Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Christmas Family

Christ is the kind of person who is not ashamed of sinners—in fact, he even puts them in his family tree! Now if the Lord does that here, so ought we to despise no onebut put ourselves right in the middle of the fight for sinners and help them.   Martin Luther

We have looked this advent at how Jesus came into the world to save the world through a family that also needed saving.  My family and your family are no different.  Everyone and every family needs a savior and Jesus came to be that savior.  Today, as you gather with family, plan to be with family or remember your time with family ask the Lord to be the savior of your family the same way he was the savior to his family.  No matter what your family situation is, you have hope.  Jesus came out of a family that had liars, adulterers, a prostitute, a murderer and many, all in fact, who were sinners.  Picture in your mind all the generations together at one time at a family Christmas gathering – pretty scary, huh?  He came to die for all the sins of his family.  He came to die for the sins of your family so all of us can turn to God and know his forgiveness.  When we really grasp that, it becomes - no matter what is going on - the best Christmas ever.  We will finish up this series on Christmas morning.  I hope to see you there.

Merry Christmas,
Tim

Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas and Atheists

Christopher Hitchens, perhaps our day's most noted atheist, has died.  He is at least one atheist who will not be fighting nativity scenes in public places this Christmas.  Not that Hitchens would have bothered much with something as mundane as nativity scenes but many other atheists seem to think Christmas is a key battle ground.

In Santa Monica, California, churches have been placing nativity scenes in designated areas in a park for over 60 years.  This year atheist groups used a coordinated effort to book up almost all of the sites.  They not only kept nativity scenes out, they used them for their own message about the "myth" of Jesus as a real person.  The man who spearheaded the effort does not even live in Santa Monica.  Of course there is controversy over all of this.  It also helps the atheists get publicity.

But not all atheists are alike.  A new study found that 17 percent of atheists attended a religious service in the past year.  The most popular time for an atheist to go to church?  Christmas. Perhaps the committed atheists are trying to reach out to the less committed atheists to keep them from celebrating Christmas.

This week my wife Judith was speaking with a woman who was looking for the type of help that Perpetual Help Home (the women's ministry where my wife works) provides - housing, job training, spiritual help.  This woman had grown up in a family of atheists.   The family had fallen apart and now she was looking for help.  Judith explained the program to her and the mandatory spiritual element of being required to attend church if you get into the program.  The woman was interested in that. As they continued their conversation, Judith found this woman had recently begun to read a Bible that someone had given to her.  She was finding a love she said she had never experienced before.  As Judith explained the basic tenets of the gospel to her, Judith asked if she was ready to put her faith in Jesus and commit her life to Him. She said yes.  Now she is a former atheist.  Now she knows personally a love she never knew existed.  Now she has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for Christmas.

One of the things that is really hitting me this year is God sent His son into the world and made Christmas not just for Christians but for atheists too.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, December 9, 2011

Adventageous

Advent + advantageous = Adventageous
There, you see I did not misspell my title.  I made up a word to make a point.  Advantageous means "giving and advantage" or "of use or benefit."  That is what Advent should be for the followers of Christ - advantageous.  For those of us who are life long Baptists, not familiar with candle lit, liturgical, historical church events, Advent is one we can embrace with out fear of giving up our spontaneous, Spirit led, saved by grace not by works style of worship and living.  Christmas, even for us, is about traditions.

My wife and I (along with some others) have been having "Baptist" conversations about Advent.  What is it?  What are we supposed to do in it?  Why should we do it?  I had thought about blogging on what I have learned, but after thinking it through, it didn't sound too exciting.  If you do your own research on the Internet you will find a wide variety of practices and changes in Advent through history.  By the way there was no Advent class when I went to seminary.  I doubt there is one now, so we are all kind of at the mercies of Google.

What I have gotten personally out of what I have learned is that Advent should be advantageous to us - of use or benefit.  It should do something to our heart and mind and attitude.  That is more important than what candle we light and why.  The best thing that I have found for me personally is this quote from Jan L Richardson from her book, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas

The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before...What is possible is not to see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you.  And you begin to grasp what it was you missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock, watching God's back fade in the distance.  So stay. Sit.  Linger.  Tarry.  Ponder. Wait.  Behold.  Wonder.  There will be time enough for running.  For rushing.  For worrying. For pushing.  For now, stay.  Wait.  Something is on the horizon.

That is what I want Advent to be.  That would be advantageous and be something of use or benefit to me.  I hope it will be to you too.

For the journey...

Tim

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Degrees of Connection

In October, Facebook announced that the long standing idea of six degrees of separation between any two people was not true of Facebook's 800 million users.  Instead of six degrees, in the Facebook family it is closer to 4.  Within the same country, the degrees of separation between any two users is nearly down to 3.

How closely connected are we?  How close are we in the kingdom of God?  In the body of Christ?

Last night, I went to the family visitation of another pastor who had passed away, J. A. Munson.  He grew up in the same rural community that I did.  My father was influential in his coming to Christ as he worked as J. A.'s Sunday School teacher years ago.  J. A. went on to pastor through out Texas and in churches in several states.  Never in very big churches and often going from a larger church to a smaller church to help build it up.

One of the people that J. A. was influential in bringing to Christ years ago was Percy Jeane.  Percy now teaches Sunday School at Northside.  Percy and I talked about that connection again last night at the visitation. 

Six degrees of separation?  Four degrees through Facebook?  No, we are "all one in Christ."  We are more closely connected than we know or can see now.  Someday we will clearly see.  It  will be a wonderful day of discovery of our earthly connectedness in Christ that we only got glimpses of here.

For the journey...

Tim

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Things I Have Learned from Your Gratitude

Sunday I asked people to put down a praise on the tear off tab of our worship guide.  We send in prayer requests all the time that way, why not send in a praise or a note of thanks.  All of them were good, here are some that struck home with me.

Thanks for the Northside Worship Center.

Sometimes we see things so often we take them for granted.  There is a lot of work that went into this and a lot of work to keep it going.  When things work right, no one notices.  I learned from someone who noticed.

I'm thankful God continues to heal my heart. (They mention the suicide four years ago of a family member). I felt like I was totally broken.  I slipped into a great depression that no doctor or medicine could fix.  I began crying out to God and he began healing my broken heart.  I am so thankful he continues to strengthen me.

Wow, what a testimony that God is able to put shattered lives back together.  I need to always be learning that in more and more in different situations.

Thank you , Lord for the ministry which you led after a tragedy in my life.  For the opportunity to share Christ in stories for children. poetry and games.

I am learning that we find life, and sometimes our healing, as we give our lives away.

Thank you for my brother's sobriety.

I see so many deal with people on the other side of this answered prayer.  It is good to see and learn that God still moves to make people whole from addictions.  I am learning to keep on hoping.

I am also learning that I need to always continue learning how to be grateful.  Thank you for being a church of good teachers of thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Tim

Friday, November 18, 2011

A Thank You Note to God

I do not know how many thank you notes I have written.  I do know I have not written enough to say how blessed I am.  So today I want to change that to some degree.  Here's my thank you note to God, just for 2011 so far...

Dear God,

Thank you as always for your gift of salvation that I need everyday.  I don't tell you enough that it is still working and I can see the difference you continue to make in my life by your grace that flows every day.  Your faithfulness and steadfastness are amazing.  Even when I don't even notice what you are doing, you continue to do it.  Thank you.

You have also blessed me so in my family.  Thanks for the check up my wife had today that says 'Everything is OK.'  We don't give you the credit you deserve for those results.  My wife is such a blessing to me and to this church, thank you for giving me someone so loving and wise who is a person of prayer and loves you deeply.  She helps me so much, I don't let you know enough that I appreciate your work through her life.

My girls have been such a blessing this year too.  Kelley serving you this summer helping other students go on mission trips overseas - it is a real blessing to see her grow in you.  My goodness, there are so many things you have done in Meredith's life this year, high school graduation, a mission trip to Paris, a call from you to go back to Paris this coming summer to work with refugees, her going off to college, you have been working overtime there and I really appreciate it.  Thank you too for that family vacation we go to take this summer, that was a special blessing to be together as a family.

Now God, this empty nest thing is still something I am getting used too.  I miss the girls but you have also brought many others into my life that deepen my life and walk with you.  Thanks for helping me get the hang of it.

Lord, you know I still have some foot problems but it has improved this year; thank you.  I can see your hand at work there and also in teaching me in this to be humble and dependent upon you.  Thanks for those lessons in the problems.  I could go on and on and to be honest I should but there is just so much I can get out in words now because the words just fail.  God, you are good to me and I thank you, but I also deeply appreciate who you are and not just what you do.  Thank you for a great year so far, they just keep getting better.

Your servant,

Tim


Well, that's my shot at a thank you note.  This Sunday, that will be the challenge I give you for this coming week - write your own thank you note to God.  You don't have to blog it but I would highly recommend putting it down in words.  Can you give me a good reason why you shouldn't write your thank you note right now?

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, November 11, 2011

Veteran's Day

As I have listened to the stories of veterans who have faced combat, I have found a recurring theme among the Christian men.  Time after time I have heard it.  I also read it in the story of Dr. William Nesbitt Jr., a Navy doctor assigned to the 7th Naval Beach Battalion on D-Day, June 6, 1944.  The men and the contents of his ship would be assigned to the bloodiest beach of that day - Omaha Beach.  Hours before they would get to Omaha Beach, a very significant event occurred in Plymouth Harbor before they set out for Normandy. 

Dr. Nesbitt was on the bridge near the captain of his assault ship when orders came from the convoy commander for the ship to fall in line in the convloy to Normandy.  The captain radioed back that his ship had still not received their barrage balloons. His executive officer had gone to the dock to get them but had not returned.  Nesbitt explained that barrage balloons were large balloons that floated 150 or more feet above each ship.  Barrage balloons were attached to the bow and stern to make it difficult for attacking enemy aircraft to get a proper bombing run on the ships.  Every ship had theirs except for Nesbitt's ship.  They especially wanted them because the deck of this particular ship was full of trucks filled with high explosives.  Permission was granted to wait, then final orders came that they had to move out regardless.  Just as they were clearing the harbor, the executive officer caught up to the assault ship in a small boat; he had the balloons.

Because of the prolonged and bloody fighting on Omaha Beach, Nesbitt's ship was forced to sit off shore for hours.  Nesbitt and another officer were standing on deck watching the battle when a plane flew over.  Little attention was paid to it because of its U. S. markings but the plane passed over, banked and then began to dive at Nesbitt's ship.  The other officer shouted at Nesbitt to take cover, he recognized at that moment that it was a German plane with U. S. markings painted over its regular markings.  Just as he yelled this, the German plane released three bombs, but because of the balloons the pilot was not able to get the right angle on his bombing run and the bombs fell into the water near the ship.  The explosions caused some damage but the tons of explosives on deck were safe.  Because they had waited for the balloons and because they had arrived just in the nick of time, they were saved.

Words of scripture that he learned as a child in Sunday School came to Dr. Nesbitt's mind, "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." (Psalm 91:7)  Nesbitt needed those words when he did arrive to the bloody horror of Omaha Beach, but he as certain there on the ship hours before, God had spared his life.

That is recurring theme I have heard from many veterans.  In the horrors of war, God somehow spared them.  For some it was a Japanese shell that hit a ship feet away from one veteran, killing many but he was spared.  For another it was looking behind his plane on a bombing run over Germany and seeing the hole in anti-aircraft fire his plane had just flown through.  All of them felt in those moments God delivered them.

These stories make me grateful for what these men went through for our sake and they teach me lessons I am thankful I did not have to learn personally.  Lessons of God's power at work, even in the wars that men made.  Thank you veterans.  May your stories always teach us.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, November 4, 2011

Seven Billion

According to the U. N. there are now 7 billion people on planet earth.  I am number 3,005,575,982.  No kidding.  In trying to wrap my mind around this number I found a website that lets you find where you are in this astronomical number, that's how I came up with that number.  I am not making this up.  I also found a way to picture 7 billion.  One billion pennies (stacked neatly) would make blocks as big as five school buses. So thirty five school bus sized stacks of pennies would be 7 billion.  That is still hard to wrap my mind around.

I remember standing on the 11th floor of a hotel in Manila, Philippines in August of 2001.  It was my first big overseas mission trip and I was looking out at how vast a city Manila was, in every direction, as far as my eyes could see there was a teaming city full of people.  I had been on four different islands in the Philippines, I had seen thousands and thousands of people in this place I had never thought much about before.  For someone who had grown up in Hope, Texas, it was hitting me how big the world was and it was hard to wrap my mind around the size of the world.  It was so much bigger than I had ever thought, I felt very small that day on the balcony.

Trying to wrap my mind around seven billion makes me feel very small too.  But take another perspective on that number - God knows and loves every single one of those 7,000,000,000.  He knows the number of the hairs on their heads. He can hear all seven billion pray (if they would).  He has a plan for each one of them and has created each one like no one else who lives now or ever did in the past or ever will in the future.  And here is the big thing - Jesus died for the sins of every single one.  That is how big the love of God is for each one of us.  He loves all of us as if there were only one of us.  That is even harder to wrap my mind around.

I did find this verse that does help.  Read it carefully because you might hear it again Sunday.  It helps me put all of this in perspective.  "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it."  Eph. 4:7.  Oh, how He loves us.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, October 28, 2011

The Worship of Dogs

We have a beagle and a dauchsund.  Every morning when they come out of their crates they must have a personal time with each of their humans.  It seems to be like a canine "quiet time" with their masters.  If either Judith or I are behind a closed door they will lay at the door and whine until they get that "one on one time."  I wish I had their same enthusiasm every day to spend early morning time with my master, but they also exhibit some traits I don't want to copy.

When I say "one on one time" well, it is hardly that.  They are really after a good petting but they cannot be content with just getting one, they each have to try to push the other out of what they see as the prime petting zone.  If one is getting a belly rub the other will lay down to get one too. Then after a few moments it appears to one or the other of them that the belly rub is really being done better by the other hand at the place where the other dog is so one dog will try to displace the other.  They take turns doing this, never seeming content with what they have because it always appears that someone else is getting a better deal.

It is much like this when we come home at the end of the day.  They will be there at the door waiting for us to speak to them and pet them.  We do, but the same thing happens, just like in the morning, that other dog is getting a better deal.  So it often happens that this time that they have come to see us ends up being a time they cannot take their eyes off each other.  Soon they end up in a wrestling match at our feet.  We give up the petting and walk away and often they continue the puppy pushing and shoving for a while after we are gone.

I wonder if we ever seem like that to God when we come to worship Him?  We have this desire to be with our master and to hear from Him and know His love but our eyes drift from Him to that person we have a difference with and we get caught up in watching them.  What are they saying?  What kind of attention are they getting?  Are they going to act in a way that offends us again?  We just have to watch to see if they are.  Are they going to say or doing something new about which I can find offense?  We dare not take our eyes of them.  Are they getting a better deal than what they deserve?  Are they getting some of the things that I deserve?

And in those moments, we lose touch with our master and miss what He has for us.  I wonder if sometimes He just walks away and we are so caught up in our pushing and shoving that we don't even realize He is no longer there?  Can we really come "together" and meet with God?  Paul gives us a good look at that in Ephesians 4:1-6.  I hope you will read that before Sunday and then meet with me as we come to worship God - together.  And by the way, don't expect or look for anyone else to receive a belly rub.

For the journey...
Tim

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Band Aides

I cut the tip of my right thumb while carving up an apple.  It is not a bad cut just a very annoying one that really likes to bleed.  I need to keep a band aide on it and that causes its own problems.  It is very hard to text with an iPhone with a band aide on your thumb, it is kind of like boxing with one hand tied behind your back - well maybe not that painful just frustrating and ineffective. Then there is the question I get every time I shake some one's hand, "What happened to your thumb?"  At least this week I can tell people that have to read my blog to find out.  It is easier to say that than to say I did something dumb while I was in a hurry.

My wife saw a brand of band aides this week that have answers to the inevitable question written on them, but instead of saying "I was cutting up an apple" these bandages have labels that say, "Shark bite," "Knife fight,"or "Ninja attack."  It sounds a whole lot cooler and they may actually make the injury hurt less, especially when answering questions when you did something stupid.

It made me think about how we handle people who come into church who have obvious wounds; not the band aide type but the 'see it in their eyes' type.  What kind of questions do we make them answer?  Do we label them with band aides that say "Fell to temptation," "Lost my job," or "Divorced?"  What do we do when we come to church hurting?  Do we try to put a light hearted spin on it so it doesn't seem like we are weak or that we don't make mistakes.  Would our band aides say, "Not hurting that bad," "I'm not really that dumb" or "I will be better soon?"

How would it be if we could come to church just as we are and even if we are hurting, know that someone there would give us a band aide with out questions and with out labels?  The truth is, that is what God does when we really connect with Him in worship.  He helps our hurts; He knows our pain and its causes.  We cannot hide from Him and so He does not need to label us.

Now comes the obvious question, "Ok, how do we connect with Him that way?"  Well, just like I have been telling people who ask about my thumb to read my blog, for the answer to that one, you have to hear my sermon this week.  See you Sunday, band aides and all.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, October 14, 2011

Who are My Brothers?

The story intrigues me.  While Jesus was speaking to a crowd he was told that his mother and brothers were waiting to speak to him outside (Matthew 12:46-50).  Why had they come?  Why were they waiting to speak in private?  Had they come to talk to him about some family matter?  Had they come to convince him to come home and come back to his rightful place as the head of the family and family business as the first born son?  Had they come to talk some sense into his head about this "son of man" stuff?

We have no record of them following him as disciples until after the resurrection.  Can you imagine how hard it was on them to be the mother or brother of Jesus?  What did the neighbors say?  What did they say in their family?  Jesus never said he would bring peace to a family if anything, he said there could be conflict in families because of him.  Matthew 10:34-36 "Do not suppose I have come to bring peace..."

Is that what was happening?  A family was about to deal with conflict?  Is that why they came that day?  When Jesus spoke the words of Matthew 10, was he speaking autobiographically? What we do know for sure is that Jesus wanted to bring a new dynamic to the family and he wants each of us who follow him to know a deep, real, family bond with him.  I must confess that I have not fully grasped that.  Jesus wants me to know him as a brother.  He wants me to have a family connection with him and with all who follow him.  "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Matthew 12:50.

It is easier to accept that family connection with Jesus than to make that family connection with everyone else who follows him but that is our charge if we follow Jesus. There is an old saying that you get to pick your friends but you don't get to pick your family.  I think that is what Jesus is saying.   I need to work on that today.  We will all have a chance to work on it Sunday.

For the journey...

Tim

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Misspelled Blessings

One of the neat things about Pastor Appreciation Month is that I get to hear from the kids as they send handmade cards.  Since I was sick last Sunday, I got some combination Pastor Appreciation/Get Well cards.  Here is how a few of them from Kindergarten/1st grade went:

"hay paster tim hope you feal better."

"thank you for teching us."

"Hi Bastor tim it is me"

"thank you four being our paster and four being in ferunt of the cherch"

Now what did I do with those cards?  Did I get upset over kids spelling these days?  Should I have marked the misspelling with red ink and returned them to the class asking that they be corrected and then sent back to me?  Did I write a letter to the parents saying their kids should spell better? 

Of course not, their imperfections make them more precious.  These are heart felt expressions from kids who are not trying to put on a show, just tell me thanks.  I would be poorer man without them.  I know someday they will send me letters that are correctly spelled or maybe text messages that have even stranger spelling.  Either way they will grow.  What they did, where they are is a blessing.

Too bad a lot of people don't see that God sees us that way.  Our first stumbling prayers for someone else, our first faltering attempts to witness to someone, our mangled attempts at scripture memorization, our poorly worded prayers of repentance or thanks are a blessing to Him.  He finds great pleasure in them despite the imperfections. He meets us where we are.

Too many times I have heard people say they just can't pray, can't witness, can't sing praise as if their efforts at these would be met with lots of red ink correction and the indignation of a perfect God.  He is perfect but not unreachable, even by the imperfect.  He delights in our stumbles in the right direction.  Trust Him.  Join His work.

The mission of Northside Baptist Church is to meet people where they are...

Can you finish the rest?  Will you stumble in the right direction?

For the journey...
Tim

Friday, September 30, 2011

How Malachi Changed My Life

It was a hot, humid day on July 5th of my 13th year.  My father and I had worked hard to pour a large concrete slab by a barn on our dairy farm.  It had been a really tough day and now it was time to milk the cows for the afternoon.  My job was usually to go gather the cows from the various places they may be grazing and head them to the barn.  That day though, my father said he would take care of that if I would go catch his horse.  Riding horseback to round up our dairy cows was a way to combine a bit of pleasure with a routine job and I jumped at the chance not to have to head out in the 100 degree plus heat.

It was no problem for me to catch our horse, Stockings, named for his two white 'stockings' on his front legs.  He was pretty much a family pet who could not resist an edible treat if I took it to him.  I tied him to a metal farm implement that we hooked to the back of our tractor to move heavy objects.  It was standing by itself, like a tripod near the shed where we kept the saddles and tack.  Stockings began to munch grass near the shed and I headed toward the back door of our house to cool off.

Half way to the door I heard a clanking sound and the sound of hoof beats.  A sick feeling hit the bottom of my stomach, I just caught a glimpse of Stockings as he ran full speed past the front of our house and down the one lane country road that we lived on.  I called for my father as I had a feeling something was terribly wrong.  We found the heavy metal tripod I had tied Stockings to about twenty feet from where I had left him.  As he had grazed he pulled the rope around his neck and it had pulled on the tripod and it had tipped over.  The sound spooked him and he began to run away from this thing now dragging at his heels.  The rope had broken but in his fright, Stockings had kept on running. 

He now stood in the middle of our road in an awkward stance.  As my father and I approached him, we began to see drops of blood on the pavement.  The drops turned into scattered pools.  My father was ahead of me and I heard him exclaim, "His foot is nearly cut off."  As the metal implement fell at Stockings feet, his left rear leg had caught a sharp edge on the tripod.  The edge had caught him about six inches above the hoof and it had cut everything from the back of his leg to the bone.  His left rear hoof now flopped painfully when he tried to put weight on it.  We looked at him in stunned silence.  I felt awful.  One the rules my father had taught me in handling horses was never tie them to something they could hurt themselves on. I had broken that rule and now the consequences were painfully clear.

A vet looked at him and said there was nothing that could be done.  We tried to nurse Stockings over the next day but it was clear that he was in too much pain with too severe and injury to ever recover.  I watched from our back porch as my father walked up to Stockings, with a rifle in hand to put him down.  My dad did not look at him except to pull the trigger.  Stockings fell quickly and silently. My father walked slowly to the back porch.  There were still tears in my father's eyes as he put the rife away.  I wished in that moment that I had not been born.

Though there was no blame put on me by my family, I had plenty to put on myself.  I vowed I would learn from this, I would be more careful.  I would work harder and without being asked I would get up every morning at 4:00 am like my father did and help him with the whole morning milking instead of just the morning chores I usually did. I would somehow make up for this.  But the guilt of that day faded to a dull remorse and many times I would wake up and realize I had not kept my vow.  The guilt remained and I learned there is no making up for a loss of life.

I did not know what to do with that experience until some time later.  I had goal of reading through the Bible cover to cover before I got out of high school.  When I got to Malachi, I came across a verse that gradually dawned on me as a way God had for me to deal with this.  Malachi 3:17 says, "They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession.  I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him."

That verse began to change my life.  I realized my father and my family had shown me compassion.  There was nothing I could do that would make me not be my father's son. My father was not raising me to be a mistake free hired hand but to be a son who worked with him.  There was compassion and forgiveness from my heavenly Father to deal with even this kind of guilt.  I began to give it to Him and know His "sparing" of me and the release of the guilt. 

From time to time my failures grow painfully clear to me but I am reminded that my Heavenly Father is not in the business of making me a hired hand but a son who serves Him.  I am to Him, even with all my flaws, His "treasured possession."  And if you are "His" then He says the same thing over you and He wants to do the same thing in you.  And that is how an obscure verse from Malachi changed, and keeps changing, my life.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, September 23, 2011

Calling Remembrances

I have thought a lot about college this week.  On Monday I took a group of Senior Adults to the Bush Library in College Station.  We made a pit stop by the Baptist Student Ministry building and had a brief tour.  Earlier on that trip, someone had asked me where I had sensed a call to ministry.  While we were at the BSM building I got to tell the whole group, it was right here at this spot that I felt called.  I did not know it was to ministry at that moment but I knew that God was working on me.  It was by the door of the old Baptist Student building; there was a sign up sheet there for a discipleship group.  I stood there an pondered it.  I knew if I signed up for this, I would have to get serious about my relationship with God.  I had never done anything like this before.  I would have to move from the faith of my parents to my own walk with God.  I thought about it a moment, then with a lot more emotion than it would seem to merit, I signed my name.  From that moment on, I can say that decision naturally led to another decision and another and another that put me where God has me today.  It was not a typical calling - I do not know what would be typical - but that was my calling.  I stood near that spot again this week with our Senior Adults and wanted to say much more about it but the emotions welled up in me again and I could not speak.  I am still amazed at what God has done and that he would reach out to me.

On Tuesday, I got some good news about our local Baptist Student Ministry.  Lori Huber, who has volunteered to take care of the weekly lunches that are served at the BSM, reported that there was a record crowd there that day.  Around 50 students came to have lunch together at the BSM, more than have ever been before.  There is a real opportunity there.  I wonder how many are making their own transition from the faith of their parents to their own walk with God.  There is a great opportunity there and one we need to pray about and act upon.

On Wednesday, we all heard of the shooter that was on campus at Victoria College, not far from the BSM and Guadalupe Association Office building where the 50 plus students had gathered for lunch the day before.  A great tragedy was averted; no one was injured.  Many students were shaken.  One of our Northsiders who is a freshman spent over an hour in a closet hiding from the shooter.  The Victoria Advocate reported the shooter was upset about an argument concerning religion.  What a different, unpredictable and dangerous world college students now face.

I am amazed the God of all creation reached out to me when I was in college. I wonder who else He is reaching out to this very week, perhaps even calling.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, September 16, 2011

And a Child Will Lead Them

In my searching through things for last Sunday's sermon on the anniversary of 9/11, I came across an amazing story that may be the best example I have heard of in living out Matthew 5:43-48 (loving enemies, praying for those who persecute you).  In May of 1987 tensions were high in the Persian Gulf especially between Iraq and Iran.  This was before the Gulf War over the invasion of Kuwait.  The USS Stark was patrolling the gulf protecting our interests when it was hit by a missile fired from an Iraqi jet.  The pilot did not think the ship was an American vessel even though the crew of the Stark identified themselves by radio.  Thirty nine seamen were killed.

As the bodies were brought home, five year old John Kiser was seen in newspaper photos holding his hand over his heart as his father's coffin was transported.  His mom later said in an interview, "I don't have to mourn or wear black, because I know my husband is in heaven."  Later on, at the urging of young John, she sent a letter and an Arabic New Testament to the Iraqi pilot.  John guided the wording of the letter to say, "To the man who attacked the Stark, Dad's ship, in the hope that it will show that even the son and the wife do not hold any grudge and are at the same time praying for the one who took the life of our father."

That is a challenging example for us to follow.

For the journey...

Tim

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Anniversary We Cannot Forget

I had just gotten into my car after a morning workout at the local park, the radio had a report that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center.  Details were sparse but it was thought to be a small plane.  What a tragic accident I thought.  I had to get home and get a shower before I went  to a Ladies' Prayer meeting at which I had been invited to give a devotional.  By the time I got out of the shower and turned on the TV I saw the second plane hit. I won't forget that feeling.  It was unlike any I ever felt before.  I went on to the prayer meeting and of course our agenda for that day had changed.  The world as we knew it changed.  I remembered trying hard not to cry as I led this small group in prayer.  I could not help it.  I was glad there was a prayer meeting set up.  There was comfort at least in that.

No doubt many of you clearly remember that day nearly 10 years ago.  We will gather this Sunday on the anniversary and I will preach what I preached 10 years before.  God's word never becomes obsolete, neither does His comfort nor His conviction.  We will do more than remember, we will seek "A Way to Pray Forward."   What kind of people should we become if we really follow Jesus' words in Matthew 5:43-48.  It was a challenge for me to preach that then, it is just as much a challenge to preach it now.  Pray for an open heart and join me Sunday.

For the journey...

Tim

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Too Hot to Make Sense

I cannot remember it ever being this hot, this long.  This kind of heat wears us out.  It can work on your mind and your attitude.  I drive past the guys pouring concrete on Sam Houston Street and I am glad I have mainly an inside in the air conditioning type job. 

What is the hottest, most miserable you have ever been?  A day stands out in my mind from my high school days, working with my father in our dairy and ranch operation.  It was a hot dry August day when we discovered that a windmill we had to provide water for our cattle was not working.  On that particular property, that windmill was the only source of water.  We had to "pull" it which meant we had to pull all the pipe out of the well and replace worn parts until we could get it working again.

The windmill was in a place of no shade, no breeze, high humidity and full sun.  It was hard and frustrating work pulling up a long string of pipes up with a block and tackle. Each joint in the pipes was rusty and hard to break apart.  The pipes grew hot in the sun and the pipe wrenches got so hot you had to wear gloves just to handle them.  It was just my father and I working on it.  I have already told you I am not much of a plumber.  In the peak of the afternoon sun and the height of our frustration, my father let out his exasperation with the statement, "There is just no sense in it being this hot!"

I knew what he meant even though I look back now and see that is not a logical statement.  At that moment we were beyond logic, it was pure emotion.  We finally got it fixed after two days.  The water flowed again and we looked for jobs in the shade and had a new found appreciation for electric pumps.

Maybe you have been there too.  Not working on a windmill but where the difficulty of life just does not make sense.  We wonder why we have to go through what we are facing.  We are discouraged and our thoughts are bleak and full of dread and misery.  We can't change our circumstances and we feel hopeless.  Where can we turn to face what we are having to go through?

Maybe God wants to help us in the very place where things are not making "sense" - our thoughts.  God does want to help us and can change us.  We don't often think of Him changing our line of thinking but the Bible often points to that.  That is where we are headed this Sunday.  We will look at how God wants to change our thought lives, even when life doesn't make sense.

For the journey...

Tim

Friday, August 26, 2011

News Making Rain

I awoke this morning to see that rain and its results were the headline story in the local newspaper.  That says something about how dry it is in Texas.  I looked at my grass.  I remember thinking the day before when I took the garbage can to the curb, "Well, it does not look like I will need to mow this weekend."  Today, it looked like it had grown an inch.

Then  I noticed something else - crickets.  They were singing.  I don't remember them chirping at all this summer.  Now they were loud and clear and close.  I went into my garage.  There was a cricket in there really going to town.  It was so loud that I thought for a moment some sort of alarm was going off.  I began to walk around the garage to find what was happening and the cricket went quiet.  I faintly remember an old movie about some swamp creature that would make the crickets go silent as it walked by.  I guess in my own garage, I am that creature.

Did you stand at your window for a moment yesterday and watch it rain?  If you did, did it bring a smile to your face?  It is amazing how something we so often take for granted can become so precious.  It is also amazing what a difference one thunderstorm makes in the middle of a drought.  The sources of life and growth grow more precious in their absence and more powerful even in their fleeting reappearances.

I hope you are not in a spiritual drought, but if you are know that God has a way to sustain you and bring life.  It may only be the spiritual equivalent of an afternoon thundershower, but it make a big difference.

This Sunday we will look at how God makes a change in our heart - how He brings new life to us from the inside out.  I hope to see you there.

For the journey...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Quotes from a Colonoscopy

I have seen several celebrities video their colonoscopies to show later and encourage others to also have it done.  I had a colonoscopy this week but do not fear, there is no video, at least not for the public.  I can encourage all you "50 somethings" who have not had it done to do it.  The procedure itself is a piece of cake as you will see as you read on.  Now drinking the prep, that is a different story but still it is very doable.

As we got ready for the procedure I was a little apprehensive.  My father had a preacher friend who went under sedation and cursed everyone out.  Of course he did not remember it but sheepishly admitted that he hoped he had "gotten it out of his system."  I did not cuss but I was a little out of it for a while. 

As the nurse administered the sedation into my IV she asked if I felt anything.  "Nothing yet," I replied.  Then, what seemed like only seconds later I said, "OK I can feel it taking affect now."  The nurse answered, "Sir, we are already finished with the procedure."  Wow, if only they could make the prep drinking time go by like that.  Some of you are probably thinking, "If only they could make the sermon time go by like that."

Also, they told me later that right after they finished the procedure they told me they were done.  I have no memory of this but apparently my response was, "OK, can I have something to eat now?"  I was pretty hungry by the time it was all done.  In all seriousness, I can encourage all of you who have put it off (like I did) to go do it.  It is not bad at all and it is worth it to find out what is really going on.  We have to know what is going on inside so we can stay healthy.

It is never fun to be carefully and thoroughly examined but it usually turns out to be worth it.  In our church right now we are examining ourselves through the Vital Church process, we are still in the "Kingdom Visioning" stage where right now we are working on a mission statement and a values statement.  You may be asked for your input.  I hope you will answer thoughtfully.  We need to know what is going on inside the body so that we can continue to be healthy.  It works that way in the body of Christ too and you don't have to drink any prep or go under sedation.  Just share from your heart.

For the journey...

Friday, August 12, 2011

Downhill Yields to Uphill

I got to hike a few trails on my vacation.  As we were coming to a particularly rocky and narrow place on one trail, a man who was obviously very experienced in hiking met me coming down.  He was thin and dark brown from the high altitude sun.  His hiking gear was well used but obviously good stuff.  On his lip was a large curled mustache. He had the air and appearance of a real character.  As I plodded upward toward him and the narrow place in the trail he stopped and moved aside to give me the trail.  I stopped at about the same time he did thinking I would let him by and catch my breath.  He motioned for me to come on and said, "Downhill yields to uphill."
I hesitated.  He insisted, "No that's the code, downhill yields to uphill."

I remember reading that somewhere but rarely saw it applied but this man knew "the code" of the trail and insisted on living by it.  I obliged and trodded up breathing hard.  Then I reflected on why this was so.  It was a polite thing to be sure but also a good thing.  Those going down have less a burden, less a strain and they are to look out for and yield to those who are still on the way up.

It does not sound like a bad thing to apply to the church either.  We are to value those who are still bearing the burden of the uphill climb of the Christian life and give them a break as they head toward some experiences we have already had.  We are to look out for those coming up and give them a clearer path to tread, knowing we have been where they are going. 

It was also helpful when some of the downhill people would say to us uphill strugglers, "It's not far."  "You are almost there."  "The view is worth it."  Also good things for us to keep in mind in the church.

Do we value those uphill strugglers?  Do we value the journey enough to encourage those on the way?  My crusty trail expert seemed to value that and "the code" he not only knew but sought to live out by example.

What do we value at Northside?  Who do we value?  Good questions that we will be asking and listening to your answers for as we continue to grow through the Vital Church process.  Just as we found some interesting things in asking each other about the mission of our church (results of that are coming soon) I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the values of our church.

For the journey...

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Knowing Where You Are Going

I can hardly believe it is finished and opened.  Laurent Street has been under construction for what?  Seven years?  It just seems like it.  Now we can navigate a newly paved smooth street right up to the church.  I am so glad because the traffic cones and barrels that directed our traffic patterns nearly got me into trouble one day.

I was third in a line of cars driving north on Laurent approaching the Mockingbird intersection when it was under heavy construction.  The traffic lanes were being changed almost daily it seemed.  We were weaving our way through the maze of cones leading up to the intersection.  The car at the front drove over to the left through the cones, then the car in front of me and so I followed.  I think it hit all of us about the same time that we all had just pulled into a lane that was meant for oncoming traffic.  There were only two lanes open and we were in the wrong one.  I had just followed the guys in front of me.  We all were able to get back into the right lane before any south bound traffic came our way but it did leave me with a funny feeling.  I had just followed the car in front of me and I had been led astray.

In our fast paced, chaotic, ever changing, always under construction world, it is important to know where you are going.  We can't just follow the guy in front of us or drive through the traffic cones the way we did the day before.  They may have changed.  Our days call for us to be focused followers of Christ.  Focused on Him; focused on the mission.  That's why we are reconsidering the church's mission statement.  To be honest, our new statement will not be much different from the old one, but hopefully as we prayerfully consider where we are going, we will begin to follow Christ more carefully, personally, intimately and not just follow the guy who happens to be in front of us.

For the journey...

Thursday, July 28, 2011

I Am Not A Plumber

July has not been a good month for me an plumbing.  In fact I can never remember a time I have had more plumbing problems, sadly I have no one to blame but myself. Earlier this month I was up in the attic storage getting some things down for a trip.  I accidentally and unknowingly bumped my attic A/C unit's drain pipe loose.  It did not start leaking until after we left on our trip.  Fortunately a family member came to take care of our dogs and found a stream of water flowing from the ceiling into our kitchen.  She got it stopped but now there is a big stain in my ceiling.

Next I went to repair the toilets in my parents old home.  The inside parts were all worn and not functioning, flappers need to be replaced and so forth.  I have done this before so I thought I could do this again and I was successful with one toilet but with the other, as I was hooking the flapper on to finish the job, the plastic part that holds the flapper completely broke off.  I will need to remove the tank and get a new part.  The bolts that hold the tank are rusted and almost impossible to get to.  I gave up for another day but felt defeated again by plumbing.

Not having picked up on the fact yet that I am not a plumber, I could not let well enough alone.  I have had a very leaky faucet at the back of my house for quite some time.  With all the dry weather watering we need to do, it leaks a lot.  I just couldn't stand it, I had to try to change it out.  I found what I need to repair it, thought it through, turned off the water at my meter and started what I thought would be a ten minute plumbing repair.  As soon as I twisted the old leaky faucet I knew something was wrong.  I stopped, returned it to its original position, turned the water back on and saw what I had feared - the pipe to the faucet had broken in the wall behind it.  I gave up in defeat again but this was not something I could just walk away from.

I called a plumber and told what had happened.  I was told, "We love you do-it-yourselfers."  Fortunately they came that afternoon.  As I led them to the back yard and my problem, I will never forget the look on the plumber's face as he saw it.  It is not the look that any homeowner wants to see.  He mumbled under his breath, "Oh my!"  Fortunately, skilled plumbers fixed my problem in a matter of minutes but now I have a hole in my bedroom wall with a view to the back of my new plumbing. 

Part of my problem is that I am a farm boy.  Farm boys thing they can fix anything and if they can't fix it they can use duct tape and bailing wire to make it work.  I must have been absent on the day where they showed how to use duct tape and bailing wire to fix plumbing.  I don't know how to do it.  It is clear, I am not a plumber.

We all have problems that we can't solve.  It is hard to admit that.  Fortunately the worst problem we cannot solve ourselves has been solved for us.  Jesus came to be a savior for us in the sin that we cannot fix - that always defeats us and leaves us with stains and holes in our soul.  But he did fix it and fix it completely.  He asked us to remind ourselves of that when we observe the Lord's Supper.  I hope you can join me Sunday.

For the journey...

Friday, July 22, 2011

Concert of Prayer

Each year I try to journey up to Sonday's Camp our annual youth camp.  It is a long journey but well worth it.  I have timed my visits to be a part of the Concert of Prayer.  On Thursday morning of camp, the sound of a lone bagpipe player signals that it is time to gather in the Worship Center.  Each church journeys from their cabin to the Worship Center in complete silence.  The only sound other than the bagpipes are the sounds of hundreds of feet walking the streets and gravel drive ways of the camp.

Once inside there is a time of praise and worship but then for the next 2 hours kids pray.  It is pretty amazing.  There is guidance and direction on specific things to pray, in groups or individually, by school and by church.  I listened to sounds of hundreds of teenagers praying.  Though there often were tears and struggles being dealt with it was a joyful noise to hear them all praying at the same time.  They bring so many problems and struggles.  It is hard being a teenager these days.

At one point I got to stand right in front of the stage on the front row.  I looked out on this huge audience of students as they sang an updated version of the old hymn, "Jesus Paid it All."  It gave me hope.  There are so many problems in this world and even in these young lives but God is also at work. And He is doing a great and everlasting work, from generation to generation - He is faithful.  The problems of the world don't seem so big when you watch around a thousand kids pray.  You feel the presence of God.  He is with us, even in the problems.

For the journey...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Problems Multiplying

According to the United Nations, the world population is expected to reach eight billion persons in 2025.  Right now we are 6.9 billion people here on planet earth.  Here is when we reached other milestones - in 1970 there were 3.7 billion, in 1980 there were 4.4 billion.  By 1990 we had surpassed 5.2 billion, and in 2000 we made it to 6 billion. 

I got these numbers from a release from the Baptist World Alliance now meeting in Asia.  They were discussing the types of problems that this population growth would create and how to best address those needs as cooperating Christians.  Two things were sure, the population of the world will grow and with that the troubles of the world will grow.  All 6.9 billion people on earth right now have problems.  With more people, come even more problems.  That is inescapable and always has been.

Did you learn the world's shortest poem in school?  It is entitled "Fleas."  Here it is:

"Fleas"
Adam had'em.

From the beginning of time until now, everyone has problems.  As I put these words together, congress and the president are debating the debt ceiling.  NFL owners and players are arguing about a new contract.  An email just came to me urging power conservation to avoid power outages.  These are just a few about which I know right now.  There are more that I don't know about or more precisely, I don't want to think about. 

How do you think about your problems?  How should you?  That is what we will look at Sunday and begin looking at in a new series, "Problems - God's Presence in Difficulty."  We know we have problems.  They come to us all the time.  We need to remind ourselves that God has solutions. 

For the journey...

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Are you afraid of water?

That is a question I have now learned to ask every baptismal candidate.  One case of not asking it was enough for me to always remember to do it.  I should have known something when the woman (that I should have asked that question of) came to the baptistery in water shoes and a swimmers cap.  She never said she was afraid of the water, I did not know enough to ask.  What ensued was not really pretty.  She is the first person who half way submerged, going backward in the water somehow found a way to try to come back up.  Not really understanding what was happening, I was fully committed at that point to total immersion - that is what the Greek word for baptize means.  I cannot fully describe what happened, she and I got pretty wet and somehow people in the congregation commented later that they knew she had on water shoes.  I just knew that feet, hands and arms flailed.  When I came out of the door that lead to the baptistery area, back out into the congregation, no one would make eye contact with me.  They had the appearance of much compressed and contained laughter.  Now I always ask that question. 
But that is not the most important question about baptism.  There are a lot of more important ones.  I will attempt to hit on several this Sunday.  We will celebrate the ordinance of baptism.  I have asked both the candidates, they are kids and they love the water.

There is another question about baptism that is more Biblical.  It comes from the Ethiopian Philip witnessed to in the book of Acts.  I love the way he asks this after he understands the truth about Jesus, "Look, here is water.  What can stand in the way of my being baptized?"
You do not have to ask people my question, but how do you answer his?

For the journey... 

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Stuck in Dallas Traffic

Last Friday afternoon I found myself stuck in downtown Dallas traffic at rush hour trying to make my way through the bumpers and brake lights and exhaust fumes to get a car load of kids to the Youth Evangelism Conference.  It hit me as I sat there trying to figure out how to get there after missing a turn I needed to take - 23 years ago, in 1988, I was doing the same thing.

I was a single staff pastor in a little church stuck in downtown Dallas traffic at rush hour with a van load of kids trying to get them to the Youth Evangelism Conference. I was full of anxiety and anticipation on my first trip out of town with the youth group.  I missed my turn back then too. I could not imagine then that 23 years later in a much larger church, with a much larger staff, with a much larger youth group, I would still be doing the same thing.

Somehow it hit me - this is progress, to still be doing the same thing.  That first van load of kids I took to Dallas are all grown now, I did three weddings from that group in that van that day.  They have children of their own.  Last Friday I was taking my own child to YEC to see her commissioned for a mission trip overseas. Gone is the Reunion Arena that we went to 23 years ago.  It is now a parking lot for the Dallas Convention Center that we went to this year.  So many things have changed, yet so many things are still the same.  God worked in those kids then and God worked on the kids last week too. 

Who knows, maybe 23 years from now, God willing, I maybe stuck in Dallas traffic again trying to get to Youth Evangelism Conference to see my grand kids.  If I am, I will see doing the same thing over again as progress.

For the journey...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Generations to Come

I am struck with repeating phrases as I read through the section of the Bible on the Kings of Israel and Judah.  One phrase is he, "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done."  The other phrase on the negative side is he, "did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and his sin which he had caused Israel to commit."

David was far from a perfect father, that may have been one of his weakest areas, but God still used his influence for generations after he was gone.  Jeroboam set a course as a king for the nation of Israel for generations to come; a course of idolatry that they would never recover from and which would eventually be their downfall.  Neither David nor Jeroboam was able to realize in his day how he would influence future generations but they each did.

The same is true of us in our day, we are influencing generations to come in ways we do not now realize.  God can use the positive even in a flawed life.  But in a life that turns from Him, even just a little in the present, the future is drastically altered.  Like an airplane pilot or a boat captain setting a faulty course at the beginning of a journey, the mistakes of the present become actions that set us miles off course in the future.  Our choices are powerful and important, for generations to come.

Sunday we will look again at how Joshua stood in his day to set the course for another generation, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  Today, with God's help, we can influence a generation yet to come.

For the journey...

Friday, June 10, 2011

The Hearts of Children

As I continue to approach being an empty nester, I heard a statement that continues to resonate with me.  When it comes to raising children, "the days are long, but the years are short."  I look back and wonder where did all those years of raising children go? They are gone and it seems so fast.  But I have very clear memories of changing diapers and driving kids to school and it seemed like it would never end on some days.  Those were some long days.

'The days are long and the years are short' are not just true in a family, they are true in a church as well.  We come to Vacation Bible School week; these will be some long days.  But how long do we have to influence a generation?  How many times will we be granted the opportunity to explain the gospel to this child or that child.  The years can be short.

Let's determine this week to make the most of "today" with the children we have been granted.  Let's put aside our inconveniences, our differences, even our fatigue for the sake of the heart of the child who now stands before us.  He or she may not stand there next year, in fact, today may be all we have.  Let's make the most of it for the sake of the good news of Jesus and for the sake of a generation yet to come.

For the journey...

Friday, June 3, 2011

Prayer Muscles

Prayer is in the news today.  A judge has blocked even the mention of prayer and the word "prayer" and "amen" from the Medina Valley High School graduation exercises.  Judges may be able to block public prayers at public school functions but no one can keep a person from really turning to God.  Though I do not agree with that judge, a judge has never been a hindrance to my prayer, busyness, distractions, spiritual coldness - those things have been my biggest problems.  I think for most Christians a lack of prayer does not come from being told not to pray but from choosing not to pray.

I came across this statement from Richard Foster that helps me.  "We must never wait until we feel like praying before we pray for others.  Prayer is like any other work; we may not feel like working, but once we have been at it a bit, we begin to feel like working...our prayer muscles need to be limbered up a bit and once the blood-flow of intercession begins, we will find that we feel like praying."

Individual Christians and churches may need times of their "prayer muscles" being limbered up.  This Sunday will be a day like that.  I hope you will come stretched and ready for a good workout.

For the journey...

Thursday, May 26, 2011

A Message for Graduates

For those of you who have graduated or have had a child graduate from high school since I have been pastor of Northside, you have heard this before.  For those of you who have not, this is a story I usually tell the graduates at their lunch on Senior Sunday, like I will this coming Sunday.

My own experience of graduation from high school had it's highs and lows.  On a blustery May evening in 1978, on the football field of Yoakum High School, I was given an award from the local Rotary Club that I had not foreseen coming.  It was a shock, it was an honor, but that emotional high was short lived.  As I sat on the back row of the 144 seniors of my class, a violent gust of wind came down the field, I was able to just barely grab my hat as it flew off my head.  As I put it back in place, I realized the tassel was gone. I looked behind me toward the end zone, there was my tassel, headed for a touch down.  I did not think I had time to get it before my name was called to go receive by diploma so I had to let it be. As I went to get my diploma with no tassel a more humbling thought came to me, my tassel just amassed more yards on this field on a Friday night than I did playing four years of football.

Highs and  lows, I don't know about you, but my high school years were full of them, often very close together. It has been that way through the rest of life, but life does get better than high school. It is a good thing to know that God is there to help us handle both the ups and downs, the highs and the lows.  The longer I live, the better I see Him do that.  May God bless your highs and lows with his steady presence.

For the journey...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

When the World Ends

By now you have heard of Harold Camping's prediction that the rapture will take place this coming Saturday.  According to the 89 year old engineer Camping, this is the day based on calculations he has made that include a wide variety of factors - from Biblical prophecies to the founding of Israel in 1948 to data he has gotten from tree rings.

Camping is not the first to set a date on the rapture, though he has spent the most money announcing his prediction in media and advertising.  He will not be the last.  The response of people has ranged for all out belief and preparation for the end to mocking ridicule.  A local chapter of the American Humanist Association is hosting a two day party, Saturday and Sunday.  An atheist in New England has started a business offering to take care of raptured Christian's pets after they are gone - $135 for 10 years of care, up front of course.

I remember reading of another time of dire predictions about the end times based on strange signs in the heavens including an unexplained darkness in mid-day.  One legislative body was debating about ending their session during this darkness, when one wise man argued they continue.  He stated, if this was the end and he was about to meet his Maker, he wanted to "be found at my post."

Jesus is coming back but I am preparing my sermon for Sunday.  It is about "What Happens When You Read the Bible."  I plan to see you there.

For the journey...

Friday, May 13, 2011

A Healing Place

This week I heard a doctor make the statements, "chronic life-long problem," and "trying to avoid a total breakdown."  He was referring  to a painful foot problem that I have dealt with for almost a decade.  A typically successful surgery I had in 2008 has turned out not to be.  That surgery cannot be repeated or corrected.  I have tried a host of other options.  I am trying another type of custom orthotic in my shoes that this doctor had made for me.  In receiving them, I heard those statements.

Before I had any of this information, I had felt led to preach this week on the power of Jesus' touch.  In Matthew chapter 9 there are a series of people he healed.  He was touched by a woman and a chronic life-long problem ended.  He took a girl's hand and she returned to life.  He touched the eyes of blind men and they could see.

Sometimes you preach to others; sometimes you preach to yourself.  This week will be the latter. I am profoundly interested in what God will say.  I know I am not alone.  Perhaps you are reading this and you have a much more serious life threatening or life altering problem.  I pray that Northside can be a healing place for all of us.  It is what we will focus on this Sunday.  Pray for me and I will pray for you.  I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

For the journey...

Tim

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Osama's Mama

In all the discussion of Osama bin Laden this week, I have heard something about everyone around him and in his life  - except his mother.  I decided to do some checking.  The most information I found comes from a book, Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of a Terrorist by Adam Robinson.

Bin Laden's mother was a beautiful young Syrian woman named Hamida who caught the eye of Osama's father, Mohammed, late in his life. Mohammed bin Laden was wealthy, powerful and had 10 or 11 wives and somewhere around 54 children.  Hamida did not like living in Mohammed's compound among his many wives and children and she was divorced soon after Osama was born.  In the time she did live there, she was ostracized by the other women.  Hamida was called "the slave" and therefore Osama was called "son of the slave."  Osama was raised mainly by nurses and nannies in the compound after his mother was sent away following the divorce.

When Mohammed bin Laden died in a helicopter crash when Osama was ten, Osama went to live with his mother whom he barely knew.  He felt abandoned after his father's death.  His mother tried to reach out to him but he kept his distance from her and according to Adam's book, within a few months there was no interaction between them for the rest of their lives.

Is there some connection between the absence of a mother figure in his life and the way Osama bin Laden's life turned out?  I cannot help but think so.  Bin Laden never valued other people's lives and certainly not any woman's life.  Where do most people learn to value life and other people?  My experience says a mother has a big role in that.  How the world may have been different if Osama and Hamida had a close relationship?  Our family life determines so much of our future. Who knows what might have been?

I do know that there are many women in difficult circumstances who do an amazing job and raise remarkable children.  One such woman was Hannah the mother of Samuel.  We will look at her life this Sunday and see the how God can bring fulfillment even in circumstances that are less than ideal. I hope to see you Sunday.

For the journey...

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Where I'll Be and Why

I will be preaching for another pastor this Sunday because he has dirt on me, literally.

It all goes back to my childhood.  One summer Saturday when I was a preschooler, I was playing outside while my father was trying to get at least one of our two worn out lawn mowers to run so he could mow the yard.  It was not going well so he decided to take a break, go inside for a while, get a drink of water and cool off.

The mowers were near our back porch which was also where the sand pile I was playing in was located.  I had recently made a visit to an uncle who ran a filling station.  It inspired me.  I wanted to play "filling station."  I began to pretend the mowers were cars and I was the attendant.  Yes, I am old enough to remember when there was no such thing as a self service gas station. 

I apparently did not have much of an imagination at that stage because I could not just pretend to put gas in my imaginary mower/cars.  I had to actually put something in the gas tanks.  Nothing was readily available but the sand in my sand pile.  Little me, of not much imagination or understanding of the workings of internal combustion engines, poured sand in the gas tanks of the two worn mowers that did not want to run to begin with.  Needless to say when my father returned and discovered my filling station, he was not happy.  Let's just say I was strongly rebuked and I never saw the need nor had the desire to pretend to play filling station again.  It was not comfortable for me to sit down that afternoon either.

After things settled down and cooled off, it was decided by may family that this incident was kind of funny so the story got told the next day at church.  T. Wayne Price was the pastor of my church then.  He is now the pastor of First Baptist Church, Refugio.  He called me several months ago to preach at a one day church renewal event that he was hosting.  He reminded me he had dirt, or maybe better put - sand, on me.  I will be preaching there Sunday.  But so this story can never again be used against me, I have confessed it all to you here.

Pray for me and I will pray for you this Sunday.

For the journey....

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Cross Changes Everything

We mark the day that Jesus died.  There are traditions; things we do to remember.  But the cross is about change, it is about transformation.  It is about something old being broken and something new coming into being. An old way of trying to live shattered and a new way of receiving life coming into existence.  The cross changes everything and it can change everyone.

It has dawned on me this year as we looked at what the cross changed in the series, "The Wonderful Cross." Just think about how Jesus death on the cross changed the cross itself.  Max Lucado, in the booklet we are giving away this Sunday "He Did This Just for You" writes,
"The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity.  An odd choice don't you think?  Strange that a symbol of torture would come to embody a movement of hope...Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck?  Suspend a gold-plated hangman's noose on the wall?  Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card?  Yet we do so with the cross."

The cross changes everything and it can change anyone because it is not something we do with it, but what God did with it and what he still can do today with us.  The most amazing thing that I am finding out though is he can still change me.

For the journey...

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Ongoing Power of the Cross

Japan's tsunami is still making news.  The nuclear problem is ongoing.  New videos of the tsunami hitting Japan are still cropping up.  The destructive power of what happened still reverberates.  What doesn't make the news and what doesn't come to the forefront is where protective measures worked and where lives were saved.

In the devastating tsunami of December 2004, we did not hear about Pondicherry, India.  That's because its 300,000 inhabitants were saved from those killer waves by something that started 250 years before.  Pondicherry was a French trading port on the Indian Ocean.  The French wanted to protect this rare outpost that was surrounded by the British Empire so they began to build a massive seawall, putting together huge boulders along a 1.25 mile long stretch of ocean front.  Then they kept building and reinforcing it until 1957.  Worked stopped then but the protection the wall provided saved Pondicherry in 2004.  Just beyond the protection of the wall, 600 people drown in the tsunami.  The protection of the wall did not make the news but that does not mean it was not effective.

The cross of Christ is no longer making news but it still has the power to save. It still is changing lives; it is still saving lives. Something happened then, that saves us now and keeps on saving us in the future.  This Palm Sunday we come to look at the cross, what happened there and what is still happening now because of what Jesus did there.

For the journey...

Friday, April 8, 2011

A Story You Should Know

Michael knew his father was very ill and probably would not recover.  As he dealt with that reality, a greater reality began to dawn on Michael about his own eternity - he needed to accept Christ as his savior.  One Sunday morning, Michael and his father Kevin came down during the invitation time at the end of the service.  His father came to rededicate what time he had left to the Lord, Michael came to follow Christ for the first time.

Kevin soon took a turn for the worst.  I watched as Michael handled his father's death with a great deal of grace.  During the weeks that passed as the family dealt with a terminal illness, a death and a funeral, Michael spoke with his wife and step son, Terese and Gannon, about their relationship with the Lord.  They were all baptized as a family at Northside on January 17, 2010.

On April 1, 2011, Michael was working to put up the oil rig he worked on in its new location on a ranch in the Laredo area.  It was late in the day, there was a strange sound, a cry of warning and two men frozen by uncertainty in the path of falling piece of metal.  Michael heard the warning, knew the danger, saw his co-workers and acted.  He was able to clear them of the heavy metal "pin" that fell from the derrick but he was not able to clear himself.  It struck him on the back of the head and he died.  In a moment of unthinking selflessness he brought life at the cost of his own. 

Michael's family confirmed the story through several sources and though the grief is heavy, there is the uplifting thought that Michael's life had great purpose and though just 29 years long, it had great meaning.  This is a story I thought you should all know.

Michael N. Duckett
September 12, 1981 - April 1, 2011

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13

For the journey...


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Praying for Japan - Part 2

In may last post I mentioned hearing from our two summer missionaries to Japan and their thoughts on how to pray.  Here are Caleb Jentsch' words -

Some ways y'all can be praying for Japan are:
1) Pray for the missionaries that are over there right now that they would be safe.
2) Pray that the Japanese will realize that hey need the Lord and that their hearts will be open.
3) Pray for the believing Japaneses Christians that they will continue to grow closer to the Father and be able to share who He is with the people of Japan.  The impact they have sharing in their own country is so much more effective.

I  also mentioned the Baptist General Convention of Texas has sent funds  ($25,000).  One of the great things about being connected with an organization like this is the ability to respond quickly.  Becasue you have given to Northside and because Northside cooperates with the BGCT, you have already helped to send those funds to this disaster.

Texas Baptist Men have now sent a team to Tokyo.  Disaster relief veterans John LaNoue and Gary Smith along with Yutaka Takarada, pastor of a Japanese Baptist Church  in the Dallas area have joined videographer Rex Campbell.  You can find out more ways to pray and read daily updates from this team at

www.texasbaptists.org/disaster

For the journey....

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Praying for Japan

We have had two of our students spend summers in Japan serving as missionary interns.  I have asked them to share their thoughts about Japan and how we can pray for the people there especially now.  Here are Kelley Williams' thoughts:

The Japanese people are incredibly polite and kind, but they are not always very receptive to the gospel. The vast majority worship the gods of Buddhism, Shintoism, materialism, and success. The soil is hard and the fruit is rare, but God is definitely working. He has been in Japan long before now and I fully believe a great Japanese revival is coming.

This past summer, my fellow interns and I were completely broken for the Japanese. We wanted the people that God had taught us to love to know the One True God and Savior. We prayed that God would do whatever it took.   I do not think that the earthquake, tsunami, and current nuclear crisis is in any way a punishment for the Japanese worshipping false gods and idols. I believe He will use this to make Himself famous in Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world. That is what we prayed for anyway.

My favorite verses to pray over Japan are Isaiah 64:1-65:3. It starts off, "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountain might quake in your presence...", and ends with God saying, "I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me." Japan is not a nation that has been seeking God, but He is passionately pursing them with His grace and love.

Please pray that the strongholds Satan has had in Japan will come crashing down. Pray that as a tsunami brings water that damages, the Holy Spirit will flood Japan with joy and salvation. Pray for the workers in Japan, pray they would have divine appointment after divine appointment. Pray that the Japanese Christians will be shaken from their timidity and would speak boldly to their friends and family about their hope and peace in Jesus alone. Pray, pray fervently for a great Japanese revival to unfold from this tragedy. God is bigger than any force of nature and He will use this for His glory and renown.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Mission Trip Moments

There are so many things about Northside's mission trip to the Rio Grande Valley that I wish I could tell you about - sights, sounds, smells.  Well the wind blowing over the regional garbage dump right down the street from the church made the smells very ...interesting but I don't need to go into that.  But the smell of good food made by loving hands was also a constant too.

There were images that I want to carry with me - the sight of three churches from two different cultures coming together to do a work in a poor neighborhood.  There is the the sight of the smiles of teh families whose homes we touched and the sight of one of those families attending the church that week.  There is the sight of an auburn-haired, teenager named Crystal coming down during the invitation time Sunday morning to receive Christ.  Her green eyes filled with tears that fell on our hands as we prayed together for Christ to come into her life.  She attended church for the first time the week before.

There were sounds that were constant.  I will remember the sound of the praise band made of our's  and their's and singing in English and Spanish and all to the Lord.  I can still hear the sounds of voices speaking loudly and boldly in Spanish proclaiming the change that Jesus can make in anyone's life.  There were the sounds of saws and hammers and cement mixers as work took place around the church and three homes.  I heard sounds of laughter and it did not matter what language you spoke, laughter is the same in any language.  I also was reminded that you can smile, clap and move folding chairs the same in any language.

Then there was the ever present sound of a generator running outside the church providing electricity to the activities within.  That sound was a constant reminder to me that colonia church without electrical power is not a church without the power of God.  Thank you Northside, Austin Street and Fe y Poder for giving to the Lord.

Join with us Sunday evening, March 27 at 6:00 pm in the Student Center as we share our memories and reflections.

For the Journey...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

A Mission Trip Lesson

As we return to the Valley for a mission trip, I am painfully reminded of a lesson a learned a couple of trips back.  It was the last day and I was delivering some of the left over items we had to a church by myself.  Everyone else was loading and leaving and I was to make this delivery and go get my daughter Kelley and head home.  Walking back to my pickup after leaving the items at a vacant church, I had a sickening realization -  I had locked my keys in my truck.

I was already running late, people were waiting, a long trip home was in front of me, I was tired and I had locked my keys in my truck.  After several phone calls, I was finally able to get a locksmith and he told me it would be a while before he could come.  I sat and waited and called and made excuses to the people waiting on me to get my daughter so we and they could head home.

What seemed like hours later, (it was actually sooner than I had been told) the locksmith showed up and in 5 seconds had my door unlocked.  I hurriedly paid him, thanked him and as I was getting in my truck, he asked why I was down here.  I quickly told him, then he asked more questions.  I gave him a tract (or something spiritual) and told him I had to be on my way.  It was several miles down the road when it hit me what I had done.  I had a man asking me honestly inquisitive questions about spiritual things but I was too irritated with myself to really hear him and talk to him.  I had missed a great opportunity because I was in a hurry.  I don't know what could have been and that is what bothers me - I don't know what could have been.

I read once where it is impossible to show someone love when you are in a hurry.  I know now that is true. Join me in asking God to slow us down, even in our worst moments, and see the people and opportunities God puts in front of us.

For the journey...

Friday, March 4, 2011

The Journey of a Summer Missionary

The summer between my sophomore and junior years of college I worked as an agricultural summer missionary on the Rio Grande River.  It was north of Presidio, Texas near where the road on the US side ends and several miles past where the paved road stops.  It was Ruidoso, Texas and Los Barancos, Mexico.  It was hot and dusty and dry and remote. 

It was digging holes in rocky ground near people's homes for peach trees to be planted later by another mission team.  It was setting up a primitive home garden irrigation system that would water the trees and gardens around the adobe huts people lived in.  It was living in an adobe hut too with no electricity and one faucet of running water.  It was not seeing a TV or movie or a newspaper for 10 weeks. It was seeing a lot of conflict on my team, enough that people had to be reassigned, twice.  It was questioning why I was there.  It was rough.

Later I heard that all the trees that I had dug holes for died.  I heard that the irrigation systems we set up did not work.  I heard the pastor that we had worked with was arrested.  I heard the church we worked with was failing. I struggled to hear anything from God.

I looked and did not see what I thought I would.  I did not see anyone come to Christ that summer.  I did not see the work of Christ furthered in what I had done.  I did not see Christians working together in unity.  I did not see any results - at least not for a while I didn't. 

Even in that experience I heard a calling from God on my life.  Even in that, I saw that I had made it through by the grace of God.  In that experience, I saw results, just not the results I had been looking for.  I saw that I had grown and the only tangible results that I could point to were the only results I needed.  The results were in me.  Sometimes when we join Him in His mission, we are the only results we see.

For the journey...

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Pruning

"...every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."  John 15:2b

When my father returned home from World War II he did what many people around Yoakum, Texas did in those days - he farmed tomatoes.  Back then Yoakum was a major tomato growing area, thus the annual "Tom-Tom Festival."  Nothing in farming is easy and farming tomatoes can be particularly difficult.  You had to protect plants from freezes early, fight the damage of insects in the middle and avoid getting your crop to market too late at the end.  But the thing my father thought was the worst part of being a tomato farmer was pruning.

When the plants bloom, there is a certain branch under the blossoms that is pruned or cut away so that the plant produces more fruit instead of more vines.  It is not that hard to prune that branch, you can snap it off with two fingers, but pruning a field meant you had to do that stooped over, all day long as you went through hundreds of plants, row after row.  It was monotonous, back breaking, mind numbing, finger staining work.  In the end, you hoped it would be worth the pain.

Jesus used a picture of his day to teach his disciples that he "prunes" us.  Maybe this is a pruning time for you.  Some things have been cut out of life or dreams or possibilities or plans or careers.  When we come to a place in life where we ask ourselves, "What is God doing?"  Chances are we are being pruned and he is producing fruit. He always produces more fruit.  It is not pleasant at the present but the outcome is worth the price and the pain. Trust him.  He is good at this.

We will look one more time at the Fruit of the Spirit this Sunday.  It will help with the pruning times.

For the journey...

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Growing Fruit

Most Baptist pastors will not admit to knowing much about wine making but a little research on the "fruit of the spirit" turned up these truths about growing good grapes and about making fine wine.
-To plant a vineyard, you start with shoots not seeds.  Shoots grow better.  After the first year, you cut the shoots back and do not let them produce fruit.  You do the same in the second year. 
-Only in the third year to you actually produce grapes, but then they are usually left on the vine.  Only after four years do you harvest grapes for the best wine.
-After bottling that first crop, it is allowed to age seven or eight years before the wine is even tasted.
-Most vineyards don't break even on the investment until year fifteen, eighteen or beyond.
Conclusion:  It takes serious patience to produce fruit of the vine, it is no quick process.
God has some serious patience with us.  He does not say he wants to produce quick results, he wants to produce fruit.  Like an experienced vintner (that is the proper term for someone who plants a vineyard) he knows the best harvests come with the most time.   We have to allow him that in our selves.  The production of the fruit of the spirit is not an overnight process, it is life-long, on-going, time consuming.

Maybe that is part of the reason Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  John 15:5

For the journey...