The Song Sessions: "Great Reward" TIM TIMMONS

Tim Tebow and the Gospel

   Recently, I read an article regarding Tim Tebow’s departure this past week from the New England Patriots as the third-string quarterback and how it relates to his “faith” journey.  This is my response to said article, which you can find here if you are interested.  

   As a passionate Arkansas Razorback fan and an SEC rival to the University of Florida, I did not care for Tim Tebow from the beginning.  I respected his freakish ability as a rare and skilled NCAA football player, and one of the best at that, but nothing more.  Around the time He won the Heisman (and Darren McFadden placed second as a record-setting Razorback RB), I learned of the “real” Tim Tebow involving his life off the field and his identity in something (Someone; Jesus Christ) bigger than football.  I begin to hear this passion in his speech.  It was then that I personally became more supportive and wanted to see him lead his team to victory and receive national attention in order to give him the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ and give the glory to God in front of a culture that so desperately needed to hear the Gospel.  And for this reason, I still root for Tim Tebow.  

   Last week, unsurprisingly to many, Tebow was cut from the New England Patriot’s roster.  Having just fulfilled roughly three years in the NFL, he was let go.  As it stands, he is yet to be picked up by another team, which could come about in the days to follow, even though many see his NFL career as nearly finished. 

   To say that Tim Tebow is a polarizing figure in the sports world is a huge understatement.  Ask anyone who knows a thing or two about the NFL and they will have an opinion about Tim Tebow—good or bad.  However, you gotta give it to him, the man is a class act.  He represents principles, sportsmanship, and a desire to model Christ wherever he goes.  And for that, I am encouraged by his example.

   In response to the article, “Thinking Evangelically About Tim Tebow” by Jared C. Wilson, which I alluded to before, I can agree that if an NFL team decides not to take a chance on the likes of Mr. Tebow, then Tim will ultimately portray Christ in another environment to a different people.  He has given his life and been outspoken regarding his faith in God, and to my knowledge, has shown the world that so eagerly watches what a man of God looks like in the flesh.

   Through the media, Tim has expressed his desire to remain in the NFL as a quarterback, which I take to be genuine and real, and not necessarily in conflict with his first love, Jesus.  However, this desire is mainly out of his control.  Who knows where he will land?...if even in a roster spot at all… One thing is for certain, God is glorified!  And maybe God is saying to Tim and the world that awaits, “I used you as a college and professional athlete, for a time, to point others to Me and now I have a different plan than you do, a part of the larger picture that you don’t see, Tim.  I’m going to use you to reach more people for my Kingdom in a different role than if you had stayed an NFL quarterback.”  And if this be the case, and time will tell which path God has for him, then we can look at Tim’s obedience to God first, not football, as the mark of true character, which he already seems to display. 

   Lets bring this home a bit!  I think its safe to say that we do a good job of making plans for our lives based on our temporal, shallow understanding (I am not saying that Tebow is doing this).  Making it even more personal now, I am great at “playing God” and manipulating what I think is best for me according to my desires and needs.  Ultimately, what I need is to pull back from my narrow perspective and ask the daring question, “God, what do you want from me?  What can I do and where can I go to display your Son as best I can to those around me?”  This mindset, this heart cry is what God wants from us, from me.  And I find myself in a time where personal direction is desired and necessary.  And now that my attitude is becoming more aligned with His Glory and Plan, not mine, I am totally free and I am willing to follow.  And at this conjunction, the place where my desires and priorities begin to take a backseat to His, I find peace and rest.  Realignment with God’s Plan is not a one-time decision, but a frequent surrendering to His wisdom and will.    

   Assuming that Tim Tebow never plays another NFL game, would you consider this a loss for the Kingdom of God, considering the sheer influence and attention that he generates as an NFL player, or do you think this devoted follower of Christ can be used in greater ways by God who so desperately wants the world to know of His Love?

   Do you agree or disagree with these thoughts?  Please leave me a comment below if you have an opinion regarding Tim Tebow’s future and God’s plans.

Living in Healthy Community

    

     Recently, Angela and I had the pleasure of meeting up with some friends for dinner at a local restaurant.  Our married friends moved away over a year ago to work for a church in a surrounding state.  We were eager to hear how things had been going for them over the past year since we too had moved away and had not caught up with them in a almost a year.  

     Our friends began talking about their experiences in a new church environment with different staff and a somewhat different method of ministry.  Don't get me wrong, there is not one right way when it comes to church ministry.  There are many types of churches all over the world that have different styles of worship (and I'm not just talking about praise and worship-music).  And as one who has traveled to a few different cultures myself, I know and remember often the common phrase that I've heard and recited a thousand times before, "it's not wrong; it's just different."  However, there seems to me to be one thing that I have noticed that many churches (especially in the US) are without-community.  As our friends sat across the table and spoke about their recent hardships, a lack of community was the common theme that contributed to their feeling discouraged.  Their church did not have healthy community.  The people in this particular congregation aren't living life together, rubbing shoulders with one another.  They work and then go home, alone.  They meet on Sunday mornings and that's about it.  Its challenging to drastically deepen relationships solely on Sunday mornings.  They are missing something huge!  And it is extremely sad to think about the masses of church attenders who do not experience true community as it was designed to be experienced.  

      One thing that characterizes our church, as well as many other churches in the area, are its community groups.  A small group of 12-15 people who come together once a week  to share a meal, prayer, worship, the Word, and their lives is a powerful thing.  I have experienced first hand how beneficial a community can be for me personally, as well as for the body in general.  Some of my lowest times have fallen in the seasons where my sense of community was lacking, when I felt isolated and alone. And, on the other hand, God has grown me and strengthened me greatly in the times when I found myself deep in rich community.  

      We were made to live in community, experiencing life uniquely with others, sharing in the joys and hardships.  Scripture tells us that God is three (father, son, spirit) dwelling together in fellowship.  God also gave us a beautiful picture of community in the book of Acts when the new church body met together to encourage one another and work to advance the Kingdom.  God has shown us-we were meant to live similarly.  

      What about you?  Do you find yourself lacking community, the deep, rich, live-giving relationships that God uses to equip us, His Church?  Begin praying that He would connect you with others around you in purpose and intention.  If your church offers community groups, then just sign up.  You won't regret it, and you will quickly see just how God intends for us to live as you begin to open up to others and experience the same in return.  If your church doesn't offer community groups as an option, then consider being the first to start a group.  Pray for opportunities and just start talking to others who may be desiring the same.  We were meant to know and be known! 

"And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the Day drawing near." 

What about you?  Have you experienced healthy community that you would like to share about? Feel free to leave a comment or a story...

jmh

      

Turning Thirty!

I made a promise to myself to journal about my life at certain milestones (every 5 or 10 years) beginning with the year that I turned thirty.  Here is a snipit of the initial entry I journaled last spring...

April 3, 2012

Jason,

Today finds me on a plane across the Mediterranean Sea heading home to propose to the one I love.  The next step in front of me is an exciting endeavor that I have waited for many days.  Today, I am 30.  I wouldn’t take back any moment in my entire life.

The last 10 years have been filled with many things that I am proud of.  In that span, I have graduated college, worked in ministry, been an older brother to Kirby (including baptizing him), volunteered in a children's home in Nepal, become skilled at playing guitar, spent a summer in Moscow, Russia, run a marathon, biked 100 miles, been to Mt. Everest, toured the Holy Land, and taught Math and Bible in Bethlehem.  Today, I am 30.  One may venture to guess that my experiences would indicate a different age as I have done things some people will never get to do in their lifetime.  However, as I am glad to say, my life is just beginning.  

As I look over my shoulder at the past decade, I see more clearly the picture God has been painting.  Sometimes things happen and we wonder, “Why am I going through this,” or “what is God doing exactly?”  I don’t claim to know extensively the connectedness of things, events, people, and experiences that God has brought in my days and how they tell of a much larger story, and even how that story lives on into the future, but I do see loose ends slowly coming together.  And yet, this painting that God is designing gains more color and detail with each new day.  With my last breath, like Jesus, I desire to utter the words, “It is finished,” in response to a life lived without regret...

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jmh

You Are Not An Accident

   Yesterday, I started taking my Religion students (7^th and 11^th grade) through the book The Purpose Driven Life. If you are familiar you know that the chapters are really short, and meant to be read as daily devotionals. We usually spend ten to fifteen minutes reading the chapters together and then discuss things that come to mind with the remainder of class.
   Today I had planned to read and discuss Chapter 2, which is titled, “You are not an accident.” I first had the students turn to and read from Psalm 139. A few students expressed cool thoughts that had risen as the passage was read. I then began reading from the Purpose Driven Life book. I read the first page or so and stopped to spend some time on a few thoughts: you are not an accident, you are unique, and God knows you completely. I then turned to a student and asked her to tell me things that she liked about herself. She hesitated. A student quickly responded, “Why dont you let us tell her the things we like about her?” God inspired. I agreed. Then we spent the rest of 6^th period (7^th grade) encouraging each other with words.

    After class, I headed up to the high school for the last class of the day, my 11^th grade Religion class. My 7^th grade Religion class is like a pastor’s first Sunday service sermon. He tests things out and then may tweek a few things for the next service. I do the same with 11^th grade. “Well, this went really well for 7^th grade. Lets do that with the 11^th graders.” So after seeing how much fun this activity was with the junior high students I eagerly awaited the same exercise with the juniors. I followed the same routine as the younger class by having the juniors read from Psalm 139. Then we took turns saying unique, positive, necessary things about each student.

    We took turns highlighting what we liked about each person, me contributing my own thoughts as I have gotten to know these students well. I found this exercise to be incredibly rewarding for me to be able to speak Truth into each person’s life. I am somewhat guarded when it comes to high school students mainly in part because I sense that I have to be on the defensive with them, always watching for and expecting things to be pulled over my head, like they are all secretly planning an attack to revolt against the teacher. But that has not hindered the potential that I see in my students. So being able to bless them in front of the class, with their peers, was freeing and a blessing to me.

      I could tell from the nonverbal queues displayed by each student that when it was their turn to be blessed with words they got a bit squeamish. Its exactly how I get too. I don’t like having the attention on me. And sometimes I have a hard time believing what is being said. And because I have discerned personalities and thoughts for each student, I knew that one particular student would struggle to actually believe what was being said about her.

    After each person’s turn, and with a few minutes left in class, I had each student write down what was said about them. I told them the enemy would speak lies over them and probably already had as the activity was taking place. Following that thought, I said, “If multiple people (your friends) said all these great things about you, its because they see that in you. They would not just make stuff up, especially if more than one said roughly the same thing about you. The enemy doesn’t want us to believe these things and will tell you otherwise, but you MUST know that God has designed you with certain qualities, attributes, and talents that are unique to you and He wants to receive Glory through those.”

     With class finished, I went to the office to grab a few things and leave and recognized the certain student mentioned above was sitting in the office talking to the principal. I asked her if it was hard to receive those words from her classmates and friends and she confirmed with a nod. I then assured her that she possessed those qualities and characteristics mentioned and that she needed to believe thats exactly what God thinks about her and the way he designed her too. She told me that those words made her cry, which I had seen in class but thought it was for another reason. Her struggle to believe them as truth, followed by crying, leads me to believe that God had penetrated her heart and her tears were the display of that.

      And AGAIN (I say again because I feel so undeserving when God does this and it has happened several times in my first year of teaching) God showed up today, through a student’s suggestion, and directed the class to the message that He wanted covered. And I have to mention, this happens all the time here. I will be sitting in the lounge with a rough outline of my plans and God will pop an idea (activity, lesson, etc) in my head and I know thats what I should do. It usually happens last minute, and as a friend said, probably so that I cannot claim it as my own idea. The Spirit is leading!

jmh