Timothy's Thoughts

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 ...

T he issue of abortion is that of convenience and pleasure over the rights of people who have no ability to speak for themselves. On the news the other day, they showed a woman who had gone in for an abortion. The doctor showed the woman the ultrasound, but the woman said it didn’t make any difference in her decision. I asked myself, “How does that make sense? How can she see the images of that child growing within her and not be moved with compassion?” I’m sure there are women who see the ultrasound images and make the decision to not go through with the abortion. That is what the people who crafted the law hoped, anyway. But many don’t. The problem for these women isn’t that they don’t know they are carrying a living child. If that were the only issue, perhaps they would be concerned enough to let the baby live. But is never just about the baby. The women who go in for an abortion are in a situation they don’t want to be in. Perhaps they don’t like the discomfort of pregnancy. Pe...

T he art of customer service is dead. It used to be that you could drive up to a service station and the sound of a bell would bring someone out to pump your gas, check the oil, and wash the windshield. These days, you pump your own gas and you’re lucky if you find a squeegee in good enough condition to clean off the bugs. But it’s not just there. There was a time when writing a letter to the company would result in a nicely written response with a couple of coupons in the envelope. Often, one of them would provide you with a free replacement of the product you were writing about. These days, writing a letter won’t gain you a form letter response, much less coupons. Over the past couple of years, I have written a few letters to various companies. Typically, they were letters expressing dissatisfaction with one thing or another. Some of these letters were e-mail. Some of these letters were handwritten. Many months have passed since I sent some of these letters and in many cases, I have ...

D oes a person have to remember the time and place they were saved in order to be saved? I recently read an article by a preacher who told of the time and place he was saved, but then he said that not all people who have been saved have had that experience. In fact, he said that it isn’t typical. [1] It isn’t? Why then do so many people tell of that experience? He also indicates that some people may come to saving faith so gradually that they don’t know at what point it was that they went from not believing to believing. I’ll admit, that sounds good. I’m a preacher’s kid, so I was going to church before I was born. I knew more about theology than many people ever do before I started school. I knew about heaven and hell, Jesus, the cross, and salvation. I believed they were all real and that without Jesus I would go to hell. At first, I believed it because my parents told me so. Could it not be that I could gradually move from that kind of knowledge to saving faith? It seems logical,...