Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A Quick Update, and a Brief Statement About the IMB

For those of you who are interested (some of you have even asked), here is a quick update on what has been going on in my little corner of the world.

I haven't heard anything from the church in McMinnville, Tennessee, where I preached at the end of September. However, they said up front that they were going to proceed rather slowly and that there were other potential candidates they were going to speak with in subsequent weeks. I thought that everything went well. The church has a strong commitment to serving the community and supporting missions. They are looking for someone who can teach the Word. If there is any potential problem, it is that I come from a background far different from that of most of the members.

Probably the biggest thing that has happened recently is that we have moved. We are in a brand new house about a mile closer to town than we were, and the rent isn't much more than we were paying. This was a somewhat unplanned move. Maria had been looking at the classifieds, and she found the listing. We looked at the house right around the time we went to McMinnville, and after a couple of days we were at the top of the list. However, since the house was such a great deal there were several other people who were interested. The builder-owners were eager to get someone in the house, so we had to decide very quickly. While we loved the house, we were hesitant because we did not want to get trapped in a lease knowing that there was a possibility that we might be called to a church out of town, and also we did not have the cash flow to pay rent on two places in October plus a security deposit. The owners worked with us on both issues, and we took the house. Most of October was spent packing and moving a little at a time. We have been moved in for about two weeks, but we are surrounded by boxes that are not unpacked yet. In addition to being in a new house, I also got broadband Internet service, so if we ever get settled in I plan on resuming a more regular blogging schedule. (I know, you've heard that before, but this time it should happen!)

Given my preoccupation with moving, I have not been following events related to the SBC. I did happen to see on Baptist Press what happened with the IMB concerning Wade Burleson. Needless to say, I was very upset with the decision. I don't have time to discuss my thoughts in detail, but I will say that the decision has caused me to seriously question whether there is a place for me in the SBC. At this point the main thing keeping me in the SBC is that I do not want to give up on our cooperative missions work. But it looks like there are several in our convention who are not interested in truly cooperating with anyone who disagrees with anything they believe, say, or do.

In closing, I ask that you pray for me. I have felt far away from God for a few weeks, yet at the same time I have thought about Him and His Word more deeply than I have in a long time. Sometimes it seems like God delights in watching me go through failure after failure. I have never been a negative minded person, but after four years that have been more bad than good (and getting worse each year) it's hard sometimes to believe that God really cares about me. In my mind I know that He is in control and that He loves me and that all that I am going through is somehow intended for His glory, but surely there must be some way that God can be glorified and I can be happy at the same time. Please pray that God will strengthen my faith and give me a better attitude.

6 comments:

Alan Knox said...

Tim,

Thank you for the update and for being honest about what your have been going through, especially concerning your walk with God. If you want a sounding board, or someone to simply talk with about these things, feel free to send me an email. My email address is on the sidebar of my blog.

-Alan

Anonymous said...

Tim,
Great to hear from you again. I am still praying for you all.

Harold

Alyce Faulkner said...

Tim, I've been watching to see when you posted again and concerned for you.
I appreciate your willingness to be so open.
A good and godly quality.
Blessings
Alyce

Anonymous said...

Tim:

Forgive my anonymity, but who I am is less significant than what I write. You just judge whether or not it is true.

I am saying this out of concern for you and for those to whom you will perhaps one day minister. First, if you are going through such a crisis of faith, the last thing you ought to be doing is going anywhere near a search committee. You are not in any condition to take a church when you are in this state. It's not fair to them or to you and your family. Second, even if you are at the place where you are wrestling through it, you probably don't need to be putting that on the web while you are looking for a church. Mother Teresa waited until she was dead to let people see her crises of faith, and you probably need to keep that to yourself for a while, too. It's one thing to share it as an illustration AFTER you have gone through it; it's quite another to let people see it while it's still raw and bleeding.

You need to spend less time worrying about SBC politics and more time getting your heart right with God. At the root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good, and when I read your sentiment that God might be delighting in your problems, I worry about you. Get your big boy britches on and get through this. As they said in the KJV, "Quit yourselves like men!"

I am truly sorry for being so tough, but as Paul said, I am not your enemy for telling you the truth.

Bob Cleveland said...

Tim,

Could you email me your phone number? I have free long distance and have a couple ideas I'd like to bounce off you.

Anonymous said...

Tim,

A preacher from another era… Marcus Dodd's, once said that "Never a day passes without a strong desire to give up the work"

Ministry is difficult whether you're in a Church or awaiting marching orders. I admire your candor....and question the advice to not post your concerns. We all have them brother...all of us!

The greatest man born of women( according to Jesus) John the Baptist, ( Is Jesus the one, or should we seek another?) had concerns....David was on the run from Saul for ten years after being anointed King...before he ascended to the throne. Many of the Psalms chronicle his questions and concerns about God's plans.

When going through a very difficult time the Lord lead me to Steve Farrar's book "Tempered Steel" it put a much needed perspective on the experience I was going through then. You can order it from Amazon cheap!

Brother thank you for being real, remember 'There is no pit so deep, that God's love isn't deeper still'! Corrie Ten Boom

By the way the Next time anonymous goes through a testing time....

I hope he will have authentic friends who won't question the size of his pants but will offer a word of hope and encouragement!