Legislating the poor

“Friend, you cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. And what one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government can’t give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody. And when half of the people get the idea they don’t have to work because the other half’s going to take care of them, and when the other half get the idea it does no good to work because somebody’s going to get what I work for. That, dear friend, is about the end of any nation.” -Adrian Rogers

Would you die for a lie?

Think about it… would you die for a lie? I know the majority of people are looking for physical evidence to confirm their faith… That is not what faith is about. For me God is not about physical evidence (although that evidence is all around), it’s about what I know. I know God is real… it’s like what they say… I know what I know. Scripture calls this “His spirit indwelling in us”.

As technology has increased and our access to information is now instant, we no longer listen to our hearts. With that change, humans are living less on faith, and more on self.  You take the human heart out of the equation and you lose compassion. There is no such thing as a Christian without compassion.
We have to find a way to continue to make our experiences real. Watching a video online of homeless man sleeping in the gutter has far less impact on us than if we meet this person on the street.

That’s why it is so important for churches to reach out in their communities. Send out individual groups to meet and talk to those who are not as fortunate. If you are a member of a church that has no community outreach, I challenge you to find another church that lives out the gospel message, not just talk about it.

The majority of the apostles died a martyr’s death. Not only did they die for their faith, but the way they died. Some of the most inhuman ways to die were they subjected to. Think about this, if you were nailed to a cross, upside down, and given the chance to live if you only confessed that Jesus was a lie and renounced your faith. You are not going to die for a lie, let along the kind of death these men were subjected to.

Just some thoughts… Hope everyone has a great Sunday. Blessings to you all.

Tim

Happy Easter

To all my family and friends I want to wish you a wonderful Easter. I was thinking about the empty tomb and how skeptics say there is no proof of Christ’s resurrection. There is plenty of proof; they’re just not looking in the right place. For me, I don’t need any proof, I know what I know and you can’t explain that.  If I had to point to one thing it would be the apostles. After His Jesus death on the cross, the very same men who had just spent the pretty much every minute or every day with Christ for the last 3 years were not only mourning but in total fear for their own lives. They were all in hiding, waiting and watching, fearing to show their faces in public. After the resurrection, that all changed. No longer were these men afraid for their lives. They went out in public proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ with boldness. What changed them? You certainly are not going to freely give up your own life for a lie or a scam. What these men encountered that so radically changed their entire thought process and motivation was the risen Lord Himself.

Happy Easter! If you know the risen Lord, may this day be one of celebration and joy. If you don’t know Him, may the Holy Spirit shine His light of love and acceptance in your heart. 

New direction

After a lifetime of testing, trials and prayer, I’m moving forward and starting a church. The Lord planted this seed in me some time ago, and everything is coming together now according to His plan.

The vision the Lord has given me is one of the first century church.

We will be Christ centered, teaching straight from the word of God.  We are a non-denominational church and welcome anyone.

Our model will be… "UP" (reaching up to God in worship and prayer)… "IN" (Serving one another and meeting the needs of the body) and "OUT" (Reaching out to the local community and abroad through our mission programs).

I will be updating our website over the next few days to include more information. For now we will be meeting at our house Wednesday evenings from 7:00pm – 8:30pm starting April 13th.

Please keep us in your prayers. Anytime you try to expand the Kingdom of God you can expect great resistance from the enemy. Thank you and may God bless and keep you always.

Tim

Urgent help

I received an urgent message yesterday from our pastor in Kenya. His wife (Lydia) went to the hospital last night with stomach problems. She has had a growth in her stomach for some time now, but they have never had the money to have the growth removed. She was in great pain yesterday and went to the hospital. They have no money to have the surgery done, the hospital told them they will go ahead and remove the tumor for 12000 shillings ($150.00 US dollars).  Pastor Barasa Moses has asked for help paying for the surgery. We have some extra to give, but not enough to cover it all. Any donation amount would be greatly appreciated. If you are not able to donate, then please lift Pastor Barasa and his wife Lydia up in prayer.

Thank you and God bless,

Tim

Self

No one really wants to follow Christ do they? I mean think about it. A life of total self-abandonment. Forsaking all for Christ and the Kingdom of God. Caring more about others than yourself.  Literally giving all you earn to the poor and trusting in God to meet all your needs. Boldly sharing the gospel with everyone you meet, even if it costs you your life.

Mark 8:34-38, Matthew 16:24-27, Luke 9:23

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

During the time of Christ, the cross was the symbol of a tortuous death, not the view of the cross we have today, this cherished symbol of atonement. Christ always talked about the cost of following him. I don’t take the verse as being literal, meaning to take up the cross and physically die, although if you truly follow Christ that may be the ultimate price you pay. I believe Christ is talking about dying to self in order to truly live.

One of my all time favorite scriptures gives the perfect example of what Christ is talking about.

John 12:24 “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds”.
And that is the ultimate purpose isn’t it, to produce seeds.

Dying to ones self, that totally goes against everything we are as humans, especially in our super size me society. That makes the idea of self-denial all the harder. But the cost of following Christ is so worth it, so rewarding, not only in this life, but the one to follow. From what I witnessed when my son passed away, there is no doubt in my mind that there is an afterlife. That’s for another story.

Please don’t get me wrong, when I write these things, I’m writing to myself as well. Just things on my heart that I like to share.

Blessings to you all,

Tim

Yard of hell

‎"Christ wants not nibblers of the possible but grabbers of the impossible. Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bells. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell" ~C.T. Studd

Please read

Our dear pastor and friend in Uganda is asking for our help. He has exhausted all his financial resources serving the church and now faces eviction from his home. Follow this link to find out how you can help more...
http://www.anchorholdsministries.org/news_help.html 

Thank you and may God bless you,
Tim

John Lennon

Today December 8^th 2010 is the 30^th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder. I miss John Lennon! I know, I know, all you card carrying Christians are screaming foul right about now… but hear me out. Yes, John did not believe in a God in the same way we do. But there are allot of Christians out there who could learn a few things from John.  What made John so special? He was a doer! He saw a wrong and would do everything he could to make it right. Social injustice (which we in America are going to be experiencing more of), the rights of all mankind, the true cost of war and that love is really all you need.  Now granted, the love John spoke of was not the same as John 3:16, but a love never-the-less that put your own life above another’s… sound familiar.

We have many shining examples of doers just like John, George Clooney comes to mind. With all his riches and fame, he values the lives of those who are not able to take care of themselves more than his own. Bono is another, Bill and Malinda Gates are another. They use not only their money but the fame as well to bring the spotlight to a desperate need.

We may not have the money or the fame, but there is still so much we can do. God has given each of us a gift/talent for His glory. By helping our fellow man where ever he is and what ever condition he is in. we bring glory to the father in Jesus name. After all, Christ is our model, and He gave all for us, should we give any less for Him.

Peace,
Tim

WAKE UP CHURCH!!!

Amazing show!

Greetings all,

Last night on CNN they had their annual "Heroes" show. Wow!! Some truly amazing and selfless people serving humanity. Here is one of the people who was up for the award.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01/cnnheroes.krishnan.hunger/
Not that any of them want to be honored, but this show does present a great way for them to collect more donations for their cause. The nominees get $10,000.00 and the winner get's $100,000.00 for their cause.

Take a moment and watch the videos... you will be inspired and blessed.

God bless,
Tim

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving is a special one for me. After about 12 years of wondering, I’m finally back where I belong. The last 12 years of my life have been a real trial. The highs and lows were some of the most extreme I’ve ever experienced.  God stretched me, put me in the fires, rolled me in the dirt, and like the ant on the hill, put me under the magnified glass until I started smoking. All of His trials and testing’s left me feeling abounded by Him. At one point I even questioned His existence. All of this culminated in December 2009 when my family and I had to sell everything we owned, I mean everything. We left in our car with only our clothes and important papers. Thanks to some loving family members who opened up their home to us, we were able to move back from the place we had left 12 years earlier. I had a job waiting for me when we arrived, so after a couple of months we were able to get our own place.

The point I want to get to is, everything we went through was part of Gods plan. He had to bring us to a place of total submission. Causing us to depend on Him for everything, even where our next meal was going to come from. Looking back now, I would not change one thing. Everything we went through, God bringing us to that point of total dependence on Him has made me the man that I have longed to be. A servant of the Most High God.

So this Thanksgiving is truly my best one ever. Another one of the things I’m so thankful for is, after almost a year of praying and waiting on the Lord, the job that I have been praying for came through. You see the job that I did have was 50 miles away. The hours at work, the drive times, all left me drained at the end of the day. So I had little energy to focus on the ministry we started (www.anchorholdsministries.org). Starting this Monday I will be working for Apple Inc, and the best part is I’ll be working from home. Now I will have so much more time to focus on our ministry, thank you Lord God. I’m also so very thankful to be back home near family again. I’m thankful for our car and that it’s still running. We have just one car, and we’ve put a boat load of miles on it. Every day the car starts up and gets us where we need to be… Thank you Lord!

This last year has been an amazing one, and I’m so grateful that God put us through everything He did. I could not have become a man that He can use if were not for the trials we endured.

I encourage you; if you’re going through some tough times, hang in there. Remember, God is in control; He loves you and wants only the best for you. The sooner you let go of self, the better.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May God bless and keep you always,
Tim

I know

Greetings,

Here is is, just a few days away from Thanksgiving Day. Sorry I've not been posting here much. The job that I have keeps me so busy and takes up so much of my time that by the time I get home I'm exhausted and don't really want to do anything but crash on the couch and rest. All that is about to change though. Last week I was hired by Apple Inc in a tech support role. The really cool part is I will be working from home. So I will have so much more time to work on our ministry and post some good blogs.

I'm hoping with the extra time that I'll now be able to hold some home bible studies. I have all the curriculum to do the six week study course on "The Hole in our Gospel". I think it's an amazing book that has so much to offer many Christians. I also want to spend more time at our local Rescue Mission... the number of homeless is growing everyday, and it's only going to get worse.

Keep up the good work. May God bless and keep you always.
Tim

Homeless Prayer

Awesome blog post....

The Homeless Prayer

What are you listening for?

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

An Indian was walking in downtown New York City alongside a resident friend. As they approached a busy street corner in the center of Manhattan, the Indian seized his friend's arm and whispered, "Wait. I hear a cricket." "Come on!", the city boy sneered, "This is downtown New York -- how could you possibly hear a cricket?" His friend persisted however, "No - seriously, I do!"

As cars were roaring, horns honking, people shouting, brakes screeching, cash registers clanging, subway clamoring and people bustling about, the Indian began leading his friend along slowly, every now and again stopping and turning his ear toward the seemingly noiseless sound. At last, the Indian insisted they were near and proceeded to follow the sound across the street and toward a small dark corner next to a graffiti covered wall. There, he bent down to a miniscule tuft of grass and pulled out the cricket. "I told, you", he said, "I heard a cricket."

Astounded, the New Yorker marveled "How could you have heard that cricket in the middle of all this noise?" "Well", said his foreign friend, "My ears are different from yours. It simply depends on what you're listening to. Here, let me show you what I mean." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change --a couple of quarters, three or four nickels, and a dime and a few pennies. "Now," he said, "watch this." He held the coins waist high and dropped them to the sidewalk. At once, every head within nearly a block turned around and looked in the direction of the Indian.

"You see, It all depends on what you're listening to."

To what sounds are our ears trained to listen? Are they trained to hear the sound of money, of gossip, of complaining, of worldly things or are they trained to hear the still small voice of the Most High, directing and advising us in the way we should go?

Help keep them warm

The weather here today has taken a definite turn for the colder. With that, we need to remember the less fortunate in our communities, especially in the northern states where winter months can be brutal. With that, let's all go through our closets and dresser drawers to find the clothes we no longer need or wear. This winter will see more homeless in our country than ever before. Lets be Christ like and help take care of the less fortunate. Contact your local mission and find out ways you can help... and don't forget the warm clothes.

May God bless and keep you always,
Tim

http://www.anchorholdsministries.org

tim@anchorholdsministries.org

Our plans

"I believe the Western church is generally in the same condition as Martha. You know the truths about God’s Word in your head, but you still like to run your own lives. Like Martha, many Christians cry out, “Lord, if you had just done things according to our plans, we would never have ended up in such a mess.”

Friend, you need to realize that God is not at all interested in your plans. He is only interested in His plans! So many churches and individual believers think they should make their own plans and strategies, then ask God to bless them.

The almighty God is not our servant! He does not do what we tell Him to do.Many Christians need to climb down from the throne they have built for themselves, fall on their faces before God and do whatever the Master tells them to do."

From “Living Water” by Brother Yun

Warrior

I am a warrior in the army of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer. The Holy Bible is my code of conduct. Faith, Prayer, and the Word are my weapons of Warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity, and tested by fire. I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this Army or die in this Army; but, I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable, and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. I am a warrior. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up. I am a warrior. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me. I am a warrior. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His kingdom! No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy, or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit. When Jesus called me into this Army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out even. I will win. My God will supply all my needs. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. Devils cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me, and hell cannot handle me! I am a warrior. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to a captain. I am a warrior, in the Army; I’m marching, and claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not turn around. I am a warrior, marching Heaven bound. There are four kinds of soldiers: 1. Active Duty: Serving the Lord faithfully, daily, and on duty 24-7-365.2. Reserve Status: Serving only when called upon, or twice a year: Christmas and Easter.3. Guard Status: Backing up the Active Duty group.4. AWOL! Absent With Out the Lord. Which kind are you?

Sept 8, 2010

I normally try and stay away from criticizing how or what other pastors/teachers are preaching or teaching. But this week pastor Terry Jones has crossed the line. If you don't know, pastor Jones is planning on burning copies of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. Now it's bad enough that this man claims to be a Christian, but if he follows through with his promise he will be placing thousand of American lives in danger... he will be literally stirring up a hornets nest. The repercussions from this act of ignorance will go on for a long time... and lives are going to be lost.

Please know that this man in no way represents Jesus Christ and His church. Matthew 7:15,16 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them."

God bless,
Tim

Wrestling with God

Greetings,

Well I’m finally through! I can no longer do it… I can no longer wrestle with God. You see for years now I’ve been on the outside looking in. From the time I was 12 years of age when my friends and I would go see the movie Jesus Christ Superstar, I’ve known what my calling in life was, but thanks to the lie, I’ve followed through with my calling till now. I do have one huge sin that I have to confess to though. You see, for most of my life I have allowed Satan to convince me that I was not good enough to be a pastor/teacher. So I’ve always been on the outside looking in. Even though I know the truth, that Christ paid the price for my sins, I still felt the “not worthy” thing (I know... I know... none of us are worthy). But over the last couple of years, the tugging at my heart, the desires of my heart to serve God have all been magnified 100 times over. The best way to describe the last couple of years has been “I’ve been wrestling with God”. I’ll tell you what; you’ll truly know when you are wrestling with Him… I’ve never been so tired emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically. I had to surrender all, He will not stop, and He is relentless in His pursuit. God will never force you to do something, but He is sure to make His will known.

I already have a website (www.anchorholdsministries.org) from where I share things about Christ and what He expects from us. My site also helps promote other Christian sites and followers of Christ and the ministries they have. After some time of serious prayer I will start a small home bible study group. From there, that is all up to the Lord.

One of the reasons I have been so reluctant all these years is I didn’t think anyone would come to a church that I started. I’ve felt for years now that the true message Christ taught has been watered down. But there is a movement in the Spirit building and more and more people are hungry for the real truth. It is all coming together in God’s timeline.

Please keep me in your prayers and the direction God would have me go. May God bless and keep you always.
Tim