Tim Turner

It’s been a while since I’ve even thought about writing anything. These last few months have left me drained and uninspired. Work has been stressful, and worrying about things that cannot be change seem to use up a lot of your energy.  Life piles on high and doesn’t let up at all. Finally you come to a point where you can no longer stand. In the end you either fall on your knees, or flat on your face.

Every minute I’m alive it becomes more and more apparent how little I control, and how big God is. The more statistics, graphs, and charts that I learn just seem to leave me realizing I’m just not strong enough handle it all. We try so hard to “grab life by the horns”, but it turns out those horns are sharp and have a tendency to run us through. It leaves us broken, exhausted, and bitter. That is how I could sum up the previous 8 months from the time of my last post…

But then there is hope.

Somewhere in the back of my mind God keeps screaming at me telling me to stop trying so hard and let Him do the things that I already know He can do better than I can. Somewhere along the way I started to decide that might not be such a bad idea, and so I started to let go just a little bit. I had to start letting go of what I wanted to happen and when I wanted it to happen, and come to a place where I could just let go.

Sunday was our kickoff service at our new building. I can’t even explain how excited I was to finally see it happen. To see a little bit of our dreams solidify is a wonderful thing. During the sermon Ovie used an example. It’s a very simple concept: If you build a cage with a hole large enough for a monkey to slip its hand into to grab whatever object you have placed inside. You will find that the monkey will not let go of what it has grabbed, despite that making it impossible for the monkey to get its hand back out and get away.  As a result the monkey is then taken into captivity. This example has been told many of time, and under different applications. For me personally, however, I find that despite knowing and understanding this concept… I still do it. I don’t want to let go of knowing. I want to know whats going to happen. I want to have control, because control equals comfort. A lot of the time its not ok for me to unable to predict the next thing. You see I value knowledge, and I value the mind that God has given me. It appears that I often have a tendency to mistake knowledge for wisdom. When that happens I find myself trying to snatch control from God. Despite my unruliness God continues to work on my mind and heart to breed wisdom within me. God teaches me everyday about letting go, and trusting in Him. Trust in God is how lives are changes, and how ministries grow. Little by little I see the changes that happen in others and in myself as a result of letting go and trusting. Its not easy, but no one said it would be.

Trust is what brings us to a new chapter for The Union. It’s been a bit of a journey, but coming to a place where we all step out on faith has been rather liberating. The idea of being in a building, of having bills to pay, and of new responsibilities is a bit nerve racking. Despite that, however, all of us stepped out. Now, we haven’t a clue where we are going to go from here, but where ever it is we’re going to follow God to get there.

When we moved into our building we set a goal to have everything ready by August 23. Sunday we were ready. Nothing spectacular happened. No red sea was parted in the room, nor did tongues of fire appear over anyone, but a group of people did come together to worship God, and to grow in Him. I  find that amazing. There was a peace over all of it, and that’s why we’ll continue to see what adventure God has in store.

One of the most amazing things about it all, is that everything we are doing has been done time and time again. Not only has it been done, but it will continue to be done. Yet nothing can ever seem to replace the joy of community in Christ. No matter how many times it is done. No matter how many different locations, times, and peoples do it, we still find that simply coming together in mutual community and faith is one of the most inspiring things that could happen. When the divine presence Christ brought here for us is embraced we find that true life is found, burdens are eased, and lives are changed forever.

The Hebrew people believe that we enter the future with our backs towards it. All we can really do is see where we have been, and learn from our past. That is my prayer for the future of our ministry. I pray that we would put our faith in God, learn from out shortcomings, and never forget to love the way that we have and are loved.

24 Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD. (Psalms 31:24)

24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? (Romans 8:24)

13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Coincidence isn’t something I put much faith in. So when a lot of the same thing seem to pop up in life I think its wise to considering paying closer attention. For a while now I’ve been noticing one thing in particular keep showing up in my life. A deep sense of impending suffering, and a deeper hope I should place in God to get me through it.

I’d feel a little arrogant thinking the coming storm was meant for me alone, so I have no doubt that its going to have an effect on others, but its also obvious to me now that God has something for me to learn. Life may get really hard all of the sudden. In this country in particular many of us are not used to life being very hard. So, what then do we do when life throws us to our knees till they’re bloody and torn? How do you believe when you can’t see five minutes ahead, much less see God? I heard a fantastic answer today in a song by Building 429(Lyrics)(Hear it)

The story behind the song is simple, but powerful. The first verse is about an event in which Jason Roy met a woman in an autograph line that had lost her child, and told them the story of how the child was killed by her ex-husband. The story weighed heavily on him, and he started to write the song as a cry, and as a question to God. The second verse is about his own experience as a child with his father leaving, and the pain caused by the event. The thing is, though, the answer to the question is found in the chorus:

But I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
He will be with you always

God keeps His promises always. In Hebrews 13:5 it says we will not be left or forsaken. Considering we have no right to demand anything of God, its a pretty huge deal when the Creator of the universe tells you that He will always be there, no matter what. The thing I think we all forget about our life with Christ is that no where does the bible say Christianity includes an easy button. No where do we see our lives becoming magically perfect and never will another hardship fall on us.

The painting in the picture is a birthday present given to me by my amazing friend Lacey. On it is a quote that never ceases to ring a chord with me. The quote is from The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and happens in a conversation between the children and the beavers. Mr. Beaver is telling the kids about Aslan the lion and they ask if he is “quite safe.” I think this is a perfect view of Christ. There is nothing safe about Christ, but Christ is good. Better than anything else in the world.

As a result of our walk with Christ we may find that we have to sacrifice much more then we are comfortable with, but He is good. The world will hate us for it, but He is good. Faith may cost us everything, but He is good.

No matter what the cost is for us, however, God fulfills His promises. We can have hope that even when we are beaten and bloodied God is with us, always.

Definition Administration - 6
Definition Discernment - 16
Definition Evangelism - 11
Definition Exhortation - 14
Definition Faith - 7
Definition Giving - 2
Definition Ministering - 16
Definition Knowledge - 14
Definition Mercy - 18
Definition Pastor - 17
Definition Teaching - 15
Definition Wisdom - 17

I think God is rather hilarious at times. That is the 2nd spiritual gifts test I’ve taken in two days, and both times they came out basically the same. Mercy, Teching, Wisdom–from everything I can tell those are the skills God gave me to use. So, now I have to ask myself…what do I do with it? For quite a while now I’ve been ignoring God, basically as much as possible. I knew when I decided to enter into the ministry that while God does let some people sit back and be content with their simple life, I was never intended to be one. It would be so nice to relax and live life as an average joe, but my soul keeps stirring.  Today I realized why I can’t settle. Its simple realy, its the desire to create.

God, being the Creator, made all of us in His image. I think a lot of times we turn things around, and make our characteristics His. The problem with that thinking is that we are flawed, He is not. One thing mankind must do, no matter how much we may resist it, is to create. We must make something, its built into all of us. The most common form is for us to create art or music. Its not limited to that, however, we can create love, peace, and joy as well. One thing I really and truly love to do, is to create something that inspires someone. A lot of times that puts me into the roll of untrained-struggling-to-be-creative graphic designer. The thing is though, it makes me incredibly happy, regardless of how unsatisfied I am with my own creativity. I feel so great about it, because something inside of me knows that I simply have to create something. Look at humanity’s past. You can learn quite a lot about a culture simply from the art they create. Look at how inspiring architecture has been.  The universe itself is a mighty piece of art. Science is necessary, because we feel a need to understand the infinite potential of the world God created for us. Nothing about this is really new, though, but it got me thinking about my own creations today.

What if art is not what God intended for me, but to bring about peace in a person’s heart? Its so easy to turn to art as the best way to show our creative desires. Could is be just as creative to listen to a person and give them wisdom? Is creating peace in a heart of chaos a way to make art? Is it possible that when you teach someone a new way to look at God you are creating love? What about listening to another persons cry for help, is that just as creative as the man with a paintbrush? Earlier today I might have said no, but I am certain these things are just as creative. I now realize that the joy I feel when creating art is only a small part of what God actually intends for me to do. While I’m still not certain what I should be doing, I know that I shouldn’t settle for what kind of logos or shirts I can make. What I am to create will likely not be something that can be seen, but something thats inside the hearts of people.

So, next time you look at a painting and have a real appreciation for the talent that God has blessed that person with, will you also look at the works of your own hands, your mouth, or your eyes and see the creativity that comes from them as well?

I finished up an audio book recently and didn’t have anything else to listen to. So, after scouring my mp3 player I found that I still had a copy of Velvet Elvis on my player. I started to listen to it, and once again realized why I like that book. Whats more important though is a statement that hit me today. “Walls are inevitably made for keeping people out.” That particular statement hit me hard. In the book Rob Bell talks about “spring” faith and “brick” faith. I’ve found all to often we encounter brick walls from people who claim to want the best for you.  These same people are the ones who require you to believe certain things a certain way, or you certainly are not a Christian. This type of thinking makes me sick. Whats worse is that there are times when I find myself putting similar walls up, and this simply isn’t acceptable. I’ve decided I’m going to work harder at getting those walls torn down–walls I’ve created around faith, and around self. I’d encourage you to do the same.