So “why Catalyst,” you ask?

Posted by Rod Hamilton

There are plenty of things I could have called this blog, and some would be quite clever. But I have found over the last 7-8 years that if I could categorize “worship” as anything other than worship, I would call it a catalyst for change. Worshiping God is serious stuff, and to do so demands a lot from us in our lives. It demands a life truly set apart. It demands daily walking with our God. It demands a level of forgiveness that the world cannot understand. It demands a sincere level of humility that doesn’t take credit for any of the good things that we do, but bears the burden of accountability for our words and deeds.

One definition of the word “catalyst” is: a person or thing that precipitates an event or change. Speaking from life experience, aside from the initial giving of myself to Christ, nothing else precipitated change in my life like the act of worship has and continues to do. In fact, through the Worship Ministry at Valley View, I have seen many lives changed by the simple act of a person’s giving his/her time and talent back to the One Who gave it in the first place. This is the stuff that precipitates radical change.

I encourage you to check in from time to time at this blog and see what’s going on at Valley View. I also encourage you to visit our church if you aren’t currently plugged in somewhere else. If you are a Valley View person and know that God has gifted you in worship, I encourage you to get involved in the worship ministry and I challenge you to view your involvement not as a new activity, but as a link to God in a way that will change your life.

Highly favored part II

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Dec 25, 2008

A continuation from Dec 24, 2008

Back in Jerusalem an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to immediately gather up his wife, his toddler Son and their stuff and take a trip to Egypt so that king Herod would not kill Jesus. Highly favored? So another trip of at least 100 miles and a new life, for ten years or so, in a whole new country. Oh yeah, and in the land from which they had fled, all boys two years old and younger were killed because of Herod’s anger against the new King, Jesus.

We don’t know who, if anyone, Joseph and Mary knew in Egypt or what they did for a living or where they lived for 10 years or so, but we do know that they had God on their side. And because Mary was highly favored we can be sure that God took care of the details. It’s often in the toughest, most trying times that God takes care of the necessary issues, even as we attempt to handle the pressing matters. God is always in control, and I’m sure that Joseph and Mary were set apart for a time to know that. Finally, Herod died and the family went home to Nazareth.

Over the course of the next 18 years not much is known about Jesus, other than his appearance outside the Temple as a 12 year old boy. Jesus showed incredible wisdom in the temple courts then, and the word tells us that Mary treasured these things in her heart. (Lk. 2:51) It is also likely that Mary, the highly favored woman of God, became a widow over that time as well. Hardly ever would anyone associate losing a spouse at a relatively young age with being “highly favored,” but again, God was literally with Mary all the while. Showing favor to her in the way that no other mother or wife had ever known.

As Jesus begins His ministry the challenges to Mary become even greater. Being highly favored never seemed so difficult.

More to come.

“Greetings, you who are highly favored!”

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Dec 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

In the story of Christmas, from the first chapter of Luke, we find in verse 28 the angel Gabriel greeting Mary, the mother of Jesus, as “highly favored.” Yesterday I thought about what it means to be “highly favored” in a whole new light. I feel as though I am highly favored by God these days. He’s given me everything I need to live, a wonderful wife and family and the job of my dreams at the church I love, Valley View Church. Life is but a dream, so the song goes.

But let’s look at Mary’s version of being “highly favored.” Gabriel tells Mary that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Now this was exciting news, if not a little scary. “Highly favored?” Obviously. Anyone would consider her election by God for such an awesome assignment as giving birth to the Messiah an honor, a privilege and a sign of God’s favor in her life: but there was so much more to come.

Note what happens in just the first couple of years of Mary’s life. Having been betrothed to Joseph, but not yet married, That was challenge number one. Who knows whether Joseph actually discussed divorce with Mary, but he sure considered it. (though not being officially married, divorce would still have been required in order for Joseph to break the betrothal.) For Mary to have been pregnant at this point would make both her and Joseph appear to be immoral or would have made Mary appear to be an adulteress, having sexual relations with someone outside of her betrothal. This had to be a stressful time for both Mary and Joseph. Maybe being highly favored at this point simply meant the ability to deal with the pressure of her calling and the blessing of being betrothed to a man who would ultimately trust God in this situation as well.

Turn the clock forward 4-5 months. You have Joseph and Mary leaving their home in Nazareth to go to Bethlehem - that’s about a 100 mile trip, one way. Imagine the mode of transportation for such a trip; an 8+ month pregnant woman on the back of a donkey, and that’s the best case scenario. Mary might have walked. The journey, on donkey back, would have taken 4-5 days. Now, Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem, again, being highly favored and pregnant with the Son of God. When they get there they find out that there is no room available at the inn, but there is a suitable lodging in, of all places, a barn (maybe a cave), and that’s where the baby Jesus would be born. And where would the Son of God sleep? He’ll be just fine in a trough if she wraps Him up really well.

Maybe at this point being “highly favored” meant to learn humility, and to not boast in the favor that God was showing Mary. But, if we could know all of her thoughts, surely Mary would have expected better given her assignment.

So they’ve weathered the storm of a potentially embarrassing pregnancy, a tough trip to Bethlehem and less than acceptable birth conditions. God has shown His favor by giving the grace to make it through tough times. Now it’s time for the good stuff, the real favor, right? Yes. The splendor of the angels singing over the newborn King of Kings, the Prince of peace and the Son of God. The magi bringing gifts and worshiping the Infant Savior. This was God’s favor indeed. Oh how Mary and Joseph could have basked in the glory of the Lord and their election to raise Him for years. But then, things got a little hectic again for the highly favored Mary.

But that’s a post for tomorrow.

Again, Merry Christmas: and may the favor of God fall upon you and your family in the New Year.

HO HO HO! Where will you go?

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Dec 16, 2008

“He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice...he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice! If Santa used the Ten Commandments for his standards, how would you do? Let’s find out,

Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? (no matter the value.) Ever used God’s name in vain? Ever hated anybody? The Bible says “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer.”

If you are guilty of these things, it shows that in your heart, you are a lying, blasphemous, murderer-at-heart. Many people don’t know that God will use the Ten Commandments to judge the world. Forget about Santa and “naughty” and “nice.” How will you do on Judgment Day? If you are found guilty you will be sentenced to an eternity in Hell.

2,000 years ago, God sent Jesus to the earth to pay for your sins. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment that you deserve for breaking His Law, the Ten Commandments. God’s wrath came down on Jesus instead of you. The Bible says “God commands all men everywhere to repent, because God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.”

Remember: if you try to get to Heaven on your own, you must keep every commandment in thought, word and deed! Jesus paid the penalty for your sins on the cross. Then He defeated the power of sin and death when He rose from the dead. Repent (turn away) from your sins. Place your faith in Jesus Christ alone to save you. God will grant you eternal life. Read your bible daily and obey what you read.”

This is a tract from Ray Comfort @ The Way of the Master. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron offer some excellent training on how to effectively witness to the lost in the one way that convicts, the Law.

Many attributes of the life of a believer - deliverance, joy, peace - may seem to be reasons for another to accept Jesus Christ, but the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross was to save our mortal souls from the eternal death we deserved, not to make us comfortable. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are the fruit of the Spirit of a person truly transformed. These things ought to attract the unbeliever to the believer, but are not reasons to accept Christ on their own. The fruit of the Spirit, a Spirit filled life, a life transformed; these are all bi-products of a redeemed soul, once bound for Hell but now set apart for God, to do His work and to live out His will and to retire from this place to eternity in Heaven with the Almighty. If our abiding thanks to God is not first for what He has done for our eternal souls, our worship is out of line.

The Law shows even the unbeliever that he is sinful and worthy of eternal death. In Romans 7:7 the Apostle Paul said “...I would not have known what sin was except through the Law.” In Galatians 3:24 (KJV), Paul refers to the Law as “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.”

Jesus is our Redeemer, our King and our Lord. This Christmas the best thing we can offer the unbelieving world is the true message of salvation through Jesus Christ. It starts with the Law and ends with His grace.

Denver & the Mile High Orchestra

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Nov 23, 2008

On January 17th, 2009, right after church, we will have Denver & the Mile High Orchestra in concert at Valley View Church. Denver’s a great guy and the band is phenomenal! Tickets information will be available soon!

Til then, check out Denver & the Mile High Orchestra at DMHO. Or better yet, go to YouTube and search. There’s plenty of video footage there.

Buy a ticket here.

eHarmony? ePandering.

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Nov 20, 2008

What in the world is going on? For quite some time now eHarmony, the dating service, has been, if you believe the commercials, a startlingly successful dating service. Part of the attraction for me, though I never needed the service (thank You Lord for my wife!!) was that it was founded by Dr Neil Clark Warren, a devout Christian. Much of Dr Warren’s fame comes from his earlier ties with James Dobson and “Focus on the Family.”

Well, not to re-write what’s been written, but through a discrimination lawsuit leveled against Dr Warren and eHarmony in 2005, Warren now, because of a settlement, will also be hosting a “same-sex” online dating service. Now, to some this might seem perfectly acceptable, and mind you, this post is not about whether or not the world should have “same sex” online services. Obviously, the world wide web is a completely unabashed example of greed, hedonism, lust, self gratification and many other things, so I don’t really take issue with yet another “same sex” online service entering the realm of the web, but what I do take issue with is Dr Warren’s settlement and decision to oblige his plaintiff.

You and I are faced with small scale but similar decisions every day in our walk with Christ - it’s what defines us as genuine or counterfeit by the standards of many. But eHarmony is Dr Warren’s Sistine Chapel, his Mona Lisa. It’s the main body of work for which he will be known after he is gone. Again, if you believe the commercials, that work was pretty good.

Here’s the thing about our Christian lives: we may live, by the world’s standards, great lives as Christians. We can do great works for the poor, sing wonderful songs of praise, preach and teach the truths of Christ with great authority and enthusiasm, but it is still that last act of public record that is often what we’ll be remembered by.

Today, unless something drastically changes, Dr Neil Clark Warren might well best be remembered as that Christian guy who went against the very core of what he professed and began a “same sex” dating site. Nice eulogy, huh? He could have gone the other way with this one. He could have been remembered as that guy who stood up to the winds of change and shut down eHarmony rather than giving in to the army of political correctness. This could have been a heroic ending to a life well lived up to now. It’s a shameful day Dr Warren, shameful indeed.

I pray he’ll reconsider.

Read the story.

Wow! Talk about endless treasures!

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Nov 09, 2008

I don’t like to tout too many websites on my blog, but here’s another one you just really ought to go and check out. There is so much material here that it would take years to read and work through it; but those would be years well spent.

Bible Bulletin Board

Recommended reading this week? The book of Judges.

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Nov 05, 2008

Maybe, in our current state of political bliss or despair (depending on which side you’re on) it might be an appropriate time to see exactly what God allows His people to go through when they refuse to follow Him.

We read, in Romans 13:1, that “everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

What?!?! I have to submit to our governing authority even if it’s not the guy I voted for? Well, you don’t have to, but Romans 13:2 says “consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” Supporting our government is a choice, but choosing not to support it has its consequences.

That’s the thing about God’s word; it brings everything into light and into perspective. Hebrews 4:12 - “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

But what about a nation that refuses to follow God, refuses to recognize His hand of sovereignty in every endeavor? I believe, based solely on scripture, that God allows a nation to be refined by fire, through a testing and trying that it never would have signed up for had it realized what it’s arrogance and refusal of the Almighty would bring upon it.

No? That’s where the book of Judges comes in. Time and again the author of Judges writes about the Nation of Israel being given over to evil leaders as a punishment for “doing evil in the eyes of the Lord” and that evil was that “they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. (Judges 3:7) For 8 years the Israelites, God’s chosen people, were allowed to go through the most horrible of times because of their disobedience. After the first eight years the people of God cried out to God and were delivered, only to fall right back into the same trap years later - again, and again, and again.

I recommend reading Judges. Every once in a while, just for effect, replace the name “Israelites” with “Americans.” If God allowed Israel, His chosen people, to go through these sorts of trials, what might He allow us, a nation never mentioned in His word, to go through?

What Joe the Plumber really needs to know this campaign year.

Posted by Rod Hamilton on Nov 01, 2008

Joe the Plumber has unwittingly become a national figure in politics this year. Though Joe’s 15 minutes of fame will soon end, his moniker will live on for a time as an odd moment in American politics.

The thing is, regardless of who Joe votes for, Joe is still going to have to live his life, both here and into eternity, just as everyone else will. Joe can be affected by policies set forth by Obama the Changer or McCain the Hero, but the only sure positive impact Joe the Plumber can have on his life this campaign season and beyond is by accepting Jesus the Christ.

Neither Obama nor McCain can save Joe, and it’s likely that neither takes a real personal interest in Joe. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, has shown His interest in Joe, and in all of us, by His actions and by His words. Jesus died for Joe Everybody that “they may have life, and have it to the full.” (Jn 10:10)

So Joe, don’t be too concerned about tomorrow - what you will do, how you will survive or what your taxation situation be - “but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6:33)

The future of the believer in Christ is in good hands!