What does it mean to be refreshed? The dictionary says, "to make one stronger and more energetic than before, to revive or stimulate, to become fresh again." That is a great description of how I feel after a week to focus on the Word of God and its application to my life and ministry. Last week I had an opportunity to attend Faith Baptist Church's Biblical Counseling conference for the fourth year in a row and I feel as though my soul is alive again. I began the week empty and tired and I ended the week with my soul satisfied and overflowing with gratitude and worship of our great God. In other words, you could say I have been refreshed. I only wish more people could experience this kind of week. A week without distractions. A week to focus my attention on my relationship with God and His Word. Oh wait! You can! Again this year we are planning to provide scholarships for people to attend this conference and others like it. So you too can be 'refreshed' and better serve the Savior and those around you. Would you consider spending a week purely focusing on your relationship with the Lord and your ministry in the lives of others and attend this conference with me next year? Perhaps you will be able to say as I am, "I have been refreshed."
Sam and I had a great week at Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette...except for the 17 inches of snow :) Yes, I said 17. I'll even spell it out because it's such a huge number: S E V E N T E E N.
The funny part is everyone knew "The Storm" was on its way. By Tuesday, the screen that usually scrolled conference announcements just had the television station's radar. Our evening session Tuesday was moved up so we didn't have to make two trips to the church (who needs dinner break anyway? :) All the prepared people (not your CBC pastors of course :) had made that last trip to the grocery store where they grabbed anything they could possibly need for the next 20 years while they were snowed in. "The Storm" was coming.
(Cue scary, dramatic music).
Getting to the church Tuesday morning wasn't a big problem. We had already gotten about 4 inches overnight, but we allowed extra time to get from the hotel to the church. After that, though, it was pretty surreal looking out the windows and seeing it snow for 12 straight hours or so. Basically, Lafayette got an inch of snow every hour all day long. By the time the conference finished at 6:30, we were officially "Blizzard Central". The good news is our vehicle was able to navigate the snowy terrain successfully and safely. There were some cars in the parking lot when we left that weren't going anywhere for a while (the two-foot drifts around them might have had something to do with that). The bad news is that Tippecanoe County was in a snow emergency and almost every place to eat dinner on Route 26 (think Bechtle Ave. times three or four...any restaurant you can imagine) was deserted. We were finally able to find a nice restaurant called Mountain Jack's and ate there before venturing back to our hotel. And that was the snow day. (We actually heard stories later about a bunch of conference guests that had gone to Cracker Barrel; the restaurant was so short-staffed that the guests pitched in and started working. "And what would you like for dinner, sir?")
ANYWAY...outside of that little weather situation, we did have a great week. I learned so much from God's Word, and really enjoyed the time to study and learn. Thanks to those of you who were praying for us.
The Biblical counseling program at Faith is built around two important doctrines: progressive sanctification (we should be growing and changing to become more like Christ) and the sufficiency of Scripture. The teachers at the conference did a great job, in my opinion, of building all their material and instruction on that foundation. I realized how many times I don't live or think like the Bible is sufficient for all of life's situations and problems...it's so easy to fall into the habit of thinking and acting just like the world! My project today is to go back through pages of notes and summarize for myself some of the main things I learned. If any of you are able to go to the conference next year, I highly recommend it.
I also really enjoyed the chance to participate in a worship service I wasn't leading on Sunday...okay, two worship services! We went to the early service and Sunday School time at Faith, which meant we were done by 10:30. After that, we headed down the road to a different church where one of my friends from Cedarville is the music director, and made it just in time for their 10:45 service. What a great day of worshipping the Lord!
And finally...for your reading pleasure... Here's a few other random goofy thoughts from the week (I don't think I can write a blog post without some randomness).
It's hard to walk down a "sidewalk" when it's covered by 17 inches of snow.
It's always frustrating when you tell the Pizza Hut worker "carryout", show up to get your pizza, and find out they delivered it to your hotel.
Every church should have a pop machine :) Listening to 1400 voices praising God together is awesome.
Sitting through 9 hours of class a day, even with great material, can be hard and mentally taxing. Sam and I would go to dinner and spend most of the time just trying to figure out and understand what we had heard all day. If you were there, you could have seen the smoke rising from our heads...that's how much knowledge was packed in during a short amount of time! :)
Here's the latest update from Pastor Tim's world...I've divided it into "looking back" and "looking ahead"...for purposes of simplicity :)
1. LOOKING BACK...
BacktheJackets.com I spent this past Saturday at Cedarville University watching basketball. Four games, as a matter of fact...two alumni games and two varsity games. Molly played in the ladies' alumni game and was a smashing success (translation: did not get hurt or fall down :). The CU men's and women's teams both won in the evening also, so it was a good day. Afterwards, we went out to eat with a bunch of friends from the "good ole college days". Hanging out with alumni definitely makes me feel old ("do you remember when...?), but we had a great time together! Super Bowl commercials After church on Sunday night, we had our small group over to the house to watch the Super Bowl...good times, not so good commercials. As someone who enjoys watching lots of sports on TV, I always look forward to the one time a year when the commercials are new and funny, but this year's were a bit of a letdown. A few I did enjoy: the "No hablo Ingles" and "face-slapping replaced fist-pumping".
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... Molly and I have had the added bonus of some extra time together this week, courtesy of two straight snow days for Northwestern Public Schools. I juggled my work schedule a bit so I could spend some extra time at home with her during those days, and we really enjoyed being able to relax together. (I owned the Phase 10 competition, by the way... :)
2. LOOKING AHEAD
The blog will be a little slower next week as Sam and I head to Lafayette for a Biblical counseling conference. We'll be gone Saturday - Friday, along with Johnathon and Crystal Bowers. I hope you all have a good Sunday morning here, and I look forward to seeing you when we get back!
The chorus of a song by Christian music artist Wayne Watson goes, "I'm growing and I don't like it; I'm growing and it hurts. I'm tired, but I love You; I guess I got a lot to learn; I guess I got a lot to learn." As I have been studying the holiness of God this week, I have felt a little bit like the prophet Isaiah when he was given a vision of the Lord high and lifted up. Isaiah immediately pronounced a woe upon himself. Being in the presence of a thrice holy God as revealed in Scripture has been extremely humbling. It has been a painful purging and growing experience. The penetrating rays of God's blazing holiness have exposed pockets of sin and disobedience in my life. This is painful. No one likes to see their ugly parts, but they must be exposed to the light of God's holiness if they are to be cleansed and purged. It is like salt in a wound; it stings at first, but what follows is the joy that comes from sweet fruit of righteousness. Above all, it has made me flee to and embrace the cross of Jesus Christ more fervently and with greater joy. Our sin has been dealt with once and for all in the death of Jesus. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our filthy rags have been covered over with the robes of His righteousness! So, in the end it is a pain that is filled with great joy!
As part of this year's Most Wanted List campaign, we're hoping to invite 1,000 friends to attend our Christmas program, The Richest Family in Town, in the 1,000 hours before the first performance. You can find more information about our production at: SpringfieldChristmas.com
What does it mean to be refreshed?
