timbrellstar

“The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the Treasure He is.”
-John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is not part of the Christian faith.

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Shame about the distortion. I must have had the microphone up too loud, or maybe it’s just Seemic.

Tonight, the wife and I are going to her sisters house to play Wii Sports. Actually it’s her sisters birthday, but that’s just a side issue really, we will be playing Wii Sports.

I like the Wii, and Wii Sports is good. Bowling for example is actually a pretty close approximation to real bowling, which seems crazy, but I would actually think twice about going to a real live bowling place because it’s so expensive these days, when we can play it on the Wii for free. I wonder if one day all of life will be like this.

I would like a decent games console, but on the other hand, maybe it’s not a good idea. I spend too much time on computers as it is. But even worse than that, I fear largely it’s actually just another way to waste your life.

Life is short, and I believe that it’s about Jesus and being satisfied in Him. The problem is there are just so many other things on offer trying to win our attention, offering a promise of satisfaction. They all without exception fail to bring us satisfaction, especially compared to the complete satisfaction that only the creator can offer to the one whom He created.

Games are great, computer games, even better. This is my geek talking. I have grown up with computers, and games. I will always have some affection for 8bit computers, and less than perfect graphics. However, my affection for this needs to pail in comparison to my affection to God, otherwise I am missing the whole point of life.

Missing the whole point of life, and even worse, wasting that life is not something that anyone should wish to do.

Of course it’s not just computer games, it can be anything that we are putting in the place of glory in our lives, and so that’s what has been on my mind the last couple of days.

God needs to be God in my life. We all worship something, that’s how we are made. We were made to worship God. The thing is, if we don’t worship God, we will worship something else, and that is idolatry.

Examine yourself and see what things you count as valuable in your life, when I even begin to do this I realise that often, God is a little way down the list.

I am praying that God gives us grace as we seek to put Him first, and honour Him above everything else.

And Lord, as I play Wii Sports, let it be for you!

When a friend of mine died just over a year ago, they played this song at his funeral. Matt touched so many people, and didn’t waste his life. He left a legacy. He inspired me to make sure I do the same.

Over a year on, I have to ask what I’ve done to make that a reality? I guess I haven’t done enough. It’s not really about ‘doing’, it’s about Jesus, and just how much more I’ve made it a priority to become more like Him.

I love that God is patient with us. I just listened to this song again, and it reminded me of Matt and how he lived, and encouraged me to press on with Jesus. Life is so fleeting, make Jesus a big deal now, don’t wait until later, there might never be a later.

Jesus, I’m fickle and unfaithful
Yet you still love me!
Create within me a clean heart
And a steadfast spirit
Incline my heart towards you
Fill me with passion for your glory
I want to leave a legacy
I want to be like you!
So have your way in me
Chain me to you
Work out your will in me
And start all this, right now
Amen.

I don’t mind if you’ve got something nice to say about me
And I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
Of all the who’s who and so-n-so’s that used to be the best
At such ‘n such…it wouldn’t matter much

I won’t lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an “Atta boy” or “Atta girl”
But in the end I’d like to hang my hat on more besides
the temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to you enough to make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

I don’t have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthy list of all that I enjoy
It’s an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon destroy

Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, “Well done” good and faithful one

Legacy, Nicole Nordeman

When I started timbrell.com again, I wanted to write about a number of different subjects. These included:

• Christianity, worship, church, teaching, leadership
• Technology, the web, web design, development, blogging, Web2.0, working in I.T etc
• Photography
• General life things, marriage, my cats, and the general state of my brain.

However, I’m not sure that’s useful to me right now. I want to blog about all these things, but obviously a lot of topics are covered there. I need to focus on what’s important, I need to focus my mind on specific things, not just on my blog, but in my life.

I need to write about Jesus. He’s got to be my passion and my hope, and I have to surrender the other stuff, so I can concentrate on Him.

I’ve let my mind become filled with a million ideas, thoughts and projects, and of course the first thing to go to make room is my attention and my focus on Jesus. Then my bible study and prayer start to slide, it’s a familier pattern for most of us.

I could just stop blogging aswell, I realise that. However, it’s helpful to me, and in the past, when I’ve written useful things, it’s been helpful to others too, so we’ll see what happens.

So there we have it. Watch this space, etc and so forth