“I just touched the hem of his garment”

by Tom Goodman

Recorded in Dallas 1927

 

I know his blood can, know his blood can make me whole,
I just touched... hem of his garment.
Blood of Jesus, blood of Jesus,
I just touched hem of his garment.

Let his blood has, let his blood has...
I just touched hem of his garment.
I was a gambler just like you, I was a gambler.
I just touched hem of his garment.

Oh his blood have, let his blood have.
I just touched hem of his garment.
I was sick and I couldn't get well, I was sick and I couldn't get well...
I just touched hem of his garment.

Let his blood have, let his blood have.
I just touched hem of his garment.
Jesus blood can... Jesus blood can...
I just touched hem of his garment.

Ohh his blood have, let his blood have.
I just touched hem of his garment.
I was sick and I couldn't get well, I was sick and I couldn't get well.
I just touched hem of his garment.

ICYMI Thursday

by Tom Goodman

How Austin's most iconic neighborhoods got their names

 

FiveThirtyEight says It’s Foolish To Define Austin By Its City Limits. While Austin the municipality may have a clear spatial definition, Austin the “place” is a much murkier thing.

 

SkyMall has filed for bankruptcy. @YahooTech looks back at some of its wackiest offerings. j.mp/1zE1YtM pic.twitter.com/2OWU2Sbqcl (HT: @DavidPogue)

 

Andre Crouch’s “artistic model of the relationship between Christianity and culture is just as important as the social activist model.” First Things

 

Sometimes the Onion gets it so right: Modern-Day Lancelot Offers To Pay For Abortion

 

Here’s an article about a psychologist who had done major research on forgiveness--and then had to decide to apply it when his mother was murdered.

 

Featured in Time magazine last week, we pass this massive BBQ pit every time we drive through Brenham on the way to Houston. It can be yours for $350K.

This week's newsletter from Karen

I’ve learned over the years to listen when God wakes me up in the middle of the night. Last night I woke with my thoughts on the “happily ever after story” of Ruth. But my thoughts were not focused on Ruth, but on Naomi. Remember, Naomi, her husband and two sons moved to Moab from Bethlehem because of a famine. Naomi’s sons married Moabite women (one of which was Ruth). Then Naomi’s husband and both sons died. Naomi, now a widow, knew she had to return to Bethlehem and would be at the mercy of whatever family member might take her in. Naomi did not want to subject her daughters-in-law (also widows) to the same life of poverty that surely awaited them in Bethlehem so Naomi urged them to return to their families. One of the women went home and the other – Ruth – did not.  Why?

The simple answer – Naomi. Although Naomi comes across as a beaten and defeated woman (she asks to be called Mara because she says God dealt bitterly with her), that must not have been the entire sum of her character. Naomi’s example of faith in God in the face of very difficult circumstances must have been very strong for Ruth to insist, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17, ESV)

My prayer this week is to be able to set a faith example like Naomi, have that example be so strong that it causes others to see God working in the midst of my circumstances and causes them to want to follow him, and – because they’ve followed Him – to have a “happily ever after” story of their own.

What about you?  Whose Naomi will you be?

This week's newsletter from Steve

Looking forward to a great week!  I hope that your Monday and Tuesday have been filled with the love, knowledge, and wisdom that come from your walk with Jesus, and the reading of His Word! May God use you mightily to share the message of the Cross this week!

Students, our annual Football Party is THIS SUNDAY at 5:30 PM! Tons of food, friends, and FOOTBALL! Our party will be at the home of Chris and Shirley Sears, which is west on Parmer, towards Liberty Hill. I will hand out directions and a map on Wednesday!  What an opportunity to bring friends and introduce them to the folks in our youth ministry! Plus, we’ll be having a special Halftime Show just for our crew!  Plus, if you’re not into football, there will be games and a hangout space just for you! Bus will leave from the church at 4:45 PM and will be back after the game is over, so probably around 8:30 – 8:45 PM. It’s gonna be a ton of fun, so hope you’ll all be there… and bring a friend!

This week's newsletter from Gene

We had a very successful dinner for 2nd Half Ministries this past Saturday night, with 83 in attendance. The food and speaker/entertainer were excellent. We have ministries for Children, Youth, Women and Seniors, but who is 2nd Half? The general target group for this ministry is Baby Boomers. There are multiple ways to define Baby Boomers, but the age generally used by demographers is those who are born from 1946-1964. Why a ministry for this age group? Life Circumstances.

Although there are many differences, such as the leading edge verses the trailing edge differences, they have many things in common around which a ministry group can be formed. Our life experiences tend to happen based on age. For example, what is the societal “norm” for those between 5 and their early 20’s? Typically this is the time when they are getting their education to prepare them for life and are becoming independent. What’s the next “life activity?” Getting started on careers and family which takes most all our time and energy for the next 25 years or so. Our “Life Circumstances” typically begin to change around age 50 as our children are getting out of the house and our schedules and expenses adjust accordingly.

2nd Half Ministry targets the age group over 50 who will typically have these “Life Circumstance” similarities.

They tend to:

Be empty nesters
Be at the latter part of their employment or entering early retirement
Have more control over their time and schedules than earlier in life
Have disposable income
Still have good health so they can do manual mission work projects.
Be independent, and travel is a part of their normal lifestyle

There are currently 176 people at Hillcrest who make up this group if we use strictly the birthdates between 1946 and 1964. Life Circumstances, as described above, place many more in this group. More next week on this ministry.

Call Me “Maybe”

by Tom Goodman

Do you have your feet on the gas and the brake at the same time?

It’s not a good technique for driving a car. And it’s not a good way to advance through life, either. If there’s something we know God wants us to do, our answer can’t be both “I’m on it” and “Give me a minute.”

That’s been our answer to God too often, though. I think that’s why we both cringe at and draw comfort from the Gideon story. Our story is too much like his story. When God called Gideon to rescue Israel from the Midianite hoards, publicly, he sounded the trumpet and rallied Israel to his side. But privately, he wavered.

How do we know? One word. Fleece.

Gideon laid out a wool fleece on the threshing floor and said to God, “If it’s really true that you’re calling me to save Israel from Midian, prove it. By morning, let the dew only settle on the fleece while the ground remains dry.” When those terms were met, though, Gideon said, “Um, what I really meant was: Make the fleece dry while the ground around it is covered with dew.” The terms were met again (Judges 6:36-40).

Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t an example of how to find God’s will. Gideon’s scheme wasn’t to confirm God’s will but delay it! It was the reluctant hero’s way of driving with his feet on the gas and the brake at the same time.

I hope you had a patient teacher when you learned how to drive. God is certainly patient with us as we learn how to obey him. God actually worked with what Gideon was willing to give him. In God’s mercy, he also nudges us past our fearful reluctance into courageous obedience.

Let’s go a little deeper into this truth this Sunday. Join me at 10am as we continue through our series called Step Up: Finding the Courage You Need.

__________________________________________

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ICYMI Thursday

by Tom Goodman

These classic album covers were drawn on an Etch-A-Sketch

 

Personal Trainer Impressed By Man’s Improved Excuses

 

Great stories! CT's Top 10 Testimonies of 2014

 

Here’s Hoping. Obama To Imprisoned Pastor's Wife: Saving Saeed Abedini in Iran Is 'A Top Priority'

 

Of course, this was coming. Here’s a story of a baker who refused to bake a cake with an anti-gay-marriage statement.

 

Elizabeth Dias of Time recently wrote about a shift in opinion among “evangelicals” on homosexuality. Denny Burk has good reasons why you shouldn’t buy the claim.

This week's newsletter from Karen

I’m going to ask two Bible trivia questions. Before I do, close your Bible and cover the rest of this article with your hand. Promise not to look at either until after you’ve made your guess.

Question 1: Who said these words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life?”

Question 2: Who was the speaker talking to when the words were originally spoken?

Answers: Jesus said these words to Nicodemus (were you right?).

Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus meant by being “born again,” and he had come to Jesus for clarification. I get the vibe from their exchange that Jesus felt like Nicodemus – being a Pharisee – should have known the meaning. However, he didn’t and as part of Jesus’ explanation we get the famous John 3:16.

I don’t have any statistics to prove it, but I would guess that John 3:16 is most likely the most recognized, memorized, and quoted verse of the entire Bible. And it’s no wonder. To me, it is the most succinct and simple summation of the gospel message. Had Nicodemus not asked Jesus his question, who knows, but we may not have had this verse today.

Encourage your children to follow the example of Nicodemus and question the things of faith/salvation they don’t understand (even when it is assumed they should). Make sure they know their resources (you, their Bible study leaders, prayer, other Scripture, men/women of God they trust) for finding the answers to their questions. Have them share their new understanding with their friends who might be struggling with the same question.

This week's newsletter from Steve

How long has it been since you joined the gang in Praise Hill on Sunday nights? We get to join them from time to time, and I cannot tell you how much we enjoy sitting and singing, as well as listening to the guest speakers and guest musicians that join them each week. It really is a time for anyone to come enjoy being together as the family of God! 5:30 PM on Sundays: come give it a try!

Sign-ups are still underway for the Hot Hearts Evangelism Conference on February 6-7, 2015, at Highland Lakes Camp outside of Austin. We will leave the church soon after school, and return later that night after the conference ends for the night. We will then meet up at the church on Saturday morning to head back out for the rest of the conference. Cost is $40 per person, so get signed up soon!

This week's newsletter from Gene

We had an excellent group again this week for youth choir. That's going to be a really exciting ministry that Michael is putting together. This next Sunday we will be announcing the plans for the summer, which will probably include a major trip. If you have any students seventh grade through 12th grade, choir is the place for them to be on Sunday afternoons from 4:44-5:30pm!! It's going to be a great ministry, so encourage your kids to come be a part of it.

We have over 70 people who have purchased tickets for the second half ministry dinner this coming Saturday. There is still time to get yours. If you still haven't purchased your tickets, they are available in the church office, or they can be purchased online.

Inside-Out Leadership

by Tom Goodman

Influence flows from the inside out. This is an important lesson if you’re a parent, a church leader, a coach, or anyone else who wants to make an impact on others. Advise others to do what you’re already practicing yourself.

In Judges 6, God raised up Gideon to push back the Midianite enemies who were making Israel so miserable. But the process started with personal renewal and only then could Gideon call for national renewal.

You see, in Gideon’s own backyard there stood an altar to the pagan god Baal and his goddess consort Asherah. At this point in Israelite history, the people had adopted the Canaanite myths of their pagan neighbors. In fact, this is why God had withdrawn himself from Israel, allowing the Midianite invaders to have free reign. Gideon’s clan had a leading role in this spiritual compromise: The people in the surrounding area looked to the Baal altar of Gideon’s household as the regional center for this pagan worship.

On God’s command, Gideon used a bull to dismantle the pagan site. Then he built an altar to the Lord and used the wood that he had pulled down to light a fire and sacrifice the bull.

His personal renewal gave him the moral authority to call others to change. When the Midianites invaded Israel at harvest time for the eighth straight year, they expected the Israelites to flee to their caves as they had done every previous year. But things were different this time. Endued with spiritual power, Gideon put the trumpet to his lips and summoned the people to join him in a resistance movement. The people were ready for this kind of leadership, and they rallied to his side.

Most of us are in positions where we hope to influence others. We’re parents or coaches or bosses or church leaders. But before anyone will accept our influence in their lives, are there changes we need to make in our own backyard?

Let’s give this a deeper look this Sunday as we continue our sermon series called Step Up: Finding the Courage You Need. You can catch up with the previous sermon at our website. See you at 10 this Sunday!

Phobia List

by Tom Goodman

Here are the answers to today’s “Common Ground” quiz:

Agoraphobia: Fear of open spaces

Claustrophobia: Fear of confined spaces

Bathmophobia: Fear of stairs or steep slopes

Tachophobia: Fear of speed

Homilophobia: Fear of sermons

Acrophobia: Fear of heights

Brontophobia: Fear of thunder and lightning

Ablutophobia: Fear of washing or bathing

Triskaidekaphobia: Fear of the number 13

Hippophobia: Fear of horses

ICYMI Thursday

by Tom Goodman

Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet

 

Research shows why sad music, not upbeat tunes, is best for a bad mood.

 

Optimism is good for your heart

 

Related: “A half hour of complaining every day physically damages a person’s brain, according to research from Stanford University.” Fast Company suggests 7 tips to overcome.

 

“ThinkUp, a year-old subscription service that analyzes how people comport themselves on Twitter and Facebook, with the goal of helping them become more thoughtful, less reflexive, more empathetic and more professional….ThinkUp shows subscribers more unusual information such as how often they thank and congratulate people, how frequently they swear, whose voices they tend to amplify and which posts get the biggest reaction and from whom….It reminds you that what you do on Twitter and Facebook can change your life, and other people’s lives, in important, sometimes unforeseen ways.” (NYT)

 

“With all hell breaking loose around me, it felt better to know I was part of something bigger.” In this article, the faith of Chris Kyle of “American Sniper” doesn’t seem as developed as it could have been, but I liked this line.

 

The Top 50 Countries Where It's Most Difficult To Be A Christian. Open Doors says 2014 saw the worst persecution of Christians in the 'modern era'—but not because of violence.

 

Biblical Archaeology’s Top Ten Discoveries of 2014

 

Fusion’s “Creed” set to music. Learn more about this pledge here.

This week's newsletter from Karen

I read* today about a school in British Columbia that is spending part of school class time teaching preteens (4th-6th graders) proper behavior on social media sites. Jay Donaldson, who teaches the class, says, “Although children now have cellphones…at the age of 9 or 10, they are rarely educated…on the safe and correct use of these communication devices.”

As a parent of a teenager and a young adult, I have found out (sometimes the hard way) that giving access to a preteen/teenager to the WORLD via a cellphone is not always a good idea. At first I justified their need for a phone in terms of safety – he/she needs a cellphone in case they need to reach me in an emergency. My next justification came in terms of my need – he/she needs a cellphone because it helps me know where they are. Then I moved onto justifications based on their needs – you know, all their friends have them and it will be easier for them to keep in contact with friends at school to ask about homework, rehearsals, etc. Then I just quit justifying.

Does your preteen have a cellphone? Do they have access to social media sites via the cellphone? Have you taken the time to properly educate them on the safe and correct use of their cellphone as it pertains to social media sites?

Would a class for parents and/or preteens regarding the proper use of cellphones in the social media sphere be useful?

If so, let me know.

*Social Network School.  (2015, January/February).  Children’s Ministry, p. 19

This week's newsletter from Steve

We had a great time with the youth last night during our Photo Scavenger Hunt! We had an amazing crew of youth and parents out canvassing the neighborhood looking for photo opportunities. Even Gene got in on the act as our groups tracked him down to sing him a special song. Thanks for being a good sport, Gene! Thank you to all of the youth parents that helped cart the kids around, and a great big thank you to Michael Slaughter for being there last night!

Speaking of Michael Slaughter, if your student was not at the first Youth Choir meeting yesterday, they missed out!  We had over 25 students there! It’s not too late, though. I would highly encourage you to let your students know that they can go ahead and show up this Sunday at 4:44pm in the Choir Room! There will be some great things going on with the choir this summer, so students… don’t miss out!

Lastly, if you are interested in hearing about our trip to Prague earlier this month to work with missionary families, then you will want to keep reading! This Sunday night, our team will be giving a report on our trip during the Praise Hill hour at 5:30 PM in the Praise Hill room. We would love to see you there!  Have a great week!

This week's newsletter from Gene

We had an excellent kick-off for the new youth choir this past Sunday, with 26 students present! Michael will do an excellent job with this group! If you have a student in grades 7-12, please do whatever you can to get them here. I’ve noticed over the years that many times when someone is asked to join a choir, they respond by saying “I can’t sing.” That is rarely true; some people can’t match pitch enough to sing, but they are the exceptions, not the rule. Most choirs are made up of lots of people with just ordinary voices joining together, and the sum is greater than the parts.

Choirs provide an excellent opportunity for individual growth, learning of spiritual principles, building confidence, and the list goes on. Choirs also provide a way for a broad number of our congregation to be involved in ministry.  This past Christmas, you saw our youngest choir, our 4-5 year old group, through our seniors, the oldest of whom is 93. The only age group we were missing was our students, and now we will have a ministry and personal development opportunity available to them also!!

We are working on the plans for this summer and Michael will be announcing in a couple of weeks what that schedule looks like and the major project the youth choir will be participating in.  Bring your students! Many of them can’t get here without you providing transportation. It was neat Sunday night to have some of the parents who brought their youth talk with me about the good memories being in the choir room brought back to them from when I had them in youth choir years ago. Another generation!!

Who God Says You Are

by Tom Goodman

When it comes to the names we’re given, I’m glad God puts more thought into it than some parents.

John Tierney once ran a contest for bad baby names. He got more than 1,000 entries of real names. There was Charman Toilette, Chastity Beltz, Wrigley Fields, Justin Credible, Candy Stohr, and Tiny Bimbo. I suppose Brook Traut had good reason to name his daughter Rainbow, but the dad who named his daughter Emma Royd should be shot.

The winner of the contest? Well, how to put this? Iona is a pretty name, but the mother really didn’t think about how it would sound when paired with the family name—Knipl. Before taking her husband’s name, she said that every time she introduced herself the typical reply was, “I own two.”

I’m reminded of a scene from the 70s sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati (yes, I really am that old). Les Nessman was a slight, balding, bespectacled newsman for the radio station. When he met a young, handsome repairman, the exchange went like this:

Nessman: Steel, is it?

Hawthorne: Yeah, Steel Hawthorn.

Nessman: That's a nice name.

Hawthorne: Thanks. I like to think that a person's name says a lot about the type of person he is. What was your name again?

Nessman: [pauses] Les.

Parents may give their kids a name they have to live down, but God gives us titles to live up to! This wonderful truth is on my mind as I get ready to begin a study through the life of Gideon this Sunday. When the curtain rises on the tragicomedy of Gideon’s life, we see him threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from Midianite marauders who had had their way with Israel for years. And yet when the angel of the Lord appeared before him, the angel said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

He cowered in a winepress, yet he was a mighty warrior in God’s eyes. And he eventually rose to the man God knew he could be.

Have you ever thought about the ways God has named you? For a start, how about…

…Overcomer (1 John 5:4)

…Holy (Colossians 1:22)

…Free (John 8:36)

Do we live up to these titles? Not yet, not always. But, like Gideon, he calls you up to and in to the character he knows you can become.

Let’s think through what it means to live under God’s inspiring labels. Join us this Sunday at 10am as we begin a sermon series through the life of Gideon called Step Up! Finding the Courage You Need.

__________________________________________

Subscribe to “Winning Ways” and
it will arrive in your inbox each Wednesday
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This week's newsletter from Karen

Judges 2:6-9 describes the nation of Israel taking possession of their promised land, how they lived, and the eventual death of Joshua and his generation.

Verse 7 is quite a remarkable statement about this particular generation: “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.”

Then up pops verses 10 and 11: “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

What? A generation came along that did not know what God had done for Israel? Hadn’t Moses and Joshua reminded these people to continually tell their children the stories of God’s faithfulness? Could it be possible they were serving (v. 7) but not making the “why” connection to their children?

And the result (v. 11) – they [another generation] did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Do we find ourselves guilty of the same thing? Is it possible that we can be busy serving the Lord but our children have no idea “why?”

This week, as you reflect on and respond to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, find some time to sit down with your children and tell them “why” you serve Him.

Let’s raise up another generation that understands God’s faithfulness and responds by wanting to serve Him all the days of their lives.