Hidden Costs
People are good at hiding from themselves the true cost of anything they really want to do.
If I want a new car, my actual reason might be as basic as the fact that Spring has infected me with new car fever. How can I justify such a purchase? Hiding certain costs from myself will help. I can ignore the increased cost of insurance, the impact of a car payment on my budget, the cost of having to worry about scratches and dents, and the cost of lost freedom that debt always brings.
Or take low prices for example. We all love them, which is why we shop at the big box stores that deliver cheap shirts and cheaper TVs. But is there a hidden cost behind low prices? If low prices require a child labor force in Malaysia or environmental catastrophe in China, or if they produce a growing underclass of low-wage workers here in America that need government help to survive, we had better count the cost up front and be ready to pay the whole thing.
What about war? It’s too easy to hide the costs of war. That’s why I appreciate an online display I found recently called Faces of the Dead. It’s simply a creative display of the photos of every U. S. service member killed in Iraq, from Jay T. Aubin on March 21, 2003 to David Stelmat on March 22, 2008. These 4,000 men and women are only part of the cost – which includes civilians, families, businesses, hopes, dreams and billions of dollars – but let’s never allow these people to be hidden.
Perhaps the essence of sin is to hide the real costs of our actions and focus on short-term pleasure or profit. If David could have seen from his rooftop the awful cost of his sin, would he have sent for Bathsheba? If Judas had known the personal price he would pay, would thirty pieces of silver have seemed like such a good bargain?
If you and I would simply take a little time and sift out the hidden costs behind our cherished sins, would we choose to live differently?
Jesus doesn’t want anyone to follow him on false pretenses. He doesn’t hide costs. He puts them out front: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”, he says in Luke 14:33. Jesus never says that discipleship will be cheap. He says that it will be worth it.
For the April 2008 MHCC newsletter – 3.25.8
Ben Hackett
Our church lost a great friend this week. Ben Hackett, one of our founding members, passed away Friday morning at age 91.
Everyone who spoke at his funeral talked about Ben’s optimism and his ability to encourage. That’s my main testimony about the guy too. It was my privilege to serve as his minister for the past twenty years. But Ben always acted like the privilege was his.
Happy trails
Today at MHCC we began (and made significant progress on) a new trail on some of our unused and more rugged property. Below are some pictures. Maybe you’d be interested in continuing and improving upon this project.
The trail head - Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
So where is this trail? Here’s the view from the trail head:
Sermon: Our hearts’ desire for MHCC
Sermon: Our hearts’ desire for MHCC. Your ideas (from the survey) and God’s will.
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My tribute to a friend
Allean Bailey was a friend of mine and a long-time member of our church. She passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. I’m quite sure she never read my blog, nor any other web site. Here is my tribute to her.
Oh, Allean, how can there be a Morrison Hill Christian Church for me without you? After all, we joined the church on the same day, way back in May of ’88 – you, me, Howard and Cindy. Mr. Hackett received us at the front of the church and welcomed us all in. Having you up there with us was an important vote of confidence at the start of our ministry.
It didn’t take long for me to feel close to you, to come to consider you as a friend. In age, we were two generations apart, but we were much closer in more important matters – faith, first and foremost, but also in sense-of-humor and the enjoyment we got out of picking on one another. How many times did you tell me that my sermon tapes worked for you better than any sleeping pill?
I don’t remember exactly when it was, but it seems like it wasn’t long after my own Grandma died that you began telling me at the end of every visit or phone call “I love you” and pulling my face down to give me a kiss on the cheek. I loved you for that. Without really intending it (I’m sure) you filled up a hole in my heart.
The last time I visited with you was on Halloween afternoon. You offered me candy, of course. I thought you looked better, stronger, healthier than you had in a long time. I hope this means that your last couple of weeks were good ones and that the illness that finally took you home was brief. But no matter the case, that’s over now. I’m sure you faced all that with the same strong faith I always saw in you. And now I don’t need to worry about you at all because I know where you are. You are HOME. Put some candy out for me. I’ll be along eventually, and I’ll bring along some of my best sermon tapes.
I love you Allean.
Your preacher and friend,
Dennis
Thanksgiving and our new way of thinking at MHCC
Dear friends and MHCC family,
I have been speaking the last few weeks about our desperate need to turn our focus outward and let our light shine before men and women so they may see our good deeds and give glory to God. Thanksgiving provides us with a chance to do just that.
Our annual MHCC Thanksgiving Dinner will happen on Sunday, November 18 at 6p. I look forward to this event more than almost anything we do all year - because of the food, of course, and also the friendship.
There is absolutely no question that many of us (most of us) have been blessed this year with much more than we need. The fact is, my Thanksgiving meal with you will be only the first of several I eat this year. It is probably the same with most of you.
That blessing gives us a great opportunity to provide for many others before we sit down to our Thanksgiving meal. I want MHCC to do this in three ways:
- Let’s raise $1,074 for Knox Area Rescue Ministries’ Thanksgiving Dinner fund. According to their Thanksgiving letter, KARM offers homeless folks “a traditional Thanksgiving meal, including turkey and all the trimmings”...plus “a chance to get off the streets for good through counseling, job training and the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.” The price for each Thanksgiving meal is a surprisingly low $1.79. I figure we could have 300 or so at our dinner, so why don’t we pay for twice that many at KARM? 600 dinners there amounts to $1,074.
- Let’s collect those 150 gift boxes for the Lakota kids we met on this summer’s trip to South Dakota. The information you need is here. Remember that these shoe boxes of small gifts will be Christmas presents for some desperately poor kids (perhaps their ONLY Christmas presents). Many of you have brought in blankets and we thank you for that.
- Let’s welcome to our dinner those guests we have served recently through our food pantry and benevolence fund. Over the next several weeks we will be inviting these friends and praying that they will come. Can I count on you to warmly welcome and share a table with ANY guests who happen to eat with us?
I LOVE our annual Thanksgiving dinner, and I want to stress that none of this grows out of guilt for enjoying a blessing. On the contrary, it is out of thanksgiving for our great blessings that we can rejoice to respond in this way. Let’s make this meal a time of great celebration for what God has done through us for some of his beloved people in Knoxville and South Dakota.
Enjoy God today.
Dennis
P. S. - A few details…
- The KARM offering must be concluded by Sunday, November 11. We prefer that you make your checks directly to KARM, but please bring or mail them to MHCC or put them in the plate. You CAN make checks to MHCC if you will designate it for KARM on the memo. Also, any funds KARM raises in excess of its needs for the meal will be used in other ways for its ministry. We’re good with that, right?
- The Lakota gift boxes must be turned in by November 18, the night of our meal. If you include a check to help with transportation costs, make it out to MHCC.
Sermon: Our image problem & what we’ll do about it
#3 - Our image problem and what we’ll do about it
October 7, 2007
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Priorities - the heart of this church
Priorities - the heart of this church - Dennis Mullen - 1.21.7
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Series: Vision: Where MHCC is heading in 2007 (part 3 of 4)
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Attitude adjustment - Thinking that holds us back
Attitude adjustment - Thinking that holds us back - Dennis Mullen - 1.14.7
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Series: Vision: Where MHCC is heading in 2007 (part 2 of 4)
Comments welcome (see link below)
Two new MHCC bloggers
Two MHCCers who have been blogging on MySpace have recently ventured out into the wider blogging community. One is Summer Hensley, whose blog “The Shelf” is on life in general and parenting in particluar, with a special focus on raising her autistic son. Summer registered more than 10,000 page views on her MySpace blog in 2006, and now she is putting her new content on the new blog. I highly recommend her work.
The other is Hannah, who is 15 so I’ll simply use her first name here. “Peace, Love and Hannah’s Blog” is well-written and thought-provoking.
