by Tim | Oct 25, 2010 | God, My World |
This past month, our church has been meeting, among other times, at 6:18 am on Wednesday and Sunday mornings to study Scripture together and pray. My favorite part of this study is hearing the Holy Spirit speak through others at the study. My second favorite part is driving home on Highway 85, seeing the mountains on the right and watching the sun come up on the left. I can’t remember when was the last time I saw the sun come up before we started doing this. I guess in Alabama, it is so hilly, etc that you can’t really see the sun come up unless you’re on top of one of the hills at that time. A bigger obstacle, however, has been that I never get up in time to see it rise. 🙂 Come to think of it, when I had video jobs in Atlanta, I’d see the sun come up as I drove east on I-20, but once again, it wasn’t nearly as visible as here. In Ault/Nunn the ground is so flat, there are very little trees or buildings. On the way to the Bible study, everything is pitch black. On the way home, however, the sky is already lit–although the sun isn’t here yet. It usually arrives by the time I get home. Watching the sunrise got me thinking. This marvelous thing happens every single day, and very few of us enjoy the grandeur of it. If you want to see the “bigness” of God, get to a place where you can see the sunrise. One day, while waiting for the sun to rise, I...
by Tim | Oct 21, 2010 | My World, The Church World |
If you’re on staff at a church, you know that every day leading up to Sunday becomes just a little more stressful. It seems like Sundays come around all too quickly. While everyone else complains about how slow the week goes, and how long it takes for the weekend to arrive, I have the opposite feeling. That’s how it felt when I was a youth pastor, and still feels the same way as a pastor. It’s as if there’s not enough days in the week to get everything done that I’d like to get done. On top of this, Sunday is the busiest and most stressful day of the week–the day of the week most people consider their Sabbath day of rest. For the staff person, this simply isn’t so. I’m more worn out that day than any other day of the week. So when Monday comes, I feel like just crashing. If I do this, however, that leaves only Tuesday through Friday to be in the office and get things done for Sunday. When you already feel like there aren’t enough days in the week to get things done, it presents a challenge to take one of those days off. For the past two weeks, I’ve decided to just take Mondays off anyway. When it comes down to it, how can I call myself a pastor if I refuse to follow one of the Ten Commandments? This past Monday, Audra gave me Sarah while she showered and got ready for the day. That turned into Sarah falling asleep on me and not waking up until 11 am. So...
by Tim | Oct 11, 2010 | Our Culture, The Church World |
I read an article a few days ago questioning what young people long for in worship services. You can read it here. I have mixed feelings about such articles. I, too, long for the type of worship service he says young people are longing for. Yet, I wonder if young people at large really do want that kind of service. If so, why do they flock to the “hip” services? Why aren’t young people abandoning these hip services and starting their own, if they really long for them? I think this article generally reflects the frustration of a few, probably including the author. But as a whole, I don’t see it. However, as a church leader, I think my time is more well-spent investing in this minority. Where are these people who desire authenticity and knowing Christ in a real, deep way? Let’s come together and do something substantial for the kingdom of...
by Tim | Oct 1, 2010 | God, My World |
You know, some days are good, others are bad. Yesterday was a good day. Yet, even in good days, we can think about all the things we want to get accomplished but don’t have time to do. Or we consider things outside our control that we wish we had control over. Or our minds can race to a million different things that can consume our thoughts for hours, the whole day, or several days. But I’m reminded of our worship service last Sunday at church. At any point, we can turn off the noise, get away with God, and remember that He’s our Father. We can remember that everything in this life is temporary. We can be assured that one day, this will all be over, and we will be with God forever, and none of this stuff will matter any longer. Is that a great comfort to anyone else? The cool thing is that we don’t have to wait until then to get a taste of how this will be. In our time of communion with God, we can experience this reality right now. Granted, we don’t experience it in all its fullness, but it is enough. God gives us enough to continue on, and to rest in our relationship with Him. Be reminded today that this the only truly important thing in this life–your relationship with God. Protect it. Nourish it. Appreciate it. Don’t let it go to waste. And don’t let this life steal it away from you. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his...
