Mark Hunnicutt

Happy New Year!

The above picture is the view from my office window the first day of 2009.  This picture might draw the question, why are you working on New Year’s Day?   The answer is one word, procrastination.  I have about seven items on my to do list that were there yesterday but I couldn’t get out of holiday and celebration mood.  As I evaluate yesterday I accomplished several things; hanging out, football talk, extra long lunch, and  a New Year’s impromptu party at my house with several Team Members. 

Today and tomorrow morning I will be preparing for a great ministry weekend.  I’m speaking at the, 2009 Marriage Retreat, SNC, and Student Life Groups.  I hear Dennis and his team banging around…  I think they are putting the finishing touches on our Online By ’09 project! 

 

Happy New Year! 

Mark's '08 Christmas Present Rundown

How Should We Respond To Christmas?

Merry Christmas!  I love the simplicity of Christmas.  How should we respond to Christmas? 

First, we need to understand what Christmas is all about. 

Watch the first video...

How should we respond to the Christmas message in '09? 

Watch the second video...

 

4 Praise Him with ... dancing! Psalms 150:4

My prayer for you is because of God's grace you dance.  You dance in your relationships, you dance in your ministry, you dance in your finances and you dance in your disciplines in 2009. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

 

Christmas Reminders

I heard two great Christmas reminders today. One was expected and the other unexpected.

First, the expected. Pastor Greg brought great clarity to Phil. 2 and the questions, where Jesus came from and why He came? Jesus took a long Christmas road trip to romance this world back to Himself. To Him we were worth this trip. It was a round trip from heaven, to the earth, to the cross, to the grave and back to heaven. By the way, He is scheduled for a return road trip soon. Think more Theology and less tinsel and twinkle this holiday.

The second reminder was unexpected. It came from our preschool choir. They opened with a Christmas song about telling and teaching this season. Like most kids songs it had motions. They would point with authority when they sang, go tell, go teach. Their command was backed by biblical authority because those are Jesus' words.

This Christmas let's make sure to add some Theology, some telling and some teaching to our busy agendas. What great Christmas reminders have you heard lately?

What is Your Thanksgiving Perspective?

Today we pause in our busy lives to give thanks. The majority of people will say this word, thanks. This verbalized word is usually directed towards someone for something. To me this day is all about perspective.

A reverse perspective sees Thanksgiving as a time to reflect on blessings. It looks at the now and traces thanks back to a source, person or a situation.

A right perspective sees Thanksgiving as a time to worship the giver of blessings. This perspective transcends time and space. It looks to THE source, THE person and THE salvation. True thanksgiving is not about thanking a god for blessings. It is about thanking THE God of all blessings.

Anything short of hell is reason to give thanks. God made this perspective possible through the person of Jesus Christ. So today I give thanks to my Maker, Creator, Sustainer and Savoir.

Thanks, God! What is your Thanksgiving perspective?

Values Before Evaluation

I heard Christmas music playing in the grocery store this week.  Wow, I can't believe another year is almost gone.  The boomer generation tells me that the older you get the faster the months and years go by.  I’m starting to believe that this year.

 

To evaluate this past year I need to have values.  My life values help me gauge and evaluate my life.  Most people will start thinking about this process around new years in the form of resolutions.  I want to get a jump start on two values that sometimes get left out of New Years resolutions because they are emphasized at the end of the year.

 

Gratitude is a value that will help in a life evaluation.  How grateful are you?  This time of year is a great time to ask this question.  You are going to hear songs and sermons over the next couple of week that can catalyst this checkup.  Let’s be more thankful this thanksgiving.

 

What about giving?  What a great life value.  Has your giving increased this year?  This Christmas season let's make a giving list and not a getting list.  Let’s be more giving this Christmas.  

 

After the turkey, wrapping paper and parties don't look back and evaluate based on things that have no value.    Embrace gratitude and giving as valuable and let the holidays begin.