Focus on the Fundamentals

I found this while perusing the interweb:

To be signed before any church group uses the (name deleted) facilities for a Custom Camp.
(Church Name) wishes to assure (name deleted) that our church does not knowingly support or sanction any organization, denomination, cause, or institution which is liberal, neo-orthodox, ecumenical, charismatic, or neo-evangelical. Nor are we affiliated with the National Council of Churches or the National Association of Evangelicals.

We understand that (name deleted) believes in the autonomy of the local church and in the priesthood of the believer and is not trying to dictate policy to our church. However, we realize that (name deleted) wants to avoid any compromising situation and wants to keep its name and reputation clean so that fundamental churches may use the facilities and program without fear of compromise.

We further understand that (name deleted) requests the use of Sacred Traditional Music as opposed to Contemporary Christian Music, and modesty for both men and women. We agree to help maintain the integrity of (name deleted)'s position in these areas while using the facility. Our church makes the above assurances and agrees to inform (name deleted) if we ever change our position or can no longer agree to honor (name deleted)'s policy while using the facility.

I think this is kind of sad. I believe this is a Christian facility used by Christian organizations but they don't seem to return the favor.

Maybe we can laugh about this when we are in Paradise.

It's Like a Christening...

... only there's no water involved and he wasn't wearing a frilly dress. We celebrated Aidan's baby dedication at church tonight. Bill and Hillary Catling were our dedicating couple. Here are a few photos.

My Tattoo

I never got a tattoo when I was in the Navy. I couldn't think of anything that I wanted to have on my body for the rest of my life. The ideas I did come up with are, in retrospect, really dumb - a happy face on my palm or a tattoo of Eyeore. I can't tell you how happy I am that I didn't get those tattoos.

After we got married I started to think of tattoos that would represent how I felt about Tabitha. I asked my tattooed friend T.J. what he thought of a little stick of dynamite (TNT... Tim 'n Tabitha... get it?). His answer was succinct, "That's stupid." So I went back to drawing (thinking) board.

I am a little superstitious about tattooing Tabitha's name on my body. She would probably dump me as soon as the ink dried. And then I would have a constant reminder of my stupidity. I still wanted something meaningful that didn't say "Tabitha."

And then I had an idea. Ephesians 5:25 states "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." It's a beautiful verse that sums up how every husband should act toward his wife. Paul set the bar very high. We (husbands) should be striving for this every day.

I got inked. On my finger. Underneath my wedding ring.

Do I succeed at living up to the verse? Not always. Do I trust in God enough to help me live up to it? Sometimes. Do I have a constant reminder of how I should be treating my wife? Yes.

Church Bird

Abigail mentioned to Tabitha last night that she didn't have a Bible of her own. So Tabitha let Abigail take one of her old ones to church last night. This morning Abigail told me the Bible had a "church bird" on it.

Hmm?

Lately I have been reading people who have completely different worldviews arguing amongst themselves about the meaning of Scripture and what it means to follow Jesus. I was starting to get a little bummed out reading these people who are never going to come to an agreement. I figured it was time I started reading the Bible myself so I could impose my own worldview on the Scriptures.

About two weeks ago I sat down and read through the Gospel of Mark. It's the shortest so I thought it might make a good place to start. I was reading along and everything seemed familiar (I have been attending church for a long time). And then I came to this little passage:

12 The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. 14 Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it. (Mark 11:12-14)

And then this one:

20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” (Mark 11:20,21)

Imagine the sound of a record scratching. Got it? That's what I heard in my head. When I was back in college studying poetry, the professors told us there is a reason for every word in a poem. And then I have been told to pay attention to the passages in the Bible that don't seem to make sense. They are there for a reason.

But what is the reason for this passage? It's too early in the season for fruit. Jesus knew that. One obvious lesson from this passage is: don't make Jesus angry. But there had to be something else.

Two nights ago as I was laying down to sleep after a long day in the salt mine, a thought popped into my head. Maybe Jesus expects even immature trees (or believers) to bear fruit. Maybe as believers we aren't supposed to wait around for that day when we finally become mature. We need to start bearing fruit now.

Or maybe Jesus was just really hungry. Any thoughts?