From Pastor Tim's Heart

 Genesis 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” It is the foundational question that we must answer, “What are you living for?”  It is exciting reading stories from the underground church. There was a house church in an old country that did not allow Christian to worship that met in small groups so as not to arouse the authorities. It was at such a meeting after they began to quietly worship that the door burst open and two soldiers quickly entered with automatic weapons raised. They lined everybody up against the wall and threatened to kill anyone that did not denounce Christ. If they would denounce Christ, they could leave the room and nothing else would be said. Slowly, several began to leave and yet there were a few that stood against the threat of death. After a few minutes the soldiers gave everyone one last chance to leave. A few more people slipped out the door. Those that were left looked down at their children wit

  Read Hebrews 13:1-16 We are entering one of my favorite times of the year. Fall will turn into winter, thanksgiving will turn into Christmas, and I will be happy. I believe that the month of November may be God’s favorite month as well. Why? It is probably the one month where thanksgiving is offered by people that do not do so daily. One of the most popular syndicated newspaper columns in recent history is "Dear Abby." Started in 1956 by Abigail Van Buren, the advice column was written by her daughter Jeanne Phillips after Abigail had stopped writing. In one edition, she included this Thanksgiving Prayer written many years before by her mother: O Heavenly Father: We thank Thee for food And remember the hungry. We thank Thee for health And remember the sick. We thank Thee for friends And remember the friendless. We thank Thee for freedom And remember the enslaved. May these remembrances Stir us to service. That Thy gifts to us may be used For others. Amen. The words of this

 Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.” With the exception of being in an airplane, the highest place on earth that I have walked is on Pike’s Peak in Colorado. The view was incredible. You could see for miles, and what you did see was so clean and fresh. The signs of humanity such as, traffic, smog, smoke, dirt, etc., were not evident from the peak. Wouldn’t you like to walk through life with “rose-colored” glasses? Don’t you want to see all the good in everything around you? If it was possible to see your world through only positive lenses, what price would you pay? Well, the highest place you can go on this earth is not Pike’s Peak. The highest place you can reach in this life is to be bowed low at the feet of Jesus.

 Daniel 6:16 “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast [him] into the den of lions. [Now] the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” The hour has come where everything that can be shaken will be shaken. No one knows for sure if these are the very last days before the rapture, but one thing I am certain of; we are one day closer than yesterday and are moving rapidly toward His return. The winds of the are blowing strong, and the bride could be united with her groom, Jesus Christ, any time.  It is in these times that the church must take a hold of the convictions that God has produced in our lives. There are some boundaries and habits that I know the Lord gave to me. It is those convictions that carry me when the ship of life is tossed about with every wind of the world. There is no difficulty, no trial or tribulation that can dissuade me of these convictions. The prophet, Daniel, faced some tough situations. One o

  Matthew 7:14 “Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” As Owen and I were driving to Houston, Texas last June, we had to drive through the Plano/Dallas area. It was a nightmare, and if we didn't have our GPS running, we would have probably gotten lost. It was stressful, to say the least. It was a mess of highways that converged at the same place, with bridges everywhere, and traffic is often unbearable. The area we drove through had so many freeways to access that we were totally confused! What a place. I have found a lot of people that have been stuck in the Plano/Dallas highways of life. They have converged on a certain point, and they are now stuck in the traffic jams of life. From getting their children to school on time, to picking up Tommy from school and getting him to soccer practice, and at the same time getting Sally to Girl Scouts is physically draining. Add to that traffic, a superior at work ridin

 Isaiah 45:13 “I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.” Navigating past the camels and the sheep, the young man found the elder. John was leading his household toward the setting sun, his staff crunching a steady rhythm in the dirt and sand. For several minutes the youth hesitated. John seemed lost in thought, like he was remembering some conversation with a dear friend. Matthew was only a servant, but the master had always taken time to speak with him. Taking a deep breath, the youth asked the burning question in his mind, “Master, I was wondering, didn’t God give you any details?” “Details? Let me see. He said, ‘Follow’, what more do I need?” as a smile began to form upon his lips. Matthew was astonished and threw up his hands, “With all due respect master, we need directions. We need to identify our ultimate destination and map out a route.” “Ou

     Read I Corinthians 12:12-27 When I was young, I played the great sport of hockey. Through that experience I quickly found out that the only way to be a winner is to play a great team. We played against a team called Little Canada all the time. We never lost to them. They had a great player, number 5 (at least in the eyes of a fourth grader), but the rest of the team wasn’t very good. We always won because we had several people that may not have been great, but good, and yet, when you put all of us together, we were always better than the other team. Teamwork is essential in business and industry. To underscore this point, Co-op Magazine included this item: "You've heard of the Corny Tate family. They pervade every organization. There is Dick Tate, who wants to run everything. Ro-Tate tries to change everything. Agi-Tate stirs up trouble whenever possible, and Irri-Tate always lends him a hand. "Whenever new ideas are suggested, Hesi-Tate and Vegi-Tate pour cold water