Thanks Giving!

This past Monday morning I got to do one of my favorite things of the year...deliver the shoeboxes from Operation Christmas Child. It's a glorious thing to drop off those little cartons of compassion...kinda like dropping a message in a bottle and placing it in the ocean's current. You just know that it will eventually be found and read...that it will communicate the concern and Christlike care of the one(s) who packed it to some child that you and I may never meet (on earth that is). And yet, it could make eternal ripples. How simple...how profound.

With your help we were able to deliver 380 shoeboxes of hope and love...enough to cover the entire interior of a box truck three feet deep. Another 20 boxes came in later in the day or were delivered directly to the assembly point. To God be the honor and glory...400 shoeboxes packed with love and sent to all manner of places around the globe. Now, let's pray for their placement and delivery in homes and hearts that God is already preparing.

Thanks, church for answering the bell...for rising to the occasion in a tough economy at a challenging time for all of us. You inspire me.

A Season that Counts

In less than 2 weeks, the THF family will be participating in our Operation Christmas Child emphasis. God has provided us with an unique opportunity to reach impoverished children and families around the globe through our participation with the Samaritan's Purse organization. It's a great opportunity to launch your family into the holiday season by focusing them on outward extending rather than inward receiving. I can think of few causes more worthy.

You can find out more in the THF Mall or online at http://www.theheightsfellowship.org/connect/

Our church goal is 500 shoeboxes for the season. Let's blow the lid off this goal.

Pastor Mike

Deeper Thanks

Last night we hosted the very first "Deeper" event in the THF auditorium. One word: OUTSTANDING! I coulda easily substituted AMAZING or EXCEPTIONAL or INCREDIBLE. I'm so thankful for our prayer ministry, worship band, sound, and media folks. Those guys (and gals) continue to honor God with their ginormous talent and availability...and their desire to have God's glory reign down.

It was really fun for my wife and I because we were afforded the chance to "just be one of the peeps." Didn't have to worry about the next thing, next announcement, how I would speak in the next few minutes when I got up to share the message, etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I love all those things, but it was great to be in a time of pure worship and prayer for the evening. We were encouraged, envigorated, and equipped for the days ahead. Thanks for the gift, from this very grateful pastor.

So what do you say, how about we do this again maybe in the Christmas season?!!

Pastor Mike

A Season of Thanksgiving

There are not enough words to convey my deep admiration and appreciation for the outstanding job the THF family did at last Friday's Fall Festival. How fun was it to combine creativity and effort for God's kingdom. We think over 1000 folks from the community attended the festival. The sheer creative genius of you guys is amazing to behold. A special thanks to Mika McDaniel and her staff for their effort and excellence. Be sure and look for new photos uploaded in the next day or so.

Get ready for a great time of worship this Friday night at 7 as we host our first "Deeper" meeting.

How Does God Feel About Our Prayers?

This from THF Member, Mike Hensley

I had never really thought about this. I know scripture tells us that we should pray. In fact, I Thessalonians 5:17 says we are to pray continually. Scripture abounds with references to prayer. But how does God feel when we pray to him? Usually I am so concerned about my needs and feelings I haven't even considered God's.

But John in Revelation the 5th chapter gives us some insight. John is seeing a vision of heaven and in verse 8 describes what he sees,

"And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

Our prayers are sweet smelling incense to God. When we pray he is surrounded by pleasant aromas. So how does God feel when we pray? I think it draws God to the believer. And that is VERY cool. So pray, church, and talk to God about your life and His.

Mike Hensley

The Other Jonas Brother

Many of us know what it is to live life in the shadow of an accomplished sibling or parent or boss. It's amazing to live in that proximity...but it's maddening to have their shadow cast over what you do, day after day. Or, to be known as "So and so's" brother/sister/child/friend, etc.

For those of us like that, know that we have a hero. He's the "other" Jonas brother - not the guys from entertainment, but the guys from the pages of scripture. His name is Andrew Barjona (the brother of Simon-Peter). Be a part of what God will show us this weekend. Prepare your heart to receive God's thoughts and purposes as we gear up for Sunday's celebration.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

One of my favorite shows of the past was the show, Whose Line Is It Anyway. I found the improv and most of the humor amazing. What talent God has given men.

One of the sketches that was recurring in the show was titled "Super Heroes" - a very funny expression of the hero genre of literature and media...but it also reflected our infatuation with greatness and accomplishment. It reflects how we look upon our heroes and how we want somebody to "save" us. The funny thing about the sketch is how the comedians took mundane things and people and gave them super hero powers.

And what Drew Carey and cast did on a TV show, Jesus has done for real...and not because He was trying to be funny, but because He is a transforming God. I hope to see you this Sunday as we begin to explore the lives of twelve ordinary men who allowed Jesus to make them Larger than Life. By His transforming power, we all can find our mark, our line, our reason for being.

Not Everyone Can Go, But Everyone Can Help

We talked last night at The Porch about Paul's words to the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 1:8-11. As he and his companions traveled thru Asia, they feared for their lives as they advanced the kingdom, boldly sharing Christ wherever they went. He gives credit for their success/survival to two factors. The first is, of course, God. He says that they were in trouble so that they would rely more on the God who could deliver them. But the other factor he sites for his survival is the prayers of the Corinthian believers. He writes in vs. 10-11: "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many." As we leave for Asia in just 48 hours, I know our success hinges on several things, but the two biggies are God's provision for us and YOUR prayers. You may not be able to go on a 12 day trek to Asia to share Jesus with people, but you can still help. Join our team by making a commitment to pray every day for our work. Specifically, every evening around 5 p.m. our time and 8 a.m. our time. Every morning pray for the people we are sharing a meal with, and every evening pray for the people we will be meeting in the local parks to just begin relationships and to invite to dinner. In doing so, you are helping just like the early church helped Paul as he traveled thru Asia.

Transplants and Gravity

Yesterday was one of those wonderful, wierd, awesome, awful days. I got a call from my mom about 8:15 am, telling me that they'd been summoned to Covenant Hospital from Amarillo by the Lubbock Transplant team - that they believed they had a transplant kidney available for my dad. He's been on kidney dialysis for 8 years and has gone through the gamut of emotions and physical ailments resulting from it.

All the crossmatches were good and by 10 am he was prepped and ready for the surgery. Then we waited. Hard stuff, waiting! It didn't take long to realize, from the posture of the staff, that the surgical suite was ready, the transplant team was ready, my dad was ready, we were ready...the delay was in the harvesting of the kidney. The elation of having our prayers answered after eight long years of struggle and hardship was tempered as we realized that somewhere else in the same hospital a family was making the decision to let a loved one go, and that had to happen before my dad could live.

All we were allowed to know is that it was an accident victim - 18 years old - from over in New Mexico. How do you pray for that? How do you pray selflessly? What do you ask our wonderful, Creator God to do? How do you approach the giver of life and ask Him to hurry up and take a life? Ummmm. How wonderfully awful life can be. How horribly beautiful can be death.

At 4 pm we were told the kidney was being harvested. At 5 pm the transplant surgery began. It is VERY rare, we were told, for someone in my dad's condition to receive a LIVING kidney. My mom and dad were even allowed to see the life sustaining organ prior to surgery. It was the perfect storm of healing technology. At 8 pm the surgeon told us that the transplant surgery was a success. And now we bask in the glow of a successful surgery and wait prayerfully to see if the body receives the transplanted organ, and we work feverishly to prevent infection and promote healing.

My emotions are sapped...crushed for a family who gave up their son or daughter so that my father can live "normally" again. All I can tell them is that they did the right thing. They did a great thing. They did a heroic thing. Their loved one's death saved a good man. In fact, at least two people are alive with new hope today because of this family's tragedy yesterday.

I'm elated for dad and look forward to the day when he can eat a normal meal and maybe, just maybe, enjoy the life that was been taken from him for most of the last decade.

But all this gravity makes me land in the knowledge that my Heavenly Father gave up His perfect Son so that I could have my heart transplanted and live again. I/we daren't miss the Jesus in all of this. So I listen to my beating heart and marvel at His life within.

Our Amazing Tech Guys

I've been serving on staff in pastoral roles for over 20 years now, and I've got to tell you that our Media/Technical staff is the best I've ever seen. From Austin, who can do anything, to Toby, who does a little bit of everything, we have an incredible media ministry. Justin keeps us up and running with all the latest cool server stuff, and Oscar redesigned an already great web site to make it amazing! Not to mention all of the camera guys, or Alan (who does the announcements). Allison, Mario, and now Jeremiah have a knack for camera angles and "quarterbacking" our live stream. All of our camera crew, sound crew, and visual crew round out a "Dream Team" that most churches would die to have. I can never say enough how much you guys impact what we do here at THF. But the coolest part is that every one of these folks does what they do because it is a ministry, and not in pursuit of a pay check. Take a moment this weekend and find a media crew member and thank them for their ministry. We have the best I've ever seen, and should let them know we appreciate them. Peace, Jase

Lessons From Broncos Training Camp

I was at a wedding in Denver a couple of weeks ago. It was a really fun time, as a former student was marrying the “girl of his dreams.” It was a pretty small affair, several hundred miles away from all of our home towns, but some of the old youth group came in to be a part of the wedding party.

One of those former students (who was serving as the best man) is now a grad assistant on the (football) coaching staff at a major football university a few hours south of Lubbock. While we were at the rehearsal dinner, he exchanged texts with another acquaintance who is now a pro scout. The acquaintance encouraged him to come out to the Denver Broncos Training Camp the next morning. The student mentioned it to me, and next thing we both knew, we were going to Training Camp.

The next morning we arrived at Camp and were directed to the “A” parking lot. When we entered the gate – just a hundred or so feet away - we were directed to the VIP table, where we received VIP passes and were personally ushered onto the field. I was taken to the VIP seating section (a choice patch of finely manicured grass about ten feet off the 50 yard line at field level, where I could see and hear virtually everything on that half of the field). My friend was directed to the Broncos offices where he met with the staff scouts and coaches for the Broncos and then got to be on the field with the coaches during the practice. He even had a meaningful conversation with the Head Coach, who – get this – KNEW he would be there (he’d been told by the Broncos GM). Incredible.

Don’t think for a minute I didn’t stick my chest out a little further as I walked around with my VIP pass prominently displayed. I loved it everytime someone tried to sit on “my” grass and the security people politely told them, “I’m sorry, but this spot is reserved for VIP only.” Several folks who were “shooed” away made some comment to the extent of “What? Don’t I look good enough for you? Aren’t I VIP quality?” I remember one guy even asking, “What would make me VIP?” He was told, “Most people in VIP know someone…”

Me, I just sat there on my cool patch of grass in the bright sunshine and basked in the glow of my VIP-ness and smiled!

Needless to say, it was a wonderful morning – something I never expected to get to do. It was a nigh perfect morning there in the foothills of the Rockies, in the glorious morning sunshine, just a few feet from all-pro, all-world athletes. The players, the staff, the people were amazingly pleasant as they went about their tasks. I kept thinking, “I can’t believe I’m here. I never could have arranged this! What a trip!”

Later, on the flight home, I reflected on the day – and it hit me – this is the Christian life! We’ve been given something really great that we don’t deserve because we know someone. It’s not ours to earn. There are a lot of people who may “look” good enough – who are probably VIP quality. But it’s not their awareness or their passion or any kind of deservedness that gets them in. They – we – have to KNOW someone (Jesus).

What a great gift! And then there is the most important part – because we know Jesus – we have the confidence to climb the mountain of God and the right to boldly enter into the very presence of Almighty God (Heb 10:19)! What a trip!

Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing

Do you ever get tired of bad news. The economy - prices up, value down. Our dollar is in decline, our culture is in decline, morally, we're in decline. It's an election year, and the air seems to be alternately filled with bad news and bad promises. It would be so easy to absorb the negative ooze all around us - to let the negative energy reprogram our satisfaction.

Spending some time with God yesterday morning brought me much encouragement. I read Psalm 12 and listened as David spoke my heart -

Help, O LORD, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth! (v.1 nlt)

And then he listed a number of examples. See if 1000 BC sounds like 2008.

Neighbors lie to each other
A generation speaks with flattering lips and insincere hearts (v.2)
Violence is done to the helpless. The poor and needy groan for relief. (v.5)
The wicked strut about and evil is praised in the land (v.8)
Sounds like reality TV, huh!

It just doesn't sound like men have changed much in a couple of thousand years. Thankfully, neither has our God. He reminds us that He is the same "yesterday, today, and forever." (Heb 13:8) Last time I checked, we still need saving and God is still in the saving business. Aren't you glad?

Listen to what David found and see if you find it too -

5 The LORD replies, "I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do." 6 The LORD's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. (Psalm 12:5-6 nlt)

David's conclusion - mine too. See if it's yours:

Therefore, LORD, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation... (v.7 - emphasis mine)

Be encouraged. I know who you can trust.

= Mike