Catch-up Time

It has been a while since I wrote last. A lot has taken place. I moved to Danville, Virginia the first of July. I am now the pastor of two churches, Moseley Memorial and Stokesland United Methodist Churches. This has been a great experience and the people of both churches have been wonderful to me and my family. I am blessed to be serving two fine churches.

Serving two churches does present unique situations....I have two offices, one at each church; two secretaries who keep me straight; preach at Moseley Memorial at 9:30 am and again at Stokesland at 11:00 am on Sunday mornings; have duplicate forms for everything for the Conference and District; Bible study at both; and yet, with all of this, I still love it and am enjoying the new challenges.

My wife Becky finally landed a position as a Senior Associate at Goodman & Company, CPA. Trent is enjoying his new school, loves to learn and enjoying his new friends. I love the "Checkered Pig". The best BBQ restaurant around. And they have the best hush-puppy's you could place in your mouth. Can you tell I like to eat there???? lol

Here is some random picture taken since arriving in Danville.





































It has been a great beginning and looking forward to a great year to come.

Tim

Do Not Worry

In just a couple of weeks my family will be moving to Danville as I take the position as pastor of Moseley Memorial & Stokesland UMC Cooperative Parish. Jesus tells us not to worry about anything. I wish I could say that I have such a strong faith that I don't worry about anything....yet, that is not true. My wife has yet to find a job and in a couple of weeks that will be a financial strain on our family. We will move to a new place, new churches with only one salary. And as a minister, you do not make a lot, especially when you haven't jumped through all the right hoops. Yet, we are not in the ministry to make money, but we also have to live as well.

I am starting to get worried and I don't like it. I ask God to help me be patient, knowing that in His time things will work out. But I know that my wife is worried also and I worry about her. I try to stay positive, knowing that there are many people out there that are losing their jobs and can't find work either. And I pray for them all, including my wife.

I had hoped that she could stay at her present job until she found a new job, but that didn't happen. She is not getting fired or let go, she just told them that we were moving and understandingly, they set her last day as the day we move.

Somehow with God's help we will make it. But a little prayer never hurt. So if you are so incline, would you pray for my family as we move and pray that my wife and many others will find work.

Blessings and Peace.

Tim

Transistion Time

Well it's moving time again for United Methodist Ministers and I am just one of many who are moving to a new appointment at the end of this month. I am leaving Bethlehem UMC in Concord, Virginia where I have served for the last 5 years and moving to the Moseley Memorial/Stokesland UMC Cooperative Parish in Danville, Virginia. I am looking forward to this move and a fresh start again with a new congregation. These two churches have welcomed me and my family with open arms and we are grateful for all they are doing to make our arrival a welcoming experience. The people I have met so far have all be great and I can't wait to met the rest of the congregation. We have been busy packing and making all the preparations for the moving company to move us. It is a stressful time, but God is with us and He will give us the strength to endure. I will miss all my friends at Bethlehem, but know that they will not be forgotten and I look forward to making new friends in Danville. In the mean time, packing, packing and more packing. Can't wait to get this moving over with.

I Am a Child of God

I am a child of God. For that, I am thankful. To know that I am a child of God is a wonderful thing to me, because as a child of God, I know that I am loved by God. And that love is a love that will never go away no matter what happens in my life.

I am a human being. A sinner saved by grace. A person who still, after 52 years of life, makes mistakes, sometimes says the wrong thing at the wrong time, sometimes gets irritated with my children and my spouse, yet seeks to follow Christ and the Christian way to the best of my ability on a daily bases.

I am thankful, that my God forgives me of my foolishness and mistakes that I make, loves me in spite of myself, and still calls me into this life of ministry. I lean on him for guidance and follow where he sends me, even when that takes me further away from where my children live. I do so, because He knows best. Being further away from my children doesn't change my love for them or how often I will see them and be with them, it just changes the physical distant between us and wears on this old body a little more as I travel the roads to share as much time with them as I can.

I pray and know that God is in the midst of things right now as I prepare for transition. I know that I will follow his calling and love and work hard for these churches to which he has called me too. I pray that the people will give me a chance and will get to know me for who I really am.

May God receive all the Glory for the Great things he has done and is doing in my life.

Autobiographical Statement of my Christian Experience

An autobiographical statement regarding my Christian experience, call to ministry, and formative Christian experiences.

I grew up in a Christian family. Church has always been a part of my family’s life. The only time I ever missed church was when I was sick. Even when we were on vacation, we attended church somewhere. Yet, as a young child, I never understood the message of faith. It was just a given that you believed in God and attended church.

I was very involved in First United Church of Christ, my family’s church, as a young person. Even though I did not realize it at that time the foundations of the Christian faith were being instilled in my life.

In March of 1983, at the age of 25, while attending Trinity United Methodist Church in Poquoson, Virginia, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. From that time forward, I began to feel that God was calling me to a specific task. It was not until 1985, during the churches annual prayer breakfast, two years later, that I realized God was calling me into the ordained ministry.

Looking back on my life I can see how my Christian faith was formulated during my childhood through the early adult years of my life. Along with being brought up in a Christian home, there were special Christian people to whom I was drawn to as a young person while attending First United Church of Christ in Hampton, Virginia: Henry and Sally Aldridge, Mr. & Mrs. Mason and their daughter. These people lived out their Christian faith. I can see now their love of Christ and how they ministered to me as a child and young person. The teachings, the sharing, the times we spent together outside of the church, all reflected their love and devotion to Christ.

Later on in life, I moved to Poquoson, Virginia, where I began attending Trinity United Methodist Church. There I met people like Shelly Moore who lead me to Christ; Rodger and Joann who allowed me to work with them in youth ministry; the late Rev. Jim Couchman, pastor of Trinity UMC whose spirit touched my heart; and the now Rev. Carol Bookwalter, retired United Methodist clergy, who lead a share group in my home. These folks showed and taught me what true faith, trust, and love in Jesus could accomplish for my life.

I also became involved in a United Methodist Lay Witness Missions project which brought me one step closer to fulfilling my call.

While working with a Lay Witness Mission Team in October of 1985, I met Mary Bruner, the Director of News and Media Relations at Virginia Wesleyan College. In June of 1986 I felt the presence of the Lord and His leading to call Mrs. Bruner. To my surprise Mary remembered me and my desire to enter school. Within three days, I had been accepted into college. I now hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Virginia Wesleyan College and a Masters of Divinity degree from the School of Theology, Virginia Union University.

While attend Virginia Wesleyan College, I accepted a position at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, in Grafton, Virginia, as the Assistant to the Minister, under the direction of Dr. Donald Roberts. I served there for three years prior to taking my first appointment.

I have served the following appointments:

Sardis UMC in Amherst, Virginia (1 year)

The Irvington Charge: Irvington and White Marsh UMC, in the Rappahnock area of Virginia. (4 years)

The McKendree / Asbury Charge in Halifax, Virginia (3 years)

Fairview UMC, Lynchburg, Virginia ( 6 years)

Bethlehem UMC, Concord, Virginia (5 years)

I have now served as a full-time minister in the Virginia United Methodist Conference for 19 years. I will begin my 20^th year with the conference on July 1st.

Funny Family Pictures

Easter Pictures

Wrong Words for Tragic Events

I want to speak a moment in hope to bring clarification to words people sometimes say when tragic situations happen (knowing that they are trying to be supportive and comforting).

Sometimes, people will use words like "God must have needed them" or "God had a special task he needed them for" when talking about people who have died from tragic events (and sometimes non-tragic events). When I hear these words (knowing that they are spoken out of love) I cringe. You see, to say that God needed them gives us the right to blame God for what happened. It is God's fault. Because if God didn’t need them then they would still be alive. Do you follow? Now God is God. God doesn’t need anyone. God is all powerful, knowing, and loving. To say he needs something or someone means he is not all powerful, that he lacks something. But God lacks nothing. Yes, there are angels in heaven and God created angels, but he didn't create angels because he needed them, but because he wanted to. Be careful of the words you use when you share with families who are grieving. Dont' say things like God must have needed them. This would just make me more upset with God for what happened. Do you understand? This was a tragedy, not caused by God, but caused by man. God’s heart is broken over this as well. So let us not use words that allow people to blame God. Let us use words that are truthful...."I can't imagine what you are going through, but I pray that God will comfort you and heal your heart...and know that I love you and am here for you." Say, "I am truly sorry for what happened and I will pray for you"...that is if you really mean it. Don't use words also like..."I know what you are going through"....no you don't. Just be truthful. Be a friend. Let them know they can cry on your shoulder. Give them a hug and say nothing. Sometimes these things are the best things a person can do.

After 19 years of ministry and to many funerals to count, I have heard people say some of the strangest things at funerals that, knowing they are trying to mean well, really don't help. Maybe I will write a short book someday on things to say at a funeral. Until then, hug, cry, let people know you are sorry, but don't blame God for everything that happens.

You many not agree with all I say and that is okay. I would love to hear your comments. You can click on the comment button below.

8 murdered in Appomattox & Luke 4:14-21

I serve Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Concord, Virginia. Appomattox is just a few mile's down the road, if I may say, from my Church and the community in which I serve.

I was sitting in my office pass noon yesterday when I heard the first of many sirens heading pass the church. I looked out my window and saw, first, five unmarked State Police cars, lights flashing, sirens blowing, heading pass the church. It wasn't a moment later that three more police and sheriff's vehicles sped by. A few minutes later, here came more. I initially thought to myself that there must have been another terrible auto wreck at the corner of Rt. 460 and Rt. 24, just up the street. It seems that this corner draws accidents for some reason.

As I finished up what I was doing and preparing to run down to the Village Market for lunch, I decided to ride up the street see if in fact there had been an accident. No, no accident. I wondered where so many police could have been headed.

I made my way to the Village Market, sat down at the counter and found out that there had been a shooting in Appomattox and two people had been killed. It was hard to believe. Here, close by, rural area, community people. As people came in and out of the market everyone had a story or something to share about the shooting. One person said he heard that some sheriff's had been shot....gossip goes a long way until the truth comes out... I listened to the scanner that had been placed on the counter for all to hear as everyone ate and listened to any new info. I prayed for the people involved, their families and the police. I wondered who could do such a thing. That is always the question, isn't it?

Finishing lunch I returned to my office to complete the work I had started, still wondering what had happen. ABC- WSET sent a breaking news bulletin to my email address. Nothing I didn't know already other than they thought they had the person contained in a wooded area.

That evening I listened to the news to get an update. Nothing still mentioned about how many where killed, who they where, or why this happened. At 11:00 pm I watched the news again, nothing changed, other than they were sure they had him contained in a wooded area.

This morning, as I awoke, I turned on the news to discover that 8 men and women had been killed by this one gunman. Later, they stated that he had turned himself in peacefully.

When I checked my emails this morning, my wife sent me an email stating that she new the gunman. She said: "He went to Rustburg and has a sister Laura – they used to live a few streets up from Carson’s store and rode my bus when I was in high school. He also worked as a security guard at Food Lion on Campbell Avenue for a while. Kind of creepy. “Carson’s store is just a stone's throw from the church. Food Lion on Campbell Avenue is close to my home and where I shop often. Yes, kind of creepy.

I am thankful that this ended peacefully, with no one else being killed. I can only imagine the heartache the families feel for the lost of their loved ones. Hopefully, in time, all the whys will be answered?

But could this have been prevented?

The Lectionary text for Sunday, January 24th, is from Luke's gospel, chapter 4, verses 14-21. It is here that Jesus enters the synagogue on the Sabbath, unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and begins to read those empowering words, "‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’... ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’" (NRSV).

On that day in the synagogue, Jesus came among them as the Word of God embodied. He wasn't just a vessel of God's words, but the Word itself, the Word made flesh, in fullness for all to read. As the Word of God, he spent his time, teaching, preaching, healing and ministering to all who would listen to his words. These words were good news...good news to the poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. These words are good news to us as well.

For those of us who are the body of Christ, followers of the Word, what will we do with these words about good news for the poor, release for the captives, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, and the year of Lord's favor? How do we give flesh to these words? In the mist of all the brokenness of the world, the devastation in Haiti and the murdering of 8 men and women in Appomattox, what will we do with these words? Will we keep them to ourselves? We will meet on Sunday in the sanctuary and just recite them to ourselves? Will we hide them under a basket so no one else will know that we are Christians? Will we make them be some secret sayings that we must learn but never share with anyone else except those within our club or organization? NO! We must become bearers of these words that are so radical and so challenging in the hope that lives will be changed, people will be saved, and the kingdom of God will be fully experienced here on earth. It is then and only then that we will be able to live in a world of true peace, a world of hope, and a world where man will no longer murder his fellow man or woman.

I wonder how many Christians this man in Appomattox came in contact with who never shared the good news of Jesus Christ with him. I wonder how many people come in contact with Christians every day who never hear the good news of Jesus Christ….What will we do with these words about good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom from the oppression and the year of the Lord's favor? That’s up to you. But it is my hope that these words, the Word of Christ, will take flesh in you for the life of the world.