Manure Pile

Pastor's Weekly Devotion
JULY 29,2009
"MANURE PILE" Rev. Craig Duke Rev. Duke is the Senior Pastor at Hillside United Methodist Church in Princeton, Indiana. Hillside United Methodist Church Online Hillside Welcome Meet Our Staff Hillside History Hillside Calendar Hillside Ministries	The Weekly Devotion "MANURE PILE" Horse produce a lot of....manure. I know this first hand after spending a week with a horse at our local county fair. This was my daughter's first year to show a horse for 4-H. There is a daily ritual, actually several times a day, of cleaning out the horse's stall. You see, when a horse is confined in a relatively small space and needs to go to the bathroom it all happens right there. So, it is the responsibility of the horse owner to shovel the....manure. What is really amazing is that the fairground folks have planned for this. After Tiffany, my daughter, had filled the wheel barrow with Sonny's, the horse, manure she could wheel it down the aisle of the barn and out into a large dumpster that was for nothing but......manure. That's right, it was full of......manure. And, when the big dumpster got full then it was unloaded into a truck and carted off. All the planning that went into the removal of......manure. If only we humans were as smart with all the manure in our lives. Instead of getting rid of it and having a plan to get rid of it we just carry it around. This is not a good idea as it becomes more smelly and disgusting the longer we carry it. I think you can see where I am going. Instead of it piling up in our lives, we need to wheel it out of our lives and give it to Jesus. Incredible isn't it? Jesus receives our manure and turns it into that which causes things to grow......fertilizer. So don't let your manure pile up. Instead, follow the biblical plan to get rid of it by giving it to Jesus. Sharing in Faith, Rev. Craig W. Duke

Contact Info
	Senior Pastor	Rev. Craig Duke	(812) 385-2910	revcraig@hillsideemail.com
	Office Administrator	Brenda Witt	(812) 385-2910	brenda@hillsideemail.com
	Choir Director	Sandy Nixon		sandy@hillsideemail.com
	Pianist	Debbie Ford		debbie@hillsideemail.com
	Preschool Director	Chiyona Bourne	(812) 385-2910	chiyona@hillsideemail.com
	Worship Coordinator	Linda Duke	(812) 385-2910	linda@hillsideemail.com

Christ at Camp

Pastor's Weekly Devotion
July 22,2009
"Christ at Camp" Rev. Craig Duke Rev. Duke is the Senior Pastor at Hillside United Methodist Church in Princeton, Indiana. Hillside United Methodist Church Online Hillside Welcome Meet Our Staff Hillside History Hillside Calendar Hillside Ministries	The Weekly Devotion Luke 15:8-10 (New International Version) 8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." "Christ at Camp" I can hear the sound of a leaf blower making its way between the long wooden benches urging the small pieces of balloons and candy wrappers to exit the tabernacle. The trash bags are stacked outside of Wesley and Asbury hall waiting for pick-up. The labored steps of volunteers can be heard going up and down stairs carrying craft supplies, a popcorn machine, left over t-shirts, kitchen supplies, paper, and recreation equipment to the storage facility until the next camping season. In short, we were bringing another Santa Claus Camping season to a close. It is a bittersweet time as the quietness of the campers' absence permeates the air. Hundreds of children and young adults came pouring into the 80 acres with anticipation and expectation. Adult volunteers put on this year's counselor t-shirt and nametags and prepared to serve those who arrived. The pool filled with swimmers, the lake with canoers the dining hall with hungry appetites. Worship was celebrated and small groups worked through different scriptures and discussed their application to their lives. Prayers were lifted and communion shared. Storms were experienced and games were played. But what makes it all so humbling is when a graduate stands up at the campfire and shares that this simple little campground is so special because this is where "I accepted Christ!" Wow. Among all of the activities and planned experiences, Christ gets through. More than one graduate share this experience and many of the youngest campers shared how they accepted Christ during communion which will allow them to complete the cycle one day by standing up at the campfire and sharing how special this simple little campground is to them. It's all about the one. The individual. The simple relationship between each camper and Jesus. Just as the woman searched her whole house looking for her lost coin; Jesus searches the whole campground looking for his lost children. He always finds them. I will never cease to be amazed by the power of God's Spirit entering into the heart of new Christ follower. There is much to celebrate before next year's camping season. Today, celebrate God's searching for you. And if not already, may you be found. Sharing in Faith, Rev. Craig W. Duke

Contact Info
	Senior Pastor	Rev. Craig Duke	(812) 385-2910	revcraig@hillsideemail.com
	Office Administrator	Brenda Witt	(812) 385-2910	brenda@hillsideemail.com
	Choir Director	Sandy Nixon		sandy@hillsideemail.com
	Pianist	Debbie Ford		debbie@hillsideemail.com
	Preschool Director	Chiyona Bourne	(812) 385-2910	chiyona@hillsideemail.com
	Worship Coordinator	Linda Duke	(812) 385-2910	linda@hillsideemail.com

Super Sloppy

Pastor's Weekly Devotion
July 15, 2009
WEEKLY DEVOTION Rev. Craig Duke Rev. Duke is the Senior Pastor at Hillside United Methodist Church in Princeton, Indiana. Hillside United Methodist Church Online Hillside Welcome Meet Our Staff Hillside History Hillside Calendar Hillside Ministries	The Weekly Devotion Philippians 4:4-7 (New International Version) 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "Super Sloppy" I'm covered in it. The consistency is quite unique as it runs over my hair and down the sides of my face. It runs under my shirt and into my pants and fills all the gaps in my toes. It squishes when I walk. I never would have guessed that I would find myself in such a predicament 15 years ago, but now I have come to expect such things. To all those gathered around this is not an unusual experience at all. They are cheering and taking pictures and laughing. All because I am covered with oatmeal! I made it myself. That's right, the night before I made 3 big pots of the stuff (27 pounds worth) and then poured them all into a giant vat. I was excited. I was excited because it was this year's secret ingredient for super sloppy, the all out food extravaganza that pits team against team in yucky food and food supplement relays. It started some 13 -15 years ago with the beginning of a sr. high camp at Santa Claus United Methodist Camp Ground. Everyone gets slopped! Including me! So why am I so happy? It is because I just witnessed 80 high school youth having a ball without drugs, alcohol or abusive relationships. That is incredible! So though I am covered with oatmeal I rejoice in the Lord (as Paul says in Philippians) because everything taken before God is honored; even goofy wacked out games like super sloppy. So honor God today by offering God your sloppy life and know that it will be raised up to a new level. Sharing in Faith, Rev. Craig W. Duke

Contact Info
	Senior Pastor	Rev. Craig Duke	(812) 385-2910	revcraig@hillsideemail.com
	Office Administrator	Brenda Witt	(812) 385-2910	brenda@hillsideemail.com
	Choir Director	Sandy Nixon		sandy@hillsideemail.com
	Pianist	Debbie Ford		debbie@hillsideemail.com
	Preschool Director	Chiyona Bourne	(812) 385-2910	chiyona@hillsideemail.com
	Worship Coordinator	Linda Duke	(812) 385-2910	linda@hillsideemail.com

Layers

Pastor's Weekly Devotion
July 1, 2009
"Layers" Rev. Craig Duke Rev. Duke is the Senior Pastor at Hillside United Methodist Church in Princeton, Indiana. Hillside United Methodist Church Online Hillside Welcome Meet Our Staff Hillside History Hillside Calendar Hillside Ministries	The Weekly Devotion 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! "Layers" I've never been micro-waved, but I am starting to imagine what it feels like as the intense heat begins to cook me from the inside out. The sweat is no longer dripping but running. My only thought is, "how can I get out of here any faster!" The current task I am performing is not only hot but tedious. I am attempting to remove the ridge cap from the roof of a house that is in need of a new one. The ridge cap is not actually one cap or shingle but rather layers. Layer, after layer, after layer. In order to rip up the rest of the roof, you first have to pop off the ridge camp one layer at a time with a scraper. Using leverage, you position the scraper under the first layer and pop up the nail. This reveals another layer and more nails. It does not go fast. But, once the ridge cap is off, it is much easier to move your scraper across the remaining rows of shingles at a faster pace. Once the shingles are off, then the tar paper underneath needs to be removed. Underneath the black tar paper is the original wood. In many places it looks brand new! Because it is so hot, I want to move faster in order to get the job done quicker. It doesn't always work that way. We humans know about layers. We have layers of skin, we wear layers of clothing and we live in multi- leveled homes. We like layers of cheese on our pizza and we create sundaes out of layers of ice cream. We also know, but often avoid, the layers of our emotions. Most of us have experienced events in our lives that we do not enjoy remembering. In this case we bury that negative emotion. In time when another incident occurs we bury that one too. Before too long we have so many layers that we can even forget what is causing us to act and feel like we do. Christ came so that the layers might be removed. Not instantaneously, but rather over time. At the bottom of all the layers we will find a "New Creation!" This is what the apostle Paul meant in 2nd Corinthians. With Christ we are a new creation. We discover that no matter what has happened to us, Christ has the power, patience, time and forgiveness to remove all the layers and get down to the original "wood." Today, allow Christ to begin to remove your "ridge cap." It may take a while but it will be well worth it. Sharing in Faith, Rev. Craig W. Duke

Contact Info
	Senior Pastor	Rev. Craig Duke	(812) 385-2910	revcraig@hillsideemail.com
	Office Administrator	Brenda Witt	(812) 385-2910	brenda@hillsideemail.com
	Choir Director	Sandy Nixon		sandy@hillsideemail.com
	Pianist	Debbie Ford		debbie@hillsideemail.com
	Preschool Director	Chiyona Bourne	(812) 385-2910	chiyona@hillsideemail.com
	Worship Coordinator	Linda Duke	(812) 385-2910	linda@hillsideemail.com