 2010: A Romantic Night from the 70′s

February 25, 2010
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Check out our pictures and more from our annual Sweetheart’s Banquet. It was a great night to celebrate the ones we love. Hope to see you next year!

You can click on a photograph to go to Picasa Web Albums and email it to a friend, download it to your computer, download the entire album, or order prints online.

Watch our men show their expressions of love…

…and our parody of a classic love song….er, song about love! ;)

…and finally, check out the slideshow from all of the Sweethearts’ Banquets of yesteryear. We have pictures from almost every year, along with some video of the “entertainment.”

Sweetheart’s Banquet Slideshow from Matthew Hiatt on Vimeo.

Looking for Joy in All the Wrong Places

July 18, 2009
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Money doesn’t buy happiness. It’s true-even when you’re talking about lots of money! Andrew Carnegie, the steel tycoon-turned-philanthropist is certainly qualified to talk about money and happiness: his net worth was a massive $309.2 billion (with a b!) dollars, adjusted for inflation. To put that in perspective, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet each have a paltry $40 billion in assets today.

Here’s what Carnegie had to say about money: “Millionaires who laugh are rare. My experience is that wealth is apt to take the smiles away.”

Someone whose name has been lost in time captured the essence of his thought more clearly: “Money will buy a fine dog, but only love will make him wag his tail.”

God’s love is even more satisfying. The Hebrew author wrote, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he [God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5-6 ESV)

I pray that our nation, our churches, and our families will turn from seeking joy in things to seeking the face of God-and finding unending and incomparable joy! I pray that we will learn to “owe no man anything-BUT to love one another” (Rom. 13:8). I pray that we will look for joy in the arms of Jesus. It is he who became poor for our sake – and gave us the greatest riches ever known!

Lucky Thirteens: Love Never Fails!

September 26, 2008
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And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:13

I never noticed it before but there are two thirteens in the location of this powerful text from the pen of Paul.  Now we all know that 13 is an unlucky number.  They even leave off the 13th floor in most hotels.

But for us this verse is a life giver.  It speaks of the three most important words in the Christian religion.  Faith is our way of reaching the saving blood of Jesus.  He shed his blood on the cross and gave us the opportunity to kneel at the cross and find the way back to our Father.  He speaks of his going to prepare a place for us in John 14.  He knew that the way would be prepared by his own death.  By dying for us he became the “way, the truth and the life.”

By becoming the “life” he became the hope for all mankind.  Any who will trust him can have that hope of being in his family in this life and when we “die in the Lord” we will “rest from our labors” (Revelation 2:10) No power on earth or beyond the earth can take away our hope. (Romans 8:35)

But the greatest of these is love. Why is love so great?  Aren’t there other principles that are just as great?  Not according to Paul.  Love is great because “God is love”. (I John 4:8, 16)  Love can melt the heart of the most bruised personality.  Love can carry on when all else runs out of steam. Love can carry the burden when all else fades.

Maybe that is why Paul listed one of the characteristics of love as “love never fails.”  It will stay after everything is dead and forgotten. It will keep on helping when hell claims its own. It is a little bit of heaven that God has placed on the earth.

Just Judging

August 23, 2008
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“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3

It is a diabolical human trait. We dwell on the past and remember the things we should have long forgotten. We often go to the blame garden and pluck the memory that can best serve us in judging ourselves and others.

I like the way David Augsburger puts it: “Going through our old memories to place blame is like hunting a black bead in a dark room at midnight wearing heavy gloves and a blindfold.”

We are ill equipped to judge ourselves. We judge with blinders on and with deep seated emotions. Our emotions get in the way of treating our own mistakes with some semblance of clarity. Little wonder that we cause inner suffering for ourselves as we look at those dark shadows lurking about in the halls of days gone by and rattling the bones that have so long been dead.

Recognizing that we are so ill equipped to judge ourselves brings us to a greater realization of how unqualified we are to judge a brother or sister. Jesus would help us to see that our vision is impaired as though a plank were protruding from our eye. How can we say to a brother or sister, “Excuse me I would like to remove that speck from your eye?”

Paul stated it carefully in I Corinthians 13:5 (Love) keeps no record of wrongs. Love is breaking the lead from our bookkeeping pencil, tearing up the scorecard and beginning again. Love ends the blaming game and gets on with the real questions: “What is the loving, responsible, truly respectful thing to do now?

Three Kinds of People

August 9, 2008
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I listened recently to a sermon by a well-known preacher. He described well the functions of different members of the Lord’s body and stressed the importance of each member’s role. He referred to Ephesians 4:11 and following: “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”

We focus a great deal on elders, deacons, and ministers-but those of us who serve in these leadership roles really have one job: glorifying God by equipping everybody else for the work of ministry! (Remember, ministry is just a fancy word for service…)

The preacher I listened to said that there are only three kinds of people: those who go out with the gospel (apostles, missionaries), those who send others and equip others (elders, preachers, givers, and disobedient saints-that is, everyone who isn’t going or sending.

Every person at Burns has a special responsibility and opportunity to spread the good news to our friends, family, and world. While our elders shepherd us, and our deacons serve around us, and our ministers teach to us, we all share a common responsibility as the body to make a difference in the kingdom of God. This year is more than halfway complete: will your spiritual status be different than it was on January 1? Did your “spiritual new year’s resolutions” keep you on fire, or have they fizzled out?

A teacher once referred to himself as a “red-circle” player on the basketball team. What he meant was that he was one of those players who spent the entire game on the bench, with his elbows on his knees. If you do that for long-you have these nice red circles on your legs to prove it! If you haven’t quite found your niche in the body at Burns, look around for your opportunity to minister-or ask one of the elders or deacons for some ideas. There is no room for red-circle players in God’s church.

Listen to how Paul concluded his message about the united body of Christ: “when each part is working properly, [it] makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Eph 4:16). Will you be a go-er, or a send-er?

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