facebook Fast

It's been coming for a while. Truth is, I have been thinking about this for more than a year. I just wouldn't do it. Notice I said "wouldn't," not "couldn't." I knew that there were times when I would get so absorbed in reading what everyone had for their afternoon snack, or what they found under their toenail that I would realize I had just traded an hour of my day for the details of someone else's. When they monkeyed around with the news feed this week, it was just the push I needed to step away from facebook for a few days. 40, to be exact.

That's right. I am taking a 40 day break from all things facebook. I already uninstalled the app from my phone, and am trying to figure out how to stop notifications from coming to my email inbox for that time. Now I don't want you to think that I think facebook is evil, or sinful. I have tried, from time to time, to post spiritual things. Many of you do an excellent job of sharing your faith or messages from the Word through your status updates. But for me, facebook has become a distraction that I can (and need to) do without.

I hate beauty pageants, but I LOATHE the ones for babies. The whole point of those baby shows is to say, "My kid is so much prettier than yours." And we love that approval that comes from judges who agree with our assessment. If someone else's child wins over ours, the judges are blind and just don't appreciate true cuteness. Makes me sick at my stomach. Yet (and these words don't taste very good) I have been guilty of the same thing with facebook. It is one thing to praise my kids; another, entirely, to boast about their accomplishments or behavior. My kid plays sports better, my kid is smarter, my kid is _________ (you fill in the blank). I am not suggesting that all people do this, but I have.

I have boasted about my vehicles, campers, time at the gym...so much time spent saying, "Look at me!" I don't know if it is for validation, or if my human mind just likes the attention. But when I read from God's word about modesty, I hear God telling his people to avoid a "look at me" attitude. When I read about humility, I hear my Father telling me to stop finding my identity in my stuff or in the lives of my kids.

This is hard. It is hard to write, but it is even harder to do. No, not just the facebook part. The humility part. Even now, I wonder if writing about this on a public blog is still an attempt to get people to notice me for something I have done.

Aside from the boasting, I am ashamed of the time I have wasted reading page after page after page of "news." I sometimes found it to be the first thing I would do in the morning when I got to the office. It got even worse when I got a smartphone and had instant access in the palm of my hand. I am guilty of ignoring my wife and children (even when talking about them on facebook). I am guilty of using time that would have been much better spent in the Word to look at vacation photos and read about birthday parties. I am guilty of running behind for appointments because I would be commenting on someone's announcement of unimportant information. In other words, facebook became a real time-stealer for me.

As a man recovering from the battle with pornography (five+ years clean), facebook can become a very troubling place, with so many females so freely showing their bodies at every turn. We won't argue about who is at fault in lustful situations, but I just can't keep giving my eyes that kind of temptation to ogle women. It's not healthy for me spiritually, so I will probably begin (after the fast) to thin my friends list to remove that aspect of fleshly warfare from my view. I don't need to see you in your bikini, or with your cleavage hanging out. It doesn't really matter how good you look (or how good you THINK you look), no one who is not married to you needs to see your exposed or accented body. Period. I know some fathers and husbands who need to step up and do something about what their daughters and wives are letting the world see, and who need to be leading their sons away from the slaughter that always follows lust (think Samson here). Wake up, people!!!

Now, from the soapbox back to the blog. I don't know if I will go back to facebook after this 40 days, but I suspect I will. I like keeping up with those I love. I like sharing photos and videos with the grandparents. I may even continue to use the little button on here that lets me share my blog posts with my facebook friends. (Is that cheating?) But my aim is to retrain myself in time management. I want to disconnect from the computer a little more so that I can reconnect with real people. I want to be less distracted from what is really important. That's what fasting was about in the Bible; drawing nearer to God, spending time in prayer, preparing hearts for God's service. So it is with this fast.

Giving...and Receiving

He looked like Jesus. Except for the fact that he wasn't Middle-Eastern. And he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt while carrying a backpack. And he was in Fresno. But if you take one of those European paintings of Jesus where he is white and thin, not so much effeminate but not Grizzly Adams, either. He had a beard and longer hair, and my first thought when I met him was that he looked like Jesus. Especially his eyes. Piercing blue eyes that seemed to look within me. The kind of eyes that almost make you uncomfortable when you look into them.

But, let's be honest. I did not expect him to speak or act like Jesus. After all, he was a homeless man from Fresno's Tent City. He resides in squalid conditions that most of us would not consider humane for our dogs. I assume addiction or something similar has led him to the streets, but I was apprehensive about asking. Truthfully, I expected him to smell - a weird mixture of beer, cigarettes and body odor so common down there - but he didn't. Still, I did not expect much from him, especially in the spiritual realm.

His name was John. I was intrigued by his name, especially since I thought he looked like Jesus. I remembered reading a short book by a Christian author a couple years back that hinted at meeting John, as in the apostle. Recalling that book I laughed to myself, or maybe at myself for thinking this tent-dweller could be remotely like an apostle or the Rabbi.

I found out that he had visited the church where I preach, but not since I have been there. His impressions were positive. But Sundays were hard for him. He did not want to come to worship without a shower, but the showers were overcrowded on Sunday mornings. Maybe there was more, but I had heard this from another homeless man who attends our services so I knew this to be a real issue. The man with me offered to pick him up early enough to get use the showers at our building, but he balked at this suggestion. In my mind, I couldn't help but think that maybe he just wasn't interested in church, or Jesus for that matter. The resemblance was just a coincidence.

What happened next moved me so deeply that I found myself fighting back tears. In fact, it was several hours before I could even talk about it.

My friend told John that we would be in prayer for him. John responded by asking, "What do YOU want ME to pray for, for you?" When neither of us gave much of a response, he got more specific. "In the next few minutes and hours of this day, what can I pray about for you?" The next thing I knew (it was as if this was happening in slow motion) I was standing in the street holding hands with my friend...and with John. And instead of my voice praying over this poor homeless man, I heard John's voice. His prayer was long. Not wordy, really. But he had a lengthy conversation with God, and his words told me that he was well acquainted with the One to whom he was speaking. But even more moving than the fact that he was praying was the content of his prayer. He did not ask for one thing for himself. His whole prayer was focused on my friend and me, sprinkled with praises to God for His greatness and provision, for His mercy and grace. In that moment I was taken aback to realize that I had showed up downtown to minister to the homeless, yet here I was being ministered to by John.

In Matthew's account of  Jesus' life, he recorded this quote (Jesus speaking in the second person about Himself): "That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage" (20.28). Though John was homeless, and by all indications destitute, he was not there to be served but to serve. It was humbling, to say the least. It forced me to come face-to-face with my own sinfulness. I was brought low, and at the same time lifted up.  So come to think of it, he really did look like Jesus.

Thank you, Father, for reminding me of my constant need for your mercy. Thank you for showing me that being a minister does not exempt me from the need for ministry in my own life. And thank you for using John to change me. Through Jesus, Amen

Nigel's Big Plans

He said his name was Nigel. He was sitting at a table outside the Poverello House waiting for the doors to open for lunch. I don't know why Nigel is homeless, if he is an addict or if he is mentally ill. I don't understand how he got from Virginia to Fresno, or even if he really did. But very quickly, this outgoing black man had my attention. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, nothing memorable. He appeared to have more teeth than his mouth was made to hold, and big smile that showed itself often. He was quick to introduce himself and was immediately curious why I was there. When he found out I was a preacher, he seemed to get a little excited, and we began a conversation about biblical matters.

I will confess that I did not expect much theological depth from a man living on the street. I figured he might have heard some preachers, or maybe picked up some religious statements from recovery meetings. But what followed blew me away. Not only was Nigel familiar with basic Bible facts, it was soon obvious that he possessed a deep understanding of the Word, and how it fit together. I listened as he walked through not only several characters, but how their lives and stories were interrelated. I listened as he talked about Biblical structure, wondered about God's reasoning behind the story of Job, and quoted verse after verse from the KJV in a rich, bass voice. Almost James-Earl-Jones-ish. He then told me that he loved reading his Bible. I commented that it was obvious he had read more than a lot of people in churches I knew. He said, "Well, I have a lot of time and not many distractions, so I just sit and read for hours."

He then changed gears, though, and shared his big plans. He had once seen a news story about a young girl who had a seizure-detecting dog. It was able to smell or sense the changes in her body chemistry before the onset of the seziure and would alert her so she could get help. Nigel was moved by that story. Enter Nigel the inventor. He wants to invent a device that could be worn like a bracelet that would perform the same function as the dog...and then some. He said his device would provide a two-hour advance warning before a major medical event, including heart attack, stroke, blood clots, etc. With his proceeds, Nigel wants to purchase a company, perhaps McDonalds, that he would then give to the government to fund Medicaid and other such programs for the needy. With his leftover money, he would build a community of houses for the homeless. Upon approval, homeless people would be allowed to move into the house and given $100,000. They would have one year to get back on their feet and manage the money. If, after that year, they had not done well or wasted the money he would evict them and move the next person on the list in for their trial year. When I commented that I might see his name on the news one day, he said, "Give me two years and I WILL do it." Gotta commend his positive attitude and his goal-setting.

And then he started telling jokes. They were not inappropriate or off-color. Some were - frankly - not very funny. But Nigel did have a good time telling them, complete with big belly-laughs after delivering the punch line.

Now, follow me back to something Nigel said, in the part about his Bible study. He said that he was able to build his Bible knowledge because he read often and long. But he said the biggest thing that helped this was that he had no distractions. Perhaps for many Christians today, that is the single greatest barrier in our own knowledge of the Word of God. We love the Lord and his people. We live lives based on the moral code contained in the Bible. We attend worship and give generously. But our lives have become so full and busy that even some good things become distractions (our interests, the activities of our kids, the stress of work, on and on). And those things that ultimately receive our time and attention become our top priorities. I talked with someone this week who is a couple days ahead of schedule on the 90-day Bible reading plan. I asked him about his impressions of the plan and the first thing he said was, "I have to MAKE time to do it." He is a busy man, running a large business, being a husband, father and grandfather, watching out for his aging parents. But this thing of reading a large portion of the Bible daily has become a part of his routine. He has found ways to lessen the distractions of life in order to make time with God a priority.

I am not ready to put my family in a tent and stake my claim on G Street. But I hope we can all take a lesson from Nigel and lessen the distractions clamoring for our attention and make time with the Word a big part of our daily lives.

And who knows...maybe Nigel's invention will one day save your life. Or at least his jokes might make you laugh, which the Bible says is good medicine!

What else would you do with it?

Really??? I was eating lunch with some members of my ministry team last week at a local "Deli Delicious" when I saw this dispenser. I read the words on the front three or four times before I believed they were really there. I will admit that, though I was already finished with my meal, I got one of these. I could hardly wait to see what improvements had been made to the plain old plastic spoon that would render it multi-purpose. When it came out, what I saw in my hand was a...(dramatic pause) ...plain old plastic spoon! It was pretty much the same as any plastic spoon I had ever seen. Made out of the same kind of plastic, shaped the same way, and - sadly - it appeared to have the exact same purpose as every other spoon.  (Never mind the totally unrelated fact that I did not see anything there for which you could need a spoon of any kind!)

But come to think about it, I have seen some spoons that had different purposes. Slotted spoons, for instance, are quite useful for dipping beans from a pot. But if you want the bean "soup" over your cornbread, a slotted spoon will only prove a frustration. A ladle would be a great tool for spooning chocolate gravy over hot biscuits with butter; but to get freshly-made apple butter out of a pint mason jar, a jelly spoon would be a better choice. Who knew there really were so many spoons with so many different purposes? A Wikipedia article I just pulled up suggests over 50 different types of spoons, from an ear wax spoon to a marrow spoon for removing...well, bone marrow. Each one of these unique items is a spoon, but each has a different use, a different purpose. I suppose that you might argue that the above-pictured spoons are (technically) multi-purpose. After all, you could dip a variety of things using this spoon. And while it might not be as useful as an old-fashioned wood spoon for disciplinary purposes, you can still use it as a miniature catapult.

It seems to me that those of us in the body of Christ are a lot like spoons. You see, all of us who belong to Christ are Christians. We are all redeemed. We are all saved and set apart. But, boy, are we different in form and function! The beauty of this is that God designed us and his church this way...intentionally.  Paul describes this divine arrangement to the Corinthians with these words (1 Corinthians 12)

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

                

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

              

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

He further tells the Romans that God's purposeful placement of the pieces and parts of his body came with the spiritual gifts to fulfill our respective roles (see Romans 12.4-8). Isn't that good to know? In the church of our Lord, you don't have to be like me and I don't have to be like you. We aren't supposed to have the same gifs, talents, abilities, etc. How dull and boring that would be! Not to mention, we would not accomplish much for God. What makes us all the same is the mind that controls all the body's functions and actions.  We read in Ephesians 5 that Christ is the head of the body. We are encouraged to think like He thinks (Philippians 2.5), which would surely cause us to want to act under his direction as members of his body.

You may have one specific talent. Just one thing at which you are really good.  Or you may truly be multi-purpose, able to fill many roles and places.  Either way, you need to remember that God designed you that way! And you are no more or less important than any other spoon in the drawer....I mean, any other member of Christ's body.
Whether you are a mother-of-pearl caviar spoon or a plain old plastic spoon, use who you are and what he has given you by living out your place in the body of Christ!

Changes...Internal vs. External

Some changes are more obvious than others.  For example, Sunday morning I showed up to worship with a new look. Don't get excited...I did not leave my hair like the picture above. But I went from having hair this long to having no hair. I went from having a beard to having no facial hair. Those changes were easy to see. In fact, there were quite a few people who did not recognize me, even when I stepped into the pulpit to preach. I looked different...visible changes. I have lost around 50 pounds over the last few months. My clothes fit differently. My flat-front khakis now have pleats. I look different...visible changes.

People who see me can tell that I have changed. They might surmise that I have changed my eating and exercise habits. They might wonder if I have either lost my mind or undergone chemotherapy (not just that it was time for my annual shearing). But those changes - or at least their results - are obvious.

It is not the same with the internal changes we make, is it? I could tell you that my heart is healthier, that my diabetes risk is lower or that my blood pressure is within normal, healthy limits. All that is true, but you cannot see those changes. Why would you believe me? Because of what you see on the outside.

See where we are going with this?

Many of us are working diligently to make changes in our spiritual lives, with the ultimate aim of being more like Jesus. We are trying to love more. We want to be less judgmental. We want to see all people as created in the image of God. We want to spend more time in the Word. We want to be more giving. We are trying to change our attitude toward ________ (insert your own problem attitude here). And often, we are winning. We are resisting the easy conformation and we are being transformed by renewing our minds. But we have to ask...are these changes visible to those around us? Remember, these are all internal, invisible changes.

In warning his disciples about those who would deceive them, Jesus said (Matthew 7.15-20), "Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ...just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions." In other words, what you see on the outside of me is a direct reflection of what is going on inside me. That brings Solomon's advice in Proverbs 4.23 to view: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Later in the same book, we are reminded that we become what we think (23.7).  When you look at me, when you watch me or listen to me talk, you can begin to get a pretty good idea of what is going on inside me.

While it should go without saying, this is not a license to spend my life throwing stones at those whose actions don't match their words or professions of faith. Rather, it demands a hard look in the mirror. It forces me to ask myself, "What do my actions (and my words) say to those around me about my relationship with the Lord?" What about the people around me at the gym, on the baseball field, at the grocery store, in my neighborhood, etc.? Do they know I am a Christian? What do I do or say that leads them to that conclusion? Perhaps I should ask what I do or say that leads them to draw the opposite conclusion? Or in keeping with the first thought of this post, what changes are going on in your spiritual life? What changes do you need to make? How are those changes reflected in your life?

Isn't this what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5.16? "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." While it might not be as obvious as a new (albeit scary) haircut or a smaller profile, the changes God has made in you will show!


What about you?

Chillaxing with God

How easy is it for you to talk to God? I am not asking if you pray, or how often, or if you believe that God hears and answers. I am beginning with the assumption that prayer is a part of your life. While it would not be hard to make a case for more frequent, faith-filled prayer in our lives, I want to steer your thoughts more to the language of your prayers. 

If you - like me - grew up with church as a regular part of your life, you probably picked up on some prayer phraseology along the way that was used so often you were sure it was straight from the Bible. For example:

•  Guide, guard and direct (sometimes, protect) us
•  Forgive us from any unforgiven sin
•  Repeated references to the sick and afflicted the world over
•  Prayers offered up for those who it is our duty and privilege to pray for (yes, I know the grammar is wrong)
• Sometimes we prayed for those who were providentially hindered from coming to church
•  And how many prayers closed with this benediction: Bring us back at the next appointed time

Please hear this statement: I am not making fun of anyone who stands and leads God's people in prayer. Rather, I wonder how many of us get in the rut of praying the same things every time we pray. I know that men sometimes are nervous about public speaking in that capacity, and there is a comfort in familiar words. But step away from public prayer...how many of us do this in our personal prayers?

I think many of us have trouble speaking from our hearts to God. Perhaps in consideration of the greatness of God, we have convinced ourselves that we need to speak in some higher (at times, KJV) language. However, what God desires to hear from us is what is on our hearts. Jesus taught a very simple framework for prayer, and was quite vocal against the Pharisees who prayed with their flowery language and with an abundance of words (Matthew 6). It was Jesus who really emphasized our parent-child relationship with God. It is because of Jesus' intercessory work that we can come before God with confidence (Hebrews 4). All this is to help you realize that, just as you would talk to your earthly father - pouring out your heart to him - you can talk to God in your prayers.

Perhaps one of the things that will help us to develop this kind of prayer relationship with our Father is knowing that he has made provision for us even when we cannot form our prayers into words. Consider this, from Romans 8.26.27:

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know

how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us

with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts

knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes

for the saints according to the will of God.

Paul penned these words just after reminding us of our relationship with God (adopted as his sons, able to call him something akin to Da-Da), and just before reminding us that God is working everything to the ultimate good of those who are his. Accident? No way! God knows that we sometimes have a hard time opening ourselves up to him, and uses the Holy Spirit to make that easier.

We have really encouraged our kids to speak conversationally in their prayers. Even for kids, the familiar words tend to come easily. But it is a real joy to listen as they open their hearts to their Creator. Tears are often present as they discuss concerns of a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old mind. Sometimes, however, Dana and I have to stifle laughter. Such was the case last night. Samuel was praying before bedtime and a portion of his prayer went as follows:

God, please help tonight to be a "chillaxing" night. And just so

you know, the "ch" is from chill out and the "lax" is from relax.

So I hope you will help this to be a "chillaxing night.

I did not dare laugh, however. I know that Samuel does not doubt the omniscience of God. Yet he did not want to spring his vast pop-cultural vocabulary on God without a little clarification. While I may have found it humorous, I love the fact that, at such a young age, Samuel is that comfortable talking to God. My prayer for you is that you can open your heart to God in prayer, that whatever is on your mind will flow freely into the listening ears of your Father. I pray that your efforts at communicating your praise and your petitions will become as natural as talking to someone you can see.

I guess what I am trying to say is....I hope that you will be able to "chillax" with God today!

What would it take?

Sunday morning, I shared with you a view of the last hours of Christ's life, as viewed by a Roman centurion (following Matthew 27). After witnessing the bizzarre events of the day - three hours of mid-day darkness, an earthquake, the veil in the temple ripped from top to bottom, tombs being opened - Matthew records the following:

 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping

guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things

that were happening, became very frightened and said,

"Truly this was the Son of God!"

So what did it take for you to be convinced? Even if you grew up in church with the Bible as a part of your everyday life, there had to be a point when you decided for yourself that Jesus really is who he claimed to be. What was it? Perhaps I should ask who it was that helped you to this place. I suspect some of you came to faith in Christ after overcoming one last obstacle, that one thing that was just hard to swallow. What was that obstacle, and how did you get past it.

Ultimately, what I want to know is this: Why do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God? I look forward to your responses.

Here we go again...

So the last time I blogged, it was under the screen name "Chef Tiny" and I was working as a kitchen consultant for The Pampered Chef. Ok...I must admit, I never thought those words would come from my mouth. My career with TPC was short-lived, as was my first venture into the blogosphere. The first lasted about one year; the second was not even that long. I found my way into the wild world of Facebook and said goodbye to "What's Cooking With Chef Tiny." I found that to be an easier vehicle for communication with friends and family. And, honestly, it had become burdensome trying to put something fresh and relevant in print for all to read. It wasn't fun. It was a hassle.

As with many things, time away can be good. When I deleted my last blog, I said then that I would stay away until felt strongly about coming back. It seems that time has come.

I will say at the outset that I will not blog every day. Some of you are gifted bloggers, but I am not so inclined. I will also vary the content of my blog. Some days I may write things of a deeply theological nature.  Other times, I may use this blog to share a good story. And I may also use this to simply distribute pertinent information.

Beginning April 1, I will be trying to blog daily about a project we are undertaking at Woodward Park - reading the Bible through in 90 days. Each day during this project (hopefully) I will share something from that day's section of scripture that spoke to me or that might generate some good discussion.

Until then, well...we'll see what happens.

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me...not Preacher Tim, or Pastor Tim, or even Mister Tim; not Tim the jerk or Tim the superhero. Nope...just plain Tim.