Merry Christmas

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Thank you so much for reading my blog, it actually means a lot to me that you would find what I have to say of any interest or benefit to your life!

I would encourage you to remember the true reason for Christmas, found in Christ Jesus, and take this holiday season to reflect with your family on what is most important in life.

Last but not least, give a gift to someone less fortunate than you this year! Even if it's something small, it will be meaningful.

Be safe!

God Loves Everyone

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  • John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

  • 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is kind.”

  • Romans 13:10 “Love does no harm to its neighbor.”

    I really don’t think the people in Topeka would have been any happier had we been giving out $100 Gift certificates to Chic fa la honestly!

    We were received with open-arms for our God Loves Everyone Rally this past weekend. It was 23 degrees, snow was falling, travel conditions were treacherous but we went, and I am so glad we did!

    You can hear more about it on our site www.olathelifefellowship.org/media December 16th message.

    Peace!

True Chiefs Fan

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I must admit that I am a little disappointed in some of the Chiefs fans that I am seeing on TV and hearing on the radio. They are what I would call fair-weather fans!


To me a TRUE CHIEFS FAN LOVES AT ALL TIMES! If you are only a fan when winning, what kind of fan is that? A fickle fan if you ask me. We should stick with them in the good times and the bad times!
You say, "Timmy, what has this got to do with anything spiritual?" I would say, "EVERYTHING".

We all want to be a part of a winning team, a winning company, a winning church, a winning person... but I can tell you from my short life so far of only 38 years... LIFE HAPPENS! And you don't always WIN! There are times you lose, you suffer, you get beat, you struggle, you fight, and you get black and blue... but you keep fighting!

We as a society need to learn about COMMITMENT, DEDICATION and LOYALTY through thick and thin!

So there you go... my spiritual sports moment!

Go Chiefs!

Your Life in 2008

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I heard a recent statistic that I have found to be true in my life... it said that, "... you are a 1,000% more likely to accomplish your goals if you write them down with an action plan to achieve them...".


This last Sunday I just took the entire congregation through the exercise I personal use for myself... and many said they found it helpful. I hope you do as well!


MEMORY VERSE: John 10:10 “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life.” - NLT


TEXT: Matthew 22: 36-39 “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the law?” Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”


· How in 2008 can you love the lord more with your heart?

· How in 2008 can you love the lord more with your soul?

· How in 2008 can you love the lord more with your mind & strength?

· How in 2008 can you love your neighbor more?


“Let’s say your walking along the beach in the Bahamas and you stub your toe on a bottle… there’s an interesting label on the bottle covered in sand, so you rub & rub and out pops a genie… this genie offers you 3 wishes…

What would your 3 wishes be?

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What are 5 things you will do in 2008 to insure Gods plan for you will happen?

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What are 3 things you’d like to change about yourself?

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What are 5 things you are going to do to help you change those things?


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My Prayer for You

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Dear God,

I pray that we would be free from the things in this life that hinder us from becoming all that you want us to be. I ask that you would open the eyes of the blind so that they may see; I ask that you would open the ears of the deaf so they may hear your voice and that their hearts might find you.

God help OLF to be a place of healing for people, a place of hope, acceptance and unconditional love; a place that people are free to be what and who you made them to be.

God I ask that the chains that bind people be loosed. I ask that the fears that paralyze people be removed. I ask that your perfect love God would flood their heart and soul at the deepest level.

God I ask that there be a spiritual awakening here in our city. That people would hunger and thirst for the things of you God; that they would want to know more, and seek to understand and seek to fulfill your plan and purpose for their lives.

God I ask that you would comfort the hurting, befriend the lonely and find the lost. And help us all to comfort the hurting, befriend the lonely and find the lost too.

God, one last thing, today may we see people around us with your eyes of love and compassion, may our hearts feel what you feel and may we act as you would act today.

In Jesus name, Amen!

Luke 11:9 Jesus said, "ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Hannah Montana

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Up until Monday, December 3rd (the night of the Hannah Montana concert) we were not going to be able to make my 9 year olds dream come true. Tickets to the show had sold out in the first 11 minutes of being made available on Ticketmaster a little over a month ago. And not to mention the scalpers (“ticket brokers” sounds to legit) were selling the tickets for 10 times the ticket price in some cases, so needless to say, we were out!

Stick with me here; there is a life lesson to be learned! I promise! And here it comes!

…Then enters my persistent wife, who never gives up on something, if she believes it is worth acquiring. She had been periodically checking online to see if any tickets would go on sale at an affordable rate that we could snag up. No such luck, until 3:00pm the day of the concert… Ticketmaster listed some tickets at normal price. And that’s not all; the tickets were on the floor, just 50ft from the stage! 25th row! My ears are still ringing from the high pitched screams that can only come from the mouth of a pre-teen excited about Hannah Montana! I was one of the few Fathers there with their daughter… there was lots of estrogen in the Sprint Center that night!

Oh and it gets better yet, Shaeylea got to meet Jonas Brothers. I took her picture with them and she got their autographs. I can’t remember seeing her so excited. She even said she wasn’t going to wash her jacket since they touched it! Shaeylea getting their autographs was a cool deal too; she saw the tour bus pull into the Westin Crown Center, we ran to meet them in the foyer of hotel.


Life Lesson Learned: Never ever give up! Always hope! And if you want certain things in your life, i.e. a great marriage, a better job, etc., make it happen! Be looking for opportunities! Do what it takes to achieve those things! And even if they don’t happen like you want you can rest knowing it wasn’t from a lack of effort!

Stumbling Block

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I admit this is a long blog, but trust me, (even if I say so myself) it’s a worthy read!

I recently had an interesting discussion (maybe even a debate) with a former instructor whom I will call Richard (not his real name) from the bible school I attended about the issue of “causing others to stumble”, “giving people license to do something” “avoiding the very appearance of evil”. It’s the whole philosophy of “people will do in excess what I do in moderation”, which frankly is a gross error in thinking.


Richard used this scripture to try and support his argument:

1 Corinthians 8:9 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Then went on to explain that to mean that, “if a leader (Christian) is to have a tattoo for example that gives freedom, or license to others to get tattoos” or “if a leader drinks alcohol that gives people (youth is what he said specifically) license to drink and get drunk…” His conclusion was that as a leader (Christian) we should not do anything that would cause the “weak” to stumble.

I understand his “interpretation”, but his “application” is completely off-base! Here is why; if you use his argument (or application) with other things it falls apart. For example; I engage in regular sexual intimacy with my wife… so should I stop that so that I do not cause “weak” youth to stumble by following my example? NO! Because I am “having sexual relations” within God’s set boundaries – marriage! Should I stop eating food because it may cause others to “stumble” and become a glutton? NO! So, should I stop working so that I do not cause someone to become a “workaholic”? NO! Do you see how ridiculous that is? Let me give one more; the Bible says:

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil.”

So, I guess this means that we should stay away from money, and not have anything to do with it! We especially shouldn’t pocess any of it! We should “avoid the very appearance of evil”, right?

1 Thessalonians 5:22b “Throw out anything tainted with evil.” – MSG

I would like to go on TV and encourage all who want to rid themselves of evil to send their money to Olathe Life Fellowship! We’ll use it for good! And we will not buy $20,000 toilet seats with it, or private jets for our kids to fly to the Bahamas!

Again, this is such a mis-used philosophy of many legalistic hypocritical Christians that drives people away from the things of God.

What was interesting to me is that really Richard’s argument was over alcohol. So I asked him, “Do you feel that drinking alcohol is a sin? He said, “No.” I feel that is interesting because to me that is the real issue at hand; sin. If it is not sin, then help me understand the problem? So then I went on to explain that I feel for Christians the best thing we can do for the world around us (including our children) is to be an example of moderation, how to do things responsibly, how to do things RIGHT (if we choose to do them)… ultimately teaching our children to avoid SIN… and even more importantly teach our children to Love God, and Love their neighbor!

The best thing we can do for our youth is show them, sex is right and most fulfilling within a committed married relationship! Drinking alcohol (if you choose to drink it) is best (or only okay) when you are of legal age (21) and when it’s done in moderation (no drunkenness or driving!) Jesus drank wine, but He didn’t get drunk!

Side note: I am not encouraging anyone to do anything that they feel is wrong, or sinful. If you feel something is wrong or sinful, please do not do it! And it’s wonderful to abstain if you feel that is what is right for you to do! There are things I do not do (like eat junk food), not because it is a sin to eat it, but because I personally feel it’s harmful to my body (the temple). We all need to do what this scripture says:

Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Another problem with Richard’s argument is that the scripture he used to try and support his “no drinking” position is talking about food offered to idols, not alcohol or tattoos… it’s talking about meat offered in idol sacrifices! If we are going to use a scripture then let’s use it in context! This is the first and most important rule in Biblical Interpretation.

1 Corinthians 8: 10-13 “For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.”

This is part of the problem with Christianity, when you have religious views that are taught as “biblical” and they are not! Legalism at its worst!

1 Timothy 4:1-5 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Colossians 2:16 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”

1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

The bottom line is that each of us needs to follow our own hearts or consciences towards God. What is HE leading me to do! Not religious rules and regulations, or mans legalistic ideas. The bible clearly states that the LAW KILLS! It’s Christ’s sacrificial death that freed us from the LAW and made us free from sin and death.

We should all want to live lives that are glorifying to God and His work here on earth!

Read Romans 8

It Pays to be in Church

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(Symbol for Longevity)

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, a psychiatrist who directs Duke University's Center of the study of Religion, reports that people who attend church regularly...

  • Have stronger marriages
  • Are healthier
  • Have less depression
  • Live longer
  • Have stronger immune systems

So, there it is... proof that by attending Olathe Life Fellowship (or any church for that matter) regularly you will LIVE LONGER LIVES!

It pays to be in church! See you Sunday!

The Best Thing We can Do for the Chiefs

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After watching the game on Sunday, it's amazing to see how many people attend the games at Arrowhead... 40,000 plus I guess? I mean there were 80,000 people there (at Arrowhead) for the KU (Jayhawks) vs. MU (Tigers) game on Saturday!

But I have figured out what the best thing we can do for the Chiefs on a Sunday is to be in Church before the game to PRAY! Seriously, pass this thought on to all the Chiefs Fans you know... tell them to get themselves in church to support the Chiefs - they need help. (ha!)

Have a great day!