Sunday, August 30, 2009

Prosperity Gospel Part One

This weekend at the Ladies Retreat during the down time a few of us were talking about the "prosperity gospel" that is sweeping America and I decided it was time for a post concerning it. As I have to go to church soon and I have to pack for my first night on the job, I am just posting this video of Piper and his thoughts on the Prosperity Gospel, which in fact echo my own. I will post later concerning this though.



This is not my video, though I wish I could take credit....I am in the middle of making one to this sermon right now though.

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters!




In Honor of Super Sister and Spastic(?) Sister, from Scared Sister

Both of my sisters have birthdays in August so here at the end (actually on Tori's bday) I wanted to take a post to say Happy Birthday to Bethany and Tori! I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with you as my sisters, friends and confidants! You are both godly examples for me and so many others! I love you both! So happy birthday to two of my favorite people!

Major Update

Since a few people have asked why the change in major I thought I'd address it on here. Here's the story:

While I love filming, taking pictures and making videos I had to ask myself was what I was spending all of this money on worth it? After all, I don't want to be a director or anything. Plus this is something that is learned mostly by experience. Honestly I was only majoring in TCF because I didnt know what else to major in. So a couple of weeks before I had to sign up for classes I decided to change my major to Childcare Development. I hadn't considered this before because back in the day when I decided on TCF I didnt realize how much I loved kids. God has been so gracious to lead me to this decision.
So why Childcare Development? What am I planning on doing with it? Absolutely nothing. I dont want to work, though of course if it is absolutely necessary I would. I have always wanted to be a wife and mother, in fact I feel called to be that. They dont really offer a major in how to be a wife or how to be a mother. So what was something that would help one day in my life and not be a waste of time and money? Childcare development. This is the closest thing they've got. Pretty much anything I learn can be practical for the future. I dont want to work or teach in a daycare with it (at least that's not my goal), however I know that some ministries hire people in that line to work with missionary kids. If ever I was in a place where that was possible, that might be pretty cool.

Because of my change in major I'm taking totally different classes than I was before. My favorites so far are Psychology and Childcare Development Exercises. These classes are so fun! Anyways, there it is. Childcare Development is simply more practical and profitable, and praise the Lord, I am loving it!

Monday, August 17, 2009

If we dont give, they cant go

Last Sunday my family attended church at Trinity Baptist in Keystone Heights, Florida, with my grandparents. They, I'm sure along with several other Southern Baptist Churches, showed a video about the International Mission Board's "Christmas in August." Every year at Christmas time Southern Baptists take up a special offering called the Lottie Moon Offering. The Lottie Moon Offering is named after one of the great SB missionaries to China, and was established in 1881. This great ministry has allowed missionaries to go and share the gospel all over the world without having to worry about raising support. However, last year the offering fell short of the necessary goal by almost $30 million. This has resulted in an indefinite hold on sending missionaries as well as a cut back in the number of full time missionary appointments.

Therefore, the Southern Baptist Convention President, Johnny Hunt, along with other SBC leaders, has called for a special Lottie Moon Christmas in August offering in the hopes of offsetting the shortage from 2008. However, the problem isnt going to be fixed by a one time offering, because the problem isnt just that there was a shortage in giving last year.

To find the problem we must go to the root of it, and we must be honest with ourselves. Why aren't people giving? Is it because we just dont know? Or is it because we have been so captivated by the fleeting things of this world that we dont care for the perishing around us? The time for giving what is required has passed. Brothers and sisters, I urge you to give sacrificially. Whether it be clothes, technological toys, books (this is where I love to spend money), Alabama Season Tickets, or even giving up something you want for your birthday or Christmas, I urge you to give until it hurts. I am not saying you must go without food, but we waste so much money on material things. Sure, times are hard economically, but that doesnt mean we should stop giving. Even when times are tough somehow we manage to continue wasting money. Get creative in your giving. If we just say we aren't going to buy something in order to save money, we will end up wasting it on something else. Instead of just deciding to not spend money on something calculate what you would spend and give that. Instead of buying things you dont need, set that money aside to give and help spread the gospel among the nations. Alabama games last a few hours and are over, books will burn, the souls of men will last forever. I, too, am guilty of wasting money. Let us together support the cause of Christ. What would it look like if for Christmas this year if instead of making a list of things we dont need that will only end up as clutter, we make a list, calculating the price and giving it all away? We dont need more stuff, but the world does need to hear the Gospel. Give to His work and watch the Lord faithfully provide for your needs.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I have made it back to Tuscaloosa. Praise the Lord!
I am VERY excited about church Sunday. I feel like I havent been to Open Door in forever....really it's only been two weeks.
I'm off to take care of some things but let me leave you with a couple of thoughts from Augustine I stumbled upon while reading this morning....

"You made us for Yourself, and our hears find no peace till they rest in You."

"You are active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to Yourself, though You suffer no need....You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and yet serene. Your works are varied, but Your purpose is one and the same....You welcome those who come to You, though You never lost them. You are never in need yet are glad to gain, never covetous yet You exact a return for your gifts....You release us from our debts, but you lost nothing thereby. You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight, but is this enough to say of You? Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? Yet woe betide to those who are silent about You!" (Augustine, Confessions)

Monday, August 10, 2009

A (not so) quick catch up on the craziness that has been my life recently....
We went to Dallas. My favorite part of that trip was meeting Kiera Cass. We went by the TwiCon Dallas because we heard that the "TwiCurls" were there. They have a video blog on youtube and we have followed their videos for some time. They are absolutely hilarious. So we went and camped out....by "camped out" I just mean waited for them to come back from a break. Anyways, Keira wrote a book and it was published not too long ago. I've really wanted to get it for some time now, but havent. I'm glad I waited cause now I have it signed. It's on sale at B&N.com and amazon. Check it out...The Siren by Keira Cass.

Keira and Liz are both believers and we got to talk to Keira for a while. She was super sweet and super preggers :)
We didnt get to meet Kaleb Nation, but I was actually ok with that. His book comes out in stores (B&N) on Sept. 9.

We then went to the hotel to change and went straight to the concert. We got there 6 HOURS early. For those who know me, you might think, "Hillary really went and waited for the doors to open for a concert?" Yes I did. I'm 100% more of a "sit down, coffee house" concerter than a "fight for the front row, stand up, jump around" concerter. We actually got to wait inside at the Bar & Grill since we were among the first people there. So I sat and read The Siren for about 6 hours. There was some misunderstanding among the staff about the 15 of us who were inside, being in line first but Gina, our awesome waitress, got it worked out. The concert was actually kind of fun. They sang the Monkey Rap and our monkey Mr. Orson Brawl made it up on stage and onto the mic stand. After the concert we went to a VIP after party with about 100 other people. It was bigger than advertised but we got to meet a couple of the band members, Jared Anderson and Jackson Rathbone. This however was enough Monkey concerts for me.
On Sunday there was a signing at B&N. This was also VERY COOL. This was probably my second favorite part. We walked in and this is what we saw.....


enter chorus singing *ahhhhhhhhh*
Two stories...the Barnes and Noble, my FAVORITE store was TWO stories! It was so cool....and soooo organized. This was something that everywhere else we went that weekend lacked. Leave it to B&N to be ahead of the game. The cd signing didnt take too long and their manager told us if we waited we could get a picture with the band since we didnt get to get one at the VIP party the night before. So we all got one...I dont have mine on my computer yet.

We headed back to Bama Monday and after a long 8ish hours we made it back. I headed straight to Rainbow City to go to Six Flags with Bethany and Alex's youth group on Tuesday. That was a lot of fun, but I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day.

On Wednesday my family went to Florida to our favorite place in the world....Lake Santa Fe.

We went to surprise my grandmother for her 80th birthday. It was a very good and relaxing vacation. Uncle Keith's birthday is on August 6th as well and I mentioned to him that our family thought it would be best to celebrate his birthday at his favorite place.....I dont think he appreciated that as much as we did. He described it as "torture" :) Alex couldnt go with us due to some youth event he had already planned before this trip was planned, but the rest of our family got to go.
My extended family has always been really close. Growing up we always loved going to spend time with the cousins, and were sad that it only happened 2-3 times a year until we moved to Sylacauga. If you asked anyone in our family, everyone would agree that ours is the best. On Thursday when we were eating dinner on Grammy's birthday I looked around and had one of these, 'I really do have the coolest family' moments. I sat there and thought, "How cool is my old school family?!" The whole family was sitting and eating a home cooked meal around the table, in a room which overlooks a beautiful lake while listening to classical music. It really made me appreciate being of Winter decent (I say that to include the Kizziah/Pugh/Gordon branches of the fam). I truly am blessed with such a family.


My family's not perfect to be sure, but my family is pretty much my favorite.

While I was in Florida I managed to sneak over to Jacksonville and visit the church my grandparents got married in and kind of get a feel for Jacksonville. Jville was a very important part of my gparents history so it was neat to be there and see it. I hope it will help me in a project I am hoping to start working on soon.

Anyways I am pretty exhausted and have a pretty busy day tomorrow of packing and such for my return to Ttown...I cant believe I've been gone so long!

Also...Crystal Powell's Bday is tomorrow...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRYSTAL!

peace.