It is with much gratitude that I thank all of you who have been faithful or even occasional readers of this blog as I have had a chance to write it. I think it was Charles Dickens who said, "It is disquieting thought to do anything for the last time." Disquieting - that is a good word for how this feels. I am drawn to reminiscing at times like this but I think it better to say, "Thank you."
Thank you for taking a chance on a small town pastor back in 2003. Thank you for your patience and your encouragement. I appreciate you overcoming some of my mistakes and affirming, what can only be described as "stumbles forward." I heard Paul Powell once say, "It is much more likely that a church will make a pastor than a pastor will make a church." That has been true of you and me.
Northside is a church that has a firm grip on its spiritual heritage and the unchanging message of Jesus Christ. But it has also been a church that embraced new ministries and undertook new challenges. Keep doing that as God guides - and He will guide.
Will I do a blog at my new position? That remains to be seen but if I do, I warn you that you may read things that you have seen before. If I do blog and you re-read something, please, again, be patient, a new idea will come.
The Northside Journey will continue in some form during the interim. Stay in touch so that you can know what is happening as we "Journey Together" to new things.
for the journey...
Tim
Friday, August 21, 2015
Friday, August 14, 2015
"Why did you get so choked up?"
Some of my best memories of my time as pastor of Northside have been the baptisms. I will never forget baptizing four young students from China. They had come here to do graduate work and our Chinese Fellowship had befriended them and they had accepted Christ. That was a big moment for me to see the world has come to us and that anyone in the world can come to Christ.
In some ways my most memorable baptism was one I had a hard time saying anything because I got choked up. You can't imagine me doing that can you? A few weeks before, a young African Muslim woman came to my office. Her name was Maria. She briefly told me of her treacherous and deadly journey leaving a war torn country in Africa. She and her family, who are all still Muslims, somehow made it through a series of harrowing moments, through some refugee camps and finally to the United States.
Maria was very much to the point of her coming to see me though. She wanted to become a Christian. She had seen the violence and brutality that had hidden behind a veil of religion in Africa. She had heard about Jesus in the refugee camps. She had attended our church, it was within walking distance of the apartment she had found to live in while she attended college here to become a nurse. Maria was truly ready to give her heart and life to Christ knowing that it would be very costly to her. Her decision led to her family disowning her and counting her as dead.
As we stood there in those waters for her baptism, I was overwhelmed by the thought that I have never in all my years baptized anyone who had to pay such a high price to follow Christ. I usually baptize people with the blessing of their family or at least some sort of acceptance. There was none of that for her. Yet, there was a joy in her that brought us both to tears. Several people asked afterwards, "Why did you get so choked up?" If you read this and still don't understand, I am not sure I can explain it to you.
Today, August 14, Maria graduates with her RN degree. She remains steadfast in her faith. There has never been any family help but yet there has been help from her spiritual family at Northside. Sometimes God brings a person with great needs into your life and you think it is so you can be a blessing to them. But in reality it is so He can show you how that person can become a blessing to you. Congratulations Maria, you are that blessing. May there be many more like you that God brings into our lives and into the family at Northside.
for the journey...
Tim
In some ways my most memorable baptism was one I had a hard time saying anything because I got choked up. You can't imagine me doing that can you? A few weeks before, a young African Muslim woman came to my office. Her name was Maria. She briefly told me of her treacherous and deadly journey leaving a war torn country in Africa. She and her family, who are all still Muslims, somehow made it through a series of harrowing moments, through some refugee camps and finally to the United States.
Maria was very much to the point of her coming to see me though. She wanted to become a Christian. She had seen the violence and brutality that had hidden behind a veil of religion in Africa. She had heard about Jesus in the refugee camps. She had attended our church, it was within walking distance of the apartment she had found to live in while she attended college here to become a nurse. Maria was truly ready to give her heart and life to Christ knowing that it would be very costly to her. Her decision led to her family disowning her and counting her as dead.
As we stood there in those waters for her baptism, I was overwhelmed by the thought that I have never in all my years baptized anyone who had to pay such a high price to follow Christ. I usually baptize people with the blessing of their family or at least some sort of acceptance. There was none of that for her. Yet, there was a joy in her that brought us both to tears. Several people asked afterwards, "Why did you get so choked up?" If you read this and still don't understand, I am not sure I can explain it to you.
Today, August 14, Maria graduates with her RN degree. She remains steadfast in her faith. There has never been any family help but yet there has been help from her spiritual family at Northside. Sometimes God brings a person with great needs into your life and you think it is so you can be a blessing to them. But in reality it is so He can show you how that person can become a blessing to you. Congratulations Maria, you are that blessing. May there be many more like you that God brings into our lives and into the family at Northside.
for the journey...
Tim
Sunday, August 2, 2015
A New Journey for All of Us
This morning I shared this announcement with our congregation. Knowing many of you are out of town at this time of year and many of you live away and read this blog, I wanted you all to know:
It is with greatly mixed emotions that I tell you today that my time as pastor here at Northside is drawing to a close. For the past two months, Judith and I have been praying, discussing, consulting and at times struggling with the opportunity to join the staff of South Texas Children's Home Ministries. That opportunity has turned into a calling from God to go there as strong, as clear and as consistent as His calling was to come here. I will be serving as the Director of Church Relations working in the existing ministries of STCHM but also working directly with churches, pastors and their families to form new ministries.
I will be sharing with you in next Sunday's message how all this came about. I will also walk you through the process that Northside formed long ago to guide you through the selection process for a new pastor. I will do my best over the next three Sundays to help us all in this journey. I will be with you through Sunday, August 23, which is Round Up Sunday.
Let me say now, and very clearly, that my leaving does not come because of a problem, or a conflict or some underlying issue. We simply sense the call of God on our lives to go be involved in something that He is preparing for us. We love this church, we love the great staff we have here and we love you, that is much of what I mean when I say we have struggled. God has given us so many blessings here and there are so many good things happening but this new call on our lives keeps coming and we must go.
Something unusual about this is that we will not be moving from Victoria for the foreseeable future. The plan is for me to work in this area and beyond it, but for the sake of your pastor search process and for the sake of the new pastor, we must step away from this church. We do not intend to step away from the many friendships and relationships we have built here.
I know there are many questions and many emotions that we are all facing. I wish we could have told you all one by one to address those things. We regret that we were not able to do that but over the next three weeks we will attempt to help you in this journey you now embark upon. I will have a few more blog posts before I am done. We appreciate your prayers.
for the journey...
Tim
It is with greatly mixed emotions that I tell you today that my time as pastor here at Northside is drawing to a close. For the past two months, Judith and I have been praying, discussing, consulting and at times struggling with the opportunity to join the staff of South Texas Children's Home Ministries. That opportunity has turned into a calling from God to go there as strong, as clear and as consistent as His calling was to come here. I will be serving as the Director of Church Relations working in the existing ministries of STCHM but also working directly with churches, pastors and their families to form new ministries.
I will be sharing with you in next Sunday's message how all this came about. I will also walk you through the process that Northside formed long ago to guide you through the selection process for a new pastor. I will do my best over the next three Sundays to help us all in this journey. I will be with you through Sunday, August 23, which is Round Up Sunday.
Let me say now, and very clearly, that my leaving does not come because of a problem, or a conflict or some underlying issue. We simply sense the call of God on our lives to go be involved in something that He is preparing for us. We love this church, we love the great staff we have here and we love you, that is much of what I mean when I say we have struggled. God has given us so many blessings here and there are so many good things happening but this new call on our lives keeps coming and we must go.
Something unusual about this is that we will not be moving from Victoria for the foreseeable future. The plan is for me to work in this area and beyond it, but for the sake of your pastor search process and for the sake of the new pastor, we must step away from this church. We do not intend to step away from the many friendships and relationships we have built here.
I know there are many questions and many emotions that we are all facing. I wish we could have told you all one by one to address those things. We regret that we were not able to do that but over the next three weeks we will attempt to help you in this journey you now embark upon. I will have a few more blog posts before I am done. We appreciate your prayers.
for the journey...
Tim
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