January 13th, 2010 by Tim Farrell

“What you do when you don’t have to, determines what you will be when you can no longer help it.” Rudyard Kipling

Many people choose not to commit to a community of faith because, “the Church is full of hypocrites.” Yet the same skeptics may very well be involved in a multiplicity of relational arenas where such hypocrisy is wide-spread. In other words, how can one judge the people of the Christian community as if there are other more acceptable forms of community life? Does one say that the Church is full of hypocrites and in such an assumption believe that say the banking community, or, political community, or, educational community offer a reality that has no such hypocrisy?
I think the Church gets discounted not because people are hypocrites but because the Church (people who follow Jesus as Lord) believes there is a kind of approach to life that in the power of Jesus could very well do away with hypocrisy. It’s this “higher calling” that people have a problem with… and… the audacity of some to claim they are attempting to pursue such a high calling.
For those who sincerely follow Jesus, they may not live up to the teaching and commands of Jesus consistently but at least they attempt to do so with humility and a daily pursuit of God’s forgiveness and mercy. So I say, rather than stand on the outside and scoff at those within the Christian community… one ought to rather be piqued to curiosity and enter the community and see if this life of Jesus can become a reality in his/her life…

October 15th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

A story was once told about a group of people on earth who wanted to know the difference between heaven and hell. A tour was arranged so they could see for themselves. In hell they saw all of the people sitting across from each other at long tables. There was plenty of food on the tables. However the people in hell were starving and frail because their arms were taped with splints so that they could not bend their elbows and get the food from the tables to their mouths.

When the people on the tour arrived in heaven they were surprised to see some of the same conditions. The people in heaven also sat at long tables across from each other. They also had their arms taped with splints so that they could not bend their elbows to get food from the tables to their mouths. However, there were two major differences. First, the people in heaven were healthy and well fed. Second, they were healthy and well fed because each person overcame the problem of not being able to feed himself by picking up food and feeding the person across the table.
This is what unselfish love is. The willingness to get beyond ourselves and act on behalf of the other person.

September 24th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

Speaking… Tough business. Controlling the tongue is not easy. James, the brother of Jesus, often commented on how difficult it is to bridle the tongue. Although it’s one of the smallest parts of the body, the tongue can do a lot of damage. Much more than a gun, fist, or even bomb can. Words can devastate and ravage the life of another person.

How is it with your words? Do your words build up or tear down? Do they cause help or create a lot of harm? The Bible is clear, we will be judged by our words.

There’s a simple and yet poignant equation for learning to tame the tongue: be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry. Now James penned those words. I often wonder if he did so because he had learned them first hand from Jesus. Saw how the Master led and handled his own tongue. Perhaps James had once been sharp tongued and quick to speak… maybe over time, as he watched his divine brother, he learned the rythyms and cadences of God-speech.

Try it for a week… Take this week and live the equation yourself: be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry.

September 17th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

Kindness is a rarity these days. Whether you’re standing in a grocery line or trying to pull out into a busy street, it’s quite obvious, most people tend to be unkind if they’re inconvenienced. Sometimes it’s just a snide look you happen to take note of. Other times it’s a gesture or an angry denunciation. Regardless of how it’s communicated I think we’d all agree that being on the receiving end of unkindness is quite unenjoyable.

I guess my issue with exhibitions of unkindness is that often the person who’s being jostled or intimidated or criticized may very well be having a hellish day to begin with. Perhaps she has made a mistake or accidentally interruped another person. Maybe he can’t walk fast enough or can’t see well enough. No matter the details of the inconveniencing the result is predictable enough: the critical expressions will be given voice. Glares will intentionally be emitted. Fuses are lit that were way too short to begin with. Unkindness erupts.

The only thing a lack of kindness does is to reveal the heart of the person expressing it. And this kind of unkind heart that’s given full expression is a heart that needs to confess, repent, and be tenderized a bit.

So what if I’m put out a little (or a lot)? So what if I have to take that detour because the guy didn’t think enough to get gas prior to heading to work? So what if my fast food order is wrong… again? So what? Each of these occassions, and more like them, give me the opportunity to express authentic kindness. To put into practice verbal self-control. To reign in emotions and allow the power of grace to do what it does so beautifully: express kindness to a world that deeply hungers for a small, “Thank you”… a kind “Do you need some help?”… a gracious “No problem at all! I’ve made the same mistake myself.”

If we are to follow Jesus we need to become kind because such practice in mundane acts of kindness may one day be the very thing that enables us to courageously turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, and lay down our lives for our friends.

September 11th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

Love. We say the word often about so many differing things. Ice cream, sodas, sports teams, books, tv shows and celebs. But in our cultural milieu of speaking the word love endless times, there’s something about Jesus’ use of the word that is quite striking.

As I look at the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) I find that Jesus certainly taught about love but it seems he did so with great intention. I also find that when Jesus communicated the command to love (i.e. not an option for us Jesus followers) he backed up the command with clear descriptions of what true love is to look like (don’t you love how Jesus used stories?).

Take for example the story of the Good Samaritan. As is often the case, Jesus uses the story to turn us on our heads. You would think the priest and the temple assistant in Luke 10:25-37 ought to have loved appropriately. Certainly they talked of love often as they were considered the earthly representatives of God Himself. Yet when they happened upon a 1/2 naked man bruised and bloodied by a would-be bandit, they simply kept on walking (how we despise messy interruptions!). Jesus’ point? Well I think he’s trying to say that knowing and talking about love have some merit. But it’s all a wash if it doesn’t find expression through action.

It’s kind of like a rose. It’s one thing to see a rose and to take note of it’s beauty. But it’s quite another to take up a rose in one’s hand and smell the unmatched fragrance. There’s an aroma to a rose that heightens and helps to make the rose truly beautiful.

Our love is like a rose’s aroma. When we talk of love and describe love there’s a certain beauty in it. But it’s not fully love until it’s fragance is poured out over the bleeding and the afflicted people around us.

August 6th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

This weekend I’ll be talking about the path to peace. We’ll be looking at Philippians 4:4-7. This is a meaty text (as is the whole of the letter). Paul has a real knack for calling us to a mature walk with Jesus and I’d challenge/encourage you to live in this letter for a while.

One of the issues I won’t have time to tap into this weekend is a rabbit trail of sorts. It’s what is called resignation. If you look at Philippians 1:15-30 you’ll see how Paul is dealing with some tough circumstances. This would be the kind of stuff most of us might get steamed about and try to change/alter. Not Paul though. Paul resigns himself and takes joy even in the not-so-good motives of others.

Resignation can be used as a discipline that helps us encounter peace. When we resign ourselves to the Lord’s will and work we find that God strength truly does take up the slack of our weakness. In what areas is God calling you to a certain resignation? How could you resign yourself/i.e. trust the Lord in places you have tried to make better in your own effort?

Pastor Tim

April 19th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

Illness strikes unexpectedly. In fact, doctors are saying that in the very near future cancer will surpass heart disease as the leading killer of adults. None of this is surprising to us and yet we often bypass the reality of our mortality due to the morbid nature of it or the sheer fear we have of facing death.

The hope of Easter answers our fears. We know through Jesus we have access to eternal life.

The hope of Easter also reminds us that it’s not the number of years that matters but the life we live in the years we are given. Jesus was full of life (more so than any other) and he only lived 30 or so years. I’ve surpassed Jesus’ earthly life by almost seven years and I often ponder this in my heart. You see, if the goal is longevity than Jesus was a certain failure. But that’s not the goal. The goal is a life honoring and pleasing to God no matter how long that life might be. We need to assess our lives. We need to number our days. We need to be mindful of Ecclesiastical wisdom that says it’s better to go to a house of mourning than one of feasting for death is the certain end of all of our earthly lives.

As we face our mortality. As we garner fear and hope in the sheer nature of it… I’m certain we’ll begin to treat each day we do have as it was intended: sheer gift from a God of sheer love.

You don’t have a guarantee about tomorrow. What you do have is the present moment to live in Jesus – full of joy. Rejoice in this day the Lord has made! Rejoice because even in death there is the hope of new life!

April 16th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

I Timothy 6:6-19

Take time to read and ponder this passage written from the Apostle Paul to Timothy.

There are some inherently obvious truths that come out of this text:

1. We have to redefine wealth – I Timothy 6:6. Paul says true wealth is a combination of Godliness and contentment. How true it is to be reminded that we came into this world in our birthday suits only and will leave this world in the very same manner! All the Stuff is simply Stuff. None of it will go with us into eternity. Paul said in I Corinthians 13 that only three things last/are eternal: faith, hope and love. There are no dollar figures in that list. We would do well to pursue these realities than incessantly more and more material things.

2. We have to redefine ruin – I Timothy 6:9-10. Paul says that the Love of money is the cause of much ruin. Notice, he doesn’t say money… but the affection of money. What Paul is describing is nothing short of idolatry. Jesus said we cannot serve God and money. Just like trying to keep one foot in one boat and another foot in another boat; we’re hard-pressed to pursue God and the love of money at one in the same time. There’s a fork we’ll encounter and for most the lure of money will lead us further afield. But stop and think… the recent economic climate is a prime example of how we placed our love in money and it FAILED US. How many people have been pierced with sorrows on account of financial loss. Now certainly there is greed and inappropriate actions that bungled the lives of innocent people. Certainly there are those who have much to complain about and be angry over. Yet the simple truth is that money is temporary. It does not last. We would do well to follow Wesley’s admonition to make all we can, save all we can and give all we can. But as we do so it’s the giving that keeps us in the position of holding monetary things loosely.

3. We have to redefine ownership – I Timothy 6:11. Paul reminds Timothy that he is a man of God. This signals in a certain sense, ownership. Because of what Jesus has worked on the cross we have been “bought with a price.” We are not our own. God has possession of us. This is a total reversal in terms of understanding ownership.

4. We have to redefine savings – I Timothy 6:17-19. Paul says we are to be rich in good works… are are to be willing to share. “storing up for ourselves a good foundation for the time to come, that we may lay hold on eternal life.” True savings is what we store up for eternity… not what’s in our 401k. This is a reclaiming of a pilgrimage approach to life. This is not our home/destination. We are pilgrims passing through (certainly passing through responsibly) onto a greater eternal reality.

March 31st, 2009 by Tim Farrell

Obedience to God… or… choosing what’s most comfortable in life. This, Chan poses, is the crux of the matter in terms of living for God. That simple? Yep, that simple… obedience or comfort.

Tracey and I recently talked with a family friend who had spent 4 months in Israel. When we asked her what her favorite aspect of the trip was she shared the highlight of a day trip to southern Israel. She said southern Israel is kind of a desert vista where you can catch some pretty spectacular views of where the people of Israel traveled through to get from where they had been once upon a time: Egypt… to where God was leading them: the land of Promise. She said that when you look and see what they traveled through to get to the land of Promise you realize how ridiculously foolish they must have looked.

I think that given it’s April Fools Day this is an appropriate conclusion to Crazy Love. Love of God is foolish obedience. We obey and we leave the consequences to God. This in-turn poses another issue – the ability to hear God. This is crucial because often we think we hear God and launch out in some direction or capacity God never intended.

So how do we hear God? We know God never contradicts His character. We know God never contradicts His Holy Word. We know God never calls us to something that would betray a holy covenant or harm another person or self. God calls us to love. Love of Him and love of neighbor. Such love might include suffering… but this is always an unfortunate result, not something we conjure up or hope for. The Apostle Paul sighted to his associate Timothy that Godliness with contentment is great gain… I think this call to contentment is key. For often God’s call leads us to persevere where we are. To be His presence of love and compassion. To be the kind of person who loves generously and holds onto material things loosely.

We are to be light as ashes in the hand of God… able to be blown wherever God would lead us. We are to be heavy with His glory. Weighty saints whose lives speak of a different path than this worlds.

Obedience or comfort? As you peruse God’s Word you’ll quickly find that obedience (never all too easy) is always the best choice.

March 26th, 2009 by Tim Farrell

“Who really lives that way?”

I’m going to take a different approach from Francis Chan and work off of his title to chapter nine. You see, I believe the question Chan poses says it all. So often we live in a sort of comparison mode when it comes to our life with God. We wonder… what are others doing with God? How are others living with God? In other words… show me where I fall on the bell curve of my peers and I’ll be just fine if I don’t slip below a B – .

Jesus warned us about this longing to look at others and compare and contrast. He warned us when he spoke of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. He warned us via Peter when he walked with Peter on the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee in John 21:15-25. Take some time to read those portions of God’s Word. You’ll find in both instances the desire to compare is not looked upon favorably by Jesus.

When we compare ourselves with others in terms of our life with God what we’re doing is seeing how much we can get away with keeping back from God. We’re also making some pretty ignorant assumptions about what the secret lives of those around us are really all about.

Take the former: when we compare ourselves with others we want to know what the limit of expectation is. If so-and-so are Godly and they’re involved in x and y… then I can certainly be about this particular vice and be well within the safety zone.

Take the latter: when we compare ourselves with others we inevitably make some pretty ridiculous assumptions. We may look at a peer and think… “Wow! That person certainly doesn’t have his act together.” or “That woman is in love with God but it pales to a degree from my own devotion.” Yet the truth is we have no real earthly idea what that other person has experienced and is currently enduring. Only God can see the heart… the secret interior of a person.

Bottom-line: keep our eyes on Jesus and allow Him to keep His eyes on us. Like Jesus said to Peter in John 21: “What’s that to you? You follow Me.” Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and follow His will for the present moment that may or may not have any similarity to what He’s working in the life of another.