SCOTT hamilton

Tha Bane of the American Church

 

Click picture to zoom
(Image courtesy: http://www.polyp.org.uk/cartoons/consumerism/polyp_cartoon_Rat_Race.jpg)

Church Shopping

I cringe every time I hear that phrase. How consumerist can we get? I know some people use the term to describe the activity of finding a church in the area in which they have just moved that follows Scripture. I get that and encourage that.

But other people use it to describe their consumerist, buying-power, almighty-dollar-flexing attitude towards finding a church with all the bells and whistles they want. What stuns me is that they aren’t ashamed of it but just the opposite; they embrace it and wear it like a badge of honor. You know kind of like those choice-a-holics that will drive the extra 15 minutes to go to the movieplex that has 6 more screens and then brag about their experience around the water cooler.

“I’m shopping for a new church because the one I’m going to now doesn’t have a good children’s program anymore.”

“We feel called to this church because it has such great music.”

“We are switching to that other church. Their service times are more convenient.”

This attitude is a me-centered, shallow, consumerist approach to faith that is diametrically opposed to the faith we are called to have. God first. Others second. Me a distant last.

If you happen to attend the getting-to-know class called navigating Northern Hills that I facilitate sometimes you won’t find a sales pitch about all the stuff NHCC can offer you. Nope. I will lovingly challenge you to seek God’s guidance as to which body of believers he wants to place you . . . for his service. I will dare you to pray about it instead of looking at upgrade options. I will offer to help find that church if it isn’t NHCC. If it is NHCC I will expect  you to cowboy up and serve your socks off. I will encourage you to pursue God like crazy. I will call it like it is and tell you that there will be people at NHCC that will get on your nerves, that sometimes you won’t like the music, and you’re guaranteed to be inconvenienced at times. Guess what – going to church ain’t about you. It’s about God and others. I will caution you against getting too attached to a particular tradition/annual event/program/ministry because we do things to be affective in introducing people to and growing them in Jesus, not to be people pleasers. I will invite you to embrace your part of God’s story and hang on for the ride. I will call you to live a life that counts and is significant – a life that makes a difference. That’s what you’ll find if you attend the getting-to-know class called navigating Northern Hills that I facilitate sometimes.

. . . maybe that’s why some people haven’t come back . . .

. . . I’m OK with that . . .

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Things I'd Rather Do . . .

Things I’d rather do than watch the “Left Behind” trilogy:

 

10. Wet-willie Chuck Norris

9. Spend a day with any of the political candidates

8. Try running of the bulls wearing high heels

7. Run the Bolder Boulder again

6. Poke a Great White in the eye while wearing a seal fur coat

5. Have a pedicure from Boy George

4. Give a pedicure to Boy George

3. Sit front row at a John Tesh concert

2. Chew on tin foil

1. Get a “physical” every week with Dr. Briggs (OK maybe not)

_______________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

God I Don't Get it . . .

I don’t get it. Why did God create us with hair?

 

OK. I get some of the hair. Like Eye brows and lashes. They keep dust and stuff out of my eyes. The hair on my head keeps me warm. But hair on my toes…? I don’t get it. There is hair in the weirdest places (not to worry I won’t be expounding on this).  And why does it keep getting longer the older I get. I recognize why I have ‘peach fuzz’ around my ears – to keep stuff out. But why did a few rogue hairs have to morph into deluxe length repelling ropes.

 

Psalm 139:14

14and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt. CEV

 

OOKAYY . . . God why couldn't we stay that way then?

 

God is it because the older I get the slower I get and the more vulnerable I am to treacherous specks of dust. Is that why I need the extra protection. But God I still don’t understand the length thing. A higher density medium length solution seems logical. That one extra long hair reminds me of the long stemmed flower catching that pollen dot in “Horton Hears a Who” (hey that may explain the voices).

 

God I’ll just add this to my list of questions . . . right behind your sovereignty and my free will.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Moutain Passes or Speed Bumps

Sometimes going through a tough time in life is like navigating a perilous mountain pass; the kind that you see those extreme 4x4 machines taking on.    But there you are in your 1986 Honda Civic trying to make it through the painful obstacles. Huge boulders grind against your side leaving deep gouges in your body. At times you get high centered on a rock and it takes to the point of exhaustion to get unstuck only to encounter a mud pit. You’re bashed out of alignment and wobble as you creep along. A sharp stone pierces your underside and vital fluids drip out. It feels like there is no way you can make it.

 

And then, as time goes by, you look back and the experience seems a little less perilous; the mountain a little less tall. As months go by the details of the journey blur; the jagged edge of the rocks soften; the mud pits shallow. One or two new calendars later and it seems a trek in the foothills. At some point in time a respectful nod is given to the speed bump – a gnarly speed bump, but a speed bump none the less.

Finally at 42 years of age I can perceive this pattern of life. Early on the tough times in life were crushing. I didn’t think I would survive. But as time melted away the trials didn't seem as life threatening.  I wonder if it’s our entropic memory, the power of time, or the magnitude of later trials.

 

After 15 years of following Jesus maybe I’m realizing that it’s the ebb and flow of faith. If we surrender to God He will continually refine us with increasing treacherous tests of faith. If we don’t grow through them then the speed bumps will always seem to be life crushers.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Hello Fidel

Well I’m off to Cuba tomorrow morning. 

I hope our first team meeting isn’t indicative of the trip. Out of the three emails I got referring to the meeting, I happened to print out the one that said the starting time was 7 AM. It was not. The starting time was 7 PM.

So I was 12 hours early – better than 12 hours late I suppose.

 

You can download our itinerary here. It includes date, event, destination, number of students graduating, time, and hosting facility.

I am humbled by all those who have partnered with me through prayer and financial support. Thank you!

__________________________________________________________________________________________

For Me But Not For You

It’s amazing how easily we forget the grace of God that has been extended to us. And we slip into this mindset of rules and legalism for others. 

I remember back when I allowed Jesus into my life. He accepted me just the way I was – all messed up. He didn’t come with a list of rules. He came simply with love and forgiveness. That memory is fading though and every moment the distance increases from that experience. 

I believe this common memory entropy among followers of Jesus is what adds to our tendency to expect others to be spit-shined and polished to our expectations. But I believe this is only part of the problem. 

The longer we travel the road of our faith journey we should be growing in our hunger and thirst for righteousness. We rightfully desire to see righteousness in ourselves, in the world around us, and in others – especially other followers of Jesus. 

But our desire often leads to expectations or lists of rules. “Well if they were truly a follower of Jesus then they wouldn’t be doing this or that.” It hurts our heart when we see unrighteousness especially from our brothers and sisters – just as it hurts the heart of God. So this coupled with a dim memory of the time we were doing all the “naughties” early in our journey and we have “The List”. 

This I believe is a struggle for many who visit Northern Hills. Why? Because we embrace God’s grace as much as possible. Do we back away from calling sin sin? No. We echo the words of Jesus, “Neither do I condemn you, go now and leave your life of sin.”  He knew full well that the lady he was speaking to would sin again. But instead of condemning her he showed her grace and encouraged her to grow in righteousness. 

We must understand that any righteousness we have comes from a work of God in our hearts; from experiencing God face to face and offering him our surrendered hearts. And we must ostracize behavior modification through man-made rules – which is self-righteousness – which is pride – which is sin – which destroys our relationship with God and others.

(And if we had an accurate perspective of ourselves and God we would understand that we are still grossly unrighteous.  We have a huge log in our eye.  Maturing in our faith journey should lead us to a more profound knowledge of just how screwed up we still are, how much we have been forgiven, and a greater tendency to extend grace)

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Scribblings of a Scholar

Check out this post by my friend Joe.  It's about the name of God, and some of the insights blew me away.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Where in the World is Scott?

Well I’m headed off on a short-term mission trip the 23^rd of this month.

 

Here’s some hints as to my destination:

• It’s an island known to its people as the crocodile
• Its capital is La Habana
• The head of state is the longest ruling of the Americas

 

Answer: CUBA

 

For the last couple of years God has put Cuba on my heart. Now through some marvelous circumstances I have an incredible opportunity to join with Joshua Nations in celebrating the graduation of 1,300 Bible School students. Read here for an overview of this incredible work of God in communist Cuba. Russ Frase, who presides over Joshua Nations, is the former dean of the bible college I attended. Now he trots all over the globe advancing God’s Kingdom.

 
I am seeking people who will commit to pray for me, the team, and God’s glory through this trip. If you would like to do this please comment your acceptance and download these prayer points.

 
Unfortunately I won’t be able to blog while down there. I will keep you up to date before and afterward.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Caution: Christmas Rant Ahead

I don’t get it.

For followers of Jesus Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. It is his birthday party.

So why do we encourage others to make lists of what they want? It’s not their birthday. I understand soliciting lists from people for their own birthday but not someone else’s.  "Hey Bob did you know Stan's birthday is coming up so I made a list of the things I want." Sounds ludicrous doesn't it?  But that is what we teach our kids.

I understand that I am in the minority with this approach to Jesus’ birthday. For most followers of Jesus it is the usual “must spend” attitude. They ask, “ why not celebrate Christmas by giving? Wouldn’t Jesus want us to be generous like him?”

Great question.

And I would say that indeed we should be generous like Jesus. I think the question should be:  Is our generosity pointed in the right direction? I cringe every time one my girls offer a list of what they want for Christmas. And I yearn for the year when they come to me with a list of what they want to get Jesus for his birthday. Of course they are just acting out of the training they’ve received – training to be self-centered.

But as a parent don’t you want to give your children gifts? Another great question.

The answer is simply - yes. But more important to me is their heart and their relationship with Jesus. Instead of teaching/modeling for them a self-centered, lust-fest of materialism approach to Jesus’ birthday, I’d rather teach them a sacrificial, others first, Jesus focused approach.

So let’s ask the question: Jesus, what do you want for your birthday? I think this might be a list that he would offer to us.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Mt 25:35-36 NIV

You might ask, “Well how do we do that?” and I would say that question just shows how unpracticed we are at getting Jesus what he actually wants for his birthday.

“But isn’t giving to my kids right along the lines of ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me' that Jesus taught?” (v 40 same chapter)

Great question but one that I believe is an attempt at veiling our self-centered/family-centered focus. Really, do our kids/family need more stuff? Are they going without food/shelter/clothing/hope/friendship? Is it really giving to Jesus when we give our kid another electronic gadget rather than giving that cash to the Denver Rescue Mission?  The reason we ask for lists is because our kids/families have so much junk we've run out of ideas.  Not only do they not have needs, we have no idea of what they want.  And neither do they.  All they know is they want more.  AHHHHGG!!

I’m not a scrooge. I love celebrating Jesus’ birthday. I wish we would actually do it. I love showering my family with gifts, but I care more about their hearts.

You know our concupiscence-for-stuff approach to Christmas is basically getting what’s on the want list of the corporations and marketers . . . and that’s a big fat profit.

. . .

And Jesus sits patiently by with his list in hand yearning for us to ask, “Jesus what do you want for your birthday?”

(But Scott my family did send $50 to the Denver Rescue Mission.  Well way to throw Jesus a bone . . . now let's get back to shopping . . .)

________________________________________________________________________________________