August 19th, 2010
by timshorey
Hey folks–I know my blogging has been erratic of late, but it is with pretty good reason. There are seasons of church life in which both great joys and great needs conspire to create great ministry demands. We’re in such a season–and I don’t forsee it ending soon.
As I prayerfully watch over the flock entrusted to TFC’s pastoral team it’s clear to me that these next 6-12 months are going to be filled with intense labor. Marriages and familes need much help. The teaching diet of the church needs constant watchcare. Some folks are dabbling in errors with one degree of gravity or another. Others are stuck in resentments and fears and sin patterns. While we have many fine men and teenaged boys, there is a great need to light a fire of godly ambition under many of them–and this is going to take concerted effort.
Besides: I live in Nineveh.
Recently I heard that Toms River (with perhaps a couple of neighboring towns thrown in) is populated by 125,000 people, 123,000 of which make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ alone as Savior. God reminded me last evening that that 123, 000 number is biblically familiar: something like it is found in Jonah 4:11. God had pity on Nineveh and sent them a powerful witness because 120,000+ people there had no spiritual clue.
I live in Nineveh, and Nineveh calls. And along with all the pastoral callings I’ve cited above, I’ve got to do more to answer this one. I’ve been pleading with God in recent years for an ever-increasing burden for the pitiful state of the lost and for the glorious fame of Christ. He’s answering that prayer, and I must now act with ever-increasing zeal.
All this is to say that my blogging is going to be greatly reduced for the foreseeable future. I hope to do one per week this fall, one connected to TFC’s RMMR reading schedule through the Old Testament, providing once a week devotional reflections on a reading for that week. But beyond that it’ll be mostly silent for now.
In the meantime I remind you that you live in Nineveh too. We need more Jonahs.
Only make sure that your Jonah ministry has a bit more enthusiasm than his did!
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August 11th, 2010
by timshorey
God gives strength to the trusting weary in his time through Christ according to their need to do the remarkable.
My main point in my Friday PM message to the youth camp crowd.
See if you can see it from my text: Isaiah 40:28-31.
Pray that you can live it today.
Grace and peace.
Tim S.
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August 10th, 2010
by timshorey
Pray for the 28 TFCers (including me) who are headed to youth camp tomorrow AM. The theme for the week (Wednesday-Saturday) is: Being Satisfied with God.
The teens and their parents will receive eight messages in the next few days–all aiming to so dazzle our youth with the glory and goodness of God that they truly will want nothing besides him, no matter what.
What do you think: are you there yet?
Remember: contentment is not being satisfied with what you have; it’s being satisfied with Who you have whether you have anything else or not. And God is the only Who big enough to fill that role. Is God your enough?
I get to speak on the enoughness of God no matter what trials we may face. Having faced a fair measure of sorrow, I get to speak from the vantage of having tasted the soul-satisfying worth of God in the crucible of pain and sorrow.
Pray that all will feast on God and come home full.
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August 8th, 2010
by timshorey
Just a note to let you know that God met with his people in TFC this morning: stirring songs, heartfelt prayer, rich communion around the table, the opportunity to give freely from that which has been given to us, and Scott S’ great Word from God about God.
“We embrace not only the Word of God but the God of the Word.” That statement from Scott about said it all.
Two hours with God’s people: better than two years or decades anywhere else.
Simply true.
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August 7th, 2010
by timshorey
Let me offer two more brief words to help you get ready for tomorrow’s worship.
First, determine to go vertical without the fear of man. There is no escaping the fact that biblical worship was expressive and exuberant, a form of “spiritual letting loose of the soul”. From David’s example of almost reckless worship (which won the clear approval of God, though disapproval of man) to the repeated calls to sing and shout for joy, to clap, to dance, to kneel, to fall on the face, and to lift hands, it is clear that true worship must sooner or later go vertical with expressive exuberance or else something is missing. Folks: love God more than you fear man.
Second, horizontally, give others the benefit of the doubt. Don’t judge the unexpressive as being “dead” or the expressive as being “showy.” You cannot read hearts, so don’t try.
That said, we must all seek to worship God as he commands and commends in his Word. If we do, it will show up in loud singing, shining faces, manifestly glad hearts, and visible expressiveness.
Psalm 95:1-6
1Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Amen and Amen.
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August 5th, 2010
by timshorey
It’s one of those Bible ideas that gives me the jitters, but I cannot escape it, and cannot fail to teach it either: a pastor’s teaching saves his hearers. Shepherds are called to save, defend, protect, feed, and nourish their sheep (1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Acts 20:28), and the sheep are called to pay close attention–really close attention to what they say (Titus 2:15; James 1:19-21; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7, 17).
In a word or two: pastors are to labor hard in teaching the Word, and hearers are to labor just as hard in hearing what they say! How hard do you work at hearing your pastors’ teachings? With the Bereans as a model of how to hear (Acts 17:11) can I suggest a pattern of hearing for you to follow.
Again–as said yesterday–let’s distinguish between principle and application. Principle: give priority earnest attention to the teaching of your pastors. Application: develop your own diligent method of hearing your pastors that makes sure that what you hear gets into your spiritual bones and veins.
Here is a suggested process for you (BTW–every true pastor has walked through a process as least similar to this before he preaches or else he’s a hypocrite; if in preparing to preach the Word he is not processing that Word in such a way that it is seeping into his soul system and life, he’s a Pharisee (Matthew 23:1-4)).
That said I wonder if there are any out there who might experiment with something like this for six months and see the difference it makes for their souls:
- Step One–relisten to the message
- Step Two–look up every text referred to in the message, making sure as best you can that the texts used were used accurately by your pastor
- Step Three–draw conclusions about what was taught, putting main points into your own words, and listing the truths you’ve learned about God, life, gospel, sin, etc. from this message. Jot down any questions about the message that you need answers for.
- Step Four–ask the “Now what?” question: now what am I going to do with what I have learned? Pray for wisdom and grace to apply.
- Step Five–if you are a head of household take initiative to lead your family through at least the conclusions of your study
- Step Six–share what you have learned with at least one person.
- Step Seven–on Saturday night or early Sunday morning review the message and your conclusions/applications from the Sunday before to see if any of it has stuck.
This process might well begin on Sunday afternoon or evening, then be picked up again every day or every other day throughout the week.
Can I say this? I really do believe that for people to go on and listen to other teachers/preachers during the week before they have really paid attention in a way similar to this to their pastors is a big mistake. It is better to listen to one of your pastor’s messages really well than to listen to several preachers/teachers hurriedly and without a testing and application process firmly in place.
Any takers?
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August 4th, 2010
by timshorey
I hope you enjoyed your Lord’s Day this past Sunday. How good it always is to be with the people of God!
This week I want to give you a couple more suggestions to help you enjoy every Lord’s Day more fully. Hope you don’t mind as I turn theory into practice in this way. One thing about turning theory into practice is that we must be careful to distinguish between principle and application. That is: there are biblical principles (like Sunday/Sabbath rest and worship) that are to guide and govern us. But the actual application of the principle may vary from person to person and church to church.
What is permanent and universal is the principle: we must rest and worship on the Lord’s Day. What is quite possibly temporary and very much local and personal is how that principle is applied in a given life or family or church. While we must never disobey Bible principles we must never turn local and personal applications into absolutes.
I say all that because while I do believe that my recent teaching on the Lord’s Day included some very real absolute and timeless principles, my attempt here to make suggested applications is not to be read with anything like the same attention as should have been given to that teaching. These are just ideas, suggestions; recommended perhaps, but not required.
So with that distinction in mind, I give you another suggestion: Move your F.T.A. (Fixed Time of Arrival) ahead 5-20 minutes. This simple decision to arrive for worship early can make a huge difference in your readiness to worship in at least two ways: (1) It gives you time to greet your brothers and sisters, welcome guests, and thereby enjoy a few of the folks with whom you’re about to worship. This will enhance the horizontal dimension of the worship experience (such as is described in Ephesians 5:18-20). (2) It provides you with a few moments to pray and reflect as well. This will enhance the vertical dimension of the worship experience.
In recent months I’ve made sure to get there early enough to get all my prep done and to be at the door to greet people. This has prepared my heart for worship by connecting my heart with those with whom I am about to worship. It’s been sweet.
I think it’s a pretty sure thing that arriving at the last minute or even late is a hindrance to worship. Friends, lateness really is a matter of choice that can quite easily be fixed. But not being late is only the first step. Being on time will keep you from being hindered in worship, and that’s good. But actually aiming to be early will help you prepare for worship, and that’s even better.
Some food for thought.
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July 31st, 2010
by timshorey
As this Lord’s Day is near let me pick up our theme and encourage you on toward a better and more delightful use of this coming Sunday. I’d exhort you to prepare your mind, spirit and body before you arrive.
Too often believers arrive on Sundays without any due preparation beforehand. They hope to drop into their Sunday seats and be able to turn on the worship juices at the push of a button. It simply does not work that way. Passages like Psalm 15:1-5 and Psalm 24:3-6 and 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 and Matthew 5:23, 24 indicate that worship must be preceded by heart work, holiness work, and relationship work. Let me “acrosticize” for you today to give you seven preparation steps for Sunday worship:
- P-illow work (get good rest the night before). God calls us to love him with all our strength. We can hardly do that in worship–which is very tiring work when done right (you can’t sing loud, listen hard, focus mind, and feel all that you are doing with all your heart in worship without getting tired). If we do not get good rest the night before and are not body refreshed, we simply will not be able to love God with all our strength.
- R-estoration (confession and forgiveness cross-work). If we cherish sin in our hearts the Lord will not hear us (Psalm 66:18). Unconfessed and unrepented of sin keeps us from the blessing of God in prayer and worship. Confess your sins to God and plead the merits and work of Christ in your behalf before you arrive on Sundays. If you have known sin in your life that you either haven’t confessed or refuse to confess, then you have no assurance from God that you will be blessed in worship.
- E-nlightenment with truth (Bible and book reading, reflection on theology, sermon review/preview). Songs, sermons, and sacraments will be richer and deeper in impact if we have been filling our minds with God and gospel truth all week long. Review last week’s sermon either Saturday PM or Sunday AM early. Preview the message text for the coming Lord’s Day. Read books that fill you with big thoughts about God and humble thoughts about self.
- P-rayer (adoration, thanksgiving). Pray for a blessing this Lord’s Day. Pray for revival. Pray for manifestations of the Spirit. Pray that gifts and grace will come that will make us know that God is surely among us in this place. Pray for the preaching of the Word and the conversion of souls! Pray for your shepherds that they will feed and care for the sheep well this day.
- A-ttitude (come expectantly, cheerfully, humbly, with a willing and submissive heart). Let’s see the Lord’s Day as being a day on which he does epic things–and expect him to do so. Look for power from on high. Expect the Spirit to fall and fill. In meekness be ready to listen and slow to respond in disagreement or anger (James 1:19-21).
- R-econciliation (with others). Do not come to the worship of God or communion meal without having done all in your power to be at peace with all your brothers and sisters in Christ. That is the point of the Matthew and 1 Corinthians texts cited above. If we say we love God (in worship) but do not love our brother, how can the love of God be in us (1 John 4:20)? If you know you have not done all you can do to be at peace and in fully restored brotherly/sisterly love with all in your local church with whom you may have had offence, then you are not prepared to worship and you will not be fully blessed.
- E-xultation (use good, rousing music to prepare). It is good to sing and worship privately before you do so publicly and congregationally. Get some good music CDs and use them for Sunday worship preparation. Get CDs that have the songs your church uses a lot and listen to them so much that they are absorbed into your soul! Then when you come on Sundays you will more easily enter fully into the worship. The God-given point of music is to stir spiritual affections and emotions. Light the fire folks! Stir the embers and ignite even before you arrive.
Now may the Lord bless and ignite our souls for this Sunday’s congregational experience in the presence of the holy and happy God; to him be glory now and forevermore. Amen.
Posted in Christian Life, Church, Worship | 1 Comment »
July 30th, 2010
by timshorey
Breaking from my series for the day, I want simply to say thanks to and for my beloved bride. Thiry-five years ago yesterday, I asked her to consider pursuing a relationship with me, and even though we were young (she 17, me 16) and lived far apart (2 1/2 hours) and the odds seemed great (what were the “chances” it’d work out?), she consented. Thanks hon hon for daring to try.
Not being interested in just dating or having a girlfriend, this was for me a momentous day: I had a good idea that I had found my wife. And I had. Indeed, she found me–that is to say: God made her for me, prepared her before she even knew me, brought her to me, gave her to me, and has kept her for me. Other than the gift of God’s Son to be my Savior, the gift of Gayline V. Fuller to be my bride is, of all life’s treasures, the dearest to me.
Recently we visited where we met 35 years ago and I came home with the very bench on which I was sitting when I first spoke with her. Soon it’ll be freshly fixed aand painted and then placed very visibly in my back yard.
You ask “why?” Because any gift as precious as my wife is worth being reminded of and cherished any way possible. Ours is a 35 year love story, and that bench will remind me for the rest of life where it all began.
Please know that all of us are part of a love story. All of us who have faith in Jesus are loved by Jesus: personally, tenderly, affectionately, happily, deeply, sacrificially, with singing joy. He’s our Husband, we’re the Bride. And this love story began, not a mere 35 years ago, but before time. And it will never end. O may we all live in the love of Jesus today.
Posted in Marriage | 8 Comments »
July 29th, 2010
by timshorey
Among other activities of the Lord’s Day is the opportunity to hear the Word of God preached by shepherds appointed by God to feed and care for the sheep of God. This is part of what makes the Lord’s Day the Lord’s: we come together to hear the Shepherd-Lord speak through his appointed under-shepherds.
Sundays are days in which the ministry of the Word as prepared by pastors (mediated through pastorally prepared song, meditation and sermon) are provided by the Lord for the nourishment of his church. But too often the impact of the ministry of the Lord’s Word is lost (or at least greatly reduced) because people fail to guard the day against intrusions that negate its effects upon their lives.
In Luke 8:13, 14 our Lord identifies thorns which choke out the ministry of the Word of God in our hearts. These are things which cause God’s Word sown through preaching and study to bear no fruit. They are:
- the cares of this life
- the riches of this life
- the pleasures of this life
Of course Jesus is speaking here of lifestyles and life-pursuits which make the Word of God of none effect in human lives. But if it is true that these things choke out the Word in an entire life, it is also true that they may choke it out on any given Sunday. One reason why so many sermons have so little effect on us is because we do not guard our Sundays from the cares, riches and pleasures of this life. We allow for and even plan for the very things that choke God’s Word!
How cluttered are your Sundays? Other than the fact that you go to church in the morning, would people be able to discern that in any other significant way your Lord’s Day is truly the Lord’s? We need to realize that a Sunday cluttered with cares, pleasures and riches (or the things riches can buy) ceases to be the Lord’s and becomes ours. And it will be a Sunday lost. The Word will not bear fruit because weeds have been allowed to choke the life out of it.
Here’s today’s how-to-enjoy-the-Lord’s-day-more-fully tip: Sanctify the Lord’s Day as the Lord’s. Keep your Sundays simple and uncluttered. Do all in your power to plan only events and activities that will allow you to water and nourish the Word sown in the morning. With special urgency, pull the weeds of life’s cares, treasures and pleasures on the Lord’s day, so that your mind/heart may be as undistracted, unhindered, and unencumbered as is possible.
Too much planned for Sundays will result in too little gained on Sundays. Never let your Sundays get so full that when you get to the end of them, you’ve forgotten they were Sundays. And make sure that you plan and pursue time alone and with your family and/or Christian friends in which you can review and figure out (with prayer) how you’re going to apply the Word provided by the Lord through his servants that day.
Check out your calendar. Guard your Sundays. Function with the K.I.S.S. principle (keep it simple saints) in mind. Do all you can to move the extra and the unnecessary off the Sunday calendar, and move in the quiet , the reflective, the intentionally spiritually focused. I’m guessing your soul will be happy you did.
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