a quick video diversion

howdy all. I know I owe you more Scotland pics but I have been busy... Just wanted to share a video of my new fave worship song.. blows me away everytime i hear it..



God bless and have a blessed week.

Peace
Tony

Mission Trip to Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland Part 2

Howdy folks.. I think I will try and tell the basic tale thru pictures.. This blog post will be about the work we did at the church.. a future blog will focus on the fun stuff.

So, here is the cast of characters.. Pastor Patrick, Mike, Silva, Abraham, Corey, Harry (aka Murray) and myself, Tony.

We flew out of Logan on Aer Lingus to Shannon, Ireland continuing on to Dublin, Ireland and then landing in our destination, Glasgow, Scotland. Pastor Paul and his wife Heine picked us up. We had no hassles with customs and everything was going smoothly. The only worthwhile thing about the flight was some dude threw up landing into Shannon..

We then went and checked out the church for the first time and go over the worklist for the week. Demolition of two side rooms in the main sanctuary hall, demolition of the front entryway, build a sound desk in the balcony for laptops, projector and soundboard, paint lower sanctuary, paint all columns in the church even in the balcony, box in water pipes that connect the radiators, and added onto the list was Abraham and Tito the plumber installing seven new radiators in the upper two floors of the church.

This was our second home for the entire trip. We spent alot of hours in the confines of this building. It was a beautiful 200 year old church. The workmanship was just awesome. It was a pleasure to help restore this beauty.

Here are some pictures of us working at the different jobs

On average we worked 9 in the morning till 9 at night. Wednesday, May 6th we took the day off to visit Edinburgh Castle and shop the Royal Mile. But mostly it was working and getting these jobs done to bless this church. A few of the Bridgeton guys helped out, Frank did a heck of a job plastering the whole sanctuary making it ready for us to paint, Stephen helped out with various jobs, Jimmie the electrician came almost all week and did some amazing wiring while working with live 220 amp wire. Jimmie was helping out Pastor Paul and he goes to another church across town. He was a character and a great guy. Harry and I worked with him a few days. Tito was a guy who Pastor Paul hired to come in a do some plumbing work and also put in the seven new radiators with Abraham. Matt, the Worship Leader came in and set up his soundboard desk when we were finished building it, Clayton came in and did some tile work. Pastor Paul grabbed a paint brush and helped paint and also did about 750 runs to their Home Depot type store named B&Q. It was an amazing all around effort.

I feel blessed to have been a part of this trip and to be able to work with such amazing, talented and gifted men.

Next entry will have some pictures of the fun side:the place where we stayed, the Castle field trip, the van Pastor crashed.. lots of good stuff. Stay tuned.

God bless

Tony

Missions Trip to Bridgeton,Glasgow, Scotland Part 1

Howdy all. It has been awhile. I had mentioned in the past that seven guys from my church were going on a missions trip to Bridgeton Life Church in Glasgow, Scotland. Well, I just returned home from my first ever missions trip. We flew out of Boston on April 30th and came home Monday, May 11th. It was a life changing experience for me and all the men involved. Lots of projects got completed, lives were blessed, people were encouraged. It was an amazing 12 days.

I can say first off that it was so great to go, but I missed my kids and wife so much and it was just so wonderful to come back home to them. If I ever go on another missions trip, they will be coming with me.

Ok, this is the first installment. Here are some videos of a few of the guys at the church. In future installments, I will post pics and some stories. God is good!

This is Stephen. He was so passionate about God and he just truly loves the Lord. He was just amazing to work with, pray with and just be around. a true encourager!

This is Frank. Frank was the bass player in the worship band and also helped plastering the church on his days off. He was just an amazing musician, worker and supporter of us over there.

And this is Matt. Matt is the Worship Leader at Bridgeton Life Church. Matt is just an awesome musician and singer and he was a real friend over there. And, he is one heck of a snooker player.

I love these guys and all the other wonderful peopel we met in Scotland. Take care and God bless. Peace

Tony

Irish Night tonight...

Tonight, my church is hosting an Irish Night. Should be way fun. The entertainment is me and my bro, the Brother of Through. Lots of people ask where we got our band name. Well, Hamilton is a Scottish name originating from Hamulton, which means Through. So we are the Brothers of Hamilton, translating to the Brothers of Through.

We will be doing our little celtic music thing. jam on some Work of the Weavers and such. My pastor is from Ireland and he will be doing MC duties. we have chosen all good, clean, non drinking, non pub songs. Yes, they do exist. All in all, it should be a blast.

All money raised tonight will be going directly to our Scotland Missions trip. I really feel God is going to bless this night since the money we make is going directly to doing His work.

so..

Go mbeannaí Dia dhuit (thats Gaelic for May God bless you)

Peace

Tony

Confirmation from the Lord...

The Lord speaks in many ways and just today an amazing thing has been revealed.

Last go back to last Sunday. Our head usher was sharing with me about the amazing time of worship he had at the District Youth Leader convention Friday night. He said the Lord gave him a word to share with the congregation. he got up Sunday morning before worship and shared a little and then said that the Lord told him 2 words for our church, "Its Time". Wow, very cool.. It is time. Time for us to start walking the walk and stop just talking the talk. Lets get out and start working in our gifts and doing the work the Lord has called us to do.

Then during worship, one of the men from our church blew the Shofar, which is a horn made from a Ram's horn. This was very cool and the timing of when he did in worship was just amazing.

Then, my beautiful wife called me to today to share something that she was reading out of Leviticus. Leviticus 25:8-12 (The Year of Jubilee)

8 " 'Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

So, Its time, the trumpet has sounded and I leave in 51 days back to the land of my ancestors, Scotland. This is a jubilee year. Maybe not technically, since I do not know if this is a fiftieth year. But in my life, I feel this is a year to celebrate the Lord's favor. I really do feel amazing things are going to happen at our church and in our community. Let us claim liberty and freedom in the name of Jesus throughout this land. Jesus has set us free, He has given us liberty from our sins by paying the price on the cross. We have eternal life by believing in Him and accepting the free gift he has given us by dying on that cross. To pay for all of our sins, blood needed to be shed and Jesus was the only perfect and holy sacrifice that could do it.

The time is now. This just really struck me today and I just wanted to share.

God bless

Tony

time sure flies....

howdy all.. sorry about not posting for awhile.. life has been.. well, life. Not much time to blog. but just wanted to say that very soon I will be doing a countdown till our missions trip to Scotland. Seven men from my church will be going on our first ever missions trip to help a church in Glasgow, Scotland. We will be doing construction work and also some evangelism. I will be leading 2 worship services while I am over there. I can't believe it. I am so excitied. It will be major fun. So, I will start the countdown in a few days and fill you in on more details.

Until then God bless all of you.

Peace

Tony

Happy New Year

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and safe New Years Eve.

2009 is going to be an amazing year...

God bless and see ya on the flip side...

Peace

Tony

one week to go.. oh boy oh boy

7 days till Christmas.. just wanted to drop a note saying i am still alive and rolling on. Survived the ice storm last week and now we have snow in the forecast for tomorrow thru the weekend and even next week. Snow on Christmas. I love snow if i don't have to drive in it. Get those sleds READY!!!!

God bless. And remember to keep Christ in Christmas!!!!!

Peace

Tony

Happy Birthday to my best friend!!!

Happy Birthday Dianna.. my wife and my best friend. I hope your day is amazing.

We had to celebrate last night since we are going to be out tonight, but Di got nachos for dinner and a chocolate cake made by yours truly.. and she got some cool gifts from the kids, a poem and a story. I made her a rock nativity. I found some cool rocks and painted them up. She dug it. I love birthdays.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season. Last night we watched Christmas Vacation and then after that some of the 1979 John Denver and the Muppets A Christmas Together. What a corny Christmas special. Brought back memories tho. John Denver should never have been allowed to tap dance.. yikes. hahahahaha. Let the season roll on.

God bless

Tony

why you been gone so long..

Well, here i am.. its been awhile, but as always life is busy busy.. Thanksgiving was wonderful!!! Now the focus is on Christmas. Christmas is coming and Tony's getting fat.. hahahaha.. thats just cuz of Thanksgiving last week and Dianna's amazing pies.. mmm, pecan pie! So, there's lots to do.. Dianna and I are done our shopping so my focus will be on getting the Christmas Eve service ready, wrapping, Christmas cards, decorating, getting the tree up. Good stuff. I love Christmas. Our savior was born. What a great birthday to celebrate. I hope you can take a minute and remember that. We give gifts in remembrance of Jesus' birth. The focus should be on Him firstly. We can all get crazy with shopping and running around, but why are we celebrating Christmas... CHRIST! Thanks for reading and hopefully with the countdown to Christmas coming, i can make a few posts between now and then.. If not, you know I will be enjoying the Christmas season to the fullest..

God bless

Peace

Tony

Sorry, i have been gone so long...

I have been so busy.. work, school, church, family stuff.. just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know i am alive and well... hoping for some down time soon. But the holidays are coming. 2 weeks till Thanksgiving and then into Christmas. This year as a family, we are going to take a step back and really focus on Christmas this year and what it is really all about, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

peace

Tony

oh.. by the way, there is nothing i hate more then raking..

a busy time of year...

well, this weekend proves to be a busy one..

First off.. this saturday is me and di's 11th wedding anniversary. my lady rocks! I love you di and thanks for being my wife, all you do and all you put up with.. 11 great years! God has really blessed me and my marriage. God is good.

Also, this saturday, the 25th, we have our church's Harvest Fest at the Southbridge Common. We are hoping and praying for about 200 kids. we have games, puppet shows, music, snacks and candy, candy, CANDY! We just want to get out in the community as a church body and share some of God's love with these kids and their families.

Then Sunday is church service and we are hoping some of the families that come to the Harvest Fest come to the church Sunday morning. that is very exciting. So, i ask that you pray for the Harvest Fest that God would bless both the kids and their families who come but also that God would bless the workers. God is doing some amazing things. we need to remember that everyone needs Jesus! we all do and we need to all do our part to spread that good news!

God bless and have a great weekend. Go Pats!!!

Peace

Tony

brrrr. the chilly wind did blow

ahh, fall has finally arrived so I have fired up the pellet stove.. ahhh, warmth! I know i haven't posted in awhile, but life continues to keep me busy. time and motion wait for no man.

Last weekend we visited the Quabbin Resevoir and I took this picture of Cassidy.. I really love and all I could think of was JRR Tolkien's quote,

"All who wander are not lost."

Have a great week. stay warm!

Peace and God bless
Tony

the weekend is here

Finally Friday.. thank goodness! This weekend will be a busy one for the Hamilton brood.

Just wanted to share a scripture...

Psalm 103
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

God loves all of us and wants to take away our sins and heal us. And look at that.. satisfy us with good things so that we will be renewed like an eagle. I love these verses. Have a great weekend everybody..

Peace and God bless

Tony

there is a season turn turn turn turn

Howdy all. I am back. i have been super busy, but so is life. life is GOOD!

Just wanted to make a post concerning all the talk of politics and the money woes in America. God never said every second of every day will be fun and great. God test us, puts us thru trials to help us, to help us rely more on Him and less on ourselves, to build our faith in Him and Him alone. I think this is an important time in America. Things are tough for people. People losing their jobs, people scared about money, healthcare, just surviving.

Matthew 6:25-34 has some words we can lean on in these hard times..

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God wants to provide for us. He loves us. God wants to bless us. So no need to worry. Look to Jesus, look to God in these tough times. If you accept Jesus as your savior, you are guaranteed riches beyond anything we can imagine in heaven. This is so encouraging. So, just read that scripture again. Really think about it. God loves YOU!!! You can have that reassurance today. God will take care of you. Its not always the way we want. God never says above that he will give us big homes and tons of cars and toys and dunkin donuts coffee everyday. He said He would provide. So, take a moment and really think about that. every good thing comes from the Father.

In these tough times, maybe its time to get back to church. a bible believing church that can really encourage you, build you up spiritually and help ease that worry that comes from the devil. God loves YOU and wants to bless you!!! remember that. Amen!!!!!

peace all!

Tony

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

the weekend and a TGIF vid

Well, its Labor Day weekend. a nice 3 day weekend, but it is a reminder that summer is over.. Summer 2008 is over. It was a wet one. Crazy rain all summer. We did have some fun too.

We should be buying our minivan this weekend and on Sunday, their are a few people getting baptized after church. That is always exciting, so this weekend should be a good one.

Next Sunday, I will be preaching at my church. I will be sharing about evangelism and try to help people not freak out when they hear that word. Hopefully it will be good. we will see.

So, have a great weekend.. ahh, 3 day weekend. Enjoy it. have that last hoorah of summer. Get to a county fair, get out and do something fun and get to church on Sunday. Get out and celebrate the Lord.

a TGIF video to get you ready for your Sunday service


Be good and God bless
Tony

the campout...

di was away on women's retreat, so me and the girls had a little campout in the backyard.. i set up the tent next to the pool and right beside the shed, so i could have an outlet nearby. We had a blast. we stayed up eating klondike bars and playing board games inside the tent. I lost both Candyland and Life.. Corrina won at Candyland like she always does. I think she has won 500 straight games of Candyland.. i was denied my victory by being sent back to Grandma Nutt!!! bah.. And then Cassidy beat us at Life.. so, old Tony went 0 for 2 Friday night.. Next, some stories and then off to bed under the stars with some Tiki music playing softly. ahhhh.





Next morning with the sunrise came Poptarts in the tent.. yippee!!! Good stuff.

Have a great week everyone.
God bless
Tony

a TGIF video and more...

Well, its Friday.. yippee.. the weekend! what a great week. The weather has been great past few days and it looks like it will carry thru the weekend. the wife goes on women's retreat tonight into tomorrow down to Newport, RI. I hope all the ladies have a great time doing the cliff walk and the mansions and shopping and hopefully a little spiritual refreshment as well. Retreat is great! Have fun.

I am thinking of doing a backyard campout tonight with the girls. I will see how game they are. we will light a camp fire and maybe take a midnight dip if its not too cold and then crash in the tent. should be fun. gotta do something special with mom away.

We had a great rehearsal tuesday night and we worked up some new songs for Sunday. Can't wait. should be a great service.

well, here is your TGIF video for the week. This is what music means to me. Pure joy. watching the people dance and just enjoying the music. It is not technically the greatest music ever played, but the people around are connecting with it and enjoying it and just expressing themselves. No fear. We need less fear in our lives. we are only on this planet for so long and then you go either way.. up or down.. hopefully you are all headed up! So, enjoy this video like the guy dancing around...



God is great!
God bless and get out to church this weekend. Remember, church should never be boring or dull.. you should feel like the guy in the video.. get out and make that joyful noise!

peace
Tony

here we are....

Here we are at the start of another week. I must say that it has been a real blessing being able to work from home 2 days a week. I am working from home every Monday and Thursday. It is mint!

Saturday was my company's cookout. It was an A+ spread as usual. The girls had a blast.

then on Sunday after church, me and a couple other guys from church went out and handed out free sodas and some information about our church in Southbridge. It was a success in my book. We had fun and we were able to outreach to the community and the people that we talked to were really awesome. We got to pray with some of them. It was just an awesome experience and we need to do more of it. The community needs to hear about Jesus and we need to go out and tell them. We need to show them that Jesus loves them by our actions. Hopefully we will see some fruit from it, but we need to remember that we are just being obedient to what God has said and that is to GO and tell the nations about Jesus! There is only one thing that we can do on earth taht we will not be able to do in heaven and that is share the gospel, the good news about Jesus with other people. So, why are we here.. hmm, maybe to tell otehrs about Jesus.. to obedient to God and tell others. So, if you really are a believer.. tell somebody about Jesus.

Just good stuff.. Good weekend!

Now, it looks like the weather is going to be really nice so hopefully you can get out and enjoy. Summer is almost over.. make the most of it.

God bless and take care

Life is Good

Tony

TGIF Video Vol. ??

Howdy all.. its FRIDAY!!! weekend is almost here. yippee. Tomorrow is my work cookout... lobsters and steamers and burgers and prizes for the girls, carnival rides.. should be A+ good.

here is your video for the day.. patty with Del and the boys.. working for the LORD!


have a great weekend
God bless
Tony