A Change in Seasons

The seasons have been steadily changing. Here's a few pictures.

A Sunset captured from my apartment

Flying last week

And, this past week, snow came streaming down. Winter is here.

Flying

Well, as most of you know, winter has set in here. Ice is forming on the lakes and rivers, touches of snow glisten the ground and cold winds keep people indoors under blankets. It's a time of year that is bitter sweet to me as I have to put my motorcycle away for the year, but I can also look forward to ice fishing. Bittersweet.

Today, though, tempteratures are supposed to be up and the wind down, so I am going to take the opportunity and do a little flying and see God's creation from the air once again.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Tim

Paintings from above

Tonight I grilled. As I was doing so, the sun was setting and I am not going to begin trying to describe what it looked like because my descriptions would be completely inadequate. Let's just say that it was a sunset, not altogether uncommon, but one that brought out all colors of the spectrum, mixed in with streaks of light shimmering through clouds at different intervals. For any of you who take the time to watch sunsets (or sunrises for that matter), they are like paintings forever changing at any given second. One moment, they spread one collage of color down and a few seconds later, everything has shifted. As I watched the colors change, something hit me... I am the only one on planet earth seeing this exact sunset. Everyone might be looking at the same sun and maybe even the same clouds, but the angles are all different. For some, the sun sits lower in the sky, for some, higher. The clouds may be different shapes and the colors may be brighter or dimmer.

I am the only one on the entire planet seeing this sunset...

To go another step, God specifically created this sunset for me to watch and enjoy. He also created another sunset for someone else to watch and enjoy. The same sun, the same clouds (possibly), but a completely different result. Interesting.

Bring forth The Kingdom!!

The past couple weeks have given me some good thoughts to reflect on. Many of them have been about how God advances His kingdom in this world. I've seen 2 examples of this lately that made that picture more clear.

One person was a guy named Nic. I saw him on TV and he is a man with no arms and no legs, yet he can stand up and move around using twisting motions of his torso. The only time he does this though is when he is speaking to groups of people. Nic travels the world, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, telling his story of hope and waiting on God.

The other example in Brian “Head” Welch. Formerly the lead guitar for the almost satanic group, “Korn”, Welch was into the rock and roll life of drugs, alcohol, parties not to mention, being addicted to meth. Yet, Welch found himself searching and, long story short, he found Jesus. Since, he quit Korn, kicked drugs (cold turkey) and has been pursuing a solo career, writing “metal” songs about God, forgiveness and love instead of drugs and sex. God is using him to do some powerful things in an arena most of our churches could never reach.

The way of the world is to find a charismatic, fine-looking leader; one who is big and strong and knows all the right answers. We flock after people who can talk their way out of any jam and who hold power, but in God's kingdom he uses a man with no limbs and the last man I would have expected to see come to Christ. Why? Because it doesn't make sense. Nothing human can explain it! God can use whoever, whenever and often, he uses the last people we expect to bring forth his kingdom.

To you “last people,” weak, burdened, broken and hurting... shine on! God has big things for you!

Burning the Koran

Today, I saw a news report that tore the heart from my chest. The past few days, on the news, there has been a story about a pastor from Florida who is planning on burning copies of the Koran on September 11 to prove some kind of point to extreme Islam. This man claims to be a Christian. Now the good thing, from my perspective, is how different church faces, such as the pope and Franklin Graham have publicly denounced what this pastor is doing. Yet, the fact still remains is that a man that claims to be Christian is doing something so anti-Christ. What does he hope to accomplish?

The other thing that made me happy and yet extremely sad was how an Islamic church leader, went over to this man to offer him some explanations and support. He reached out to this “Christian extremist” in order to diffuse the situation. Thanks be to God for that! Yet, it makes me so angry because he is doing exactly what Christians should have been doing all along, ever since 9/11/01.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom. 12:21

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Proverbs 25:21-22

Why haven't the Christians stood up and embraced Muslims, especially those who live right next door? Where has the power of the gospel gone that one “Christian” man wants to repay evil with evil and where a Muslim embraces him in the love, fulfilling the very mandates in our own Bible? Stand up, Christians! Bring the Love of Christ to the world!

To you Muslims and others who have been hurt by Christians, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for “Christians” like this preacher from Florida. Our king, Jesus the Christ, does not teach what this man teaches. Jesus teaches a love that is so deep and so wide, we can't even express it in human words. The two passages above are a glimpse of what Jesus taught.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” John 3:14-18

Jesus, God's only Son, loved us so much, that he took all our sins, placed them on his shoulders, and became a sacrifice of atonement for everyone who believe in him. That is the love that Christians are supposed to be showing. We are supposed to give our very lives, in order to save our brothers and sisters around us.

Again, to those of you who have been hurt by the church and Christians, I apologize. Please forgive us.

Summer storms

Friday night, we had an incredible storm that knocked out the power. Here's a few pictures of the storm and having fun with a candle. I'll try post a video later...

Rolling Thunder

This past week, powerful thunderstorms flowed through our area. Many produced large amounts of rain, some hail, strong winds, dangerous lightening and some damaging tornadoes. One of those nights was Saturday night. That evening, some friends and I went and had supper for one of our friends birthday. While we enjoyed each others company, one of these storms roared through. Trees bent to the ground, their roots attempting to hold them down. Rain pelted the windows as if flowed through the sky in sheets, quickly forming rivers in place of streets. Deafening thunder and lightening powered its way through the sky. We hung tight until the storm had subsided.

After the evening of fun, we drove home. At this point, the storm that has passed over us several hours earlier was off to the southeast and as we drove, lightening could still be seen, flashing through the clouds, maybe a hundred miles away. With every flash, we could see the cauliflower shape of the clouds as they towered above the earth. Experiencing the storms the past weeks and watching that light show got me thinking about how amazing God is. Just think about the amount of power in those storms. Lightening flashes hold thousands of joules of energy that man would love to replicate, but we can't. All we can do is imitate God's power. God created lightening, we make electricity by burning fossil fuels. God made the sun, a self-sufficient source, and moon for light. We made light bulbs. All we can really do is try to imitate the things that God has already created for us.

Setting all the damage and loss of life aside, part of me thinks that God brings those thunderstorms to say, “Look, I'm God. You still can't do this! Try as you might, you can't even come close to making what I have already made.”

To A Land Up North, Eh?

Well, the rubber will be hitting the road, once again in a short while. The road before me is a long one and at the other end lies the celebration of a friends wedding. The wedding is in Alberta, Canada so it will be quite a drive (1,300 miles one way, roughly) and should be a good time. Really, at this point, I don't have a lot to say about it except that I am excited to see some college friends again and I am excited to do a little more travelling to places I've never been before.
Peace.

Lake Michigan

It has been quite some time since I have blogged. That seems to be a regular theme. It's not that I'm neglecting the blog, it's just the fact that not a whole lot of interesting things happen in my life and, on top of that, often I don't have much to say. There are far wiser words to read. Maybe sometime in the future, there will be more interesting times to write about, but, who knows?

This past weekend, I went on a “short” trek out to Calvin Sem and Chicago to visit friends. Maybe “short” isn't the right word. “Quick” would be a better word. My parents asked if they could ride along, since they have relatives and friends out there to visit so I said, “sure” and welcomed the company.

Overall, it was a great trip filled with good conversations, frisbee, hiking, food, baseball, bags, trains, movies and many miles. The basic overview of the trip had us leaving at 5:30, Thursday morning and driving all the way to Grand Rapids, Michigan, staying there through Friday, then driving back to Chicago Saturday morning and then home on Sunday. All in all a great trip filled with great friends.

For those of you wondering, No, I'm not going to seminary.

Yearning for a Call

Have you ever been waiting for a phone call or a letter or an email? Have you ever been waiting and yearning for someone to come and talk with you? Maybe you've waited for a call from that special someone or from the doctor. In waiting, maybe you wondered, “do they even like me anymore? What did I say to tick them off? Why don't they call me and talk with me?”

This subject was in my mind tonight and for devotions, I read Amos. Amos is a book with some very strong language, both positive and negative. But, the parts that got me were the parts where God called out for Israel to “Seek the Lord and live... yet you have not returned to me.” There is a deep yearning by God for the love of his people. He wants their (our) hearts to call out to him so bad, it is indescribable. Imagine a Father, looking at his rebellious, sinful, dirty son. The father has outstretched arms and tears in his eyes and he says, “Come to me. My strong arms will love and uphold you. Come to me and live.” A tear slowly rolls down his cheek as the son turns his head to the side, still not willing to give in to the father's love. So often, I am that son.

Spring

By my calender, spring is now here. Today, the weather rose to beautiful clarity and temperatures. With that, my motorcycle made it's exit from the garage making it officially spring in my book. The time has come to put the ice fishing supplies away and enjoy the wind and the smells of the open road.

By no means was it hot today, but with a coat and some gloves, riding was very comfortable. Riding the roads of Minnesota with snow melting in the ditches and flocks of geese cruising overhead calmed me. Not that I was uptight or stressed, but feeling the wind, hearing the engine and singing on the road possess a way of relaxing me. In the cool air, I traveled about 50 miles, more than I planned, but something that felt great.

Upon arriving home, I noticed more signs of spring. Kids played outside, adults walked along the streets and birds chirped in the trees. I love winter, but spring brings great joy as temperatures rise and snow melts. To spring!

Olympics!!!

A little while back, I had the honor of attending the Olympics games in Vancouver, British Columbia. All in all, it was an awesome experience and the only way it could have been better would have been to stay another week. Here's some pictures and a link to some more pictures! Enjoy!

Oh Yeah!

Snow falls lightly outside blanketing everything in a fresh, clean layer. Large flakes flutter slowly towards the earth in a peaceful, quiet manner uncommon to this area of the world. Watching the scene quiets the soul and soothes muscles.
A Root Beer sits next to me, sizzling slightly as my brain slowly covers all the items needed for the trip. Come morning, my Blazer will carry me to the airport where an airplane will take me to Seattle and eventually, the Olympics in Vancouver.
I love the Olympics. They rise above the self glorification seen in the NBA and NFL to a celebration of the human capability, rising on a world stage. There is national pride and yet, even bigger, world pride.
In a few short hours, I will be enjoying the atmosphere of friends and the worlds greatest games!

Ice Fishing

A few pictures from the annual fishing trip... I'll maybe write some "literature" about the trip later...

Setting up to fish

Sunrise 3rd day

Sunrise 2nd day

Nearing sunset 1st day

Perch caught 3rd day

The Ice is upon us!

Today, it was cold... so cold in fact, we decided to take the day off. Yesterday held blizzard-like conditions making it somewhat dicey hanging from rafters, 15-20 feet up in the air with coveralls, snow boots, gloves and a ski mask on. The great thing about this weather is the fact that we are making ice! Ice fishing will be happening quite soon and for those of you who don't know, this is an activity that I look forward to year around!

It was nice to have a little break and have a day to stay warm and get a few things done. Hopefully, this evening will be just as relaxing and constructive as the day has been. Tomorrow, back to work and winter.

In other news, I started reading "The Power of Prayer," by E.M. Bounds. I have never read a book that is so convicting/challenging concerning prayer. It is fabulous!

Fighting Fire With Fire

What is it about fighting fire with fire?

Tonight, I went to a presentation done by a professor from Dordt College. The presentation was entitled, “How Christians Should Regard Islam.” This professor went through some of the history of Islam, through Muhammad’s life and some of his actions as well as some world history which occurred to promote the growth of Islam. The presentation was fascinating! He spoke about points of where Christians and Muslims differ and then, in turn, spoke on ways that Christians should look at and interact with Muslims. In the end, one of his main points was that only by showing the love of Christ and the justice of God the Father towards all of mankind can we begin to bring Muslims to Christ, which I felt, was a great point. No amount of arguing will ever bring anyone to Christianity. Of course, he said this more eloquently than I ever could.

Yet, there were some in the group of observers that were set on making Muslims look like complete evil enemies and that they are using guns to fight “us,” (which the professor also said how our government twists this) then we should fight back as well. They wanted to fight fire with fire. When do we ever fight fire with fire? Sure, sometimes firefighters will burn off a chunk of forest so that a forest fire cannot go past that point, but that is a little different than sending one fire towards another and hoping they go out. Every time I have seen it done, the two fires become one huge fire.

Don’t we fight fire with water? If my memory serves me correctly, firefighters still use water to extinguish fires. The love of Christ, that this professor was talking about, is water; soothing, life-giving water; water that washes away even the dirtiest stains and that cools even the hottest tempers.

How often don’t we fight fire with fire? Someone is shouting at us, so we shout back. They push us, so we push back. They hit us, so we hit back. The scorn us behind our backs, so we scorn them behind theirs. What does it look like to fight fire with water in each of these situations?

The Bible I read says to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” and “when someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other as well.” Does this mean that we sit by and let evil happen? Absolutely not! But, what is the constructive, God honoring way to fight fire with water? Be creative and a great example to follow, Jesus the Christ.

More music!

Tonight was somewhat of a flip of yesterday. Yesterday, I commented on how awesome it can be with “messy” worship because when it happens, so often it is straight from the heart. After all, the Bible says to “make a joyful noise...” Not song. Noise.

Anyway, tonight, I went to see Avalon and Selah perform together and it was nothing less of outstanding! These are the type of people that make me want to be a better musician because of how good they are. All their notes, their harmonies and their cords are practiced to perfection where the timing just clicks and they are allowed to worship without worrying about the music. It just flows. Obviously that comes after hours of practice. It was the type of music that sends chills reverberating through your entire body because of how sweet and melodious the music is.

I cannot wait until the day we are in the new creation and there are musicians from Adam to today. I want to hear the harps, lyres, drums, flutes, horns, guitars, pianos and any other instrument all join together to worship the King! I want to hear jazz, classical, rock; music from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

The last two days, God has once again showed me two awesome kinds of worship. One of pure heart, but not so musically, shall I say, pure. The other, almost painfully crisp and filled with energy pointing back towards heaven. Both have equal weight and both glorify God and I pray, that I can continue to love both my whole life.

Great

This weekend has been great! Every other week, I go to a church service in the Sioux Falls State Penitentiary and this Friday was when I was going to head over there for some worship and fellowship. Well, on the way there, I was tired and kind of lazy, but once I stepped through those doors, God picked me up and instantly filled me with his joy. While there, God blessed us with great conversation, good worship, a sermon I needed to hear and some great fellowship with new friends. All in all, a great night.

Then, Saturday, I was finally able to take the last 2 tests for my pilot’s license. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and light winds. The whole process was quite time consuming but after several hours of an oral test and flight test, I can now say that I am a certified pilot! It feels great to finally get to this stage after wanting to fly my entire life.

As for today, I got to sleep in, go to worship God at his house, take a nap, and ride motorcycle. There were several things that happened at church today, but one of them was fabulous! We had baptism and the younger kids are always invited up to witness the baptism. After that, they also sang a song for us. Well, they get lined up and about 3 or 4 of them were looking for mom and dad and upon finding them, their eyes lit up and started waving like crazy, saying, “Hey mom and dad, check this out! Look where I’m at!” As the song began, there were a couple of the kids that knew that song and they were going to sing it as loud as they could. Well, in doing so, they were off a little on the timing, but it was still awesome. It seems like we get so tied up in notes and rhythms and such sometimes, that we forget to worship and sing with all our hearts. I think we need a few more “messy” worship services.

For the rest of the day, we have Young People’s tonight and a meeting with Pastor Brown, so more good should be on the way.

Mornings

Lately, I have actually been enjoying my mornings. Sure, when that alarm goes off, all I want to do is role over and pull the covers tight over my face, especially now that the temperatures are dropping. It feels so good to stay in bed and feel the warmth and security.

Yet, lately, I have been enjoying my mornings a little more. When that alarm goes off and after pushing "snooze" a couple times, I sit up, say a little prayer to thank God for sleep and for a new day. The morning just feels like a new beginning. No matter what happened yesterday, it is in the past and now today, there are new things for God to use me to do and there are new tasks to be accomplished. There may have been sins and hard times the day before, but now, in the "new beginning," through God's grace, I am able to get up and join him once again in the war we are in.

I still love sleeping and don't like it too much when the alarm goes off, but the Lord definitely has pointed me more towards a positive outlook on the day; one of challenge and service.

Who knows? Maybe I'll start going to bed earlier so I can get to "tomorrow" faster.

Na... :)

I just got back from flying. Right now, I'm sitting outside, next to the grill as a few brats roast to perfection. The crickets are chirping as the light fades slowly with the falling sun. It is a beautiful evening!

Not a lot new has happened lately. At work, I finished putting trim and baseboard in one house and now I am moving to another one where the baseboard and trim will take much longer and probably be more frustrating, but it will look really nice when it's done. Hopefully.

Flying is going well. The end is near as I am within 5 hours and 3 tests from having my license. Stay tuned!

Here's a brief synopsis of what's going on...
Another church also approached me about doing a presentation on my trip last summer. It sounds like they would base their evening service around my talk, so we shall see what happens. Prison ministry continues to go well and one of the guys that I know is getting out next week. My church asked me to be a youth leader and I'm pretty sure I'll do that. Another church asked me to lead a young people's lesson. All in all, there are a lot of ways to serve and a lot of activities going on. Please pray for all those things.

That's about it. :)