Not long ago, under the leadership of Ariel Sharon, Israel began a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and certain settlements in the West Bank in yet another “land for peace” deal. There were images on the news of Israeli settlers being pulled forcibly from their homes by Israeli Forces. They felt betrayed by Sharon, who himself promised their safety in these very settlements. At the time Sharon called it a "bold move to end the stalemate in the peace process."
It was a cutting edge plan because historically it has been accepted that there must be peace and security and then we’ll have a plan for borders and settlements. This plan was “bold” because it gave up land with out having a deal. The idea was that giving up this land would cause peace and security.
3 years later and so much has transpired. Sharon has since fallen ill and slipped into the grips of a coma, and Gaza has fallen and slipped into the grips of Hamas, a popular Islamist movement inside Palestine. Instead of the peace that was hoped for, what appears to have happened is Hamas got a closer shot at Israel with their rockets. (rockets that have no guidance system. They just shoot them randomly hoping that they hit something with no discrimination between military and civilian targets)
Like the Madrid Conference in 1991 and the Oslo Agreement in 1993, this one also has failed to bring peace. There have been official talks that have failed to produce peace such as the Israel-Syria talks in 1991, the Camp David talks in 2001, the Saudi Peace Plan in 2002 and the now infamous “Roadmap To Peace” put together by the European Union, Russia and the United States that our very own Condi spent a lot of time promoting.
None of these have brought peace. They have not brought peace because organizations like Hamas and countries like Iran don’t want peace. They want Israel gone.
SIDEBAR: It’s my personal opinion that this impossible feat is the very thing that Antichrist will use as leverage in becoming a world leader. It’s my opinion that he will bring a peace plan that actually seems to work to this impossible situation that has bruised the shins and egos of every American President since Carter. Whoever can do this would trump every other national leader who has tried and failed. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.
The coming days and weeks will no doubt bring suicide bombers in the cafes, restaurants, buses and other public places of Israel filled with civilians. It will no doubt include images on the evening news of the destruction brought about by Israeli airstrikes inside Gaza. There will be civilian casualties as well as military.
Some military analysts see this as a proxy war between moderate Arab regimes such as Egypt and hard line states such as Iran and Syria, which support and back Hamas. This most recent “truce” was brokered by a more moderate Egypt. Ending it like this could easily marginalize Abba’s Fatah movement and its Western and moderate Arab backers. Simply put it is good business for the hard liners to have a war.
With a nuclear armed Iran and Iraq that will no doubt fall into a state of disarray as President Obama pulls our troops out it’s anybodies guess how that will all play out. Israel has already privately sought the blessing of the Bush Administration in bombing Iran, a blessing that was not granted.
Now, I’m no Hal Lindsay or Jack Van Impe or Tim LaHaye, but as I look at the events unfolding on a global scale it would seem to me that the return of Christ is imminent. As I cross reference the Bible with the news on CNN there seems to be a lot of moving parts that have fallen perfectly into place setting up a stage upon which the final act will be played out.
So what to do in the meantime?
Psalm 122:6 records that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It’s somewhat apparent to me that this prayer will ultimately not be answered until the return of Jesus, He will set His foot on the mount of olives, split it in two changing the topography of Israel, and set up His Kingdom from Jerusalem. In the mean time we must pray.
In Matthew 25, Jesus unfolded the parable of the talents in the larger conversation with the Disciples about the signs of the end. It was a story of a “master” going away and leaving his possessions under someone else’s stewardship. What pray tell would it look like on a practical level of using those talents, that investment that the Master left for you and me?
He went on to use the metaphor of the sheep and the goats. It is inside of this vignette that we get the picture that serving the physical needs of “least of these” is high on the priority list for our Lord. I would suggest that using the gifts God has put in us in serving the “least of these” is the gold standard.
Right in the middle of Matthew 24 and 25, in the context of the “signs” of the end, Jesus brings this picture of feeding, clothing and visiting the least of these. I’m not suggesting that things like going to church aren’t important, but that’s not what Jesus chooses to use as the litmus test for the work that was done in our hearts at salvation. If the King has other questions for us on judgment day Jesus doesn’t bring them out in this picture.
Maybe this is why John and James who were both there for this teaching would later go on to emphasize caring for those in physical need in their epistles.
It's important to consider that the parable of the talents uses money as a metaphor. A talent is an amount of money. I think it's appropriate to apply it to the gifts that God gives us, but I also think it's crucial to not forget that He's talking about money. Especially when you look at it in the bigger picture and see what He's saying about taking care of the "least of these". Providing clothes, food and provision requires a financial commitment.
This money that we have whether it's little or much is not our money. It's Gods money entrusted to us until He returns. When you donate to an organization like Conduit you aren't just giving your money, you're investing money that was given to you by the Lord and earning a "profit" for Him upon His return.
And when He does return, like the guys in the parable of the talents that actually invested their gifts for the Master’s benefit, we will be greatly rewarded. I don’t know what the crowns and rewards will look like, I’d honestly be OK with the simple “Well done, my good and faithful servant”. (matt 25:21)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Conduit Dec 23- Apocalyptic Stomach Virus
The thing that they don’t tell you in all the child preparation classes you get before having a baby, and it’s a shame that they don’t, is that these little gifts from God, your little precious child whom you love in a way that is more profound than you can properly articulate, this individual whom God knit together in the womb of your wife and knew before the child was born; This creature will get you sick. Sometimes profoundly sick.
They spend way too much time in the personal space of their friends or go out and lick the yard and then come back inside with lots of hugs and kisses for mom and dad. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase spread the love. (Growing up my father was never very affectionate as far as hugs and such, in hindsight it seems that maybe this was more strategic than it was dysfunctional)
I woke up at around 3am following Conduit last Monday in a sort of suspended gastro animation. It was crystal clear that some sort of launch code had been initiated but I wasn’t sure of the exact lift off. The suspense was killing me. I had a sort of knowing that something was coming, but I had no idea from what orifice it would originate or with what kind of velocity. I would soon find out.
To spare you all the detailed descriptions and word pictures that I could paint, suffice it to say that it began a week that my wife would rather forget. This apocalyptic stomach virus systematically and purposefully picked off us off one at a time and mercilessly attacked each of my four children in addition to myself.
If this is some sort of biological warfare that it must never get into the hands of the wrong people. It was truly a weapon of mass destruction. At the risk of sounding conspiracy theorist I think that there were black helicopters in the cool springs area last week. I’m just saying.
There is one interesting silver lining to report. As of this writing, my beautiful bride who served as a sort of Mother Teresa of puke this past week was not stricken with this plague. Considering how many bed sheets, blankets, toilets, puke bowls and towels she had to clean it is absolutely fascinating that she did not fall ill. Some might even say miraculous. I’m quite certain it had nothing to do with my threats to the Lord that I wasn’t going to tithe for two weeks if she got sick. (it was late and I was down trodden and in despair)
For a brief moment I thought about contacting the Vatican and submitting her as a candidate for sainthood. She had the qualifications such as acts of selfless kindness and even the hard one: a confirmable miracle. It is not hyperbole or exaggeration to suggest that it’s a miracle that she didn’t get sick. This thing was a conscious and calculating life form sent from the pit of hell. She resisted it with a spiritual finesse that must be recorded for the generations to come.
That being said, after realizing that there was no cash prize for sainthood (Nobel prize winners get $1m) and coming to the sobering realization that if She was a saint I couldn’t enjoy some of the finer benefits of being married I decided to buy her flowers.
It’s hard to believe it’s Christmas already. Since it’s Jesus birthday that we’re celebrating it seems appropriate to give Him something . What to give though to the guy who truly does have everything? He made it easy though, and said that what He wants is for us to feed and clothe those who are called “the least of these”. He said that when we’ve done it unto them that we’ve done it unto them.
If you feel led, you can go to www.conduitmission.org and click on the “donate” button. Maybe you could get Jesus a handsome new “feed a child for a month” for His birthday. It’s only $15 and is indeed the gift that keeps giving.
Blessings,
Darren
www.conduitmission.org
www.darrentyler.com
They spend way too much time in the personal space of their friends or go out and lick the yard and then come back inside with lots of hugs and kisses for mom and dad. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase spread the love. (Growing up my father was never very affectionate as far as hugs and such, in hindsight it seems that maybe this was more strategic than it was dysfunctional)
I woke up at around 3am following Conduit last Monday in a sort of suspended gastro animation. It was crystal clear that some sort of launch code had been initiated but I wasn’t sure of the exact lift off. The suspense was killing me. I had a sort of knowing that something was coming, but I had no idea from what orifice it would originate or with what kind of velocity. I would soon find out.
To spare you all the detailed descriptions and word pictures that I could paint, suffice it to say that it began a week that my wife would rather forget. This apocalyptic stomach virus systematically and purposefully picked off us off one at a time and mercilessly attacked each of my four children in addition to myself.
If this is some sort of biological warfare that it must never get into the hands of the wrong people. It was truly a weapon of mass destruction. At the risk of sounding conspiracy theorist I think that there were black helicopters in the cool springs area last week. I’m just saying.
There is one interesting silver lining to report. As of this writing, my beautiful bride who served as a sort of Mother Teresa of puke this past week was not stricken with this plague. Considering how many bed sheets, blankets, toilets, puke bowls and towels she had to clean it is absolutely fascinating that she did not fall ill. Some might even say miraculous. I’m quite certain it had nothing to do with my threats to the Lord that I wasn’t going to tithe for two weeks if she got sick. (it was late and I was down trodden and in despair)
For a brief moment I thought about contacting the Vatican and submitting her as a candidate for sainthood. She had the qualifications such as acts of selfless kindness and even the hard one: a confirmable miracle. It is not hyperbole or exaggeration to suggest that it’s a miracle that she didn’t get sick. This thing was a conscious and calculating life form sent from the pit of hell. She resisted it with a spiritual finesse that must be recorded for the generations to come.
That being said, after realizing that there was no cash prize for sainthood (Nobel prize winners get $1m) and coming to the sobering realization that if She was a saint I couldn’t enjoy some of the finer benefits of being married I decided to buy her flowers.
It’s hard to believe it’s Christmas already. Since it’s Jesus birthday that we’re celebrating it seems appropriate to give Him something . What to give though to the guy who truly does have everything? He made it easy though, and said that what He wants is for us to feed and clothe those who are called “the least of these”. He said that when we’ve done it unto them that we’ve done it unto them.
If you feel led, you can go to www.conduitmission.org and click on the “donate” button. Maybe you could get Jesus a handsome new “feed a child for a month” for His birthday. It’s only $15 and is indeed the gift that keeps giving.
Blessings,
Darren
www.conduitmission.org
www.darrentyler.com
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Conduit Dec 15- Who's My Neighbor?
There is a sort of unspoken yet widely known benefit of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie being together. (aka Brangelina) Whenever they appear on the TV together; you as a husband you get to look at Angelina and not get in trouble. This is mostly because your wife is too busy looking at Brad Pitt to notice. (this is also true of Tim and Faith)
And so it was that I was watching Brangelina on Larry King Live in early summer of 07. They were talking about the stuff that they were doing as far as raising awareness, bringing change, giving money towards the cause of the poor and vulnerable around the world. I was watching a couple of folks who for all intents and purposes probably don’t know the Lord and might not even like the Lord, but they were doing the very things that God had called “true religion” in the book of James.
I sat there thinking the things that people think when watching rich and/ or powerful people do something impacting and world changing. I was thinking, “if I ever get rich or powerful then I would do the same thing”. It’s interesting that I would think this when you consider the encounter that a rich man had with Jesus in Matthew. (Matt 19:16-26)
Jesus would tell him that he should sell all he had, GIVE IT TO THE POOR, and follow Christ. This was too much, the rich man walked away. If he had followed Jesus command he wouldn’t be rich any more. The irony is that Jesus told this guy he could make an impact by becoming poor and I wanted to make an impact by becoming rich. Yet another paradox brought to you courtesy of the God of all the Universe.
It was in this vignette that Jesus would say that it’s impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Of course the Disciples were kind of panicked thinking if this guy couldn’t get into heaven then whom? Jesus goes on to say with man it is indeed impossible but with God all things are possible. For you and I that live in America, and are in the top 5% of the world’s wealth, that is especially good news.
That night watching Larry King Live God started to do something in me. In between clips from Mr and Mrs Smith and Lara Croft Tomb Raider God was doing something in me. It wasn’t Damascus Road Pauline style or whatever, but something started in me that night. I initially used the metaphor that God had downloaded something into me, but I have come to realize that is not the right picture. What really happened was that God planted seeds inside of me. The parable of the Sower in Luke 8 says that the seed is the Word of God. The Word of God was planted in me.
When seeds are planted they do their initial and most dramatic work under the surface and out of sight. They begin to disrupt the ground around them as they grow and push soil out of the way creating the life giving, anchoring foundation of roots. Things were changing inside of me, my soul was being disrupted, displaced and filled with something else. Eventually the plant breaks through the surface and ultimately there is fruit. This process takes time. It takes patience. The Bible says that Love is patient. Good thing.
As the seeds have slowly but surely grown in me I started to realize the flaws in MY plans and MY logic of how I would serve the Lord. I was spending so much time and energy building towards this seemingly noble goal that always seemed to lie just out of reach. How many years would I spend building a fortune compared to how many years I would have left to devote to following the Lord. In the mean time I would be missing out on the opportunities that are right in front of me. I was spending so much time asking what about then, that I forgot to ask what about now.
In truth I was like the folks in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The two guys that walked on by were a priest and a Levite. They were folks who were in the ministry so to speak. It’s always my tendency to try and relate to the guy in the story or parable that does it right, but as usual I had way more in common with the guy blowing it in the story.
Jesus told the parable to a religious scholar; to a guy who would have related to the Levite or the priest more than the half-breed marginalized Samaritan. He was schooled in the law, the law being the Mosaic Law. Like me he would probably have been very busy with the programs and rules and regulations and striving to be good and tithing and etc. So busy that, just like the priest and Levite he too would walk right by someone in need.
It’s easy to assume that they walked by because they were jerks. It’s easy to think they were so religious doing the work of ministry that they weren’t feeling the heart of ministry, which is a word that simply means to serve. Maybe it was because they didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to help, felt unqualified or inadequate. Jesus doesn’t say why, only that they did, and that it was an unacceptable response.
The religious scholar had asked Jesus who was HIS neighbor was in a sort of ploy to narrow the definition of neighbor. How did Jesus define a neighbor? Seems to me that the parable indicates whoever comes across our path in need is our neighbor.
The part of that story that stands out to me was that the guys that walk by did see the guy who was beaten and left for dead. They knew. They saw the need but for whatever reason walked by. They distanced themselves physically and emotionally and kept going. (luke 10:30-37)
Here’s a twist. In our modern world our sight line has expanded greatly. Because of things like Cable News and the Internet you and I get to see people in need that previously we might not have known. We are able to encounter people whose lives are ravaged by poverty, war, and injustice. To put it simply, “we know”. Jesus seemed to define neighbor as anyone that comes across our paths. Does it count when I see it on the news or in a documentary? I suspect it does.
What are we to do with those that we encounter? For too long I didn’t know what to do, didn’t feel qualified to do it, and so I turned the channel or went to a different website. I distanced myself physically and emotionally and kept going. Not anymore. The Conduit is a rallying point for us to work together serving our "neighbors". It's a platform for us to stand side by side and bandage up the wounds of those that God has brought across our paths. The Samaritan not only physically took care of the needs, but He used his own money and resources to provide the care.
It's so much more fun to relate to the right guy in the story; to be on the right side of history; to live as Jesus commanded.
Tomorrow night is somewhat of a work night at Conduit. We’re going to hit Exodus 6, and we’re going to dig deep, but we’re also going to put together gift bags. We’ve got stuff for 20 gift bags for residents at Place of Hope. Many if not most of the patients there are without families and / or money and their Christmases tend to be a little sad. We’ll work as a group to stuff the bags that’ll be delivered to them on December 21. If you happen to have 20 of something such as CDs, shirts, etc please feel free to bring them. We already have quite a bit of stuff, but more is always welcome.
We’re back at Journey Ecclesia in Building 8 at The Factory in Franklin at 7:30pm. It’s our last Conduit gathering of 08, I hope to see you there.
Blessings,
Darren
www.conduitmission.org Thanks to those of you who have joined with us. We put your money to work immediately. Everyone is volunteering at Conduit and we put your money right into the hands of those serving on the front lines. Remember that $15 feeds a child for a month in Haiti.
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com teachings from Monday nights here.
And so it was that I was watching Brangelina on Larry King Live in early summer of 07. They were talking about the stuff that they were doing as far as raising awareness, bringing change, giving money towards the cause of the poor and vulnerable around the world. I was watching a couple of folks who for all intents and purposes probably don’t know the Lord and might not even like the Lord, but they were doing the very things that God had called “true religion” in the book of James.
I sat there thinking the things that people think when watching rich and/ or powerful people do something impacting and world changing. I was thinking, “if I ever get rich or powerful then I would do the same thing”. It’s interesting that I would think this when you consider the encounter that a rich man had with Jesus in Matthew. (Matt 19:16-26)
Jesus would tell him that he should sell all he had, GIVE IT TO THE POOR, and follow Christ. This was too much, the rich man walked away. If he had followed Jesus command he wouldn’t be rich any more. The irony is that Jesus told this guy he could make an impact by becoming poor and I wanted to make an impact by becoming rich. Yet another paradox brought to you courtesy of the God of all the Universe.
It was in this vignette that Jesus would say that it’s impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Of course the Disciples were kind of panicked thinking if this guy couldn’t get into heaven then whom? Jesus goes on to say with man it is indeed impossible but with God all things are possible. For you and I that live in America, and are in the top 5% of the world’s wealth, that is especially good news.
That night watching Larry King Live God started to do something in me. In between clips from Mr and Mrs Smith and Lara Croft Tomb Raider God was doing something in me. It wasn’t Damascus Road Pauline style or whatever, but something started in me that night. I initially used the metaphor that God had downloaded something into me, but I have come to realize that is not the right picture. What really happened was that God planted seeds inside of me. The parable of the Sower in Luke 8 says that the seed is the Word of God. The Word of God was planted in me.
When seeds are planted they do their initial and most dramatic work under the surface and out of sight. They begin to disrupt the ground around them as they grow and push soil out of the way creating the life giving, anchoring foundation of roots. Things were changing inside of me, my soul was being disrupted, displaced and filled with something else. Eventually the plant breaks through the surface and ultimately there is fruit. This process takes time. It takes patience. The Bible says that Love is patient. Good thing.
As the seeds have slowly but surely grown in me I started to realize the flaws in MY plans and MY logic of how I would serve the Lord. I was spending so much time and energy building towards this seemingly noble goal that always seemed to lie just out of reach. How many years would I spend building a fortune compared to how many years I would have left to devote to following the Lord. In the mean time I would be missing out on the opportunities that are right in front of me. I was spending so much time asking what about then, that I forgot to ask what about now.
In truth I was like the folks in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The two guys that walked on by were a priest and a Levite. They were folks who were in the ministry so to speak. It’s always my tendency to try and relate to the guy in the story or parable that does it right, but as usual I had way more in common with the guy blowing it in the story.
Jesus told the parable to a religious scholar; to a guy who would have related to the Levite or the priest more than the half-breed marginalized Samaritan. He was schooled in the law, the law being the Mosaic Law. Like me he would probably have been very busy with the programs and rules and regulations and striving to be good and tithing and etc. So busy that, just like the priest and Levite he too would walk right by someone in need.
It’s easy to assume that they walked by because they were jerks. It’s easy to think they were so religious doing the work of ministry that they weren’t feeling the heart of ministry, which is a word that simply means to serve. Maybe it was because they didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to help, felt unqualified or inadequate. Jesus doesn’t say why, only that they did, and that it was an unacceptable response.
The religious scholar had asked Jesus who was HIS neighbor was in a sort of ploy to narrow the definition of neighbor. How did Jesus define a neighbor? Seems to me that the parable indicates whoever comes across our path in need is our neighbor.
The part of that story that stands out to me was that the guys that walk by did see the guy who was beaten and left for dead. They knew. They saw the need but for whatever reason walked by. They distanced themselves physically and emotionally and kept going. (luke 10:30-37)
Here’s a twist. In our modern world our sight line has expanded greatly. Because of things like Cable News and the Internet you and I get to see people in need that previously we might not have known. We are able to encounter people whose lives are ravaged by poverty, war, and injustice. To put it simply, “we know”. Jesus seemed to define neighbor as anyone that comes across our paths. Does it count when I see it on the news or in a documentary? I suspect it does.
What are we to do with those that we encounter? For too long I didn’t know what to do, didn’t feel qualified to do it, and so I turned the channel or went to a different website. I distanced myself physically and emotionally and kept going. Not anymore. The Conduit is a rallying point for us to work together serving our "neighbors". It's a platform for us to stand side by side and bandage up the wounds of those that God has brought across our paths. The Samaritan not only physically took care of the needs, but He used his own money and resources to provide the care.
It's so much more fun to relate to the right guy in the story; to be on the right side of history; to live as Jesus commanded.
Tomorrow night is somewhat of a work night at Conduit. We’re going to hit Exodus 6, and we’re going to dig deep, but we’re also going to put together gift bags. We’ve got stuff for 20 gift bags for residents at Place of Hope. Many if not most of the patients there are without families and / or money and their Christmases tend to be a little sad. We’ll work as a group to stuff the bags that’ll be delivered to them on December 21. If you happen to have 20 of something such as CDs, shirts, etc please feel free to bring them. We already have quite a bit of stuff, but more is always welcome.
We’re back at Journey Ecclesia in Building 8 at The Factory in Franklin at 7:30pm. It’s our last Conduit gathering of 08, I hope to see you there.
Blessings,
Darren
www.conduitmission.org Thanks to those of you who have joined with us. We put your money to work immediately. Everyone is volunteering at Conduit and we put your money right into the hands of those serving on the front lines. Remember that $15 feeds a child for a month in Haiti.
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com teachings from Monday nights here.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Conduit- Can't Take It With You (cont'd) Food For Famine
We use the word “spending” when referring to how we use our time. I believe this is an appropriate word because time is a commodity that we have a limited amount of in much the same way money is. My only real currency in this life is time. How I spend each minute investing not only in the world I exist but investing in my ultimate "retirement" in the Kingdom of God.
We have the chance to not only spend our time, but invest it. I have a finite amount of time here on this earth. Ephesians 5:16 says that I should “redeem” time. Redeem is an accounting term. It’s financial in nature. When I redeem a coupon or gift card I hand it in and get something in exchange for it. That’s the picture that Paul is painting with redeeming the time.
I have spent money on some stuff that was worth it, and I have spent money on stuff that wasn’t. (Anyone ever order those fat burning pills from the infomercials?)
Each and every minute I have I am spending on something. Following that metaphor I get something in exchange for that time spent. I spend that minute on something that brings joy or on something that brings pain. I spend it at my job being productive or being wasteful. It might be something that entertains or exhorts or something that focuses or distracts. It’s a minute spent that either brings reward eternally or is a minute that 2 Cor 5 says will be burned up. The stuff that is left behind, that doesn’t burn up, that’s the pure stuff, the gold, the time well spent.
Jesus said who by worrying can add one moment to your life? (Matthew 6:27 New Living) That’s an interesting thought. Adding a moment to your life. At 7:53am on Aug 14 I understood perfectly the desire to add a moment to life. That was the minute my mom breathed her last breath. It was a poignant thought because my mom was a worrier. And all of the worrying in fact did not add a minute to her life.
Her time was up at 61 years and 7 months. For those keeping track that’s:
22,475 days
539,400 hours
32,364,000 minutes
It all seems like so much; until you’re 32,363,999 minutes in.
In the last couple of weeks of her life I found myself wanting to spend as much time as possible with her. I knew she was dying and I had this desire to be there as much as possible night and day. Ultimately I wanted to make up for lost time.
I learned something. I couldn’t. That time that was spent was gone. There was no going back and scrounging up more time. There was no way to call redo. It was made bittersweet by the fact that she was in a medically induced coma. She was there, but she wasn’t. I had squandered many opportunities because of pride, arrogance, or just plain selfishness. The time I had left with her was well spent, but to say I wanted more for my money would be an understatement.
I think what I learned but couldn’t necessarily articulate was that I have an amount of time. I don’t know how many minutes I get, but once they’re gone it’s over.
Jesus made that statement about adding a moment to my life in the context of not laying up for myself treasures on earth. It was in the context of not worrying what I will eat or drink. It was in the context of no man serving two masters. It’s interesting to note that he sets up the juxtaposition between God and mammon (money) and not between God and Satan.
I find it personally appropriate because when I think about the things that God has put on my heart I wonder how I could accomplish it, or how I could feed my family if I did that, or what if I end up doing this for the Lord.
It’s easy to spend my minutes chasing provision but Jesus is suggesting that is not time well spent. Even the pagans do that He said. Instead I should spend my time pursuing Him and He’ll take care of the rest. I see how it looks when I take a step back and read chapters 5, 6, 7. (AKA The Beautitudes) I see that my time is well invested in loving my wife and being faithful to her, in being salt and light to the world, in giving to the needy, in praying, in loving.
One day it’s guaranteed that you and I who have followed Christ will stand before Him as our judge. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul uses the metaphor of the Bema seat, the place where a judge would sit on the finish line of a race and declare the winner. It’s not a throne of punishment like the Great White Throne spoken of in Revelation but this is a throne of reward.
I am about 19,879,200 minutes into this life. I have invested some of that time wisely. They are the minutes I’m the most proud of. The times that I have invested for the Kingdom, the times I’ve spent with my children modeling Christ for them, the times I have loved my wife well as an ambassador of Christ to her, the minutes I’ve spent praying and seeking the Lord, the time in Africa or in Columbia, TN, the time I’ve spent giving my money. To put it simply the times my life has matched up with Matthew 5-7.
I have invested too much of it poorly with works that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 that will be burned up in fire; it’s the hay and stubble. It’s worthless. Paul says that what is left after this fire is the purity. The gold. It’s the stuff from Matthew 5-7. That’s what I’ll be rewarded for in Heaven.
The Bible says that Jesus will wipe away our tears in Heaven, it does not say there won’t be any tears. What pray tell would we have tears over? Perhaps over all the minutes wasted.
If I’m lucky enough to get another 19,879,200 minutes then I pray I’ll spend them better than I spent the first 20 million.
Monday night at 6:30 we are gathering at New River Fellowship for Food for Famine. Admittedly I'm personally biased, but I think this is a good use of your time. For $10 a person you get a great meal and great entertainment AND you get to know that your money will feed children in Haiti. (kids are welcome at $5 each) It's a great way to spend the night and you'll know that not only will your belly be full, but so will the bellies of some of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
If you can't make it but still want to participate you can go to www.conduitmission.org and hit the "donate" button. Just put Haiti in the subject line when sending payment. In less than month your money will be at working feeding those who can't pay to feed themselves. Just $15 feeds a child for a month. Pray about it.
Hope to see you tomorrow night.
Darren
www.conduitmission.org
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com (the podcast for monday nights teachings)
We have the chance to not only spend our time, but invest it. I have a finite amount of time here on this earth. Ephesians 5:16 says that I should “redeem” time. Redeem is an accounting term. It’s financial in nature. When I redeem a coupon or gift card I hand it in and get something in exchange for it. That’s the picture that Paul is painting with redeeming the time.
I have spent money on some stuff that was worth it, and I have spent money on stuff that wasn’t. (Anyone ever order those fat burning pills from the infomercials?)
Each and every minute I have I am spending on something. Following that metaphor I get something in exchange for that time spent. I spend that minute on something that brings joy or on something that brings pain. I spend it at my job being productive or being wasteful. It might be something that entertains or exhorts or something that focuses or distracts. It’s a minute spent that either brings reward eternally or is a minute that 2 Cor 5 says will be burned up. The stuff that is left behind, that doesn’t burn up, that’s the pure stuff, the gold, the time well spent.
Jesus said who by worrying can add one moment to your life? (Matthew 6:27 New Living) That’s an interesting thought. Adding a moment to your life. At 7:53am on Aug 14 I understood perfectly the desire to add a moment to life. That was the minute my mom breathed her last breath. It was a poignant thought because my mom was a worrier. And all of the worrying in fact did not add a minute to her life.
Her time was up at 61 years and 7 months. For those keeping track that’s:
22,475 days
539,400 hours
32,364,000 minutes
It all seems like so much; until you’re 32,363,999 minutes in.
In the last couple of weeks of her life I found myself wanting to spend as much time as possible with her. I knew she was dying and I had this desire to be there as much as possible night and day. Ultimately I wanted to make up for lost time.
I learned something. I couldn’t. That time that was spent was gone. There was no going back and scrounging up more time. There was no way to call redo. It was made bittersweet by the fact that she was in a medically induced coma. She was there, but she wasn’t. I had squandered many opportunities because of pride, arrogance, or just plain selfishness. The time I had left with her was well spent, but to say I wanted more for my money would be an understatement.
I think what I learned but couldn’t necessarily articulate was that I have an amount of time. I don’t know how many minutes I get, but once they’re gone it’s over.
Jesus made that statement about adding a moment to my life in the context of not laying up for myself treasures on earth. It was in the context of not worrying what I will eat or drink. It was in the context of no man serving two masters. It’s interesting to note that he sets up the juxtaposition between God and mammon (money) and not between God and Satan.
I find it personally appropriate because when I think about the things that God has put on my heart I wonder how I could accomplish it, or how I could feed my family if I did that, or what if I end up doing this for the Lord.
It’s easy to spend my minutes chasing provision but Jesus is suggesting that is not time well spent. Even the pagans do that He said. Instead I should spend my time pursuing Him and He’ll take care of the rest. I see how it looks when I take a step back and read chapters 5, 6, 7. (AKA The Beautitudes) I see that my time is well invested in loving my wife and being faithful to her, in being salt and light to the world, in giving to the needy, in praying, in loving.
One day it’s guaranteed that you and I who have followed Christ will stand before Him as our judge. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul uses the metaphor of the Bema seat, the place where a judge would sit on the finish line of a race and declare the winner. It’s not a throne of punishment like the Great White Throne spoken of in Revelation but this is a throne of reward.
I am about 19,879,200 minutes into this life. I have invested some of that time wisely. They are the minutes I’m the most proud of. The times that I have invested for the Kingdom, the times I’ve spent with my children modeling Christ for them, the times I have loved my wife well as an ambassador of Christ to her, the minutes I’ve spent praying and seeking the Lord, the time in Africa or in Columbia, TN, the time I’ve spent giving my money. To put it simply the times my life has matched up with Matthew 5-7.
I have invested too much of it poorly with works that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 that will be burned up in fire; it’s the hay and stubble. It’s worthless. Paul says that what is left after this fire is the purity. The gold. It’s the stuff from Matthew 5-7. That’s what I’ll be rewarded for in Heaven.
The Bible says that Jesus will wipe away our tears in Heaven, it does not say there won’t be any tears. What pray tell would we have tears over? Perhaps over all the minutes wasted.
If I’m lucky enough to get another 19,879,200 minutes then I pray I’ll spend them better than I spent the first 20 million.
Monday night at 6:30 we are gathering at New River Fellowship for Food for Famine. Admittedly I'm personally biased, but I think this is a good use of your time. For $10 a person you get a great meal and great entertainment AND you get to know that your money will feed children in Haiti. (kids are welcome at $5 each) It's a great way to spend the night and you'll know that not only will your belly be full, but so will the bellies of some of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
If you can't make it but still want to participate you can go to www.conduitmission.org and hit the "donate" button. Just put Haiti in the subject line when sending payment. In less than month your money will be at working feeding those who can't pay to feed themselves. Just $15 feeds a child for a month. Pray about it.
Hope to see you tomorrow night.
Darren
www.conduitmission.org
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com (the podcast for monday nights teachings)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Save The Date!- Monday Night Dec 8
This morning I took it over to Alpine Bagel with Jeremy Hezlep and had me the good morning camper with cheddar, sausage and eggs all on a toasted sesame seed bagel. It was lightly browned, perfectly warm, and bursting with freshly salted cured meat flavor.
In Haiti, Charlene Dumas woke up and along with her baby boy enjoyed the buttery salty goodness that can only come from dirt cookies that She is surviving on in Haiti. Made from the finest butter, salt and yellow dirt that Haiti has to offer. She would have loved to have a bowl of rice, but that wasn’t an option in a country where food costs have skyrocketed and personal income is zero. These “dirt cookies” are the only food available to her and her son.
This past summer, the country of Haiti was hit by 4 hurricanes that stripped them of their food supply until Spring. In a country that is already destitute and desperate these Hurricanes were just a giant insult on top of the injury. I would like to use the word “dire” in explaining the circumstances but that isn’t strong enough. If someone thinks of one, please feel free to let me know.
Like me, I’m sure you want to do something about it. I’ve got great news.
On Monday December 8th, The Conduit (conduitmission.org) will be hosting a special dinner to raise funds that will go directly toward feeding the people of a mountain community that we visited, and was hit particularly hard by the storms.
You know you're going to eat out during the week, so why not come with that group of friends, or donate your date night to a worthy cause? Seating starts @ 6:30pm, but come anytime and stay as long as you want. The cost for the evening is $10 for adults and $5 for children, and includes dinner, dessert, entertainment and a chance to relax during this hectic holiday season. We also ask that you bring one or more articles of gently used men's, women's or children's clothing.
Please spread the word. If you or anyone you know is unable to attend but still wants to give, go to www.conduitmission.org, click on the 'Donate' button at the bottom of the page, and include Haiti Food in the memo. We want to enable as many people as possible to be a part of bringing the hope that Haitians so desperately need. Thanks and hope to see you there!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Conduit Dec 1- You Can't Take It With You
We spent the Thanksgiving week in Nebraska. I’m not entirely sure if I’m supposed to call it “Dads House” or if I can still call it my parent’s house. Neither one feels quite right. We didn’t spend the week sad as much as we were thoughtfully pensive. It was a week devoted to going through my moms things, organizing, and cleaning those forgotten parts of the house where my mom hadn’t been in for a long time. (she wasn’t able to climb the stairs for years)
My mom was somewhat of a pack rat. To be completely honest she was more like a colony of pack rats. She didn’t necessarily achieve the medical definition of hoarding, but was certainly perched precariously right on the edge of it. She saved pretty much everything. It was almost like she had this primal urge to take the most mundane of daily things and scurry off to bury them somewhere in the house.
The downside of this was that she had newspapers from 1973 and TV guides from the 80s. The upside is that we still had her original passport from when she was 13 and report cards from my grade school years. We would find bottles of medicine from 1985 and wonder why, and we would find the baptism certificate from when she was 3 and wonder why not.
This all took place in an attic like upstairs of an almost 140 year old house with the kind of dust and disrepair that you might imagine in a structure that in 1870 housed an Evangelical congregation. (we know this because my dad found the title deed and paperwork for the house that started in 1870 containing the presidential seal of Ulysses Simpson Grant)
I held in my hands letters and cards that my parents traded when he was in the army in Germany and she was in Superior, NE wondering if they would actually have a relationship when he got back. Cards that were written against the backdrop of a nation embroiled in the Cuban Missile Crisis and Civil Rights marches, but you’d never know it from the tone of the letters. This was a young couple in love and as usual, young love seems to drown out the background noise. They were the kind of letters that convey the “haven’t heard from you in a while” and “can’t wait till you’re in my arms again” sentiments. Maybe love doesn't drown out the background noise as much as serve as a filter that allows us to focus on what really matters.
There were pictures; lots of pictures. Pictures of people that I had no idea who were, but clearly fit a piece of my moms life at some point but had since faded into memories. I wondered if somewhere in some other attic in America there were pictures of my mom. Surely there were.
There were pictures of folks who still played a large part of her life but whose faces had changed in the way that only time can do. Fascinatingly, my grand mother who is in her mid eighties and in the final stages of Alzheimer’s remembered many of their names even though she couldn’t remember mine and thought I still lived in California. I have never lived in CA.
There were pictures of my mom as well. She was young, thin, and I feel kind of weird saying this but kind of hot in that 1960’s short hair short skirt Austin Powers kind of way. Like most sons I had never seen my mom in this light mostly because, well that’s gross.
But standing there looking at the pictures though, I found myself wanting to know everything about her. I wanted to ask her so many questions about the people in the pictures, what she was thinking at the time, did her Dad want her to wear a longer skirt, etc. Those are all questions that will have to wait for now.
I found myself looking at her chair that she sat in that was empty, her seat in my dads car that I now rode in, and mostly the empty spot beside my dad where ever he went that was filled by her for the past 43 years. Seeing him without her beside him was definitely the most difficult part of the trip. I guess I never really saw them as individuals as much as a pair. Perhaps that’s what Paul calls the “mystery” of marriage. The two shall become one.
When we went to the cemetery to visit her grave I was really not sure what to expect. We went at night (which wasn’t nearly as creepy as I thought it would be) because my dad had installed lights. They were solar powered and he was quite proud of them. This of course begged the question of why you need to have lights in a cemetery since no one in their right mind goes there at night, but as we crested the hill coming down to Bostwick, NE I saw the purpose. It was almost beautiful.
SIDEBAR: Among my moms collections were her collection of all things cow. Cow potholders, cow banks, cow statues, cow butter plate, and heck even a cow CD case. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up in the darkness, and found a cow that had gotten loose grazing right beside her grave. The cow was just as surprised as we were and scurried off into the night.
It got me thinking about how a life is measured. When I’m gone is what I have left just a box of pictures and documentation that proved I was here? She’s not in her chair, not beside my dad, she’s not here anymore. What proof is there that she ever existed? I don’t think that in Gods eyes the proof of her existence was in the pictures I was holding as much as it was the person that was holding them.
It’s not in the pictures but in the stories behind them, the impacted lives represented in them. She had poured herself into her family and all of the investments that she had made were now living on in those of us who came in contact with her. There wasn’t a single thing that I was holding that she could have taken with her. Me on the other hand, I am definitely going where she is.
And not only does she take me with her, but in a sort of God like multi level marketing strategy, all of the lives that I impact will be counted unto her as well. It’s fun to imagine some sort of party where those in her spiritual lineage will all meet up in heaven; most of whom she has never met this side of heaven.
We use the word “spending” when referring to how we use our time. I believe this is an appropriate word because time is a commodity that we have a limited amount of in much the same way money is. My only real currency in this life is time. How I spend each minute investing not only in the world I exist but investing in my ultimate "retirement" in the Kingdom of God.
We have the chance to not only spend our time, but invest it. I have a finite amount of time here on this earth. Ephesians 5:16 says that I should “redeem” time. Redeem is an accounting term. It’s financial in nature. When I redeem a coupon or gift card I hand it in and get something in exchange for it. That’s the picture that Paul is painting with redeeming the time.
Following that logic…
Well I’ll follow it in the next blog.
Until then, I look forward to seeing you at Conduit Monday night. I missed you all last week, and look forward to diving back into our journey through Exodus. Last time we talked about the idea of “what’s in your hand”. This week we’ll dive into Chapter 5 and see what the Lord would say to us there.
Monday night. 7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 at the Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com (join the podcast)
www.conduitmission.org You can donate here. Remember that just $15 feeds a child in Haiti for an entire month. We don’t keep your money, we let it flow through the conduit and right into the hands of those who are hungry, poor, and hurting.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
No Conduit Monday
I’ll write more later this week, but I wanted to let everyone know that we won’t be having Conduit this week. I’m in Nebraska this week with my family going through my mom’s things and helping my dad as he enters this next phase of his life.
It’s been a sort of cathartic experience and has been kind of fun as my kids are learning that their daddy had girlfriends in high school and that according to my 8th grade music teacher Mrs. Christianson, I made “too many comments that disrupt the class.”
Would you do me a favor and email, facebook, myspace, and maybe even kick it old school and call around and make sure that word gets out? We're somewhat of a scattered group but maybe even just putting "no conduit monday" in your facebook status for a couple hours will make sure we get the word out.
We're coming back next week with the Benefit To Fight Hunger. More information to come very soon.
It’s been a sort of cathartic experience and has been kind of fun as my kids are learning that their daddy had girlfriends in high school and that according to my 8th grade music teacher Mrs. Christianson, I made “too many comments that disrupt the class.”
Would you do me a favor and email, facebook, myspace, and maybe even kick it old school and call around and make sure that word gets out? We're somewhat of a scattered group but maybe even just putting "no conduit monday" in your facebook status for a couple hours will make sure we get the word out.
We're coming back next week with the Benefit To Fight Hunger. More information to come very soon.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Conduit November 17- What's In Your Hand
Isaiah 58:1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
Isaiah opens up with a sort of hell fire and brimstone shout at the people for their sins. “Shout out to all my sinners out there!” As a parent I would like to use this as a proof text that it’s ok to yell at my kids.
Isaiah is about to let them have it. I expect he would rant about their adultery or their fornication or some other big ticket sin like idolatry or murdering or stealing. As I read on into the chapter I see that the “sin” wasn’t so much about what they were doing as much as it was about what they weren’t doing. Follow me on this.
Fasting was a huge part of Jewish nations worship. It was part of their rituals for the atonement of sin (Lev 23) and it was done as an act that would avert disaster (Esther 4). The Pharisees would continue this tradition as a proof of piety and used it as a litmus test for legit ministry when questioning Jesus about why His disciples did not fast.
(It’s interesting to note that they asked Jesus this while He was having dinner with the “tax collectors and sinners” luke 5:30)
In VS 5 of Isaiah 58 God asks a sort of half rhetorical / half mocking question; “what do think fasting is really about?” A I read verse 5 it kind of jumped out at me that is exactly what I thought fasting was about: humbling yourself, bowing your head, and the kind of demureness that comes when you’re especially hungry. Man do I hate being hungry.
It reminds me of James 1 where we are told that true religion is looking after orphans and widows and keeping yourself polluted from the world. James makes this statement in the larger context of doing the word and not just listening. Not just talking about it. He makes it in the context of taming the tongue. It’s so easy to take the Word and misuse it, to use my tongue to deliver the Word in a hurtful stinging manner. James says we should tame our tongue and use it wisely letting our good works speak loudly.
I have spent most of my life really focused and concerned about the pollution of the world part but skipping over the orphans and widows. There is no question that James emphasizes purity in our lives, but he gives equal time to caring for those in need.
I spent a lot of energy making sure I was in church every time the doors were open and tithing and raising my hands at the right moment in the song (we stand and lift up our hands…) I was part of the 10% that did 90% of the work. My wife and I were faithful and consistent.
I can also tell you that for a large portion of my life I didn’t even know an orphan and could name a handful of widows, but I certainly didn’t spend as much energy on that as I did on not listening to “secular” music or whether or not I should watch the smurfs since they were demons. Or, if in a show of solidarity I should go to Disney during the boycott even though I wasn’t a Baptist.
Conduit was born out of an “aha” moment in my life. It was born when the Spirit started moving in me. I couldn’t articulate it at the time it was born out of a realization that Isaiah was talking directly to me.
As a believer it is absolutely my job to be involved in loosing the chains of injustice, to break bondage, to set the oppressed free and to share my food with the hungry, to provide shelter for the homeless, and to clothe the naked. If I was looking for a job description, I just found one.
1 Peter 2:9 refers to Christians as a “Holy Nation”. I wonder if when we are praying for our government and culture and we don’t see the results that maybe it’s because we’re missing the point. Israel wondered why they were doing all the “right things” in their religious services and God didn’t seem to hear them.
I speak in broad terms obviously. I know that there are many in the Body of Christ who are very much a part of “true religion”. There are many in our community that are living this out every day. I personally fellowship with a group of believers who are proactively involved in these things.
It’s just that somehow as Christians we’ve been relegated to a voting block or a target market instead of a force for change in this world. If everyone of the quite literally hundreds of thousands of churches would focus equal attention onto the cause of justice, freedom and provision for those in need just think what would happen.
Actually we don’t have to think about it, God told us in VS 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
About tonight…
So what can you or I do? Where do we start in allowing the Lord to move through us? In Exodus chapter 4, God asks Moses a very simple question. He asked “what’s in your hand”. That’s the key. We’ll talk about it tonight.
7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 at The Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.conduitmission.org (for ever $15 we can feed a child for a month in Haiti. Click on the donate now button.)
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com for the podcast of the teachings from Monday nights
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
Isaiah opens up with a sort of hell fire and brimstone shout at the people for their sins. “Shout out to all my sinners out there!” As a parent I would like to use this as a proof text that it’s ok to yell at my kids.
Isaiah is about to let them have it. I expect he would rant about their adultery or their fornication or some other big ticket sin like idolatry or murdering or stealing. As I read on into the chapter I see that the “sin” wasn’t so much about what they were doing as much as it was about what they weren’t doing. Follow me on this.
Fasting was a huge part of Jewish nations worship. It was part of their rituals for the atonement of sin (Lev 23) and it was done as an act that would avert disaster (Esther 4). The Pharisees would continue this tradition as a proof of piety and used it as a litmus test for legit ministry when questioning Jesus about why His disciples did not fast.
(It’s interesting to note that they asked Jesus this while He was having dinner with the “tax collectors and sinners” luke 5:30)
In VS 5 of Isaiah 58 God asks a sort of half rhetorical / half mocking question; “what do think fasting is really about?” A I read verse 5 it kind of jumped out at me that is exactly what I thought fasting was about: humbling yourself, bowing your head, and the kind of demureness that comes when you’re especially hungry. Man do I hate being hungry.
It reminds me of James 1 where we are told that true religion is looking after orphans and widows and keeping yourself polluted from the world. James makes this statement in the larger context of doing the word and not just listening. Not just talking about it. He makes it in the context of taming the tongue. It’s so easy to take the Word and misuse it, to use my tongue to deliver the Word in a hurtful stinging manner. James says we should tame our tongue and use it wisely letting our good works speak loudly.
I have spent most of my life really focused and concerned about the pollution of the world part but skipping over the orphans and widows. There is no question that James emphasizes purity in our lives, but he gives equal time to caring for those in need.
I spent a lot of energy making sure I was in church every time the doors were open and tithing and raising my hands at the right moment in the song (we stand and lift up our hands…) I was part of the 10% that did 90% of the work. My wife and I were faithful and consistent.
I can also tell you that for a large portion of my life I didn’t even know an orphan and could name a handful of widows, but I certainly didn’t spend as much energy on that as I did on not listening to “secular” music or whether or not I should watch the smurfs since they were demons. Or, if in a show of solidarity I should go to Disney during the boycott even though I wasn’t a Baptist.
Conduit was born out of an “aha” moment in my life. It was born when the Spirit started moving in me. I couldn’t articulate it at the time it was born out of a realization that Isaiah was talking directly to me.
As a believer it is absolutely my job to be involved in loosing the chains of injustice, to break bondage, to set the oppressed free and to share my food with the hungry, to provide shelter for the homeless, and to clothe the naked. If I was looking for a job description, I just found one.
1 Peter 2:9 refers to Christians as a “Holy Nation”. I wonder if when we are praying for our government and culture and we don’t see the results that maybe it’s because we’re missing the point. Israel wondered why they were doing all the “right things” in their religious services and God didn’t seem to hear them.
I speak in broad terms obviously. I know that there are many in the Body of Christ who are very much a part of “true religion”. There are many in our community that are living this out every day. I personally fellowship with a group of believers who are proactively involved in these things.
It’s just that somehow as Christians we’ve been relegated to a voting block or a target market instead of a force for change in this world. If everyone of the quite literally hundreds of thousands of churches would focus equal attention onto the cause of justice, freedom and provision for those in need just think what would happen.
Actually we don’t have to think about it, God told us in VS 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
About tonight…
So what can you or I do? Where do we start in allowing the Lord to move through us? In Exodus chapter 4, God asks Moses a very simple question. He asked “what’s in your hand”. That’s the key. We’ll talk about it tonight.
7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 at The Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.conduitmission.org (for ever $15 we can feed a child for a month in Haiti. Click on the donate now button.)
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com for the podcast of the teachings from Monday nights
Monday, November 10, 2008
Conduit Nov 10- Put Up Or Shut Up
For those who want more government intervention in feeding the poor, I would suggest they’ve never enjoyed the “food” given out by the government in the 80s. Specifically government cheese, which was actually and more accurately labeled “cheese product”. This was usually accompanied with carnation powdered milk, or on a really good month, it would come premixed in a can. These were usually disseminated by some not well meaning persnickety old person. (the complete opposite of the old people who staff the voting poll locations) As a person in need you were clearly not a part of their job nearly as much as an interruption of it.
Somewhere around 1982 I was in grade school and my father had been ill for an extended period of time. This followed a couple of hospitalizations of my mom and oh yeah, my brother got smashed by a car they year before. He survived but not without a year of hospitalization, home care and rehabilitation. My dad was literally gone for months in hospitals leaving my Mom to figure out how to feed 4 hearty, active and hungry boys.
Mom was forced to do many humiliating things and one of them was to stretch the money beyond the food stamps, beyond the government handouts which often found herself at a food pantry much like Graceworks, which is located here in Franklin, TN.
Graceworks is like most food banks around the country right now. Their requests for assistance are up dramatically and the donations are down. Tina Edwards from Grace Works was quoted as saying that the supplies in their pantry are the lowest she has seen in the 5 years she’s been with the organization.
(see this article for more information about Graceworks)
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811070349
And so it was Sunday morning instead of going to church, that a few dozen of us from Journey Church descended upon the surrounding neighborhoods armed with a simple bag with a note that we placed on each home. The idea was to inform folks of the problem and give them an easy solution for getting involved. Simply put some food in the bag and leave it out on your front step the next Sunday and we’ll come back and get it.
It is a simple idea, simply executed and made for some amazing teachable moments for Shannon and I with the kids. We were in a sanctioned “church skip” led by our pastor in answering the question “more services or more service?”
What I loved about it most was it was a simple idea with simple execution. We are being a simple voice of Love. It’s one thing for me to sit around writing or speaking about how the government falls short of their promises in these areas, and it’s quite another for me to put my works where my mouth is.
As we walked from house to house with our little red wagon and my wife and kids all working as a team I felt like this was perfectly God. The kids were having fun. They were seeing how easy it is to be part of something bigger than themselves and ultimately my daughter Ashleigh summed it up by saying “I wish Church could be like this every Sunday”. Inside I wondered, I wonder if THE Church could be more like this every day.
My friends who are republicans and conservatives are going to be tempted to spend a lot of energy taking shots at the new Administration in the White House. As a former recipient of government health care and social welfare I concur that the government simply can’t get it right in these areas. Might all the current recipients of government hand outs raise a glass of carnation instant milk in agreement?
At the same time, I would challenge myself and everyone else to spend the energy it takes in verbally tearing down the government and aim it towards coming up with solutions. What if I hold my tongue on these problems if I’m not personally involved with being part of the solutions. I'm reminded of an interview with a powerful CEO who once said he tells his staff: "don't come to me with a problem without a solution". It's been our temptation to sit over in the peanut gallery and Monday morning quarterback without actually offering to solve anything.
Returning form Africa with Compassion International I saw that the Church does a WAY better job anyway. We make the money go further, we implement the services better, we make the impact go deeper. What I saw in Africa were churches whose facilities were used for worship gatherings on Sundays and the rest of the week used to feed, educate and teach the kids about the Lord. It wasn’t impersonal, rather it was very nurturing.
To be clear, the Bible never calls upon the government to fulfill or implement these types of services. It does however call on Gods people to do so.
I think it’s because when it comes from the government it is just and act of service. When it comes from the Church it’s an act of Love.
About tonight…
Exodus 3 is full of the meat of the Word. God uses a burning bush to speak to Moses. If I were God, I would have used something like a towering and majestic Oak tree or something very impressive. Why a bush? Why does God choose something so simple and unassuming to speak? Maybe it’s the same reason He chooses you and me. We’ll talk about that tonight.
Hope you can join us at 7:30pm. I’ll have updates on the money and where it’s going. At Conduit we are part of the solution. I hope you’ll join us.
Darren
www.conduitmission.org
Join the 1200 people who are already subscribed to the podcast… www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
Somewhere around 1982 I was in grade school and my father had been ill for an extended period of time. This followed a couple of hospitalizations of my mom and oh yeah, my brother got smashed by a car they year before. He survived but not without a year of hospitalization, home care and rehabilitation. My dad was literally gone for months in hospitals leaving my Mom to figure out how to feed 4 hearty, active and hungry boys.
Mom was forced to do many humiliating things and one of them was to stretch the money beyond the food stamps, beyond the government handouts which often found herself at a food pantry much like Graceworks, which is located here in Franklin, TN.
Graceworks is like most food banks around the country right now. Their requests for assistance are up dramatically and the donations are down. Tina Edwards from Grace Works was quoted as saying that the supplies in their pantry are the lowest she has seen in the 5 years she’s been with the organization.
(see this article for more information about Graceworks)
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811070349
And so it was Sunday morning instead of going to church, that a few dozen of us from Journey Church descended upon the surrounding neighborhoods armed with a simple bag with a note that we placed on each home. The idea was to inform folks of the problem and give them an easy solution for getting involved. Simply put some food in the bag and leave it out on your front step the next Sunday and we’ll come back and get it.
It is a simple idea, simply executed and made for some amazing teachable moments for Shannon and I with the kids. We were in a sanctioned “church skip” led by our pastor in answering the question “more services or more service?”
What I loved about it most was it was a simple idea with simple execution. We are being a simple voice of Love. It’s one thing for me to sit around writing or speaking about how the government falls short of their promises in these areas, and it’s quite another for me to put my works where my mouth is.
As we walked from house to house with our little red wagon and my wife and kids all working as a team I felt like this was perfectly God. The kids were having fun. They were seeing how easy it is to be part of something bigger than themselves and ultimately my daughter Ashleigh summed it up by saying “I wish Church could be like this every Sunday”. Inside I wondered, I wonder if THE Church could be more like this every day.
My friends who are republicans and conservatives are going to be tempted to spend a lot of energy taking shots at the new Administration in the White House. As a former recipient of government health care and social welfare I concur that the government simply can’t get it right in these areas. Might all the current recipients of government hand outs raise a glass of carnation instant milk in agreement?
At the same time, I would challenge myself and everyone else to spend the energy it takes in verbally tearing down the government and aim it towards coming up with solutions. What if I hold my tongue on these problems if I’m not personally involved with being part of the solutions. I'm reminded of an interview with a powerful CEO who once said he tells his staff: "don't come to me with a problem without a solution". It's been our temptation to sit over in the peanut gallery and Monday morning quarterback without actually offering to solve anything.
Returning form Africa with Compassion International I saw that the Church does a WAY better job anyway. We make the money go further, we implement the services better, we make the impact go deeper. What I saw in Africa were churches whose facilities were used for worship gatherings on Sundays and the rest of the week used to feed, educate and teach the kids about the Lord. It wasn’t impersonal, rather it was very nurturing.
To be clear, the Bible never calls upon the government to fulfill or implement these types of services. It does however call on Gods people to do so.
I think it’s because when it comes from the government it is just and act of service. When it comes from the Church it’s an act of Love.
About tonight…
Exodus 3 is full of the meat of the Word. God uses a burning bush to speak to Moses. If I were God, I would have used something like a towering and majestic Oak tree or something very impressive. Why a bush? Why does God choose something so simple and unassuming to speak? Maybe it’s the same reason He chooses you and me. We’ll talk about that tonight.
Hope you can join us at 7:30pm. I’ll have updates on the money and where it’s going. At Conduit we are part of the solution. I hope you’ll join us.
Darren
www.conduitmission.org
Join the 1200 people who are already subscribed to the podcast… www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Now What?
1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Some observations for me personally from this…
1. VS9 Specifically refers to you and I as a “nation”. If you’re a believer that has accepted the stone rejected by men (see vs 4-8) you were not just buying a ticket out of hell. I have become part of a nation, a Holy Nation. Our King is not of this world. America is an amazing nation, possibly the greatest nation that has existed to this date, and yet cannot hold a candle to the ultimate Kingdom that Jesus will rule over here on earth in the future. But for now…
2. VS11- We’re aliens. Not Roswell aliens, but foreigners. Through out the scripture God repeatedly has a soft spot for the widow, the orphan and THE ALIEN, (the foreigner) The Old Testament is riddled with that language. Israel spent most of their time as aliens in another land. We have our physical address here but not our residence. God has a soft spot for the alien, for you and me. Does that mean that I can just check out of the process and life? ..
3. VS 13- Submit your selves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men. Peter was writing this at a time when the ruling government was Rome. The human rights abusing, oppressive, highly taxed, profanely sinful and ultimately self-destructive Rome. Peter didn’t caveat his statement with, “I know that they’re crucifying Jews and I don’t support that, but you must submit anyway”. Strangely enough, He just said submit. So should I just be silent and not lift my voice in disagreement?
4. V15 Peter suggests something simple and compelling. He suggests that we won’t silence ignorant talk of foolish men by arguing or debating but by our GOOD WORKS. What if we all were mini Mother Teresas? He does suggest that our lifestyles and abstaining for sin is key, but he says “good works”. Not just what we DON”T do, but what we DO. If we are speaking the truth with our lives and occasionally with our mouths, Peter says that is the way to silence the Bill Mahers of the world. As it stands we’ve not only not silenced them, we’ve given them plenty of extra fuel for their fire. What if the government, the rulers, the leaders turn this nation into a socialist empire that chooses to imprison or attempt to silence or punish us like they did to Peter and the early church?
5. VS18- Peter says to the slaves to submit with all respect. I want to make that applicable for today by saying that He was talking about employees, but He wasn’t. He was NOT condoning the practice of slavery, rather he was telling the slaves how they could actually defeat their captors. Not by violent uprising, but by lovingly submitting. It’s completely backwards. It’s completely the Kingdom. He says what credit is it to me if I’m punished for actually doing something wrong? The loudest voices are not from the pundits or talking heads. The most significant statement comes from our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted, abused and dying as martyrs. I feel terribly for them, I pray for them, and yet God has their back. Peter said that Jesus set this example for us to follow. Should I just stand by and not speak out against an oppressive or socialist government should it exist?
6. VS23- Peter says that Jesus set an example by not retaliating. This is an ultimate act of faith. It is faith because I am trusting that God will in fact have His way. Abraham asked a question. He asked “Shall not the God of all the universe do what is just?” It was rhetorical but the answer, of course, is yes. It is not faith when I try to fix it myself. Faith is me standing tall, head held high knowing that God will ultimately bring His Kingdom and that EVERY knee shall bow, EVERY tongue confess, that He is in fact, Lord. (a spiritual term with vast political implications)
I personally believe that our Nation, (not America) but the Nation of Christ, is positioned better than ever to make an impact on this world. I wonder what would happen if we took these next few days, weeks, months, years and started a non violent revolution of Love. What if that love just isn’t just the tingly sensations, and not just stopping with a bunch of churches in the community for “unity “ nights. What if we go further?
What if it was a love that looked like you and I in the most unlovable of situations with the most unlovable of people serving. What if we do a better job than our government (republican or democrat) of feeding the poor. What if we as the church do a better job of adopting unwanted children who might have otherwise been aborted. What if our churches were side by side filled with people of every nationality, income bracket, and background? What if we stop asking the government to do what God clearly has asked you and I to do personally as believers? What if we silence the talk of foolish men with our good works?
We’ve seen what we can accomplish with our well-crafted arguments and debating skills. I wonder what we could do with our lives.
Darren Tyler
www.conduitmission.org
www.myspace.com/conduitbiblestudy
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Some observations for me personally from this…
1. VS9 Specifically refers to you and I as a “nation”. If you’re a believer that has accepted the stone rejected by men (see vs 4-8) you were not just buying a ticket out of hell. I have become part of a nation, a Holy Nation. Our King is not of this world. America is an amazing nation, possibly the greatest nation that has existed to this date, and yet cannot hold a candle to the ultimate Kingdom that Jesus will rule over here on earth in the future. But for now…
2. VS11- We’re aliens. Not Roswell aliens, but foreigners. Through out the scripture God repeatedly has a soft spot for the widow, the orphan and THE ALIEN, (the foreigner) The Old Testament is riddled with that language. Israel spent most of their time as aliens in another land. We have our physical address here but not our residence. God has a soft spot for the alien, for you and me. Does that mean that I can just check out of the process and life? ..
3. VS 13- Submit your selves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men. Peter was writing this at a time when the ruling government was Rome. The human rights abusing, oppressive, highly taxed, profanely sinful and ultimately self-destructive Rome. Peter didn’t caveat his statement with, “I know that they’re crucifying Jews and I don’t support that, but you must submit anyway”. Strangely enough, He just said submit. So should I just be silent and not lift my voice in disagreement?
4. V15 Peter suggests something simple and compelling. He suggests that we won’t silence ignorant talk of foolish men by arguing or debating but by our GOOD WORKS. What if we all were mini Mother Teresas? He does suggest that our lifestyles and abstaining for sin is key, but he says “good works”. Not just what we DON”T do, but what we DO. If we are speaking the truth with our lives and occasionally with our mouths, Peter says that is the way to silence the Bill Mahers of the world. As it stands we’ve not only not silenced them, we’ve given them plenty of extra fuel for their fire. What if the government, the rulers, the leaders turn this nation into a socialist empire that chooses to imprison or attempt to silence or punish us like they did to Peter and the early church?
5. VS18- Peter says to the slaves to submit with all respect. I want to make that applicable for today by saying that He was talking about employees, but He wasn’t. He was NOT condoning the practice of slavery, rather he was telling the slaves how they could actually defeat their captors. Not by violent uprising, but by lovingly submitting. It’s completely backwards. It’s completely the Kingdom. He says what credit is it to me if I’m punished for actually doing something wrong? The loudest voices are not from the pundits or talking heads. The most significant statement comes from our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted, abused and dying as martyrs. I feel terribly for them, I pray for them, and yet God has their back. Peter said that Jesus set this example for us to follow. Should I just stand by and not speak out against an oppressive or socialist government should it exist?
6. VS23- Peter says that Jesus set an example by not retaliating. This is an ultimate act of faith. It is faith because I am trusting that God will in fact have His way. Abraham asked a question. He asked “Shall not the God of all the universe do what is just?” It was rhetorical but the answer, of course, is yes. It is not faith when I try to fix it myself. Faith is me standing tall, head held high knowing that God will ultimately bring His Kingdom and that EVERY knee shall bow, EVERY tongue confess, that He is in fact, Lord. (a spiritual term with vast political implications)
I personally believe that our Nation, (not America) but the Nation of Christ, is positioned better than ever to make an impact on this world. I wonder what would happen if we took these next few days, weeks, months, years and started a non violent revolution of Love. What if that love just isn’t just the tingly sensations, and not just stopping with a bunch of churches in the community for “unity “ nights. What if we go further?
What if it was a love that looked like you and I in the most unlovable of situations with the most unlovable of people serving. What if we do a better job than our government (republican or democrat) of feeding the poor. What if we as the church do a better job of adopting unwanted children who might have otherwise been aborted. What if our churches were side by side filled with people of every nationality, income bracket, and background? What if we stop asking the government to do what God clearly has asked you and I to do personally as believers? What if we silence the talk of foolish men with our good works?
We’ve seen what we can accomplish with our well-crafted arguments and debating skills. I wonder what we could do with our lives.
Darren Tyler
www.conduitmission.org
www.myspace.com/conduitbiblestudy
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
Monday, November 3, 2008
Conduit- Nov 3-Our Deliverer Is Coming
Exodus 3: 7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
God hears the cries of His people.
For 400 years there is no record of God speaking or moving in the people of Israel but His absence did not mean He wasn’t moving. At the very moment the people of Israel were being enslaved, bruised, beaten and oppressed God was preparing a deliverer.
What seemed a world away, in the backside of the desert, far away from the prosperity and power of Egypt, God was preparing a deliverer. He was preparing a way of escape. He was molding and sculpting the life of a man named Moses. He seemed to be so utterly qualified and prepared already. He was powerful and wealthy in Egypt with all the right connections to get it done. He knew both the language and customs of Egypt as well as the language and customs of Israel. He was strategically well placed in political power to do something.
However, God knew that Moses needed an extra 40 years on slow roast in the desert. Gods seeming absence should not be confused with His lack of movement. On the contrary He was very much on the move. With all the atrocities going on around Moses, God had a plan. It required patience.
In our world, there are atrocities and human rights violations going on everywhere. Lest we forget, there are millions of children that are murdered every year under the ironically watchful eye of physicians and carefully legislated care of the government. We euphemize it with words like Pro Choice or abortion but it is taking the life of an actual baby who feels actual pain is murder. Maybe their cries are not audible, but I am confident that God hears them. I can think of no people group more oppressed and more helpless than these, the least of these.
Not parenthetically, God does have forgiveness and grace for those who have experienced it in the past, and just like you or I mercy awaits those moms who have gone through this.
These things weighed on me the past few months. It has quite frankly brought me to the question: “Can I be a one issue voter?” I’ve heard folks say that they’re voting for the candidate who speaks most to their own personal issues. I’ve heard folks who are voting out of fear from what the other party will do to the country.
But is there one issue that can drive a vote. Is there one thing inside a person’s mind that I can look to and say, “that person doesn’t speak for me”. Is it the war in Iraq? Is it raising taxes on my own personal company? For me personally that deal breaker issue was the voice of the helpless, the voice of the unborn.
We have euphemized this over the years. God help us that we’ve become so comfortable with the word Abortion that we aren’t even incensed anymore.
I personally think God will judge nations as a whole. Look no further than Revelation to see that He will gather together the nations for judgment. For all the talk of God “judging our country” perhaps we should listen.
If you’re a believer though, it might be interesting to note that Peter chooses the word “nation” to describe the Body of Christ. 1 Peter 2 says that we’re called out, that we’re a peculiar people, that we are a “holy nation”.
Before the great judging of the nations, the Lord has some words that are very pointed towards the church, to this peculiar nation Peter talks about.
This one particularly jumped out at me.
Revelation 3:14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
We live in a dispensation of Grace. God’s wrath towards mankind was aimed at Jesus Christ on the cross. It was there that He absorbed the penalty for you and me. It’s a grace experienced by believing in Jesus Christ, evidenced by the fruits of repentance. Repentance means changing your mind your direction. We’re not saved by works, but works / fruits are there as proof of our connection to the vine.
There is a day coming however, a day that Jesus referred to in Luke 21 as the “times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” that Gods wrath will be poured out on a wicked, Christ rejecting sinful world.
In the meantime, the Lord says that He stands at the door and knocks. He’s not knocking on the doors of unbelievers, but rather of the church, of you and me. Perhaps we should open the door.
God does hear the cries of His people. He hears the cries of the poor, the oppressed, the powerless, the starving, the unborn with no voice at all. His seeming absence in places like Darfur, Somalia, or Doctors offices around America should not be confused with His lack of movement.
Our deliverer, the real one, is coming.
How should we then live? We’ll talk about that tonight.
Tonight is going to be a sort of special time at Conduit as we talk about our lives in between now and when the Kingdom comes.
We’re going to also spend some time in prayer together as a group. Philip Peters is going to lead worship and we’ll just kind of pray it out.
As a reminder, God is still in control. Any illusion otherwise is just that.
God hears the cries of His people.
For 400 years there is no record of God speaking or moving in the people of Israel but His absence did not mean He wasn’t moving. At the very moment the people of Israel were being enslaved, bruised, beaten and oppressed God was preparing a deliverer.
What seemed a world away, in the backside of the desert, far away from the prosperity and power of Egypt, God was preparing a deliverer. He was preparing a way of escape. He was molding and sculpting the life of a man named Moses. He seemed to be so utterly qualified and prepared already. He was powerful and wealthy in Egypt with all the right connections to get it done. He knew both the language and customs of Egypt as well as the language and customs of Israel. He was strategically well placed in political power to do something.
However, God knew that Moses needed an extra 40 years on slow roast in the desert. Gods seeming absence should not be confused with His lack of movement. On the contrary He was very much on the move. With all the atrocities going on around Moses, God had a plan. It required patience.
In our world, there are atrocities and human rights violations going on everywhere. Lest we forget, there are millions of children that are murdered every year under the ironically watchful eye of physicians and carefully legislated care of the government. We euphemize it with words like Pro Choice or abortion but it is taking the life of an actual baby who feels actual pain is murder. Maybe their cries are not audible, but I am confident that God hears them. I can think of no people group more oppressed and more helpless than these, the least of these.
Not parenthetically, God does have forgiveness and grace for those who have experienced it in the past, and just like you or I mercy awaits those moms who have gone through this.
These things weighed on me the past few months. It has quite frankly brought me to the question: “Can I be a one issue voter?” I’ve heard folks say that they’re voting for the candidate who speaks most to their own personal issues. I’ve heard folks who are voting out of fear from what the other party will do to the country.
But is there one issue that can drive a vote. Is there one thing inside a person’s mind that I can look to and say, “that person doesn’t speak for me”. Is it the war in Iraq? Is it raising taxes on my own personal company? For me personally that deal breaker issue was the voice of the helpless, the voice of the unborn.
We have euphemized this over the years. God help us that we’ve become so comfortable with the word Abortion that we aren’t even incensed anymore.
I personally think God will judge nations as a whole. Look no further than Revelation to see that He will gather together the nations for judgment. For all the talk of God “judging our country” perhaps we should listen.
If you’re a believer though, it might be interesting to note that Peter chooses the word “nation” to describe the Body of Christ. 1 Peter 2 says that we’re called out, that we’re a peculiar people, that we are a “holy nation”.
Before the great judging of the nations, the Lord has some words that are very pointed towards the church, to this peculiar nation Peter talks about.
This one particularly jumped out at me.
Revelation 3:14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
We live in a dispensation of Grace. God’s wrath towards mankind was aimed at Jesus Christ on the cross. It was there that He absorbed the penalty for you and me. It’s a grace experienced by believing in Jesus Christ, evidenced by the fruits of repentance. Repentance means changing your mind your direction. We’re not saved by works, but works / fruits are there as proof of our connection to the vine.
There is a day coming however, a day that Jesus referred to in Luke 21 as the “times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” that Gods wrath will be poured out on a wicked, Christ rejecting sinful world.
In the meantime, the Lord says that He stands at the door and knocks. He’s not knocking on the doors of unbelievers, but rather of the church, of you and me. Perhaps we should open the door.
God does hear the cries of His people. He hears the cries of the poor, the oppressed, the powerless, the starving, the unborn with no voice at all. His seeming absence in places like Darfur, Somalia, or Doctors offices around America should not be confused with His lack of movement.
Our deliverer, the real one, is coming.
How should we then live? We’ll talk about that tonight.
Tonight is going to be a sort of special time at Conduit as we talk about our lives in between now and when the Kingdom comes.
We’re going to also spend some time in prayer together as a group. Philip Peters is going to lead worship and we’ll just kind of pray it out.
As a reminder, God is still in control. Any illusion otherwise is just that.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Conduit October 27- God Loves Nobodies
At the end of Genesis Jacob is told by his son Joseph that the Egyptians hated shepherds. The rugged Mike Row Dirty Jobs element of being a Shepherd caused them to be ostracized by the sophisticated Egyptian society. He suggested that the Egyptians would let Jacob and his family have a specific piece of land based on the fact that it was out of sight out of mind. If there were railroad tracks this place would have been on the wrong side of them. Jacob was heading to a land where they would be marginalized, oppressed and enslaved.
400 Years later Moses is on the scene. He has been raised in the house of Pharaoh where he was educated in the most advanced and complex culture that existed at that time. He was rich, he was a military hero, he was royalty. He spent the first 40 years of his life learning from the finest education that Egypt had to offer. He spent the first 40 years of his life becoming somebody.
Imagine his surprise when find out that he would be spending the next 40 years of his life as a Shepherd; the very folks His culture would have showed him to look down upon. He went from living as the son of the President to being on Egypt’s “most wanted” list. He would spend the next 40 years of his life learning from sheep and goats. He would spend the next 40 years of his life becoming nobody.
In chapter 1 of Exodus we saw God speaking to the midwives. Midwives were in that situation because they themselves were barren. They were in good company along with their relatives Sarah and Rachel and many other heroines of the Bible. Without the benefit of foresight, I’m sure to them it just plain sucked.
Not being able to bear children in their culture was looked down upon. They were marginalized as folks who were cursed. It would have been a lonely life knowing that people thought you were less than them, that some secret or public sin had brought this disgrace upon you. They would have wanted children so badly but instead spent their days assisting women live out the dreams they had for themselves. Every child born in their arms to only be handed off to the mother was one more reminder of what they thought they would never have.
It’s interesting to note that the midwives are mentioned by name in Exodus and the Pharaoh (the most powerful man on earth at the time) has no mention of his name. God’s economy truly is different than ours.
I don’t know about you but I spent my childhood in those shoes. I was not even close to being the popular kid in school. My family didn’t have money and certainly didn’t have any social standing in the community. I got beat up, spit on, picked on and enthusiastically picked last in gym class. (Actually, I got picked second to last. Lori Person got chosen last. She had germs)
God has a soft spot for the oppressed, the marginalized the down trodden for the fat kid in gym class. Jesus entered the world in those clothes Himself. If you feel that way or have felt that way you’re in such a good spot. God loves to qualify the unqualified and the unlovely. If you feel misunderstood, overlooked, under appreciated or beaten down tonight would be a great time to join us at Conduit. God has a Word for you from Exodus 2.
We had another $720 come in for Conduit this week from our friends at Rock House Church in Catoosa, OK. I spoke there yesterday morning and they surprised me with an offering to assist us with the cause. With the $4,000 that came in the past couple of weeks are absolutely making a difference to our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
If you haven’t had a chance to donate recently please pray about it. Remember that only $15 feeds a child for a month. You can go to www.conduitmission.org and click on the donate now button. We’re focusing all of our energies right now on feeding the children in Haiti and on our friends at Place of Hope in Columbia, TN. Over $40,000 has flown through the Conduit so far. The river of resources and hope is flowing.
See you tonight at 7:30pm at Journey in Building 8 at the Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
400 Years later Moses is on the scene. He has been raised in the house of Pharaoh where he was educated in the most advanced and complex culture that existed at that time. He was rich, he was a military hero, he was royalty. He spent the first 40 years of his life learning from the finest education that Egypt had to offer. He spent the first 40 years of his life becoming somebody.
Imagine his surprise when find out that he would be spending the next 40 years of his life as a Shepherd; the very folks His culture would have showed him to look down upon. He went from living as the son of the President to being on Egypt’s “most wanted” list. He would spend the next 40 years of his life learning from sheep and goats. He would spend the next 40 years of his life becoming nobody.
In chapter 1 of Exodus we saw God speaking to the midwives. Midwives were in that situation because they themselves were barren. They were in good company along with their relatives Sarah and Rachel and many other heroines of the Bible. Without the benefit of foresight, I’m sure to them it just plain sucked.
Not being able to bear children in their culture was looked down upon. They were marginalized as folks who were cursed. It would have been a lonely life knowing that people thought you were less than them, that some secret or public sin had brought this disgrace upon you. They would have wanted children so badly but instead spent their days assisting women live out the dreams they had for themselves. Every child born in their arms to only be handed off to the mother was one more reminder of what they thought they would never have.
It’s interesting to note that the midwives are mentioned by name in Exodus and the Pharaoh (the most powerful man on earth at the time) has no mention of his name. God’s economy truly is different than ours.
I don’t know about you but I spent my childhood in those shoes. I was not even close to being the popular kid in school. My family didn’t have money and certainly didn’t have any social standing in the community. I got beat up, spit on, picked on and enthusiastically picked last in gym class. (Actually, I got picked second to last. Lori Person got chosen last. She had germs)
God has a soft spot for the oppressed, the marginalized the down trodden for the fat kid in gym class. Jesus entered the world in those clothes Himself. If you feel that way or have felt that way you’re in such a good spot. God loves to qualify the unqualified and the unlovely. If you feel misunderstood, overlooked, under appreciated or beaten down tonight would be a great time to join us at Conduit. God has a Word for you from Exodus 2.
We had another $720 come in for Conduit this week from our friends at Rock House Church in Catoosa, OK. I spoke there yesterday morning and they surprised me with an offering to assist us with the cause. With the $4,000 that came in the past couple of weeks are absolutely making a difference to our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
If you haven’t had a chance to donate recently please pray about it. Remember that only $15 feeds a child for a month. You can go to www.conduitmission.org and click on the donate now button. We’re focusing all of our energies right now on feeding the children in Haiti and on our friends at Place of Hope in Columbia, TN. Over $40,000 has flown through the Conduit so far. The river of resources and hope is flowing.
See you tonight at 7:30pm at Journey in Building 8 at the Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Exodus 1- They Kingdom Come
Hi everyone, I posted an episode to my podcast, Conduit Bible Study- Darren Tyler.
Click this link to check it out:
Exodus 1
- Darren
Click this link to check it out:
Exodus 1
- Darren
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Conduit- The Weapons of Our Warfare
Someone took the time and trouble to count up the verses that deal with the foreigners, the marginalized, the widow, orphans and found that there were 2,000 passages in the Bible that promised them relief. To be fair; this hasn’t been independently verified by myself as I have neither the attention span nor time to attempt such a feat. That being said, this theme is literally spun all through the Bible.
This morning my pastor was reading a story in Luke that I had heard dozens of times and there it was again. Remember the story of Zacheus the wee little man? As Jesus was taking heat for inviting Himself over for dinner, Zacheus proclaimed that he was selling half of everything he owned and giving it to whom? The poor.
A little bit Later in Luke 16 is where we get the big ticket Bible quotes like “you can’t serve two masters” or “where much is given much is required”. Both of those are statements directed to us about how we deal with our money here on earth. Jesus makes this provocative statement in that passage about using our worldly wealth “that we might gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings”. (Luke 16:9 ) And what do you suppose we could be doing with our time and money here that would find people welcoming us to eternal dwellings? I suggest in the larger context it’s about serving the poor.
It sounds great and is more or less applicable to apply a passage like “where much is given much is required” to talk about being faithful in order to get a job promotion. However, that is not the context of what Jesus was saying and as any good arm chair theologian knows, context is everything. Jesus said where much is given, much is required and He was talking about money.
I’ve thought about that a lot this week as our Nation has been going through the political process and I wondered what Jesus would say. (Did He wear a bracelet that said WWID?) How would He respond to the moral decay? What would He say about our Government and the state that it’s in? What would He be blogging about Joe the Plumber if He were here today?
The answer is probably not. In all 4 gospels there is no mention of Jesus crying out against the liberal theater actors who were tearing down the moral fiber of their society. He made no mention of rising up against the oppressive Roman Government. He didn’t cry out against Caesar, Pilate or Herod responding to their policies that harmed the people and kept them in bondage.
It’s almost as if Jesus felt that the best defense was a great offense.
His opening salvo as Messiah (also in Luke) Jesus announced Himself as coming to preach the gospel to the poor, set at liberty the captives and bring sight to the blind. His advancement on the Kingdom of darkness weren’t verbal arguments against the Roman government (a good lesson for me) or the liberal media or the sinful Greek theatrical actors. To borrow a line from Donald Miller, that would be shooting at the hostages.
His attacks were at the actual enemy that held those very people hostage. By relieving and healing the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of the time, he was launching a ground war. The weapons of His warfare were not carnal, but were in fact mighty. He was attacking the system of poverty, oppression and spiritual blindness by setting people free from them. He attacked the system, but not the purveyors of it.
Hunger, poverty, and oppression are systemic tools of the enemy. Satan isn’t out there putting the screws to each and every single starving child. Satan is not omnipotent, and quite honestly probably doesn’t even know my name. He is just a fallen angel.
There is no record of Him getting extra power or for that matter having extra powers than any other angel. In fact there is no record of His appearance changing. Quite possibly He looks no different than he did as an angel. Not being omnipotent or omniscient he can work most effectively through systems that we ourselves buy into as a world, as a culture as a society. He is NOT Jesus equal. At the end of Revelation it is recorded that only one angel will be needed to chain him up.
And so it is that we have launched a ground war through Conduit. We are assaulting the kingdom of darkness. The systems of this world would have it that our children in Haiti starve and we are attacking that with our friends at Restoration Ministries in Jacmel, Haiti. . The systems of society would have it that addicts and homeless should be out of sight and out of mind and we have mounted an attack against that through Place of Hope right here in Columbia, TN.
We are not shooting at the hostages, but rather saving them. Conduit is a part of the supply chain as well as a source for ground troops in this. Every dime that you have given, every minute you have served, every second you have prayed is part of the greater battle. And slowly but surely, the Kingdom of God is advancing. Not through our slick marketing campaigns and nice worship centers but through our actions.
Many of you have given so freely and for that I am grateful. I write this with urgency because there is still so much need; specifically in Haiti. I still do not take a dime of the money you have given. I give to it myself. I write this not as someone better than you, but as someone just like you. We stand on level ground before the cross and I would ask that those of you who have not joined this battle to prayerfully consider doing so.
$15 will feed a child in Haiti for a month. Would you consider doing that? You can go to www.conduitmission.org and click on the “donate now” button. I don’t have any fancy love gift and can’t offer to put your name on a brick I can’t reward you at all and that’s great news for you because God can and God will. He’s much smarter and richer than me and He’s got your back. (That whole passage about God providing seed for the sower? Also talking about giving to the poor. Read 2 Cor. 8 and 9 in their entirety)
As for tomorrow: There is such an amazing picture of this in the story of Israel and the Exodus. It is a story of deliverance and of salvation for a people from a system of toil, hardship and captivity. If you get a chance, read the first couple of chapters of Exodus. We’re going back to our fundamentals at Conduit; searching deep within the scriptures, finding Jesus there, and responding to Him.
See you at 7:30pm in Building 8 at the Factory, home of The Journey.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
This morning my pastor was reading a story in Luke that I had heard dozens of times and there it was again. Remember the story of Zacheus the wee little man? As Jesus was taking heat for inviting Himself over for dinner, Zacheus proclaimed that he was selling half of everything he owned and giving it to whom? The poor.
A little bit Later in Luke 16 is where we get the big ticket Bible quotes like “you can’t serve two masters” or “where much is given much is required”. Both of those are statements directed to us about how we deal with our money here on earth. Jesus makes this provocative statement in that passage about using our worldly wealth “that we might gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings”. (Luke 16:9 ) And what do you suppose we could be doing with our time and money here that would find people welcoming us to eternal dwellings? I suggest in the larger context it’s about serving the poor.
It sounds great and is more or less applicable to apply a passage like “where much is given much is required” to talk about being faithful in order to get a job promotion. However, that is not the context of what Jesus was saying and as any good arm chair theologian knows, context is everything. Jesus said where much is given, much is required and He was talking about money.
I’ve thought about that a lot this week as our Nation has been going through the political process and I wondered what Jesus would say. (Did He wear a bracelet that said WWID?) How would He respond to the moral decay? What would He say about our Government and the state that it’s in? What would He be blogging about Joe the Plumber if He were here today?
The answer is probably not. In all 4 gospels there is no mention of Jesus crying out against the liberal theater actors who were tearing down the moral fiber of their society. He made no mention of rising up against the oppressive Roman Government. He didn’t cry out against Caesar, Pilate or Herod responding to their policies that harmed the people and kept them in bondage.
It’s almost as if Jesus felt that the best defense was a great offense.
His opening salvo as Messiah (also in Luke) Jesus announced Himself as coming to preach the gospel to the poor, set at liberty the captives and bring sight to the blind. His advancement on the Kingdom of darkness weren’t verbal arguments against the Roman government (a good lesson for me) or the liberal media or the sinful Greek theatrical actors. To borrow a line from Donald Miller, that would be shooting at the hostages.
His attacks were at the actual enemy that held those very people hostage. By relieving and healing the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of the time, he was launching a ground war. The weapons of His warfare were not carnal, but were in fact mighty. He was attacking the system of poverty, oppression and spiritual blindness by setting people free from them. He attacked the system, but not the purveyors of it.
Hunger, poverty, and oppression are systemic tools of the enemy. Satan isn’t out there putting the screws to each and every single starving child. Satan is not omnipotent, and quite honestly probably doesn’t even know my name. He is just a fallen angel.
There is no record of Him getting extra power or for that matter having extra powers than any other angel. In fact there is no record of His appearance changing. Quite possibly He looks no different than he did as an angel. Not being omnipotent or omniscient he can work most effectively through systems that we ourselves buy into as a world, as a culture as a society. He is NOT Jesus equal. At the end of Revelation it is recorded that only one angel will be needed to chain him up.
And so it is that we have launched a ground war through Conduit. We are assaulting the kingdom of darkness. The systems of this world would have it that our children in Haiti starve and we are attacking that with our friends at Restoration Ministries in Jacmel, Haiti. . The systems of society would have it that addicts and homeless should be out of sight and out of mind and we have mounted an attack against that through Place of Hope right here in Columbia, TN.
We are not shooting at the hostages, but rather saving them. Conduit is a part of the supply chain as well as a source for ground troops in this. Every dime that you have given, every minute you have served, every second you have prayed is part of the greater battle. And slowly but surely, the Kingdom of God is advancing. Not through our slick marketing campaigns and nice worship centers but through our actions.
Many of you have given so freely and for that I am grateful. I write this with urgency because there is still so much need; specifically in Haiti. I still do not take a dime of the money you have given. I give to it myself. I write this not as someone better than you, but as someone just like you. We stand on level ground before the cross and I would ask that those of you who have not joined this battle to prayerfully consider doing so.
$15 will feed a child in Haiti for a month. Would you consider doing that? You can go to www.conduitmission.org and click on the “donate now” button. I don’t have any fancy love gift and can’t offer to put your name on a brick I can’t reward you at all and that’s great news for you because God can and God will. He’s much smarter and richer than me and He’s got your back. (That whole passage about God providing seed for the sower? Also talking about giving to the poor. Read 2 Cor. 8 and 9 in their entirety)
As for tomorrow: There is such an amazing picture of this in the story of Israel and the Exodus. It is a story of deliverance and of salvation for a people from a system of toil, hardship and captivity. If you get a chance, read the first couple of chapters of Exodus. We’re going back to our fundamentals at Conduit; searching deep within the scriptures, finding Jesus there, and responding to Him.
See you at 7:30pm in Building 8 at the Factory, home of The Journey.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
Friday, October 17, 2008
While we're worrying about America..
It could be worse. A lot worse. While our Presidential candidates are blowing $30M a week for the next 3 weeks on television commercials alone, our brothers and sisters in Haiti are digging through trash dumps and eating dirt cookies.
What can you do? $15 will feed one child for an entire month. Basically 3 meals at McDonalds feeds one for a month. Have you got $15?
You can go to www.conduitmission.org
Click on donate now and donate there via credit card.
You can mail payable to Conduit to..
Conduit
C/O Platform
256 Seaboard Lane
C-103
Franklin, TN 37067
Send it today and by this time next month the food will be reaching the children of Jacmel Haiti.
What can you do? $15 will feed one child for an entire month. Basically 3 meals at McDonalds feeds one for a month. Have you got $15?
You can go to www.conduitmission.org
Click on donate now and donate there via credit card.
You can mail payable to Conduit to..
Conduit
C/O Platform
256 Seaboard Lane
C-103
Franklin, TN 37067
Send it today and by this time next month the food will be reaching the children of Jacmel Haiti.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
And Open Lettter To Joe The Plumber
Dear Joe The Plumber,
Joe the Plumber; my name is Darren the Manager. I’m pleased to meet you. I would like to formally invite you to be part of what Obama dismissively refers to as the top 2% of small business owners.
I want to tell you what you have to look forward to as being in this elite class of small business owners who “make” over $250,000 a year.
You see, I started my little nickel and dime operation out of my upstairs bonus room in my house in LaVergne, TN because I couldn’t afford to rent a real office. I lived off what little savings I had and through some good fortune eventually had a business partner join up who was also willing to live sacrificially. Together we risked our families well being and financial stability to build something out of nothing.
Currently Platform Management “makes” over $250,000 a year. (not much more, but more) I know Obama thinks that I do nothing but roll around naked in that kind of money, but there are a couple of things that prevent that bed from being quite so cushy.
You see, we want to give our clients good service and so we hire bright, talented, hard working people to provide this service. These are good kids who work every bit as hard as I do and whom might some day also join You and Me in this elite small business owner World. In the meantime I’m glad to say the combined payroll for our employees is somewhere around $135,000. I wish we could do more for them. We would love to, but that’s not the last of our expenses.
Because we live in America we get to participate in that great ponzi scheme called Social Security. We pay 6% of the total salaries into a fund that will in all probability not exist when these young, bright, talented, hard working men and women reach retirement. Platform pays over $8000 in totality to the good folks in DC who have “borrowed against” (read: spent the money on other projects besides Social Security) and have now left that program in a shambles.
I grew up with no health insurance. My mom died with no health insurance. As a small business owner it has been important to me personally that we provide this as a benefit to our staff. Last year we spent almost $40,000 on that. It goes up EVERY year. It has for the past 8 years straight.
As much fun as it is to work at home, my house simply isn’t big enough to have 7 people working there. We took the “profits” from one year of business and risked it by purchasing an office condo here in Franklin. We spend about $30,000 per year on that office. And as an added bonus we get to pay property taxes to Williamson County in the thousands.
To perform our duties we need to have things like phones, computers, desks, and toilets. We spend another $30-40,000 a year in things like cell phone service, office phones, internet, office supplies and toilet paper.
Joe, it’s not all bad. I don’t mean to make myself sound like a hero or to suggest that it's completely nuts to start your own company. There are definitely rewards to this even if it’s not monetary.
Being self-employed has allowed me the freedom to participate in Humanitarian causes here and around the world. If I had a “normal” job I certainly couldn’t be jet setting around to places like Uganda and Haiti. This freedom has allowed me to be a part of founding and leading Conduit. As of yesterday Conduit has given taken in $40,000 to feed, clothe and serve the poor and the vulnerable.
It’s much easier to take off a day with the kids or to rush to a loved ones side when they’re sick without worrying about the employee leave policy.
My business partner and myself are not poor but we are nowhere near rich. We live solidly on the lower end of what is called Middle Class. We live in normal neighborhoods, in normal houses with normal lawns. We pay ourselves below six figures.
We already pay 36% in taxes on our small business. As a reward for the risks we took, and for creating something out of nothing Obama has suggested that we should pay our “fair” share and hit us with an extra 3%. He suggested that this would be “spreading the wealth around”.
Creating jobs, creating opportunities, paying for health care, giving to the poor feels like we’re already doing that at Platform. Obama thinks it’s not enough. He’d like us to be paying 39%. That is money that could easily be going to pay for another employee or, dare I say it, giving our own employees more money. Instead I get to send it to DC and trust that the government can do a better job than we can.
I apologize for my skepticism towards that thought process, but I feel like the government has given me plenty of reason not to trust their fiscal abilities. They’ve given me trillions of reasons.
Joe The Plumber, I don’t know you and I certainly hope that if my toilet plugs I could get a hold of you, but I want to let you know that you’ve got a lot to look forward to as a small business owner. I encourage you to move forward with buying this business that you’re thinking about. (heck you just got the best marketing campaign in the history of small business)
When Obama wins, it’ll absolutely get under your skin each time you write your tax check with that extra 3% fair tax. You won’t be alone though.
That top 2% of small businesses include many amazing people doing amazing things for this country and the world. Every band I represent falls in that category. (it makes me wonder how many musicians in semi successful bands actually realize that they are part of this elite taxable group as they travel around in their beat up vans living in their run down band houses)
And remember; it’s only fair.
Best Regards,
Darren Tyler
Joe the Plumber; my name is Darren the Manager. I’m pleased to meet you. I would like to formally invite you to be part of what Obama dismissively refers to as the top 2% of small business owners.
I want to tell you what you have to look forward to as being in this elite class of small business owners who “make” over $250,000 a year.
You see, I started my little nickel and dime operation out of my upstairs bonus room in my house in LaVergne, TN because I couldn’t afford to rent a real office. I lived off what little savings I had and through some good fortune eventually had a business partner join up who was also willing to live sacrificially. Together we risked our families well being and financial stability to build something out of nothing.
Currently Platform Management “makes” over $250,000 a year. (not much more, but more) I know Obama thinks that I do nothing but roll around naked in that kind of money, but there are a couple of things that prevent that bed from being quite so cushy.
You see, we want to give our clients good service and so we hire bright, talented, hard working people to provide this service. These are good kids who work every bit as hard as I do and whom might some day also join You and Me in this elite small business owner World. In the meantime I’m glad to say the combined payroll for our employees is somewhere around $135,000. I wish we could do more for them. We would love to, but that’s not the last of our expenses.
Because we live in America we get to participate in that great ponzi scheme called Social Security. We pay 6% of the total salaries into a fund that will in all probability not exist when these young, bright, talented, hard working men and women reach retirement. Platform pays over $8000 in totality to the good folks in DC who have “borrowed against” (read: spent the money on other projects besides Social Security) and have now left that program in a shambles.
I grew up with no health insurance. My mom died with no health insurance. As a small business owner it has been important to me personally that we provide this as a benefit to our staff. Last year we spent almost $40,000 on that. It goes up EVERY year. It has for the past 8 years straight.
As much fun as it is to work at home, my house simply isn’t big enough to have 7 people working there. We took the “profits” from one year of business and risked it by purchasing an office condo here in Franklin. We spend about $30,000 per year on that office. And as an added bonus we get to pay property taxes to Williamson County in the thousands.
To perform our duties we need to have things like phones, computers, desks, and toilets. We spend another $30-40,000 a year in things like cell phone service, office phones, internet, office supplies and toilet paper.
Joe, it’s not all bad. I don’t mean to make myself sound like a hero or to suggest that it's completely nuts to start your own company. There are definitely rewards to this even if it’s not monetary.
Being self-employed has allowed me the freedom to participate in Humanitarian causes here and around the world. If I had a “normal” job I certainly couldn’t be jet setting around to places like Uganda and Haiti. This freedom has allowed me to be a part of founding and leading Conduit. As of yesterday Conduit has given taken in $40,000 to feed, clothe and serve the poor and the vulnerable.
It’s much easier to take off a day with the kids or to rush to a loved ones side when they’re sick without worrying about the employee leave policy.
My business partner and myself are not poor but we are nowhere near rich. We live solidly on the lower end of what is called Middle Class. We live in normal neighborhoods, in normal houses with normal lawns. We pay ourselves below six figures.
We already pay 36% in taxes on our small business. As a reward for the risks we took, and for creating something out of nothing Obama has suggested that we should pay our “fair” share and hit us with an extra 3%. He suggested that this would be “spreading the wealth around”.
Creating jobs, creating opportunities, paying for health care, giving to the poor feels like we’re already doing that at Platform. Obama thinks it’s not enough. He’d like us to be paying 39%. That is money that could easily be going to pay for another employee or, dare I say it, giving our own employees more money. Instead I get to send it to DC and trust that the government can do a better job than we can.
I apologize for my skepticism towards that thought process, but I feel like the government has given me plenty of reason not to trust their fiscal abilities. They’ve given me trillions of reasons.
Joe The Plumber, I don’t know you and I certainly hope that if my toilet plugs I could get a hold of you, but I want to let you know that you’ve got a lot to look forward to as a small business owner. I encourage you to move forward with buying this business that you’re thinking about. (heck you just got the best marketing campaign in the history of small business)
When Obama wins, it’ll absolutely get under your skin each time you write your tax check with that extra 3% fair tax. You won’t be alone though.
That top 2% of small businesses include many amazing people doing amazing things for this country and the world. Every band I represent falls in that category. (it makes me wonder how many musicians in semi successful bands actually realize that they are part of this elite taxable group as they travel around in their beat up vans living in their run down band houses)
And remember; it’s only fair.
Best Regards,
Darren Tyler
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Conduit- Global Meltdown- Are You Scared Yet?
I really enjoyed it this week when Jimmy Carter (with no sense of irony) spent some time ripping on Bush for the economy that we’re in. Maybe you’re not old enough to remember the gas lines and economy that Carter presided over in the 70’s.
To be clear, it would be a great time for W to give us one of those “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” speeches instead of the sort of monotone “we’re pretty much screwed” speeches from a couple weeks ago. I know that Obama has been giving a lot of those sort of “we have better days ahead if I’m president” speeches, but the trouble is I don’t believe him. Not that we don’t’ have better days ahead, but that he personally can make it happen.
Perhaps I’m just hitting the sweet spot of age and cynicism as it relates to politicians but I remember when many of my friends and family voted for Clinton in the 90’s based upon his sweeping promises of reforming healthcare should he get elected. I think all of these guys really want to make the stuff happen that they are promising, but then there is the crazy little thing called reality.
I want to buy a house for my wife in Laurel Brooke but; well you get my point. It’s just with politicians they get to make these promises and it’s up to you and I to break out the common sensometer and think through whether or not we really can afford to have the government buy our mortgages or if they really can afford to pay for health care for EVERY American without raising taxes on you and I.
The World is experiencing what can only be described with understated broadness as “uncharted territory”. The governments of multiple countries around the world ranging from Egypt to England to America are working in concert to try and quell the fears of the markets. So far infusions of cash well into the trillions combined with interest rate cuts and government backed loans of banks have helped exactly zero.
We’ve gone so far in America as to the government considering ownership stakes in banks. Let that sit in for a minute. The Government can’t even get voter registration done accurately and we want them to own our banks? Imagine getting an overdraft fee removed becoming on the same level as getting a drivers license.
There is much talk of centralization. The risks involved in that is just like buying a trillion dollar TV / VCR combo. If the TV breaks you could still have a perfectly good VCR with no way to use it. Centralizing too much puts us in a position where if one bank fails they all fail. We could have one aspect of the market in fine shape but because it’s bootstrapped to an ailing sector it’s no matter. You can be doing good on the deck of the titanic and it doesn’t much matter.
I heard a guy say yesterday that this is a problem that money can solve it’s just a matter of how much money it will take. The earth changing question is “what if it’s more than we can afford”.
So far the combined efforts of the brightest and the best have resulted in every market around the world down double digit percentage points and as the G7 leaders met yesterday they somberly admitted that the world’s financial markets are on the verge of a complete freeze.
Reading all this information it’s impossible not to notice words like panic, fear, greed and begin to cross reference it with the Bible. A Wall Street investor in an AP article was quoted as saying “the market is driven by greed and fear”; clearly the exact opposite of what we are to base our own lives on. Should we really be surprised that our global crisis exists when you factor in the fuel of greed and fear? A truer house of cards has not existed.
It is not hyperbole when I say these guys are suggesting that this is cataclysmic or catastrophic. (both words used by Government officials) This is real live stuff that sort of makes the war on terror take a back seat when you weigh the potential harm that can come to the United States and the World.
So what does this mean for you and I personally? More to the point, what does it mean on a Biblical front for you and for I? What is going to happen if McCain wins, or dare I say it; what if Obama wins? What if the credit markets do freeze up? Does the fact that the Governments of the major developed nations are working in concert with each other lend itself to some sort of one world Government? What does the Bible say when it looks to the end of days and financial meltdown?
The one question that we all need to know the answer to is: “is it going to be OK?” Maybe you're like many of the folks calling into radio stations, tv shows and newspapers and you're just wanting to know if there is hope.
I have some thoughts that I’d like to share about that tomorrow night. I hope you can make it.
Monday night at 7:30pm, Journey Church in Building 8 at The Factory.
To be clear, it would be a great time for W to give us one of those “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” speeches instead of the sort of monotone “we’re pretty much screwed” speeches from a couple weeks ago. I know that Obama has been giving a lot of those sort of “we have better days ahead if I’m president” speeches, but the trouble is I don’t believe him. Not that we don’t’ have better days ahead, but that he personally can make it happen.
Perhaps I’m just hitting the sweet spot of age and cynicism as it relates to politicians but I remember when many of my friends and family voted for Clinton in the 90’s based upon his sweeping promises of reforming healthcare should he get elected. I think all of these guys really want to make the stuff happen that they are promising, but then there is the crazy little thing called reality.
I want to buy a house for my wife in Laurel Brooke but; well you get my point. It’s just with politicians they get to make these promises and it’s up to you and I to break out the common sensometer and think through whether or not we really can afford to have the government buy our mortgages or if they really can afford to pay for health care for EVERY American without raising taxes on you and I.
The World is experiencing what can only be described with understated broadness as “uncharted territory”. The governments of multiple countries around the world ranging from Egypt to England to America are working in concert to try and quell the fears of the markets. So far infusions of cash well into the trillions combined with interest rate cuts and government backed loans of banks have helped exactly zero.
We’ve gone so far in America as to the government considering ownership stakes in banks. Let that sit in for a minute. The Government can’t even get voter registration done accurately and we want them to own our banks? Imagine getting an overdraft fee removed becoming on the same level as getting a drivers license.
There is much talk of centralization. The risks involved in that is just like buying a trillion dollar TV / VCR combo. If the TV breaks you could still have a perfectly good VCR with no way to use it. Centralizing too much puts us in a position where if one bank fails they all fail. We could have one aspect of the market in fine shape but because it’s bootstrapped to an ailing sector it’s no matter. You can be doing good on the deck of the titanic and it doesn’t much matter.
I heard a guy say yesterday that this is a problem that money can solve it’s just a matter of how much money it will take. The earth changing question is “what if it’s more than we can afford”.
So far the combined efforts of the brightest and the best have resulted in every market around the world down double digit percentage points and as the G7 leaders met yesterday they somberly admitted that the world’s financial markets are on the verge of a complete freeze.
Reading all this information it’s impossible not to notice words like panic, fear, greed and begin to cross reference it with the Bible. A Wall Street investor in an AP article was quoted as saying “the market is driven by greed and fear”; clearly the exact opposite of what we are to base our own lives on. Should we really be surprised that our global crisis exists when you factor in the fuel of greed and fear? A truer house of cards has not existed.
It is not hyperbole when I say these guys are suggesting that this is cataclysmic or catastrophic. (both words used by Government officials) This is real live stuff that sort of makes the war on terror take a back seat when you weigh the potential harm that can come to the United States and the World.
So what does this mean for you and I personally? More to the point, what does it mean on a Biblical front for you and for I? What is going to happen if McCain wins, or dare I say it; what if Obama wins? What if the credit markets do freeze up? Does the fact that the Governments of the major developed nations are working in concert with each other lend itself to some sort of one world Government? What does the Bible say when it looks to the end of days and financial meltdown?
The one question that we all need to know the answer to is: “is it going to be OK?” Maybe you're like many of the folks calling into radio stations, tv shows and newspapers and you're just wanting to know if there is hope.
I have some thoughts that I’d like to share about that tomorrow night. I hope you can make it.
Monday night at 7:30pm, Journey Church in Building 8 at The Factory.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Just Set It.. And Forget It!
Have you ever done it? The TV was on, the dude who was in fantastic shape was hawking some sort of apparatus that would absolutely give you rock hard abs or that body you’ve always wanted. Generally speaking there is some sort of sales pitch that all you gotta do is 20 min a day 3 days a week and you’ll have those abs you’ve always dreamed of?
They usually have some sort of before picture of some guy that looks pretty much like me; frumpy, misshapen, and well fed. Somehow; magically; with(apparently) 3 days a week at 20 minutes a day the after picture of a dude who is tan, shaven, bleached tips, and rock solid usually wearing a Speedo.
I first fell for this with an infomercial from this little sawed off 0% body fat, steroid monger with a mullet: Tony Little. The embarrassing thing was that he got me twice. I say it’s embarrassing because this guy is absolutely certifiably Richard Simpson crazy. He’s wound super tight, and pretty much everything he says has that sort of feeling as if it is coming from a car dealership commercial pitch man. It’s full of energy, life and ultimately crap. But he says it with so much confidence that this polished turd looks very compelling, even desirable.
The first time around was that little ab crunching machine that had a sort of over the head arm holder that you laid back into with your head on the scientifically designed for neck support padded head rest could roll into gut busting crunches with perfect ease and lumbar support. I don’t remember exactly how much I paid for it, but I assure you it was far too much.
A few years later was (and I can’t believe I’m admitting this) he snagged me with the Gazelle. This piece of flimsily constructed made in Taiwan machinery was designed by a team of engineers who as best I could tell wanted to see exactly how silly they could make you look and have you still buy in. It combined all sorts of unnatural movements that when combined kind of put you in the same position as Leonardo’s Vertruvian man had he been drawn in a running position.
What they don’t tell you, and this is really too bad because it’s true, is that these exercise things really are at their best when being used to dry wet clothes on. Simply put I had purchased an over priced indoor clothes line.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I gave each of these the ol’ college try for a few days. And it wasn’t long before I realized that 3 days a week at 20 minutes a day was in fact NOT all I had to do. It wasn’t even close. Worse, I realized that I had spent money on these stupid machines that I only had to apply myself and could accomplish the exact thing without any machine at all. Has anyone ever heard of jogging?
I think ultimately I was looking for what everyone is looking for; a short cut. A little pill that I could take a surgery I could get or something that could make the quest easier. The trouble is that it was hard. And after running the little half marathon I realized that as hard as I thought it would be, it was even harder. And I also realized that I had never felt better about myself, more accomplished, more fulfilled.
“All you gotta do.” That was what they said over and over again. “It’s so easy, all it takes is”. It kind of sounded familiar to me,and as I think about it, those are some of the very words that I had heard in the altar call when I first got saved. In fact it was also the same phrase I myself had used when doing youth ministry trying to get kids toget saved. “All you gotta do” is this simple prayer and you’re saved.
I meant well when I said it. I was doing my best to close the deal so the teenagers under my watch wouldn’t die and go to hell. In fact, I used that “if you die tonight line”. It’s a gigantic weight to feel the pressure to close that deal. So heavy that the tendency is too soft sell the idea. All you gotta do is “set it and forget it”. Just say this prayer. Simplify it. I see those hands going up. I see that hand. And bingo, I can rest easy. They were looking for a key to fulfillment and I had the perfect short cut. No commitment, no follow through, just this simple prayer.
When a rich young man came to Jesus and asked Him what He must do to obtain eternal life, Jesus didn’t soft sell him at all. He didn’t try to close the deal. And in fact, His “presentation of the gospel” was not very successful. The guy walked away.
Jesus seemed to not be selling a ticket out of hell, instead he was inviting them into eternal life. He was inviting them to be on His team; to be a part of His kingdom. He didn't soft sell it. He never once asked the crowd to bow their heads and close their eyes.
So what meanest these things? Well what did you sign up for? Maybe there's a reason that over 80% of our teens will fall away from the Lord when they graduate High School. Maybe they signed up for the wrong thing. Perhaps we didn't understand exactly what we were doing when we agreed to follow Christ. What exactly does it mean to be "saved". This is the entire idea behind Conduit. We are not just buying "fire insurance" as I heard it put yesterday. It's so much more, so much better, so much more; well, Eternal.
Let's talk about this tonight. 7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 at The Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.com
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
They usually have some sort of before picture of some guy that looks pretty much like me; frumpy, misshapen, and well fed. Somehow; magically; with(apparently) 3 days a week at 20 minutes a day the after picture of a dude who is tan, shaven, bleached tips, and rock solid usually wearing a Speedo.
I first fell for this with an infomercial from this little sawed off 0% body fat, steroid monger with a mullet: Tony Little. The embarrassing thing was that he got me twice. I say it’s embarrassing because this guy is absolutely certifiably Richard Simpson crazy. He’s wound super tight, and pretty much everything he says has that sort of feeling as if it is coming from a car dealership commercial pitch man. It’s full of energy, life and ultimately crap. But he says it with so much confidence that this polished turd looks very compelling, even desirable.
The first time around was that little ab crunching machine that had a sort of over the head arm holder that you laid back into with your head on the scientifically designed for neck support padded head rest could roll into gut busting crunches with perfect ease and lumbar support. I don’t remember exactly how much I paid for it, but I assure you it was far too much.
A few years later was (and I can’t believe I’m admitting this) he snagged me with the Gazelle. This piece of flimsily constructed made in Taiwan machinery was designed by a team of engineers who as best I could tell wanted to see exactly how silly they could make you look and have you still buy in. It combined all sorts of unnatural movements that when combined kind of put you in the same position as Leonardo’s Vertruvian man had he been drawn in a running position.
What they don’t tell you, and this is really too bad because it’s true, is that these exercise things really are at their best when being used to dry wet clothes on. Simply put I had purchased an over priced indoor clothes line.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I gave each of these the ol’ college try for a few days. And it wasn’t long before I realized that 3 days a week at 20 minutes a day was in fact NOT all I had to do. It wasn’t even close. Worse, I realized that I had spent money on these stupid machines that I only had to apply myself and could accomplish the exact thing without any machine at all. Has anyone ever heard of jogging?
I think ultimately I was looking for what everyone is looking for; a short cut. A little pill that I could take a surgery I could get or something that could make the quest easier. The trouble is that it was hard. And after running the little half marathon I realized that as hard as I thought it would be, it was even harder. And I also realized that I had never felt better about myself, more accomplished, more fulfilled.
“All you gotta do.” That was what they said over and over again. “It’s so easy, all it takes is”. It kind of sounded familiar to me,and as I think about it, those are some of the very words that I had heard in the altar call when I first got saved. In fact it was also the same phrase I myself had used when doing youth ministry trying to get kids toget saved. “All you gotta do” is this simple prayer and you’re saved.
I meant well when I said it. I was doing my best to close the deal so the teenagers under my watch wouldn’t die and go to hell. In fact, I used that “if you die tonight line”. It’s a gigantic weight to feel the pressure to close that deal. So heavy that the tendency is too soft sell the idea. All you gotta do is “set it and forget it”. Just say this prayer. Simplify it. I see those hands going up. I see that hand. And bingo, I can rest easy. They were looking for a key to fulfillment and I had the perfect short cut. No commitment, no follow through, just this simple prayer.
When a rich young man came to Jesus and asked Him what He must do to obtain eternal life, Jesus didn’t soft sell him at all. He didn’t try to close the deal. And in fact, His “presentation of the gospel” was not very successful. The guy walked away.
Jesus seemed to not be selling a ticket out of hell, instead he was inviting them into eternal life. He was inviting them to be on His team; to be a part of His kingdom. He didn't soft sell it. He never once asked the crowd to bow their heads and close their eyes.
So what meanest these things? Well what did you sign up for? Maybe there's a reason that over 80% of our teens will fall away from the Lord when they graduate High School. Maybe they signed up for the wrong thing. Perhaps we didn't understand exactly what we were doing when we agreed to follow Christ. What exactly does it mean to be "saved". This is the entire idea behind Conduit. We are not just buying "fire insurance" as I heard it put yesterday. It's so much more, so much better, so much more; well, Eternal.
Let's talk about this tonight. 7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 at The Factory.
Blessings,
Darren
www.darrentyler.com
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Conduit The Kingdoms Of This World...
I was listening to NPR. (there I said it, I listen to NPR) and I heard an interview with someone who said “I hope Barack Obama gets elected, he is our only hope”. She sounded desperate. She meant it. It is a sad day when our political candidates are our only hope.
I have definite opinions about whom can best lead us into the future, but I am utterly and perfectly convinced that neither of them can “save” us. Not in a spiritual way, nor can they do so in a natural way.
It is a perfect example of understatement to suggest that there are no easy solutions to our fuel crisis, to our economic crisis nor do we have any simple solutions for our national security. (unless you count my Grandfathers solutions which are to “put them all on an island and blow them the hell up”)
Both candidates have promised exactly what every other candidate has promised in the past few decades and have all failed to deliver on. There is a reason that our country no longer trusts our politicians. (It’s easy to get caught up in the approval rating for the President that hovers around 30% but the last time I checked, the approval rating for Congress was in single digits.)
Our country is in debt $500 billion dollars to China alone. The total debt that America owes to other countries is in the trillions. Can someone please tell me what the monthly on that monthly payment is?
In a top down type scenario, the people of our country are in personal debt that equals hundreds of billions of dollars. The solution for our politicians have come up with for the economy is to charge $700 Billion dollars (more than the entire cost of the Iraq war to date which is $600 Billion) and free up more credit so we can charge more stuff. I wonder if these guys could maybe make a phone call to the Dave Ramsey Show before signing this.
It is well above my pay grade and outside of my spiritual gifting to know what the Congress should do. However, it is well within me to suggest that we not panic. We don’t have to panic. Fear is the opposite of Faith. We can absolutely and positively be in this world and not of it. To quote the Word… “fear not”.
We live in a different economy and in a different Kingdom. Will our economy survive this crisis? Beats me. Will the Church survive this? Absolutely. And likely will thrive in it. Historically and presently the Church is always at it’s finest when the chips are down.
There have been cries for a “third party “ to arise. Personally I think it is time. Neither party speaks for me nor my beliefs wholly. I personally believe that the murder of an unborn child is unequivocally murder. I also believe that we should be fighting for the poor and the oppressed in our society. Which party represents me?
Right now the country is worried. Without Christ they have good reason to be. They have put their hope in the kingdoms of this world. The very kingdoms that Revelation 11 says will ultimately become the Kingdom of our Lord. That is not hyperbole. Jesus is coming back, opening up a can of Whoop God setting everything right, repaying all the evildoers for their work and taking over. Chavez, Mugabe and Ahmadinejad and all others who have participated in willful oppression, genocide and holocaust: He’s coming for you, and as Abraham suggested; the God of all the Universe will do what is right.
He’s not doing it because of some sort of Messiah complex. He’s doing it because He knows what we have slowly figured out; we can’t do it on our own. Maybe instead of a third political party to arise, it’s time for the Church to take her rightful place.
Let’s put down our bullhorns and protest signs and petitions and talking heads and roll up our sleeves. Let’s open our doors, our hearts, our money and our energy to serving the poor and the oppressed. The World has decided that the Church is about hating Gays, being pro gun and anti media. (does anybody remember the boycott on Disney?) They’ve decided this because that’s pretty much the majority of what they see and hear from us.
Instead of telling them what we’re for, let’s just be for it. Let’s just do it. I’m excited about the fact that Journey Church is calling on our family to spend one Sunday a month in community around us serving the unlovely, the widows, the orphans the ones that Jesus Himself suggested we serve. (can you believe a Pastor is asking the people to NOT go to church once a month?)
I’m excited about the work that Pastor Lafluer is doing with Restoration Ministries in Jacmel Haiti.
I’m excited about the work that is going on in Columbia TN with Place of Hope.
I'm downright encouraged when I think of the work that my friends in Compassion and World Vision are currently doing across the globe.
I’m in awe of the fact that one of my neighbors his adopting a baby from Haiti.
I’m excited to say that the Church is alive and well, and pray that In the meantime.
What if all of us got the picture crystal clear. What if every believer and every church made this desire to follow Christ in serving the oppressed on the front of their agenda and not as an afterthought. Let’s be honest, all those post card mailings and radio ads to “reach” people don’t work anyway.
What if we realized that we didn’t just sign up for this ride to get a ticket out of hell but to be an active, living part of the Body of Christ and His implementing arm in this earth? Is it possible that we could get everyone that is on the bench off and in the game. Is it possible that we could get everyone to stand a post? I think it is.
Conduit has just celebrated our first year anniversary. We have seen somewhere near $35,000 flow through our doors. In this next year I dare say that it will not just be money flowing through us, but the power of the Holy Spirit in each of us individually with creative ideas and solutions that are from the Father.
Maybe some are feeling the winds of change blowing that I feel. God is calling you and I to a higher level of service and sacrifice. It’s not a bummer. It’s a blessing! ONLY in losing your life you will find it Jesus said. What an irony when you consider how much time and energy we expend on “finding ourselves”.
So what can you and I do? First listen to the voice of the Spirit. There is plenty all around. Conduit works with ministry partners in Haiti that need plenty of help right now.
If you haven’t, please go to www.darrentyler.com and look at the pictures I posted there from the recent hurricane in Haiti. Some of the images are disturbing, but they are truth. If you feel led to help them you can go to www.conduitmission.org and make a donation towards our friends in Jacmel, Haiti. All of the money will flow right into their hands.
I’ll bet that there are options in your current church right now that maybe you don’t’ know about. Whatever your situation, there is definitely something. I would just ask you to quietly seek the Lord. I’m sure He’s speaking.
For those of you who can join us Monday night I am back in the saddle and have been so full from my recent journeys. I think it’ll be a special night. Hope you can make it. 7:30pm at Buildigng 8 in the Factory in Franklin, TN
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
I have definite opinions about whom can best lead us into the future, but I am utterly and perfectly convinced that neither of them can “save” us. Not in a spiritual way, nor can they do so in a natural way.
It is a perfect example of understatement to suggest that there are no easy solutions to our fuel crisis, to our economic crisis nor do we have any simple solutions for our national security. (unless you count my Grandfathers solutions which are to “put them all on an island and blow them the hell up”)
Both candidates have promised exactly what every other candidate has promised in the past few decades and have all failed to deliver on. There is a reason that our country no longer trusts our politicians. (It’s easy to get caught up in the approval rating for the President that hovers around 30% but the last time I checked, the approval rating for Congress was in single digits.)
Our country is in debt $500 billion dollars to China alone. The total debt that America owes to other countries is in the trillions. Can someone please tell me what the monthly on that monthly payment is?
In a top down type scenario, the people of our country are in personal debt that equals hundreds of billions of dollars. The solution for our politicians have come up with for the economy is to charge $700 Billion dollars (more than the entire cost of the Iraq war to date which is $600 Billion) and free up more credit so we can charge more stuff. I wonder if these guys could maybe make a phone call to the Dave Ramsey Show before signing this.
It is well above my pay grade and outside of my spiritual gifting to know what the Congress should do. However, it is well within me to suggest that we not panic. We don’t have to panic. Fear is the opposite of Faith. We can absolutely and positively be in this world and not of it. To quote the Word… “fear not”.
We live in a different economy and in a different Kingdom. Will our economy survive this crisis? Beats me. Will the Church survive this? Absolutely. And likely will thrive in it. Historically and presently the Church is always at it’s finest when the chips are down.
There have been cries for a “third party “ to arise. Personally I think it is time. Neither party speaks for me nor my beliefs wholly. I personally believe that the murder of an unborn child is unequivocally murder. I also believe that we should be fighting for the poor and the oppressed in our society. Which party represents me?
Right now the country is worried. Without Christ they have good reason to be. They have put their hope in the kingdoms of this world. The very kingdoms that Revelation 11 says will ultimately become the Kingdom of our Lord. That is not hyperbole. Jesus is coming back, opening up a can of Whoop God setting everything right, repaying all the evildoers for their work and taking over. Chavez, Mugabe and Ahmadinejad and all others who have participated in willful oppression, genocide and holocaust: He’s coming for you, and as Abraham suggested; the God of all the Universe will do what is right.
He’s not doing it because of some sort of Messiah complex. He’s doing it because He knows what we have slowly figured out; we can’t do it on our own. Maybe instead of a third political party to arise, it’s time for the Church to take her rightful place.
Let’s put down our bullhorns and protest signs and petitions and talking heads and roll up our sleeves. Let’s open our doors, our hearts, our money and our energy to serving the poor and the oppressed. The World has decided that the Church is about hating Gays, being pro gun and anti media. (does anybody remember the boycott on Disney?) They’ve decided this because that’s pretty much the majority of what they see and hear from us.
Instead of telling them what we’re for, let’s just be for it. Let’s just do it. I’m excited about the fact that Journey Church is calling on our family to spend one Sunday a month in community around us serving the unlovely, the widows, the orphans the ones that Jesus Himself suggested we serve. (can you believe a Pastor is asking the people to NOT go to church once a month?)
I’m excited about the work that Pastor Lafluer is doing with Restoration Ministries in Jacmel Haiti.
I’m excited about the work that is going on in Columbia TN with Place of Hope.
I'm downright encouraged when I think of the work that my friends in Compassion and World Vision are currently doing across the globe.
I’m in awe of the fact that one of my neighbors his adopting a baby from Haiti.
I’m excited to say that the Church is alive and well, and pray that In the meantime.
What if all of us got the picture crystal clear. What if every believer and every church made this desire to follow Christ in serving the oppressed on the front of their agenda and not as an afterthought. Let’s be honest, all those post card mailings and radio ads to “reach” people don’t work anyway.
What if we realized that we didn’t just sign up for this ride to get a ticket out of hell but to be an active, living part of the Body of Christ and His implementing arm in this earth? Is it possible that we could get everyone that is on the bench off and in the game. Is it possible that we could get everyone to stand a post? I think it is.
Conduit has just celebrated our first year anniversary. We have seen somewhere near $35,000 flow through our doors. In this next year I dare say that it will not just be money flowing through us, but the power of the Holy Spirit in each of us individually with creative ideas and solutions that are from the Father.
Maybe some are feeling the winds of change blowing that I feel. God is calling you and I to a higher level of service and sacrifice. It’s not a bummer. It’s a blessing! ONLY in losing your life you will find it Jesus said. What an irony when you consider how much time and energy we expend on “finding ourselves”.
So what can you and I do? First listen to the voice of the Spirit. There is plenty all around. Conduit works with ministry partners in Haiti that need plenty of help right now.
If you haven’t, please go to www.darrentyler.com and look at the pictures I posted there from the recent hurricane in Haiti. Some of the images are disturbing, but they are truth. If you feel led to help them you can go to www.conduitmission.org and make a donation towards our friends in Jacmel, Haiti. All of the money will flow right into their hands.
I’ll bet that there are options in your current church right now that maybe you don’t’ know about. Whatever your situation, there is definitely something. I would just ask you to quietly seek the Lord. I’m sure He’s speaking.
For those of you who can join us Monday night I am back in the saddle and have been so full from my recent journeys. I think it’ll be a special night. Hope you can make it. 7:30pm at Buildigng 8 in the Factory in Franklin, TN
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
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