March 29th, 2008 by Tim Moore

Recently my wife celebrated her 30th birthday.  Turning thirty seems to be pretty rough for women.  It seems guys have a more difficult time turning 40.  Maybe thats because guys tend to stay active later in life.  My wife handled it pretty well, but it was rough for her too.

I planned a small surprise get together for her on the evening of her birthday.  She asked me that morning if I planned some kind of surprise party.  I basically inferred that I wouldn’t do such a thing. (wink, wink)  I guess you could say I had to lie to keep it a secret.

That begs a great question.  Is it ever okay to lie?  To me lying is purposefully trying to deceive.  People often share a false truth when telling jokes, is that lying?  What about leading someone to believe that there is no party to keep a surprise party a surprise?

Some people hold to the fact that to lie is always a sin and therefore always wrong.  Other people believe that lying is typically wrong, but in certain circumstances when lying is taking the moral high ground is acceptable (situational ethics).  I tend to believe the latter.

A great illustration for lying to take the moral high ground could be seen during WWII.  Corrie Ten Boom’s family on several occasions hid Jews in their house to protect them from the Germans.  Their religious convictions led them to believe that lying to the Nazi soldiers was morally acceptable considering what was happening to the Jewish people.

But there is also biblical precedence for lying to take a morally higher ground.  Hebrews 11:31 recognizes the prostitute Rahab among a long list of people often referred to as “Heroes of the Faith.  Rahab was the resident of Jericho that hid the spies and lied about them to the officials of the city.  Because of her act of kindness to these Israelite spies, she was spared when the city was destroyed.  James 2:25 argues that Rahab was considered “righteous” because of what she did for the spies.  She lied for them.

But we must be careful to not use this example as basis for lying for any reason.  It could lead to a very slippery slope.  The Bible is still very clear that lying typically is wrong.  Rarely will we be faced with a situation where lying is morally the better option.  Of course in my situation, it was really in fun to provide a great birthday experience for her.  Is that so wrong? 

March 24th, 2008 by Tim Moore

I hope you had a great Easter.  We did.  Our church was packed full on Easter.  We had a great turnout and an amazing service.  Our band did some incredible music to kick off our new series Doors.  They did “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” GNR style, “Something Corporate” an original by TheHungr, “Mighty to Save” by Hillsong,  “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” by U2 and “Drifter” by DecembeRadio.

The message was a lot of fun to give.  I popped out of a door on the stage to kick it off, talked about someone walking in on my while trying to pee, showed a video of me trying to make a door from a tree, and painted blood on the door on the stage.  It was a blast to share this amazing story of 2 Doors from the Bible in a new and creative way.  The response was also great.  I hope to get the video of the message posted online soon.

Sometimes Easter is a day that is held so sacred that we think we have to resort to tradition to tell the gospel.  We decorate with lilies and dust off old songs that are never played.  Jesus rose from the dead, but many songs that I’ve heard should remain buried.

What Easter represents is sacred, but I really celebrate it year round.  I live my life for Christ because he gave his life for me.  So to me, Easter represents an opportunity.  It’s an opportunity to share the most amazing message ever with people who may not know God.  Therefore, it should be shared in the most compelling and creative way.  I think that many of the people who come have heard the the Resurrection Story so many times before.  They know what’s going to happen and disconnect.  When it comes to opportunities like this, I try to think outside the box!

March 18th, 2008 by Tim Moore

This past Sunday I gave a message on how to deal with stress while trying to life a great life.  I honestly don’t believe we can get rid of stress.  It’s all around us.  And when I look at Jesus’ life during his ministry, I realize that he dealt with a lot of stress.

He was so famous that wherever he went people flocked to him in hopes to hear him speak or be healed by him.  Many times he found himself surrounded by crowds, with little chance to escape.  He had 12 young men who left their jobs and families to follow him.  I imagine he must have taken on a sense of responsibility for caring for them as well.  He often found himself in confrontations with the same religious leaders who were always plotting to kill him.

But to me the most stressful thing Jesus had to face would be living with the knowledge that he was going to experience the most brutal death known to man.  Imagine trying to enjoy your life meanwhile in the back of your mind you know what’s coming.

This week is recognized as Holy Week.  For many of us it is a good week.  We prepare Easter baskets for our kids and color eggs with them.  Hopefully, we remember what Jesus went through on the cross and even more what happened three days later.  But what we might not consider is what Holy Week was like for Jesus.  For him, it must have been the most stressful week of his life.  The Bible tells us that the night before Jesus was arrested he was so stressed that he sweat blood, literally.  In a garden while alone, he share his deepest anxiety to his Heavenly Father about what was about to happen.  I would imagine this must have been the most stressful time in his life.  He wanted to quit.  Thankfully, he didn’t.

This week, I feel extremely stressed.  It’s funny how pastors often struggle with the very thing they preached about the weekend before.  I am trying to lead our church through a major capital campaign with a huge renovation project on the heels, make some tough but necessary leadership decisions and prepare for Easter.  This coming weekend is an opportunity for churches all around the world to reach new people.  As stressful as this week gets for many of us, it is nothing compared to Jesus’ Holy Week.  So when you begin to feel stressed and even start to feel sorry for yourself, try putting yourself in Jesus’ shoes during his last week and it might give you a different perspective.

March 15th, 2008 by Tim Moore

Do you ever feel that life is far too complicated? Technology has made life more convenient but also more complicated. We have gadgets with more buttons that I can even figure out…and I worked in a technology field for years. Every year we have to file taxes that can be so complicated that many have to pay an accountant. In fact these complicated lives seem to come with a lot of stress.

I’m reading a book right now called “Simple Church”. In this book, the authors argue that with life being so complicated, what people want most is simplicity. A lot of time we think of simplicity as boring and uninspiring. But that can’t be farthest from the truth.

I believe people do long for simplicity. The government has made filing taxes a complicated mess. Thank God for TurboTax, a software package to help you simplify the process. Consider Apple’s Ipod. People love their little Ipods. If you think about the design, they are extremely simple. One big button.

If people long for simplicity, then why do we often make church so complicated? Recently I spoke with someone who accepted Christ for the first time. And after a brief discussion with this person, I realized how hard it is to know what to do after making that decision. It has challenged me to create a simple process to help move people from making the decision to follow Christ to becoming mature Christ-followers.

Our church has adopted a simple vision. We are about “Helping people get on the path to God.” That is our focus. That is our vision. What is this path? It is four simple words. Connect…Grow…Serve…Go. The amazing thing is that God gave me this strategy before I ever picked up this book I’m reading. To me it’s confirmation that making life simpler is God’s desire too.

March 13th, 2008 by Tim Moore

In my last blog I wrote about Moses pastoring a mega church by himself. Moses was on a course to wear himself out and frustrate the people of Israel. His father-in-law gave him some great advice to help him stay focused on what God called him to do. Jethro told him that he should focus on three key things as a pastor in Exodus 18:19-21.

First, Moses was to be the “people’ representative before God”. That’s what pastors do, right? They interface with the people in the church and interface with God. Whenever God called Moses to the mountain top to speak with him and give him direction for the people (vision), he went alone and brought the vision back to the people. In fact the Israelites even told Moses to do this. They didn’t want to go meet with God face to face and told Moses to go see what God says and come tell them. (Exodus 20:18-19) Pastors are primarily vision casters and carry the responsibility of leading the local church. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with this position. But just because you shoulder the responsibility doesn’t mean you must do all the work. We often get that confused.

Secondly, Moses was to teach them God’s laws and “show them the way to live”. Pastors are called to communicate God’s Word and cast the vision. This is one of my primary focuses. That is why I spend about 20-25 hours per week at least working on what I’m going to communicate with the church. I’m one of those people who would spend 40 hours if I had the time. I believe in the importance of preparation. A pastor should remain focused on teaching how to be a follower of Christ.

Thirdly, Moses was challenged to “select capable men” from within the church, men who are trustworthy and fear God, to be leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Even in the first real church of the Bible we see a model of tiered leadership. Pastors aren’t supposed to do it all. (Eph. 4:11-16) I know this is a paradigm shift for many people, not just pastors. But it’s biblical. I think many pastors know this, but honestly few are willing to let go of the control. Every time that feeling of control comes up in me, I realize that the people and myself will be better of if I’m not trying to do it alone. I know that I can be more effective and focused on what I need to do when I delegate areas of ministry to people I trust.

March 12th, 2008 by Tim Moore

In the book of Exodus, Moses learns a valuable lesson from his father-in-law, Jethro (lol – I just don’t associate that name with biblical times).  Moses is really the first pastor we find in the Bible.  God called him and appointed him to be the leader of Israel.  In a way Moses was leading the first mega church.

Since Moses was the “leader” everyone came to him with their problems and disputes.  Exodus 18 tells us that from sun up to sun down Moses sat and listened to all their problems and helped give them godly counsel.  When Jethro saw what Moses was doing, he gave him a great piece of advice that pastors need to embrace.

He told Moses this isn’t going to work.  You are going to wear the people out and yourself.  The people are going to be miserable because they have to wait forever to get some help and the leader is going to burn out!  What great advice.  If we operate our churches with the mentality that the Senior Pastor is the only one who can visit people in the hospital, do counseling, preach, and everything else that goes with running a church, then everyone is going to be frustrated.

I believe that churches everywhere need to heed this advice.  Being a pastor is very demanding.  I know what most of you are thinking, “But you only work 1 day a week.”  If you think that, then come follow me around for a week.  What you experience in ministry is that the emotional strain is almost more demanding than the schedule.  You never leave your work at work.  It always goes home with you.

I must admit, sometimes I approach leading a church with a sense of urgency.  Saying to myself, I have to get this or that done soon.  I feel like I’m in the blocks getting ready for the 100 meter dash.  But what’s in front of me is 26.2 miles of road.  I know that if I want to be in the race in 10 years, I must pace myself and take a different approach to ministry.  I’ll share more about that in the next blog.  Until then, pace yourself.

March 10th, 2008 by Tim Moore

It’s weird not doing something you are so used to doing every week.  Yesterday, we canceled our worship service due to inclement weather.  It felt quite strange not going to church.  After doing it for most of my life and it has just become part of me.

But I must say I enjoyed the break.  Sounds bad coming from a pastor…I know.  But it was really nice to spend the time with my family and just hang out.  Usually Sundays are very busy for us.  To make matters worse, we lost an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings.

It’s always a tough decision to cancel church.  I mean you never know whose life is going to be greatly impacted through that one service.  But I thought about what I was going to be preaching on, stress, and realized I would put people in greater stress trying to get to church safely.  I love irony.  I think we made the right decision and I am rested and looking forward to this coming weekend!

March 9th, 2008 by Tim Moore

(My daughter, Lauryn, on a 4-wheeler during the blizzard)

This weekend we were pounded with one of the biggest snowfalls we’ve ever had here in Ohio.  It’s being called the Blizzard of ’08.  We received about 20 inches of snow in about 30 hours.  It seems that any time we face a natural force of any significance it makes us feel smaller.  It reminds me of how big God really is.

The first night of the storm, my father-in-law rode down to our house on his 4-wheeler.  We hooked up a sled to the back and pulled our kids through the snow on it.  The next morning, as we still were being dumped on, we got out the 4-wheelers and before long all the kids on our street were joining in the fun.

As I was crusin’ around the block on the 4-wheeler I saw more of my neighbors than usual. In fact I even stopped to chat with some neighbors I had never met.  Nobody was on the roads as they were nearly impassable.  And yet it gave us a real sense of community.   We all live such separate lives and when something like a blizzard or even natural disasters come, it has a way of bringing people together.  I think that’s what I’ll remember most about the blizzard of ’08.