Firefox

it dawned on me today that my blog doesn't look the way i think it looks - that is if people are viewing it in Internet Explorer.

i use FIREFOX - which, i might add is so much better than IE.

here is irony for you: the new IE7 just came out... well someone at firefox bought the url to www.ie7.com

go there and then click on the firefox link and download Mozilla Firefox now!

Rain Down

rain down your love on us
rain down your greatness
rain down your love on us
rain down your peace









a gentle rain fell this morning.
it was pleasing to my soul.

blank

feeling blank.
empty.
trying to find
the truth within.
God is speaking.
am i listening? processing?
to lazy to formulate...
because it takes work.
and then the Lord spoke...
and i listened...
and this is how i responded...










circle me o God
let your arms enfold me

circle me o God
let your love surround.

circle me o God
let your light shine brightly.

circle me, circle me o God.

circle me o God
when i'm weak and weary.

circle me o God
when despair is near.

circle me o God
let your peace surround me.

circle me, circle me o God.

circle me o God
when i'm tired and restless.

circle me o God
be my hope, my strength.

circle me o God
let your presence guide me.

circle me, circle me o God.









LISTENING TO: Jeff Johnson - A Thin Silence.

black friday

never again. well, at least not until next year.

so i decided to venture out into the crisp, fogging morning air to wait in line for the new Nintendo Wii gaming system.

i arrived @ Best Buy first but the line was at least a quarter of a mile long... i'd guess maybe 4 or 5,000 people waiting... oh and it was 3:45 am... so from there i went across the parking lot to an EB Games store. i was # 14 in line but the word from a friend of an employee was that only 9 were available. from there i drove over to the Target/Kohl's complex to a Game Stop. I was 12th in line there. Word was there were 20 available here, so i was feeling pretty good. i waited outside in 20 degree temperatures until 6:15 when a Game Stop employee showed up. He came out and told us that only 5 were available. but hey, my time wasn't a total waste. i got to here all about the guy beside me and how he met his wife online and moved here from California. he once waited in line all night for AC/DC Back in Black concert tickets in 1980.

shame on me for buying into the mindset of American consumerism. pun inteneded.

no man is an island (a.k.a. the journey to the end of the peer or how random life lived out leads to direction if ones eyes are opened to the light)

the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

what if that one step is off the end of a short peer?

about a month ago i got a new chair for my office. rather than thinking it through, i purchased the cheapest office chair available. not realizing that a good part of every day would be spent in such a chair - i was nothing short of disappointed upon using said chair that next day. i skimped out on the most important aspect a chair: comfort.

but maybe comfort shouldn't always be priority #1 in my life. secondly, i had 100% faith that the chair would do what it was supposed to do, i.e. hold me up as i sat on it - yet i was not satisfied because i wasn't comfortable.

this past weekend, the theme of journey kept invading my soul, my heart + my mind. even as i write this, i am not entirely sure what that means, but i am running with the idea. i think at some level we are all on a journey. for those of us who follow The Way (the teachings and example of Christ) - our journey is one to the cross... a journey of sacrifice and service with a dab of humility and empathy mixed in. this makes our journey a bit uncomfortable. for others who do not yet follow The One, Jesus Christ - they are on a journey as well - a journey to find fulfillment and purpose and peace, love + understanding. so we all travel the road, walking beside each other, seeking + searching. Some follow the map - some wander astray. all of us are uncomfortable... except for those who have taken a rest or have settled or are content.

i heard a quote from an 80 year old man once. He was a lifelong follower of Jesus. He said "i'm committed to a long walk in the right direction." for me, i can't help but think that my long walk has just taken me off a short peer. like Peter - i struggle to have faith - not enough faith - you either have it or you don't. do i have the faith in Jesus - believing that He is who He says He is? Faith that He is the Way, Truth + Life - and the only one who gets me to the Father in heaven (John 14:6)... or is it more of a question of 'do i have enough faith in myself'- faith to walk like Jesus (1 John 2:6) - to be like Him, to live like Him, to lead + disciple others like Him? that is the faith question that is invading me along this new part of my journey.

there was a long process of becoming a Rabbi - back in Jesus' day. a certain number of tests and skills needed to be mastered before you could be taken on. when chosen, an apprentice of a Rabbi would follow their teacher - striving to learn all that there was to learn from that wise Rabbi whom they had been placed with - they would literally take on dust and dirt from the Rabbi leading them that their cloaks and tunics would be covered and stained. in order to be like the Rabbi and learn from the Rabbi you would have to get dirty. The journey of a disciple is much the same. Only the disciples of Jesus were the Rabbi Apprentice rejects. They were fisherman and tax collectors... men who had to take on their father's trade. Yet Jesus comes along and calls them. They were not equipped for the journey that was ahead of them. Jesus doesn't call the equipped though - he equips those he calls.

the journey of a disciple is dirty and long and difficult and uncomfortable. their first step was off a short peer. it was sink or swim. but it was that which was uncomfortable for them that made them prepared to face the persecution and (eventually) understand the signs and wonders of Christ. Jesus did not spoon feed. There was no milk from the breast - it was meat and potatoes. their journey with Jesus prepared them for kingdom greatness and glory (Acts 2)... and the glory went to God, not man.

i am now realizing that i am on a journey with Christ. on this journey new things are being revealed. new passions are being placed within my heart + mind. discipline + discipleship are the keys i have been handed. creativity is the tool. now its time to teach others and to invite them to journey with me. it's time to get dirty... to get wet... to get uncomfortable... again... and again... for the sake of Christ - so that others may experience His glory + love.


the JOURNEY is

discipline................+.............discipleship

cre8tivity is the tool.

"come with" - Jesus.

Factors of the Seven: Answering the Call

Tomorrow marks Seven years. It's an anniversary of sorts of the day in which I followed the leading of Christ - past opportunites and doors opened by some, later closed by me and eventually towards a rare chance at a career changed pre-ordained by God. On November 15th, 1999 I was interviewed and hired on the spot as Director of Youth Ministries at Christ UMC.

The story actually can be traced back a few months prior. I pastor friend of mine - a man whom I truly trusted, had continually prodded me and joked with me about when the time was going to be right for me to enter the ministry. It was in August of that year when Pastor Mike asked me to take the job of Youth Director at his church. I prayerfully considered it... but eventually turned it down. It just didn't feel right. During the months after that, another pastor friend of mine (my former Youth Pastor, Bubba) had shared with me a few words of wisdom and guidance. Little did i even realize that God was speaking to me through them - preparing the way for a calling that was building within my heart.

It was through those two men and through other doors that opened that I finally stepped on through with faith in my heart and answered the call. Seven years have now come and gone and I am still in awe at how God has used me, is using me and will use me in the time to come.

Seven years have come and gone. Where will he lead me next? I have a genuine passion for youth ministry. I am always anticipating the journey that lies ahead. Thank you Jesus.

Seven strong.

And i can still hear the last words that my grandfather ever shared with me, just over 10 years ago - in August of '96... He asked me, with tears in his eyes "Tim, when are you going to enter the ministry?" He knew something. It may have taken me 3 years after that conversation to figure it out for myself, but my way was being prepared. The path was being made known to me. I strive to continue to walk the straight and narrow for narrow is the path that leads to righteousness.

mii

i am me.

i like who i am. i like being myself... being original.... in my own way.


{sigh}



change
challenge
connection

patterns

patterns.

we have many in our lives... some good... some not so good.
patterns of behavior. structure for daily living.
habits form quickly. although the bad ones seem to form quicker.

i think we all get to a point in our lives where we desire change... we desire standing out... we desire a faith lived out boldly, courageously and lovingly.

that is the pattern i strive to obtain. i want the pattern of Christ to be plastered across my chest. no appologies.

what patterns are you wearing?