Archive for January, 2010

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Haiti

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

I heard on the news over my lunch break that the Red Cross currently estimates the loss of life in Haiti, due to the devastating earthquake earlier this week, at 35,000-40,000 and could go much higher. If you are able to help I suggest going to The Evangelical Free web site for suggestions.  The E Free is the denomination that River Oaks is associated with. Your contributions will be used to help those whose lives have been shattered as a result of this disaster. Thanks for anything you can do.

Tim

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The Great Sin

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

This morning I read the chapter in C.S. Lewis’ classic, Mere Christianity, entitled, “The Great Sin”. Before going any farther, what would you say the great sin is? (more…)

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What makes you laugh?

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

This morning I read the part of Abraham and Sarah’s story from Genesis 17-18. They had been promised a son and Abraham at 100 and Sarah at 90 were still trying to get pregnant! What caught my attention was the way both of them responded to the announcement that they were going to have a son. They both laughed! Abraham’s response is in Genesis 17:17, “Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief…” and Sarah’s is in 18:12, “So she laughed silently to herself and said, ‘How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my husband is also so old?”

God’s response came in 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

I’ve had some really good laughs this week, but I had to stop and ask myself if I there is any problem or issue in my life or the life of River Oaks where I am ‘laughing in disbelief’ at the power and ability of God to do amazing things? Someone once wrote, “You know what the greatest tragedy in life is? It is someone whose god gets smaller and smaller with each passing day.”

I hope you have some really great laughs today, but I hope none of us are laughing in our hearts at the size of our God because truly nothing is too hard for Him!

Tim

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The Green Bay Game

Monday, January 11th, 2010

I want to thank everyone who sent me, and continues to send me, sympathy e-mails and text messages regarding Green Bay’s overtime loss yesterday to the Arizona Cardinals. I suppose I was asking for it when I mentioned yesterday in my message that Aaron Rodgers, the QB at Green Bay, and I are friends. Oh well, I have bounced back from the devastating loss and am definitely on the road to full recovery.

I will leave you with one more impression from yesterday. At the end of my message, I challenged the body of River Oaks to linger a little longer than normal before heading home. Truly the atmosphere in the lobby after both services was incredible! I only wish that what happened yesterday would happen every Sunday! And for those of you who attend River Oaks, remember the challenge for this coming week; don’t sit in the same place that you normally do in the service and meet some new people.

Have a great week and be sure to make time this week for your friends. They are some of life’s greatest treasures.

Tim

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Friendship Quotes

Friday, January 8th, 2010

My current series is entitled, “Friendships” and this week, in preparing for Sunday’s message, I came across several interesting quotes about friendships. Here they are. I hope you appreciate them as much as I do. Maybe one or more of them will help you in deepening your friendships. If you have any good quotes on friendships I encourage you to add it to the list with a comment to this post.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie (more…)

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One of Those Days

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

It is 4:30 in the afternoon and it has been one of those days. I came into the office this morning around 8:30, following an early morning meeting, and looked excitedly at my schedule for the day; work on my sermon for Sunday and write my monthly elder report. That was it! I was so excited. I even remember thinking that I might have an hour or more to do some reading. So much for good intentions. The details of my day are not important and everything that happened today was necessary and important – I even used my 4-Runner to pull a van out of the snow that had slid off the road into the front yard of the church -  it’s just that it’s 4:30 and so far I have spent about 30 minutes on my sermon and have not finished my elder report (which is due at 4:30)!

But here is what I know; God knew what this day would be like and that it wouldn’t look anything like what my calendar looked like. It says in Psalm 139:16, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” So I take a deep breath and tell God that I trust him and I thank him for giving me his wisdom and grace for the events of this day. But honestly, I hope that his plans for me for tomorrow include a lot of sermon preparation time because Sunday is coming soon! Just in case, I think I’ll work on it some before I go home.

Tim

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Who am I?

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

“I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed – you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men; and alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin – it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am habit!” (From Thinking for a Change by John Maxwell)

Sobering words, aren’t they? Why not take a minute to identify some of the good habits in your life and then look around for any that have the potential to cause damage to your health, career, ministry, finances or relationships. Any adjustments needed? Even Paul was aware of the power of habit when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Tim

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Courage

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

This is a picture of a bag of coffee beans that I took with my cell phone camera a few weeks ago while waiting for my coffee and bagel at The Daily Grind.  I’m not sure why I was so taken by it, but I bet I have looked at this picture twenty times since I took it. I think it’s because it reminds me of the high Christian virtue of endurance. The longer I am in ministry and the older I get it the more valuable this virtue becomes to me. I love the thrill of chasing lions and killing giants, but that doesn’t happen every day. In fact, some days are just pretty normal and bland and some days I experience defeat or discouragement. That is life and that is reality. But this statement reminds me that no matter what happened yesterday, God will give me a new day to fight the good fight, chase lions and giants.

I hope that if you are feeling a little down, discouraged, defeated or just emotionally flat today, that this quote on a bag of coffee beans may be a little bright spot of encouragement for you as it is for me.

Tim

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Noah

Monday, January 4th, 2010

As you know, I am going to read through the Bible in 2010 and this morning I read about Noah and the flood in Genesis 6-8. I was impressed with the size of the boat (the length was one and a half football fields) and the expanse of the flood (the entire earth), but today what impressed me more was the size of Noah’s character.

In Genesis 6:9 his life is summarized with this brief statement, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.“ I looked up the words, “righteous”, “blameless” and “walked” in a Hebrew dictionary. The word “righteous” means “integrity”; Noah’s private life and public life were consistent. The word “blameless” means “just or honorable”; Noah’s treatment of other people was fair and appropriate. The word “walked” means “companionship”; Noah had a personal and real relationship with God.

I reflected on my own life and wondered what the summary of my life would be. As I begin this new week, I’m challenged to live my life like Noah’s; with integrity, treating people fairly and by enjoying God’s companionship. How about you?

Tim

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