by Tim | Jan 11, 2011 | God, The Church World |
Top 10 reasons most pastors wouldn’t want to have a ministry like Jesus’: Reason #1: Jesus never developed a financially-sustainable ministry, and never received a salary. Reason #2: While He did enjoy a short stint in success, in the end, it all fell apart as quickly as it started. Reason #3: None of His hired staff had any ministry experience and didn’t even really understand what His purpose was. Reason #4: Jesus’ idea of sending out missionaries/church planting included taking no money with you to help start the venture and just looking for homes to stay in. Reason #5: His target audience was the poor and the outcasts of society. Reason #6: He didn’t network. Reason #7: There was no building–church was always in some different location. Reason #8: One of the requirements on the membership form to join Jesus’ church was, “Will you give away all your possessions and follow Me?” Reason #9: It wasn’t until after He died and the next pastors took over that the thing took off. Reason #10: He tried His best to be a nobody. I’m not saying that our churches should model everything that Jesus did–obviously He did certain things for reasons specific to His own mission. My point is simply that most of us pastors zealously strive toward building a successful ministry. I wish we would re-channel that zeal/passion towards simply following God in our lives. Isn’t it interesting that it was only after Jesus had died that He became such a huge figure in history? Paul himself said it in Philippians 2:5-11: Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6...
by Tim | Jan 10, 2011 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
The Son of God didn’t need to come in order that people who are hungry could have food. There’s already plenty of food on earth, and people could be fed without Him having to leave His heavenly throne. He did, however, instruct us to feed the hungry. The Son of God didn’t need to come in order to give people money who were in poverty. If so, He did a poor job fulfilling His mission. The poor Guy (pardon the pun) had no money of His own. He did, however, instruct us to take care of the poor and give them money. But if the Son of God had never come to save humanity from our sins, we would all still be lost and eternally separated from God. That was the reason why He needed to come. Jesus did, in fact, perform “social” acts of justice. But these “social” acts of Jesus were done in the context of declaring that the Savior of the World had come. Not just as acts of social justice. For example, when Jesus would heal people, He often told them their sins were forgiven, and they would be healed. In one instance, Jesus tells a paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven. The leaders get upset at Him for claiming to have such authority. So Jesus proves it to them by telling the guy to rise up and walk. It’s no different today. Today, we declare a Gospel that itself declares that Jesus is the only Son of God, and that only He is worthy of worship. That all other gods and religions are...
by Tim | Jan 8, 2011 | God, My World |
I’m back to eating normal foods again! Although it’s great to be eating again, I realize that food doesn’t satisfy as much as my mind made me to believe when I was fasting. There’s a slight shallowness in the satisfaction of eating. As I end this fast, one question lingers: Did I fail at fasting? That depends on how you look at it. When I set out to do this water fast, I intended to fast after the initial hunger pains subsided all the way until “true hunger” manifested itself. For many people, that’s around 40 days. I was expecting that to happen for me at about 25 days, because of my low weight and body type. That didn’t happen–I didn’t make it that far. So from that angle, I failed. But I don’t see this as a failure. I see it as a learning experience and a time of growth. I also think that anytime we attempt to do anything to draw us closer to God, it’s never a failure. God has already done some great things in my heart. I think this idea of failure is why people are afraid to try anything–why we keep it safe. And it’s why people in ministry put so much pressure on themselves to over-perform. After all, I don’t want to become a pastor of a church, only to have the attendance dwindle in size after a year–I want it to grow! But can we look at it from another angle? Maybe the true measure of success is if we give it our all to God. If we follow Him where...
by Tim | Jan 7, 2011 | God, My World |
You might be wondering why I’m still calling this “fasting,” when I’ve already started breaking the fast. Actually, the most crucial period of fasting is when you break it. I’ve already referred to the Fasting FAQ which goes into more detail about this, but if you embark on a long, extended fast, you can even kill yourself if you jump right back into eating like you did before the fast. Since my fast wasn’t too long, I’m not in danger of that. But last time I did a 3-4 day fast, I ended it by eating a Southern Chicken Sandwich combo meal from McDonalds. I’ll let you guess how that turned out… Last night, I had some veggie broth. This morning I had 4 pieces of chopped melons, and I felt full. For lunch, I had more veggie broth with some saltines for dipping and some more melons. I noted that by lunch time, my appetite had increased. I was hungry again, so I had an early dinner. I ate baked chicken, and a little corn and mashed potatoes. Later on, I even had one of those quesadillas I was craving during my fast. No problems. I think I’m ready to return to normal foods again. Here are some additional takeaways from this experience of water fasting that I haven’t already mentioned in previous posts: I would like to start praying before meals as a family. I’ve never really done this, simply because I felt they are always so perfunctory. I know everyone else does them, and I’m a pastor, but I don’t want to do something just for...
by Tim | Jan 6, 2011 | God, My World |
Today, my mental anguish over fasting was not so much an issue. However, my exhaustion continued. The first time I fasted for a couple of days, the first three days were very difficult because I didn’t prepare my body by cutting back days before the fast began. But following those three days, things got easier. This time, the first 3 days have been easier than the following days, even though the hunger pains subsided once again after three days. The difference is that the first three days’ hunger pains were not nearly as hard to manage this go around, because of my preparation. However, instead of the following days being easier, they became more difficult. My exhaustion level continued to increase, and showed no sign of letting up. Part of my fast these 40 days is to cut out TV during the evenings so that I can be productive (such as writing, etc.). However my exhaustion level has been such that that’s the last thing I want to think about! After evaluating everything, I feel that my water fast is actually diminishing my ability to seek God and accomplish what I set out to do during this fast. In addition, I was being no help to Audra or the family. I also was concerned that my exhaustion level was not going to decrease anytime soon, and that the longer I continue my water fast, perhaps the more time I would waste. So after evaluating, consulting, praying, thinking, and rethinking, I decided today to start ending my water fast this evening. I’m sure Audra is relieved. 🙂 However, I plan...
by Tim | Jan 5, 2011 | God, My World |
Today has been the worst day of my fast. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case, since everyone says that day 3 is the worst. I thought the worst was behind me… Regarding hunger pains, this day has definitely been easy. But the problem is in my mind. While I don’t feel much, if any, physical hunger sensations, I’m just plain tired of not eating. I just want to be able to eat. And there are specific things I’d just love to have right now: pizza (I never want pizza!) scrambled eggs sausage Tostitos (I never crave Tostitos!) a nice big sandwich any kind of meat dish quesadillas I could go on. Surprisingly, I couldn’t care for any desserts (even ice cream, my favorite food) or fast food of any kind. Then again, I’m not a huge fast food fan, anyway. It’s a last resort for me. But it’s weird to me that certain food stands out to me right now–there’s no rhyme or reason I can see. I wonder if this is similar to temptation in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, she ate it. I think I can relate. There’s nothing wrong with eating food, and it seems so desirable right now, even though I’m not physically hungry. Perhaps the saying “you don’t know what you have until you lose it” fits the situation. Just like when you get sick and you wish so much that you would return to health and be able to breathe easily...
by Tim | Jan 4, 2011 | God, My World |
I don’t plan on blogging for each day of my fast–just whenever I have something to say. However, I thought it would be good to at least do the first 3 days, since they are the hardest. And day 3 has indeed been the hardest. My hunger was a little intensified today, but not a whole lot. What really got me is that I needed to do shopping and errands today at several stores, and I wore myself out doing that. I’m pretty exhausted–so I’m sure this post will be short. Interestingly, my hunger today is more on junk food, rather than apples, etc. I think I don’t really have increased hunger, it’s more like I just miss the foods I like. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be easier than today. After all, it’s day 4–should be the day I break this barrier! I look forward to being able to pray without having the distraction of hunger in the background. I’m shooting a video tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll take a lunch break. I’m looking forward to getting away during that hour to pray and read the Bible! Up to this point, that’s been hard to do. Well, that’s all for now. Time to crash!...
by Tim | Jan 3, 2011 | God, My World |
On day 2 of fasting, I woke up feeling very weak. When I took a shower, it was all I could do to lift my arms up to wash my hair. After taking a shower, I had to sit down on the bed for 5-10 minutes just to allow my heartbeat to slow down and relax a little. By the time I was dressed and ready for the day, I suddenly felt like I could throw up. After talking with Audra, I realized I hadn’t drunk any water since I woke up, and thought maybe that would help. It did, indeed. The feeling went away immediately. One of the most important things on a fast is drinking lots of water. I am figuring that the reason I felt this way this morning was because I didn’t drink water for so many hours because of sleeping. I will make it a habit from now on to drink a glass of water immediately after waking. Speaking of drinking water, I’ve never drunk so much in my life. I go to the bathroom more than a pregnant woman. Those of you who know me well know that I don’t drink much liquids most days. It’s not uncommon for me to eat an entire meal and go on with my day without drinking anything. But my throat feels dry most of the time, so I continue to gulp it down. As I was praying and preparing for church this morning, I found myself inadvertently humming a song I haven’t heard since I was in high school. Surprisingly, the words to the song really...
by Tim | Jan 2, 2011 | God, My World |
Our church is starting the year off with 40 days of prayer and fasting. I’ve debated whether to blog about this or not, in light of Jesus’ words about fasting and not proclaiming it wherever you go. In the end, I feel Jesus is addressing a mindset and arrogant heart that tries to get praise from people when one fasts, and that’s not my goal. In fact, most–if not all–of the people who read this blog I never see anyways–they’re google-searchers or friends of mine from the past, so I’m not trying to impress anyone around here. If anyone around here does read this, they’re participating in the fast too, so this isn’t breaking any secrets. The reason I want to blog about this experience is because so few of us fast, and I think it would be beneficial to hear someone’s account. I figure it can only help gain a better understanding for fasting, and that anything we can do to make fasting less of a foreign concept is a good thing (since Jesus assumed His people would fast when He left the earth). I must admit that this is only the second time in my life that I have done a “real” fast. I’ve done a few other fasts where I don’t eat for a day, and then once nightfall comes, I pig out. 🙂 There’s only been one other time that I’ve fasted for about 3-4 days, and it was an interesting experience. This time, I plan on fasting for as long as my body allows during this 40-day period. Because of my body type and...
by Tim | Dec 28, 2010 | God, My World |
Here are some of the reasons that compel me to believe that Christianity is indeed true and that Jesus is in fact who the Bible claims Him to be. It all fits very well. Not just all the prophecies in the Old Testament (such as Isaiah 58), but also the laws (such as the commands for how to perform sacrifices for sin removal) as well as holidays (such as Passover) and stories (such as Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac) seem to indicate that there has been a plan all along for a messiah to come, and that God had been hinting this all along. Just reading the book of Hebrews is compelling enough for me. It lays out so many parallels between Jesus and how He fulfills the Old Covenant. It doesn’t fit TOO well. There are still unanswered questions and things that puzzle me as to how they fit. If it all fit perfectly together, I would be concerned that this was a man-made invention. Instead, some things seem out of grasp, which requires one to use their mind instead of blindly accepting what someone else says. Christianity requires one to put all their hope, dependence, and trust in their Creator for eternal life, rather than other religions which try to find ways for humans to achieve this through their own merits. Something inside of me tells me that those are all false hopes, and that only God can fix what I feel broken on the inside of me. Christians don’t believe the Bible is simply “spiritually” true, but historically true as well. The faith is based on...
