by Tim | Jun 1, 2010 | God, My World |
Yes, you heard that right. I’m blown away that I got a flat tire on my car today. Why would I be praising God for this? Read on… I should have replaced the tires on my car a long time ago. They’ve been bald for at least a few months now. The problem is, we haven’t had the money to buy new tires, so I’ve been literally praying everyday I drive my car that none of the tires would blow out. To make matters even more risky, my job requires that I regularly drive across the state (probably at least once a week). We have two cars, but the other car is used for taking Naomi to school and picking her up everyday, so we couldn’t downsize to one car. So I’ve been praying everyday that I drive my car for work that God would let it hold up until Naomi gets out of school for the summer. At that point, we don’t need to use two cars anymore. Well, my last job assignment was last week in Huntsville all week, and that was Naomi’s last week of school. This week, she’s home for the summer. Today, Audra was taking the minivan to get the brakes fixed, and I got in my car to follow her there so we could come home while the brakes were getting fixed. As I pulled out of our driveway, my tire was blown out! This is a miracle on two counts: 1. My prayers were answered literally and perfectly, as the tire blew out the very first week Naomi was out of school...
by Tim | May 28, 2010 | God, The Church World |
A few posts ago, I linked to an article from christianpost.com about First Baptist Church’s (Dallas, TX) mega-building campaign. In contrast, read this other article from the same site, spotlighting the Church At Brook Hills here in Birmingham, AL. Linkaroo I especially like what David Platt had to say about measuring the effectiveness/success of a local church. Isn’t this a better approach for measuring success vs. how great of a building you can build or how many people attend worship? Sadly, too many churches tend to evaluate success based on how much money comes in, how many people attend, and how cool the building is. All of a church’s energy goes into increasing the Three B’s: Building, Bucks, and Butts. I’m afraid that so many church leaders today (I’m referring to pastors in particular) are lost on this one. Rather than try to convince them otherwise, maybe a better approach is to invest in upcoming leaders who are younger and aren’t so set in their ways. After all, when you try to reason with those who have this disposition and have already been in leadership for awhile, it quickly becomes apparent that the argument is going to go nowhere. Oftentimes, the response one will hear back goes something along these lines: “You’re too idealistic. That will never work. We can’t risk losing members or money toward our budget.” or “Easy for you to say–why don’t you try those sort of things as the pastor.” Funny, no one seems to be willing to step aside and let me try. 🙂 Seriously though, if someone isn’t willing to try themselves, why...
by Tim | May 24, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Gospel |
Or have we moved beyond such depravity as a species? Today’s way of thinking immediately dismisses the notion of people being evil. We think mass murderers/pedophiles can simply be redeemed. Actually, I agree with that. My understanding of evil includes the possibility of redemption (which is why I am a Christian), but I believe that this redemption cannot be achieved by human effort, but only by a supernatural change initiated and empowered by the Creator himself. Outside of the Creator’s intervention in a person’s life, we are woefully evil. I think this is harder to see these days. We seem more civilized than ages past. We are in the process of eliminating slavery from the face of the earth–a blight on our species that has been around for all recorded history. I could give many other examples along these lines. As a result, we are easily blinded to our evilness. It is much more subtle today. For example, would anyone say that today’s Western world is filled with savage, blood-thirsty, murdering masses of people running around everywhere, chopping innocent people’s heads off whenever they please? Yet, how many unborn children are legally killed in this era for no good reason? Might the number surpass the Holocaust we so easily despise? Another way to look at it: I tend to think of men typically as the gender that is known for being perpetrators of murder. Yet in a more subtle way, women are just as guilty when you factor in abortion. Men aren’t more evil than women, although I tend to think of men as being more evil. Another example...
by Tim | May 20, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel, The Scriptures |
I see two different types of controversies in the Bible: Passages that are controversial when you compare them to other passages in the Bible. Passages that are controversial when you compare them to today’s culture. Unfortunately, many people don’t see the difference between these two types of controversial passages. With the first type of controversial passages, we might have opinions one way or another on how to interpret such passages (even strong opinions), but in the end, we must realize that these passages are interpreted several different ways by scholars who all appreciate the authority of Scripture. As a result, when we discuss such passages, we should make room for disagreements and maintain a “think and let think” attitude toward those who might disagree with us. Such verses deal with issues like: Calvinism vs. Arminianism Eschatology (pre/post/a-millennial, pre/post/mid-tribulation, etc.) Roles of men/women in ministry How charismatic gifts operate today Often, people have strong opinions on these matters, which isn’t bad at all. However, we should all recognize that many strong, Bible-believing Christians may disagree with us. These disagreements shouldn’t prevent us from having fellowship with one another. Some people think it is best to avoid discussions/sermons on such issues because of the divisiveness it brings. Personally, I don’t shy away from controversy. I’d rather provide my audience with all the different viewpoints out there, and also give my own opinion in the matter. Then I leave it up to the audience to make up their own mind. I think this is better than avoiding these issues, because I think that does us a disfavor. Ignorance isn’t bliss. People have...
by Tim | May 18, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
The Early Church found itself in a difficult position. As I see it, there were two groups of people you could be associated with: Law-abiding Jews or free-living Pagans/Gentiles. Romans, who were Gentiles, ruled the day. So free-living (sexual promiscuity, etc.) ruled the day as well. They didn’t have much tolerance for Law-abiding Jews who had all these customs and regulations for how one should live your life. In fact, they scoffed the Jewish way of life. The Jews didn’t so much appreciate the Roman Gentiles either . They desired to be free of their control. They disdained the heathen way of living for pleasure. Instead, a Jew lived to follow God’s Law. So neither side had much respect for the other. Yet, they both found a way to live somewhat peacefully with each other. The Romans permitted the Jews to practice their religion, and the Jews did what they could to keep peace with the Romans in order to remain free to fulfill their religious customs and regulations. The Romans understood this–they knew that the Jewish people didn’t really recognize them as a valid government over them–the Jews just tolerated Roman rule. And the Romans just tolerated the Jewish people as well. So it was imperative to find yourself either associated with the Jews, or to associate yourself with Caesar. Any other position, and you were on your own. Everyone wanted to know: where was your allegiance? If you were a Jew, your true allegiance was to their God and their religion, not Caesar. But you still needed to give Caesar enough allegiance as to not be a...
by Tim | May 15, 2010 | God, The Church World, Worship |
My last post mentioned my frustrations with the way contemporary worship is treated in many churches. In its defense, contemporary worship is no worse than any other style. In fact, contemporary worship is the primary style of worship that has made the biggest impact on my life. It’s how the style is used and what value is placed on it. Why do we place such a high value on style? Personally, I’m cool with contemporary or traditional–as long as it’s not about the style…it’s about God. Unfortunately, in many churches, the leadership makes it all about style and production. Is contemporary worship often produced? Yep, but so is traditional. Both styles fall prey to this. I really wish Sunday mornings were much less of a production and more focused on challenging congregations to worship God more truly, fully, and deeply. It’s hard to script or plan that out. It’s also hard to accomplish this when we jump from one element to the next in rapid succession (this happens in both styles).True worship must come from true relationship. After all, in worship we are supposed to be in collective communion with God. How easily we miss this Sunday after Sunday… Joel, a friend of mine, recently wrote on his blog some great thoughts on true worship. I would recommend everyone to read it. I hope that more and more church leaders become less consumed with the style, format, quality, professionalism, and production of Sunday morning worship. And I’m not necessarily referring to worship leaders (they often just do what they’re told!)–I’m referring to whoever it is that determines the structure...
by Tim | May 10, 2010 | The Church World |
This video shows exactly why I have always disdained what churches are trying to become nowadays, and why I feel like Sunday mornings are often largely unimportant to a genuine life of faith. Much of my blog has been devoted to issues that this video so clearly and scarily satirizes. For those who are interested, those posts are: September 11, 2009: How To Do Church September 29, 2009: I Find It Hard To Worship When… October 3, 2009: Churches Who Duel October 24, 2009: What Doesn’t Impress Me About Your Thriving Church October 27, 2009: New Worship Song Tops All Charts! January 24, 2009: Truer Worship March 19, 2010 How Much Have You Been Forgiven? April 11, 2010: Does The Gospel Really Have Any Power? BTW, this video was produced by one of the more famous modern/contemporary/relevant churches out there, North Point (Atlanta, GA)–perhaps to poke fun at itself, and other churches who try to model themselves off of churches like North Point, because they think this type of worship service is the silver bullet for growing an awesome church. This ludicrous notion is something that I have tried, most of the time unsuccessfully, to convince others (especially those in church leadership) that this kind of stuff is largely over-rated, and we shouldn’t be spending our time, money, and energy trying to mimic, reproduce, or even produce it. Perhaps this idea will gain more traction as time goes on. It’s the MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL that makes the church meaningful and worthwhile!!! Enjoy this HI-LAR-I-OUS video! Wasn’t that great and so telling? Come on, Church, give it up, and...
by Tim | Apr 28, 2010 | God, My World |
I was reminded yesterday of how rich I am. Not because I live in the wealthiest country in the world, but because what I read in Ephesians. Paul wrote this book while in prison to encourage God’s people of their true state, not whatever struggle they find themselves in (even if in prison). Among other things, Paul reminds us: You were once alienated from God, under His wrath, living in complete darkness. Now you are children of light, adopted into His family. How amazing is this to consider! Do we fully realize that without Christ dying on the cross, there would have been no hope for us (whether you are a Jew or Gentile)? It was through Christ that the door was open for already-screwed Gentiles and faithless Jews to be joined together to one another and to God as His family. If we are now adopted in, not only are we part of God’s family, but we are the very body of Christ, himself being the head. Jesus takes care of his body, just as humans make sure to take care of ours. The riches and fullness of Christ are ours, because we are his body. Everything that is his, we partake of, because He offers it all to us. Incidentally, Paul encourages husbands to love their wives similarly–as their own body. After all, he states, the two become one flesh. Therefore, I am to understand that my wife is my body. We, along with Paul, should be blown away that this same truth applies to Jesus and his Church. We are His body, we are “one flesh”...
by Tim | Apr 24, 2010 | God, The Church World, The Gospel |
Ok, so I’m not sure these are the most important reasons, but right now to me they are. In no particular order: 1. Where else can one hear the Gospel? You could argue that we should be spreading the Gospel in our work, school, neighborhoods…but reality demonstrates that this happens very infrequently, if at all. I’ve been on staff in a pastoral role–yet how often do I or someone else with my experience do so? In addition, very few people read their Bibles regularly, so they’re not receiving the Gospel from this source either. If we feel preaching the Gospel with distinct clarity doesn’t need to be central in our church, we are living in a dream world, and we will continue to see spiritual illiteracy exploding in our pews. We already know there is biblical illiteracy; I’m afraid it’s worse than that. 2. People tend to stop believing the Gospel. We came into this faith by believing that we had no righteousness to offer, but could only dare to hope in Christ’s. But after a little time in the faith, we start thinking otherwise of ourselves. We start relying on our ability to obey Christ instead of relying on Christ himself. We are constantly moving away from this (Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it!). The Gospel isn’t just needed when we first convert–we are needing to be constantly converted from our old way of thinking. 3. We don’t really understand the Gospel that well. No matter how well I think I understand it, every time it is preached I recognize how little I really grasp of it....
by Tim | Apr 23, 2010 | God, The Church World |
Here are five churches I’ve attended during this time of transition, along with some reflections of each one: Church of the Highlands This church thrives on building excitement among its members for their church and their faith. Out of all the churches I’ve attended, I think this church is the one that I most often hear given a bad rap by other people from other churches. I think this is mostly out of envy for the worldly success this church has experienced. I think people serving in much smaller, struggling churches feel like they can’t compete with a church like CoTH who has so many resources, fame, and momentum. My question is…why are we trying to compete again? A danger I see with CoTH is that it is easy to feel pride at what you’ve accomplished, and pride often comes before a fall. Yet those from smaller, struggling churches who would “Amen” me are full of envy or spite towards CoTH. In other words, they have the same pride issues within themselves. While we often measure churches by numerical standards, this is not necessarily a reflection of true discipleship. As I stated at the beginning, it’s true that this is a “feel good” church. It seems the number one aim is for people to leave CoTH feeling uplifted and excited about faith. This can give a plastic view of faith–when you only see smiling, attractive people on the worship team who always seem happy, or the pastor is perceived as a superstar, etc. Is that true to life? Yet I believe there is more to this church than simply...
