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

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

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

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

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?

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

August 6 2009

Greetings,

Currently my life like the rest of the world is in disarray. I've been out of work for several months and my family life sucks as well. But is life has taught me anything, nothing stays the same. So I know brighter days lay ahead. One good thing on the horizon, it's almost time for the football season to start... and Sons of Anarchy is coming back on in Sept.

I did go for a job interview yesterday for the Beaufort county school district. They are looking for 4 IT desktop support people. I think the interview went well. We are supposed to know for sure by this Friday. I've still been driving Limos for a good friend of mine, but there has not been much work. This is the slowest time of the year for them.

I watched Rescue Me last night (love that show). This one was a good one... the scene at the end between Tommy and Sheila was freaking HOT! No sex or anything, just the way she was explaining her attraction to him was... WOW!! Doesn't hurt that she is one hot lady! If you've not seen the show, take a Tuesday evening and watch it... It's for sure one of the better shows on the tube. "Tube", lol... can't call them a tube anymore can we... tubes are long gone from TV sets.

Peace out!!
Tim