May 21st

I don't always agree with Al but in this case I think he's right on. Read his blog here & as always I'd love your feedback.

My Desire

The other day I had the privilege of doing a memorial service for an incredible women. Her name was Betty Williams. She lived to be 94 years old. Her life was an incredible testimony of service, perseverance and faith. One of the things I discovered in talking with her family was that she was a poet. I got the opportunity to read some of her work and the one below stood out.

My Desire
by
Betty Williams

I do not long for wealth or fame;
I'm sure in history books my name
Will never rank with peer or sire.
For praise of man I don't aspire.

I do not long to know that I
Shall dwell in comfort till I die;
Nor ask that God shall grant me peace,
Nor from all troubles give release.

But this I pray, that I might be
A friend to all who turn to me;
that I might words of comfort speak
To weary ones who respite seek

From burdens oft too great to bear,

Because the world seems not to care.
To those who know not friendship sweet,
I pray that God will guide my feet.

A helping had to them I'd lend,
And pray that God through me might send
A gleam of hope from Heaven above,
A glimpse of God's eternal love.

This past Sunday I shared a message from our Losing My Religion series called, "Why Care?" In it I admitted that I sometimes struggle with caring. To say I don't have the gift of mercy would be an understatement. As I look at lives like Mrs. Betty's I am reminded that one of the greatest things we can leave is to be remembered as someone who truly cared. Thank you Mrs. Betty for reminding me what is important and I pray that as He did you, God would "guide my feet" to people who need a touch. I pray that I might be half as good at loving, touching and caring for those people God puts in my path as you were.

Some Assembly Required

It's been a long time since I have blogged. I took a break because it seemed more like something I had to do instead of wanted to do. I think I will jump back in. I'm not sure how consistent I will be but here goes.

For the past 4 weeks BridgePoint has been in a series called "Losing My Religion." We've been looking at the difference between "religion" and the relationship God wants with us. Each week we've been answering a different "Why?" questions about God, Jesus, trust and this whole journey He wants us to join Him in.

This past Sunday we took a look at the question "Why Church?" Why do we need to gather together each week? Do we even need the church anymore? In preparing I was reminded of a time when my wife and I bought a bike for our son. It was his first "big boy" bike. We went to our local Walmart, picked out one we thought he would like and loaded up the box. It wasn't long before I was sitting on the garage floor surrounded by bike parts. Those of you who know me, know that patience isn't one of my strengths, and putting together a bike was a real test of what little I had. After what seemed like an eternity I finally got the bike together and was confident that it was safe to ride.

The time came to give him the bike and to say he was excited was an understatement. He jumped on that thing a tore out of the drive way wide-eyed, hooping and hollering all the way down the street. It was in that moment that I forgot how much frustration and irritation the assembly of that bike had caused. You see, his excitement made all the work worthwhile and had I not been willing to put the bike together and endure a few hours of assembly I, nor my son, would have been able to enjoy the results.

In our lives God has an incredible experience for us. It's called life with Him. He tells us he wants us to have it "to the fullest," but to do that there is one truth we often ignore. It's the same one that I discovered in putting that bike together. If we want that full life God has for us. If we want to enter into a wide-eyed, hooping and hollering relationship with him... some assembly is required.

Whatever It Takes!
Tim