Life lessons from an airborne ranger

“Uncertainty is a given. Fear is optional.”

Chuck Holton – “A More Elite Soldier”

Sundays at TMBC

In case you missed church yesterday, John and Lee helped me with my sermon series on finances by singing this song. It was a lot of fun. 

Don’t be hearers only . . .

“Two farmers prayed for rain. One prepared his fields. Which one expected God to give the rain?”

- Facing the Giants

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a pastor

Craig Groeschel gives great insight into what it’s like to be a pastor. 

“Those who are not in vocational ministry may not understand this week’s discussion. (Even when I was an associate pastor, I didn’t fully understand the public pressure my pastor’s family faced.)

Right or wrong, when you’re a pastor, people’s expectations of you change.

• Some believe you are holier than you could humanly achieve. Others are skeptical, secretly hoping you’ll fail.

• Some sincerely hope your family is materially blessed. Others think your family should barely be above the poverty line.

• Many will have very high expectations of your kids. Some will privately (or publicly) gloat when your kids fail.

• Some people will want to be close to you simply because you’re a pastor. Others will be too nervous to be themselves around you.

• Some will extend irrational love toward you and your family. Others will be easily offended (and dislike you) over something you would consider a minor misunderstanding.

• Some will almost worship you (even though you don’t want it). Many of those same people will leave your church before the end of this year.

• The joy of intimate Christian relationships for pastors couldn’t be greater. The pain and loss of broken relationships will haunt you throughout your ministry.

The life of a pastor isn’t better or worse than others. But it is different. ”

from http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/01/12/life-in-the-fishbowl/

Stupid insight

I’m convinced that we don’t say or do stupid things on purpose. We try our best to keep it in, but eventually stupid just leaks out. Wisdom isn’t the antidote for stupid it’s just the band aid that helps keep the stupid from getting all over the place and making a big mess. The more wisdom we put into our minds the less stupid that squirts out and the fewer messes we have to clean up. So our goal isn’t to be smarter, or less stupid, but rather to be wise and keep our stupid from getting out quite as often.

The Flu

I hate being sick. I mean with a passion. I hate having a fever. I hate being stuck in the house. I hate being up in the middle of the night and not sleeping. I don’t know anyone who likes being sick, but it actually makes me mad. That’s right. I get mad when I’m sick. Not at anyone in particular, but just in general. I’m mad that I cant’ do things that I normally do. I can’t play with the kids. I can’t go to work. I can’t even open a jar of jelly because I’m so weak. And therein lies the problem. I can’t do for myself. I can’t depend on myself to get through. I must depend on someone else to preach and baptize for me on Sunday. I think this may be what God is teaching me. Jesus told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Well there I am. I hate being weak. But God’s power is at it’s greatest when I am at my weakest.

12 Years of marriage, here’s the secret . . .

The Shriners Circus

Tonight the family went to the Shriners Circus. The Shriners raise money for children’s hospitals by offering free circuses but selling expensive junk. They also bring in only the best performers for this highly important project. Apparently Barnum and Bailey’s group were busy so another select group was chosen. My favorite act was the Russian lady who brought her house cats and had them so well trained they jumped through hoops. She brought down the house.

Random, out of town, thoughts

I’m sleeping in my childhood bedroom this week all by myself. It’s the first time I’ve stayed at my parents house by myself since I was married. That will be 12 years as of next Sunday, the 23rd. It’s kind of funny actually. As I drive around the town where I grew up things all seem so old. My mom and dad are starting to look old. The house I spent my first 20 years of my life seems old. Everything around me feels real old right now . . . that is, but me. As I look at the dented door knob on the closet it causes flashbacks of my brother and I wrestling in the this room. I began looking for old baseball cards I collected in Junior High. The crusty old lady next door who always told on me to my parents already has her Christmas tree up . . . it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Good grief things seem old around here. 

Until  I walked by the mirror and saw a scalp where hair used to be. Thanks mirror. 

My name is Phillip Hamm, and I approved this blog.

By this time tomorrow we will all be glued to our television sets. We’ll anxiously be waiting for the polls on the west coast to close so we can hear who is declared the next President. And I can honestly tell you that I almost don’t care. Almost. 

There’s enough of my father’s influence left on me that I’ve cared more today than all the time leading up to the election. I can’t pin point why. Maybe it’s because I dislike both the candidates. Maybe it’s because I think this country has already nicely packed itself in a hand basket bound for hell. Or maybe it’s because of the Bible. That’s right the Bible. Maybe that it is where I can fairly place the blame of my laze-fare attitude.  

Let me explain. Never did I read that Jesus challenged the Roman government and their unfair treatment of the Jews. I don’t recall seeing Paul challenging the governments rules regarding slavery. Nor were Christians ever rallied to defend their rights and march on Rome. Why not? Why, in God’s handbook for mankind, did He not give us instructions on such things? Because it’s not the main thing. 

That’s not what we are to spend our time promoting. Most of the governments of the world throughout history have persecuted Christians. They have taken away their rights to meet, worship, and evangelize. They have nailed them to stakes, burned them at the pole, and fed them to lions. They have beheaded them, gunned them down, and targeted them for kidnapping. And yet, without any rights to guns, free speech, conservative talk radio, and prayer in school, Christianity has flourished. Why? Because politics wasn’t their main thing. 

And now we, that’s right we, the right winged, conservative, Bible thumping, Christians of America think that we must have a certain man in the White House or else the church will perish. We have made an entire culture out of politics. We have made God so small that we act like He and His activities are limited by a vote of Congress or the veto of the president. But it wasn’t supposed to be that way. It’s not why we’re here. It’s not supposed to be the main things of our lives. But here we are with our bumper stickers, signs in our yards, and glued to the news.

I told you I almost didn’t care. But I do. But I’ve got to be honest with you . . . I wish I didn’t.