tim

God wants you to spend time with him! It is amazing to think that the infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, creator of the universe is absolutely crazy about spending time with you and me! Jesus constantly modeled to us that we connect to God through spending time with our Heavenly Father (Mark 1:35-39). Our relationship with God is just like any other relationship, and if we want to grow close to God, we need to spend time with him! We do this by praying and listening to God’s Word.

Spending time with God allows a setting for him to work in our lives. We need these moments throughout the week to pause and center our lives back on Him. It’s a lot like getting an oil change. Your car’s engine would be in huge trouble if you never replaced the oil! Your spiritual life needs renewal even more than your car’s engine needs an oil change. By spending time with God, you are creating a place where God can work in your life!

We challenged the youth group this past month to spend time with God every single day. This church believes that God’s Word has the power to change lives, and that’s why we gave each of our students a new study Bible at Christmas. There is no better way to start the New Year then to connect with God through His Word! I think Jesus said it best though, “remain in me, and I will remain in you” (John 15:4). Have you connected with Him lately?

tim

January 26th is coming…I can’t wait…

tim

-Some very close friends of mine got to stay with me while they were in town for the National Missionary Convention. It was so great to see them!

-Thanksgiving was awesome! Amy and I had two thanksgiving dinners—you can never go wrong with that!

-We have been doing a lot more Bible translation in Hebrew class lately. It is exciting to be doing actual translation now, but it also takes quite a bit of time and mental energy. My head usually hurts Tuesday after class.

-The weather is ridiculous: wind, rain, snow, repeat.

-I ordered Ted Dekker’s book, “Green” online a couple of weeks ago, and I am STILL waiting for it to come in! I am dying to read it!

-Amy and her roommate are having a Christmas party this weekend! I am super excited about that!

-I have been studying the birth of Christ a lot lately for lessons that I have been teaching at church. It has been really cool to focus my attention on, “God with us” this Christmas season!

-Amy and I have been playing some old school Mario Kart and Bust-a-Move on my n64 lately. Good times!

-Christmas in the Chapel was excellent this year (as always). Mom stayed with me during the weekend, and we all went to the performance together. She also got to come to church with us on Sunday.

tim

Sorry for the avoidance…I’ll try and do better…

tim

-Fellowship breakfast! (Doughnuts)!

-Teaching about the importance of God’s Word!

-Hearing the ridiculously funny things little kids say!

-Good conversations!

-Watching kids be excited about learning and connecting with God!

-Trying to come up with words for James to fit into his sermon! (My favorite so far has been fantubulous)!

-Afternoon nap!

-Playing games with the youth group!

-Sharing in the Lord’s Supper together!

-Laughter!

-Awesome awards!

-Being used by God to help shape and change lives for his glory! Awesome…and humbling!

tim

I wrote this post specifically for my youth ministry blog. But I thought it would be a good one to post on here as well.

1. Crazy busy! I had an intensive week class recently, and I also have a ton of homework to work on for that class.

2. New Blog! I have also been working on a blog strictly for ministry as a resource for teens and parents.

I will still post on this blog since this is my personal blog…but if you were wondering what happened to me lately…that’s why! (And I will probably put some of the more general posts from the youth ministry blog onto this site as well).

If you want to check it out the new youth ministry website you can click here.

tim

If you watch the show often enough, you’ll realize that he is actually pretty smart. Last week Colbert had Richard Dawkins on his show (a well-know author and atheist). In the interview, Colbert makes a lot of jokes and has fun, but he also holds his own against Dawkins.

I tried to embed this video, but for some reason it’s not working. Oh well…enjoy!

Colbert Vs. Dawkins

I am going to have to remember to use that “Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups” line sometime! Good stuff!

tim

Hebrew
People always have funny reactions when I tell them I am taking Hebrew. Usually they say something like, “Ooh, that sounds hard. Do you like it?” It has had its share of challenges so far. The vowel/pointing system and syllabification is very different than what I am used to. But we have now starting to get into some of the grammatical aspects of the language, and that has started to click a little bit more. It is exciting to have continue learning to study God’s Word on a deeper level.

Ministry!
The new ministry has been great! It has been exciting to see the potential for Spiritual growth in these students! We have had a lot of great opportunities for fellowship in the last few weeks, and that has been awesome for getting to know people as well. I am super excited for Sunday!

Preaching the Parables
My class for intensive week on the Parables has over 1,300 pages of reading due by next month! I basically have to read a book a week if I want to get it all done in time. The reading has been fantastic so far. I read for two hours the other night, and my eyes felt tired the next day. I have loved it—but hopefully I’ll have time to it all!

Prayer!
I am preaching this Sunday on intercessory prayer…awesome! The text is simply incredible! It has been wonderful being able to study it this week. And it is such a blessing to have such a huge theological library at your finger tips. I am excited to preach tomorrow morning.

Apartment
My apartment is starting to feel more comfortable. I am starting to feel at home. I think everyone in my neighborhood has a dog though. The barking is in surround sound every morning. The neighbor next to me has an angry pit bull that is constantly growling at something. Amy and I have nicknamed him “Cleaver” (short for Meat Cleaver). He’s more than just a little intimidating while he is pulling on violently on his chain.

Well that’s it for now…stay tuned!

tim

“Prayer is not merely a means of presenting our requests, it is a means of pursuing a relationship with our heavenly Father.” – Hank Hanegraaff

Rather than typing some reflections on prayer, I thought I’d let this quote speak for itself. This statement does, however, cause me to stop and consider this question: Do I pray so I can grow closer to God, or do I pray so I can get something from God?

tim