March 2008
March 28, 2008
It’s March madness time and I love it! I guess it must come from growing up in Indiana where there is a basketball hoop in every driveway. It’s kind of funny, the older I get, the more I like the NCAA tournament. So I’m asking myself, "Self, how’s come you like college basketball so well out of all the other sports to enjoy?" I think I’ve figured it out.
Three words: David and Goliath. I’ve loved that Bible story since I was a kid. Samuel was told to go to Jesse’s home and pick out a new king for Israel. The situation reminds me of how we used to pick basketball teams for pick up games. Two guys would start choosing among all of us standing around. We all hoped that we would not be left standing there alone, the last one to be chosen.
All of the likely candidates paraded before Samuel, but each time Samuel turned them down. Finally he asked if there were any other brothers in the family. "Well, there’s little David. We left him out in the field tending the sheep. He’s not the one you want." Samuel asked for David anyway. As soon as David came on the scene, Samuel knew that this was God’s man.
Fast forward. The army of Israel is being humiliated by one giant man named Goliath. No one has the guts to face him in battle. That is until David shows up. You know the rest of the story.
Every year, little known colleges show up at the NCAA tournament and take down huge, famous universities. Everyone gets an equal chance. That’s what I like about March Madness.
God seems to be inclined towards the little guy. It’s always been that way. He took a no name group of people and made a nation of them that still exists today - Israel. He finds obscure people and places and uses them in mighty ways. He changes the world through fishermen and home makers. He gives special attention to children, the elderly, the chronically ill and the mentally ill. He picks the least likely people, loves them, and uses them to face down Goliaths.
God will use each of us when we simply respond to him as David responded to Samuel. "I’ll do whatever God wants me to do."
Tonight little Davidson will face those cheese heads from Wisconsin. Where is Davidson anyway? When God calls your name, step forward and let Him show you what He can do through you. You won’t regret it.
Sharing the Journey,
Pastor Don
March 20, 2008
I had the opportunity this week to meet with the President of the Central Pennsylvania College, Todd Milano. I’ve met Todd before and have always been favorably impressed. Our Children’s Director, Lori Cartmill and I were there to solicit help from Central Penn students on the upcoming Adventure Zone Playground (www.adventurezoneplayground.com).
Lori took the lead by explaining what Adventure Zone is all about and why we are building the playground. She explained that the entire Harrisburg community is becoming involved with this project to develop a place where children of all abilities can play side by side. After Lori finished her enthusiastic presentation Todd’s first comment was, "This fits very well with the mission of our college." He then went on to explain each facet of the mission and concluded with a description of their purpose to involve students in community service. He said, "I like this, I think we can involve about 200 students." By Wednesday afternoon Todd had arranged a meeting with his department heads and Lori to plan a strategy for their involvement. Central Penn College will likely send about 200 students to help build a playground for children with disabilities!
There are two ingredients necessary to accomplish good things in life. The first ingredient is PROPER MOTIVATION. The second is the PROPER PURPOSE. Proper motivation is not primarily focused upon self. Proper motivation is "others focused." It is a wonderful paradox that when we focus on the welfare of others, we are happier and more fulfilled than when we are motivated by self gratification. It is clear that when our purpose is to make life better for others, our own lives are better.
Backtrack 2,000 years. Jesus Christ constantly reiterated that His purpose was to do the will of His Father who sent Him, and that the reason He was willing to do this was because He loved His Father, and He loved His Father’s creation - us. "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). His purpose was our salvation and His motivation was love. Jesus lived 33 years with a laser focus and singular motivation. Because of this fact, we will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead this coming Sunday. Because of this, we too can share eternal life.
But there’s even more to it. Because of Jesus’ life, we too can live everyday with a PROPER MOTIVATION - TO LOVE GOD, TO LOVE GOD’S PEOPLE, TO LOVE GOD’S WORLD, and with a PROPER PURPOSE - TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO GOD.
When you possess these two ingredients, you will enjoy your life to the fullest and make many other lives better in the process. No matter whether you are the President or the Janitor, your proper motivation and proper purpose will give all of your life activities meaning. We are grateful for President Milano’s response and glad to know that he shares the same motivation and purpose in life. Perhaps this is why Central Penn is such a quality institution. What more could we ask?
Join us this Sunday morning at 9:00 or 10:45 to celebrate the greatest event in human history. Personalize its’ meaning like never before by inviting your friends, co-workers and family members to join you. I’ll be proclaiming a message of hope for us all, "iGod am Victorious. I will lead you to Victory!"
Sharing the Journey,
Pastor Don
P.S. Bring your children and your neighbor’s children to Egg-A-Rama Saturday morning, 10 AM, at Capital Area Christian Church, 1775 Lambs Gap Road, Mechanicsburg, for a fun-filled egg hunt and lots of fun stuff for kids. They will also learn what Easter is all about in the process.
March 12, 2008
Late Saturday night I received an anatomy lesson from my cardiac doctor. The doctor was visiting me to explain why my heart had suddenly decided to run a sprint - for hours on end. It’s called atrial fibrillation and flutter. Instead of pumping out life-giving blood at my normal rate of around fifty beats per minute, it had been working out at around 150 beats per minute for hours. The upper chambers were beating at twice that rate. What’s up with that?
Our hearts are activated to pump by an electrical impulse that is generated in the upper left chamber of our hearts by one single cell. For some reason that cell, and only that cell, sends an impulse that radiates through both upper chambers of our hearts, then passes through a "gatekeeper" into the lower chambers of our hearts. That electrical impulse causes our heart muscle to contract and pump fresh blood throughout our bodies.
However, during atrial fibrillation, other atrial cells decide that they want to get in on the action. They too start to randomly send impulses into heart muscle. This causes the upper chambers of the heart to "sprint" at a very fast, unhealthy rate. The upper part of the heart doesn’t get blood fast enough and blood begins to stay in the chamber and coagulate. Unfortunately, these "blood clots" can finally be pumped into the body and cause all kinds of nasty side effects, not the least of which are strokes.
Anyway, in the course of explaining my silly heart, my doctor made a wonderful statement. He said, "But between the upper and lower chambers, God placed a gatekeeper. This regulator will not allow all of these nasty signals to get through to the lower chamber. If they did, you would be dead." Well, that was a revelation!
"God placed a gatekeeper." This tired fifty-three year old once again sat in wonder of God’s marvelous universe. I stand in wonder of those whose minds are able to discern and work with the incredible scientific systems of our bodies. But I am even more humbled by those super intelligent individuals who recognize that these complicated systems have been created by a loving God whose intelligence, power, wisdom, and care are beyond our ability to discern. Even when one part of our body decides to go off the deep end, another system kicks in and keeps everything going.
I’m still rather tired and we don’t quite have all this complicated stuff figured out, but I am confident that we will and I’ll live to bounce grandchildren on my knees. Meanwhile, I’ve also placed my confidence in the Creator and Sustainer of this marvelous universe. He has never failed me yet. My Gatekeeper, Jesus Christ, never allows more than I can handle. He stands between me and the sinful impulses that seek to destroy me. He forgives me. He empowers me. He gives me strength. He saves me.
There will be a special touch to my Easter this year. In some small way, I know what it feels like to be "Jump Started." The same God who created the universe, knows about the activity of one single cell in Don Hamilton’s heart. This God, I will worship. This God, I will share with everyone I can.
"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures . . ." I Corinthians 15:1-3
I invite you to join me this Palm Sunday and again on Easter Sunday as we explore two more attributes of our wonderful God. iGod am Faithful - I will always be loyal to you, and, iGod am Victorious - I will bring you victory. Bring a friend with you.
Sharing the Journey,
Pastor Don
Gail and I took a vacation weekend in
I like crocuses. They are not the most beautiful flowers, but they have chutzpah. It takes nerve to start growing in late February, early March. It’s still very chilly and there’s always the chance of one more good snow. But crocuses don’t seem to care. They know spring will be here soon and somebody needs to announce it. Someone needs to give the rest of the flower world hope of bright sunshine and warm breezes.
Seems to me that Jesus’ followers are like crocuses. At any given time, there are many people living in the cold of winter. Even on warm summer days, they are experiencing the cold and darkness of winter. But Jesus taught His followers to be light and warmth to those around them. In fact, like the crocus, He told them to be pro-active, first to spread the news that spring is just around the corner.
Easter is early this year. I don’t like it as well when this special day is so early. We’re a little worried that our egg hunt will be accompanied by snow. But you know, maybe it’s good that we sometimes celebrate the most colossal crocus event in history when there is still a chance of cold winds and snowy days. Jesus is like that. In the midst of the dark winter of death, He exploded through the ground to remind everyone that warm, sunny days are just around the corner.
Maybe God would like to use you to be a crocus to someone this Easter season. A simple kind word, a promise to pray for someone; an invitation to share the Resurrection celebration in church on Sunday – these are all opportunities for a “crocus moment.”
This week I’m starting a study called, the “iGod” series. We’ll be learning about the amazing attributes of our God. This week we will look at His holiness. Because God is completely holy, He can be to us what no one else can be. Don’t miss this series and invite someone to join you at church this Sunday. Make this Sunday a “crocus” moment for you.
Sharing the Journey,
Pastor Don