"Who will be my role model, now that my role model is gone, gone..."
I heard those words from a song by Paul Simon while I was sitting in a sandwich shop waiting on my order. To be honest, I had not been really listening to the music but the moment I heard those words playing I had a connection with them and a connection with a sense of grief.
Not long ago the man who had been my mentor for the past few years, Charles Price, past away. When those words played I immediately thought of him. The question did come to my mind, "Who will be my role model?" Charles challenged me, encouraged me, taught me, mentored me but mainly Charles loved me in his own unique way. I will miss him. I am not sure what I will do now, but I am really grateful for the time I had. I look back and see how precious it was now.
Recently, a mom I know, lost her second grown child; both were daughters and both died at age 42. She shared how blessed she had been to have had them both for 42 years. There are a lot of other ways to look at those losses. Her ways is obviously the best and probably the most blessed.
We will grieve, there is no way around that. The choice we have is how will we choose to think about what we have lost - grateful for what we had or grieving for what we no longer have. I want to be in the first group.
To be able to do that, I need to be grateful now, even in the losses, thankful for what I had.
for the journey...
Tim
Friday, November 22, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
The Philippines
The largest crowds I have ever spoken to were in the Philippines. The largest church I have ever preached in was in the Philippines. Both of those places were in the path of Typhoon Haiyan.
In 2001, I was part of a team that did a campus wide revival event at Central Philippines University, a Baptist college in Iloilo City. My father-in-law and I then crossed over to another island and preached in a large Baptist church in the city of Bacolod. As I watch the news and see the devastation, I wonder what has become of those people and of those places?
The teenagers and "twenty somethings" that I encountered and that I spoke to would be in their thirties now with families and children of their own. What has happened to them? What about their children? It is troubling to see what has been shown in the news. I wonder what has happened to these places I know but that are not in the forefront of our media's coverage?
In a recent press release, I saw that the Texas Baptist Men will be sending a team to Iloilo City soon. That brings me some sense of comfort but still there is a deep sense of curiosity of what happened to the people I knew and the places I saw. The plaque from Central Philippines University still hangs on the wall in my office. The people there were incredibly nice and amazingly hospitable. I saw hundreds come to Christ while I was there - some pretty amazing things, a great harvest in fact.
The thought hit me that while I was there, God knew what would be coming to them in the future and part of what I saw were His preparations of souls for a future storm. What I was unknowingly a part of was His plan to help people be ready to stand a test like this and even to be ready to face eternity. I am humbled and awed when I realize the magnitude of His plans. Even though He does not keep the storms from coming, He was preparing people spiritually for this storm and all the other storms that will come our way in this world.
I wonder what He will be preparing us for this Sunday?
for the journey...
Tim
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
In 2001, I was part of a team that did a campus wide revival event at Central Philippines University, a Baptist college in Iloilo City. My father-in-law and I then crossed over to another island and preached in a large Baptist church in the city of Bacolod. As I watch the news and see the devastation, I wonder what has become of those people and of those places?
The teenagers and "twenty somethings" that I encountered and that I spoke to would be in their thirties now with families and children of their own. What has happened to them? What about their children? It is troubling to see what has been shown in the news. I wonder what has happened to these places I know but that are not in the forefront of our media's coverage?
In a recent press release, I saw that the Texas Baptist Men will be sending a team to Iloilo City soon. That brings me some sense of comfort but still there is a deep sense of curiosity of what happened to the people I knew and the places I saw. The plaque from Central Philippines University still hangs on the wall in my office. The people there were incredibly nice and amazingly hospitable. I saw hundreds come to Christ while I was there - some pretty amazing things, a great harvest in fact.
The thought hit me that while I was there, God knew what would be coming to them in the future and part of what I saw were His preparations of souls for a future storm. What I was unknowingly a part of was His plan to help people be ready to stand a test like this and even to be ready to face eternity. I am humbled and awed when I realize the magnitude of His plans. Even though He does not keep the storms from coming, He was preparing people spiritually for this storm and all the other storms that will come our way in this world.
I wonder what He will be preparing us for this Sunday?
for the journey...
Tim
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Friday, November 8, 2013
Planting Seeds
This week was all about the good news. I got to share a gospel presentation at each Upward Flag Football practice and several of us from Northside got to share the gospel by inviting groups or individuals to join us in watching "The Cross," a video with Billy Graham.
Of all that sharing the gospel, one little third grader stands out in my mind. We had several kids respond and say they prayed with me to accept Christ and follow Him, but one who did not respond is the one I keep thinking about.
I used the Evangecube to talk with the kids. It is a cube of connected boxes that each have an image on them that presents the basics of the gospel as you fold and unfold them. After I was done, this little boy came up to me and said he would like to see one of those pictures again. I folded and refolded the boxes until we came to the one he wanted to see - it was Jesus hanging on the cross.
He prefaced his questions by saying, "We don't go to church much." Then he said, "That is Jesus pinned up there like that?" It was sort of a question and sort of a statement as if he just wanted to make sure. I said, "Yes, that is Jesus nailed to the cross for our sins." He looked for a moment then asked, "What are those?" and he pointed to red marks painted on Jesus' picture on the cube to show he had been beaten. I explained that Jesus had been beaten with a whip before they nailed him to the cross. Again, he looked at the picture for awhile. I could tell there were wheels turning in his little mind and the thought occurred to me that he might be hearing this for the very first time.
After a brief pause, he said "Ok" and turned and ran back to practice with his teammates. It struck me that often we do not get to see a seed of the gospel planted but here, with this boy, I feel I did. The struggle with planting seeds is that after they are planted, you don't see anything for a while - both in physical seeds and in spiritual seeds. But because we don't see things, it does not mean they are not worth planting. There will never be a harvest if we don't plant seeds. We will never plant seeds without it being an act of faith that somehow, some way, that seed will grow.
This week it seems we did more planting than harvesting, but that is how it should be and that is what we should always be doing. Thank you to all of you who planted seeds. Know that whether you see it or not, those seeds are growing.
for the journey...
Tim
Of all that sharing the gospel, one little third grader stands out in my mind. We had several kids respond and say they prayed with me to accept Christ and follow Him, but one who did not respond is the one I keep thinking about.
I used the Evangecube to talk with the kids. It is a cube of connected boxes that each have an image on them that presents the basics of the gospel as you fold and unfold them. After I was done, this little boy came up to me and said he would like to see one of those pictures again. I folded and refolded the boxes until we came to the one he wanted to see - it was Jesus hanging on the cross.
He prefaced his questions by saying, "We don't go to church much." Then he said, "That is Jesus pinned up there like that?" It was sort of a question and sort of a statement as if he just wanted to make sure. I said, "Yes, that is Jesus nailed to the cross for our sins." He looked for a moment then asked, "What are those?" and he pointed to red marks painted on Jesus' picture on the cube to show he had been beaten. I explained that Jesus had been beaten with a whip before they nailed him to the cross. Again, he looked at the picture for awhile. I could tell there were wheels turning in his little mind and the thought occurred to me that he might be hearing this for the very first time.
After a brief pause, he said "Ok" and turned and ran back to practice with his teammates. It struck me that often we do not get to see a seed of the gospel planted but here, with this boy, I feel I did. The struggle with planting seeds is that after they are planted, you don't see anything for a while - both in physical seeds and in spiritual seeds. But because we don't see things, it does not mean they are not worth planting. There will never be a harvest if we don't plant seeds. We will never plant seeds without it being an act of faith that somehow, some way, that seed will grow.
This week it seems we did more planting than harvesting, but that is how it should be and that is what we should always be doing. Thank you to all of you who planted seeds. Know that whether you see it or not, those seeds are growing.
for the journey...
Tim
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Zombies
Zombies are a part of our media culture these days. They will be around long after Halloween. One of the most popular TV shows is "The Walking Dead." One of the most popular movies recently is Brad Pitt's "World War Z." Both are about heroes fighting the zombie apocalypse. I have begun to question "Why?' Why are zombies such a popular topic of entertainment - and I use that word loosely. I am by no means endorsing it just wondering about it.
Two thoughts come to mind, the first about their popularity. Could it be that the un-dead represent how we view death? Always present, always consuming but if we are smart and quick and at times ruthless, we can beat death. That seems to be the message I see, though again, I am not a fan of this genre. Perhaps we are trying to tell ourselves that we can move faster than death, outsmart death (I have never seen a smart zombie portrayed) and in the end, overcome death on our own. That may be a popular thought, but the Bible tells us we cannot escape death, no matter how many heroes do it in the movies or on TV.
My other thought about zombies is really more of an observation. They way zombies appear in our media really could be an visual representation of what we are in our lost, "dead" spiritual state apart from Christ. Before God's work of salvation, we are spiritually dead yet we are still walking around this world until we become fully physically dead. In our lost state, we think about ourselves and our needs and our desires - like a zombie. Zombies are hopeless; in our sinful, lost state we are hopeless. If we could see our lost spiritual state in a visual way, I think we would probably look and act like a zombie.
But unlike zombies, we can have hope. The only thing that can be done with a zombie in the movies is that they be destroyed. But God looked upon our zombie like, dead state and found a way to bring us back to life again. Jesus came to bring the un-dead, the sin dead to life - through a resurrection. He died the death all of us deserve to bring a hope we could never achieve or earn. In God's plan, spiritually dead zombies can come back to life. That is cause for hope.
Thanks for reading to the end of this post, even if you don't like zombies. This Sunday we will not talk about zombies but we will talk about hope. See you then.
for the journey...
Tim
Two thoughts come to mind, the first about their popularity. Could it be that the un-dead represent how we view death? Always present, always consuming but if we are smart and quick and at times ruthless, we can beat death. That seems to be the message I see, though again, I am not a fan of this genre. Perhaps we are trying to tell ourselves that we can move faster than death, outsmart death (I have never seen a smart zombie portrayed) and in the end, overcome death on our own. That may be a popular thought, but the Bible tells us we cannot escape death, no matter how many heroes do it in the movies or on TV.
My other thought about zombies is really more of an observation. They way zombies appear in our media really could be an visual representation of what we are in our lost, "dead" spiritual state apart from Christ. Before God's work of salvation, we are spiritually dead yet we are still walking around this world until we become fully physically dead. In our lost state, we think about ourselves and our needs and our desires - like a zombie. Zombies are hopeless; in our sinful, lost state we are hopeless. If we could see our lost spiritual state in a visual way, I think we would probably look and act like a zombie.
But unlike zombies, we can have hope. The only thing that can be done with a zombie in the movies is that they be destroyed. But God looked upon our zombie like, dead state and found a way to bring us back to life again. Jesus came to bring the un-dead, the sin dead to life - through a resurrection. He died the death all of us deserve to bring a hope we could never achieve or earn. In God's plan, spiritually dead zombies can come back to life. That is cause for hope.
Thanks for reading to the end of this post, even if you don't like zombies. This Sunday we will not talk about zombies but we will talk about hope. See you then.
for the journey...
Tim
Friday, October 25, 2013
10/23/83
Why do I remember that date? It happens to be the day 30 years ago when 241 U. S. Marines died when a truck bomb struck their barracks at the airport in Beirut, Lebanon. A tragic event, but there is also another connection with that day. On October 23, 1983 I was with a group of Middle Eastern - mainly Lebanese - international students on a Christian retreat in New Mexico.
I was working at the Baptist Student Ministry at Texas Tech at the time and one of my responsibilities was to work with International students. The event was big enough that the camp director came and told us.
The news devastating to them. They were more upset than we Americans were. I was baffled. When I asked one of the students to explain their reaction, he said, "After this day, there will be no more Lebanon. Not like I know it." It turns out he was right. The United States and other peace keeping nations pulled out of Lebanon and the bloody civil war they were supposed to try and stop, surged out of control. The Lebanon that has emerged is said to be nothing like the Lebanon these young men called home.
These students, Christian and Muslim, knew that everything had changed for them. I wonder how many of them had to return home? If they did, how many were sucked into the conflict? How many of them died in it?
I look back on that day and see how huge a day that was for them, how little I really understood it and how poorly I was prepared to handle a crisis like that. As I reflected on that day, I was reminded that though I can do nothing about the past, I can still pray. Pray for those students, now grown and thirty years older - if they are still alive. I can also pray for myself, that I will be ready to minister to people, even when I cannot fully grasp their pain or understand their plight.
We too often think of prayer as a last resort. On that day it was - and on this day it is - the most powerful thing we can do.
for the journey...
Tim
I was working at the Baptist Student Ministry at Texas Tech at the time and one of my responsibilities was to work with International students. The event was big enough that the camp director came and told us.
The news devastating to them. They were more upset than we Americans were. I was baffled. When I asked one of the students to explain their reaction, he said, "After this day, there will be no more Lebanon. Not like I know it." It turns out he was right. The United States and other peace keeping nations pulled out of Lebanon and the bloody civil war they were supposed to try and stop, surged out of control. The Lebanon that has emerged is said to be nothing like the Lebanon these young men called home.
These students, Christian and Muslim, knew that everything had changed for them. I wonder how many of them had to return home? If they did, how many were sucked into the conflict? How many of them died in it?
I look back on that day and see how huge a day that was for them, how little I really understood it and how poorly I was prepared to handle a crisis like that. As I reflected on that day, I was reminded that though I can do nothing about the past, I can still pray. Pray for those students, now grown and thirty years older - if they are still alive. I can also pray for myself, that I will be ready to minister to people, even when I cannot fully grasp their pain or understand their plight.
We too often think of prayer as a last resort. On that day it was - and on this day it is - the most powerful thing we can do.
for the journey...
Tim
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Making Peace
In my first church, there was an incident that really put the whole church in a bad light. It involved a funeral and a statement that someone who worked at a funeral home made about our church to the family that was grieving. Some similar statements like this had been made before.
It was very upsetting to me and to the church so I did the right thing and confronted the person. Though this was the right thing, I did not go about it the right way. I spoke in anger and I was not respectful. It caused a real rift. Soon people were coming to me and saying things like, "I just want you to know that I am on your side." Other comments that came my way were things said about me and the church and the problem with this person at the local Dairy Queen during morning coffee gatherings. It kept getting bigger.
Finally, with reluctance and very little hope that this would get settled, I decided to do the right thing the right way. I took a trusted deacon, we went to the person and I asked for his forgiveness for speaking in anger and in disrespect. To my surprise, that settled it. There were no more reports from the Dairy Queen and no one else telling me that they were on my side.
I have gone back to that little town several times for funerals, always working with the person that I had the problem with and there seems to be no remnant of the past still hanging around. I have no other explanation than God does like to work when we work at reconciliation.
Several years later, I came across these steps to reconciliation from Ken Sande author of the book, The Peacemaker. I can recommend them:
for the journey...
Tim
It was very upsetting to me and to the church so I did the right thing and confronted the person. Though this was the right thing, I did not go about it the right way. I spoke in anger and I was not respectful. It caused a real rift. Soon people were coming to me and saying things like, "I just want you to know that I am on your side." Other comments that came my way were things said about me and the church and the problem with this person at the local Dairy Queen during morning coffee gatherings. It kept getting bigger.
Finally, with reluctance and very little hope that this would get settled, I decided to do the right thing the right way. I took a trusted deacon, we went to the person and I asked for his forgiveness for speaking in anger and in disrespect. To my surprise, that settled it. There were no more reports from the Dairy Queen and no one else telling me that they were on my side.
I have gone back to that little town several times for funerals, always working with the person that I had the problem with and there seems to be no remnant of the past still hanging around. I have no other explanation than God does like to work when we work at reconciliation.
Several years later, I came across these steps to reconciliation from Ken Sande author of the book, The Peacemaker. I can recommend them:
- Address everyone involved.
- Avoid "if" "but" and "maybe."
- Admit specifically what you did.
- Acknowledge the hurt.
- Accept the consequences.
- Alter your behavior.
- Ask for forgiveness.
- Allow time.
for the journey...
Tim
Friday, October 11, 2013
Aspens
Fresh from some time in the autumn glory of Colorado, here are seven things I have learned about Aspen trees:
-They grow up in groves sharing a common root system.
-Aspens only grow at high altitudes.
-Because they grow up from roots, they are the first trees back after a forest fire.
-Even though they grow back quicker they allow other trees to grow up among them.
-Aspen root systems keep on regenerating new shoots even if the the older trees die.
-Aspen bark on the south side of the tree will leave a white residue on you if you rub up agains it.
-Aspen trees are a thing of beauty, especially in the fall.
Now why would I tell you all this? Well I like aspen trees, obviously, but there are some things that we as a church should seek to immulate.
-Christians grow best in "groves" where we share a common "root system" - the church.
-The church can only grow in a place of right "altitude" - a climate of righteousness.
-The church is equipped to survive the disasters that come and grow back stronger after them.
-The church should enable others to grow back after the "fires" of life.
-When you rub up against Christians, it should rub off on you.
-The church should be a thing of beauty in the world - in any season.
I'm glad to be a part of a church that is a lot like an aspen grove. Let's keep growing into what we were created to be and into what God is making us.
for the journey...
Tim
-They grow up in groves sharing a common root system.
-Aspens only grow at high altitudes.
-Because they grow up from roots, they are the first trees back after a forest fire.
-Even though they grow back quicker they allow other trees to grow up among them.
-Aspen root systems keep on regenerating new shoots even if the the older trees die.
-Aspen bark on the south side of the tree will leave a white residue on you if you rub up agains it.
-Aspen trees are a thing of beauty, especially in the fall.
Now why would I tell you all this? Well I like aspen trees, obviously, but there are some things that we as a church should seek to immulate.
-Christians grow best in "groves" where we share a common "root system" - the church.
-The church can only grow in a place of right "altitude" - a climate of righteousness.
-The church is equipped to survive the disasters that come and grow back stronger after them.
-The church should enable others to grow back after the "fires" of life.
-When you rub up against Christians, it should rub off on you.
-The church should be a thing of beauty in the world - in any season.
I'm glad to be a part of a church that is a lot like an aspen grove. Let's keep growing into what we were created to be and into what God is making us.
for the journey...
Tim
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