Love Requires Listening

Sunday morning retuning: So how are you doing at displaying your evidence that you love God, that is by loving your neighbor as yourself?  Not easy, but essential.  Over the next couple of days, make it your aim to act on what God spoke to you Sunday from Luke 10:25-37.  Be a Good Samaritan!

For me, learning to love requires that I be listening to what God is saying to me in my everyday life.  Often these days that is in terms of “giving myself away”, but more on that in another post.  In the last day, the Lord has put two scenarios in front of me through which He spoke.  I want to encourage you through them to be listening to what God is saying to you in the everyday rhythms of your life.

My mom and dad came in town yesterday for a couple of days.  My dad is very knowledgeable in home improvement things so I asked if he could help me install a ceiling fan.  We wired the new switch and box and went to test it and it did not work.  He was befuddled as to what was wrong.  I then realize that I had connected our tester to the hot and ground, instead of the cold, see the white wire not bent.

My take away?  If things do not seem to be working, you better make sure you are connected to your power source.  If you do not sense God’s power in your life, you may want to check your connection, even take the time to do some trouble shooting if necessary.

  Then as I was backing out of my driveway this morning…

Though Sarah had reminded me moments before that my parents car was behind mine in the driveway.  I ran into it anyway.  Fortunately, there was not damage to theirs, but you can see that mine was not so fortunate.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the small pile of rusty metal that fell out of my Civic. 

My take away?  Sure, I probably need a safer car, but my first thought was, how easy it is to forget the obvious, get into my RoUTine and plow through life.  I need to keep my eyes open for the times Jesus is trying to redirect me.

Nothing terribly profound here, but I wanted to remind you to stay connected, keep your eyes open, and listen for what the Lord may be saying to you in the daily doldrums.  He is probably directing you in some way to a deeper walk with Him, and a deeper love for others. Thanks for walking the path with me.

Jesus, we want to follow You.  Help us humble ourselves daily.  Help us to have a healthy fear of You.  By Your Spirit’s power, help us to walk in Your ways and stay close to You, whether You are moving or not.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Seeing Clearly

Sunday morning retuning: Remember our Big Idea from Sunday?  “We believe because Jesus has opened our eyes!”  Thank You Jesus for helping me to see clearly!

And Jesus wants to do more that just reveal Himself to us.  He wants to show us His purposes and His ways as well.  I had a recent opportunity to experience this.

I had asked those of you who receive this inspiration via email to pray for me last Thursday.  I was planning on spending some extended time before the Lord to seek His plans for the transition before our worship team ministry.  I thank you for praying because not was I able to spend the time, I really was encouraged to see some things become clear to me that previously had not been.  Specifically, I was trusting the Lord to reveal a new structure involving two bands consisting of a number of people who had auditioned the two weeks prior.  And I believe He did.

I found myself sitting in a local nature preserve praying and asking for clarity of the vision God had been giving over the last couple of years.  I sat on a bench and looked out at all the trees before me.  It made me think of all the people who serve on our worship teams.  Sometimes it is hard to see the individual in the midst of what we do collectively, but the auditions helped musically speaking, and now I needed God to show me how to assign the right people to these two new bands.  I needed to see the trees that made up the forest and appreciate the unique contribution each makes.  What I needed was essentially the opposite of the old saying “see the forest for the trees” or trying to make out a pattern in a mass of details.

I needed to “see the trees in the forest”.  In the midst of the broad picture, I needed to discern the details, the role each person could or should make.  I believe I was able to do that.  I sat with all the evaluations from the auditions and four years of getting to know our church and these people, and a clear mental picture of how these teams might be constructed, right down to primary and alternate members of each, began to emerge.  What I had thought, prayed and dreamed about for a long time, slowly began to take a definite shape before my very eyes.  Almost as though someone else’s hand was drawing it.  You think?

I look forward to explaining that picture this weekend to as many who can make a quick meeting on Sunday between the two Engage services.  Pray as we continue to transition to a new day in our worship, as a ministry and a church, all the while with our overarching prayer being “Show Us Your Glory!”

Jesus, thank You for helping us to see clearly!  Not only the glory of the Father in the hour we first believed, but the marvel of His plans as we continue to walk along one step behind You.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Where You Stay, I’ll Stay

Sunday morning retuning: Have you prayed Luke 10:2 yet?  As you ask the Lord for harvesters, are you prepared to be one?  Can you see the fields before you?

I was reading this morning from Jeremiah 42-44 and was reminded of our commitment Sunday morning.  In verse one some leaders came to Jeremiah and asked him to pray that God would show them, “where [we] should go and what [we] should do.”  I thought of our words, “where You go I’ll go, where You stay, I’ll stay” from the song, I Will Follow, by Chris Tomlin.

There are some things that are more easily said than done, and over the years I have had the opportunity to encourage God’s people to sing any number of them.  They are often words that voice the commitment our hearts have made to the One who has redeemed us, and they are lofty.  For instance, from later in that chorus, “Whom You love, I’ll love [that’s everybody by the way, even your enemies], How You serve, I’ll serve [He washed His disciples feet remember?], If this life I lose, [whoa, wait just a minute], I will follow You.”

Those words from Jeremiah reminded of those words we sang Sunday.  Only problem is, when Jeremiah came back from his answer from God, they denied, and did what they wanted to anyway.  How often have we been guilty of that?  Telling God we want his leading, when all we really want is His blessing.

Although our willingness to follow may seem most obvious in our going, I want you to consider for a moment or two how staying can be equally as telling.  Take for instance the illustration of a harvest.  Now I know the scripture about one plants, another waters, and then others about those who reaps, but consider this.  What if God wants you to plant, water and reap?  That takes some patience.  Farmers are not generally very nomadic.  Actually, quite the contrary.  But farming is hard work.

Are you working in your field?  Take field to mean every possible use, and ponder that.  If not, get busy, or wait, depending on where you might be in the process.  Wherever you are, make sure you are one step behind Jesus, even if He is sitting down, and has been for awhile.

Sometime God wants you to stay.  There are consequences to not following, even if it means staying.  Consider God’s indictment upon the leaders in Jeremiah 44:10-11.  Let us humble ourselves, fear God, and walk in His ways.

Jesus, we want to follow You.  Help us humble ourselves daily.  Help us to have a healthy fear of You.  By Your Spirit’s power, help us to walk in Your ways and stay close to You, whether You are moving or not.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

A Taste of Heaven Here

Sunday morning retuning: Pastor Myron laid out our Next Steps as we endeavor to walk one step behind Jesus.  How exciting to think of how God is going to use us in these next three years!  I pray you will be a part of this, as we see God changing lives here and around the world.

As we celebrated Communion a little differently Sunday the choir sang “Behold the Lamb (A Communion Hymn)”. There was a line in it that really hit me, as often does when I am trying to pay attention to the love and truth we declare.  It was this part of the fourth and final stanza.

As we share in His suffering 
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven 
Around the table of the King.

It was those words “we’ll join in the feast of heaven”.  We get to join in the feast of heaven.  Wow!  I have enjoyed some great meals in my day, but that one is going to be the one that even the best have only foreshadowed.  Besides I really like eating.

But Heaven was already on my mind.  As I was planning the services for this weekend I felt led to schedule “When You Move”, a song we have learned in the last year.  There is a great line in the chorus of that song that says, “For when you move our lives are changed, we know a taste of heaven here.”  A taste of heaven here.  I want that.

It makes me think of times when Sarah is making mashed potatoes and she asks me to taste them.  Every time I do, they are delicious, and I want to scoop out another spoonful because that taste has left me longing for more.  You know want I am talking about right?

So I was in the kitchen cooking up some eggs this morning (you are sensing the strong food theme here I hope), and I was thinking of heaven because I had been listening to Steven Curtis Chapman’s song See.  He wrote this after loosing his adopted little girl.  If you listen to nothing else today, please listen to this.  One day we will see.

I asked my son Josiah, “Do you think heaven will be better than this?”  He responded immediately, “Yes!”  That childlike faith blessed me and challenged me again with the question. “Why do we not think of it more often?”  I can hardly wait to see it, and the One who made the way for me to be there.  How about you?

Jesus, we cry out for more of You.  Come and move in our midst that we might be changed and know a taste of heaven.  Show us Your glory.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

All Things New

Sunday morning retuning: Following Jesus id demanding?  Did you know Jesus has some expectations of you?  We saw a few in Luke 9:51-62 on Sunday:  mercy and commitment.  Remember the story of William Borden?  “No reserves.  No retreat.  No regrets.”  Jesus help us live this way.

A few months ago I shared some thoughts about Communion in our Inspire Service.  They came to mind as I was preparing for this weekend.  In our Engage services we are going to celebrate Communion a little differently.  It will be new.

My thoughts revolved around the verse in the Bible’s ending book.  In Revelation 21 I was struck by verse 5, "He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'"  Note that he says, "all things new," and not "all new things."  There is some continuity implied.  In other words, He is not making from nothing things that are all new, though He is perfectly capable of doing that, like at the beginning, but rather here at the end is making existing things new. 

It implies that He will not be starting over, but rather will take what is here, existent, and remaking it in such a way that it will actually be new.  I am not talking about something used that you buy on Amazon that says “Like New”.  Oh no!  He is making all things…NEW!  I do not understand it, but I believe it will be.  I can not fathom what that will look like or feel like, but I believe it is true.

And that is really our hope, isn’t it?  An “all-new” you, not a “like new” you.  I need to be remade to be able to really enjoy all that God promises us in this New Heaven and New Earth.  I love thinking about that.  I hope you do to, but enough on that for now…on to Sunday.

I mention it because I want to encourage you to pray.  Anytime there is something new, leaders have to try to communicate clearer so as to reduce misunderstanding and confusion.  We will celebrate Communion in the body of the singing, about 15-20 minutes into the service as opposed to the end.  The young children will be dismissed and instruction will be given.  Then the choir will sing to provide time for reflection as is our custom.  We will then sing and respond, then approach the Word. 

I am excited about our encounter and want to ask you to join me as we pray through this and other new things, like our shift in paradigm for worship bands.  Jesus is on the move and we want to stay one step behind Him, in all things…old and new.

Jesus, we long for the all when you will make all things new, including us.  Give us a taste of that in our lives today, and help us to look forward to more tomorrow and every day afterwards.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Rescued

Sunday morning retuning:  So what is God calling you to do as you are going?  Great challenge from missionary to Japan, Rev. Alan Kropp on Sunday.  What was God saying to you?

I was planning for this weekends services last week as the images from the Boston Marathon and the explosion in Texas rattled through my mind.  Pastor Paul Armitage sent a link to a video that helps to put a proper perspective on all those things.  I have decided to use it this Sunday morning in our Engage services and I want to share it with you here. 

Rescued

Powerful, right?  What a beautiful reminder of the work of Christ in each of our lives and the lives of every person on the planet.  In the face of the greatest atrocities known to man when can stand knowing the rescue that is possible in the greatest of all men, the Son of Man, Son of God, Jesus.  What a comfort!

But how many do not know Him and all He offers?  How many women will go to sleep tonight in Trumbull County not sure where rescue is going to come from for her and her children in the midst of their struggle?  How many addicts will run themselves ragged to get that next high, only to come down again?  How many children will go to sleep tonight not certain of when or what they will eat tomorrow?  How many men will look to another relationship/toy/bottle for the fulfillment they long for?

Will you pray with me that we continue to become a community of faith that offers that rescue, not only for souls, but for people?  Jesus is the Great Rescuer, and there are many yet to hear.  Will you pray for more workers for the harvest field…and then pick up your implement and get to work in yours?  May Sunday morning become a place where more and more people are rescued, and may we become a church that partners with the rescued and the Rescuer to complete that work in their lives.

We all need it.  Just like this song we will sing Sunday says so well.

Rescue

Jesus, we need You to come to our rescue.  There is nowhere else we can go that will provide what our souls are longing for and can only find in You.  Help us to be a people and a place that propogate “rescue”.  There are many who need to hear.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

This is Not How Things Should Be

Sunday morning retuning:  How is the surrendering going today?  If you heard the voice of God on Sunday, then you must respond.  Remember to surrender your self-importance, today and everyday, so you may be free to humbly depend on the Lord.

That was the first thing that came to mind as I watched the news coverage following the Boston Bombing yesterday.  As I watched the images of the explosions followed by people scurrying for safety, I could not get out of my mind that this is not right.  There were people who verbalized this thought, but they meant it in a different way.  “The Boston Marathon is supposed to be about the charities benefitted”, “A day of celebration for the city of Boston”, etc.  But I was not thinking about charities and cities, but instead the benefit that is waiting for those who are longing for the heavenly celebration.

You see, this [that is the world as we currently experience it with all its pain and tears] is not what God designed, nor what He will redesign.  Instead we experience each and every day some degree of the tension that exists in a selfish existence.  Not sure if anyone else will take of them, people strive to care for themselves and their interests.  It started in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day.

A much better existence is waiting for us.  This is not all there is, though we are often guilty of living like it is.  If you hear what I am saying, then I have two questions which I encourage you to ponder.  1.) What are you doing to prepare for heaven?  And 2.) What are you doing to help prepare others for heaven?

If you think that others, including unbelievers, are not grappling with the big questions of life, God, and eternity, think again.  I was reminded of that as I watched this clip from a major league baseball player yesterday, with the last name of none other than Revere, Pray for Boston.  Indeed, pray for the people of Boston and the many lives impacted yesterday, but don’t stop there. 

Do you see the big picture?  Prepare yourself for heaven today, and help prepare someone else as well.

Can you see yourself finishing your race?  Picture yourself coming up on that Great Finish Line surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. [Hebrews 12:1-2]  They are encouraging you to press on.  But as you give that last push to finish strong, will you stop and help another who seems close but is dazed and confused and not sure which way to go?  There were some very encouraging images in the midst of the chaos yesterday, everyday people serving in extraordinary ways surrounded by terrible circumstances. 

Will you help someone today by pointing out the Finish Line, and maybe even helping them across?  Be warned: It’s messy and potential dangerous, but well worth the risk. 

Jesus, help us fix our eyes on You.  Laying aside our self-importance, give us eyes to see the people around us who need help.  Keep our eyes on You even as we do.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Resurrection Power

Sunday morning retuning:  What a glorious Easter Sunday morning!  Thanks to all who participated/served.  Thank You Jesus for giving us something to celebrate!

I spoke briefly with a couple of folks who recommitted to following Jesus at the close of the services Sunday.  I encouraged them to take it one step at a time and walk in the power of the resurrection which Jesus makes available to all who desire to take Him up on His near-ridiculous offer of freedom from the penalty of sin.  I want to be counted among the few who do.  Do you?

I read these words this morning and wanted to share them with you as you continue to bask in the glory revealed when we were last together in His Presence.

Since the day that Jesus first appeared on the scene, we have developed vast theological systems, organized world-wide churches, filled libraries with brilliant Christological scholarship , engaged in earth-shattering controversies and embarked on crusades, reforms, and renewals.  Yet there are still precious few if us with sufficient folly to make the made exchange of everything for Christ; only a remnant with the confidence to risk everything on the gospel of grace; only a minority a minority who stagger about with the delirious joy of the man who found the buried treasure.*

These words really struck me when I read them, especially so since we just encountered Jesus in such a powerful way just a couple days ago.  Nothing wrong with the first part of the list, but the latter is essential.  Does this kind of requisite folly, confidence and joy characterize your life today?  I know I want it to characterize mine. 

*If you would like to know where this quote came from because you just have to read more, let me know and I will forward a link on to you, but it may not be until next week.

Jesus, fill me/us with sufficient folly, confidence and joy to risk everything on this gospel of grace.  Help us to know how to walk in it today, for Your glory and our good.  In Jesus name.  Amen. 

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Just Visiting

Sunday morning retuning:  I was not at North-Mar on Sunday but I have heard good reports of what God was up to.  Wherever you were, what was God saying to you?  Are you acting on that or sitting on it?  If you have heard the voice of God, you must respond.

I am going to take my own advice.  I was visiting another church while on vacation Sunday.  I like to do this for a number of reasons and want to encourage you to do the same when you are away from you home church.  One reason is the fresh perspective I often walk away with coupled with a marveling at the diversity within the body of Christ.  It always makes me thankful for my church and its unique role in completing the Great Commission.

This weekend I visited a church in Morgantown, West Virginia that I have worked with in the past and so I have many dear friends there.  Not the least of which is their Head Pastor, Rev. Kevin Cain.  He began a new sermon series Sunday and used a video that God used in conjunction with the Scripture to really stir my heart.  I want to share that video and some thoughts with you.

The series is called “Will You Be A Trader?”  Not to be confused with Traitor.  You will understand better if you watch the video.  Please take 2 ½ minutes and read it.  I am certain you will be glad you did.

He spent the next while using Scripture to unpack this idea and look particularly at the first of four basic concepts contained in this video.  The notes in the youtube link spell those out like this.

A Trader is a new kind of missionary, not defined by geography, but by a resolve to:

1. Choose Daily
2. Hate Injustice
3. Work as Worship
4. Act Swiftly

www.rightnow.org

From Luke 20:20-26 came the challenge.  Pastor Kevin put it this way, “Will I trade that which is selfish, temporal and Caesars for that which is selfless, eternal and God’s?” BAM!  What a question!  “How will you live out your existence?”  “We can not receive salvation and shift into auto-pilot!” 

So much resonated with me.  So much was akin to things God has been challenging me about personally and pastorally.  I wonder what God might want to say to you today?  You know you are just visiting here, right?  There is an eternal abode waiting for you.  Are you living like this is all there is, or like the best is yet to come? 

Jesus, help me to trade that which is selfish and temporal for that which is selfless and eternal that the glory of the Father may be seen in me!  

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Why Am I Here? [Part Two]

Sunday morning retuning:  As we looked into Jesus’ transfiguration Sunday, the application question was “Is my life reflecting His glory?” Ask yourself that again today…and everyday.  May Jesus be seen in each of us.

As I was answering the above question in part one of this Tunings last week, I was thinking about the second part of the answer which I put before you today.  I am thinking about it in terms of a line we sang on Sunday from the Brooke Fraser song Hosanna.  “Show me how to love like you have loved me.”  [One great line from one of the best bridges I have ever sung Heal my heart and make it clean/Open up my eyes to the things unseen/Show me how to love like you have loved me//Break my heart from what breaks yours/Everything I am for your kingdoms cause/As I walk from earth into/Eternity].

For several years now I have had this little phrase as a note on my calendar appointment “Preparing for my day”.  God, whether I get anything else done today, I want to make sure that I spend time loving you and loving other people-because that’s what life is all about.  I don’t want to waste this day.  Now, before you think to highly of me, I don’t at this most days, and I fail at it often even when I do, but let that not take away from the principle at work.  I am trying to train myself to love…

Not as easy as it may seem, although I am certain you are already aware of that.  And just why is that?  I am equally certain our answers would be different yet much that same.  Jesus knew this so he taught this as the second part to the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:37-38, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” [emphasis mine]

I have been learning this lesson in a variety of ways over the past couple of years, and the phrase that Jesus keeps saying to me, when I am quiet enough to hear His voice, is “Give yourself away.”  He has the right to speak these words over my life because He modeled this perfectly for me, and in response I have surrendered my life to Him for His purposes. [again, “everything I am for Your Kingdoms cause” from Hosanna above]

So as we walk through this week when we remember that Jesus gave Himself away when He laid down his life on Good Friday, only to demonstrate victory over sin and death on Easter Sunday, I want to encourage you to respond to His gift of love with one of your own.  I do not know what that will look like exactly, other than a lot like Jesus, and then and there you will be reflecting His glory, the glory of the One who Overcame!

Jesus, help us to love others as You have first loved us.  Holy Week is a great reminder of that.  Open my eyes to see it anew today! In Jesus name. Amen.  

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy