Timothy's Thoughts

I love the way God works. At our church, I work with the Awana boys in the 3rd through 6th grade. This year, we’ve been down in attendance because we quit running the van. We decided to try focusing on those who wanted to come rather than including those who just wanted to ride the van to get away from home. We’ve had nights this year when we’ve had more male leaders than we’ve had male clubbers. I’ll admit, I’ve been down about the turnout. Well, last week was our spring revival services. Each year, on Wednesday, we combine Awana with the revival. This time, we did handbook time as usual and then took the kids down to sit in the auditorium. Dr. Philip Attebery, dean of the BMA Theological Seminary brought the message. As I listened to the message, I was thrilled. It was the kind of sermon I like to hear. It headed off into some somewhat deep concepts and he got into the means of some of the Greek words. He talked about how the individual is not the most important thing in a church....

I write note and leave them on my desk. Usually, I remember what they are, but some have no meaning at all. On one sticky note, I wrote two seven digit numbers. I don’t know what they mean. I must have known at one time. On another, I wrote “Theme of Ruth.” Not sure why, but I did. On another, I’ve listed seven names. Again, I’m not sure why. The bigger question is why haven’t I gotten rid of them. Notes are like messages from someone in our past. They knew something and wanted to communicate it to us. Sometimes they are successful. Sometimes they are not.

I ’m kind of in the don’t care stage of my writing endeavors. I’m ignoring many of the writing blogs that I once read. I’ve been staying out of many of the conversations that I might have one provided input to. I haven’t had a lot of time to write recently, but I feel the bug biting. But while other people are worried about how they’re going to get their book published and how to format a query letter, I’ve found that I am able to pay attention to more interesting things. I suppose we all imagine what it would be like to sell millions of books and have to money to go with it. But there’s a point at which you realize that a small amount of money is all you’re going to get, no matter how much effort you put into it. It’s like golf. A few people make millions. Some people make a living. Most people just enjoy the game. I’m to the point that I just want to enjoy the game of writing. The Lord has blessed me with enough income from other sources that I don’t need to make anything from writ...

A re endings important? That’s what one author asked this week. Why must we be so concerned about not revealing the ending when the journey is what is important? Good question, but here’s my thought on the subject: Endings aren’t just important, they’re everything. That’s not to say we have to be particularly concerned about revealing the ending, but that’s not because endings don’t matter. Rather, people are looking for an ending they like and want to read a book that takes them on the journey to get there. Consider, The Lord of the Rings . Didn’t you know that the ring would be destroyed at the end? Of course you did. You knew that from the beginning. That was the whole reason for the journey. Or how about Cinderella ? That story has been told hundreds of different ways. We all know she gets the prince in the end, but we read it anyway. So how can it be that endings are everything when we know how stories are going to turn out before we read them? If we see a story as a journey, ...

I have a friend who came to church the other day, praising God because his daughter is in jail. Yes, that sounds strange, but as he said, “I know she’s safe.” Sad fact is that his daughter has fallen victim to a drug addiction. She was wanted by the police and without some form of intervention, she was going to die. Recently, in our area, a home owner shot and killed a fourteen year-old boy who broke into his house. Don’t you think that the boy’s parents wish the boy was in jail instead of being dead? We don’t normally think of jail as a blessing, but when we consider the alternative, it is.

O n this day, about two thousand years ago, Jesus died. What a terrible Thursday that must have been for his disciples. We see a little bit about how they felt when we read the Bible, but they were scared. It is easy forget what was going through their heads because we are able to look back and see that Sunday was coming. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t really understand why Jesus had had the Passover early, but now, here he was, hanging on the cross. Those who dared watch on that terrible Thursday must have been hoping to see him work one more miracle and come down off the cross. But many didn’t watch because they feared for their lives. A friend had betrayed their leader and then went out and hung himself. There religious leaders were out for blood. If they could crucify Jesus, then surely they would crucify his followers too. They couldn’t see that it was all part of the plan. There wasn’t much they could do. A few of them went and asked for the Lord’s body. They buried him ...

I ’ve been watching The Voice . It’s another singing context patterned after American Idol , but it’s better, I think. I quit watching American Idol a few years ago. But it isn’t my intent go into why it is better, rather I want to look at one of the differences in comparison to writing. On The Voice , people don’t get on the show by acting silly and you don’t see great crowds gathered in stadiums, hoping to convince the producers to let them appear before the judges. The people who appear on The Voice are already proven artists, but they haven’t had their big shot. From the good, the coaches select those who are better, with the hope that they will find the best of the best. Then they coach these performers to be even better. When we look at writing, I believe many authors are looking for something like that. What they really want is for someone to take them under their wing and say, “here’s what you need to do to become a published author.” Unfortunately, the publishing industry ...