Back Issues of the Weekly Community Church of the Hills’ Newsletter!

Community Church of the Hills

Click each date for newsletter.

January 27, 2021: Our Newest Elder; “The Elder-Led Church” sermon; Bernie Sanders’ Memes you didn’t see

January 20, 2021: “How to Handle President Biden”; Praying for Biden; “What is an Abortion Aboitionist?” Sermon; Still more memes for 2021

January 13, 2021: “The Best Year Ever?”; “Just 4 Claps Away” Sermon (A message on death, Heaven and Hell); A beautiful rendition of “Hallellujah”; More memes for 2021

January 4, 2021: “Make This One Resolution”; “2020 State of the Bible Report”; “I Will Not Neglect Your Word” sermon; The $1,100.00 Bible Reading Offer; Free Bibles, 2021 Memes

December 25, 2020: “Merry Christmas from Pastor Steve, DD and Laurel” This is our personal Christmas greeting card.

December 22, 2020: “Merry Christmas From Community Church of the Hills”; “The Manger & the Cross” painting; “Canceling the Creche: “The True Story of the Nativity” sermon; The Last Memes of the Year; 10 Christmastime Prayers

December 16, 2020: “IS CHRISTMAS A PAGAN HOLIDAY?”; D. L. Moody bio; “The Last Conversion” sermon; More memes of the season

December 9, 2020: IT’S OKAY TO SAY “HAPPY HOLIDAYS!”; Advent; “Heart Attack” sermon; Memes for the season.

December 2, 2020: Steve Died on This Day; A Blanket for a Parolee; Xmas Photo Booth; “Thank God” sermon; A Puritan Prayer; Memes

November 24, 2020: Are You Thankful for How God Made You?: Permission granted to enjoy Thanksgiving; Matthew Henry’s Thankfulness; The worst worship song ever played; 25 things to be thankful for; Memes

November 18, 2020: Prayers Are the Problem: DD’s beau; Pray the Jesus Way; Spurgeon on the praying church; Memes

November 10, 2020: The Morning After the Election; The Political Divide of 1800; How Not to Be a Hypocrite: The Disciples’ Prayer, Memes

November 3, 2020: Post-Election Christianity; 10 Commandments of Civility for a Politically-Charged Age; Our Church’s Gospel-Themed Trunk or Treat; Memes

October 27, 2020: Election Home Stretch; Pray for America #2; How Not to Be a Hypocrite: When Praying; International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church; Memes

October 14, 2020: Abolish Abortion Conference; New Women’s Study; Pray for America; Memes

October 7, 2020: How to Leave Your Church; Is Eddie Van Halen in Heaven or Hell?; “The Church is Full of Hypocrites!”; More random memes

September 29, 2020: I’ve Been in Texas 7 Years!; Our New Women’s Pastor; Love Your Enemies, Pt. 1; Random Memes

September 22, 2020: A Prayer for America’s Repentance; The Return

September 16. 2020: Are You a God Grouch?; Love Your Enemies; Still More Covid Memes

September 10, 2020: When I Attempted Suicide; “An Eye for an Eye” Hilarious Covid Memes

September 3, 2020: “Agony & Ecstasy: My First 5 Years @ Community Church of the Hills”; BLM Analysed by Two Black Theologians; My Eldest Daughter’s Boyfriend; Biblical Cursing & Swearing; Current Event Memes

August 26, 2020: Rehearsing Marriage Vows; Who Influenced My Preaching; Revenge of the Statues.

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Dead at 61

3 CommentsABOUT ME, MY BLOG, MY CHURCH, Pastor's P.O.V.,

I TORE THE MINISCUS on my left knee in my sleep. Yeah, in my sleep. The ortho said that this was not uncommon for someone my age. Yeah, my age. I’m 61. People die at age 61.

Ernest Hemingway killed himself, as did Anthony Bourdain–at 61. Infamous mobster John Gotti died of throat cancer while Ma Barker died in a shoot-out. Benito Mussolini was also shot to death. At 61.

I turned 61 last March and I now wonder if the coronavirus might do me in. Or walking up the stairs. Or pizza. Now, it’s my stupid knee. I tried to tough it out, but it was way painful. I’m scheduled for surgery tomorrow. Will I live to see 62?

According to the Bible I’m worthless. Let me re-phrase that: I’m worth less. In the Old Testament, the worth of a man or woman dedicated to God was based on how much work could be expected from them. At age 59 my worth was 50 shekels, a full month’s wages. Alas, I’m now only valued at 15 shekels–for the second year in a row! I can sense feebleness starting to set in with senility not far behind, then, of course, my heart attack.

Am I going to slow down? No! Am I ready to retire? No! Retirement is not Biblical. My hope is to work as unto the Lord until, well, I can’t anymore, 15-shekel man or not.

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To Mask, or Not to Mask? That is the Question

2 CommentsPastor's P.O.V., ,

I’ve heard the conspiracy theories:

“To wear one is to participate in the Great Social Engineering Experiment.”

“Wearing one is part of a Satanic Plot.”

“A mask causes us to lose our identities so we can be herded like sheep to be made into Soylent Green.”

I know the “effectiveness” arguments, too:

“Yes, wearing a mask can help contain the virus for those who may have The Covid.”

“No, masks aren’t effective and look stupid.”

What’s a Christian to do?

This is what I’m doing and it has a lot to do with my last trip to Austin.

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No Longer “Baby D”

3 CommentsFamily Stuff, Special Days,

MY “BABY D” IS NO LONGER A BABY, but she’s still mine. On this, her 21st birthday, I get choked up as I think about all the wonderfully fun times we had together.

From the first day, when I visited you at the hospital in the incubator, and read to you from Matthew chapter 1, and you fell asleep during the genealogy….

…to when I almost killed you at age 2, when you climbed on one of those cheap white plastic Walmart outdoors chairs, stood up and pushed against the back until it tipped over and your head smacked the cold, hard concrete. I ran over, panicked, picked up your lifless body…only to find it wasn’t lifeless! Nothing happened at all, except a little red dot on your forehead. I set you down, turned around… and then you did the same thing again! And you still didn’t die!

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Thar’s a Scorpion in My Bed!

1 CommentPastor's P.O.V., Texas Tales!

I found something in my sheets the other night that was way worse than a horse’s head…yes, my Texas nightmare came to pass!

I was sound asleep for about an hour and a half when I felt something at my toes, so, I pushed it away with my feet. I tried to think of something else, like baseball, or imagined that it was a wrinkle in the sheet. The thought of what it could be was too much for me to handle in my groggy state of mind. Still, I tried to go back to sleep and convince myself it was only a nightmare.

A few seconds later a huge pain shot out from my hamstring right behind my knee. Wide awake now, I quickly turned on my reading lamp to see what got me as I pushed the covers off hurriedly, only to discover a scorpion scurrying away atop the sheet. Then, after a few seconds of light, the lamp bulb broke.

Dark. Still out there. Somewhere. Laughing.

Furiously, I tried to turn on my nightstand lamp, but, panicked, knocked it over into the trash can. I jumped out of bed rubbing the back of my leg and turned on the overhead room light. Frantic now, I yanked off all the covers, sheets and pillows, threw them to the floor and prayed that God would show me the culprit. Frustrated, I let out an anguished, unholy expletive and wondered how Jesus could allow this to happen to me. Worse, why did He ever create such a useless, ugly, sneaky-stingy-thing in the first place?

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