Sunday, September 12, 2010
A friend of mine Greg Rohlinger texted me a word of encouragement this morning. He told me that he was up early and was praying for me and the ministry I lead. He wrote, “My prayer is that today is a game changer for Timberlake Church.” God answered his prayer.
We had more people baptized today than we ever had before and more people attend today than ever before, (except on Easter). Also, we had a huge number of people make spiritual “next step” decisions to either accept Christ, get involved in ministry or a small group. I had conversations with a number of people who were surprised to find themselves in a church and even more surpised to be enjoying it!
I am so thankful for the hard working team of staff and volunteers at Timberlake and for God’s grace to bless our efforts to Honor Him.
I just I received and e-mail from a man who I have been talking to about in the last few weeks at Timberlake. He comes from a very secular background but has been exploring Christian Faith. Here is what he wrote.
Ben,
I realize I need guidance and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. I’m accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. He gave His life so I could have eternal fellowship with God. How could I not accept such a gift. Thank you for the personal attention you gave me. Below is my declaration of faith and prayer for salvation:
DECLARATION OF FAITH
The basis for my belief is the Bible, which is inspired by God, and the final authority on all matters on which it speaks. As the Bible teaches, there is only one God and only one Son of God.
God created me to have fellowship with Him, yet I’ve been living a life of sin. Salvation comes only through God’s grace, not my own effort. Therefore, I need God’s saving grace to end my separation from Him. I must receive it personally by repentance and faith.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, lived a sinless life on earth and voluntarily paid for my sins by dying on the cross. And now by my repentance and trust in Jesus, I receive God’s grace and salvation. I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. He is my path to God. He rose from the dead and ascended to His Father’s side. He will return to pass final judgment.
The Holy Spirit guides me by God’s love, gives me the gift of wisdom, and enables me to experience personal growth as I live with the purpose to glorify God. At the end, I will be resurrected and judged. As a believer, I will enjoy eternal fellowship with God.
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I can not think of a better way to end my day than with this e-mail.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Today I got two e-mails, (actually, a lot more than that), but two that were of a personal nature. One was of a person who gave great encouragement and one that was less that encouraging. So now I face a choice.
As I go to bed tonight I am faced with a choice, what will be the center of my thoughts and attention. I choose the encouragement of a friend and the encouragement of God’s Word. My hope is that you will choose the same.
I have not been good about writing this summer and for good reason. I have been kayaking, hiking, going on vacation and having a great time. (I also have been making it to church on the weekends :).
My hope you have been having a great summer as well. During what should be a “down time” at church, God has been up to amazing things at Timberlake church.
We have seen over a hundred new individuals and families check out Timberlake and come back again, getting connected at the church in Redmond. The Ballard Campus continues to grow. Our youth and Children’s ministry are taking off in a huge way that we have prayed for, worked for and are now seeing explosive growth and life change. Dozens of people have come into a first time relationship with Christ.
In the next few days and weeks I am going to be giving some more specific updates, share some plans and some of what God has been revealing to me and the church in terms of our next steps. Thanks for continuing to take your Next Right Step with Christ, to reach out and create a great place where people can have an authentic encounter with God and no one stands alone.
This week join us for a new series at Timberlake.
Now this is the kind of post you are going to want to read to the very end.
We all have great hopes for friendships and relationships with family. In the book of Micah we are reminded how difficult it is when those hopes are dashed. Often when this happens to us we are surprised and disappointed (rightfully so). Micah makes this stark statement, the kind of statement that is born out of pain and betrayal. “…Put no confidence in a friend.” Micah 7:5 (NIV) Ouch, how many of us have learned that the hard way.
Now does this mean we give up on people, not most of them. (There are some that are better to keep at arms length …or further.) This is the exception.
Actually the key to negotiating these tough realities is making sure we have our hope in the right place. I do not mean to sound trite. It is a simple truth. A former pastor of mine said that God made this statement – trust God and love people. He said we often do the opposite and so end up disappointed and in a place where we do neither.
Have you found yourself in that place? Micah gives us this much needed redirect. The kind that will help us Trust God and Love people.
“Best as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7 (NIV)
Tonight I was driving back from a conference where Timberlake Church was highlighted in many ways. I was thankful for God’s blessing and humbled that God would use people like us to make a big difference. I am so thankful for the team I get to serve with and the ministry of which God has allowed me to be a part. I am so glad for the scripture that says “God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” I Cor. 1:27 (NIV) As long as he keeps to those standards I am sure to be qualified.
I don’t know about you, but I am surprised that God uses me. I don’t have incredibly low self esteem; I just think sometimes that he has better people, (or should have). Yet, here is a truth that humbles me that God is using you and me for people to come to know and then grow in Jesus Christ. God is using you and me to change lives.
As I think about how God has used us, (what I often write about), I can’t help but think about how He wants to use us moving ahead. Part of it we know, part of it is yet to be revealed.
We do know that God wants us to continue to be a church that says “Yes” to him. To be a church that is driven by grace and faith, not fear and guilt. To be a church where people grow in their faith. To be about people, more than programs. To be a place where No One Stands Alone.
Thank you for being on this journey with me as we grow together in our faith, our impact and our love for God’s people and purposes.
Timberlake is one church. We have unified leadership, vision, mission and service content and style. However, this one church takes place in several locations.
Redmond
We have just come through an amazing season at our Redmond campus. In the last couple months we have seen another wave of new people come to the church. In addition our preschool has opened and started to really take off. And more importantly we have had an incredible stream of stories of life change.
Ballard
I know that I have not talked much about the Ballard campus lately, but is doing great. Trent Meng is our campus pastor and he is doing a great job leading this church campus. There was a strong core group of people at the church when Trent arrived which has more than doubled in the last 8 weeks. We are also looking to launch a preschool at this campus in the fall.
Online Campus
We have a good news, bad news, good news problem with our online campus. The good news is we have seen more and more people join us for church online. The bad news is it has overloaded our current capabilities from time to time. The Good news (again) is that we are going to complete a significant upgrade within a month or so. Check us out this week, and then check us out again with the new and improved online campus.
A Second Eastside Campus
For those of you who are part of Timberlake or friends of Timberlake, you have heard that we are in the planning phase for a second Eastside Campus. We are getting close to a hiring a campus pastor and will be annoucing the location this summer. This is an exciting adventure an increasingly obvious next step for Timberlake Church.
Ok, here is the deal. My wife and oldest daughter decided that they were going to do a 30 day cleanse program. Before I knew what I was getting into I said, hey I will do that with you. This was to show solidarity and support (ok ladies, I can hear the applause now). It was also to be a provide a cautionary tale for those of you who commit before you know what you are getting into, like me.
Seriously it is a healthy eating plan where you rid your body of most sugars, red meat, caffeine and all the other things that might bring joy to your life :). Seriously, it is about getting rid of the foods that can be destructive, so you can add in those that will build you up.
Ok, you can here the pastor speak coming, so here it is. How much time do you and I spend doing those things that will simply get us by, but not build us up? For me it is a lot. I would encourage you (and me) to spend some time focusing on building your faith, your relationships, your life in this season. If not now, when.
Maybe, there is something that needs to be cleansed before you add that good thing that God wants to build into your life. Don’t do this without the help of God, His Spirit and some supportive friends.
Ok, enough for now, I need to eat some tofu.
