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Name: Tim
Birthday: 12/8/1984
Gender: Male
Interests: Jesus, theology, audio reenforcement, poetry, reading, music, movies, chatting, philosophy, and so on and so on....
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
2/3/2004
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| I think the topic of dreams makes some of us feel insignificant or insecure because we don’t have what we would consider “big dreams.” But the truth is: if you are a follower of Christ you are part of the biggest dream ever dreamed—the redemption of humankind. Matthew 28:20 is commonly referred to as The Great Commission but I like to think of it as The Great Dream. We don’t always think of Him in these terms, but no one was a bigger dreamer than Jesus. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” If you are a follower of Christ you’re part of something bigger than you. You are part of The Great Dream. You may feel insignificant, but you are an invaluable and irreplaceable part of that dream becoming reality. God’s primary goal is not what we do or what we achieve. God’s primary goal is who we become in the process. But God is always more concerned with who we become in the process of pursuing a dream. Oswald Chambers said it this way. “The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end.” In other words, God’s goal is the process! It’s not about what we accomplish. It’s about who we become in the process. Dreams die because we aren’t willing to work for them. And dreams die because we aren’t willing to commit to them. I love Nehemiah. Nehemiah is always pushing for commitment. Nehemiah 9:38, “We are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing.” Nehemiah 10:29 says they “heartily bound themselves with an oath.” I think a lot of dreams die because they remain abstract. I'm all about the process now.... | | |
| #1 The courage to be yourself
I started out in ministry trying to be a pastor. Now I'm trying to be myself. And there is a difference! I think part of spiritual growth is coming to terms with who you are and who you aren't. It takes tremendous courage to be transparent. But when a leader is authentic about their imperfections then it creates a culture where people are free to be themselves.
#2 The courage to speak the truth
We live in a culture where it is wrong to say something is wrong! And that's wrong. I'd rather be biblically correct than politically correct. And if we don't raise our voice and stand up for truth then we lose our right to complain!
#3 The courage to confront
Jesus was full of grace and truth. Grace means I'll love you no matter what. Truth means I'll be honest with you no matter what. I think courage is the combination of grace and truth.
#4 The courage to offend
Abraham Lincoln said, "You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you cannot please all the people all of the time." In other words, you're going to offend someone. And who you choose to offend will define your leadership. Jesus offended Pharisees!
I have a new motto:
The essence of spiritual courage is being more afraid of offending the Holy Spirit than pleasing people! | | |
| What does it mean to know and experience my own "nothingness"? It is not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and mistakes, to separate myself from them as if they were not there, as if I was someone other than myself. This self-annihilation is a worse illusion than the rest, because it is a pretend humility which in saying, "I am nothing" means in effect, "I wish I were not what I am". This comes from an experience of all of our failings, all of our deficiencies and an acknowledgement of our helplessness, but that does not alone produce any peace. To really know our nothingness…we must love it. But we can not love it, unless we come to terms with it, accept it as our own. That only comes from what I can only describe as a supernatural experience of our complete dependency, understanding we exist only as far as we accept our humility that loves and prizes that fact that we are morally helpless before God. Completely and utterly. To love our nothingness in this way we must divorce ourselves from all that is not us. We must see and admit that it is all ours and that it is all good. Good in that our nothingness reflects God's "everythingness"; good since our deficiencies. Our helplessness, our complete moral and spiritual bankruptcy attract the mercy of God. To love our nothingness we must love ourselves. Knowing that we have nothing we must not be afraid to beg God who has all. The proud love their "self sufficiency" in their own eyes. The humble love their very inadequacies. The more we are content with our own poverty, the closer we are to God, because then and only then can we accept our poverty in peace, expecting nothing from ourselves, and absolutely EVERYTHING from God. "May all your expectations be frustrated. May all your plans be thwarted. May all of your desires be withered into nothingness. That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit." - Henri Nouwen Life is shaped by the end you live for…. | | |
| The glory of God is not honored. The holiness of God is not reverenced. The greatness of God is not admired. The power of God is not praised. The truth of God is not sought. The wisdom of God is not esteemed. The beauty of God is not treasured. The goodness of God is not savored. The faithfulness of God is not trusted. The commandments of God are not obeyed. The justice of God is not respected. The wrath of God is not feared. The grace of God is not cherished. The presence of God is not prized. The person of God, is not loved. The infinite, all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist, who holds every person's life in being at every moment, is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed, and dishonored among the people of the world. And the Western Church. "Every new Pentecost has had its preparatory period of supplication. God has compelled His saints to seek Him at the throne of grace, so that every new advance might be so plainly due to His power that even the unbeliever might be constrained to confess, 'Surely this is the finger of God'."~A.T. Pierson A simple line that moved me to ministry: "He is no fool who gives what he can not keep, to gain what he can not loose."~Jim Elliot | | |
| In that instance where He calls me "son" I am aware that He is my Father. For me this is an action, for Him it is simply His character. The act I do, my response, is a reply to His Person, His Spirit, His love that is within me. When He moves, I move, and so I must move. My movement my faith is the moment of realization, I am not, and He is. I betray my own right, except to call myself son, and Him Father. Because I am not my own father, it is useless for me to try and awaken a recognition of Him by simply calling myself son in the hollow of my own silence. My own voice only rouses a dead echo when it calls out to itself. There is no awakening in me, unless I am called out of the darkness by Him who is light. Only He who is life is able to raise the dead. And unless He names me son, I remain dead, and my silence is the silence of death. But when He speaks my name, that interior devastation, that silence becomes life and I know I am, because He is. There is no longer a dead echo, but a triumphant voice of life. My life is always listening, His is always speaking. My salvation is in this, hearing and responding. So this silence is my very salvation. Interior silence is impossible without mercy, grace, and my part, humility. | | |
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