getting off the couch (winds of change)

Friends,

Last Sunday morning in worship four of our youth carried in a couch and placed in the center of the Sanctuary stage to symbolize the tendency to stay 'comfortable' and play it safe rather than taking the appropriate risks God may be calling us to take.

I can remember thirteen plus years ago, a time when I was fulfilling a life long dream of working in the television industry, when God began to plant seeds of change within my heart.  Through conversations and nudging from a close friend and pastor, I began to see and understand God's true calling in my life.  I prayed and discerned and eventually a door was opened.  I decided to take a risk as I stepped aside from a career in broadcast media so that I could answer the call to student ministry and begin my tenure as a youth pastor.

Thirteen years.  It's been an amazing journey.

416 Sunday night Youth Focus meetings (give or take)
240 Thursday Bible Studies (give or take)
190 Girl Talk Bible Studies (give or take)
117 Leadership Team gatherings
90 'Sup discipleship meals
70 Football parkings
60 Breakfast Clubs
29 Winter Jam retreats (Junior High, Senior High, Post High)
14 weekend youth retreats (to Atwood, Punderson & Wanake)
12 CYF camps.
12 Mission Trips.
8 Sunrise services.
5 Ichthus or Alive Music Festivals
5 5th Quarter Parties
3 Maundy-Thursday services
Plus countless Pizza parties, Guys Nites of Awesome Manliness, Concerts, Gatherings, Revolutions, Overnighters, Swim parties, Video shoots, Game nights etc.

Lots of great memories.  Lots of great God moments.  Lots of great students.  I sincerely cherish and love every student who has ever sat on a couch in the youth lounge, shared a meal at our table, traveled the back roads to our fall retreat location, journeyed together to serve God in mission or has been a part of the Christ UMC Youth group in any other way, great or small.  I have so many fond memories.  I've spent the better part of my life hanging with teenagers, doing my best to be an example of Jesus to them all.  We've shared in our successes and failures - and I am so thankful that I answered that calling and took that risk.

I have no regrets.

About five years ago, my father passed away unexpectedly.  As much as I was mad at God for taking him away, I knew that God was with me.  As Psalm 30:5 says "weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."  Through that I began to sense that God had something else in store for me but I didn't know what.  I went through a period of deep soul searching and self discovery.  That lead to some great years of ministry for the CUMC youth, I believe.  As a leader I felt fresh and renewed, despite my wondering of what was to come, but through it all God was again planting seeds of change within my heart.

I've never been one to want to play it safe and have always thrived on newness and change, despite the nervousness and anxiety that comes with it.  After a strong period of renewal, I began to sense that God had another plan for me.  It was tough to even allow myself to be open and willing to discover that plan.  I know that God is in control and has plans for us all, but answering a new calling can be scary for anyone.

Over the past few months, I believe I began to understand what it was that God was leading me to.  The seeds of change were beginning to spout.  It was time for me to seek out my next step.  Even though I'm fully confident that God could use me to bring about his greater good as a youth pastor at Christ UMC, I realized that He had another plan.

This brings me to one of the most bittersweet moments in my life.  It's with sadness that I tell you that I will be leaving the Christ United Methodist Church community in July of this year but am nervously excited to be transitioning to a new position at the Wadsworth United Methodist Church, in Wadsworth, Ohio as their Director of Discipleship.  This a big risk for me.  It means uprooting my family from the community of Louisville, a community that I love and have called home for all but 11 years of my life.  It means stepping away from my passion for youth ministry and from the wonderful students that I humbly serve.  It means saying goodbye to a church family that has been a monumental part of my life and faith.  But I need to be faithful to God's calling.  I need to take this risk for Him because He has called me to do it.

This new opportunity is in front of me and with it I aim to help people navigate the discipleship process so that they may know and understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus; to help them discover their spiritual gifts, abilities and calling through practices and teachings that will help develop their spiritual formation and to compel them to go and be the hands and feet of Christ, through genuine service to the poor, the needy or anyone they may encounter in life.  I will also be given a chance to use my creative gifts and media background to help strengthen this new discipleship process for the people of Wadsworth.

I hope for the best for the 'Alien Uth' of CUMC.  I will do my best to help make for a smooth transition to whomever else may lead the youth group.  I wholeheartedly believe that God has someone else in mind to take the group to the next level.

I love and appreciate all of you who have taken the time to be a part of the youth ministry of CUMC:  past, present and future; the awesome students and dedicated adult volunteers, the prayer warriors and faithful supporters.  You all mean the world to me.  God has used you to shape my soul as much as I hope he has allowed me to shape yours.  Jen and I both have been truly blessed.

I hope and pray that you will come to know and understand the calling God has placed upon your life.  I trust and pray that you might continue to follow Jesus and his teachings.  I hope you might be compelled to live out your faith and to share your stories with the world - so that God's kingdom might be made greater as you share with others the love of Jesus.

Thanks again.  Much love to all of you.

Humbled and thankful,


Tim Beck

Everything Is Meaningless

what do you do when you long for clear answers and clear meaning to it all...  how long can hopes and dreams remain internalized?  waiting to be given flight i feel as though my wings are clipped... what we all need is a little bit of clarity.

 ¹ The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:  ² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
   says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
   Everything is meaningless.”
 ³ What do people gain from all their labors
   at which they toil under the sun?
⁴ Generations come and generations go,
   but the earth remains forever.
⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
   and hurries back to where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south
   and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
   ever returning on its course.
⁷ All streams flow into the sea,
   yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
   there they return again.
⁸ All things are wearisome,
   more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
   nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹ What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
   “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
   it was here before our time.
¹¹ No one remembers the former generations,
   and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
   by those who follow them.

Ecclesiastes chapter 1

Bowery Electric – Postscript

Finding The Right Font: Exploring 11 Different Typography Types

Finding The Right Font: Exploring 11 Different Typography Types

because underestimating the power of font is like underestimating the warmth of the sun.

Caine's Arcade

i thought this video was compelling. oh to be a child again... and to imagine... and to build... and to do what you dream of doing...

the second chance

God continues to reach... again and again. "Just one more time... Just one more time." God longs for us to unite with him. when we're united - we're tied to Him. switch around the letters though... move the 'i' in united and you get... untied. united. untied. when i move... the bond is broken... but God's hand is outstretched as if to say "Please, let's try again." ©2012 creative kerygma / tim beck videos a simple video with a simple message.

You were born to take the greatest flight

When the night comes,
and you don't know which way to go
Through the shadowlands,
and forgotten paths,
you will find a road

Like an owl you must fly by moonlight with an open eye,
And use your instinct as your guide, to navigate the ways that lays before you,
You were born to take the greatest flight

Like a serpent and a dove, you will have wisdom born of love
and carry visions from above into the places no man dares to follow
Every hollow in the dark of night
Waiting for the light
Take the flame tonight

Indie artist Josh Garrels has a song called "White Owl" from which the lyrics above derive. (My blogger friend Troy has posted about this before). The song and video (below) is about a journey through the night, searching for what one was born to do. I love the lyric "You were born to take the greatest flight."

You were born to take the greatest flight.

I was born to take the greatest flight.

We were born to take the greatest flight.

My heart is stirring. The kind of stirring that tells me that God is up to something. I mean, do I truly believe that lyric above? If I was born to take the greatest flight then what do I have to show for it?

Taking flight means taking risks. and I feel as though I've been playing it safe. a little too comfortable. and you know what happens when you get comfortable... numbness sets in. who wants to look back at life showing atrophied wings?

if we can't take risks with our faith then what's the point? God calls us to take flight... but we wait on the runway with all the others, talking about how great it would be to fly - but we never take off. we seldom do what we were designed to do.

there is a light that never goes out... but you have to risk it all to fully experience its warmth...

Book Review: The Boombox Project

The Boombox Project: The Machines, the Music, and the Urban Underground by Lyle Owerko

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


an historic icon of my childhood, the boombox was more than a status symbol. it was more than a means to an ends. it was a statement. I didn't grow up in the inner city - the closest city to my hometown was an hour away - but even in my small, rural, farming crossroads of a town, the boom box was a symbol of power - and like every kid, i wanted one.



my first one was a cheap one, a KOSS brand, i think. dual cassette. cheap plastic. but it brought me so much joy. i can vividly remember making my first mix tapes - waiting by the radio - hoping they'd play the songs i'd want to record. later on i'd stay up late on Saturday nights to listen to and record Power 108's commercial free jam of the greatest hip hop of 1988.



As i got older, i'd blare cassette-singles from that boom box, mostly rap and hip hop - the music designed to be played loud. Public Enemy. EPMD. LL Cool J. 3rd Bass. BDP. and of course RUN DMC. played loud and proud.



The Boombox Project by Lyle Owerko brought back all of those memories, and more. It's a little more than a coffee table book, in that it evokes emotions long forgotten. the creativity of the project and the ability of Owerko to find something beautiful and intricate out of something so ordinary and forgotten, i.e. the Boombox. it makes me realize how often we 'miss' things. as someone who aspires to create, my eyes don't 'see' enough... to often i think i allow myself to gloss over the artistic sides of life.



the Boombox was an artistic side of our culture that should be remembered.



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